6.08.2005

Whitewash

So, I think our priest lied to us yesterday. Well, I guess he just whitewashed the facts a little. Either that, or he really doesn't have as a good a grasp on world history as a seminary-educated individual should have. He was talking about Pope John-Paul II's new book Memory and Identity and in passing mentioned, as apparently suggested by this book (which I haven't read), that the history, the architecture, the arts, the libraries and the culture of old Europe was due in large part to the efforts of the church, and particularly the Catholic church. (We're Catholic, so we'll allow him to be a little biased.)

Well, that's one way of looking at it. If I remember correctly, almost every major cultural, historical and technical advancement in the last 500 years happened, not because of the church, but in spite of it. Certainly the church did everything they could to halt the progress of science, including denouncing scientists and inventors as heretics and burning them as witches.

Even democracy itself is not a particularly church-y concept. The church is very into God-ordained hierarchies, so monarchy fits it just fine. I think the Catholic church would be fine with the Pope running pretty much everything. The idea that the common man has a voice and can gather together and use it to speak louder than those who would otherwise impose on us their will and ways is not particularly amenable to power structures like the church. Because then you get into sticky discussions on such touchy subjects as stem cell research, abortion, homosexuality, sexual morality, woman's suffrage, slavery, whether the earth goes around the sun or vice versa, and other things that are very clearly ordained by God to be right or wrong.

I mean, what we're really saying with democracy is, if enough folks believe it's okay, then it's okay, regardless of what the Good Book says. So, democracy and theology at their hearts don't mix very well. Now I wonder if that's what were witnessing in this country. It'll be interesting to see who wins, because, really, while many of us love democracy and freedom, our hearts aren't quite as into it as those who love the Lord and believe they are acting on the side of heavenly righteousness. That's tough to beat. (Witness the kamikaze pilots of old and the suicide bombers of today to see where pure righteous zeal can bring you if you're not careful.)

posted by risser at 08:51

Someone had something to say.