A kinder, gentler Ash Wednesday
Sunday February 18, 2007
The LA Times reports today that many churches have quit burning palm fronds from the previous Palm Sunday to make ashes for Ash Wednesday services, and instead order them from an ashes supply shop. "It's just a lot easier and...
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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I was a student in Catholic school in the early 70s when they introduced "Repent and believe the Good News" as an alternative to "Remember, man, that you are dust (etc.)" Of course, now they don't say "Remember *man*", because that's "sexist". Along that line (if not about Ash Wednesday): When I was in graduate school at Penn, I was active in the light opera company, doing lots of Gilbert & Sullivan (which is probably one reason why I never finished my Ph.D.). I had a number of friends in the Penn Glee Club, which used to sing in various churches in the Philadelphia area around the holidays. Sometime after they had sung a concert at an Episcopal Church on the Main Line, I was talking with some of them, and they were telling me about it. During a break some of them had picked up one of the service books and were leaving through it. They said that not only had all masculine reference to God been edited out, but also all masculine references to Jesus! One of the students telling be about this was Jewish, and he said, "Even *we* admit that Jesus was a *boy*!" ;-)
Rod, I agree with you here (as I do in most cases), but do you really think it was appropriate to use profanity here? Profanity is common in your essays and, frankly it makes you sound more "crunchy" than "con."
Rod, This post sums up well, why I hate being catholic. Love the magisterial theology, love the liturgy, when it is the liturgy. Have almost no respect for priests or bishops, because of things like you just wrote about. I'd go Orthodox, except I believe Catholic. Too bad most Priests and Bishops in the US believe trendoid. BTW--Damn isn't a profanitiy. It is a very accurate theological term, and describes the situation well. Even when used inappropriatly, it's a vulgarity, not a profanity.
I'm not a Catholic, Rod, but you can see the same thing in Protestant churches. Those which are growing, those with the large TV shows, are for the most part giving a feel good message.
Watch Donald Sutherland's hilarious cameo in the film Little Murders. Playing a with-it priest, he gives a wedding sermon that foreshadows the trend you are talking about.
Right on Rod. When I was a student at Princeton Seminary, one of our profs, the wonderful Cleo LaRue, gave a sermon dealing with how God doesn't *affirm* us, God *saves* us. P*ssed a lot of people off, but God bless him. Encapsulates religion-as-therapy vs. Christianity nicely.
Don't worry, someday, somewhere you'll find a priest or minister or shaman or mullah who says things exactly the way you want them said, until they say something differently than you want them said and then you'll find another who says things exactly the way you want them said. It's a journey, not a destination, you know.
God-saves-us-by-sending-a-savior- whom-we-just-have-to-believe-in is also "Religion as therapy"... don't miss that it is indeed "therapy" just because it's been around for thousands of years... so then... is that ancient therapy also "no religion at all, at least no religion worth a damn"?
...
faith hope love joy peace patience...
...vacationing in Maui this week. At Mass today, the priest/celebrant preached (among other newsflashes...) that "the essence of repentance is learning to forgive one's self." Really! He *really* said that. It's not often that one hears something from the pulpit that is so perfectly....wrong......but we take these gifts when they're handed to us....:-)
John Steinbeck once wrote about a fire and brimstone sermon he heard at a church in Vermont (around 1960). The sermon reminded him that he mattered, that his sins had weight, consequence. In his view, of far more import than what he saw as psychological pablum offered in most churches he visited.
Here's some practical advice for Lent.
Hey Rod, how 'bout giving up sanctimony for Lent? That would be a real sacrifice.
Devoting your days to judging others (their politics are wrong, their liberal souls are doomed, their religion isn't worth a damn, yadda yadda) is "religion as therapy" every bit as much as "I'm OK, You're OK, and Jesus Loves us All". If no one is forcing you to wear the hairshirt, it's just an affectation, a minor irritant to your skin, but a soothing balm to your psyche.
Perhaps Rod could've reworded, "religion as therapy only." There is comfort in forgiveness, but forgiveness begins with repentence, and repentence grows out of FEAR. The OT prophets, and even the NT apostles, when faced with the realization of the presence of Holiness, responded with fear. The American church, catholic, orthodox, or protestant, could use a little more fire & brimstone. Again: Without fear, there is no repentence: without repentence, there is no forgiveness.
I'm surprised Rod wasn't aware of the "Turn from your sins and believe the Gospel" line before now, since he seems to have frequently encountered liberal priests during his time as a Catholic.
Without fear there is no repentance? Really? When a Crunchy Con-style Christian sins (let's say, does something hurtful toward another person), they are sorry only because "God'll getcha for that"? If they weren't afraid of God's vengeance, they wouldn't be sorry? Let's call that reason #4,356 why I'll never be that kind of Christian. To each his own.
RB: "The American church, Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, could use a little more fire & brimstone." Oh... OK.... WE'RE ALL GOING TO HELL UNLESS WE REPENT! DO YOU HEAR ME? REPENT!! Wow, say what you want about F&B; for not being emblematic of my "feel-good American religion", that sure felt good! A fellow could really almost get addicted to this kind of thing if he had nothing better to do.
alwsdad, So, what kinda Christian will you be?
I believe in "Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Love God with you whole heart, soul and mind". No fear or condemnation required.
Perhaps the first thing we need to repent from is our support for an unjust war that has cost the lives of thousands of people. But I remember Mr. Dreher not liking it much when Catholic clerics preached about this, dismissing such preachers that as "peacenick priests," advocating that congregants turn their backs when petitions for peace were read, and deciding he knew better what to fast for than John Paul II. Somehow, I suspect if the priest had given a homily urging us to repent from our vengeful ways, it wouldn't have been received any better. The purpose of religion is to make Those People Over There (e.g. Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry) uncomforable while implicitly congratulating us for believing the right things. IMO, this is worse than "feel good" or "theraputic" religion, as it invites us to feel good at the expense of others.
John McG, you probably don't read this blog regularly, but I've said before here that I was wrong and John Paul was right.
Once again, I think I've let my rhetoric get away from me on this topic. I'm going to ry to figure out why that is to prevent it from happening again.
Oh, it's only "Catholic bashing" if young, secular women do it, using bawdy language.
"Nick, Nora and Asta" is Diane Kamer, who has been repeatedly banned from this blog. All her posts will be deleted.
I have always wondered just HOW people can listen to the reading which is THIS Mt 6:16 Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. Then get up and DO exactly what Jesus SAID NOT TO DO. Can someone explain that for me?
Oh, sorry, forgot the punchline... Mt 6:17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; WHEN YOU FAST { Ash Wednesday is a mandatory fast day } DO NOT, put ashes on your face and parade around town, but WASH IT, and not let others see you acting high and holy. Amazing how that can be twisted into a command to DO THAT, isn't it?
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