“We have two tools at hand that the other side does not: truth and grace.”

From Crisis we have a piece called We Are Winning Even If It Doesn’t Feel That Way by Austen Ruse (of C-FAM) with my emphases and comments:

[…]

For the Christian, of course, evangelization is the ultimate solution to cultural problems. And evangelization is not the calling simply of popes and bishops, priests and deacons, but of all Christians. Each of us needs to gain a better understanding of the Church’s teaching on both natural and sacramental marriage, so that we can explain it to others, within the context of natural law and the Gospel. [Once again, if we don’t know our Faith (quae et qua) we can’t give any reasons for the hope that is in us and we don’t have a clear identity.  If we are clear about that, why should anyone listen to us?] Given the abysmal state of catechesis[the entertainment industry out-catechizes the Church by orders of magnitude.  We can’t compete with “Modern Family”.] within the Church for several decades now, the hierarchy will need to lead the way, and that will require our bishops and priests to quit worrying so much about the possibility of causing “offense” (which in secular terms means simply “saying something that someone else doesn’t want to hear”) and start worrying more about philosophical and theological clarity. [Yo!  That means that lay people are going to have to support and encourage priests and bishops!  Send notes when they stand up and speak!  Support their projects!] But parents need to play their God-given role as well. The sheer number of practicing Catholics of my generation (I am 47) and younger who have embraced the attempted redefinition of marriage bears witness not only to the failure of our shepherds to teach their flocks well but of mothers and fathers both to teach the truth about marriage and to live it in their own lives. The embrace of contraception and pornography, the easy recourse to divorce, and the pursuit of wealth and “self-fulfillment” at the expense of spouse and children all speak louder than any platitudes parents may utter about the necessity and beauty of marriage.

Obergefell v. Hodges was not the end of the assault on marriage; it is much closer to the beginning. [Without question.  Keep you eye out for new projects, such as the lowering of the age of consent… which is “arbitrary” of course, and limits “rights”.  Right?  Surely Justice Kennedy and the other four can, through better informed understandings and new insights discern a new Right to Sex with Children.] Every argument that Justice Kennedy made for gay “marriage” applies equally to polygamous relationships and even to incestuous ones. (This is not hyperbole or paranoia; read his opinion, and try to find a single argument that does not apply.) [As I said.] In the wake of the decision, numerous proponents of gay “marriage” have simultaneously claimed that churches will never be required to perform gay “marriages” and argued that there’s no reason why they shouldn’t perform them; that in itself is evidence that those who, like the Catholic Church, refuse to do so will find themselves sooner rather than later tarred with the brush of hate, and perhaps only shortly after that actively persecuted for defending the truth.

While it seems on the surface that those who have fought for “marriage equality” have done so primarily at the ballot box and through the courts, the reality is that they triumphed on June 26 because for decades they have been reshaping the culture. We defenders of marriage have been the ones who have largely confined our efforts to the political arena, but it’s not too late to make up for our mistake. We have two tools at hand that the other side does not: truth and grace. It’s time to begin acting like we believe in both.

Well said.

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