by cyranorox » July 6th, 2009, 4:00 am
I'm saying that crossdressing, barrensess, contraception, desire to marry the same sex, etc are not symptoms of greater sin than banking, bloviating, unionbusting, speculation,, or any collection of respectable sins.
the reactionaries i have in mind, and whose rhetoric [a neutral word for me] has much in common with yours, feel that modernity is an assault on a Christian social order, which is characterized by a tight structure of authority flowing from rulers to fathers, subordinating women ['women should...'], demanding contentment of the poor, and dreaming of Absolute referents for its laws and punishments. It's to dream the dream of MacIan, from The Ball and the Cross - and all too often, they accept the diabolical twist that makes MacIan say 'no', as I say no. also such people frame the current sutuation as a war, or culture war; they want to control and govern in the name of natural law, or divine commission, or some fantasy of their own righteousness. Everything aggressive is framed as defense; the rhetoric always characterizes themselves as beleaguered, surrounded, and in peril - which is patent nonsense, and often functions as a cover for a good deal of hostility.
A remedy for death is the essence of Orthodoxy - a radical piece of Good News. It's just our distance in time from the dominical period that makes it seem that we are a traditional people.
Marriage is indestructible; the sacraments are indestructible; the Christian church is indestructible, thiough it shrink to two pregnant women -as it once was - or one last monk - because it is Divine.
there is always a current crop of moralists, each displaying the concerns and blind spots of its generation and culture, often ignoring the true besetting sins of its milieu for some faults more comfortable to concentrate on.
Apocatastasis Now!