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For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:2-5a CSB)
Next in our continuing examination of the pillars of Distrephism is the secondary trait of hedonism. We first looked at antithetical revisionism which helps to center Distrephism as a religion of rebellion and opposition. Specifically, opposition to the religion of Christianity and Western society. Hedonism is another secondary trait of Distrephism that explains the nature of Distrephism as a religion wherein the pursuit of pleasure, self-affirmation, and the “sanctification” of one’s personal desires is paramount.
This last part is key to understanding what Distrephism truly is. More than anything, Distrephism holds to a deification of the self, in which one’s desires are treated as inherently good. This is exactly why Distrephism holds supposed “sexual liberation” as an ideal. An ideal that is treated as a moral good because it enables “authenticity.”
The core of sexual liberation is authenticity—being true to oneself, regardless of societal expectations or norms.
Such a statement is the moral norm within Distrephism. That is because the self is the standard of right and wrong. Therefore, the pursuit of the self is the highest ideal and the guiding moral compass for Distrephists. The language of authenticity, being true to oneself, self-affirmation, self-care, self-love, or even the framing of destigmatization is routine in Distrephism. This verbiage is a clear indicator of the centrality of hedonism in the Distrephist religion.
This becomes particularly evident in the strong emphasis Distrephists place on sexuality and abortion within their activism and proselytizing. The promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism, and abortion is essential to Distrephists. An identity rooted in these issues is so important that it shapes the lives of most Distrephists. Even to the point that some Distrephist “evangelists” devote their entire lives towards political activism in favor of homosexuality, transgenderism, or abortion. The stances like this that are held so fundamentally prove just how deeply rooted hedonism is within the Distrephist worldview.
Jessica Valenti, for example, writes a considerable amount in favor of abortion, and the justification is always the same. It is a complete dehumanization of the unborn in favor of the self. Masquerading as concern for women. She makes it abundantly clear in her book, Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win, when she says “Abortions are a proactive moral good because they allow people to control their own bodies, lives, and futures” (p. 4).
The reason abortion is seen as such a good thing is that it is necessary to allow the unhindered pursuit of personal pleasure. This by necessity means justifying abortion and dehumanizing the unborn:
What’s more, the judges ruled that when emergency room doctors are faced with a patient who has a dangerous or life-threatening pregnancy, they have a responsibility to “stabilize both the pregnant woman and her unborn child.” That means a 6-week embryo would warrant as much emergency treatment as you do.
Note that Ms. Valenti laments the fact that a law would require an emergency room to care for both the pregnant mother and her 6-week-old unborn child. She is aghast at this idea because she thinks that anything which would impede a woman’s personal desires is unacceptable. She therefore describes the unborn child through dehumanizing language.
I don’t need to tell you what it means in reality when doctors are forced to treat a pregnancy with the same care they do an actual patient.
Amid all this rage claimed on behalf of women, she talks about protecting women’s lives yet describes the unborn as someone who isn’t even an “actual patient.” Framing the baby as a non-entity.
It is not at all unique to Ms. Valenti either. This thinking is a staple in Distrephist views of abortion. The Exhale Pro-Voice abortion support organization explains its purpose on the front page, stating, “You deserve nonjudgmental after-abortion support”. Their about page proclaims, “We follow your lead, hold nuance for you, and support you in tending to your wellbeing in a way that feels best for you.” Repeating the kind of “affirming” language that only serves the purpose of validating what one wants. Regardless of the circumstances.
Make no mistake, they know that the unborn are, in fact, children. All one has to do is look at the stories found on the Exhale Pro-Voice “After-Abortion Stories” page. Such as one, called “Follow Your Intuition”, in which a woman explains that she was “anxious, scared, worried, and shocked that a soul was being created inside of me.” Later she uses the words “child” and “baby.” Which makes it pretty clear that she knew the unborn child inside her womb was a true child and a human being. She ends the story with a defiant rationalization:
Never let a man influence your emotions or your decisions about your body because we never get to decide what they do with theirs.
In the end, the reasoning was simply to pursue the self at the expense of anyone else. Hedonism defined her choices.
Another example of this hedonistic element in Distrephism is the fact that sexual liberation is tied to the pursuit of pleasure, even when clearly at the expense of others. An interesting story in the Advocate praises a “Pride Month survival kit” that a New York City “LGBTQ+” health clinic gave away. Ask yourself, what would a “Pride Month” survival kit contain?
Well, the article answers this question. This survival kit contained: rapid HIV testing kits, DoxyPEP (for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis), and even fentanyl testing strips and naloxone to deal with opioid overdose.
The article cheerily explains that the “Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City is taking to the streets this Pride season to equip queer and trans folks with the supplies they need to have a good time and stay safe.”
The Advocate is openly praising and affirming open debauchery and clearly linking it with homosexuality, transgenderism, and “Pride.” If this isn’t an outright approval of hedonism, I don’t know what is! This kind of behavior is praised within Distrephism, and the linkage to abortion is clear. The Distrephist religion holds personal pleasure as one of the highest goods. Regardless of what it might be. The deification of the self and the pursuit of individual desires are so important in Distrephism that they justify the dehumanization of the unborn. Simply because they are obstacles to self-affirmation and the pursuit of one’s desires.
On top of being a religion of rebellion, Distrephism is a hedonistic religion wherein self-worship is central. Their language revolves around the self and the justification of any desires a person may have. No matter the consequences and no matter who it might otherwise harm. Distrephists most certainly have a god. It is just the god of self.
The sensible person’s wisdom is to consider his way, but the stupidity of fools deceives them. (Proverbs 14:8)