Dogmatic?

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When ever I discuss religon with a certain person, I am accused of being dogmatic. This is done in a dismissive manner. I was just wondering if any one else had that experience and how they handled it?
 
What’s the alternative to being “dogmatic?” Making stuff up? 🙂
 
That is often the charge made by people with a skeptical and relativistic mindset against those who publicly affirm their religious faith.

What is wrong with being dogmatic? Dogmatism, despite the negative connotations that these critics often try to attach to the term, is in fact part and parcel of religious conviction, a product and consequence in turn of deep, abiding faith. If Holy mother Church declares that we believe and affirm this… and this… and this…, then we accept, and believe it to be so…and so…and so…! In that sense we admit we are dogmatic, and rightly so.

Perhaps these critics accuse us of dogmatism because they want us to water down, and compromise the essence itself, and not merely the accidents or externals. If for example, we accept Jesus as being the only way to Salvation, and not through Muhammad or Nanak, or Zoroaster, or Buddha, isn’t that precisely why we are Christians, and not Muslims or Sikhs?

The only alternative to dogmatism, as we understand it, is to declare that all religions are equally true, or equally false, either of which is unacceptable.

Gerry 🙂
 
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Catholic_Mike:
What’s the alternative to being “dogmatic?” Making stuff up? 🙂
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Or being so open-minded that ideas flow in and out like the wind. When the mind finds truth, it should close on it like its own nourishment. Without truth, the mind withers into a shell of fashionable ideas. Unless there is no truth . . . which is probably what those who accuse you of dogmatism assume.
 
Thank you for your help. So do you think it would be right to say something like:

“Of course I am being dogmatic. We are talking about religious beliefs and what is dogma but a set of religious beliefs?”
 
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RobedWithLight:
The only alternative to dogmatism, as we understand it, is to declare that all religions are equally true, or equally false, either of which is unacceptable.
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“Unacceptable” ? You’re just being dogmatic.😃
 
Hmm, what’s the opposite of being “dogmatic?” Being “cat-matic?” Just lie there sleeping while the whole world happens around you? 😃

Seriously, I haven’t been called “dogmatic” yet, but when it happens (and it will), I will accept it as a compliment.

DaveBj
 
Just tell them that you’re only dogmatic when it comes to the truth.
 
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kmmd:
Thank you for your help. So do you think it would be right to say something like:

“Of course I am being dogmatic. We are talking about religious beliefs and what is dogma but a set of religious beliefs?”
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Among certain Protestants of a Fundamentalist stripe, “dogma,” an important part of Catholic faith, has become one of those words like “tradition” that has acquired a negative connotation entirely unconnected with its actual meaning. It is usually associated with such outrages as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dogma = “traditions of men.” You get the idea. First you have to defuse the WORD, then you can follow up with Robed’s analysis.

But they probably won’t let you get that far.
 
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mercygate:
Among certain Protestants of a Fundamentalist stripe, “dogma,” an important part of Catholic faith, has become one of those words like “tradition” that has acquired a negative connotation entirely unconnected with its actual meaning. It is usually associated with such outrages as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dogma = “traditions of men.” You get the idea. First you have to defuse the WORD, then you can follow up with Robed’s analysis.

But they probably won’t let you get that far.
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This actually comes from a person of little or no faith and he uses the accusation to mean an “arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles” This definition comes from the American Heritage Dictionary, definition No. 2 The No. 1 definition is “Relating to, characteristic of, or resulting from dogma” (not real helpful). If you go to Merriam Webster it refers you to “dogmatism” where the first definition is “positiveness in assertion of opinion especially when unwarranted or arrogant” At the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary Online, one finds: “If someone is dogmatic, they are certain that they are right and that everyone else is wrong.” It seems that the secular world has a dim view of anything relating to dogma. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It has been a long time that Doubt is given a higher place in Western culture than belief.

I must admit, however, on matters of faith, I do believe that my Church is right and all others are wrong where ever they disagree. So Yeah, I sure am dogmatic.
 
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kmmd:
It seems that the secular world has a dim view of anything relating to dogma. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It has been a long time that Doubt is given a higher place in Western culture than belief.
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The propensity to doubt is the legacy of the skeptical mindset that has pervaded Western thinking since at least the time of Descartes.

Gerry 🙂
 
ACTS:16:4
And as they passed through the cities, they delivered unto them the decrees for to keep, that were **decreed **by the apostles and ancients (elders) who were at Jerusalem.
cum autem pertransirent civitates tradebant eis custodire dogmata quae erant decreta ab apostolis et senioribus qui essent Hierosolymis

What the Church has Decreed. Host fast.

Is the REQUIREMENT to assist at Mass on Sunday a decree of the Church? If yes then it is Dogmata.
Can the Church banish this obligation? No.
I am accused of being dogmatic.
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Unless that person agrees they can be mistaken, then they have decreed it so.
They have therefore, just proclaimed their own Dogmata.
 
I was accused of being too dogmatic when teaching CCD …:confused: mostly by the parents…Don’t you know CCD is supposed to be fun and games…:rolleyes: I taught from the book and I made sure they were learning the Doctrine of the Catholic Church and that they knew how to pray a Rosary too!😦
 
What’s the alternative to being “dogmatic?” Making stuff up?

How about …

“catmatic”!
 
G.K Chesterton wrote about dogma in his book What’s With the World:
Some people do not like the word “dogma.” Fortunately they are free, and there is an alternative for them. There are two things, and two things only for the human mind, a dogma and a prejudice. The Middle Ages were a rational epoch, and ageof doctrine. Our age is, at its best, a poetical epoch, and age of prejudice. A doctrine is a definite point; a prejudice is a direction.
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kmmd:
When ever I discuss religon with a certain person, I am accused of being dogmatic. This is done in a dismissive manner. I was just wondering if any one else had that experience and how they handled it?
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The purpose of witnessing is to help the other person see the beauty of truth. If they don’t see the beauty, you need to change yoru approach.
 
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