Roots of the Culture of Death Uncovering the Ideas Behind the New Cultural Scourge

Roots of the Culture of Death

Uncovering the Ideas Behind the New Cultural Scourge

In Chapter 11 of Evangelium Vitae, Saint John Paul II refers to abortion and euthanasia as attacks made against human life at the time of its greatest frailty. He calls our attention to the fact that these attacks are no longer regarded as “crimes,” but as “rights”. They are carried out by health-care personnel and, even more disturbingly, more often than not, with the approval of the family, which is called by nature to be “the sanctuary of life”. This development, so widespread in its scope, so convoluted in its ethos, provoked the Holy Father to ask, “How did such a situation come about?”

The question is a very good one, since this moral revolution, bringing into focus a Culture of Death, seems so alien to both the true nature of the human being and the wisdom of the ages. For the Pontiff, many factors must be taken into account, some philosophical, others existential. Answering this searing question remains open to further elaboration. Dr. Benjamin Wiker and I, in Architects of the Culture of Death, have isolated four ideas that we believe have contributed significantly to this new culture that places a greater premium of death than on life. Below is a brief sketch of these iniquitous ideas.
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/roots-of-the-culture-of-death