There's a saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. So it should come as no surprise that progressive so-called Catholics lean a bit unbalanced on the issue of women's ordination.
The latest evidence from National Catholic Distorter: Female Power And The Power Of God by Jamie Manson. What follows are excerpts.
...I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but each time I read an NCRonline reader's comment that denounces the notion of women priests, I'm struck by how deeply distressing the issue of women's ordination is of some of our readers. The excommunication of Fr. Roy Bourgeois offers a painful reminder that these convictions are very much in line with the governing authority of the Catholic church.
There are many levels at which these comments and excommunications are disturbing. They are laced with deliberate misogyny and a complete, unkind lack of regard for half of the church's population. But what is, for me, most exasperating about this searing opposition to women's ordination, is that it is a rejection of faith in the power of God to work in our world. By banning women from serving as priests, the church is saying that God simply cannot work sacramentally in the body of a woman. The church places limits on God and God's own capacity to work inside God's very own creation.
Now, not only does this demonstrate a cosmic level of chutzpah, it also runs completely contrary to good, centuries-old Catholic sacramental teaching. There is a fundamental Catholic belief that all of creation -- all finite things existing in the world -- are capable of revealing infinite meanings about goodness, holiness, and God. By barring women from ordination, the church suggests that God is incapable of working through the body of a woman because it does not match the bodily design of Jesus and his disciples.
The irony is that the ban is also a rejection of the life and work of Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, we are given account after account of Jesus' encounters with women of extraordinary faith. In John's Gospel, the Samaritan woman is the first to inspire followers of Jesus (4:39), while Martha, sister of Lazarus, makes a confession of faith in Jesus that is unparalleled in any of the four Gospels (11:27). These exceptional women demonstrate great faith while the disciples, particularly Peter, continually misunderstand Jesus' teachings (4:33; 11:12).
Those who denounce the ordination of women ought to be reminded that their intense love affair with conformity with the church stands in direct conflict with the life of Jesus and a fundamental principle of sacramental theology. Their appeals to doctrines and canons and catechisms are sorrowful evidence that the power of the church has a much greater hold over their hearts and imaginations than the power of God. church teaching has been made into an idol, while the work and witness of Jesus and the continually unfolding revelation of God's work in creation goes largely ignored...
There's a lot to refute in there. An awful lot. I think the worst line is this one: "By banning women from serving as priests, the church is saying that God simply cannot work sacramentally in the body of a woman." How come she can't (or rather, won't) understand that the Church is saying that God has chosen of His own desire that the priesthood is to be male only?
In reading this, and the ensuing comments that tended to support this poor women's opinion, I've come to a conclusion. It's been the common belief that the underpinning of these apostates' views is sin - pride in their own mistaken beliefs, lack of humility in submitting to the Church that Jesus founded, arrogance in "knowing" Jesus' intentions all the while ignoring apostolic teaching and writings of the early Church fathers. And that is true.
But now, I think I've overlooked another aspect. These poor poor people are suffering from serious medical conditions, heretofore undiagnosed and sadly ignored. I, for one, am guilty of not recognizing these symptoms and thus have not extended compassion and sympathy. After all, it's not really their fault if they're sick, right? If they're not in their right mind, then can they really be blamed for their opinions and positions? Are you believing anything I've written in this paragraph?
So after careful analysis and a minute or two of quick thinking, I'm presenting for the first time a list of five diseases these progressives suffer from.
1) Dissentaholism - this is a terrible disease. It starts with accepting a heretical idea, maybe at home after a hard day at work to help unwind. Then it progresses to a few more, such as stopping at a spiritual center on the way home to wander a labyrinth. Left unchecked, it quickly degenerates, with symptoms including, but not limited to, reading Kung and Schillibeeckx, protesting at nuclear missile sites, or subscribing to the National Catholic Reporter. Fortunately, it's not congenital, because it's been shown that Dissentaholics don't reproduce.
2) Cataractechesis - this is a vision problem with dual symptoms: seeing things written in the Catechism that aren't there, and not seeing the things that are there. A derivative of this illness is Scrapture, where Biblical passages that challenge the patient's questionable lifestyle choices are scrapped.
3) Endoauthoriphobia - the irrational fear of external authority figures. This afflicts nearly 100% of all progressives and is extremely contagious. Common symptoms of this condition are the repetition of phrases such as "according to my conscience" and "guided by the Spirit". In addition, this phobia can mutate into two distinct forms: Endoauthoriphalliphobia, which is the irrational fear of male authority figures; and Endoauthoriphalliascetiphobia, which is the irrational fear of celibate male authority figures.
4) Upper Respiratory Inflection - a speech impediment whereby the vocal chords constrict involuntarily, causing the voice to sound whiny and critical. This normally occurs when the person is exposed to strong Magisterial teaching.
5) Meemyselphaniophagia - a bacterial infection (Spiritus Vaticanus II) whose symptoms include, but are not limited to, the following: speaking in gender-neutral language; convulsions (often termed 'liturgical dance'); mental incoherence (typically expressed as historical revisionism); and a general abhorrence to anything 'traditional' or 'patriarchal'. If this is untreated, it can mutate into Iamdapopa carcinoma, a spiritually fatal condition.
This list is not exhaustive. Given time and a hefty slice of the 2009 Economic Recovery Package, AoftheA could discover other diseases afflicting these poor dissenters. And perhaps cutting edge treatments could then be developed to help them overcome their sicknesses.
Until then, we'll have to pray for them, that by some miracle of God, they'll be cured. And in fact, that's what it will come down to. We can take them to the Doctors of the Church, but we can't make them take the medicine.
Instant "Acts"ess
