Just in case you thought that all right-ish leaning Catholics were in favor of a Benedict Option of withdrawing and dropping out of secular society, check this out:
https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/what-i-saw-conservative-catholic-gathering-dcs-trump-tower
OK, now I'm even more depressed than before ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Napa resort. So much for the 'poor church for the poor'. Here's a video ad for it ... https://youtu.be/UQ5JTCWFwG8 ... I first read about it a few years ago - "Bishops and Catholic Leaders to Gather in Napa to Discuss the Church and 'Next America'" ... http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/bishops-and-catholic-leaders-to-gather-in-napa-to-discuss-the-church-and-th
I think Rod Dreher's idea (in some ways similar to the way the Amish live) is at least more honest than what they are trying to do in Crystal's link, and mine from NCR. There, big money is pulling strings behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteHow long have you been a Catholic and why are you surprised about behind the scenes big money? Read Gianluigi Nuzzi's "Merchants In The Temple" if you really want to get depressed.
DeleteJim, I'm actually not surprised; because original sin and all that. I still believe there are a lot of good people in the Church, quietly doing their bit for the Lord, such as the Benedictines I mentioned before.
DeleteKatherine, thanks for bringing up the reviews of Dreher's book. I have read several, but not the book itself. I have been surprised that there is so much commentary on it, as it seems to me that he is not proposing anything new. I think you are right that his idea is not at all Benedictine, who made hospitality to all a focus from the very beginning.
DeleteYou mentioned the Amish, but they are only one example, albeit one of the more long-lived and successful examples of religious groups withdrawing from mainstream culture. There are movements today, ranging from the Quiverfull movement to Catholic and ecumenical charismatic communities that have sought to do the same thing. Even the hippie communes of the 60s and 70s were prompted by the same motives - gather a group of like-minded people to live together and support one another who disapproved of the values of the culture - different values than the ones Dreher objects to of course - Dreher probably embraces many of the values that the hippies rejected.
One of the surviving charismatic communities, the Mother of God Community, is near my home and sstill goes on, in spite of having a near death experience at the hands of the archdiocese of Washington DC several years back.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/mog/mgod6.htm
Trying to see if I understand the instructions to create a live link
ReplyDeletehere
Another explanation ...
ReplyDeleteTo get this ... Google
and where ( and ) = < and > ... if I actually use <> instead of () you won't be able to see it
write this ... (a href = "https://www.google.com/")Google(/a)