The Egg: A Marval of Fecundity and how The Pill Has Imperiled Western Civilization

The poets have also been mysteriously silent on the subject of eggs. This marvel of fecundity is an almost perfect food. Think of the omelet, of mayonnaise, hollandaise, lemon meringue, custards, schaumtort, and not to mention all the many varieties of egg noodles and oh I forgot the magnificent splendor and delight of the deviled egg.

Our being and our sustenance are products of fertility and fruitfulness – sacred things worthy of honor.

Yet in our arrogance and our desire for sexual freedom we have waged war upon fertility. The Pill has rained down all of the unintended consequences the old fuddy-duddy, Pope Paul VI, warned us about.

Writing in First Things, Mary Eberstadt observed (full text):

“Let's begin by meditating upon what might be called the first of the secular ironies now evident: Humanae Vitae's specific predictions about what the world would look like if artificial contraception became widespread. The encyclical warned of four resulting trends: a general lowering of moral standards throughout society; a rise in infidelity; a lessening of respect for women by men; and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments.”

She goes on to detail how each of these has come to pass.

The pill decoupled sex from marriage and neither are the better for it. Marriage and the household economy have taken the brunt of the collateral damage from our war on fertility.

Marriage is a primal institution honoring that which is sacred – human sexuality and fertility.

It creates the ties that bind individuals together, families together and generations together. That “for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness or health” part of the marriage vow is not without meaning.  It provides the fundamental fabric of our social safety net.

That net is in tatters. We’ve mended it as best we can with a vast array of  government “entitlements.” Only now are we coming to the grim conclusion that those entitlements are economically unsustainable.

While congress tackles with what to do with trillion dollar budget deficits, on the New York Times editorial pages, essays proclaim the wonderful social benefits of open marriages (full text) and fornicating teenagers (full text).