tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post210218218453486748..comments2024-03-22T11:37:52.668-05:00Comments on Byzantine, Texas: The politics of being innocuous Byzantine, TXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17845681957622343484noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-33765272169009596332022-05-15T14:15:32.756-05:002022-05-15T14:15:32.756-05:00Pandering to the "Culture Wars" will cer...Pandering to the "Culture Wars" will certainly find you like-minded dittoheads, but it will also serve to alienate both you and the church from the other half of the population. Priests who engage in such rhetoric will surely find converts, but I have to wonder if the commitment these converts are making is more to a political agenda rather than to the church. <br /><br />Joseph Lipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10361879846966270399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-23982970569558250442022-05-15T11:55:52.213-05:002022-05-15T11:55:52.213-05:00Wisdom.Wisdom.John (Ad Orientem)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14329907942477160166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73042886598650075.post-22299680618415916362022-05-14T00:07:24.699-05:002022-05-14T00:07:24.699-05:00I think its a fairly simple to say we should all b...I think its a fairly simple to say we should all be good witnesses to the Faith/Truth in our day to day affairs by living honest lives and speaking/acting at the appropriate times, though the discernment for such things is trickier. <br /><br />I more often find the argument to be between those who think we can save the system by remaining in it, that we can "make the world a better place" and those who see that the system is beyond saving and too toxic to remain in.<br /><br />The one side says that its defeatist to retreat and that things will only get worse if we do so. The other side points out that keeping our children in Roman schools turns them into Romans, and there's no salvation in politics.<br /><br />I think one extreme is thinking in humanist terms and that we can make a paradise on earth, or at least somehow make life comfortable, ignoring the salvific nature of the Cross, and the other extreme is ignoring our neighbors or becoming exclusionary like ethnic enclaves. <br /><br />I think there must be some difficult yet subtle balance to be found as usual. For example Fr. Josiah Trenham is far behind enemy lines politically and religiously speaking, but making waves and having great success, while actively engaging with the surrounding culture war. (which has obviously made him controversial, but its hard to argue with the fruit of his labors, so many baptized etc) Though we cant all wage such direct conflicts, clearly we dont all have the same gifts. <br /><br />I was also taught that the best way to be a light on a hill is to live the faith, the liturgical/sacramental life of the Church, because when you're living the faith, people notice. No door to door salesmanship needed. <br /><br />"Everyone wants to change the world but nobody wants to change themselves". Or as St. Seraphim of Sarov said 'Obtain inner peace and a thousand people around you will be saved'. How many problems would be solved and people saved if we simply worked on ourselves?<br /><br /><br />Sojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09849986892411111836noreply@blogger.com