In Demanding That We Surrender Bodily Autonomy, The Pope Proves He Knows Nothing About Human Dignity.
There is nothing like demanding obedience to false authority and conformity of belief and behavior that more underscores and buttresses our individual “dignity.”
Yeah right.
Demanding that humans are some kind of cookie-cutter clones, black-and-white simpletons and helpless prisoners of their own biology is not, in my book, the slightest show of “respect” for us as the most remarkable species that ever walked the planet… perhaps any planet, out of the trillions that may be out there in space.
Yet that is precisely the “logic” that Pope Francis and the Catholic Church put forth in the “Dignitas Infinita” (Infinite Dignity) doctrinal proclamation released this month. Five years in the making, this document charges that abortion, euthanasia, surrogate motherhood, homosexuality, transgender transition and even modern gender theory are each and all affronts and assaults upon human “dignity.”
Sure it’s all old stuff. Nothing surprising. Except for the “dignity” part. This actually represents a softening of the venerable sin label, still a trusty cudgel for religious fundies of all religions. Rather than adding to the scream, “You are going to hell,” Pope Francis, to the consternation of millions of conservatives, wants to be inclusive, even welcoming to those who are currently “led astray” by these temptations. Instead of threatening torture for eternity (among the lovelier concepts Christianity has bequeathed the world), Francis and his editors want to say, “Dude, you’re bumming us out, making us look bad.”
Of course, it’s pretty rich when a creed directly responsible for murdering well over a hundred million humans presumes to lecture anyone else on matters of morality, ethics or “dignity.” And this legacy of violence extends pretty much across the array of religious sects through the centuries. When the Buddhists are busy at genocide, you’ve confirmed that division and conflict are endemic to the religious mind, and that the creeds generated by such are not in any way, as history has proven, deserving of any credence in the matter of peace on Earth.
But are Francis and his be-mitred pals on to something here? Is proclaiming bodily autonomy, in one way or another, demeaning to our individual and species dignity? Or would that outcome actually be far more prevalent from the reverse? The demand that we submit, shut up, obey, conform, surrender to and accept whoever and whatever the dominant culture tells us we “are.”
Who is the “dignified?” The free person? Or the slave? The autonomous individual? Or the programmed robotic clone? The one true to nature? Or the one indoctrinated by manmade custom and fallible dogma?
I think anyone thinking clearly should know the answer to these questions.
Here are more.
Whose life is this? Whose world is this? Who makes these rules? On whose authority?
The answer “God” to any of these questions is unacceptable. Not simply because “God” is a fiction, but doubly because few of all those who believe in this biggest of myths can even agree on what the term even means. For now, alas, we have no choice but let the sects squabble on that count, but let’s do our best to keep all of that sheer nonsense out of our secular culture and law. Let us establish rules of belief and behavior that nurture our human potential and celebrate our wonderful diversity. Theocracies have lost favor in the modern world, precisely because of the sloppiness and cruelty of their grounding, incongruence with everything else and slippery slope into authoritarianism that they engender. Those that remain are not places you want to live, or perhaps even visit, lest you end up kidnapped, jailed or beheaded.
The Pope and every other religious figure does not speak for “God.” They know “God” like an ant knows the ocean. Which is to say, they cannot understand the concept. Their “knowing” comes not from science, not from anything observable or measured or calculated or natural, but from the frenetic imaginations of Iron Age seer-profiteers who did not understand anything about how the world actually works. There is a Source of it ALL, for sure, which sparked the spectacular evolution, bit by bit, of the known Universe. Science admits to not much insight into what this was or is, but is on the case, and guarantees it will be nothing whatsoever like the old man in the sky of religious texts. In their extravagant efforts to lead culture, these religious “authorities” might as well be urging blood-letting to cure a disease. They live in the wrong millennia, and so do all of their cultists.
Meanwhile, in the real world. The only answer to those previously posed questions:
Whose life is it? Mine. Whose body is it? Mine. Whose world is it? Mine. Who makes the rules when it comes to me? Me. On whose authority? Mine.
How else should it be? Should my life, my body, my world, my rules to live by, my authority over what pertains to me be surrendered to some other entity? Not if you want to preserve your “dignity,” much less your freedom. You have to be master of YOU, or else YOU are owned by someone or something else. You have the right to control what is yours, obviously including your body, and to establish the manner in which you are going to be in the world. The world you live in is yours; it should not be governed on the very personal level by some external force, certainly not one with the foibles and fallacies of any frickin’ church! Not that some nations, or states therein, with or without religion, are much better.
Importantly, proclaiming your personal autonomy does not equate to separating from the rest of society or violating laws and customs that help us all co-exist and thrive. The dignified person cares not for just oneself, but for everyone else, as well. That comes naturally when we perceive not just ourselves but all others as unique, autonomous individuals, innately infused with meaning, purpose, virtue and, of course, dignity. Life, all life, is precious to the person who cares enough about themselves to want the best for others, as well. Conversely, it is far easier for the clone brigade to perceive that life is cheap, undignified, sinful, ugly, dirty, dangerous. And from that perspective, conflict and violence are lurking not far behind. With this pronouncement that these deviants from the norm are somehow “undignified,” Pope Francis falls into the same pattern, making it more likely that these people will be ostracized… or worse. What is actually undignified is the abject failure to correctly differentiate between what is truly right, and what is wrong.
This all seems especially absurd coming from the edifices of belief in Jesus the Christ, when that guy, himself quite an nonconformist individual, espoused nothing of the sort and repeatedly urged compassion toward all manner of the so-presumed “undignified” in his corrupt society, including, of all archetypes, “eunuchs,” whom today we would term transgender!
If the Pope is so wrong about the dignity of those demanding their own individual autonomy, what else is he also wrong about? For someone assumed to have a direct line to “God,” these guys sure get a lot wrong. This so-called “liberal” Pope who has the inclination to tone down the persecution, the oppression, maybe even include some of these wayward, undignified individuals is yet still mired in a conservative institution with a conservative worldview. It’s an ancient view. It’s a duality. Black-and-white. Either/or. Good/evil. Pure/impure. Saint/sinner. Male/female. It is a view based on ignorance. It’s a view that purports to enshrine some false “purity.” It is not real. It is not how the Universe works.
The Universe features few real dualities. It is comprised of spectrum on top of spectrum within spectra. Rainbows all the way up, all the way down, everywhere you look. You want to see a rainbow that will blow your mind, check the Periodic Table. Now that’s real real.
Even more beautiful is the spectrum of life on Earth, which breaks down into innumerable other spectrums of ways of being. Just about every imaginable way of being has been explored. Godzilla has not yet actually emerged, but he is not at all out of the question. When it comes to sex and gender, nature applies it like an abstract painter. Anything goes. Some creatures go back and forth at will. There was an LGBTQ world long before monkeys came on the scene, much less humans. To attempt to pinhole nature into strict boxes of behavior is to insult her, abuse her, violate her. Evolution is ever inventing, ever playful, ever probing, ever seeking an equilibrium with each of her species. Being different, outside the norm, seeking equilibrium within our own society and/or eco-system is not a failure, certainly not an abomination, it is the way of evolution itself.
Evolution’s most stunning creation, so far, is the human brain, the most complex thing ever discovered. Humans can, without a whit of hubris, embrace being nature’s crowning achievement, even as we struggle to intellectually, emotionally, morally and spiritually live up to that lofty status. Through us, the Universe can see and know itself. An even higher and more enlightened response would be for us, shards of the Source, children of “God” if you prefer, to shower it with love (not “worship,” mind you).
There are as many ways to be “human” as there have been humans. Every single one of us is a unique life form. One body. One mind. One individual. We are naturally “dignified” just by being alive. Just being different is not a problem. It is actually a gift. Who the hell wants a society where everyone is the same? Forces that would encourage just that are the problem. We only become “undignified” when we become agents of dysfunction, whether in society or within ourselves. Certainly we are captured in dysfunction when somebody or something else takes over our autonomy. But seeking to align your sexuality, or gender, with your true self — as defined by you — is in no way dysfunction. Wishing to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is not dysfunction. Willingness to allow someone else to carry your baby, or to be the carrier, is not dysfunction. At the end, when all hope is lost and only pain and anguish are ahead, the choice to end your life is not dysfunction. All of these are solutions to dysfunction. All of these are logical. All of them enhance, they do not denigrate, human dignity. All of these are meaningful, purposeful, even beautiful in their own context. When a society or institution or tradition or custom or belief that is dysfunctional itself attempts to clumsily step in and demand that such self-calibration should not or cannot occur, now that’s undignified to say the least, it’s diabolical.
The true dignity of the human species requires that our natural diversity in ways of being in the world be allowed to flourish without prejudice or punishment. It is full deployment of our potential that best serves our species. The best way for any individual to be in this world is as fully them self. Only they can determine what that entails. On whose authority? The authority of the planet, and the Universe! An individual, a religion, a society that deigns to tell them what that should be, or how they should be, or who they should be… now there’s where dysfunction begins. That is the real indignity.
