I’m convinced Adam and Eve were the first engineers.
They couldn’t leave it alone. They had to break it because they wanted to see how it worked. Once they knew how it worked, they figured they’d try to control it – but instead of improving it they messed it up because it wasn’t as simple as they were prepared to dea with.
Anyway, after Br. Rich’s post, I got an idea that I’m not sure if it’s sinful but here it is.
There are a lot of arguments going on among Protestants, liberal v conservative. These denominations are splitting along the same lines that the Catholic Church “seems to be” splitting as well. (One of my friends told of the trauma his local church went through when the other branches nationally started pushing visible ordained gays, and how his local church resigned from and quit paying tithes to the national organization.)
Here is how it is different between us and them. In Protestants, if they split down the middle, they are divided and can fall. In Catholicism, the Church cannot fall. We are divided, we bicker and all but we are still united in Truth and in the sacraments.
I’m saying we go in and plunder the strong man’s house. His power is weakened. There are people out there that used to band together with each other, and now they are fighting due to liberalism, gay issues among the top ones. These divisions are undoubtedly turning the faith lives of many of their members upside down.
They were told by their leaders that their church was right, and look what their church is doing, calling into question (for those open minded ones especially) really everything that church ever stood for.
Who knows but they may be searching, and they may be so desperate as to look to the Catholic Church for several possible reasons. One, objectively the Catholic Church promulgated the Bible. Second, the Catholic Church, even though she has been bashed by these people’s leaders, has been confident (even “smug” some might say) in her constancy – which may just seem kind of nice to people whose church teaching change every time the wind comes around. Third, these people have to be envious of a church that does not bow to gay political activism.
Let’s get in there, individually and publicly, and start recruiting. These people have been stunned because their own church has lied to them. Maybe they are just about ready to “dash it all” and just see what Catholicism is about anyway.
Open campaigns. TV ads proclaiming, “do you want to belong to a Church as old as Christianity?” or “you believe in the Bible, come learn where it came from” or “does your religion have more waffles than IHOP? Come find rest where the Truth doesn’t change.”
The possible sinful part would be whether it would be like wife-swapping or something, or whether the strategy would give them new ideas. Gosh, I’ve heard Protestant ads calling people to worship that sounded pretty convincing. Maybe we can make up some that aren’t as pointedly “taking advantage of others’ wounds” shall we say?
Then again, all’s fair in love and war, isn’t that what THEY say? Has the world not used the Catholic Church’s faults against her – to no avail but still annoying of course? Or is this sinful, vengeful thinking too?
I’m not trying to be flippant. I’m completely sincere about this post – at least after the part about Adam and Eve. People used to think I was joking or with ulterior motives, when I wasn’t. In this case I am not joking and my motives I believe to be clear – they are either grandiose sinful thinking or they are ways to call in some of the lost brethren. I know I usually sound like I’m from another planet or something, and if I’ve made a fool of myself again than I will accept jokes about it at my expense, because then I can learn and save face at the same time.
Alan
