Chastity vs Consumerism

Chastity is not only a witness of the world to come, but it can be a way of taking a stand against a society of consumerism, where people are seen as commodities. An NOR article says:


Given that our society has been overwhelmingly converted to an ethic of indulgence, chastity is not merely a type of dissent, it is a form of economic sub­version. In a consumer society, chastity is a profound form of Christian witness and social protest. The chaste person refuses to participate in the degrada­tion of sex and the degradation of the human person it implies. He proclaims himself the master of his desires rather than a slave to them. His life bears witness that a fully human existence consists not in a hedonistic pursuit of pleasure, but in a higher calling to a life of discipline and self-sacrifice -- in other words, to a life of loving and serving others. Admit­tedly, there are those whose chastity is more prudery than protest, more naïveté than non-cooperation. But chastity need not be rooted in immaturity. For a per­son with a strong social conscience, chastity is a ma­ture response to a great evil. It is a form of rebellion. It is a virtue that undermines the very foundations of a culture based on selfishness and greed, and begins to build a new one based on self-emptying love -- the love which Christians know as the kenosis of God.