Sodom and Gomorrah: A Lack of Social Justice
Element 2347 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship…..Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one’s neighbor.
Let us now look at how the citizens of Sodom acted toward their visitors as well as Lot:
…all the townsmen of Sodom…called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to your house tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have intimacies with them……this fellow [Lot] came here as an immigrant, and now he dares to give orders! We’ll treat you [Lot ]" worse than them [Lot’s visitors]."
cf Genesis 19:5; 9
As you can see, Sodom was not a very nice place to visit or live in. Reflection upon element 2347 and the previous Bible passage reveals why it was said of Sodom and Gomorrah that their sin was a lack of charity or social justice (cf footnote to Genesis 18:20 New American Bible). With people given over to their unchastity, and thus their lusts, passions, and idolatries, it is indeed doubtful that the two towns were very nice places for travelers or strangers, for those hungry or naked (heaven forbid if some unfortunate soul be found in that condition in those two towns) or otherwise in need to be fed, clothed, and ministered to as needed, and/or for someone to start or raise a family (cf Genesis Chapter 19).
Children were probably the last things the residents of those two towns wanted to be encumbered by. You can easily conjecture how they solved/prevented that potentially "annoying" problem (cf Leviticus 18:21). Indeed, if they were committing the various sexual crimes they reportedly were, it is doubtful there were very many school children. Certainly, continued acts of literal sodomy did not produce a child in those towns. Even, however, heterosexual acts with other than a person’s wife most likely resulted in either abortion or murder of the child at a later time. Should a child in such a town actually reach school age, it is doubtful there were many people concerned enough about education to have a school. Even if they did have school, I would be rather wary about just what they would be "teaching" the children (other than some ancient version of "Heather Has Two Mommies").
A Jewish proverb states that:
It is therefore really doubtful that there were any children in those towns, or else God would have spared them as He promised to Abraham (cf Genesis Chapter 18).
You can be sure the people of Sodom and Gomorrah "took advantage of" more than a few people, namely unsuspecting visitors. Lot most likely stationed himself on the outskirts of town as the sun started to get low, so he could intercept and steer the unsuspecting away from harm before the locals got to them (cf Genesis 19:1-3).
Other poorly treated "residents" were probably the most physically, socially, or economically vulnerable, and probably locked into some kind of co-dependent relationship with those that committed various kinds of violence against them. Indeed, there certainly wasn’t much justice there. I fear to think of what they had to put up with in order to simply eat and pay their bills, which were probably exorbitantly high, so they were always left "owing" something to someone (unfortunately, probably not just money---I’ll let the reader guess what some of these "favors" may have entailed).
….Sodom: proud, sated with food, complacent in their prosperity…they gave no help to the poor and needy. Rather, they became haughty and committed abominable things in my presence
cf Ezekiel 16:49; 50
Why Call To Action (CTA) Can’t Have it Their Way
Call To Action (CTA) (click HERE for more information), the We Are Church Coalition, and other groups that promote an inauthentic "reform" of the Church, actually promote dissent with Magisterial teachings and directives, particularly those pertaining to sexual matters. On the other hand, they also try to pass their movement off as promoters of "social justice." Unfortunately, their underlying attitudes and motives betray them. A large part of the following of Call To Action comes from the more affluent Western world. These "busy-bodies," sated with intellectual and spiritual pride, would rather reform the source of all "permanent values" (cf Gaudium et Spes, element 4) rather than amend their own lives, attitudes, and personal conduct, much of it questionable when it comes to sexual matters. The above verse from Ezekiel, therefore, is most fitting for them, as well as Jesus’ message to the church in Thyatira (cf Revelation 2:18-29). They should also perhaps be aware of the following from Pope John XXIII:
…..the social teaching proclaimed by the Catholic Church cannot be separated from her traditional teaching regarding man’s life.
cf Mater et Magistra, element 222
In other words, the Church’s teachings about Original Sin, our individual need for salvation, and our need to conform our lives to the Decalogue and all its derivative "laws" [ie, the Beatitudes and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)], cannot be ignored (cf Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, element 41; CCC, element 2033). Tolerating the type of conduct mentioned in Revelation 2:20 will invariably lead to situations described in Ezekiel 16:49; 50. This, as a result of an incompletely formed commitment to "social justice" (cf Revelation 2:19).
One of the first assaults on social justice in the two towns showcased here was an assault on the peoples' right to know the Truth about their attitudes and life-styles. This assault no doubt impaired the development of an "authentic human ecology" because, as Truth was "eclipsed," the result was:
You can be certain that the townspeople, if this story took place today, would have had "support" groups that dissent with and reject the Truths of the Church, such as Dignity USA, rather than those that would have helped them face their condition honestly, such as Courage.
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Being the righteous man that Lot was, it is doubtful that he would have offered his two daughters to the mob for them to "do to them as [they] please" unless he knew fully well that they would have no intention of doing anything to them "as they please." In other words, he knew it would not "please" the mob to do anything "to" or "with" his daughters, be it they (the mob) "going into" them or, more preferably, his daughters "encompassing" them (cf Jeremiah 31:22---click HERE for further thoughts on this; also, consider the "mechanics" involved in accomplishing what apparently occurred in Genesis 19:31-36, and compare with the "penetrative" violence that took place regularly in the town). Lot probably knew the town and its inhabitants were too far gone at that point, and the entire discourse (cf Genesis 19:7-9) was all the more confirmation to Lot’s "visitors" that the town was toast---literally. |
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