"Are not my words like fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" Jeremiah 23:29 Quoted by St. Athanasius
From the comments section:
Anonymous said...
Sin is sin, Mary. And some of what you have written has crossed over into the sins derision and detraction (the description of these sins are very clear). Detraction.
Making known the sins of our neighbour, with the intention of injuring his character and/or spreading scandal. Your post on Milingo did this. (Note, I am not saying I agree with Milingo's action, I don't).
Derision: Mocking at another is intended to put him to shame. Again, the Milingo post and the tone of some of the other posts
Usually I would not address something so elementary especially when it is posted by a person who choses to hide his wonderful holiness behind the label "Anonymous". Truly if one is well meaning, honorable and honest they should not be ashamed to stand behind what they say. But it is not the lack of courage or courtesy that I wish to address but the complete lack of common sense.
I see this slanderous accusation made on blogs when a commenter is losing the argument. They cannot respond adequately (usually because they have no idea what they are talking about) and rather than admit the obvious they bring out the mudslinging terms- detraction, rash judgment and now derision.
First of all, I did not make the sins of Bishop Milingo known to others. Bishop Milingo called a press conference. Bishop Milingo gave statements to the press with the express intention of having his errors published, proclaimed and made widely known. He is now rallying priests who have left the priesthood to marry to assert their rights to continue as priests. And I think you are forgetting (or omitting) something in your definition of detraction- it is making know the hidden faults of another.
Secondly, I am far from mocking what Bishop Milingo has done. I take it deadly seriously. He is in a state of mortal sin. Worse still he is attempting to draw others into his errors. There is nothing funny about the possibility of someone losing their salvation. But of course that would require one actually believing that you can in fact go to hell.
We are the Church Militant, however currently unpopular that term is. We are to pray as if all depends on God and act as if all depends on us. That does not mean standing by with a pollyanna attitude that everything is wonderful while souls are descending into hell like snowflakes. (according to Our Lady of Fatima).
I read this quote in an article by Thaddeus J. Kozinski in Latin Mass Magazine yesterday. It reminded me of this argument and this attitude that we are to pretend all is well.
"For the general public is being reduced to a state where people not only are unable to find out the truth but also become unable to search for the truth because they are satisfied with deception and trickery that have determined their convictions, satisfied with a fictitious reality created by design through the abuse of language." Josef Pieper
St. Athanasius was the hammer of heretics, St. James slayed the Moors, Our Lord drove the moneylenders from the temple. I wonder why when everything was just fine. The Da Vinci Code- who cares, just don't expose the faults of Ron Howard, abuse of children- doesn't matter, just avoid scandal, women being "ordained" as priests- just send them a valentine, diocesan sex education- be obedient, Terri Schiavo being starved to death- don't condemn Michael- we can't judge his heart.
