In the face of yet another grotesque Obama policy decision on the issue of life, famed bioethicist Wesley J. Smith pondered a similar question. On his blog, he wondered why on earth Obama would take the totally unnecessary action he did in undoing executi
Many Catholics do not know this very consoling truth; the grace of God reaches us through his sacraments ex opere operato. For many this is a meaningless Latin phrase, but it packs a punch when examined more closely.
Beauty and the Brains
Author: MELICIA ANTONIO
Last Post Date: 2009-05-06
The 2009 Miss USA pageant in
Las Vegas last week was supposed to be a contest
between fifty-one gorgeous women, primarily judged by their physical appearance
and poise. The swimsuit and evening gown competitions, as always,
were designed to dazzle the judges and leave men´s mouths
hanging open. Miss California, Carrie Prejean, seemed to be leading
the night, until she opened her own mouth during the
question segment and delivered her famous frank answer to a
controversial question on gay rights.(Read the dialogue at here) Both Carrie Prejean and her judge,gay activist
Perez Hilton have said that losing that segment cost her
the crown and the title. Yet in a society which
prides itself so much on protecting free speech, how could
a pageant contestant be so heavily penalized for an honest
opinion expressed in an intentionally non-offensive way? The debate over
why she really lost has been raging everywhere from major
media channels to hometown blogs. There are those who say
the true reason was because she is “ugly”- a thinly
sustainable theory. Others say she was punished for the simple
fact that the answer was incoherent. It´s plausible, given that
her first statement regarding homosexual and heterosexual marriages, “I think
it´s great Americans are able to choose one or the
other” seems to contradict her later phrase, “, in my
country, in my family I think that I believe that
a marriage should be between a man and a woman.”
Yet her overall message was plainly understood, given that the
judge and the audience didn´t react with blank faces but
with instant boos and cheers. Hilton, in addition to
launching unpleasant insults against Prejean´s person and character, stated that
Miss California´s answer "was divisive and alienated millions of gays
and lesbians." Because "Miss USA should represent all Americans," Prejean,
he said, should have given a more ambiguous answer in
favor of state sovereignty in the marriage debate. A valuable
statement which reveals to us a little more clearly how
he was able to justify his decision. When Pope
Benedict XVI spoke four years ago in the Sistine Chapel
of the “dictatorship of relativism”, the last image any of
us would have had in our minds would be that
of an American beauty pageant. Yet here we see that
dictatorship unfolding in all of its clear haziness. Beauty
pageant contestants are apparently trained to give ambiguous answers to
controversial questions. It leads me to suppose that the reason
why the questions are posed is not so that the
contestant can speak her mind, but so that she can
demonstrate her ability to restrain her thinking, resigning herself to
repeating canned phrases that will offend no one.No one,
except for those who are tired of dumb blondes.According
to this principle, if Miss California had out right said,
“I believe all states should follow suit with legalizing gay
marriage,” she should have been equally penalized, just perhaps not
booed by the 95% left-wing audience and certainly not insulted
by a homosexual judge. After all, at least half of
Americans are not in favor of gay marriage rights or
are undecided in the matter. It matches perfectly with
the first symptom of genuine relativism: the truth doesn´t exist,
“natural law” doesn´t exist, and therefore, no one (especially a
representative) can claim the right to hold or express an
opinion with firmness. A true opinion simply doesn´t exist. This
proposition would work in an ideally relativistic world, in which
everyone went around commenting neither positively or negatively about the
weather and nothing more. Unfortunately, we are human beings created
with the capacity to search for truth, and, as CS
Lewis says, the fact that we argue daily proves that
somebody thinks somebody should be right. This brings to light
the second symptom: relativism creates a vacuum of ideological leadership
and real power into which the strongest faction steps in.
The Miss USA pageant organizers have been accused of promoting
a homosexual agenda; otherwise, it is inexplicable why they would
pick Hilton, an infamous blogger tagged with low ratings by
Rolling Stone, to sit on the panel and then defend
his weak decision.The strongest faction ruled that night in
Vegas; an ideological stepping stone, not a beauty queen, was
sought. The bottom line is that Carrie Prejean held an
opinion that offended a powerful liberal minority. She was perfectly
aware that she would lose the crown in the moment
she gave her answer and that there would be no
chance to explain herself. Prejean walked away from that stage
with the confidence of having maintained her coherence. Relativism, on
the other hand, degrades into a culture of hypocrisy and
double-standard, a culture in which lower values trump the enduring
and the eternal. The Miss USA pageant demands a flawless
body and a flawed mind; the winner´s body must put
the 5´4”, 160 lb figure of the average American woman
to shame, but her mind must be less than human.
A perfect puppet, who for one year is privileged to
tour the country and promote the agenda of her pageant
employers.
Carrie Prejean is just 21 and doubtless will
have more opportunities to express more effectively her opinions in
public. But thank goodness she at least holds an opinion
which is founded upon truth and has the courage to
express it. That´s enough to place her in a class
above and beyond her rivals, and break the mold of
“dumb blonde”. In her own words regarding her pageant performance,
"I feel like I won. I feel like I´m the
winner. I really do."
-2010 Catholic Comments. All rights reserved. | Contact Us
Recent News
Read more.....
