The Cube and The Cathedral

I recently read a book by imminent theologian Georgy Weigel, one of the most thorough biographers of Pope John Paul II. I've, since then, become fascinated with one of the concepts that Weigel is proposing in that book. Using Europe as a foil, he shows how, in the absence of a God that has a role publicly, people use the concept of power as a guiding principal of morality. One must be in control of one's own circumstances. I was thinking about this considering the press coverage that shows like "The Apprentice" get on TV. Donald Trump is an icon of American society, not someone who values money over relationships and financial success over loving other people. This hunger for power is exemplified in the power to control all aspects of our lives, especially the power to decide human life. European populations are not producing a significant enough second generation to replace themselves. I don't want to get into Weigel's pessimistic presumption that Europe will be an Islamic state in a number of years because I don't have the expertise to know this. Instead, I'd like to focus on the notion that children need to be a chosen activity, an attitude that is dominant at this point in history. If children are seen as either a choice or a mistake it makes human life into something that is, somehow, less valuable. It could seem as though a child born into a family that didn't plan for him or her is a curse or not as good as a child born into a family that makes a twenty year plan for raising the child. Somehow, the child becomes the same as an automobile. Our culture needs to recognize that God does have an effect in our daily lives and that we aren't always in charge. Being faithful should be more important that being powerful.