Cleansing and Maturation or Secularization and Decomposition

[LittleFeather]

I always viewed the recent (or maybe it’s not as recent as I thought) “decomposition” (dissent from specific Catholic positions), “domestication” (rather than challenging a church’s host culture, it begins to mirror its values) and “secularization” (weakened impact of tradition) as something the Church *suffers *from.

But this book I’m reading, The Catholic Experience in America, presented a new viewpoint to me: as a “blessing”, “a cleansing of antiquated ideas and traditions, and a move to reason, science, and individual conscience” (Varacalli pg 42).

Varacalli presents both views in his book, by the way.

What do you guys think? I don’t know. I’m not seeing the blessing, but I don’t want to be judgmental without reseaon Does anyone know what the Church teaches about these things?

I read every word you write
LittleFeather

 

[Leon_Bloy]

I think it’s more complicated than a message board allows space to discuss.

I am very wary of concepts like “antiquated,” for one thing. The Church condemns the notion that the faith can become “antiquated” as if it were expired milk or something like that. And in the 1960s and 1970s, “conscience” often meant “justifying to myself the using of birth control” when it was clearly condemned by the Church.

 

[silicasandra]

I think it’s more complicated than a message board allows space to discuss.

I am very wary of concepts like “antiquated,” for one thing. The Church condemns the notion that the faith can become “antiquated” as if it were expired milk or something like that. And in the 1960s and 1970s, “conscience” often meant “justifying to myself the using of birth control” when it was clearly condemned by the Church.

This is very true, although you could also argue that “antiquated” ideas could also mean non-Catholic ideas that have wormed their way in from outside culture. Not that these views show up in any official Church teaching, but that they may be erroneously held by laity or even clergy and religious to the point where they are accepted as Church teaching by many when they’re really not (such as being able to make up your own mind about whether or not you use birth control, or that women are sinning if they ever wear pants. )