Wilfred McClay’s thoughts on the “party of death” and the grasping for life brought to mind a movie trailer I saw recently for Children of Men , due in theaters December 25 .
Those of us who read this unsettling P.D. James novel were struck by the implications of its plot. In a world where no child has been born for thirty years, where the current human generation expects that after their deaths all knowledge, art, and achievement will be lost¯well, population control looks like a cruel joke, and pregnancy is no longer a burden inflicted on women but a longed-for miracle.
I’ve been curious to see how the movie will handle this theme, which might be accused of giving aid and comfort to pro-lifers. Early in the trailer, we see the leading characters on a London street, and behind them there is a poster reading “Avoiding Fertility Tests Is Illegal.” Ah, that’s it¯the evil government is trying to compel women to breed. That was a narrow escape.
(Access contributors’ biographies by clicking here .)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Moral Certitude and the Iran War
The current military engagement with Iran calls renewed attention to just war theory in the Catholic tradition.…
The Slow Death of England: New and Notable Books
The fate of England is much in the news as popular resistance to mass immigration grows, limits…
Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War
What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…
