symbol v. literalism
dc
By MICHAEL MORWOOD
The pedophilia issue may well be the biggest scandal to hit the church in
the United States, Australia and other countries. Catholics ask how could
criminal activity become so widespread in their church. They feel let down
by the ecclesial system in which they had placed enormous trust. It is now
obvious that this issue was a time bomb that had to explode somewhere.
I want to suggest that Catholic anger, now out in the open like never
before, be harnessed and used, not just on this issue but on others as well,
to shape the church we want to experience in the future. I think there is
another time bomb ticking away, and again we have general episcopal refusal
to face reality. The issue that will explode in our faces very soon is
traditional Catholic belief about God and Jesus. We have to find new images,
new ways, even new or different names to talk about God, to rescue us from
the images and ideas of former times. We have to work at articulating a new
and quite different understanding of how human beings have been and are in
relationship with God. And we have to interpret Jesus of Nazareth in a
context quite different from that in which the early church articulated its
understanding of who Jesus had to be to redeem us.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church's understanding of the fall and of
Jesus, interpreted strictly within the limits of scriptural literalism and
an antiquated notion of the cosmos, a God-man who does not live by faith as
the rest of us do, with a physical ascent back "up" into heaven, belongs to
the library of what-was-once-believed. Many defenders of the faith have long
seemed incapable of living with metaphor, mystery, symbol and myth. They
have constantly crossed the line into literal interpretation.
A classic example is one by which I was judged and found wanting -- as were
others teaching in Australia. It was penned by the now archbishop of Sydney,
George Pell. In 1994, he wrote that after the consecration the bread and
wine "become really and truly the Body and Blood of Christ." "Really and
truly" is classical church language, and is confusing enough. But Pell went
on to say how Jesus told his followers "that he would give them his flesh to
eat and his blood to drink." Well, yes, but surely we are not going to take
that literally, are we? Surely this is metaphorical language. But not for
Pell.
"Even today," he wrote, "many people, including some Christians, find it
impossible to accept that the bread and wine are not just symbols, but truly
the Body and Blood of Christ. But this is what Catholics believe."
All these things became, and still remain, an essential part of the test for
"orthodox" teaching. However, I doubt that middle-of-the-road Catholic
theologians would treat all of them literally. Catholic sacramental
theologians would not be comfortable with Pell's literalism, which reflects
the literalism in official church documents.
The effect is that we continue to muddle through an atmosphere of
extraordinary intellectual dishonesty, an unreal world of make-believe in
which the men with absolute power can silence the voices that disturb their
officially sanctioned, concretized literalism. We must have open discussion
and sharing from our theologians if the body of Christ is to be prepared for
the major shifts in thinking confronting us even now. But what do we find?
We find episcopal leadership, with some few exceptions, unable or unprepared
to deal with the issue of how to speak of God and Jesus in the light of
contemporary scriptural studies or knowledge about the development of life
on earth or any appreciation of the magnitude of our universe. They simply
will not discuss it or promote open discussion.
We find the usual tactic of resorting to absolute power and authority to
squash discussion or to make sure our theologians are not heard if voices or
writings dare to cross the line of traditional doctrinal formulation. We
find fear of contemporary Catholic scholarship. We find failure to face
reality and truth. We find extreme concern about protecting the institution
at all costs. The task of church leadership, as in any time in history, is
to bring the story of Jesus to this age and to the questions and massive
advances in knowledge of this age, not to repeat formulations defined in the
context of questions and understandings that are no longer our questions or
understandings.
The cover-up of pedophilia has its counterpart here. Bishops can hide behind
the demand that assent be given "to what the church officially teaches," and
this demand protects them from the challenge we all face -- of articulating
how in our times, with what we now know, we are to shape a spirituality, a
faith vision of life, based on the life, teaching, death and resurrection of
Jesus of Nazareth.
I have never read, heard or seen any Catholic bishop who is critical of
"liberal" theology offer anything to help Catholics move away from the
literalism into which they have been nurtured. What I have seen, again and
again, is the reference to the Catechism in order to end all discussion on
important issues. Or, as a slight variation, we had Cardinal Bernard Law
saying in 1996 that there could be no dialogue on the "common ground" found
in "sacred scripture and tradition and . mediated to us through the
authoritative and binding teaching of the magisterium." This is an escapist
tactic. It demands that we not raise any questions about the worldview and
context in which scripture was written and doctrine formulated. So many
bishops and other church leaders can continue to ignore reality and
contemporary knowledge that disturbs their theological literalism. Trust us,
they say. We know best. We are acting for your own good.
It is time we let our justifiable anger be heard. How? By being stirred, as
many Catholics are stirred over the pedophilia issue. By being concerned
enough to meet with others to talk about our faith. By being open to
questioning, new insights. By praying in small groups that respect wonder,
metaphor, imagery, risk, listening, creativity and a new story about God,
about Jesus, about ourselves, about all of creation.
Yves Congar believed that the pattern for the exercise of authority in the
early church was this: We listen, I learn, I teach. It changed gradually to
this model: I teach, you listen, you obey. If we can harness the anger we
feel and start doing something about it, shaping the church we want to
experience, bishops may in time start listening again. What a gift to our
church our anger would be then.
Michael Morwood lives in Australia. He is author of Tomorrow's Catholic:
Understanding God and Jesus in the New Millennium (Twenty-Third
Publications) and Is Jesus God? Finding Our Faith (Crossroad).
National Catholic Reporter, April 19, 2002
C
"time to get the chemical sacrements legal for study and religious
consciousness expansion."
David Cole
"Why don't you kiss your ass and lick those big dung
covered cheeks they have dribble on them."
David Cole, April 16, 2002
"Craig is nuts and you lap up the dung and become nuts too."
David Cole, June 2002
"While they suck Dung you drink from the Master of the Worlds wrinkled wizzer"
David Cole, 5-27-02
"I am a Real Buddhist."
David Cole 5-28-02
"AND HERE YOU BOYS LAP UP THIS PRIESTLY GISM WHILE RIDICULING THE DUNG EATING
BOYS."
David Cole 5-26-02
"I never said you were "gay" I said you were a little wimpy faggot and a
pussy--THATS MUCH DIFFERENT"
David Cole, April 14, 2002
"Yes it [Buddhism] is a salad bar.
It is not a convent of devoted fags and pussies who subjugate real women.and
turn it into a barren and boring holier then thou nonsense."
David Cole, April 26, 2002
"NO MENTION OF ZANGE FROM ANYONE YET!!!!!
Nichiren doshin's Buddhism should have no "sides" yet
they bicker like little mindless bitches."
David Cole, Apr 14 2002
"Look at your UK group Funny most every Koto is a
fag--in US too---just like Nichiren Shu."
David Cole, March 2002
"No one will follow wimps and people with psychological
problems and weird perverse habits and behaviors based in unresolved
childhood conflicts and altar--boy consciousness. Tell me
butt-fucking and perversity is cool in our buddhism."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"Keep jerking yourself off Michael."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"No one can refute what I am saying. No one."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"I am distressed like the Daishonin was distressed
about the sick behavior of humankind. I am as solid as a rock."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"She put her hands on her rear-end and bent slightly, spreading
her lips, giving him a rear-view, under the legs, glimpse of her
vagina.
Moving her hands, down further, she spread her labia open and inserted
her right index finger. The unusally bright December sunlight caused the
juices on her pubic hairs to glisten"
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"This faggot version of true buddhism is history, the Daishonin would kick
your fairy little asses and the gakkai as well.... and the Priesthood is
corrupted into habits and monstrous passivity.."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"When stragglers appear on this board and read the nonsense here they are
overwhelmed at how stupid and demented these kook buddhists are. My
insults are surrealism appropriate for ARBN.---maybe some one or two or
three will wake the hell up."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"You guys have the comprehension of donkey poo."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"I'm sure you jerk off too."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"Of course this is the typical hypocritical crap coming from human beings
that are just dumb. Sorry boys, maybe you and Una should all have an orgy
at taisekiji.......bring Reggie to referee."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"I think you need a stiff stick inserted deeply into your ass and wiggled
around to break up the congestion in there."
Copyright © David Cole 2002
"call it what you will, as long as my fellow buddhists friend sit with their
thumbs in their asses refusing to toss away their phoney egos then they are
destroying budhism and deserve worse then any insults."
David Cole
"Plan B for Kosen Rufu -legalize research and religious use of
psychoactive/entheogens.
Otherwise, it just won't happen. People are just too stupid and will need
some help from their goods friends."
David Cole
"But now in reality, I might have taught him how, and helped find the way
in, but Michael hacked Mary's computer not I."
David Cole