ex cathedra: The daylight world of Christendom

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The daylight world of Christendom

Although I am in favor of strong churches as constitutive of a Strong West, I am glad not to be a participant anymore in what I call "the daylight world of Christendom", with all its to-ing and fro-ing and pillowfights. All groups and movements have their jargons, of course. Unavoidable. This, for example (italics mine), lamenting greater consultation on the new English Mass translations:

The early church as presented in New Testament openly portrays differences among Christians, including leaders. The Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches in Ireland have their synods and assemblies where such matters can be discussed candidly. Is that a source of damage or of strength for them? Would Catholics in Ireland have their faith weakened if they discovered that the hierarchy is not actually a monolith, and that they are willing to respond to genuine concerns raised by the people? Is there a sign of the times to be discerned here? This something which can point to an area of renewal for the church? A more open and participative exercise of authority would help bring about the renewal of the church and promote communion.

The fetishization of the "early church". Just cause something is earlier does not make it better, simply previous. Although it is hard to believe now, I had to fight a perfectionist streak for a long time. One of my confessors told me for a penance that I had to read all the Epistles in the New Testament and list all the problems the letters confronted or complained about. Result: the Church has never been anything close to perfect, even when run by the very Apostles themselves.

A commentor called for "Town Halls" where parishes could come to (hic genuflectitur) consensus. Aka Rule By the Mob of the Baptized.

Before I fell asleep reading the Irish paragraph, my favorite parts were "discern" and "sign of the times". It's a Vatican II phrase from the unfortunately very 1965 Gaudium et Spes. A favorite of liberal nuns. It usually means, "I've seen a cool new trend and I want to jump on board." I envision groups of genuinely concerned and candid Christian people furrowing their brows in communion, in open and participative prayer before prayerfully arriving at genuine non-monolithic conclusions they held before their renewed foreheads wrinkled.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: »Would Catholics ... have their faith weakened if they discovered that the hierarchy is not actually a monolith, and that they are willing to respond to genuine concerns raised by the people?«

Yes.

er; 8:08 PM, June 23, 2011

Post a Comment

Toward Our Future

What the sons of Europa need is a new religion: one that is as tribal, portable and survivalist as Judaism, as masculine, terrestrial and tough as Islam and as intellectually and aesthetically creative as Christianity...with a dose of the unflinching realism of the ancestral ways of the Greeks and Romans, Germans and Celts and Slavs..And for the larger Indo-European frame, something of the Indian capacity to combine an ultimate and philosophical realization of The One with a robustly mytho-poetic religion on-the-ground. Oh, and some of the psychological acumen of Buddhism.

Liberalism's Basic Flaw

Liberals believe that the chief role of the State is to force everyone to be equal, (ie, take vengeance on the successful). So when they are confronted with any group that they deem less well off than themselves, they are morally disarmed, completely and utterly. Any group that can achieve Victim Status is on their way to power and the (White) liberal's only job is to give them what they want, no matter how much that damages him. And nothing may ever be expected, much less demanded, of them in return. It's a recipe for suicide: no other outcome is possible.