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insegnante
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| Posted: Nov 16 2009 at 12:08pm | IP Logged
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I've been thinking that my husband and I should have "ready answers" for questions or challenges on certain topics where we as Catholics must firmly hold to unpopular positions. There are times when and people with whom we might "explain" more, but I'm thinking about how to address, for example, why h*m*s*xual relationships are not morally good, let alone the equivalent of marriage, and why this isn't the same as saying interracial marriage is wrong; or why NFP is not just a form of contraception arbitrarily approved by the Church while the rest are banned.
We actually understand the answers very well (to the point that I'm frustrated by the off-base explanations other faithful Catholics sometimes give.) Instead of explaining, I want to be able to somehow allude to the larger framework of my beliefs that we may not be able to get into in a particular conversation. I want to be able to convey, "You know, there are probably quite a few assumptions we don't share that you might think we do, that I don't know if jumping in at the subject of 'g** marriage' or 'why NFP is OK and c*nd*ms are not' is really going to help you understand what I believe and why in the time we have."
Even though the framework of my beliefs means I will accept whatever the Church teaches regardless of how much I feel I "understand it," I don't want to refer only to the fact that I believe what I do because accept the teaching authority of the Church, because that might make it sound like I don't see the reasoning behind the teachings, which are natural moral laws that can be perceived, understood, and accepted by a person who does not (yet) have faith that the Catholic Church is what she is. But having absorbed many of the messages our society sends, more of a framework may be helpful than starting from the individual topic itself. And that's why I am reluctant to discuss, for example, the currently hot topic of "g** marriage" with someone who does not have or whom I am not able to give much more of an understanding of my beliefs about both s*xuality and the teaching authority of the Church.
Any thoughts?
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Theresa
mommy to three boys, 3/02, 8/04, and 9/10, and a girl, 8/08
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Nov 16 2009 at 12:33pm | IP Logged
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Theresa~
Have you seen this book: The One-Minute Philosopher, by Sophia Institute Press? I haven't  , but thought of it immediately when you posted.
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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RA's Mom
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| Posted: Nov 17 2009 at 5:38am | IP Logged
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(1) Isn't it terrible how the media polarizes everything?
(2) I've put a lot of prayer into understanding the Church's teaching on that.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Nov 17 2009 at 10:39am | IP Logged
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I love this quote.
"There are not over a hundred people...who hate the Roman Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church" -Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Karen T
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| Posted: Nov 23 2009 at 4:14pm | IP Logged
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It depends on your audience - are you talking about other people who are generally Christian, or complete atheists? B/c if they are Christian, most protestant sects believe the Bible pretty literally, so I don't see how they can condone h*m^se$ual behavior or A.C. Explaining the beliefs behind NFP do take more time; I myself didn't "get it" til long after conversion.
And if you're talking to atheists, I really don't see where there is enough common ground to even begin to explain!
Karen T
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RA's Mom
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| Posted: Nov 24 2009 at 1:57am | IP Logged
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Actually our belief that the bible is divinely inspired and should be interpreted in the context of tradition rather than literally is itself a point of contention between Catholics and some other Christian denominations.
And we shouldn't be too quick to assume that there's no common ground in moral principles. The abortion debate can be very interesting this way and one might appeal to postmodernists with Foucault's argument that homosexual identity is a very recent social concept in the history of deviant acts.
I think it goes back to the original problem. Most of the time we could explain for days and in the end the other person would still disagree. What we hope to do is save our energy but (1) be true to our beliefs and not disown Christ with silence and (2) plant a seed for reflection that might change a heart.
When I was in college a friend with whom I disagreed with about everything in politics sent me an email mocking liberals. One of the bullets was something like - Liberals think guilty criminals should live but not innocent unborn babies. This was intended as a defense of punitive justice more than of life but it was my introduction to the “seamless garment” and over time completely changed how I look at abortion.
Karen (no T  )
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: quick answers for controversial topics?
