Post by Maolsheachlann on Jun 27, 2022 8:48:16 GMT
Jun 9, 2022 15:56:48 GMT kj said:
It's very complicated. I certainly wouldn't say that someone who was genuinely sincere in their belief in 1930s Ireland was somehow less "authentic" than a person who defies the cultural tides of 2021 and goes to Mass, but I've occasionally thought myself that in many ways the current climate should almost be one that Christians welcome as it will in many ways test their faith.But of course that in itself can lead to extremism, as we see some reactionaries go racist, anti-other religions and so on.
So I really don't know.
As for Christendom, as I always say when you look at any period in detail the purported unity of Christian nations was fragile at best. My favourite example is 16th century France - "beloved daughter of the Church" and all that - at one point forging an alliance with the Ottomans to fight the Habsburgs and the Pope, and allowing them to take over Nice and use the cathedral there as a giant stable!!!:-)
Because I'm still slaving away round the clock on this 5 hour monster—I call it Frankenstein's monster—I can't take time to document my variances.
I will just say I note feelings/arguments like "tribal badge", "factions and ideologies are intent at gaining power", "fragile at best" — and certainly I understand them.
But the last 25 years have led me elsewhere, which will be evident to the, I know, very, very few people who will watch my five hour video in its entirety.
Warmly and weirdly yours,
Roger Frankenstein
I think, whenever we discuss the role of religion in the public sphere or Catholic integrism or whatever, it's important to distinguish between the natural law and revealed religion. For instance, there's nothing specifically Catholic about defending the unborn child or banning obscene literature.
I also think post-independence Ireland was actually a pluralist state where most of the citizenry happened to be Catholic. Did the acknowledgement of the "special position" of the Church in the Constitution ever make much of a real difference? Despite W.B. Yeats's protestations, I don't think the Free State (or the Republic) was ever oppressive to religious minorities. It was socially and culturally conservative; there's a difference between that and being a "Catholic state", even if that conservatism was shaped by the Catholic faith of the great majority.