A Response to Paul Sheehan

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

To say last week’s piece, written by Paul Sheehan, was shocking, is an understatement. While reading it, I was unable to fathom how a person could not only feel this way but word it so aggressively. No marginalized group was left unmentioned in his piece discussing whether or not the growing “dechristianization” of America was the main cause of its decline. He starts by declaring, incorrectly, that America had a “Christian culture,” which Sheehan never really explains or defines. Sheehan, seemingly, then blames the “success” of the Civil Rights Movement on the reason movements, such as abortion rights, anti-war protests, and gay liberation, right after praising the Civil Rights Movement. Afterward, he blamed the “liberalization” of the Episcopalian church for aiding in the “dechristianization” of this country. This piece quickly spirals into rampant sexism and homophobia to add on top of the racist claim that the Civil Rights Movement was somehow to blame for all these movements.

These movements were caused by people who had been historically mistreated and sought to fix the issue, and the Civil Rights Movement just happened to be the first major movement in the post-war era, and I would argue that its success was the inspiration for the movements that Sheehan so openly despises. He is so clearly distraught by the fact that women can now get no-fault divorces, which has actually led to a drop in female suicide rates and domestic abuse rates. Sheehan then leads into an argument about toxic masculinity, which he entirely misrepresents. No person interested in the furthering of women’s rights has claimed that simply being a man is oppressive, but that there are systems in place that actually hurt both men

and women. In my opinion, toxic masculinity is when a society punishes and ridicules men who dare to step outside of the status quo, even ridiculing any natural human emotion outside of anger. Sheehan then brings in the “nuclear family” argument, a family unit that did not really exist until after the invention of suburbia, which reduced once multi-generation households into single-family cookie cutters. The “dechristianization” did not lead to the destruction of the “nuclear family,” but instead, things like the War on Drugs and poverty tore once stable families apart.

While being incredibly unironic and completely serious, Sheehan then goes on to say that fatherless households caused the rise in “promiscuity” coupled with the sexual revolution and the introduction of abortion rights. People have been having promiscuous sex for all of history and one would be ignorant to think otherwise. He then goes on to completely misrepresent the feminist movement of the 60s, which did in fact fight for equality, both opportunity AND outcome. This leads to his gripe about abortion, which he refers to as infanticide, as a way to villainize women and reduce them down to their reproductive abilities. Sheehan is completely OK with relegating women to the sphere of domesticity with no options to leave, all while forcing them to have children. That situation sounds more like a hostage situation than a happy marriage. There is nothing wrong with choosing a career over marriage, even careers as influencers on Instagram or as OnlyFans models. Women entering the workforce did not “masculinize” them, it allowed them the option of a life outside of the dependence on husbands. It gives them the freedom to choose, and there should be no shame in choosing. This open and unabashed slut-shaming is disgusting and unnecessary. Feminism is not your issue, women being able to get abortions is not your issue, and women working is not your issue. Your issue is the challenges to “the way things were” and the status quo, and you see these challenges against societal norms as personal.

While referring to the “liberalization” of the Episcopal church, Sheehan mentions that said church began embracing gay rights, which he sees as sexual immorality. That is an incredibly ironic take, considering how highly Sheehan was regarding the Catholic church earlier in his piece. I may not have read the Bible in its entirety, or even practice Christianity, but I feel as though acceptance and love were the true teachings of Jesus Christ. There is nothing wrong with acceptance. There is nothing wrong with queer people. Queer people have existed forever and will continue to exist, despite what you may think about them.

My final thoughts on the piece can be summed up simply. Why do you care so much? Why are you waging a moral cultural war against those who simply want to exist outside of the restraints of “the way things were,” when there is a world that can be more open to everyone? Lack of faith did not lead to the decline of America. Worsening social inequalities, material conditions, rampant incarceration, and lack of any support led to the decline of America. Opinions like these, while you are free to have and write about them, are harmful. They antagonize entire groups of people and justify regression. George Washington is dead. Douglas MacArthur is dead. It is 2023. This is not what SLU stands for. This is not what The Hill stands for. “You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” (Romans 14:10)