Corruption of morals.

No one can remain decent in a culture that has become obscene.

All the scandals of today reveal a complete corruption of morals.  Corruption is something Pope Francis continually speaks about and points out.  Today he called it the 'smog of corruption' which pollutes society.

With the clergy scandal the smog began to clear, just enough to see the 'filth' in the Church - perhaps this is what Blessed Paul VI meant when he spoke of the 'smoke of Satan'?  It certainly couldn't have been a liturgical reference, since the liturgy, the Eucharist is the heart of the Church, the source and summit of the life of the Church, it is sacred and inviolable... there is only one, holy Mass, albeit two forms in the Latin rite.

That said, first the judgment and chastisement exposed the corruption in the Church - in a sense, now it comes upon the world - culture/society.  I may be wrong, but it seems to me this is what is happening now, the corruption is being revealed.  People deny it - like those busily defending perpetrators such as Weinstein, Spacey, Roy Moore ... and before them, Trump.  What seems so strange is that they all look so normal.  Especially those defending politicians.  Few will defend Weinstein and Spacey, but many are willing to pick their accusers apart, seeking to discredit them or blame them - or just shame them.  In a sense, that is part of what I mean when I point out that no one can remain decent in a culture that has become obscene.

Rotting on the inside.

I'm thinking the least defensible actors in all of this are those who are most vocal in dismissing allegations against those they support politically.  This is corruption.  This is hypocrisy unmasked.  The toleration of lies and deceitful propaganda to promote a political agenda.  We saw it when every Trump supporter defended him against sexual harassment allegations.  Now Roy Moore is getting the same sort of treatment.   Alabama State Representative Ed Henry has suggested the accusers should be jailed.  Blaming and shaming is one reason victims do not come forward.  Edging on complete blasphemy, State Auditor Zeigler  defended Moore with an obscene reference to the Holy Family.  It's an outrageous statement coming from a Christian.  A respectable Christian politician.

Who can be surprised when figures in the entertainment industry are charged with sexual misconduct and corruption?  Be it male on male on female on young people on children?  Throughout history, actors, musicians and entertainers were always considered more or less immoral, it is only in our day that we have placed them upon pedestals and hold them in high esteem or treat them like royalty.  The same goes for professional sports and athletes - although a bit less so.  Every aspect of culture is corrupt:  The worthless are prized highly by the sons of men. (Psalm 12: 9)  It seems to me to be a form of propaganda, to deceive the public, already seduced by obscenity.

I sense it even among Catholic critics of the Pope, the Church and the liturgy.  They can look and sound so normal.  Something is wrong with them however, something is off.  Their rhetoric is just as obscene, just as deceptive.  They are anti-Catholic even though they claim to be more Catholic than the Pope.  They seem to me to be caught in the same smog of corruption, disoriented by the fog, the smoke of Satan.

I'll leave it at that, closing with what the Holy Father said today:

Speaking about what he described as the “smog of corruption” that pollutes society, the Holy Father also urged for prayers for the corrupt so that they “find a way out of the prison in which they wanted to enter.” - P. Francis

One more thought I like to point out to religious people, not all the residents of Sodom were gay.