tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876502085465766394.post3428860083042287310..comments2024-01-17T03:08:25.317-06:00Comments on The Progressive Catholic Voice: Goodbye, Catholic MomentPCV Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12519134580470262558noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876502085465766394.post-30120554920575283012013-02-27T22:00:44.028-06:002013-02-27T22:00:44.028-06:00"The moral order, then, must be built around ..."The moral order, then, must be built around the ongoing expansion of individual rights, especially when it comes to sex and sexuality, because Truth emerges from the individual’s heart, not from an external source of authority, such as the Catholic Church. We can’t have a meaningful conversation because we cannot agree on the source of moral order."<br />How in the world can these two sentences of Dreher be sorted out? The Catholic Church claims its authority in the ethical sphere comes from reasoning about the natural law. Currently instead of reasoning, the hierarchs make assertions and expect people to buy them without reasoning. Using Western civilization's system of rationality might be a good place to start. If we use evidence, reasoning, and the constitutional principles of freedom and equality, where do we get with same-sex civil marriage?Paulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00135199120788030871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-876502085465766394.post-83021520448695935182013-02-26T22:12:02.196-06:002013-02-26T22:12:02.196-06:00What an interesting article. Thanks for posting i...What an interesting article. Thanks for posting it, Michael. It is bristling with threads to follow. One: "Catholicism, understood on its own terms, is radically opposed to American culture, and to the essence of modernity." Dreher has already said that "Catholicism" is a term with a multitude of meanings and Catholics are fragmented in self-understanding. So what is Catholicism "understood on its own terms"? He opposes it to American Catholics understanding of it. So whose understanding of it is he talking about? And how is it radically opposed to American culture? Do the dignity and equality of the human individual figure into American culture? Does the American system allow communities to live their version of a good life? Can American Catholics live by their own beliefs if they choose to? Is there one American culture or many American cultures? Is the ideal of authenticity that Charles Taylor also writes about reducible to the cult of narcissism Dreher talks about? As a former Catholic, he wishes that a Catholic moment were possible. As a present and life-long Catholic, I think that the moment we are all seeking is a yet-to-be synthesis of the best of American culture, the best of European Catholic culture, the best of Eastern cultures. In other words, I hope we are evolving toward a more fully enlightened moment than any we have yet managed. I'd be interested to know what others think of this. Paulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00135199120788030871noreply@blogger.com