THE WAR AGAINST THE FAMILY

The war against the family allows no chance for defense. This comes as the first shock in the struggle against the annihilation of the family. Attacks take the form of confounding manipulation of our lives. Open warfare would give us a fighting chance, but how can we barricade ourselves  against mind control?

Shock tactics, intimidation, social isolation, peer pressure (so-called), crisis-making, endurance testing, seduction and counter-evangelization are a few of the strategies that undermine the family. They keep the family divided and its members scattered far and wide.

We are in the end conditioned into silence. People in general don’t want to hear about the destruction of the family, so they give us a wide berth. We try not to talk about it, and when we do the discussion often results in estrangement.

The lonely struggle to protect the family brings to mind Plato’s  allegory of the cave: “If men are confined to a cave where they can see only the shadows of things cast on the wall by a flickering fire, they will be content with these distorted appearances. But the man who climbs from the cave into the sunlight, the man who makes the ascent from below and discovers the brilliant world of truth, will not be satisfied to live in the half-light of deception and bondage. Should he return to the cave, his attempts to bring enlightenment will arouse distrust, and he will be persecuted by those whose only realities are the shadows of ignorance.”

- Rita Daly

Garnerville, N.Y.

November 2008