michaeldee (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} michaeldee) wrote,@ 2007-04-09 10:37:00 |
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Bavarians at the Gates
The New York Times Sunday Magazine for Easter has a cover article on the anti-secularism of Pope Ratzinger that covers a lot of ground, actually hints at the central point, but doesn't nail it. That point would be that when the pope talks about "Christian values", the central one for him is "obedience". When secular Europeans talk about values, the central one for them is "freedom" or self-determination.
Freedom and self-determination started out as Christian, and have now grown to be universal. "We hold these truths to be self-evident. . . " So it isn't the case that secularism has become detached from its roots; it has merely grown from its roots. So, the French are doing just fine with Christian values: liberty, equality and fraternity. The fact that they refuse to label them as such is of course due the authoritarianism of the Christian clergy, siding with the monarchy in France's history.
So it might not be secular Europeans who do not know who they are. It might be the Pope who has that problem. Shorto gives a lot of ink to the Pope's protestations of support for "Reason", and to his credit does mention the other side of the record. But the bottom line is that the Pope does not understand that he personally, and his office institututionally, is in fact an authoritarian control freak. The papacy's support for reason has always been severely circumscribed. Ask scientists from Galileo to Stephen Hawking.
This is the central point. Is the spiritual development of humanity to be conducted through individual and personal freedom, or by parental authoritarianism? It would seem that Europe has discovered and made a choice for personal freedom. It is conscience that must guide humanity's destiny. Islam still has not crossed that bridge. The calls for Sharia reverse the course of spiritual history and return to the security, and the spiritual prison, of all encompassing, clergy-directed, law.
So, the pope is completely deluded. The spiritual condition of Europe is just fine. He is the one with the vision problem.
Bavarians at the Gates
The New York Times Sunday Magazine for Easter has a cover article on the anti-secularism of Pope Ratzinger that covers a lot of ground, actually hints at the central point, but doesn't nail it. That point would be that when the pope talks about "Christian values", the central one for him is "obedience". When secular Europeans talk about values, the central one for them is "freedom" or self-determination.
Freedom and self-determination started out as Christian, and have now grown to be universal. "We hold these truths to be self-evident. . . " So it isn't the case that secularism has become detached from its roots; it has merely grown from its roots. So, the French are doing just fine with Christian values: liberty, equality and fraternity. The fact that they refuse to label them as such is of course due the authoritarianism of the Christian clergy, siding with the monarchy in France's history.
So it might not be secular Europeans who do not know who they are. It might be the Pope who has that problem. Shorto gives a lot of ink to the Pope's protestations of support for "Reason", and to his credit does mention the other side of the record. But the bottom line is that the Pope does not understand that he personally, and his office institututionally, is in fact an authoritarian control freak. The papacy's support for reason has always been severely circumscribed. Ask scientists from Galileo to Stephen Hawking.
This is the central point. Is the spiritual development of humanity to be conducted through individual and personal freedom, or by parental authoritarianism? It would seem that Europe has discovered and made a choice for personal freedom. It is conscience that must guide humanity's destiny. Islam still has not crossed that bridge. The calls for Sharia reverse the course of spiritual history and return to the security, and the spiritual prison, of all encompassing, clergy-directed, law.
So, the pope is completely deluded. The spiritual condition of Europe is just fine. He is the one with the vision problem.
