Two Recent Pieces on Society, Liturgy, and the ISM

St. Athanasius of Alexandria (source).

I have meant to share two pieces I read recently for a few days.

At Theology, Schmeology, a reflection using the article from the Athanasian Creed"Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance" as a guide to icon painting leads to larger thoughts on church and society:

Healthy society requires individuals in relationship with each other. (And it's almost as though our two political parties have each selected a half to goof up! Liberals confound the person: "We're all the same! Everything's equal! Whatever I like is true - and so is whatever you like!" while conservatives divide the substance: "I've got mine, I don't owe you anything! Take the country back from the 'other' in our midst!" )

I think this is also a part of what annoys me about a certain tendency among what I will term the "liberal" (for want of a better term) side of liturgical Christianity - they seem to have a particular weakness for getting stuck in the ideas of their heads, rather than inhabiting their physical space (even, and perhaps especially, while talking about "use of space!") And so you end up with altars placed in odd places, weird unforeseen emphases, awkward movements, bizarre proportions implying importance and lack thereof of all manner of furniture and ornament, to cater to a particular idea - but at the cost of "dividing the substance."

Read the entire piece.>>>

At As the Sun in Its Orb, a piece titled What Justifies Our Existence includes the following passage:

At one time, humanitarian work and the combat for human rights were the work of the Church. Not any longer. The Welfare State, public health services and social security have taken over. The system is highly bureaucratised and wasteful of resources, but it works better than the Church ever did. The churches no longer have the respectability they once had. They are starved of justification on the humanitarian and social front. Speeches about these matters by churchmen sound so hollow and devoid of meaning!

I think that independent sacramental churches have the relevance of being “pre-Constantinian”, relying solely on spirituality and the liturgical / sacramental life. No politics, no support from the secular authority, no way to force people to do or believe anything. One can try offering entertainment, but the TV does it better, and in the comfort of people’s own homes! The only way truth can be believed is by being credible. If this aspiration to the transcendental is not met, then people will not be interested.

Read the entire piece.>>> 

10 Random Thoughts on the Chick-fil-a Business

1. Chick-fil-a is yummy.  Their waffle fries are one of the few fast food things I ever actually crave.  There, I said it.

2. This boycott needs more supporters than all my vegetarian friends who think Whole Foods is too commercial if it’s going to get much traction.

3.  The picture of those EWTN Poor Claire Nuns with their Chik-fil-a bags makes me wonder whatever happened to papal cloister and the hidden life.  They neatly illustrate what a malleable term “conservative” has become.

4.  There’s a nasty class element in a lot of the righteous progressive pronouncements being made about people who eat at Chik-Fil-A that is just as repugnant as anything Dan Cathy may believe.

5. Any number of the people who are obsessed with eating a chicken sandwich to save America have personal histories that would make Jezebel blush.  You should probably spend more time being thankful for the grace you’ve been given and read Luke 18:9-14 before you post another thing.

6. Stop playing the victim card, whichever side you’re on.  If you have a vision of what America is supposed to be that’s worth someone taking the time to listen to, it should say where we need to go and why things will be better, not why we all might need to be hiding under our beds next week.  Faith and love beat fear every time.

7. Eat-ins and Kiss-ins both focus on building in-group identity, not changing minds or finding common ground.  This whole thing shows the brokenness of our political system and our culture in microcosm.

8. Eat-ins and Kiss-ins also produce a lot of photos I don’t want to see, whether it’s a 300-pound preacher doing mayo shots at the condiment bar or two bears in harnesses sucking face in the parking lot.  If you love your friends and want to keep America beautiful, please stop hitting the damn forward button.

9. If you absolutely can’t help hitting the forward button on the latest piece of Photoshop genius from your favorite progressive or conservative group, please fact check it first, because most of them don’t seem to and it makes your side of the argument look as dumb as the other side says it is.

10. I love America and I think it’s the best place there is, but God has seen a thousand nations come and go.  He has never said he likes ours better than any of the others and to think so isn’t patriotism, it’s idolatry.