I read goodbye good men by Michael Rose and comparing homosexuals who have invaded the seminaries with SAINT Maximilian Mary Kolbe is the clearest proof that you can’t see the extremism of your position.
Very good point. It’s also interesting that Gerard’s reply to this point was an appeal to the fact that “the times are different” because of modern gender confusion and acceptance of homosexuality.
While that is a valid viewpoint, I didn’t expect it from someone who can’t seem to understand that
certain (i.e.
not all) cultural standards are subjective and change over time.
An illustration of what I’m saying could be women wearing pants. It is
always true that men must behave as men and women as women, but
some of what defines that
changes over time.
Therefore, one could say that in certain cultures and at certain times, it would have been inappropriate for women to wear pants. Now, pants are no longer seen as exclusively masculine, so it no longer matters.
The
principle - men must be men, and women must be women - remains the same. Its
application can, in
some ways, change over time.
That is what Gerard doesn’t seem to understand about the event that sparked this whole discussion: his discomfort with the idea of a female referee for a boys’ basketball game is simply that: personal discomfort that is
not a valid extrapolation of either the objective reality of human sexual difference
or its subjective application today.
GerardP:
And if you’re interested in a more recent point brought up, EWTN promotes Christopher West the guru of JPII’s mysterious and practically useless “Theology of the Body”
There’s nothing “mysterious” about the theology of the body: it is very practical and specific in addition to being theologically and spiritually profound. The fact that you see it as “useless” is proof that you really have gone off the deep end and don’t have any clue what you’re talking about.
You don’t have to agree with it and become a phenomenologist or anything; many informed Catholics choose not to. But to simply make a sweeping, audacious generalization about the whole thing being “practically useless” is beyond arrogant.
And as for the quote you referenced criticizing Christopher West:
I have read that book and the implication that West approves of or encourages anal sex could be made only by the carelessly ignorant or the purposefully deceptive. He
specifically teaches otherwise; and as for “anal sex” as foreplay,
he discourages that, too.
And the website you linked to describing how “liberal” EWTN is would have made me laugh if not for the fact that people actually believe it.
First criticism: that EWTN “promotes, defends, and advances” the “New Mass” - whose
proper name is the Ordinary Form, by the way. If the universal Church has authoritatively approved and normalized its use, then “defending” it can hardly be damaging to the faith. Period.
It also states that EWTN has helped “undermine” adherence to some Catholic beliefs. Here are some examples of beliefs they claim EWTN helps to undermine:
(a) the infallibly defined dogma that outside the Roman Catholic Church no one can be saved;
Only a schismatic with a faulty understanding of “Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus” would make such a charge of EWTN. Nothing frustrates me quite like fundamentalism masquerading as genuine Catholicism.
(b) the closely related constant teaching of the Roman Pontiffs that the only means of achieving Christian unity is the return of the Protestant and schismatic dissidents to the Catholic Church;
yawn
Where does EWTN teach that Protestants shouldn’t have to return to the Church?
Oh, and here’s a rather bizarre charge:
Eighth, that EWTN promotes a cult of sexual gnosticism and “Natural Family Planning” (NFP)
So Natural Family Planning is immoral, is it? Gosh, I didn’t know this website’s authors were
heretics as well as fundies.
Another wacky accusation was the “corruption” of the Faith through “combining” it with rock music. I guess I missed the authoritative pronouncement from the Magisterium on the objectively evil nature of certain kinds of music.
These people are crackpots. They need to grow up, or leave the Catholic Church and join some religion that actually fits their fundamentalist tendencies, like Protestant fundamentalism or radical Islam.
In the Phillipines I believe it was–in poor areas–parents make their children–male or female–go into boxing, so they can earn money for the family.
It broke my heart…no children should be subjected to that, but it seems that in other countries, the gender lines are meaningless because of the poverty issues, and the way these kids are raised to literally fight other kids.
I find myself more patient, indeed. 