When did modesty go out of style?  Like the frog in the pot, the decline in morality has been so gradual and so prolonged we have hardly noticed the change and forgotten Christian teaching.  In fact, the catechesis has been so deficient in the last 40 years that we have two whole generations, which are clueless as to what is required of them as Catholics.

Been to the beach or pool lately?  I’m no prude, but sometimes I can’t tell the difference between what I see at backyard parties and what one might expect poolside at the Playboy mansion. This summer I went to a couple of graduation parties and was downright embarrassed by what I witnessed. 

There were married women in seductively plunging necklines, teenage girls parading around in skimpy swimsuits leaving nothing to the imagination and even young boys with their underpants exposed.  And they’re not alone.

In the secular, market driven world we live in, competing for the attention of others through exhibitionism has become commonplace.  Just go to the beach, a restaurant, a nightclub a place of employment, or even a church and you will find the same thing or worse.

A recent fashion advertisement has caused a stir in the United States, featuring jeans that give new meaning to low-slung.  The men's autumn fashion line is being promoted with jeans that plunge so low they have been dubbed "pubic pants".

The Cardinal Vicar of  Pius XII issued the Standards of Modesty in Dress stating, "A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees.  Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper."[1]

But standards of modesty change with the dictates of fashion, right?  Not according to the Church.  To quote Pope Pius XII, “To say that ‘…modesty is a matter of custom’ is just as wrong as to say that, ‘…honesty is a matter of custom’…”  The absolute norm that the Pope refers to is this:  If a fashion is an inducement to sin for others, it is a sin for us to wear it.[2]  But lets fast forward and look at what the Church says today.

According to the Vatican document The Truth And Meaning of Human Sexuality, “The practice of decency and modesty in speech, action and dress is very important for creating an atmosphere suitable to the growth of chastity, but this must be well motivated by respect for one's own body and the dignity of others. Parents… should be watchful so that certain immoral fashions and attitudes do not violate the integrity of the home, especially through misuse of the mass media.”[3] 

“To women who think sexy clothes and a come-hither wink are keys to the executive suite, a new Tulane University study offers a warning: Virtue is not just its own reward, it also seems to be rewarded in the workplace.

Women who told interviewers they do not flirt or wear provocative clothing on the job had received an average of three promotions during their careers and earned between $75,000 and $100,000 annually, according to the report presented Monday [August 8, 2005] at a management meeting in Honolulu.  By contrast, the "Sex and the City" set, given to bedroom eyes, short skirts and the dispensing of back rubs, had received an average of two promotions and were paid between $50,000 and $75,000, according to the report.

… The study was based on interviews with 164 women with master's degrees in business, a group that was about evenly divided between those who did and those who didn't admit to workplace flirting. But there were no Betty Boops among the MBAs. Even the women who admitted they used flirtation in their careers insisted they engaged in such practices infrequently, study data show… ‘There wasn't a lot of this kind of activity, but when it comes to sex as a tool, a little seems to go a long way and in the wrong direction,’ said Tulane psychology professor Arthur Brief, the lead author’ [of the study].”[4]

But today’s anarchists want nothing to do with the facts, or Church teaching if it impinges on their existential liberty.  I’m reminded of Earl Landgrebe, the Republican Congressman at the time of the Watergate scandal, who said "Don't confuse me with the facts.  My mind is made up.”

While we may not judge persons, since only God can know the heart, we can and we must objectively judge actions, especially when they fall into the category of grave matter.  We cannot pretend that everything is normal when it isn’t.  But public reactions to such judgments are a capital offense, in what has now become a very pagan America. 

In the Old Testament, “The wicked Jezebel, who did not herself believe in God, caused an innocent man to be put to death on the [false] charge of blasphemy against Him!”[5]  She was also a priestess who made a regular practice of offering human sacrifices of children to Baal.  Point out the moral shortcomings of a woman or her children and you just touched the third rail.  Jezebel, the original feminist, is very much with us in our culture today.

Steve Bonta, Ph.D., author of America’s Engineered Decline writes in the special report Why Morality Matters, “It is my conviction that the greatest threat to our free republic is moral decline…

It is becoming fashionable nowadays to discount or ignore completely the relationship between morality and political liberty.  Perhaps this is because the deteriorating moral culture in the modern United States of America seeks to be its own justification.  Freedom, some believe, can flourish independently of moral standards, as long as we allow every man uninhibited license in his so-called personal lifestyle choices.  This badly flawed notion is going to be the death of our republic. Unless Americans wake up to the fact that morality matters.

Fortunately for us, others have followed the path of moral and political decline before.  The trail they blazed into oblivion is worth considering, if we wish to avoid repeating their mistakes.

The history of Rome, with all its triumphs and tragedies, has much to teach contemporary America.  Rome, the first free constitutional republic, became an important model of limited government for the American Founding Fathers.  The history of Rome is really a morality play on a grand scale.”[6]

The spirit of Jezebel, with her immorality and her assault on modesty, not to mention the daily sacrificing of children through abortion, must not be allowed to become normalized.  It must be confronted.

Be sure to count the cost, but do not shrink from your responsibility to confront evil, because God has promised His Grace will be sufficient for you.  Remember, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”[7]