I was thinking that I would post to some Catholic forums this weekend so that some readers would start showing up in my referer logs. One encounter has given me pause. While it wasn't exactly Stephen Covey's idea of a win-win exchange, it kind of reminded me that I can't just jump into a reform movement without knowing more. For starters, there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't be on board for the big switch over to one big tambourine and guitar church. We are never going to get the guys at aquinascafe to sit through a mime rendition of the Passion!
I think that the scandals are helping introduce me in a deeper way to the church that I grew up in. Before January 6th, I knew very little about Catholicism. My religious education, CCD, was set up to avoid the bible, avoid church teachings and avoid church history. It would have been so great to study the gospel instead of doing CCD. I guess I'm saying they should have forced me to study the gospel, which no one was prepared to do, I guess. Instead, we busied ourselves drawing dirty pictures in the notebooks of the Catholic school kids whose desks we sat in during CCD...and having crayon fights. I can't imagine what that was like for those St. Mary's kids. Come to school every day not knowing what kind of asshole was messing with your desk the night before. Anyway, I never heard of Cardinal Ratzinger or Hans Kung. I couldn't have told you the difference between a Dominican and a Jesuit. I considered Vatican II an unequivocal leap forward. Perhaps it was. I sure don't know. Now I have to read, reconsider, find out what was lost and won with Vatican II. Sounds like a lot of work.
The whole Catholic thing is too complicated for me to decide answers immediately. Issues that I think of as self-evident are actually much more complicated. I guess the first question is, beyond a chance to challenge some hierarchy, why even get involved?
Plus, I became aware of the existence of Dominican Militants right here in town so I got to watch my ass.
12:04:22 AM
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