On Fifteen Years a Catholic

On Fifteen Years a Catholic | Carl E. Olson | Editorial | Catholic World Report

Two issues then and two surprises later

“How can you join a church that tells you how to think?”

The question, uttered with equal parts puzzlement and anger, surprised me. In hindsight, it should have been about as surprising as an afternoon drizzle here in Eugene, Oregon, in early spring. The question—almost an accusation, really—was made one early spring day over fifteen years ago. It was said in the middle of an intense discussion about the reasons why my wife and I had, both graduates of Evangelical Bible colleges, had decided to become Catholic.

I’m happy to note, all these years later, that I have a good and healthy relationship with the man who made the remark. We both uttered strong words that day, but time and some further conversations—more calm and measured in nature—have brought peace, if not perfect understanding.

I’ve sometimes joked, in recounting the full story to close friends, that I came up with the perfect retort several hours later: “At least I’m entering a Church that knows what the word ‘think’ means!” It would have been a low blow, but it touches on two issues that continue to resonate with me, now fifteen years a Catholic, nearly every day in some way or another.

The Mindless Scandal

The first is the intellectual life. The Fundamentalism of my youth was, in sum, anti-intellectual; it looked with caution, even fearful disdain, on certain aspects of modern science, technology, and academic study. But it wasn’t because we were Luddites or held a principled position against electricity, computers, or space exploration. The concern was essentially spiritual in nature; the guiding concern was that televisions, radios, “boom boxes” (remember?), and movies were potential tools for conveying messages—often subliminal in nature—contrary to a godly, Christian life. The general instinct was, in fact, actually sound. Only the creators of “Jersey Shore” can deny the power and influence of popular culture, and then only with a smirk. But the permeating fear was rarely controlled, critiqued, and concentrated through rigorous thought and study. It was reactionary and highly subjective, and so it became a sort of rogue agent, undermining the most innocent activities: reading the Chronicles of Narnia, listening to any “non-Christian” music, or studying art or literature not including any overt references to “Jesus” and “the Gospel”. 

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Comments

[bill bannon]

But even Pope Benedict alluding to the Austrian situation on Holy Thursday parted company with a black and white paradigm of "faithful" versus "dissent" in all cases of dissent...noting: " But let us not oversimplify matters. Surely Christ himself corrected human traditions which threatened to stifle the word and the will of God? Indeed he did, so as to rekindle obedience to the true will of God…”
He was alluding to the Sabbath dissent by both Christ and the disciples (whom Christ had told to obey the scribes and pharisees as sitting on the chair of Moses much like Lumen Gentium 25's religious submission clause for Catholics vis a vis the Pope in the non infallible). Yet Christ who "came under the law" (Gal.4:4) dissented in matters not parallel to women priests but parallel to priests marrying... regula disciplinae...rules of discipline. The dissent of Christ and the apostles e.g. on the Sabbath picking of grain and eating it as they walked through the fields took thinking rather than blind
obedience. To the pharisees it was doctrine but to Christ it was discipline and hence
He corrects their mistake: " The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath".
Sooner or later the mature Christian will face the epikeia test either small or large but there will come an area where a dissent like Christ's is called for and thinking will be required.

[Carl E. Olson]

Bill: Simple answer: I was obviously not talking about matters of discipline, but of doctrine. Which is why I used the word "doctrine" more than once. Also, I attend an Eastern Catholic parish; I know well the difference between a discipline (married men being ordained as priests in the East) and doctrine (only men can be priests). So, in the end, I'm not sure what your point is.

[Agnieszka]

Carl, it's good that you've joined the Church, because you are definitely a worthy warrior for Her cause!
God bless.