A few years back, I read a book called The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Paul Elie. It was a parallel biography of Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Flannery O’Connor, and Walker Percy. Four influential mid-twentieth-century Catholics.
Though I loved reading it, I remember being depressed when I finished. The reason was that there is no one like them now. No Christian intellectuals any more. None who are influential anyway. I love Sr. Joan Chittister (and I had the great pleasure of meeting her once). But she is, sadly, not influential. I think one of the reasons that there are no Catholic intellectuals these days is that the Catholic Church began to force them out. A conscious effort was made (at least in America) to make their Church the religious aspect of movement conservatism, a la William F. Buckley. By being “right” and eternal the Church abandoned its true purpose in society, as tiny, radical, community. The Orthodox Church in the United States is heading the same direction. I think that the Protestant Churches will simply die out. They’re boring.
In addition, I think that the traditional churches will have to deal with the various complications brought on by the separation of child-bearing from sex. There has never been anything like this in the history of the world. That the Churches are not much responding to the many complications that arise from this is a bad sign indeed. One of the main complications of this is that women are now understood to be potentially as bright or even as brilliant as men (or just as stupid), and that is all related to fact that sex does not immediately lead to child-bearing or -raising anymore. In fact child-bearing is very carefully regulated by drugs.
And then, again because sex has been liberated from childbearing, there is a new understanding that other kinds of love (including homosexuality, which has always existed, even though it rarely had a name) are valid too. People whose marriages and relationships still “fit” with the old model often don’t see any problem.
Women and homosexuals are generally told their treatment is what the Church has always taught, and that will not change. That is, of course, a lie, as only lately have women and gays been told anything at all, and the Church’s eternal teaching tends to change every few years. Take the theology of Dr. Elizabeth Moberly, who said gays could change if they simply forged healthy relationships with members of the same sex. The fact that she did not have shred of confirming evidence, and that her PhD was in an irrelevant field was overlooked by the Orthodox heavy hitters who rallied around her. She was later unceremoniously thrown under the bus when the Church’s eternal teaching changed, and changing from homosexual to heterosexual was no longer thought possible. In any case, sexualities are thought to be changeless. And there has always been a teaching on everything, even if there didn’t seem to be. Of course this goes against the teaching of Christ in John 16: “I have yet many things to say unto you.”
I also believe that none of the founders of the great religions expected their teaching to become a religion. Anytime religion teams up with a state, the religion is usually the loser. I don’t think Christ expected “Christianity” to become the religion of Europe and the Americas, for example. I believe that he was a man (as he constantly said) who simply woke up to the fact that there was no distinction between him and what had been called “God” in his Jewish tradition. He intended his teaching to be for the few people interested the perception of nonduality.
He had no control over his teachings once they were broadcast. I even imagine him during his time in the desert coming to terms with the fact that there was nothing he could do to avoid becoming a religion. He had no control over it. But he decided to teach anyway. There was nothing he could do about the religion thing (if he was omniscient he knew it anyway). He taught on bravely, in hope that someone would get it for real. I imagine him saying “Well, what can do?” As he headed back to Jerusalem to preach and die.
The best religions are not tied to any state. That’s why Buddhism is so attractive. It, less than all the others, did not usually become so tied. Not that that didn’t happen, but Buddhism did not become the religion of a particular country very often.
Now the Orthodox Church in the United States is becoming an Evangelical sect. This is tied to all of the above, but also to the fact that the Evangelical heretics, like their Second Great Awakening forbears, put all their trust in emotions. The “born again” experience they say one must have is an emotional one. But when we talk of God we are talking about something way beyond emotion. The evangelicals will fight you on that.
The big problem now is this: religion has been allowed to be just one element of a conservative universe, just the religious aspect of conservatism (there has to be one!). I believe it is too late to stop this from happening. And this will be the main problem with organized religion. They do not address the issues of sex and gender. They refuse to discuss anything that has already long been settled. And the Church already has all the answers. That’s what it’s for.
In addition, I think that the traditional churches will have to deal with the various complications brought on by the separation of child-bearing from sex. There has never been anything like this in the history of the world. That the Churches are not much responding to the many complications that arise from this is a bad sign indeed. One of the main complications of this is that women are now understood to be potentially as bright or even as brilliant as men (or just as stupid), and that is all related to fact that sex does not immediately lead to child-bearing or -raising anymore. In fact child-bearing is very carefully regulated by drugs.
And then, again because sex has been liberated from childbearing, there is a new understanding that other kinds of love (including homosexuality, which has always existed, even though it rarely had a name) are valid too. People whose marriages and relationships still “fit” with the old model often don’t see any problem.
Women and homosexuals are generally told their treatment is what the Church has always taught, and that will not change. That is, of course, a lie, as only lately have women and gays been told anything at all, and the Church’s eternal teaching tends to change every few years. Take the theology of Dr. Elizabeth Moberly, who said gays could change if they simply forged healthy relationships with members of the same sex. The fact that she did not have shred of confirming evidence, and that her PhD was in an irrelevant field was overlooked by the Orthodox heavy hitters who rallied around her. She was later unceremoniously thrown under the bus when the Church’s eternal teaching changed, and changing from homosexual to heterosexual was no longer thought possible. In any case, sexualities are thought to be changeless. And there has always been a teaching on everything, even if there didn’t seem to be. Of course this goes against the teaching of Christ in John 16: “I have yet many things to say unto you.”
I also believe that none of the founders of the great religions expected their teaching to become a religion. Anytime religion teams up with a state, the religion is usually the loser. I don’t think Christ expected “Christianity” to become the religion of Europe and the Americas, for example. I believe that he was a man (as he constantly said) who simply woke up to the fact that there was no distinction between him and what had been called “God” in his Jewish tradition. He intended his teaching to be for the few people interested the perception of nonduality.
He had no control over his teachings once they were broadcast. I even imagine him during his time in the desert coming to terms with the fact that there was nothing he could do to avoid becoming a religion. He had no control over it. But he decided to teach anyway. There was nothing he could do about the religion thing (if he was omniscient he knew it anyway). He taught on bravely, in hope that someone would get it for real. I imagine him saying “Well, what can do?” As he headed back to Jerusalem to preach and die.
The best religions are not tied to any state. That’s why Buddhism is so attractive. It, less than all the others, did not usually become so tied. Not that that didn’t happen, but Buddhism did not become the religion of a particular country very often.
Now the Orthodox Church in the United States is becoming an Evangelical sect. This is tied to all of the above, but also to the fact that the Evangelical heretics, like their Second Great Awakening forbears, put all their trust in emotions. The “born again” experience they say one must have is an emotional one. But when we talk of God we are talking about something way beyond emotion. The evangelicals will fight you on that.
The big problem now is this: religion has been allowed to be just one element of a conservative universe, just the religious aspect of conservatism (there has to be one!). I believe it is too late to stop this from happening. And this will be the main problem with organized religion. They do not address the issues of sex and gender. They refuse to discuss anything that has already long been settled. And the Church already has all the answers. That’s what it’s for.
Another thing that has to happen is that the word religion has to be reclaimed. Too many are fond of seeing religion as the bad things others do. “We are not doing religion—they are.” We should no longer be able to regard any impulse to what is true with any reaction other than humility and repentance. Another kind of view is not possible when we share the street with other religions. It’s not the good old days when the other religions were away in some foreign country. The idea that religion is about humans reaching out for the ultimate truth has to be espoused by religious institutions before the implications of sex divorced from child-bearing can be discussed.
And that probably won’t happen. Organized Religion will become more and more a conservative organization at heart, even representing conservatism to a degree. And it will become the place where nothing ever changes. There’s a rule for everything, if you look hard enough. And explanation is not needed. The “real” Church will go underground. Seeming kind of weird and funky. An embarrassment to its adherents. But practicing compassion anyway. It’ll be revolutionary, as it always was, and thus really, really weird.
No comments:
Post a Comment