Moralistic Therapeutic Deism on the march
Friday November 30, 2007
Categories: Catholicism
Man, I love me that Diogenes at Catholic World Report, who comments today on U.S. Catholic magazine's turning to superannuated liberals under whose intellectual leadership the Catholic Church has gone kaflooey. Muses Uncle Di: "It's all but incredible that the...
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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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Diogenes is often insightful, but this reads like a period piece from the mid-1970s. Neither "US Catholic" nor Schillebeeckx exerts any significant influence on Catholic thought and life today, either in America or globally. No one within the mainstream of the Church is looking in that direction for "intellectual leadership," and no one has done so for YEARS.
It's a bit like ridiculing the entire Democratic Party by treating Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich as major forces within the party.
I might add, by the way, that Diogenes' mockery of an obscure thought experiment by a third world bishop (from 2002) is directed at something not unlike the discipline of Eastern Christianity: A bunch of married priests in pastoral roles along with just a few celibates (though weirdly labelled "Corinthian" and "Pauline" clergy).
Simon, I wish I could agree with you. But if you get a minute, take a look at creativeminorityreport.com (add the usual) and click on the link titled "No wonder liturgy is often ugly." There's an image there of the logo for the 2008 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions' upcoming conference; it's visual evidence of the fact that Catholic liturgy is still being held in the death-grip of people who think U.S. Catholic is the apex of Catholic thought and life today, and who revere Schillebeeckx as some kind of minor deity.
I wish I could believe that no one in America were looking in that direction for intellectual leadership, but sadly the preponderance of evidence suggests that all too many are, and that until the next wave of mandatory retirements sweeps through the ranks of the American bishops we won't see any widespread or substantial relief from these idiotic ideas.
Kaflooey!
That's my word for the day.
I believe intellectual leadership is still coming primarily from the Catholic Colleges. And it's flavors are as diverse as the faculty and character of those institutions. For ex. University of Steubenville, v. The Benedictines of St. Anselm v. The Jesuits at Boston College and Holy Cross.
My question is When are the Franciscans and the Benedictines going to have as much influence as those perhaps well meaning but IMHO far too leftist Jesuits? The appointment of a Franciscan to head the Boston Diocese gave us all some hope for authentic change.
I digress granted but. Kaflooey! Perfect . That's my word for the day. Seems that things are going "Kaflooey" up here in New Hampshire right now. All the local news stations are feeding (on delay) news on a hostage situation at the Clinton satellite campaign office in Rochester. Hard to tell if it's real`news or not right now.
Wonder IF and how THIS will effect the upcoming primary?
I'm with NonSumDignus and Ps 37,
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the wicked shall be cut off...the meek shall possess the land,
and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
I'm not exactly sure who the wicked are, but fret not yourself - God doesn't mess around giving the meek possession of the land. Jesus Se Ha Resucitar! Allah Akbar!
So I don't think anything is gained digging through the spiritual wreckage left behind by the modernist AmChurch. I just ignore it. Here today, gone tomorrow. Seems as foolish as trying to repair an old Apple 2E. The 2008 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commission? Um...sure. Must be sad to know everything one does will change before the 2018 meeing. Yawn. Think of all those empty churches in the cities being sold off right now. It's so very easy to forget folk who leave nothing behind.
OTOH, there is real spiritual life to be lived out there. A bright future beckons...in which to delight in abundant prosperity. It's just the old AmChurch ain't it.
It's pretty hard to blame moralistic therapeutic deism for damaging the church when the biggest and most obvious problem that the church has right now is clericalism, as evidenced in the child sex abuse scandals.
Last I checked, Cardinal Bernard Law was still a Cardinal in good standing in the Church. And moral relativism is not accepted in Catholic doctrine. Pretty much sums things up right there.
Obviously Jesuits have become the official whipping boy of CC (one or two excepted, of course).
Which means, like the McCarthyist era ("Are you now or have you ever been a Communist?"), anyone who has been associated with Jesuits ...
kaflooey!
as in "the Catholic Church has gone kaflooey"...
but...
I disagree with what "has gone" implies...
that the CC was not "kaflooey" at some point in the past...
it seems reasonable that the CC has been off base since day one...
there...
I made my point even without using "Myth"...
faith hope love joy peace to all...
I tend to be with Erin on this one. When a wave of tenured retirements hits in a few years the whole flavor will change. Actually it has already started. And none to soon. At best all too many of the classes of the 60's and 70's were failures; at worst too many were monsters.
BTW, Rod, what exactly DO you have against therapy?
And, since we're in the business lately of trying to deduce people's "real" identities behind their online ones, you wouldn't happen to be Tom Cruise blogging in disguise, would you?
(I'm kidding. At least sort of.)
Um, is that "four popes" suggestion all that different from the four patriarchates into which the church got divided early on? Rome, Constantinople and two others I forget? The Orthodox say they're co-equal, Rome says not. What else is new?
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