GK Chesterton was a man ahead of his time. He was and eloquent defender of the truth. This extract is taken from Crisis magazine and Chesterton writes of homosexuality. In 1926, he warned, “The next great heresy will be an attack on morality, especially sexual morality.” His warning has gone unheeded, and sexual morality has decayed progressively. But let us remember that it began with birth control, which is an attempt to create sex for sex’s sake, changing the act of love into an act of selfishness. The promotion and acceptance of lifeless, barren, selfish sex has logically progressed to homosexuality. Chesterton shows that the problem of homosexuality as an enemy of civilization is quite old. In The Everlasting Man, he describes the nature-worship and “mere mythology” that produced a perversion among the Greeks. “Just as they became unnatural by worshipping nature, so they actually became unmanly by worshipping man.” Any young man, he says, “who has the luck to grow up sane and simple” is naturally repulsed by homosexuality because “it is not true to human nature or to common sense.” He argues that if we attempt to act indifferent about it, we are fooling ourselves. It is “the illusion of familiarity,” when “a perversion become a convention.” In Heretics, Chesterton almost makes a prophecy of the misuse of the word “gay.” He writes of “the very powerful and very desolate philosophy of Oscar Wilde. It is the carpe diem religion.” Carpe diem means “seize the day,” do whatever you want and don’t think about the consequences, live only for the moment. “But the carpe diem religion is not the religion of happy people, but of very unhappy people.” There is a hopelessness as well as a haplessness to it. When sex is only a momentary pleasure, when it offers nothing beyond itself, it brings no fulfillment. It is literally lifeless. And as Chesterton writes in his book St. Francis of Assisi, the minute sex ceases to be a servant, it becomes a tyrant. This is perhaps the most profound analysis of the problem of homosexuals: they are slaves to sex. They are trying to “pervert the future and unmake the past.” They need to be set free. Sin has consequences. Yet Chesterton always maintains that we must condemn the sin and not the sinner. And no one shows more compassion for the fallen than G.K. Chesterton. Of Oscar Wilde, whom he calls “the Chief of the Decadents,” he says that Wilde committed “a monstrous wrong” but also suffered monstrously for it, going to an awful prison, where he was forgotten by all the people who had earlier toasted his cavalier rebelliousness. “His was a complete life, in that awful sense in which your life and mine are incomplete; since we have not yet paid for our sins. In that sense one might call it a perfect life, as one speaks of a perfect equation; it cancels out. On the one hand we have the healthy horror of the evil; on the other the healthy horror of the punishment.” Chesterton referred to Wilde’s homosexual behavior as a “highly civilized” sin, something that was a worse affliction among the wealthy and cultured classes. It was a sin that was never a temptation for Chesterton, and he says that it is no great virtue for us never to commit a sin for which we are not tempted. That is another reason we must treat our homosexual brothers and sisters with compassion. We know our own sins and weaknesses well enough. Philo of Alexandria said, “Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a terrible battle.” But compassion must never compromise with evil. Chesterton points out that balance that our truth must not be pitiless, but neither can our pity be untruthful. Homosexuality is a disorder. It is contrary to order. Homosexual acts are sinful, that is, they are contrary to God’s order. They can never be normal. And worse yet, they can never even be even. As Chesterton’s great detective Father Brown says: “Men may keep a sort of level of good, but no man has ever been able to keep on one level of evil. That road goes down and down.” Chesterton’s prophecy remains: We will not be able to destroy the family. We will merely destroy ourselves by disregarding the family.
I was reading some Chesterton whilst I was away in the caravan, Bobby. Actually it was an essay on a visit he made to Belfast during the First World War. He didn't seem to appreciate the Orange Burgers. He made me laugh.
GKC told it as he saw it, especially about Protestasim : “I am firmly convinced that the Reformation of the sixteenth century was as near as any mortal thing can come to unmixed evil. Even the parts of it that might appear plausible and enlightened from a purely secular standpoint have turned out rotten and reactionary, also from a purely secular standpoint. By substituting the Bible for the sacrament, it created a pedantic caste of those who could read, superstitiously identified with those who could think. By destroying the monks, it took social work from the poor philanthropists who chose to deny themselves, and gave it to the rich philanthropists who chose to assert themselves. By preaching individualism while preserving inequality, it produced modern capitalism. It destroyed the only league of nations that ever had a chance. It produced the worst wars of nations that ever existed. It produced the most efficient form of Protestantism, which is Prussia. And it is producing the worst part of paganism, which is slavery.” – New Witness, June 20, 1919
I downloaded GK@s complete collection of woks. Terry on my Kindle, there is enough material on him to keep me going till I die (including the 'Father Brown' ,detective stories. I admit I find it very heavy going, you have to be wide awake and paying attention to pick up on his meaning. I find I have towork too hard. which is probably my fault for being lazy. But one thing struck me about Chesterton was how much he reminds me of the devil. Which is a curious thing to say, let me explain. In certain exchanges with possessed souls (exorcists are not meant to converse but still the devils come out with stuff) we can notice in the first place how very,very intelligent they can be. Secondly the way they look at things is metaphysical..they cut to the core of things. For instance one person who was a possessed transvestite, the demon indicated that a man or woman is not simply physically male or female but spiritually male or female (thus a person who tries to confuse this physically is truly unatural). So if we consider how a spirit, say an angel or demon were to regard reality I think it might often be a little like Chesterton with huge intelligence and also eyes that cut through the bull shit..so to speak....and looked with eyes that cut through to the metaphysical..to the core realities ,so to speak. CS Lewis had the same quality. But this condensing of things is so intense , it is a bit for me like drinking condensed milk. I have to do so much mental unpacking it exhausts me. When GK came into the Church if his day he would have been surrounded in the pews with people like poor uneducated Iriwsh emmigrants. This never bothered this great cultured genoius for a second. I saw a lovely picture of him surrounded by a motley congregation of his local Church.
I'm not trying to be antagonistic (not my nature) far from it, but I find it a rather strange oddity at times (speaking in general)- that many seek the 'great' guidance of men in the materialistic sense - who are given more prestigious acclaim then our Blessed Saviour. I'm not picking on Chesterton Per se (God forbid) but a general observation. For if I were to call anyone a true genius.. if I were to use that word: It would be our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps that bamboozles some, perhaps, but to me it is the essence of why we can do anything at all. Love on the cross. One should study love and the fruits thereof. Give me simplicity that is the true hallmark, genius of God. Anything over complicated is not His work. Surly I love you is better than e = mc2. But if a certain soul brings you all that way to find how to love (full circle) then perhaps you will be a wiser soul for it in the end - God bless! The teachings of Jesus, and the great saints.. St. Therese, comes to mind - have a beautiful air of simplicity about them.. I feel. Less noise. I'm just thinking out loud.. down the road so to speak. God Bless!
