Monday, March 18, AD 2024 9:52pm

"Taken" Some Life Lessons

I saw the movie with Liam Neeson entitled “Taken”, the other night. It is the ultimate ‘Dads protecting daughters’ fantasy. It plays on a whole lot of primal emotions- particularly the temptation to give oneself over to extreme violence to protect the lives and sanctity of one’s children. Every father wants to imagine himself capable of defending his beloved children from any and all threats- and the father in “Taken” was that ultimate fatherly force. He represented more of a divine Angelic father who slays spiritually evil forces, than a realistic earthly dad- and as such I was able to excuse the incredible violence as something of a parable of ultimate accountability for those humans who perpetrate the evils of human trafficking and slavery.

With the growth of the global business economy there seems to be an increase in human trafficking for sick sexual purposes like is seen in “Taken”. I suppose it is the lethal brew of liberalism – economic and sexual. When sex is reduced down to a mere pleasure activity, a recreational past-time, or romantic obsession- well that unleashes many demons. Add to this the extreme nature of unbridled consumerism, and you have many bad outcomes waiting to happen. If sex is just a means to someone’s pleasure, then it can be made into a commodity, something that is for sale, or can be used to sell something else. This is why you see the strange alliance in society with very left-wing type social liberals and very often right-wing economic libertarians, promoting similar agendas defending the right to prostitution, adult entertainment businesses, and all manner of pornography/obscenity expressions of “speech”. What people often fail to appreciate is that freedom- true freedom- is to be linked to truth- when it is crudely separated you begin to see some really evil manifestations, which are celebrated in the name of “Freedom”.

We “Dads Protecting Daughters” know what it is like to be raised in the midst of the “Playboy” philosophical influences- it is a seductive trap. The founder of “Playboy”, Hugh Hefner, is a very old man who likes to report that he thinks and feels like he did when he was a small boy. He stands Jesus’ teaching that ‘we must be like the little children in order to be in heaven’, completely on its head. Hefner wants to be a 12 year old sex-obsessed pre-teen, even as his body is readying for burial. He has made a religion for himself and is dragging millions down with him- just another false messiah trying to undermine Jesus Christ. His four ‘girlfriends’ don’t impress me, but they must impress a lot of people because he garners so much media attention.

But Hefner is just the tip of the iceberg. Casual sex and all that leads to that lifestyle, is something that harms and prematurely kills millions of bodies and I fear souls- every year. My Protestant brothers and sisters may disagree here, but I believe as a Catholic, that contraception has just been gasoline thrown on a fire. I recommend Janet Smith books and tapes, for more detailed explanations on this. But surely we can agree, as Christians, that the attitude and lifestyle of one who engages or promotes casual sex, (sex without the supernatural bond of holy matrimony), is one that engenders all kinds of damage.

Casual sex has become the norm, if one is to gauge the general situation from observation of the mass media or from contact with youthful populations. It is betrayed in the way people speak, the wide use of obscenities, the lyrics of a lot of popular music, all of it is an indication of the rot that lies deeper still. The way “pimps”, porn stars, and shock jocks, have been made to seem like a natural and even humorous part of our cultural milieu- this cannot be seen as anything but disastrous.

The breakdown of our traditional society is exposed now for all who have eyes to see. I was blind for many of my years here on earth, and lived recklessly, it is a miracle that I have been granted a traditional family and understand the absolute privilege it is to be a husband and father. I cannot bear to see how many around me are self-destructing, are damaging the spirits of their own children, by the way they regard marriage, sexuality and religion. The casual sex connection to all the things that threaten our societal stability and our children’s future is one that needs to be exposed and fought against.

On the heterosexual front, the chain of unwanted mates for life leading to hasty and painful divorces, the failed contraception leading to unwanted children and to horrifying abortions (parents killing their children at their earliest stages of life). All of this is something man(and woman) –made. God made us to be holy, to be happy, for most of us happily married, with wonderful angel-faced children- what more could He do? Yet we screw around and mess up the plan- many don’t even realize there is a plan- there is a Way- the Way of Christ- as far as I can tell it is the only clear path through the fog of living in the world today. I won’t go into the dilemmas and problems associated with homosexuality- that is a topic for another day- we who are of the heterosexual condition have to own up to our own failures for the moment- and “Taken” offers us a boatload of such fears and threats from people who seem to be like any one else.

But who are the people viewing pornography? Going to strip clubs? Visiting prostitutes? Having affairs? Living together/being sexual together before Marriage? Relying on Contraception? Having abortions? Who are these people? How many of us are without such sin?

Now to be empowered- Jesus saved the adulterous woman, He saves you and me, and He tells us to “Go and sin no more”. Let’s not be immobilized by our past or our present difficulties- we must make heroic moves to overcome the many enemies of virtue, of goodness, of true happiness. If you don’t see yourself as a hero- hello- if you are a Christian, you are called to be a hero, a saint. Shall we get up? Speak out? Do something, anything to try to stop the onslaught of casual sex promotion and acceptance that is the dominant worldview in the world our children are a part of now. Is there a quick fix? No, Christians have let down their guard for too long- we need to fight with the same spiritual intensity that Liam Neeson displays on the physical front in “Taken”. We must take back the world for our children and for our neighbor’s children- even if they are too blind to see. Christians are to be followers of God, but leaders among men. We lead by our service, by our evangelizing the truth, and setting the parameters of justice for our societies. I urge you to think creatively of ways you can help stop the process of exploitation of our young people- their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, they belong to God, and yet they are giving their beautiful bodies over to the Hugh Hefners’ of this world, and if the body is corrupted, the soul is soon to follow. God Bless everyone- especially the children- God wants the children protected- we are the parents- we are the front-line defense for the kids. Are we up for it?

0 0 votes
Article Rating
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
DarwinCatholic
Sunday, July 19, AD 2009 9:33pm

I think you make a key point here about how deeply pornography is connected with the breakdown of the family and the exploitation of women in our society.

Matt McDonald
Matt McDonald
Tuesday, July 21, AD 2009 9:09pm

Can you tell me what definition of “consumerism” you’re applying to the sex-slavery industry which is thousands of years old?

It seems a stretch to me, but I’m interested to hear.

Discover more from The American Catholic

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top