Religous Fluff

Apparently dwindling parishioners is not just a Catholic problem. Today’s Wall Street Journal reviews Quitting Church by Washington Times religion reporter Julia Duin. The Weekly Standard publisher, Terry Eastland, is the writer of the WSJ’s review. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122031237268288821.html?mod=2_1580_middlebox)

According to Duin droves of evangelicals are fleeing their churches for a variety of reasons, including

“a lack of a feeling of community among church members, inducing loneliness and boredom; church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics of the faith or to reach members grappling with suffering or unanswered prayer; pastors who are either out of touch with their parishioners or themselves unhappy, or who fail to shepherd their flocks, or who are caught up in scandal, or who try to control the lives of church members in a high-handed way.”

Of the above listed complaints I find “church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics” most interesting. Many who left the Catholic Church for evangelical worship did so because they wanted to shed their spiritual lives of Church teachings and dogma. They wanted less structure and more emotion. How ironic is it that this same vanilla, non-judgmental, “love-is-in-the-air” brand of religion is responsible for the emptying of churches?

The truth of the matter is that people want and need to be challenged. A psychologist friend once told me that the most important word to teach a child is “no”. Children will get angry, but subconsciously they are happy to hear it. “No” teaches them they are not alone, that someone is protecting them. “No” sets boundaries, which makes a child feel safe. We adults are no different. We are children of God. We too need the guidance. We too need to hear “no”. Boundaries let us know we are on the right path—that we are not headed for destruction.

It’s no surprise that the post-Vatican II Catholic Church has led the way in dwindling Sunday Mass attendance. The church no longer challenges the Faithful as it did prior to Vatican II. I often laugh when I recall the CCD instruction I received in the 1970s. I can honestly say that I learned nothing in all those years except that God is Love. I remember beautiful pictures of flowers, oceans, and sunsets, but nothing else. Anything I learned about The Faith was from reading the gospels during Mass or from doing my own research.

Evangelicals are learning what Catholics need to learn: Challenge strengthens spirituality; religious fluff does not.



Donald Tremblay

Perservere

In 1996 Justice Robert Bork wrote a best-selling book entitled, Slouching Towards Gomorrah. The synopsis on the book jacket reads, “In this New York Times best-selling book, Robert H. Bork, our country’s most distinguished conservative scholar offers a prophetic and unprecedented view of a culture in decline, a nation in such serious moral trouble that its very foundation is crumbling.” I often wonder whether the concept of Bork’s title is outdated—not because the arguments in his book don’t still apply, but because we have already reached Gomorrah

. Case in point:

WorldNetDaily.com has an article posted today about a new Colorado law that it says will levy penalties against people who criticize homosexuality outside Church walls (http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=66829)

In the article Focus on the Family analyst Bruce Hausknecht makes an excellent point when he states that one of the goals of laws such as these is to marginalize the Church: "They'll say, 'It's just a church.' It will allow gay activists to continue to marginalize Christians. They'll say, 'Keep it within your four walls. That's all.'" Hausknecht also acknowledges that "there are those who simply by publishing Christian materials could find themselves charged with a violation of this statute," he said.

Christ made it clear to His disciples that “You shall be hated by all men for my name's sake” (Luke 21:17). As Christians our very beliefs are anathema to society. And according to how the world judges victory, we are fighting a losing battle. Things will only continue to get worse as is made clear in The Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.” (The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 675) Why is this so? Because since it is Christ’s Church, it must endure the same persecution, death, and resurrection that He suffered: “The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection” (The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 677)

Nevertheless, despite the inevitability of the persecution we face, our responsibility as Catholic Christians is to defend the Word and win as many souls back to Christ as possible before the Final Judgment. For as Christ says, “It is impossible that scandals should not come: but woe to him through whom they come.” (Luke 17:1) The reality that evil is unavoidable in this world does not absolve us from battling against it. Yes, we are fighting a losing battle as the world defines victory, but our goals are different than the world’s goals. We seek to rescue souls for eternity, and each soul saved is a victory that is celebrated in Heaven.

Let’s persevere and focus on evangelizing one soul at a time.

Donald Tremblay