The Devil-ution of Society: From a Civilization of Life to a Culture of Death to an Age of Insanity
by Paul Murano
In July, 1968, Pope Paul VI promulgated Humanae Vitae in which he observed that “a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.” In this book, Paul Murano demonstrates through a dialogue between two friends, spanning the 60-year period between the close of Vatican II and the present day, how the Pope’s observation proved to be prophetic and how the catalyst of contraceptive technologies has led to the descent of human civilization into an age of insanity.
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TESTIMONIALS
“What would our current culture look like to a very ordinary believing Catholic who was cryogenically frozen in 1965 and awakened in 1999? And what would we in 2024 look like to someone in 1999? Paul Murano’s highly imaginative and shockingly realistic answers are, respectively, ‘a culture of death’ and ‘an insane asylum.’ This book is both a delightful thought experiment and a deeply disturbing challenge. It reminds me very much of Hans Christian Anderson’s famous fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes.” — Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College
“In a very compelling style, Paul Murano reignites the reality of a warning another Paul, Fr Paul Marx OSB, issued decades earlier. Our modern civilization has been on the path of moral implosion, and we would all do well to take to heart and seriously reflect upon not just the implications of what Murano has written, but the reality of where we are and how it all began.” — Fr Stephen Imbarrato, LifeMinistriesUS, Masters of Bioethics
“This dialogue between friends spans the generations between the rise of the contraceptive mentality and the present day and explains the rapid slide into the current state of our social degradation where the promise of Lake Wobegon gets turned on its head and the men are not beautiful, the women are not strong, and the children are not all above average.” —Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, co-author with Ronda Chervin of Catholic Realism
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A life-long truth seeker, Paul Murano hosts the Beneath the Surface podcast, has taught philosophy and theology at colleges and universities, has led adult catechesis and pro-life groups, and writes for various publications. He holds two Master of Arts degrees (one in philosophy from Boston College, the other in theology from Providence College) and a bioethics certification from National Catholic Bioethics Center. Paul will be awarded a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of South Africa in March, 2024, following his post-graduate work at Duquesne University.
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