Monday, June 09, 2008

Neumayr Agrees

A few days ago, I mentioned that gay 'marriage' may become the law of the land--but that those who rejoice at that thought have no cause to rejoice, because what the State gives the State may also take away.

George Neumayr makes a more general point:

Speaking to the US bishops on April 16, Pope Benedict XVI made the arresting comment that an “almost complete eclipse of an eschatological sense” marks “many of our traditionally Christian societies.”

...The profound and the pastoral are intrinsically linked, and the Pope’s call for a renewal of an “intellectual culture” that rests on a sound and comprehensive account of nature, man, and God, an account in which revelation reinforces and purifies reason while building upon it, is central to “charity.” As the grim chapters of history illustrate, false philosophy and theology have real, not abstract, consequences; errors about man’s ultimate destiny, while they may at first seem like harmless differences of “opinion,” show up immediately and destructively in politics and culture.

Deliberating on the good of man without consulting the God who determined it—in other words, the mode of public life that has held sway for decades—produces not human utopias but civilizational chaos, spiritual torpor and poisonous conceits: a concept of “freedom” that enslaves, “rights” that devour each other, and a rhetoric of “human dignity” that degrades.

Worth thinking about, folks. That 'natural law' stuff is not disposable. You will also note that the Pope did not call for 'all men to become Catholic,' but rather that there is a grave deficiency in thinking about eschatology.

Which, my friends, results in attempting to create Heaven on Earth.

That ain't going to happen.

8 comments:

PaulNoonan said...

Which, my friends, results in attempting to create Heaven on Earth.

That ain't going to happen.


Well, not with that attitude.

Amy said...

No, Paul, not ever.

For roughly the past 40 years - since the days of "free love" in the late 1960s - we've been told that if our culture had just a little more license, a little more freedom to (sleep with, date, marry, divorce, do) whatever/whomeever we please, and if people just wouldn't *judge* us, we'd be happy.

But that's not happening, because what's known as "freedom" and "rights" today are actually vices - things that wreck the physical, emotional, and psychological fabric of our culture. They cannot be repaired by granting gay marriage, bestiality, polygamy - none of it.

Natural law won't allow for it, and destruction (of the self, of society) will follow.

PaulNoonan said...

Except the world and the country are better now than they were 40 years ago, so there goes that argument.

Dad29 said...

"Better."

Really?

Murder rate? (Count abortions.) Thefts? Starvation, worldwide?

Enslavements (both State-sanctioned and other)?

Diseases conquered worldwide?

You need your meds, Paul.

PaulNoonan said...

"Better."

Really?


Yes.

Murder rate? (Count abortions.)

You count abortions. I'll count murder.

Thefts?

Down. And really, super lame. Eradicating communism probably reduced thefts more than anything that any criminal element could achieve today.

Starvation, worldwide?

God bless Norman Borlaug.

Enslavements (both State-sanctioned and other)?

Slavery is at an all time low.

Diseases conquered worldwide?

Compared to 40 years ago, yes. Compared to 60 years ago it's like we're on a different planet.

If you would trade living now for living at any time in the past, you are insane.

Dad29 said...

And you have what evidence to support your arguments, Paul?

Interpol?

Abortion is murder. The fact that you do not agree is a good indicator of the validity of the rest of your assertions.

capper said...

The fact that you do not agree is a good indicator of the validity of the rest of your assertions.

No, it isn't. It could also be construed as your skewed viewpoint on the world.

PaulNoonan said...

I like that you accuse of not supporting my argument after spouting off your rhetoric about abortion. Anyway, here's some support:

http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2006/08/were_much_wealt.html

Enjoy.

As for abortion, consider this. There are literally millions of children in the US who would not have been born but for abortion. This is an ends-based point, so it does not bear on the morality of the decision, just remember than many people walking around today would not be here but for abortion.

Second, I am open to being persuaded on late term abortion, however, I know for a fact (incontrovertible, solid, beautiful fact) that early term abortion is not murder.

This is because early term fetuses have no brains. If you have no functioning brain, you are not human.