NYT's Modern Fat Romance

The October 2, 2024 of the NYT's Modern Love, explores obesity and romance: ‘For me, the hardest was walking into a party with our friends, where I was like, I don’t want to be the fat couple.’

Gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins, is defined as excess in eating and drinking

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit; whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by others. - Romans 14:17

The NIH says the obesity epidemic is because people are responding to the forces in their environment, rather than lacking in willpower and self-control.62(pS141)

Likewise, the Fentanyl crisis, according to Yale Medicine, driving overdose deaths is because fentanyl is easy to manufacture, it is easy to ship around the country - not willpower and self-control.

WHO'S Bertolote argues that the mental health crisis is due to a lack of clear and widely accepted definition of mental health as a discipline was. - not willpower and self-control

Gone are the days of personal responsibility. The NYT, NIH, Yale Medicine, WHO et al, seem to have graduated from Stanford University Professor Nir Halevy's class on how to blame others:

To be fat, an addict  a mental health patient, straight or LGBT is not about shaming. It's not about boasting. After all, we are made in the image of God. Human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This notion is well-supported by Sacred Scriptures;

• Genesis 1:26-31: God created man and woman in his image.
• Deuteronomy 10:17-19: God loves the orphan, the widow, and the stranger.
• Psalms 139:13-16: God formed each of us and knows us intimately.
• Proverbs 22:2: The Lord is the maker of both rich and poor.
• Luke 10:25-37: The good Samaritan recognized the dignity in the other and cared for his life.
• John 4:1-42: Jesus broke with societal and religious customs to honor the dignity of the Samaritan woman.
• Romans 12: 9-18: Love one another, contribute to the needs of others, live peaceably with all.
• 1 Corinthians 3:16: You are holy, for you are God’s temple and God dwells in you.
• Galatians 3:27-28; All Christians are one in Christ Jesus.
• James 2:1-8: Honor the poor.
• 1 John 3: 1-2: See what love the Father has for us, that we should be called Children of God.
• 1 John 4:7-12: Let us love one another because love is from

We all have free will. (CCC 1732) As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach.   The late Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar says we can choose to live an Ego-Drama, where everything we do revolves around ourselves and no one else; we write the script, we produce it and we star in it. Or we can live a Theo-Drama where  everything we do revolves around God. He writes the script.  He produces it.  We are merely a supporting cast.

Human failings are not only a result of the Ego-Drama but the demonic. As Bishop Robert Barron writes: “What are the signs of the demonic?  “What are the ways the demonic appears? Look at the names the Bible gives the devils, called in the Greek δῐᾰ́βολος (diabolos), diablo in Spanish, and le diable in French; διαβάλλειν (diaballein) means “to cast apart,” “to throw apart,” “to scatter.” The great sign of the demonic is scattering. God is a great gathering force. Whenever things come together, when a community forms, that is a sign of the Holy Spirit. The scattering power is a sign of the darker powers. When families get scattered, when business organizations, communities, and cultures get divided, that comes from the demonic.”

Using analysis tools like the Ishikawa Diagram, the Pareto Rule, Security Professionals' Attack Tree and or Occams Razor, they all suggest that after the uber progressive Warren SCOTUS (1963) 

decided that teaching children about wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety,  fear of the Lord., charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and  chastity was too radical, and all hell broke lose.  A decade later Roe v Wade followed: California became No 1 Global Fentanyl Consumption, No 1 Child Exploitation, 43rd in education, we have had a mental health crisis. Infanticide turned into Black Genocide. African American nuclear family is in the extinct list, we have had an AIDS epidemic,  Opiod crisis, a fatherlesssness crisis,

a Trans Crisis, an Obesity crisis, and so on.

Its not about weight, wealth, addiction or sexual preferences. It's about personal responsibility. The best part is that when we feel we need help, expensive therapy is not required. There's always someone who can intercede for us is intercession in difficult or seemingly impossible challenges: for example, Saint Jude. He was on of the original twelve Apostles of Jesus and the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes. Venerated by millions of people worldwide, he is believed to have miraculous powers, and his intercession is often sought for difficult or seemingly impossible. Then there is Dymphna is known as the patroness of nervous disorders and mental disease, depression and incest, but she is not the only saint who can help the faithful in times of mental anguish. Those looking for saintly intercession can choose from a pantheon of holy helpers.