Monday, January 30, 2012

Charity in Truth: Freedom, Responsibility, and God


More posts about "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
"Caritas in Veritate"

I think most of us like 'freedom,' when it means that we can do pretty much whatever we like. Add 'responsibility,' and it's a little harder to work up enthusiasm.

Here's how today's chunk of "Caritas in Veritate" starts:
"A vocation is a call that requires a free and responsible answer. Integral human development presupposes the responsible freedom of the individual and of peoples: no structure can guarantee this development over and above human responsibility...."
(Caritas in Veritate, 17)
I think the idea of individual responsibility has been coming back into vogue. The notion that folks should 'do their own thing,' and 'look out for number one,' was attractive. Particularly after the conformist '50s. I've mentioned "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" (1956) before. (May 14, 2011)

Following individual whims turned out to be an idea that looked good on paper, but not so much in practice. My opinion.

"Conscience" isn't About Being Inhibited

Admittedly, for some folks "having a conscience" means being perpetually afraid of saying the wrong thing, wearing the wrong clothes, or thinking 'wicked' thoughts. What we say, wear, and think does matter: but living with anxiety isn't a virtue. The Catechism has a pretty good introduction to a reasonable approach to developing a conscience. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1776-1802) I think this gives the basics:
"Some rules apply in every case:
  • "One may never do evil so that good may result from it;
  • "the Golden Rule: 'Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.'56
  • "charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's neighbor and his conscience: 'Thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience . . . you sin against Christ.57 Therefore 'it is right not to . . . do anything that makes your brother stumble.'58"
(Catechism, 1789)

Vocations: For Everybody

For many Catholics living in America, a "vocation" is something a priest has. That's true enough, but there's more to it than that. Everybody has a vocation:
"VOCATION: The calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter. God has created the human person to love and serve him; the fulfillment of this vocation is eternal happiness (1, 358, 1700). Christ calls the faithful to the perfection of holiness (825). The vocation of the laity consists in seeking the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will (898). Priestly and religious vocations are dedicated to the service of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation (cf. 873; 931).
(Catechism, Glossary)
I've been over this before. (December 11, 2011)

"Shared Responsibility"

I spent my teens in the '60s. I've said this before: the social and cultural changes weren't all about being irresponsible. Folks around my age were, many of us, genuinely concerned about problems like poverty. Proposed solutions weren't always sensible, and I'll get back to that.

I think we'll have folks who are below the 50th percentile in terms of wealth until Judgment Day:
"The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me."
(Mark 14:7)
Pretty much the same thing is in Matthew 26:11 and John 12:8, without the "whenever you wish" part. I think it's fairly obvious that, although we can't expect to do away with poverty entirely: we're expected to help folks who need it.
"...This is why 'the peoples in hunger are making a dramatic appeal to the peoples blessed with abundance'[40]. This too is a vocation, a call addressed by free subjects to other free subjects in favour of an assumption of shared responsibility...."
(Caritas in Veritate, 17)
"Shared responsibility" may sound like the idea that we're supposed to help the poor by taking resources from folks who have more than we do, and giving them to folks who have less. I think that's missing the point.

I also think that the failure of Caritas in Veritate - and Catholic teaching in general - to conform to either the contemporary liberal or conservative mindsets puzzles quite a few folks:

Freedom and Truth

"Besides requiring freedom, integral human development as a vocation also demands respect for its truth. The vocation to progress drives us to 'do more, know more and have more in order to be more'[41]. But herein lies the problem: what does it mean 'to be more'? Paul VI answers the question by indicating the essential quality of 'authentic' development: it must be 'integral, that is, it has to promote the good of every man and of the whole man'[42]...."
(Caritas in Veritate, 18)
This "to promote the good of every man and of the whole man" sounds a little like efforts to make a 'perfect' society: where everybody would be equal, class distinctions wouldn't exist, and all that. The 20th century saw several efforts like that: of which North Korea is one of the few remaining.

Back to Caritas in Veritate:
"...The truth of development consists in its completeness: if it does not involve the whole man and every man, it is not true development. This is the central message of Populorum Progressio, valid for today and for all time. ... The Christian vocation to this development therefore applies to both the natural plane and the supernatural plane; which is why, 'when God is eclipsed, our ability to recognize the natural order, purpose and the 'good' begins to wane'[50]."
(Caritas in Veritate, 18)
I think 20th-century efforts to create a 'perfect' society failed because they ignored two important points:
  • God matters
  • Human beings act like human beings
Human beings are individuals. We're supposed to help each other: but I don't think it's reasonable to pretend that our primary identity is that of a group. As for pretending that God doesn't matter, or doesn't exist? I think that's been considered a 'sophisticated' or 'intelligent' attitude in some circles: but I think the notion's silly.

Moving on.

Massive Social Programs?

I suspect that quite a few folks in America assume that 'helping the poor' means creating yet one more government agency to manage a tax-funded program. That's probably not the best approach to the reality of poverty. Or, I think, much of anything else.

Here's something from 1991:
"...In fact, where self-interest is violently suppressed, it is replaced by a burdensome system of bureaucratic control which dries up the wellsprings of initiative and creativity. When people think they possess the secret of a perfect social organization which makes evil impossible, they also think that they can use any means, including violence and deceit, in order to bring that organization into being. Politics then becomes a 'secular religion' which operates under the illusion of creating paradise in this world...."
(Centesimus annus)
No wonder some folks think the Catholic Church is run by crazy people. The Church says that we should:
  • Help the poor
    • And so must be "liberal"
  • Not do abortions
    • And so must be "conservative"
I can see how, assuming that contemporary "conservationism" and "liberalism" were the only possible philosophies, the Church would look like a mass of contradictions. It's not, and I've been over that before. (November 3, 2008)

Finally, an excerpt from something quoted in Caritas in Veritate:
"...When God is eclipsed, our ability to recognize the natural order, purpose, and the 'good' begins to wane. What was ostensibly promoted as human ingenuity soon manifests itself as folly, greed and selfish exploitation. And so we have become more and more aware of our need for humility before the delicate complexity of God's world...."
("Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI," 23rd World Youth Day, Benedict XVI (July 17, 2008))
Related posts:
More:

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Science isn't a Four-Letter Word

I'm a Christian. More specifically, I'm a practicing Catholic. That means that, among other things, I don't have to studiously avoid believing things that folks have learned since 1277, when Proposition 27/219 went into effect.

That's because:
"...the things of the world

and the things of faith

derive from the same God....
"

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 159)

Science, Religion, and (fictional) Christians

Watching television yesterday morning, I ran into an all-too-familiar set of assumptions about science, religion, and Christians.

It was a science fiction show, involving space aliens and an invasion of Earth. Think "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" meets "Contact." The story depends on the idea of life existing on planets other than Earth.

Very early in the story, one of the major characters told another that people had started committing suicide after they learned about space aliens.

The 'alien invasion' plot stopped dead in its tracks as the actor discussed a Christian's untimely demise.

Faced with real, live, space aliens: she could no longer cling to her 'narrow-minded' beliefs. She said that science was right, after all.

Then she killed herself.

The scriptwriters gave the actor more to work with than that, but you've got the gist of it.

Science, Faith, and Getting a Grip

The BBC program came to my household via our cable service. From this, I could conclude that the following are 'Satanic:'
  1. Science fiction
  2. Television
    1. Cable
    2. Satellite
    3. Broadcast
    4. All of the above
  3. The BBC
  4. England
  5. Science
  6. All of the above
My faith isn't of the 'everything I don't like is Satanic' variety, so I see that bit of 'religion opposes science' drama as more of the same silliness I've seen for decades.

Assumptions aren't Facts

Assuming that all Christians are like Fred Phelp's "God Hates You" bunch, or are ardent disciples of the latest 'End Times prophecy,' isn't valid. I don't even think loud, colorful, folks like that are typical of American Protestants.

On the other hand, I've run into quite a few less-wacky folks who are Christians, and are convinced that science is some kind of plot.

I'm about as certain as I can be that they're not right: but I'm also quite certain that they're sincere.

Whoever wrote that BBC script may have been sincere, too. In some circles, it's easy to believed that Christians are, by definition, psychologically fragile ignoramuses.

Suicide is a bad idea, by the way: in part because being dead really limits a person's options. I've been over this before:
Moving on.

1277 and All That

Speculation about other worlds was a hot topic in the year 1277. Then, as now, some folks loudly insisted that God followed their preferences about how the universe worked.

That's when the bishop of Paris, Etienne Tempier, issued Proposition 27/219. Basically, the bishop said that Catholics must not claim that God couldn't have made more than one world like Earth. He didn't put it quite that way, but I think that's a reasonable summary. As far as I know, Proposition 27/219 hasn't been rescinded, and I've been over this before. (September 2, 2011)

God's God, I'm Not

Dialog in that BBC show did have one nifty idea: the mental image of a 'YOU ARE HERE' map of the universe. I thought it was so nifty, I made my own:



My response to that sort of thing isn't suicidal thoughts. (Yes, I've had them.) It's more along the lines of Psalms 19:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft."
(Psalms 19:2)

Faith and Science

That quote about "the things of the world and the things of faith" is from a paragraph in the Catechism. Like I said, I'm a practicing Catholic: so I don't have to ignore what we're learning about God's creation:
"Faith and science: 'Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth.'37 'Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.'38"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 159)
Related posts:
Background (not even close to everything the Church has to say on the subjects):
More:

Friday, January 27, 2012

Freedom of Speech: Bothersome, but Valuable

I got carried away while writing my 'in the news' post for this week. That happens fairly often. This time, I'd gone off on a tangent about freedom of speech, American culture over the last half-century, and what happened when Information Age technology hit old-school autocratic regimes.

There seemed to be enough for another post, so I copied what I'd written, polished it off a little, and here it is:

Freedom of Speech, in Principle and Practice

The America I grew up in had constitutional guarantees of free speech.

In principle, this gave most citizens the ability to share their ideas with others.

In practice, a person was free to share ideas with family, neighbors, and co-workers. Reaching a wider audience usually meant going to one of the culture's information gatekeepers: a relatively small number of news and magazine editors; book publishers; entertainment producers; and educators.

If those information gatekeepers didn't what they saw, the idea stopped there. That's an over-simplification, and I've posed about information gatekeepers before. Fairly often, including:

McCarthyism, Political Correctness, and Deposed Autocrats

I remember the 'good old days,' when America was flushing McCarthyism out of its system. That, and the heyday of political correctness, together with having a pretty good memory, are reasons that I don't miss 'the good old days.'

I think McCarthyism was a bad idea. I think there really was a 'communist menace,' but by the time I started paying attention, it was hard to see through the psychological detritus, paranoia, and blacklists.

A few decades later, a different set of idealistic do-gooders gave us political correctness. With similar results. Like Fred Astaire sang, tomato, tomahto. I've been over this before:
Then the Internet started upsetting apple carts around the globe. Old-school autocrats in places like Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt would have died eventually: and eventually a successor would fail to maintain power. Instead, starting about a year ago, their regimes fell. I think Information Age technology, and the social structures developing around it, are at least partly responsible. (Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 30, 2011))

Getting Published, Then and Now

For folks who were on the same page as America's information gatekeepers, getting ideas circulated meant being a skillful writer or performer. And being in the right place, at the right time, with the right material.

Everyone else had to be very, very:
  1. Skilled
  2. Persistent
  3. 'Lucky'
  4. All of the above
There were ways around old-school editors and the establishment media, of course. I remember when the undeground press gave 'regular Americans' conniptions. Later, when 'the establishment' had changed, 'little old ladies in tennis shoes' used fax machines to 'deceive' The Masses. Or to get the truth out. Different folks saw that sort of thing in different ways.

It's Different, When You're In Charge

Quite a few of the campus radicals of my youth grew up, had successful careers in media and politics: and have been telling each other what they want to hear for decades.

The 'official' version of reality has had time to deviate quite a bit from what the rest of us live with. I think most folks are level-headed enough to tell the difference between ideologically-driven piffle and facts. Once we've had a chance to hear something besides what our 'betters' think is good for us, that is.

Many folks who aren't part of the 'in' group are probably doubting secular equivalents to the perennial 'End Times prophecy,' angst over spotted owls that can only live in virgin forests (and K-Mart signs), and nostalgic efforts to re-live the days of Stokely Carmichael. My opinion.

It's no wonder that America's (new) establishment fears open discussion and uncensored opinions online.

I don't, putting it mildly, agree with everything I see online. But I like living in a world where my 'betters' can't decide what I should and should not see. I've posted about this before, too:
Background:

My Take on the News: Reliquary Found; 'Kill or Close' Order From Washington; the Value of Silence


More posts about forcing Catholics to violate our conscience:
The Department of Health and Human Services vs. Conscience
This week I read about a discovery in Boston, an archbishop with good advice, and a reminder about the value of silence:
  1. Reliquary Found
  2. 'Kill or Close'
  3. Silence: Still Golden

1. Reliquary Found

"Reliquary?" It sounds like it might be a place where relics are dug up, and that's close to the word's meaning: but not quite.
  • Reliquary
    1. A container where religious relics are stored or displayed (especially relics of saints)
      (Princeon's WordNet)
    2. A container for relics
      (Wikipedia)
    3. A container, often made of precious materials, used a repository for sacred relics
      (Art 31 Vocabulary, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
    4. A novel (1997) set in and under New York City, involving
      • Decapitated bodies
      • A monster
      • Mole people
      • Dr. Whitney C. Frock
        • Evolutionary biologist
        • Mad scientist
      (Wikipedia)
Maybe I need to say this, given American culture's assumptions:
  • Relics aren't idols
  • Saints aren't little gods
  • Veneration isn't worship
I put a little more background near the end of this post1 It's probably not as riveting as a story about Mole people, a mad scientist, and the Mbwun monster. That may explain why so many folks have odd ideas about Catholic beliefs: which is definitely another topic.

The closest thing to the Catholic Church's use of relics that I can think of, offhand, in American culture is sports memorabilia. Apart from the occasional crackpot, nobody believes that a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth has magical powers; or that a jersey worn by Michael Jordan will imbue greatness on its current owner. But folks have been known to spend large sums of money to get items with some connection to a sports star.

Which brings up simony, idolatry, Mephistopheles, and a whole boatload of other topics.

From Boston: Good News; Bad News

"Forgotten religious relic rediscovered in New York"
Lauren Green, FoxNews.com (July 25, 2012)

"Safely tucked away in a private room of the diocese headquarters, a mysterious masterpiece is causing quite a stir in Buffalo, N.Y.

"A rare religious relic, an intricate starburst tapestry, was recently rediscovered after being hidden for more than a century.

" 'We assume that something as elaborate as this had to come from the Holy Father.' says Monsignor James F. Campbell.

"That is the only thing he can be certain of.

"The tapestry contains a calendar of 365 relics of the saints, one saint's relic for each day of the year.

"And in the center of the roughly 2-foot-by-3-foot tapestry are what are supposed to be the relics of the actual crucifixion of Jesus: a piece of the Crown of Thorns, the sponge used to dab his lips, and a sliver of the cross itself, all woven into the cloth...."
Odds are pretty good that Pope Pius IX gave the reliquary to Bishop John Timon somewhere between 1850 and 1870. The Bishop's assignment was the then-new Diocese of Buffalo. Around 1900 a convent, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, on Buffalo's Main Street, got the job of taking care of the tapestry.

Which they did: but somewhere during the next century whatever documentation may have been with the reliquary got separated from the tapestry.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that it's in good condition, and that the Vatican has a reputation for meticulous record-keeping. Folks in Boston are probably hoping that headquarters can sort out details of the reliquary's history. FoxNews.com has a photo of the cloth reliquary.

2. 'Kill or Close'

An American archbishop is acting like an archbishop. That is very good news:
"LA archbishop calls on Catholics to oppose HHS mandate"
Hillary Senour, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (July 25, 2012)

"Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles urged lay Catholics to defend the faith after the Department of Health and Human Services refused to reverse a contraception mandate set to take effect in Aug. 2013.

" 'In this case, the government is imposing a narrow, radically individualistic idea of religion,' Archbishop Gomez said in a column published this week in his archdiocesan newspaper, the Tidings.

"On Jan. 20, Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the administration would not expand a religious exemption for employers who object to its 'preventative services' mandate.

"The policy, originally introduced in an Aug. 2011 interim rule, requires health insurance plans to cover contraception - including drugs that cause abortion - and sterilization free of charge.

"To qualify for a religious exemption under the policy, religious organizations must employ and serve primarily members of their own faith and must exist for the purpose of teaching religious values...."
I might be more shocked and discouraged about this latest decree from Washington, if it wasn't the sort of thing I've come to expect from America's national government. As it is, I think I understand some of the reasons that the Department of Health and Human Services wants to 'help' women kill their babies, and keep them from having 'too many.' I don't agree: but I think I understand.

Babies: A Reality Check

Babies have been defined as 'alimentary canals with a loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.' They're often inconvenient, not entirely compatible with an upwardly-mobile career success track, and an enormous blessing to anyone who bothers to notice.

I think one reason that America's government is trying to force its subjects into conformity on 'womens' health care' is that more and more Americans are noticing that those 'formless lumps of protoplasm' and 'products of conception' are people.

Most 'products of conception,' given time and attention, will grow into interesting, productive, adults. Some become members of Congress, and I've mentioned consequences of living in a fallen world before. Original sin and all that.

Politics, Religion, and Assumptions

In some social settings, there's a reason why one of America's rules of conduct is to avoid discussion of politics or religion. Topics like that can get arguments going, fast: and are best avoided when the point of a gathering is to have a pleasant time.

There's also the notion that being 'spiritual' means being 'so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good.' There are monastic orders which deliberately minimize contact with the outside world: but they're the exception in Catholicism.

We're supposed to be 'in the world, but not of the world:' and we're expected to make a difference:
"As far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life. The manner of this participation may vary from one country or culture to another. "One must pay tribute to those nations whose systems permit the largest possible number of the citizens to take part in public life in a climate of genuine freedom."32"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1915)

"It is the duty of citizens to work with civil authority for building up society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom."
(Catechism, 2255)
That sort of thing is anathema to folks who think the Constitution should give them 'freedom from religion.' Again, I think I can understand why some Americans are scared silly at the prospect of people with religious beliefs getting involved in public policy.

I've discussed 'separation of church and state,' assumptions about religion, and crackpots, before:
As to whether or not it's okay to kill innocent people, the Catholic Church says that's not right. (Catechism, 2258-2283, 2302-2317)

America has an election coming up this November. I plan to vote: after taking a long, hard, look at what candidates said: and did. I don't expect to find a 'perfect' candidate. I'm hoping that there will be an acceptable one for each race in my area.

Moving on.

3. Silence: Still Golden

I suppose someone could take this headline, and assume that the Pope wants bloggers to be quiet and stop posting stuff. Actually, it's more about the value of silence. And reflection.

I'm an American, with the sort of intellectual twitchiness that seems to go with our culture. There's a reason why the boisterous American is a stereotype.

Here's what got me started about silence, Catholic style:
"Pope emphasizes need for silence in digital world"
David Kerr, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (January 24, 2012)

"Pope Benedict XVI believes that in a noisy world of constant communication people need silence more than ever.

"He outlined his thoughts in his message for World Communications Day 2012, which is entitled 'Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization.' The Pope's letter was released Jan. 24 at the Vatican press office by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

" 'When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary,' the Pope says in a statement that will be read in Catholic churches around the world on May 20, 2012.

" 'This makes it possible to share thoughtful and relevant opinions, giving rise to an authentic body of shared knowledge,' he writes.

"Pope Benedict recommends making this interchange possible by developing 'an appropriate environment, a kind of "eco-system" that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds.'..."
(CNA)
A key word here, I think, is "equilibrium." Finding a balance "between silence, words, images and sounds."

That equilibrium point is probably different for everybody. Some folks apparently find balance near the ends of humanity's various continua:
"EREMITICAL LIFE: The life of a hermit, separate from the world in praise of God and for the salvation of the world, in the silence of solitude, assiduous prayer, and penance (920)."
(Catechism, Glossary)

What the Pope is not saying is that everybody should be a hermit. One thing I like about the Catholic Church is that we're supposed to be different:
  • Bishops and priests
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 874-896)
  • Hermits
    (Catechism, 920-921)
  • Laity
    (Catechism, 897-903)
  • Nuns and monks
    (Catechism, 925-927)
That's not even close to being a complete index to what the Church says about being Christian. I've posted about the 1 Corinthians: 12 thing before. (June 1, 2011)

"Tied ... to Our Own Words and Ideas"

An English translation of Pope Benedict's statement is online at the Vatican's website:
The CNA article gives several excerpts, including this:
"...He [Benedict XVI] also observes that silence can allow other people to express their thoughts. In this way 'we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested,' and therefore, 'space is created for mutual listening, and deeper human relationships become possible.'..."
(CNA)
Quite a few folks have said that listening is a good idea:
"No man ever listened himself out of a job."
Calvin Coolidge (30th president of US (1872 - 1933))

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen."
Ernest Hemingway (US author & journalist (1899 - 1961))

"Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly."
Plutarch (Greek biographer & moralist (46 AD - 120 AD))

(via The Quotations Page)
Listening isn't the same as believing. Over the decades, I've listened to quite a bit that I didn't believe. And I stopped believing some things because I listened. Which eventually led me to become a Catholic. And that's yet another topic.

Exchange in the Marketplace of Ideas

I've mentioned the old phrase, "marketplace of ideas" before. Fairly often:
I think First Amendment guarantees of free expression are a good idea, partly because crackpot ideas don't last long when folks get a chance to discuss them. Provided that the playing field is level.

Maybe more important: a free, open, marketplace of ideas allows good ideas to get shared and discussed. Even if a society's 'better sort' don't like the ideas.

I've got more to say about McCarthyism, political correctness, and the 'good old days,' but that'll wait for another post.

Basically, I like living in a world where someone can share opinions: even if editors, educators, or Congress, don't agree.

"Overwhelmed," and Individual Differences

One more excerpt from that article:
"...Silent contemplation also 'immerses us in the source of that Love who directs us towards our neighbors so that we may feel their suffering and offer them the light of Christ, his message of life and his saving gift of the fullness of love,' he writes.

"Archbishop Celli summed up the Pope's message as reminding everyone that real communication involves pairing 'words and silence' so that people are not 'overwhelmed by the sheer volume of communication itself.'

"Monsignor Paul Tighe, Secretary of the social communications council, explained to CNA that the Pope's message 'reminds us that the relevance of silence is equally important within the context of a digital environment.'...
(CNA)
I think that "pairing 'words and silence' " is important. Last October, I decided to organize my online activity to give myself more time to think. (October 2, 2011)

I also recognize that many folks feel "overwhelmed" by the volume of information available online. I don't feel that way, myself: but I'm a fairly fast reader; and never 'grew out of' the sort of seemingly-insatiable curiosity that many four-year-olds show. ("Why Kids Ask Why," Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience (November 23, 2009))

And that's yet again another topic.

Related posts:
Background:

1 A little background on veneration, Saints, relics, and Catholic beliefs:
"VENERATION (OF SAINTS): Showing devotion and respect to Mary, the Apostles, and the martyrs, who were viewed as faithful witnesses to faith in Jesus Christ. Later, veneration was given to those who led a life of prayer and self-denial in giving witness to Christ, whose virtues were recognized and publicly proclaimed in their canonization as saints (828). Such veneration is often extended to the relics or remains of those recognized as saints; indeed, to many sacred objects and images. Veneration must be clearly distinguished from adoration and worship, which are due to God alone (1154, 1674, 2132)." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary)

"WORSHIP: Adoration and honor given to God, which is the first act of the virtue of religion (2096). Public worship is given to God in the Church by the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ in the liturgy (1067)." (Catechism, Glossary)

"SAINT: The 'holy one' who leads a life in union with God through the grace of Christ and receives the reward of eternal life. The Church is called the communion of saints, of the holy ones (823, 946; cf. 828). See Canonization." (Catechism, Glossary)

"The patriarchs, prophets, and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church's liturgical traditions." (Catechism, 61)

"The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of 'idols, [of] silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.' These empty idols make their worshippers empty: 'Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.'42 God, however, is the 'living God'43 who gives life and intervenes in history" (Catechism, 823)

Catechism, 823, seems to contradict what the Church says about the "veneration" of saints. It doesn't. As I've said before, I have the authority of "some guy with a blog," and don't speak for the Church. I'm pretty confident about this, though:
  • The Saints aren't little gods
  • Veneration of Saints isn't directed toward "other divinities"
About that last point, of the 1,100,000,000 or so Catholics living today, a few may be confused about what Saints are. Some may think they're worshiping little gods. Off-the-rails Catholics being wrong about what the Catholic Church teaches doesn't mean that the Church is wrong. One more thing about relics:
"The Second Vatican Council recalls that "the Saints have been traditionally honoured in the Church, and their authentic relics and images held in veneration"(323). The term "relics of the Saints" principally signifies the bodies - or notable parts of the bodies - of the Saints who, as distinguished members of Christ's mystical Body and as Temples of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 3, 16; 6, 19; 2 Cor 6, 16)(324) in virtue of their heroic sanctity, now dwell in Heaven, but who once lived on earth. Objects which belonged to the Saints, such as personal objects, clothes and manuscripts are also considered relics, as are objects which have touched their bodies or tombs such as oils, cloths, and images."
(236, Veneration of the Saints and Beati, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, Principles and Guidelines," Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (December 2001)

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Clay, Elementary Particles, Photons, and God

God isn't human. Well, actually the Second Person of the Trinity is human, and that's a different topic. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 232-260, 484-486, for starters)

As I said last week, I think God is a little hard to think about because the Almighty is so God-like.

"In the Beginning"

"We believe that God needs no pre-existent thing or any help in order to create, nor is creation any sort of necessary emanation from the divine substance.144 God creates freely 'out of nothing':145
"If God had drawn the world from pre-existent matter, what would be so extraordinary in that? A human artisan makes from a given material whatever he wants, while God shows his power by starting from nothing to make all he wants. 146' "
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 296)
My father told me a story to illustrate this point. It's quite fictional, but I think it's worth repeating.

God, Clay, and Some Guy: A Story

God was walking along a riverbank with some man. They were talking about how much humanity had learned recently. The man was particularly impressed with developments in molecular biology. "I can make life, just like you did in Genesis," he said.

God asked, "could you make a man?" The man thought a minute, then said, "yes."

"Okay," said the Almighty. "Let's see you do that." They had come to a spot on the riverbank where a small landslide had exposed fresh clay. The man bent down and scooped up a lump of clay.

"Wait," God said. "If you're going to do this on your own, you have to create your own clay."

It's Elementary

Clay, in this context, is:
  • Material with a particle size of less than 2 micrometers
  • One of the "clay" minerals, with
    • A great affinity for water
    • The ability to exchange ions
    • Similar chemical compositions
    • Common crystal structural characteristics
    • Particles ranging in size
      • From 10s of angstroms
      • To millimeters
    ("Clays," USGS)
My fictional man could, in principle, take Potassium (K), Silicon (Si), Aluminum (Al), Magnesium (Mg), Oxygen (O), and Hydrogen (H), and Calcium (Ca), and make an aluminous smectite (The chemical composition of a sample of that stuff ranged from K0.4(Si3.0Al1.0)4.0 to Ca0.3(Si3.0Al1.0)4.0(Al2.0Mg0.2)2.33O10(OH)2 (USGS).)

He could, again in principle, start with hydrogen and fuse those atoms into the heavier elements: or go further back and start with a selection of elementary particles.

But my fictional man would have to start with something that already exists. Even products of our imaginations are arguably not entirely our own. I've yet to imagine something that doesn't have at least a few of the characteristics of real, created, things that I've encountered.

No "Oops" With God

God didn't have to create this universe we live in. It wasn't an accident, either. He made all this because He wanted to. (Catechism, 295) That's something to think about - and yet another topic. Maybe I'll get back to that next week. Or, not.

Infinite

"Infinite" can mean quite a few things:
  • Noun
    • The unlimited expanse in which everything is located
  • Adjective
    • Having no limits or boundaries in time or space or extent or magnitude
    • (of verbs) Not having tense, person, or number (as a participle or gerund or infinitive)
    • Too numerous to be counted
    • Total and all-embracing
    (Princeton's WordNet)
God is big. Infinitely so:
"God is infinitely greater than all his works: 'You have set your glory above the heavens.'156 Indeed, God's 'greatness is unsearchable.'157 But because he is the free and sovereign Creator, the first cause of all that exists, God is present to his creatures' inmost being: 'In him we live and move and have our being.'158 In the words of St. Augustine, God is 'higher than my highest and more inward than my innermost self.'159"
(Catechism, 300)
Quite a few decades back, I ran into someone who wrote that God couldn't be all-powerful, because 'Hell could literally break out' somewhere and God wouldn't know until light from the event reached Him.

It was a clever way to discuss some of what we know about the speed of photons in a vacuum: but theologically clueless.

My guess is that the fellow who wrote that may have run into the same sort of loudly-pious Luddites and ignoramuses I have from time to time: and didn't bother to learn whether or not all Christendom was like them.

We're not: and I've been over that before.

Related posts:

Monday, January 23, 2012

Caritas in Veritate: Progress, Ethics, and Sex


More posts about "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
"Caritas in Veritate"

Last week's post about my take on Caritas in Veritate/Charity in Truth ended with this quote:
"...Idealizing technical progress, or contemplating the utopia of a return to humanity's original natural state, are two contrasting ways of detaching progress from its moral evaluation and hence from our responsibility."
(Caritas in Veritate, 14)
I'm picking up there, where Pope Benedict XVI gives links to two other documents that tie in with the "fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes:"
"Two further documents by Paul VI without any direct link to social doctrine - the Encyclical Humanae Vitae (25 July 1968) and the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975) - are highly important for delineating the fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes. It is therefore helpful to consider these texts too in relation to Populorum Progressio...."
(Caritas in Veritate, 15)
Like I said last week, I've got the authority of "some guy with a blog." If you want to see what Carita in Veritate is about: I strongly suggest reading it. That's what the links are for. I think it's worth the effort, although this sort of thing generally isn't particularly light reading.

Take the first sentence of the next paragraph, for example:
"...The Encyclical Humanae Vitae emphasizes both the unitive and the procreative meaning of sexuality, thereby locating at the foundation of society the married couple, man and woman, who accept one another mutually, in distinction and in complementarity: a couple, therefore, that is open to life[27]...."
(Caritas in Veritate, 15)

"Humanae Vitae," Logic, and Me

Bear with me, please: How I ran into "Humanae Vitae" actually does have something to do with this part of Caritas in Veritate.

"Humanae Vitae" is rather special for me, since I read it cover-to-cover before my wife and I got married. I'd been brought up in a nice, normal, mainstream Protestant household: and had absorbed a great deal of my native culture's values.

The idea of not using artificial contraceptives seemed foolish. I was quite sure that, after reading "Humanae Vitae," I'd find holes in their logic I could drive a truck through.

That didn't happen.

Instead, I found that I had a choice. Clinging to my preferences about artificial contraceptives would mean rejecting assumptions I'd made about God, human beings, and the nature of reality. I wasn't even close to being willing to re-think whether, for example:
  • Objective reality actually exists
  • God
    • Exists
    • Gives a rip about people
    • Is reasonable
I still didn't like what the Catholic Church taught about contraception: but I had to admit that it was logical. I kept running into that sort of thing and eventually became a Catholic. Which is another topic.

Sex is Not Lust: and Other Counter-Cultural Ideas

This isn't even close to all that the Church says about human sexuality, but it's a start:I suspect that the notion that sex is dirty has roots in Gnosticism, among other things, and that's yet another topic.

Where was I? Sex. Progress. The Catholic Church. John Muir.

"John Muir?!"

"Hitched to Everything Else in the Universe"

Human sexuality is, as Caritas in Veritate, 15, says, "...not a question of purely individual morality: Humanae Vitae indicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics...." That reminded me of one of my favorite quotes:
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."
John Muir, "My First Summer in the Sierra" (1911)
(Apathetic Lemming of the North (October 17, 2010)
Citing Pope Paul VI, Caritas in Veritate says:
"...Testimony to Christ's charity, through works of justice, peace and development, is part and parcel of evangelization, because Jesus Christ, who loves us, is concerned with the whole person...."
(Caritas in Veritate, 15)
Believing is good. Looks like we're supposed to do something about our high ideals, and I've posted about faith and works before.

Progress is a Vocation

One of the enduring myths of at least some American subcultures is the battle between Progress and Religion. On the one hand, in this view, we've got brilliant, forward-thinking people making things better by driving back the ignorance and superstitions of Religion.

I can see how folks could get that idea, given some of the crazier radio preachers I've heard. But there's more to religion than the perennial Apocalypse predictions.

Besides, the 'progressive secularists against superstitions Christians' myth serves to explain why it's so important to keep 'those religious people' from expressing their opinions. And I've posted about what "myth" does and doesn't mean before. More topics.

Wrenching myself back to why progress is a good idea, but not the highest good:
"...In Populorum Progressio, Paul VI taught that progress, in its origin and essence, is first and foremost a vocation: 'in the design of God, every man is called upon to develop and fulfil himself, for every life is a vocation.'[34] ...

"To regard development as a vocation is to recognize, on the one hand, that it derives from a transcendent call, and on the other hand that it is incapable, on its own, of supplying its ultimate meaning...."
(Caritas in Veritate, 16)
There's more in Caritas in Veritate, 16, 'meaning of life' stuff: but I'll get to that next week.

One more excerpt:

Human Life: Valued, or Not

"...The Church forcefully maintains this link between life ethics and social ethics, fully aware that 'a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.'[29]..."
(Caritas in Veritate, 15)
I've taken the establishment's attitude toward defective people a bit personally, since I'd probably have been culled from the herd if some of the 'quality of life' folks had their way. I tend to get hot under the collar about 'medical ethics,' too. Yet again more topics.

I think a sort of 'bottom line' for Caritas in Veritate, 16 is:
  • Development is
    • A good thing, provided it involves
      • Freedom
      • Truth
      • Charity
    • Not
      • The highest good
      • A goal by itself
    • A vocation
      • Part of our pilgrimage through life
In this context, "development" is more than just designing faster computers, more fuel-efficient cars, or a new vaccine. I'll get to that next week.

Or, maybe not.

Related posts:

More:

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Freedom, Corned Beef and Cabbage, and Me

I like being a Catholic. I also like being an American.

America, Love It and Improve It

I was born in America, and haven't always been thrilled about what the local, county, state, and federal governments have been up to: but like I've said before, there's a lot more to America than the government. And that's almost another topic.

I haven't heard the old "America: Love it or Leave it" slogan in quite a while. The attitude persists, though: and I think encourages another set of folks to assume that patriotism, like religion, is a psychiatric disorder. I think some of the trouble comes from confusing "chauvinist" and "patriot:"
  • Chauvinist
    • "A person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind"
    • "An extreme bellicose nationalist">An extreme bellicose nationalist"
      (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Patriot
    • "One who loves and defends his or her country"
      (Princeton's Wordnet)
I've decided that I'm a patriot, but not a chauvinist, and posted about that in another blog:I think America is a pretty good place to live: but I know that this country isn't perfect. Since I'm a practicing Catholic, I've got a mandate to make society better. We all do. (Catechism, 1928-1942) Which is part of why I write these posts. I've been over this sort of thing before:

The Catholic Church in America

I've made this point before:I suspect that there's still an impression in some circles that the Catholic Church isn't American. In a way, they're right.

The Catholic Church has been around for a couple of millennia. The United States of America will have it's 300th birthday in a little over 64 years. The Catholic Church is literally universal, the United States doesn't even cover the north half of the western hemisphere of Earth.

Of the world's 7,000,000,000 or so living citizens, about 1,170,100,000 are Catholics. About 313,200,000 are Americans. Of the third-of-a-billion Americans, around 74,850,000 are Catholic. That's a little under one quarter of all Americans.1

The Catholic Church is huge, it's ancient: and most Catholics are "foreigners." No wonder some of America's WASPish set got jittery when we started moving in.

'There Goes the Neighborhood?'

One reason I don't see immigration as a problem in America is that my ancestors are immigrants. I don't think we've hurt America by living here. We've even contributed a bit to America's culture.

I don't think America's going to suffer when folks who never heard of lefse or corned beef and cabbage before, settle down and start adding their ideas to America's 'potluck' culture. Actually, I'd be worried if folks with fresh ideas and enthusiasm stopped trying to get in.

Freedom

American culture and the Catholic Church were in the news late this week:
"Pope: Religious freedom most American of freedoms"
Vatican Radio, via NEWS.VA (January 19, 2012)

"The attempts of current cultural trends to curtail the right to religious freedom is a threat not only to 'Christian faith, but also to humanity itself', said Pope Benedict XVI Thursday....

"...The Holy Father's speech was given largely to reflections on what he described as the 'most American of freedoms, the freedom of religion' and how it must be defended and promoted in today's society. He said at the heart of every religion and culture is the need for moral good, but that today that moral good is being seriously eroded...."
There's a longer excerpt of the NEWS.VA article at the end of this post2

I'm a practicing Catholic, so I have to support religious freedom. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2104-2109) For everybody. (Catechism, 2106) I posted some of my reactions to the Pope's statements about religious freedom on Friday.

News, 'Fairness,' and Getting a Grip

I live in America, so I noticed that item about what the Pope said to some American bishops. It's sort of like seeing the name of your home town in a national magazine.

Maybe there's a disproportionate amount of news involving the United States on the Vatican's NEWS.VA English-language home page. But America is a fairly important part of the English-speaking world.

Being 'fair' by giving equal weight to news from Antigua and Barbuda, New Zealand, and the United States might make a few folks around Boggy Peak happy. (It's got a cooler name these days.)

But I think it would make about as much sense as insisting that devote equal coverage to news from Isanti, Minneapolis, and Sauk Centre, here in Minnesota. I love it here: but most of what happens in Sauk Centre doesn't have all that much effect on the rest of the state. What happens in Minneapolis often does, directly or indirectly.

Getting back to NEWS.VA, Here's a sample of what I found in Friday's English language news:
NEWS.VA's Spanish and Italian websites each have their own selection of featured stories. Which I think makes a lot of sense. Not everybody has the same interests: and I think it'd be a boring world if we did.

Related posts:

1 United States population is from a July, 2011, estimate. Percent of living Catholics based on a 2009 estimate. World population estimate is from October, 2011:
  • " World"
    CIA World FactBook (last updated on December 1, 2011)
  • "United States"
    CIA World FactBook (last updated November 17, 2011)
  • "7 Billionth Person Born (Or Maybe More. Or Less. Who Knows?)"
    FoxNews.com (October 31, 2011)
2 Excerpt from Thursday's news:
"Pope: Religious freedom most American of freedoms"
Vatican Radio, via NEWS.VA (January 19, 2012)

"The attempts of current cultural trends to curtail the right to religious freedom is a threat not only to 'Christian faith, but also to humanity itself', said Pope Benedict XVI Thursday, in his address to US bishops from Region's IV-VI currently on their Ad Limina visit to Rome.

"The Holy Father's speech was given largely to reflections on what he described as the 'most American of freedoms, the freedom of religion' and how it must be defended and promoted in today's society. He said at the heart of every religion and culture is the need for moral good, but that today that moral good is being seriously eroded.

"Citing his predecessor, John Paul II, Pope Benedict noted : 'When a culture attempts to suppress the dimension of ultimate mystery, and to close the doors to transcendent truth, it inevitably becomes impoverished and falls prey… to reductionist and totalitarian readings of the human person and the nature of society'.

"He said the Church has her part to play in the public square and that while the separation of Church and State is legitimate 'it cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation'...."

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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.