There are basically three kinds of denial when it comes to sin: 1) denial of doing it, 2) denial of responsibility for it, and 3) denial that it is wrong. The first two are as old as mankind, illustrated in Gn 3:8-13. The third, which is gravest of all (cf. Is 5:20), not only leads to the unforgivable sin (final impenitence) but is rather unique to our age. A society dying of moral decay is one that calls good evil and evil good – not only within the private sphere, but also proudly in the public sphere.

Last night I turned the TV on ABC just in time to see the captain of the U.S. women’s soccer team kissing her “girlfriend” on national TV. They were just announced as “Best Team” at the ESPY Awards (sports version of the Oscars). Putting aside the political correctness of them beating out my Superbowl champion Patriots and my World Series winning Red Sox, both of which were nominees, no one batted an eyelash or said a word about the kiss that was hoisted on America’s children in prime time. The narrative of relativism the elites have conditioned society into accepting was palpable. You could almost hear the litany of carefully crafted cliches interrupting everyone’s conscience as they processed it – “this is the 21st century…you’re close-minded…living in the dark ages…love is love…this is what freedom looks like,” etc., and of course you’re a “bigot” for even beginning to question it.

Moral evil has been around since the beginning; but calling sin ‘good’ and those who oppose it ‘evil’ is an entirely new level. That is why ESPN and the two women kissing – which seemed perfectly choreographed for the camera – along with people like Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the Obamas, and all those who seek to publicly normalize sin, are in very serious trouble. “Woe to those who call good evil and evil good” (Is 5:40); especially in public, for “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mk 9:42).