Everything in the public square seems to be increasingly conflicted. We seem to be operating with less and less shared values. It feels like we're less and less sure of what holds us together as a 'society.' A retreat into 'tribes' both drives this social fragmentation and is a result of it. Post-modern scepticism towards metanarratives, which has now become culturally normal, significantly contributes to this fragmentation. If we no longer believe that objective truth, independent of our individual or tribal perspectives, exists, we will no longer believe we can appeal to that objective reality as common ground for debate. All we will do is exert power to magnify ourselves and punish those who disagree with us. Because we believe that our cause is right, we will always think of ourselves as the victim of other people's aggression. Therefore, as Stephen McAlpine says, we will always think we're punching "up." We'll valorise ourselves as the ...
I've just had an article published on the AFES Websalt online mag. More to Life than Sex. It's about the difference between using sex "just for fun", and using it to enhance relationships. Co-authored with Dr. Pat ("mum"!).
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A couple of great example of this worldview you've outlined come to mind:
1) Back in 2004, the Good Weekend magazine published an article with the title "I don't want to die a virgin" by Catherine Von Ruhland(we looked at it in apologetics, so I've got a hard copy, but I haven't been able to find a version of it on the web). The author was then a 40 year-old woman who was leaving evangelical Christianity for the reasons expressed in the title. Sadly, she'd fallen for that worldview hook, line & sinker.
2) This worldview also shows up in popular books on Jesus like the Da Vinci Code & The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. As a young Christian, I was lent a copy of the latter book by my year's atheist and reading that Christians had to admit that Jesus must have had sex. For sex, their argument went, is an essential part of being truly human.