Blind guides, who strain out the gnat but swallow the camel!
–Matthew 23:24–
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, people are obsessing about unimportant things such as television shows, all the while failing to take any notice of the war that is threatening to destroy their society. That is a common tactic of the Evil One. Satan focuses our attention on relatively unimportant minutia so that we fail to pay attention to the things that really matter.
Our own society is not immune. Consider the following contradictions: It is okay if preborn children are directly aborted, but, “please, won’t you adopt a stray puppy?” Never mind all the pornography that is flooding our brains, but, for heaven’s sake, don’t permit the media to show anyone smoking! It is not the job of our schools to teach young people morality, the difference between right and wrong, but make sure every five-year-old has a computer. I cannot help but think of the words first attributed to Euripides: Quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat. “Whom the god would destroy, he first makes mad.”
I have nothing against being humane to animals. I am not advocating the use of tobacco. Nor am I anti-technology. Yet let us get our priorities straight. Let us obey God above all else. Human life is infinitely more precious than animal life. The loss of purity is far more devastating than the loss of bodily health. Technology without morality is madness. Let us put first things first!