Trans-Humanism

I submitted another Letter to the Editor today, which will not be published.  It dared to mention God, and not celebrate those who would make themselves gods.  So, I will publish and remember it here:

I recently read articles about chemicals being given to children to delay puberty, so they can choose their sex.  I read of selective abortions to eliminate the weak and might-be weak, and how Iceland celebrated “No More Downs Syndrome Children.”  And I read of plans to use artificial intelligence to create trans-humans, to better the human race.

But then I also read of how man MUST stop manipulating the earth, for he is ruining its nature.  Yet, why is it assumed that in man’s attempts to manipulate HIS OWN nature we will be successful?  Are the children today not taught in schools about man’s last attempt to create a master race, and its results?  Why do they not know that a government can’t love, which is what we all really need?  Why are they taught self is so important, versus family, community and culture?

I will spend my last days on this earth serving the weak and needy, and celebrate the beauty of their existence, not planning their destruction.  That is the Gospel, and why this country was founded.  Why have we grown so stupid?  We don’t need to better the human race, we need to celebrate the existence of each and every person.

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The Gospel today was about the lepers Jesus healed, the less-than-perfect human beings He loved.  That Gospel has many wonderful lessons to teach, but I especially liked the words reflected in The Better Part (Lesson 211), so I just repeat its words here:

“We are all moral lepers.  The human race was infected with mortal selfishness by original sin.  Christ saved us, not with a mere command, but by His Incarnation, life, suffering, and painful death on a cross.  How many of us render Him sincere, heartfelt thanks for all He has done for us?  Not to live with an attitude of gratitude towards God is more than being impolite --- ingratitude is ugly because it’s positively unjust.  Gratitude, on the other hand, is one of the most beautiful flowers in the whole garden of virtue.  It directly contradicts self-centeredness, self-indulgence, and self-absorption.  It builds bridges through discouragement and counteracts depression.  It opens the soul to the truth and releases anxiety.  It brings smiles and gladness wherever it blooms.  What a pity that it is as rare as it is lovely.

Jesus could not resist a cry for pity.  (It was) the motive for His coming to earth in the first place --- love simply can’t hold back when it sees others in need.  This truth about Jesus can be the source of our confidence in Him, but it should also be the source of our own activity in the world.  We who feast on Christ’s own body and blood in the Eucharist need to share also the beatings of His heart, His desire to do as much good as possible; otherwise, our hearts will beat in vain.”

The priest speaking of this Gospel referenced the faith seen there, the faith which we need.  He said we so often call upon God to fix things, the way we believe they should be.  (And for the faithless, they use their own efforts to change His creation to their definitions of perfection.)  But, the priest said, faith is not the power to change --- that is God’s power, if He wills --- but faith is the power to endure, to trust in God, to see His love exhibited in all of His creation, even that which we, in our ignorance, deem less than perfect.  And real faith is to love as He loves.