Showing posts with label hypocrisy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hypocrisy. Show all posts

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Having a Future

Making fun of old aphorisms like this has been popular:
"Honesty's the best policy."
("Don Quixote de la Mancha," Miguel de Cervantes (1605-1615); via Bartlett's "Familiar Quotations," 16th edition)
I've done it myself, sometimes bitterly.

Some well-known one-liners aren't true. Others, like that quote from "Don Quixote," are true: but require patience.

Frustration and a Fruit

Sometimes the crisis du jour is personal: trouble with the boss, spouse, friends. Sometimes it's bigger: laws that don't make sense, laws that do make sense but aren't enforced, or economic woes.

In my youth, I wanted to see problems fixed: fast. I still do. But I've learned that patience is valuable.

I'd say 'patience is a virtue,' but technically it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and that's another topic. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1832)

'Life isn't Fair?'

It's easy to feel that life isn't fair: that folks who do wrong are rewarded, while those who try to do right are punished.

In the short run, that happens: not always, but it does happen.

In the long run, I've noticed this bit from Psalms play out, all too often:
"Of David. 1 Do not be provoked by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong.

"Like grass they wither quickly; like green plants they wilt away.

"2 Trust in the LORD and do good that you may dwell in the land and live secure."
"I have seen ruthless scoundrels, strong as flourishing cedars.

"When I passed by again, they were gone; though I searched, they could not be found.

"Observe the honest, mark the upright; those at peace with God have a future."
(Psalms 37:1-3, 35-37)

Death and Memories

When I was young, a classmate's actions occasionally made my school experiences unpleasant.

At the time, I felt rage at the perceived injustices. I eventually took Luke 18:9-14 to heart, and began fighting the urge to be be 'convinced of my own righteousness.'1

Decades later, I read the classmate's obituary. It mentioned little more than his name, and when he died. I encountered a vague rumor that his death was drug-related.

I could indulge in self-satisfied rejoicing that I outlived him: but I don't.

I grieve at his death, and the choices that may have led to it. Human life, all human life, is sacred; and that's yet another topic. (Catechism, 2258)

Another person, someone very close to me, committed suicide. This troubles me more than the school bully: partly because the emotional bond was stronger; partly because I've had the same urge. Fairly often. Still more topics.2

Cackling, Matthew, and Me

I've never actually heard someone cackling maniacally while gloating over the eternal torment of 'those sinners over there.' On the other hand, I recall hearing enthusiastic discussions of passages like Revelation 14:11.

Gleeful contemplation of eternal torment for others encouraged me to learn about religion, history, and abnormal psychology. Many years later, I became a Catholic, and that's - another topic, of course.

I've felt outrage when wrong behavior didn't result in immediate punishment: or, worse, was rewarded. But I've also read that parable about wheat and weeds. (Matthew 13:24-30) There's that Matthew 7:1-2 thing about judging others, too. I really don't need that sort of trouble.

Taking "stop judging, that you may not be judged" to heart isn't the same as pretending that whatever folks do is okay. It's okay to judge actions. But we are supposed to leave judgment of the person who committed the act to God. (Catechism, 1861)

I'm quite willing to keep working on my flaws, help deal with problems when I can, and let God take care of long-term consequences. As I've said before, 'God's God, I'm not:' and I like it that way.

Related posts:
A tip of the hat to Fr. Cory Sticha and owen swain, on Google+, for the heads-up on ibreviary.com: where I found those verses from Psalms 37.
1 Role models, good and otherwise:
"He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.

" 'Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.

"The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity - greedy, dishonest, adulterous - or even like this tax collector.

"I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income."

"But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner."

" tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.' "
(Luke 18:9-14)
2 The Catholic Church says that suicide is wrong, but that we "...should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives...." (Catechism, 2280-2283)

I've had up-close-and-personal experience with suicide and mental illness:
Background:
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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Living With Imperfection

Halloween is a little over a week away.

Folks with a flair for outdoor decor set out artistically altered pumpkins, like the vegetable R2D2 someone showed on Google+. Villafane Studios takes jack-o-lantern carving to a whole new level; and, in one arboretum, folks can visit a patch of glass pumpkins.

Our catacorner neighbors have inflatable holiday decorations out again this year: including an improbably balanced pile of jack-o-lanterns and a huge purple spider.

Values: Halloween DVD, Addams Family, and Otherwise

Halloween-related discussions I've seen online this year have been fairly tame. One post showed a store's display of "Halloween DVD Values," questioning "...what kind of values a Halloween DVD has...."

The fellow who shared that may have been enjoying a play on words. I've done the same sort of thing, in somewhat snarkier tone:
What I haven't seen, yet, is a rant about the Satanic horrors of pumpkins, black cats, and kids asking for candy.

Engaging the Culture?

Maybe that's because I've found niches in online communities where most of the folks aren't particularly rabid. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough to "engage the present-day culture:"
Or maybe it's not close enough to Halloween yet.

The Usual Complaints

On the other hand, some online discussion did include folks with the usual complaints about the Catholic Church:
  1. Priests molested kids
  2. The Church
    • Is against women's right to chose
    • Isn't against the death penalty
  3. We're hypocrites
There's some truth behind those attitudes:
  1. Priests molested kids
  2. The Church
  3. We're hypocrites

Hypocrisy: Not Approved

A dictionary says hypocrisy is:
  • An expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction
  • Insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have
    (Princeton's WordNet)
The Catholic Church says we should be "living in truth." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2465-2470) The idea is to be truthful - which is inconsistent with practicing hypocrisy:
"Truth as uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or candor. Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, and in guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy."
(Catechism, 2468)
So, does this mean that all Catholics are perfect people, unsullied by naughty thoughts and nasty deeds? Hardly. I've posted about original sin before. (July 25, 2012)

I'm one of the billion or so living Catholics who could say 'God's not done with me yet.' Which isn't the same as hating myself, or putting on a show of being 'a great sinner who is now SAVED, and that's another topic. Topics. (October 26, 2011, August 8, 2010)

Life: Sacred

Like I've said before, life is sacred. (Catechism, 2258) Since I'm a practicing Catholic, I can't let that be a lovely thought and nothing more. I have to act as if it's true. Yet more topics.

Change Happens

I didn't expect the 21st century to be quite like this: but I didn't expect it to be just like 1950s America, either. This post was going to be about change, stress, and all that: but it got out of hand. I'll settle for linking to sort-of-related posts:
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Saturday, September 1, 2012

"Life is here, Love is here, Challenge is here. ... The choice is ours"

Readings for August 26, 2012, 21st Sunday in Ordinary time 2012:

21st Sunday in Ordinary time 2012

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
August 26, 2012

"Have the people recline." Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted when they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "gather the fragments left over so that nothing will be wasted." From the 17th Sunday.

"I Am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." From the 18 Sunday.

"I Am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." From the 19th Sunday.

"This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever." From the 20th Sunday.

"Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." From the last words of the Holy Gospel for today.

How often have you come across someone who comes up to you and says, have you been saved? I've told you of this happening before but it needs a little more explanation, I think.

A young man comes into my shop one day and across to counter asked me, have you been saved? and almost without thinking I said, oh yes many times. We completed our work and before he left he had asked me now how could I say that I was saved many times because he believed once saved always saved. My response to him was simply, well, every time I go to Confession I am saved. And I suppose if you think about it, that was really not a bad answer.

But in light of the last five weeks of the bread of life discourses maybe I should have added, every time I receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ in Holy Communion. Then, we recall what father has been talking about the last four weeks, that having received the body and blood of Christ, and I would add worthily, one cannot remain in the grave.

Everything Jesus says or does is intended to lead us to the moment of decision: will we throw in our lot with him; or refuse him.

Surely we have choices to make every step along the discipleship road. Come follow me or stay behind. Seek peace or take up the sword. Serve God or money. Build on rock that lasts or on sand that slips away. Tend to the dead or choose the way of life. Open your eyes or remain blind. Get up and walk or stay where you are. Go up to Jerusalem or return to Galilee. Seek the kingdom or settle for the world.

Either we are for Christ or against him. Jesus doesn't allow a shift into neutral or a response of no comment. Let's be clear, any decision we make has consequences.

Joshua, from our first reading, offers the people a similar clarifying decision at the start of their new life in the land of promise. Their last choice was 40 years ago and it wasn't much of a decision: slavery or freedom. On the other side of the desert experience however, they are now a liberated people, which means they're free to choose who they want and intend to be: the people of God? If not, they can go another way, right now, the only acceptable answer is to say yes!

This hypocrisy, of course, is what the tribes wind up attempting, and that explains the rest of the Hebrew story: War, destruction, exile, and national ruin. After Babylon comes the moment of decision once more. You want to join the faithful remnant and return to the land as God's people, or stay away? The cycle begins again.

The decisive question continues to be posed, because each new generation has to address it. We can be baptized and still say no. We can receive our first Communion and have our faith ratified at Confirmation and still retreat. We can journey with Jesus as members of His Church and determine one day that we will go no further. We can be faithful churchgoers all our lives yet at the critical hour where testimony is called upon, we may waffle and stammer and look away. Making a lie of it all.

Are you with me or do you want to leave? Jesus asks. St. Peter's answer remains the best, but we can only repeat it if we mean it. Life is here, Love is here, Challenge is here. The cross is here. Forgiveness is here. The choice is ours. Amen.
'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.
More reflections:
Related posts:
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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Conscience, Natural Law, and Religious Liberty

I'm putting original sin and all that on the back burner for now. It's an important topic, but I've learned that I can't always do everything at the same time.

Even after editing, this post is a long one. Maybe a list of headings will help you find something interesting. Or, not:
I ran across part of the Catechism that discusses religious liberty while writing yesterday's post. Since we're still in Fortnight For Freedom, I figured I'd write about religious freedom, ethics, and conscience, for this week's 'Bible and Catechism' post.

Right, Wrong, and Crazy

The idea that some things are right, and some things are wrong, no matter what the Supreme Court or an opinion poll say, is counter-cultural. At least for today's establishment.

So, apparently, is the idea that religious freedom involves letting people act as if God matters.

I suspect that many Americans fear 'religious people' getting political power for what seem like good reasons. I've explained how a particularly virulent sort of Christianity in my home area made me very curious about religion, among other things. I eventually became a Catholic.

I could have written off Christianity as a sort of psychiatric disorder. I didn't, partly because I knew about the Catholic Church's millennia-spanning, continuous, documented, history. (April 18, 2012, February 27, 2011)

(back to list of headings)

Long Hair, Music, and Me

One thing I learned from radio preachers of my youth was that they hated rock and roll, and long hair on men. Personal preferences are one thing: that lot acted as if God agreed with them on every point.

I changed my listening habits, started enjoying rock, and grew moderately long hair. Then, around my mid-to-late teens, I started going bald: and that's another topic.

I also began seeing inconsistencies between what the painfully pious people said, what they did, and what I learned when I studied the Bible

I never assumed that all Christians were hypocrites, but I could see why many of my contemporaries thought so. The more 'Biblical' of the 'good church-going people' often seemed to have few verses missing from their reading list:
"1 Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. 2 For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. ... There is no partiality with God. "
(Romans 2:1-11)
One of the reasons I don't express a desire to see 'that sinner over there' burning in Hell is that my Lord wouldn't like it. (Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6:37-38, 41-42; and see footnote 10 in Luke:6)

(back to list of headings)

Hypocrisy's Out: So is Stupidity

My Lord teaches us to love. Everybody. (Luke 6:35) He also said this:
"You hypocrite, 3 remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
(Matthew 7:5)
Looks like hypocrisy is out as a lifestyle option. And yes, I know about the pedophile priests. Moving on.

'Not judging others' doesn't mean putting my brain on 'hold,' and 'lovingly' accepting any behavior:
"1 [1-12] In ⇒ Matthew 7:1 Matthew returns to the basic traditional material of the sermon (⇒ Luke 6:37-38, ⇒ 41-42). The governing thought is the correspondence between conduct toward one's fellows and God's conduct toward the one so acting.

"2 [1] This is not a prohibition against recognizing the faults of others, which would be hardly compatible with ⇒ Matthew 7:5, 6 but against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one's own faults."
(Matthew 7, footnote 1, footnote 2)
"A spirit of arrogance" hurts the person harboring it. I think it hurts others, too: to the extent that they accept the distorted image of Christianity - or reject my Lord. Bottom line, hypocrisy is a bad idea.

So is 'letting friends drive drunk,' and ignoring other self-destructive behavior:
(back to list of headings)

Natural Rights, and Natural Law

I've discussed natural law before. It's the idea that ethical rules exist, and are as real as those of the physical world. I've put links to some of my take ethics, cause, and effect, under "Related posts," below.

The Catholic Church teaches that "every human person, created in the image of God" has natural rights, including the right to be:
  • Seen as a free and responsible being
    (Catechism, 1738)
  • Protected, when a guest
    • Includes reciprocal obligations
    • Applies to
      • Foreigners
      • Governments
    (Catechism, 2241)
  • Respected, to retain the honor of his
    • Name
    • Reputation
    (Catechism, 2479)
About the personal pronoun? That's the way English, my native language, works. (April 10, 2012)

(back to list of headings)

Religious Liberty

I've been spending an hour outside each evening praying during Fortnight For Freedom, together with a few dozen other folks. (June 25, 2012) Sometimes it's been hot, damp, work. I've kept going because I think religious freedom is important. For everybody.

I've posted this quite often:
  • Religious freedom is vital
    (Catechism, 2104-2109)
    • For everybody
      (Catechism, 2106)
Like I said before: as a practicing Catholic I can't 'be holy' for an hour on Sunday, and behave as if God doesn't matter the rest of the time. Friday's Supreme Court decision makes that a little more awkward. (June 29, 2012)

That's because I recognize an authority higher than the Supreme Court. In a nation with just laws, thinking that God has more authority than some judges wouldn't be a problem. One of my duties is to be a good citizen, and obey legitimate authorities. (Catechism, 2199, 1915, 2238-43, for starters)

However, being a good citizen doesn't extend to blindly obeying whatever the nearest ruler commands. Saying "I was only following orders" will not make everything okay. (June 26, 2012)

I've been over this before. Often:
The Catholic Church takes life, freedom, and conscience very seriously:
" 'Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in association with others, within due limits.'34 This right is based on the very nature of the human person, whose dignity enables him freely to assent to the divine truth which transcends the temporal order. For this reason it 'continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it.'35"
(Catechism, 2106)
Oho! "...nor nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience..." That means that as long as I really believe that it's okay to kill my wife, or neighbor, or someone else, it's okay: right?

Wrong. I've already written about natural law: that's the "objective moral order" in this excerpt. Some things are, simply, wrong. No matter how sincere someone is, or how many people 'really believe:'
"The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error,37 but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the juridical order of society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right.38

"The right to religious liberty can of itself be neither unlimited nor limited only by a 'public order' conceived in a positivist or naturalist manner.39 The 'due limits' which are inherent in it must be determined for each social situation by political prudence, according to the requirements of the common good, and ratified by the civil authority in accordance with 'legal principles which are in conformity with the objective moral order.'40"
(Catechism, 2108-2109)
The Church thinks freedom is important: but so is truth. And responsibility. (Catechism, 1730-1742, 2464-2503)

Finally, about the words "naturalist" and "positivist," used in Catechism, 2108-2109:
  • Naturalist (noun)
    • An advocate of the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms
    • A biologist knowledgeable about natural history (especially botany and zoology))
    (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Positivism (noun)
    • The form of empiricism that bases all knowledge on perceptual experience
      • Not on intuition or revelation
    • A quality or state characterized by certainty or acceptance or affirmation and dogmatic assertiveness
    (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Positivist
    • (Noun)
      • Someone who emphasizes observable facts and excludes metaphysical speculation about origins or ultimate causes
    • (Adjective)
      • Of or relating to positivism
    (Princeton's WordNet)
(back to list of headings)

Good grief. This post is long enough already. If you're interested, check out my take on science, reason, and getting a grip under "Related posts:"
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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Holy Willie Syndrome

A person can get some great quotes, by snipping out little bits of the Bible:
"... No one who is begotten by God commits sin...."
(Part of 1 John 3:9)
Oh, wow! Does that mean that once I'm baptized and saved and all that, I can do any damned thing I want, and it won't be my fault?

No, I really don't think so.

A Little More Detail

That 'no one ... commits sin" is from from today's first reading, 1 John 3:7-10:
"Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. 4 In this way, the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother."
(1 John 3:7-10)
It's possible, if not reasonable, to take that snippet from 1 John 3:9 and decide that "righteous" people can do no wrong. And, of course, that "whoever sins" is irrevocably condemned to Hell.

If that doesn't seem compatible with loving each other: I agree, and I've been over that before. ("Loving Neighbors: No Matter What" (May 10, 2011))

"Sinless?!"

Being part of a self-described little band of 'spiritual elite' can, I suppose, be reassuring. Not to me, though. I want to be "righteous," but not self-righteous. There's a difference.

Let's see what that footnote says:
"A habitual sinner is a child of the devil, while a child of God, who by definition is in fellowship with God, cannot sin. Seed: Christ or the Spirit who shares the nature of God with the Christian."
(Footnote 4, 1 John 3)
Okay: clarifying "sinner" as being a "habitual sinner" helps, a bit. As usual, there's more. Quite a lot more, including something earlier in that book:
"If we say, 'We are without sin,' we deceive ourselves, 3 and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. If we say, 'We have not sinned,' we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
(1 John 1:8-10)
Again with the footnote:
"Denial of the condition of sin is self-deception and even contradictory of divine revelation; there is also the continual possibility of sin's recurrence. Forgiveness and deliverance from sin through Christ are assured through acknowledgment of them and repentance."
(Footnote 3, 1 John 1)

Being 'Biblical,' Getting a Grip

I could take those two selections from 1 John, say 'the Bible contradicts itself,' and be considered 'intelligent' in some circles. That kind of trouble I don't need. I've posted about the particular judgment before.

Or I could decide that my cultural background and personal quirks are 'divine inspiration,' latch on to my favorite verses from the Bible, and claim that God is on my side. Again, that kind of trouble I don't need. The idea is to be on God's side, and that's another topic.

I don't doubt that folks who say women must wear dresses, because the Bible says so, are sincere. I also think they missed some important points. Which is part of the reason why I don't rant about the Bible ordaining that the zoot suit shall be worn by men forevermore. And that's definitely another topic. Topics.

I have to take the Bible seriously. It's Sacred Scripture, inspired writing, and true. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 101-108)

But I don't worship a book. I worship God. Who is the Bible's author. (Catechism, 105) As a Catholic, I'm required to read the Bible; use my brain; and pay attention to what my Lord's outfit has been saying for the last couple of thousand years. (Catechism, 109-133)

"Repent!" and More

I'm a convert to Catholicism, so I'm probably more likely use words like "repentance," or "repent," than a cradle Catholic. Repentance is important, but I get the impression that the Church wants us to be aware of the process: contrition; penance; and reconciliation.

The rules are simple: love God, love my neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31) Also that everybody is my neighbor. (Matthew 5:43-44; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-30; Catechism, 1825)

I think the reason the Church 'makes stuff complicated' is that folks keep trying to weasel out of the simple, but challenging, rules. Yet more topics.

I put links to part of what the Church says about sin, contrition, and all that, under Background, near the end of this post.

Holy Willie's Prayer

Folks getting wild ideas, based on that "... No one who is begotten by God commits sin...." Biblical snippet is nothing new.

Robert (Rabbie) Burns wrote the words of "Auld Lang Syne." He also wrote "Holy Willie's Prayer:"
"...In 'Holy Willie's Prayer,' he [Burns] lays a burning hand on the terrible doctrine of predestination: this is a satire, daring, personal, and profane. Willie claims praise in the singular, acknowledges folly in the plural, and makes heaven accountable for his sins!..."
(Life of Robert Burns, " The Complete Works of Robert Burns," Allan Cunningham (1855), via gutenberg.org)
I put the full text of "Holy Willie's Prayer" at the end of this post.1 The Catholic Church 'believes in' predestination, by the way. But not the 'Holy Willie' sort:
"To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of 'predestination,' he includes in it each person's free response to his grace: 'In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.'395 For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness.396"
(Catechism, 600)
That's the sort of detail that I think is interesting, even fascinating. But since God's God, and I'm not: that sort of 'predestination' may not make much practical difference in my daily decisions.

Holy Willie Syndrome

The phrase, "Holy Willie syndrome," has been around for well over a decade. At least. I think it's a catchy phrase for describing a particularly arrogant, blind, sort of hypocrisy.

Truth as lifestyle choice helps a person avoid hypocrisy. (Catechism, 2468) And that's yet again another topic.

It's Faith and Works

I rely on the mercy of God and the sacrifice my Lord made at Golgotha for my salvation. (Luke 24:46-47; Catechism, 602-603, 1424) But I'm expected to do something with the life I've been given, too. (James 2:12-26; Catechism, 1021, 1915, 2199)

Those bits from the Bible and the Catechism aren't all that's been written about acting as if God matters: but they're a start.

Related posts:
Background
  • Sin
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1846-1869)
    • Is an offense against
      • Reason
      • Truth
      • Right conscience
        (Catechism, 1849)
      • God
        (Catechism, 1850)
    • May be forgiven
      (Catechism, 976-983)
  • Contrition
    (Catechism, 1451-1454)
    • "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again"
      (Council of Trent (1551): Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum 1676 (1965), quoted in Catechism, 1451)
  • Penance
    (Catechism, 1422-1484)
    • Part of an ongoing process of conversion
      (Catechism, 1425)
  • Reconciliation
    (Catechism, 1420-1484)
    • With God
      (Catechism, 1468)
    • With the Church
      (Catechism, 1469)
  • There's more
    • Lots more
1The "Pope" quoted by Robert Burns is Alexander Pope (1688-1744). "And sent the godly in a pet to pray" is from A. Pope's poem, "The Rape of the Lock." Here's Robert Burns' take on one sort of 18th century religion:
"Holy Willie's Prayer

" 'And send the godly in a pet to pray.'--Pope.

"Argument.

"Holy Willie was a rather oldish bachelor elder, in the parish of Mauchline, and much and justly famed for that polemical chattering, which ends in tippling orthodoxy, and for that spiritualized bawdry which refines to liquorish devotion. In a sessional process with a gentleman in Mauchline--a Mr. Gavin Hamilton--Holy Willie and his priest, Father Auld, after full hearing in the presbytery of Ayr, came off but second best; owing partly to the oratorical powers of Mr. Robert Aiken, Mr. Hamilton's counsel; but chiefly to Mr. Hamilton's being one of the most irreproachable and truly respectable characters in the county. On losing the process, the muse overheard him [Holy Willie] at his devotions, as follows:--

"O Thou, who in the heavens does dwell,
Who, as it pleases best Thysel',
Sends ane to heaven an' ten to hell,
A' for Thy glory,
And no for ony gude or ill
They've done afore Thee!

"I bless and praise Thy matchless might,
When thousands Thou hast left in night,
That I am here afore Thy sight,
For gifts an' grace
A burning and a shining light
To a' this place.

"What was I, or my generation,
That I should get sic exaltation,
I wha deserve most just damnation
For broken laws,
Five thousand years ere my creation,
Thro' Adam's cause?

"When frae my mither's womb I fell,
Thou might hae plunged me in hell,
To gnash my gums, to weep and wail,
In burnin lakes,
Where damned devils roar and yell,
Chain'd to their stakes.

"Yet I am here a chosen sample,
To show thy grace is great and ample;
I'm here a pillar o' Thy temple,
Strong as a rock,
A guide, a buckler, and example,
To a' Thy flock.

"O Lord, Thou kens what zeal I bear,
When drinkers drink, an' swearers swear,
An' singin there, an' dancin here,
Wi' great and sma';
For I am keepit by Thy fear
Free frae them a'.

"But yet, O Lord! confess I must,
At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust:
An' sometimes, too, in wardly trust,
Vile self gets in:
But Thou remembers we are dust,
Defil'd wi' sin.

"O Lord! yestreen, Thou kens, wi' Meg--
Thy pardon I sincerely beg,
O! may't ne'er be a livin plague
To my dishonour,
An' I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg
Again upon her.

"Besides, I farther maun allow,
Wi' Leezie's lass, three times I trow--
But Lord, that Friday I was fou,
When I cam near her;
Or else, Thou kens, Thy servant true
Wad never steer her.

"Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn
Buffet Thy servant e'en and morn,
Lest he owre proud and high shou'd turn,
That he's sae gifted:
If sae, Thy han' maun e'en be borne,
Until Thou lift it.

"Lord, bless Thy chosen in this place,
For here Thou hast a chosen race:
But God confound their stubborn face,
An' blast their name,
Wha bring Thy elders to disgrace
An' public shame.

"Lord, mind Gaw'n Hamilton's deserts;
He drinks, an' swears, an' plays at cartes,
Yet has sae mony takin arts,
Wi' great and sma',
Frae God's ain priest the people's hearts
He steals awa.

"An' when we chasten'd him therefor,
Thou kens how he bred sic a splore,
An' set the warld in a roar
O' laughing at us;--
Curse Thou his basket and his store,
Kail an' potatoes.

"Lord, hear my earnest cry and pray'r,
Against that Presbyt'ry o' Ayr;
Thy strong right hand, Lord, make it bare
Upo' their heads;
Lord visit them, an' dinna spare,
For their misdeeds.

"O Lord, my God! that glib-tongu'd Aiken,
My vera heart and flesh are quakin,
To think how we stood sweatin', shakin,
An' p-'d wi' dread,
While he, wi' hingin lip an' snakin,
Held up his head.

"Lord, in Thy day o' vengeance try him,
Lord, visit them wha did employ him,
And pass not in Thy mercy by 'em,
Nor hear their pray'r,
But for Thy people's sake, destroy 'em,
An' dinna spare.

"But, Lord, remember me an' mine
Wi' mercies temp'ral an' divine,
That I for grace an' gear may shine,
Excell'd by nane,
And a' the glory shall be thine,
Amen, Amen!"
(Holy Willie's Prayer (1785), from "Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns," Robert Burns (1855) via Gutenberg.org)
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Having Good Judgment isn't Being Judgmental

One of today's readings is Romans 2:1-11. Here's an excerpt:
"1 Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. 2 For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. ... There is no partiality with God. "
(Romans 2:1-11)
The whole reading is at the end of this post.1 Again, the usual disclaimer. I've got the teaching authority of "some guy with a blog." I don't speak for the Church. I do, however, try to understand what we've been told: which is what this post is about.

Splinters, Wooden Beams, and Hypocrites

If that "...by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself..." sounds familiar, it should. It's an idea my Lord discussed in the Sermon on the Plain and the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke, it comes after the Beatitudes. (Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6:37-38, 41-42; and see footnote 10 in Luke:6)

I think that chapter of Luke has a gentler tone than Matthew 7, and that's another topic.

Matthew's Gospel is fairly clear about the wisdom of someone's being concerned with bad behavior in others, when the 'concerned' person is doing the same thing:
"You hypocrite, 3 remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
(Matthew 7:5)
Maybe that "hypocrite" is a bit harsh. Or maybe not so much, considering the sort of damage we've seen lately.

When folks who should know better talk one way and act another, they hurt their public image: and that's the least of their concerns. They also damage the credibility of everything they've said: including what's true.

Yes, I Know About the Pedophile Priests

The 'pedophile priests' scandal wasn't entirely media hype. Besides the obvious victims of those rogue priests, many others were hurt emotionally.

Pharisees, Christians, and Hypocrisy

Back to Matthew, and "hypocrite;:"
"3 Hypocrite: the designation previously given to the scribes and Pharisees is here given to the Christian disciple who is concerned with the faults of another and ignores his own more serious offenses."
(Mark 7, footnote 3)
Looks like self-righteousness isn't a viable option.

Behavior, Arrogance, and Getting a Grip

I suppose that "stop judging" instruction could be taken to mean that we were supposed to be 'affirming' and 'supportive,' and 'non-judgmental.'

That sort of 'friends let friends drive drunk' thing looked good on paper, a few decades back, but didn't work too well in practice. 2 And I'm getting off-topic.

Footnotes in Matthew 7 point out that we're not supposed to be arrogant or self-righteous.

But we're not supposed to be stupid, either:
"1 [1-12] In ⇒ Matthew 7:1 Matthew returns to the basic traditional material of the sermon (⇒ Luke 6:37-38, ⇒ 41-42). The governing thought is the correspondence between conduct toward one's fellows and God's conduct toward the one so acting.

"2 [1] This is not a prohibition against recognizing the faults of others, which would be hardly compatible with ⇒ Matthew 7:5, 6 but against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one's own faults."
(Matthew 7, footnote 1, footnote 2)
That seem clear enough.

Once again, it comes back to "love God, love your neighbor." (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)

Related posts:
Background:
(Not an exhaustive list)
1 First reading, October 12, 2011, Wednesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time:
"1 Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. 2 For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true. Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance? By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works: 3 eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek. 4 There is no partiality with God. "
(Romans 2:1-11)
2 There's a little good sense buried in the 'you do your thing, I'll do mine' approach to living. I think American culture has started sorting out the difference between actions that are objectively harmful, and behavior that isn't to the liking of the establishment:
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Jessica Logan, Sexting, Suicide, What Guys Want, and Malignant Virtue

"There are times, Charles, when even the unimaginative decency of my brother and the malignant virtue of his wife appear to me admirable."
(Lord Peter Wimsey, in Murder Must Advertise, Dorothy L. Sayers (1933))
A young woman, Jessica, the only child of Cynthia and Albert Logan in Cincinnati, hanged herself last year.

I didn't think suicide was a good idea before I became a Catholic. That's just as well: If I'd 'trusted my feelings,' I probably wouldn't be alive today. I still don't think suicide is a smart move, and now know a few more of the reasons. (January 28, 2009)

Since I'm going to say some things that will sound "judgmental" by the standards of America' dominant culture, I'd better give a little background first.

I Don't have Authority to Judge Anybody

I take this pretty seriously:
" 'Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
(Matthew 7:1-5)
Like the subheading says in another post, "Judging Someone Else? I Don't Need That Kind of Trouble". (August 27, 2009)

Saying that what another person does, on the other hand, I am allowed to point out. Look at it this way: if you saw your blindfolded friend walking toward the top of a cliff, would you be 'nice,' and not mention that he'd better stop?

Suicide isn't Right, and We Shouldn't Do It

I wrote about what the Catholic Church teaches about suicide, earlier this year. (January 28, 2009)

This is over-simplified, but:
  • Killing someone for personal motives is wrong
    • Even if the person is yourself
  • We don't "own" our life
    • God does
    • We're stewards
  • Killing ourselves affects everybody we know
    • And will know
  • After murdering someone else, the living murderer can repent
  • After killing yourself, you're not alive
    • Which could make repenting - or anything else - a bit difficult
So someone who's committed suicide is doomed? Depends on who you listen to. Me, I listen to the Catholic Church:

"Catholics Believe Suicides Go to Hell, Right?"

"This might be a surprise:
" 'We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.
(2283)
(January 28, 2009)

Modesty is a Good Idea, Even if the Grocery Magazines Don't Agree

You've seen them in the grocery checkout line: magazines with covers that display an improbably attractive woman and article titles like "How to Dress for Sex," "What To Do For Your Man - So He Won't Leave You" and "How to Have Sexy [hair, clothes, body parts, whatever]."

I've been over this idea a couple of times, at least.
"...this is a 'divisive' point. Men in western countries have learned to expect the titillation of watching nubile young women bouncing in their bikinis on the beach. Depriving them of this (right?) certainly could be a 'divisive' issue...."

"...Sure: right now, after decades of bikinis, hot pants and nipple rings, it's hard to imagine that anyone would be mean-spirited enough to deprive hot-blooded men of their jollies. Or women of the opportunity to be regarded as 3D living color moving centerfolds...."
(August 16, 2009)
Don't get me wrong: human sexuality is a wonderful part of our existence. But it isn't the only part: and there's a balance to be achieved, between celebrating what we are, and making ourselves seem to be objects - not people.

Jessica Logan and the Respectable People of Cincinnati

First, a bit about Jessica Logan.

Short version: Jessica Logan was born in 1990. By the end of July 2008, she had sent young man a photo of herself, from the neck down, wearing no clothes; graduated from high school, and killed herself.

The young man passed Jessica's photo on to four other young women. After that, Jessica was hounded by the "good," "respectable" people in her peer group, and rejected from parties because she had a "reputation."

Spare me from such respectability.

Sexting: 'Everybody' is Doing It

Sort of.

"Sexting" is a fairly new term, and doesn't seem to have worked its way into the more conventional online dictionaries. There is, however, an article in Wikipedia with some background and - more to the point - links to source material: "Sexting." Briefly, the article defines sexting as "...sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones...."
"...Jessie was not alone in sending nude cell-phone photos. Her friends point to the increasing pressure on teenage girls to send nude photos to their boyfriends.

"A national study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy revealed that 1 in 5 teen girls or 22 percent say they have electronically sent or posted nude or semi-nude images online of themselves...."
(Cindy Kranz, via Cincinnati.com)
Nothing new here. When I was a teen, back in the sixties, it was "Polaroids," a brand name that covered any of the available quick-developing cameras. What's different about sexting is that a racy digital photo can be distributed much faster than a "Polaroid." And, the digital photo can be replicated over and over again.

I remember being a teenage boy - and don't ever want to be like that again. Adolescence doesn't seem to be any easier for teenage girls who are becoming young women.

Never Mind What He Wants

It's not quite true, that human males think only about sex from around the age of 13 to 125. For Americans, anyway, there's food, cars, and sports, too. Other cultures may have something other than cars - and American culture seems to be replacing cars and motorcycles with electronic gadgets. But that's another topic.

The fact is, men tend to be a bit obsessive about women. Good thing too, or it would take a whole lot more to get us thinking about settling down. Which is yet another topic.

The problem is: Guys are really, really interested in sex. The more ethically-challenged of us will lie, cheat, steal or - on occasion - kill for it. I'm not justifying that sort of behavior. At all. But, let's face it: some guys are loathsome jerks. Or act the part very well.

And all of us, if we're even close to being 'husband' material, aren't going to have a physically distant, purely Platonic, interest in our girlfriends. We're not supposed to ask for nude photos, premarital sex, or related favors: but we are not likely to regard a young woman as 'just another person, like me.'

There's a greeting card I ran into, decades ago. On the front is

"I ASKED MY MOTHER WHAT YOU'D WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY."

Inside: "SHE SAID, 'NEVER MIND WHAT HE WANTS, GIVE HIM A CARD."

Some mothers still have that sort of wisdom. Probably a combination of knowledge passed down over generations of women and their daughters, and a lifetime's experience of dealing with my half of humanity.

Back to that Cincinnati article:
"Jessica Logan's nude cell-phone photo - meant for her boyfriend's eyes only - was sent to hundreds of teenagers last year in at least seven Greater Cincinnati high schools.

"The 18-year-old Sycamore High School senior was then bombarded with taunts: slut, porn queen, whore.

"On July 3, Jessie hanged herself in her bedroom...."

"...She couldn't even escape when she went home, her close friends said.

" 'I'd be with her and she'd get numbers that weren't even in her contacts, random numbers that she didn't know, texting her, "You're a whore, you're a slut," ' Lauren said.

" 'Or, she'd get on MySpace and get messages from people calling her those names, or Facebook would be the same way. It was constant. She'd go home thinking, "Oh I'm going to get away from this," but she never could get away from it.'..."
(Cincinnati.com)

Malignant Virtue and the Cincinnati Schools

I think there's plenty of blame to go around: but I'm not going to be sixties-fashionable and blame Jessica's parents. They were, it seems, trying to defend their daughter.

It didn't help that she was 18 by the time the photo was hitting the fan.

The Sycamore Community Schools Board of Education weren't exactly inactive in the matter of Jessica and the "upstanding," "respectable" people who were harassing her. The Logans were sent truancy notices often enough to show that the system really cared.

Hey, who really expects school officials to deal with something like this, anyway? Even if they thought about getting involved, someone might point out the danger they'd face, from infringing on rights to privacy or expression or whatever.

Bitter? Yeah. I am, a little. I was in the education racket for a while, got out, and can't say I'm sorry I did. There are decent people still inside, but as for the system as a whole - but that's yet another topic.

I have no idea what sort of person Jessica Logan was - is. She apparently didn't have the defenses many of us have, against opinions of others. Her decision to hang herself was not, I think, prudent. But I don't have all the facts, and - like I wrote before - I'm not allowed to judge persons.

What people do, on the other hand, again repeating myself, is within the scope of acceptable commentary.

There are five people in particular, who in my opinion acted with at best a callous disregard and reckless indifference to the welfare of others:
  • Ryan Salyers
    • Jessica's ex-boyfriend
    • Who showed Jessica's photo to four other girls
  • Sara Jane Ramsey
      Girl #1, presumably
  • Courtney Richardson
      Girl #2, presumably
  • Emily Stachler
      Girl #3, presumably
  • A minor identified only as A.R
      Girl #4, presumably
With friends like those, you don't need enemies.

The behavior of those persons, and others, is the subject of a lawsuit, so insert "allegedly" every second or third word.

With legal action to help focus their attention, these young people have an opportunity to reevaluate their motivations and decisions. I don't know that they are responsible for Jessica Logan's death: but the special attention that their community showered on Jessica probably wouldn't have happened, if young Mr. Ryan Salyers hadn't shown Jessica's photo to the four other girls - and if all of them hadn't seen to it that the photo was spread around, where it could do the most harm.

Cause and Effect? Yeah, I Think They Exist

Actions have consequences. That's not a popular idea in some circles, but I've seen things that are hard to explain in terms other than "cause and effect."

Sometimes it's pretty obvious: like holding a cement block over your foot and letting it drop. Unless you're wearing some really fancy footwear, your foot will 'just happen to' start hurting a fraction of a second later.

Other times, the cause-effect links aren't quite so obvious.

Like Jessica Logan's case.

Malignant Virtue and "Hypocrisy," Real and Imagined

"Harper Valley PTA" (Tom T. Hall (1968)) was a very popular song in the late sixties. A decade later it was made into a movie (1978) and a television series (1981-1982). I like the song (haven't seen the screen adaptations), and think the Tom T. Hall lyrics say something about the disconnect between what some 'proper' people say they believe - and expect others to do - and how they live, themselves.

As described in the song, the Harper Valley PTA members are hypocrisy personified. (Video micro-reviewed at "Harper Valley PTA - Yeah, There Are People Like That," Apathetic Lemming of the North (December 8, 2009))

Problem is, the idea seems to have taken root that people who say that something that's popular and feels good at the moment - like cheating on your wife or doing drugs - are hypocrites. Because they support unpopular or inconvenient standards.

But What About the Pedophile Priests?!

It's true. A tiny minority of American priests raped boys.

That wasn't right.

It was wrong.

If they were also preaching adherence to Catholic teaching, yes: they were exhibiting hypocritical behavior.

Which wasn't right.

And was wrong.

Moving along.

Having Standards, Hypocrisy, and Being Human

I'm a hypocrite, in the sense that I am not a perfect example of a Catholic citizen, husband, and father: and still think that these standards are right.

God willing, I'll keep shoveling trash out of my mind until it's all gone, or I die. I often feel that I'll still have backlog at the end. Some days, I feel like it's one step forward and two steps back: but that's emotions. They're valuable indicators that something is happening - but I don't rely on them. Which is (good grief) another topic. Several, actually.

By the way, along with murder and suicide, the Catholic Church doesn't approve of hypocrisy. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2468, Mark 12:15, and Matthew 23:13, for starters)

Harper Valley PTA: or, How Not to Run a Community

"Harper Valley PTA" - which is a song I still like - getting back to the late sixties and seventies (aayiii!) was part of a set of cultural changes: in which
  • Some Americans began re-evaluating their relentless pursuit of wealth and social standing
  • Others dug psychological trenches in defense of what they called "the American dream"
  • Quite a few people around my age decided that the whole materialistic culture - and anything else their parents had told them - should be jettisoned

Options, Choices, Results

I never bought into the "tune in, turn on, drop out" ethic: but I did take a long, hard look at my options.

Then I chose to live in a way that was optimized for learning and didn't take having "a successful career" into account. I still think I made the right decision.

As I said, I think folks had reason for rejecting the ethic expressed in 'I'll lie for the company, I'll cheat for the company, I'll steal for the company - but I'll never give up my principles!' (From one of the final scenes in Brigadoon" (1954), I think). Rejecting every part of 'conventional middle-class morality:' not so much.

I can see why folks rejected 'middle-class values.' But I don't think that rejection was such a good idea. Not as implemented.

Ever since, quite a few people have been hesitant to recommend old-fashioned ideas like not shacking up, getting married, being loyal to your wife or husband, and not giving someone a nude photo of yourself.

Stripped of weird cultural accretions like the infamous double standard of the fifties, and the idea that God commands women to wear skirts - during Minnesota winters - I think these rules are intended to keep us from killing each other and ourselves. And, more positively, guiding us into a better life.

In Conclusion (FINALLY!)

I started writing this post about nine and a half hours ago. I've had two meals and attended to several other tasks, too: so don't be too impressed with the amount of time I put in.

The points I was trying to get across were:
  • Ladies, if he says he'll leave unless you send him a naughty photo
    • Take him up on his offer
    • Or leave him first
    • Odds are, this won't be the last dicey demand he makes
  • Guys, don't ask for a naughty photo
  • If you do get a naughty photo, don't send copies to everybody you know
  • If you're so embarrassed and humiliated and rejected that you think you'd be better off dead
    • Odds are really good that you won't
    • Change happens: and this, too will pass
      • Maybe like that triple-cheese anchovy and Tabasco pizza you had
      • But it will pass
  • If you feel that you're morally or spiritually superior to someone you know
    • Look out: and
      • Take a long, hard, look at yourself
      • See what happens when you apply the standards you have for others on yourself
    • Even if you (seriously) think you're better than someone else
      • Use that hyper-spiritual nature of yours and
        • Don't call the person a whore, slut, or whatever
And, if that sounds hard to do: I don't claim that doing the right thing is easy.

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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.