Thus Gerald Warner, whose well-crafted rants in the Telegraph I have quoted approvingly from time to time, in an article criticizing the Roman church for making it too easy for Anglicans to defect from their schismatic institution and back into the arms of the Holy Mother Church.
Once any individual becomes convinced of the truth of the Catholic faith, he is under an immediate obligation to make submission to the Sovereign Roman Pontiff and any delay in doing so is a sin against the Holy Ghost, imperilling his salvation. The notion that formal adherence to objective truth can be made conditional upon being allowed to retain the cultural expression of schismatic practices defies the spirit of conversion. One either believes or disbelieves: it is as simple as that.So - it transpires that Warner's strong criticisms of totalitarian climate catastrophism and of appeasement in the face of Islamofascism are simply partisan attacks on superstitions that compete with his own. Let's run that passage again as multiple choice.
Once any individual becomes convinced of the truth of [name your superstition], he is under an immediate obligation to make submission and any delay in doing so is a sin against the one true faith, imperilling his salvation. The notion that formal adherence to objective truth can be made conditional upon being allowed to retain freedom of thought and expression defies the spirit of conversion. One either believes or disbelieves: it is as simple as that.How interesting - a man who seemed to be a rebel against group-think turns out to be just another pathetic submissive raving about the "objective truth" of something that in the next breath he admits is an article of unquestioning faith.
It is indeed as simple as that.
Posts
Warner's typical confusion between faith and belief is a welcome addition to the voices beckoning disgruntled Anglicans to the bosom of Mother Rome. It echoes Dr. Ratzinger's Bavarian faith and is a wonderful baroque accompaniment to the music of that era.
ReplyDeleteHe is entirely correct in his notion that Anglicans do not belong in the Roman Canonocracy. Why any decent Christian would want to embrace that that dying body of pedophiliacs and peasants is well beyond my imagination.
The recognition of the crucial role played by women clergy in the dying Church of England may at last force out the misogynist crypto-catholics and closet homosexuals who have done so much to sap its vitality. Much too late, I think, to reverse the C of E's terminal decline.
ReplyDeleteWell, Hugh, it's often been said before that the Anglican Church was dying, but this time the women have joined with the gays in attacking and sapping what little masculine energy was left in the English Church. They will live to regret their brief triumph.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't express such a firm opinion on a subject I know little about. Anecdotally, the women priests I have met have struck me as being better pastors than the men. Must stress again the very clear semantic line I feel we must draw between effeminacy and femininity. Only men can be effeminate, and effeminacy is very far from being limited to male homosexuals!
ReplyDeleteWomen may well do better than men, generally speaking, at showing their feelings and expressing concern. My wife's objection to women in the priesthood is based upon the need for a balance between male and female energies. One of my students, a gay male dancer remarked to me once that when a man - whether gay or straight - loses his masculine energy, he can no longer continue to dance.
ReplyDelete