Someone, somewhere give Helen Rittelmeyer a copy of Dawn Eden's book.

.

Madame's Nightshirt

Mrs. Peperium

 

. 

If Helen had read it, then maybe,

this could've been avoided. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "...especially when someone is invoking Catholicism and occasional references to GK Chesterton, you tend to assume that between the cracks of this combative sounding worldview there must be some underlying iceberg of traditional morality, but are we so sure?..."

-- Todd Seavey.

 

When you self-identify as a Catholic, especially these days, even atheists who've you've allowed to bed you, still can be old-fashioned or absurd enough to expect you to behave like a Catholic.

 

Father M's recollection of meeting Dawn Eden from  the summer of 2007:

I was at a “Theology on Tap” last night presented by Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, the outgoing Archbishop for the Military Services and incoming Archbishop of Baltimore. He is truly one of the finest members of the American hierarchy. A plain-spoken New Yorker and former 82nd Airborne military chaplain who jumped out of all sorts of aircraft ministering to his flock in Vietnam, he now engages in hand-to-hand combat with moral relativism and the many evils associated with the post-Christian culture of death. So there I was, enjoying my deliciously greasy Reuben, the Archbishop’s witty and insightful talk and the excellent company of Father F. and Sister C., when I saw a familiar face I couldn’t quite place. Then it, um, dawned on me…

For those who are unfamiliar with Dawn Eden she is an author and lecturer on the subject of chastity. A convert from the faith of Judaism and the lifestyle of Hedonism she addresses in her book, The Thrill of the Chaste, the ways to overcome our culture’s obsession with pre-marital (and extra-marital) sex especially as it pertains to young women. In an era where “Sex and the City” has been one of the most popular television shows and the quest for meaningless and often anonymous sex has been touted as a source of power and fulfillment, Dawn shows that true sexual fulfillment comes only in the marital union of husband and wife.

I found Dawn through a Patum Peperium link and was thrilled at what I saw; I recommended her book to several parishioners and hoped to hear her speak. Last winter, Dawn came into town for a speaking tour. She came to the Catholic Information Center and a few local parishes and I wasn’t able to get to any of her talks. Recently, Dawn moved from New York City to accept a position with the Cardinal Newman Society in the Washington area and we are blessed to have her.

If you are wondering why a cassock-enswathed, dust-covered , old-fashioned priest could possibly be interested in a hip twenty or thirty-something chastity speaker it is because I live in a parish partly peopled by hip twenty to thirty-something chastity violators. My parish is located half a block from a subway stop in an upscale, trendy area filled with apartments and condos, restaurants and bars. On weekend nights the sidewalks are filled with beer-filled boys and scantily-clad girls hopping from one club to the next. The parish parking lot is, unfortunately, the occasional backdrop for a drunken brawl or an amorous assignation. These young people need something better than a promiscuous lifestyle and I know that many of the ones who help fill this Church to the rafters on Sunday are looking for something better, deeper, holier. Better, that is, than the contraceptive-mentality-bill-of-goods that has been sold to them their whole life long from sex education classes in the schools to condom classes in the university dorms to the empty-but-stylish lifestyle of hedonism which has become the standard default of entertainment today. Deeper than the failed or temporary relationships of their “Me-Decade” parents. Holier than the moral relativism that the enforced secularization of our society has brought down upon us. To criticize this cancerous status quo is to be labeled a religious fanatic or a prude. Dawn is neither. Rather, she is a voice of reason and sound arguments pointing a misguided generation in the right direction toward the authentic fulfillment of chastity before marriage and the blessings and goodness that flow from a virtuous life. And not a moment too soon.

 

 

Father writes the truth, beautifully.

Listen to him.

Read Dawn's book.

 

 

 

I wish both Miss Rittelmeyer and Mr. Seavey well.

 

..

...

Comments

[Fear and Loathing in Georgetown]

"When you self-identify as a Catholic, especially these days, even atheists who've you've allowed to bed you, still can be old-fashioned or absurd enough to expect you to behave like a Catholic."

By this I take it you mean going bareback?

[Mrs. Peperium]

It's like lies. Two sins doesn't make it right. But actually I was speaking more to her (according to Seavey and he's not unbiased here) lack of "iceberg of traditional morality".

That's a hell of a phrase, isn't it?

[Fear and Loathing in Georgetown]

Personally, I like her and think Todd is a bit disturbed. So, I'd take his phrases with a grain of salt.

[Mrs. Peperium]

Well honestly, I agree with you completely.

She's paid a (too) high price for dating him.

[Fear and Loathing in Georgetown]

Mrs. Self-Important informs me that he has password protected his blog.

[Mrs. Peperium]

Like that will do anything at this point.

[Mr. WAC]

Todd acted exactly like one would expect an atheist, Libertarian to act, which is to say, without reference to an objective standard of behavior (or anything).

Helen, like so many of the idolatrous Right, is a "religious" hypocrite.

They are both (if you'll excuse me) assholes.

[Mrs. Peperium]

I do excuse you Mr. WAC. I agree completely with your assessment of Seavey. Helen...not really.. but can see how you see it this way.

Helen is young and very bright -she graduated from Yale in what? 2008? And she's getting her first tastes of success as well as now the failures that come from it. Religious or not, dating a man 20 years your senior isn't really ever a good idea. Unless he's a widower, there's usually a good reason he's still on the open market. In this case the reasons were probably all outlined in Dawn Eden's book....in his own words to boot.

[The Ancient]

So, Todd Seavey wrote for The Justice League, just as Patricia Highsmith wrote for Batman.

It's all coming together for me.

[Mrs. Peperium]

That is the most cogent critique of the affair in the entire blogosphere.