As if we needed proof…

…that our Western society cannot handle saints.

According to this report in the Herald Sun, Zoo Magazine (called a “men’s magazine” – which is even more insulting to men than calling “New Idea” a “women’s magazine”) has dealt with the canonisation of Mary MacKillop in the only way it can: by sexualisation and ridicule.

This tacky incident speaks volumes about how uncomfortable our society is with holiness. In Australian society, a common way to handle an uncomfortable situation is to make a joke of it. And a well known tactic of the devil (both inside and outside of the Church) to undermine both the holiness of the saints and the holiness of sex within the sacrament of marriage is to pervert both together at the same time.

As I see it, Zoo Magazine has just provided Exhibit A in the case against Western society. Whatever may be said for Islamic societies, you wouldn’t find anything like this there.

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6 Responses to As if we needed proof…

  1. Tony says:

    So, David, ‘Western society’ cannot handle saints and the ‘proof’ is in magazines like Zoo and New Idea?

    Blimey, that’s some leap!

    • Schütz says:

      Do you think? Perhaps you think Zoo magazine is just a bit of harmless fun?

      • Tony says:

        So my choices are ‘proof that Western society can’t handle saints’ or ‘harmless fun’?

        Your logic makes the leaps of a journalist sometimes, David.

        In Australian society, a common way to handle an uncomfortable situation is to make a joke of it.

        I think that’s true (not just of Australians BTW), but your logic seems to imply the opposite, ie, making a joke is the sign of an uncomfortable situation.

  2. Louise says:

    It seems to me that Western Civ is having a rocky midlife crisis.

  3. Louise says:

    Insofar as many men would look at Zoo and the like and be largely unperturbed and the fact that they are sold openly in newsagents where even little children can see them is probably a fair reflection of where Western society is at. I mean, it’s not as though Zoo etc are fairly isolated examples of the hypersexualisation of society.

    • Tony says:

      Louise,

      If David’s point was about the ‘hypersexualisation of society’, I’d agree, and there’s plenty of evidence of that.

      But his point was ‘Western society cannot handle saints’.

      The irony is that the overwhelming coverage of this event in the mainstream media has been positive. Surely it’s been one of the most positive Catholic stories since WYD (and, I’d suggest, it’s way more positive than that!)?

      On that basis the proposition that ‘Western society can handle saints’ might be easier to defend.

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