Now, are the vast majority of pro-Catechism Catholics online and in pews who seek to defend church teachings on marriage, sexuality, the sanctity of all human life (conception to natural death) urging their folks to buy closets of rapid-fire weapons and join militias?Did this vague, vague language in one of America’s most influential news-and-commentary magazines suggest precisely that? Yes. Is the point that traditional Catholics — these wackos may even go to Confession, attend Latin Masses or favor other traditional forms of liturgy — are digitally adjacent to the bullet-rosary fringe folks? You betcha. That’s the whole Big Idea Here.
My grandmother’s brother was notably anti-Catholic. So I was instructed not to mention the Church when he visited. I dealt with the problem by never being home when he visited.
It is difficult to condemn an organization like the Roman Catholic Church, to be “anti” to it, which has Catholic Charities. Same, by the way, with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. When we judge a so-called Christian organization by its deeds, surely there is something very Christian about these two denominations and others, some non-Christian too of course.
ReplyDeleteI’ve run into a Baptist churches which is not really Baptist, but used the name while the pastor teaches what he thinks ought to be Christian teachings. And there are the televangelists who, independent of any denomination but their own made up one, preach hatefulness, preach arrogance and supremacy.
On the other hand, arrogance comes from the big old Catholic church. We bandy around such phrases as “church teachings” versus “Christian teachings”, as if there could be special made-up rules from an arrogant organization calling itself “the” church, which wants its followers to “believe” that anything the administrators say must be sanctioned by God Himself.
It sounds like a cult. Versus being a cult, the Catholic church, or especially the Catholic church, sets itself up as “the” Orthodox church which is built on the rock of Peter. But it’s a denomination that goes haywire with serpentine arrogance – the arrogance that was warned about early in Genesis.
The Catholic church is very responsible for having kept and spread God’s wisdom, Jesus’ love. But it spreads whatever serpents it props up as holy too, which can be a real turn off to any honest seeker listening. According to Genesis, this would always happen, so we cannot condemn the whole denomination because it has such arrogance within its practices and teachings, just the arrogance itself. It’s the parable of the serpent in Genesis, which came to the “church” elders, Eve specifically, the serpent promising wisdom beyond God’s teachings, to be able to be smarter and holier than God.
But we don’t burn the house down, because mice have gotten in. We call an exterminator each time. Once the serpents are gone, the house is much more welcoming to many more people, all of whom are welcome and wanted. And we’ll have far fewer people in the neighborhood talking trash about the house, how it ought to be burned to the ground, because it is a breeding ground for serpents. So don’t defend the house, look for serpents.
It is one of the most arrogant situations, that a so-called Christian church would deny communion to anyone who wants it. Do only non-Catholics see this arrogance of holiness clearly? There’s the joke about St. Peter giving a tour to new arrivals in heaven. They pass by and wave to the Jews, the Protestants, Mormons, Hindus, Muslims, the atheists, etc., but when they get near the Catholic camp, everyone must tiptoe. One new arrival whispers the question “Why”. St. Peter says, “They believe they are the only ones here.”
Right now, there is a horrid tragedy of Christians who come to this country for asylum, for refuge, being persecuted in the most inhumane ways. Historically, it is one of histories most abhorrent persecutions of Christians themselves. Catholic Charities is there with Christ.