The Gadfly Vol. XVII Iss. I
“To persuade and reproach” - Socrates, The Apology
Oct. 12, 2012
Living the Real When was the last time you looked at the stars? I mean really looked at the stars craning your neck till it hurts, trying to find the big and little dippers, searching for the brightest star in the night sky, standing with your mouth wide open in a dazed wonder?
times, we've looked at the stars before, and we've gone cloud-gazing often enough that we know what it all is. As we come to know more and more about the things around us, we tend to keep those everyday things in our peripheral vision. There's nothing new we haven't seen before. Familiarity leads to disinterest. Everything is humdrum. We've lost our sense of wonder.
wonders it can perform. It seems that with every new discovery of the reality around them, children stand in amazement and can't get enough of it.
Mirandum. It's the Latin word meaning "to marvel, to delight." In today's world, Or when was the last time you stopped in we've lost our ability for mirandum, the poetthe middle of your path just to marvel at a ry of the transcendent. Maybe it's because fuzzy caterpillar on the sidewalk, or an oddlywe're indifferent to everything that's around shaped leaf, or a strange formation of clouds? What is it about children that makes them us. We've become complacent in our own This doesn't happen too often. I mean: how marvel at most anything? With all the right realities where we know and understand all strange would it be if on your way to class intentions, loving parents will buy the coolest that is already known to us. But there's got to you saw someone crouching down, examining and most entertaining toys for their toddler be something fundamentally wrong with this. a crack in the sidewalk as a child does with a only to find that the child is most enthralled It's impossible to go through any ordinary magnifying glass and a ladybug? Is it strange by a piece of lint on the living room carpet. day without wondering at something, asking because that person would be acting like a questions, or wishing to learn something new. When a five-year old learns something little child? new, like how to work the DVD player, he We've seen fuzzy caterpillars plenty of can't stop fooling with it and gawking at the (“Real” on page 2)
A False Dichotomy: Why Catholicism Must Remain Supra-Political I have never been a fan of the terms conservative and liberal. They immediately, at least in present days, evoke strong political connotations. They conjure up strong feelings regarding those issues which affect the human person every single day. Both have near-unwavering positions regarding the rights of women, the economy, the poor, the criminal.
contraception. Sure, I am staunchly against redefining marriage as anything other than a man and a woman, but: Are these positions enough to qualify me as a Conservative Catholic? I would say no. Conservatism is not an ideal of the Catholic Church. It is inherently anti-Catholic, in that it holds a staunch division of man and his community. It rarely, if ever, assumes the responsibility of charity toward our neighbors. It is a view of “do-itThis invocation of feelings is what Father yourself” and building all things up simply Daniel Pattee has called acting from the will from your own strength. This is not a Cathorather than acting from reason. The passions lic principle, nor is it a virtue. It is pride, a are a very important aspect of the human self-serving adherence to a philosophy of “Iperson, and further, every sentient being. But for-I.” How does this philosophy coincide there is one major difference between man with the Christological virtue of solidarity? and the other animals, namely, being made Am I to abandon that virtue for the sake of with a dignity that only befits the imago Dei. conservatism? Am I to abandon my Catholic Saying that I am not a Conservative Catholic heritage for the sake of something less than will often evoke an emotion that is not befitChristocentric? ting a human person, nor is it befitting of a Catholic. That emotion is contempt. I must admit that I have been often swayed by more liberal beliefs, though now I I never have considered myself a Connecessarily hold them to be against Catholiservative Catholic. Sure, I assist at the forma cism, as such. Their quick and simple soluextraordinaria of the Roman Rite as often as I tions to “solving” poverty by throwing money can. Sure, I am strongly anti-abortion and at it from a governmental standpoint and
providing for the many wishes of people under its charge seems to be a great idea, and one seemingly in unity with the virtue of solidarity. But what of subsidiarity? How does the liberal plan allow for charity when all is given by force of law? How does it aid in reforming the culture in which one lives, rather than subjecting itself to the whims of fallible persons? Just as much as conservatism fails at establishing anything other than an ego-centrism, liberalism reduces all to a collective consciousness, an “I-am-We” mentality. So, what is the Catholic to do? I once called Catholicism the great via media, the middle way between the dangerous philosophies that consistently divide us. I still promote this, but I have never really answered the “why” of it all. There is never an either/or mentality in the Church. We see this often in the heresies of former days. “God is either One or Three-in-One.” “Jesus is either fully human or fully divine.” We as Catholics should immediately see these as heretical, but it is the either/or dichotomy (“Dichotomy” on page 4)