I have never read a good review of Fr. Rohr from any Catholic writer that I respect.
But what do you know about him directly? If you haven’t already, I challenge you to put aside whatever others have told you, listen to what he’s saying, and make up your own mind rather than listening to others.
I first heard of him a couple months ago when a friend sent me a CD set of him talking about his book “the Naked Now.” That’s where I first came to understand exactly what is meant by dualistic and non-dualistic thinking.
There is nothing wrong with dualistic thinking per se, as without it we couldn’t even speak to each other. But Jesus introduced non-dualistic thinking, which didn’t set well with those most entrenched in their ways. It upset a lot of people. He was called a blasphemer. I’m not saying Father Rohr is Jesus or anything like that – just that he has some wisdom to offer that you can’t get by reading scholarly journals about intellectual debates which provide intellectual reinforcement which have the potential to surround a person’s soul with pride and feeling of self-accomplishment, or maybe with self-loathing, as one always sees himself as unworthy. It isn’t about worthiness contests. It’s about opening your mind and heart and being truly transformed. You can memorize the Bible and every canon law and CCC paragraph, give double your tithe to the church, sell all your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor, and even talk in tongues but it is all nothing without love. To find that love, you must go beyond dualistic thinking, as a part of letting go of your own ego … once you start catching on to non-dualistic thinking, you will even be better at dualistic thinking when it is needed, because you will understand its context and limitations.
The above paragraph are my thoughts; I don’t intend to speak to Father Rohr. You wouldn’t want a jury to vote on your guilt by reading negative newspaper reports and shutting their eyes and turning off their hearing aids while you are on the witness stand, would you? Of course if he says anything differently than the way everyone else says it, it’s going to stir up the beehive a little. Like Ted Nugent once told Rush Limbaugh, “if you ain’t making waves, you ain’t paddling.”
I’m not telling you Rohr is a heretic or not; I’m asking you to make up your own mind based on solid evidence rather than others’ opinions. I’m telling you that if you don’t want someone to judge you solely on the basis of negative newspaper accounts, then neither should you judge Rohr by the words of other people when their are plenty of his own words you can listen to. (Not to mention, the people who most attack Rohr have something to lose if Rohr is right.) And not out of context, like those who claimed he was calling himself a heretic. I know for a fact that the transcript of that sound bite has been copied to websites all over the world, as “proof” that Rohr knows he’s a heretic and proud of it. I was puzzled by the transcript. But when I listened to the actual soundbite, it was so obvious it was pathetic that so many people thought they had found a smoking gun. When you have first hand evidence, don’t walk by it and go for second and third-hand opinons and then make a judgment. Listen to those you trust, but get it first hand or don’t judge for yourself. If you want to say, “well, so and so says he’s a heretic,” I have no problem with that. What I am asking is that you don’t say, “he’s a heretic because so and so says he is.” Can you see the distinction I’m making? I’m not playing word games. I’d bet my immortal soul that there is a fundamental difference between the two statements. On the one hand, you’re reporting what others have said. On the other, you’re judging someone without giving them a chance to testify, and we all know what Jesus said about judgments. Would you stake your immortal soul that these people you trust – who don’t like Rohr – have made a proper judgment of him? Please accept this as a warning, offered in love, that if you judge people based on others’ judgments, you may just be in deep trouble yourself.
As always, thank you for taking the time to post on this matter. TTYL. :tiphat:
I pray that you and yours experience love, peace, joy, and a sense of true spiritual, emotional, and mental freedom – and if it’s not too much to ask, a taste of Divine Union.
Alan
You probably suspected that already. i
