|
Traditionalist Conservatism Forum > Traditionalist Conservatism > Solzhenitsyn & Current Catholic Church Scandal |
|
| Next Topic >> |
| Author | Comment |
JasonEubanks  Registered User (4/24/02 7:26 am) Reply 
|
Solzhenitsyn & Current Catholic Church Scandal Does anybody have any opinions on A.I. Solzhenitsyn? I've read a couple of his later works: The Oak and Calf as well as Rebuilding Russia: Tentative Proposals. He seems completely within the CR camp on every issue that I have the ability to recall. Religion and state relations, local governance, ethnicity, etc. He elucidates on every issue with solid writing and even deeper thought. His thrust is mainly religious and the all important Man/God/Society relationship appears to be his strong suit. He manages to be confrontational, understanding, intellectual, spiritual and concilitory at the same time. There is simply not a better author alive today. In my mind he's probably the most gifted CR of the 20th century and certainly the most widely known. Too bad he's been maliciously maligned by the news media. His objection to the Soviet Union was not their human rights record but their lack of religious principles. He rejects the modern liberal state on the same grounds. Stating that openly is a sure way to be hurled in to the 'fascist/theocratic' categorical void by the mutual admiration society. There seems to be some effort to rehabilitate his image in the West. Whether this activity will prove to be a fruitful endeavor or a lost cause remains in question. Now on the the current scandal. I can't help but to think that the Catholic Church has done enormous damage to itself. It's not the fact that the sexual abuse happened so much as the bishops were unable to avoid the mere appearance of impropriety. I've seen the bishops' statements and I'll tell you right now that I take them at their word. They are all good men and certainly meant no harm to anyone. Unfortunately for the bishops, they followed the advice of modern psychiatrists and legal strategists, a decision taylor-made for the hyper-litigatious American society, perhaps, but a bad decision nonetheless. That simply isn't enough to ward off the spectre of government style cover-ups and conspiracy lunacy raised by the intellectually dishonest. They've unwittingly given church liberals and outright Catholic haters a cudgel with which to administer a beating to the Church repeatedly for years to come. Newsweek resident bigot Elanor Clift wrote a sprawling and absolutely confused article on what the problem was (male-heirarchy, of course) and solutions (the oh-so predictable advice of female priests and liberal theology.) I'm sure she's not very far off of what other media outlets are pontificating. If that's not enough, this is liable to ruin the Church finacially. The Pope may be able mitigate the damage somewhat but simply put, the Church administration is simply too late. Blood is on the water and the sharks are coming to feast, especially since its Catholic blood. I'm not Catholic, but I can plainly see the Church isn't being given equal deference with the public schools which have far worse record on sex abuse. I'd like a discussion on how Traditionalists can overcome a scandal which tarnishes a major plank of our program: religion. What can we learn from the bishops' mistakes and how can we rebuild the public image of religion in the wake of such scandals? |
JimKalb  ezOP (4/25/02 1:46 pm) Reply 
|
Re: Solzhenitsyn & Current Catholic Church Scandal Not much to say about Solzhenitsyn. I liked his earlier novels and the Gulag Archipelago - the novels because they were good novels, and both the novels and the history because they seemed to break a lot of important ground. I've assumed attitudes toward him simply reflect current bigotries, but never investigated much. Which of his later works would you most recommend? As to the church scandals, I think bishops are like college presidents: functionaries in charge of big, influential institutions with a lot of members who reject the institution's original purpose. Everyone wants to keep up appearances, though, so the head man's job is papering things over so they keep looking good. I think it's probably better there's been a blowup, and think the thing to do is forget about appearances or pleasing people who don't approve of what you're about anyway and return to basic substance. The public image will eventually look after itself. Jim Kalb at: 4/25/02 1:47:45 pm |
|
JimKalb ezOP (4/26/02 6:39 am) Reply
|
Re: Solzhenitsyn & Current Catholic Church Scandal Take a look at the final communique (www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/04/24/cardinals.communique/) on the Pope's meeting with the American cardinals. "Attention was drawn to the fact that almost all the cases involved adolescents and therefore were not cases of true pedophilia." Apart from procedures for dealing with particular bad priests, the main practical points are: "a) the Pastors of the Church need clearly to promote the correct moral teaching of the Church and publicly to reprimand individuals who spread dissent and groups which advance ambiguous approaches to pastoral care; "b) a new and serious Apostolic Visitation of seminaries and other institutes of formation must be made without delay, with particular emphasis on the need for fidelity to the Church's teaching, especially in the area of morality, and the need for a deeper study of the criteria of suitability of candidates to the priesthood." So it looks like the reformation is more likely to be a conservative than a liberal one. Jim Kalb |
|
Next Topic >>
|
 Topic Commands Click to receive email notification of replies  Click to stop receiving email notification of replies |
|
- Traditionalist Conservatism Forum - Traditionalist Conservatism - On to Restoration! -
| Upgrade your account to ezSupporter... |  | ...and never see another ad or pop-up again |
Powered By ezboard® Ver. 7.3u
Copyright ©1999-2003 ezboard, Inc.