Trumping Atheism with TOB

The upcoming release of the Golden Compass - a film with anti-religious undertones, specifically anti-Catholic ones, and based on an even more anti-Catholic series of books - has really got me thinking. Although Golden Compass is the most blatant at the moment, it is by far not the only agent of atheism in the media today. There is a score of new books devoted to discrediting belief in God. GC comes in a different genre though, fantastical and directed at children. Indeed, the atheist propaganda can and will take many forms.

It doesn't show signs of stopping. In fact, my guess is that the anti-religious agenda will only get worse as directors and writers push the envelope, to see how far they can go. However, it is my proposal, that again God has provided, and the Theology of the Body has come at the perfect time in history. No, it wasn't received to shatter a movie at the box office, it was received to convert hearts and awaken us. Well the wool is being pulled over our eyes, and part of that is this surge of atheism. TOB has the power to annihilate that surge. Hear me out.

The Theology of the Body is much easier to understand and accept for someone who already has faith. But, if we look at it in it's barest, simplest sense - that our bodies reveal something about who we are - I think it's a starting point that all people can catch on to.

We live in a world where the desires of the body have been given more free reign than ever. We are people controlled by our body. "Hungry? Why wait?" In pain? Pop a pill. Need sex? Well you can have that too. Forget will power. When we want something, we feel we deserve it NOW. And usually we get it. This is why the average person can't wrap their heads around the idea of abstinence until marriage. Why is my body saying now, and you're telling me to wait until later?

But what if the body was saying something different? What if all those urges were meant to point us to something else? To the greater love of God? By getting to the heart of the matter, we might find that our instincts are actually part of God's plan for us. It's just that our fallen world has given us a different explanation.

People need to know how great their bodies are. How special, and unique, and wonderfully mysterious. This is what we should be filling the minds of our children with. We need more books, stories, movies, artwork, and music that feeds our hearts with this message. This battle with atheism is not intellectual. It is an attack on personhood. They want to champion individual thought, but it comes at the expense of the body. Our bodies are too powerful though. God made them so.

JPII, pray for us.

UPDATE: Speaking of trumping Golden Compass, The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian trailer is out and can be veiwed: HERE

Long live Aslan!