Much of it, as seen here, is a drawn out version of 'thank you God that you haven't made me like those deplorable sinners over there.' Not to mention the clear and obvious move the Church is making toward somehow trying to find compromise with the post-Christian secular Left. Sure, it's not going to embrace it or just jettison dogma. It doesn't have to. As apologists made clear during the issue of lying, there are thousands of ways to be less than honest to entirely dishonest without actually lying.
So there's plenty of opportunity to stand on the rock of ages while keeping up with the currents of the latest, hippest. That, combined with 'someday may true heroes of the faith not have to contend with deplorable sinners who embarrass the Gospel like those over there' I just don't find much edification any more. Not like I used to. Truth be told, there are some Protestant and even Orthodox and Jewish sites I've found that are fare more spiritually edifying. Sure, sometimes there can be a gem, like this. But on the whole, it's wading through acres of chaff for a few grains of wheat.
Because of this, it's easy to lose site of some real gems out there representing the Church, the traditions, the good of the Faith and the world it helped build in ways that are challenging, edifying, and sometimes downright fun. I give you Jimmy Akin. Mr. Akin is honest enough to admit just embracing everything science says about the universe and evolution isn't easy, and there are legitimate questions worth answering. It's noteworthy that the tone isn't 'loser idiots who aren't as awesome as we are don't like God or science', but rather 'here's some honest questions, let's find some answers. Listen away. Always good and I dare you to listen to the likes of Mr. Akin or John C. Wright and not at least be tugged a bit toward that historic Faith that walked the earth for more than a millennium before Martin Luther.
Well they've certainly pulled me to the eastern orthodox. :)
ReplyDeleteYou may also want to read:
http://the-american-catholic.com/2015/02/08/if-only-all-catholics-thought-so-highly-of-the-church/
I almost never go to Mark's blog any more, but when I do, it now reads like deliberate self-parody:
ReplyDelete"Thank God I'm not like THOSE people. You know, those vile Traditionalist subhumans who make vicious, slanderous generalizations about people because they're all just a bunch of monsters who hate everyone and want them to go to hell. THOSE bastards just look at the teachings and doctrines of ancient saints, and insist that those are the True Catholic Doctrine and that they conflict with what modern Catholics like me are saying today. They declare themselves to be the True Catholics.
That's not the Catholic(tm) way of doing things. True Catholics like me are not intent on declaring themselves the True Catholics based on apparent differences in doctrine, and we don't pick out the opinions of famous saints from one particular point in time and declare them to be the True Catholic Doctrine. WE know that the True Catholic Doctrine is the opinions being expressed by the Pope right now, and that it in no way conflicts with any of the Church's doctrine from any ages past. The only reason these dissenting heretics could possibly perceive a conflict is because they are dissenting heretics who refuse to listen and agree what the Pope is actually saying, because they are so intent on declaring everyone else dissenting heretics. And no, I don't need to actually quote them at all or listen and respond to what they say before calling them dissenting heretics, because they're a bunch of dissenting heretics, and I am a True Catholic Who Listens To The Pope. How DARE you accuse me of knocking down a strawman, you dissenting heretics who want everyone to go to hell! To hell with you!
The Real Catholic approach is all about bearing witness out of Love, not self-righteously keeping the riff-raff out to make our membership in Club Catholic feel validated. Oh, and have I mentioned what pieces of shit those Protestant Fundamentalists are? Seriously, screw those guys!"
Self parody. Sometimes I wonder. Sometimes I wait for that Candid Camera moment, when it all gets thrown on its head and we all have a good laugh. I keep waiting. But it's not just Mark, and in some ways, that's part of the issue.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Orthodoxy. We actually looked at Orthodoxy back in the day on our way into the Church. There were reasons we didn't go that way, but there were definitely things I remembered from that time I liked, and I've found myself going there more often in recent months. There are some good things there, and a few bad things not there. Not the least of which is the lack of anti-Protestant hate, and while Orthodox may not always wave the flag, they don't seem to fall over themselves to trash the country as proof they don't idolize America. And then there is that pesky legalism that Catholicism is accused of that, while not officially the way it's supposed to go, often ends up either going that way or going the opposite of 'oh well, just love and love and that's all.'
ReplyDelete