"Pizzaonian Emerging" Courtesy of the Pizzaonian Art Museum, Abe Straction, curator
What is happening to Dogma? You can ask this question across the board, regardless of the organization or the place. For one, while people remain respective of dogma, they don't take it as seriously.
That is not to say, people still don't accept the creeds of their institutions, they do; they just no longer follow them. This is true regardless of the body, be it political or religious. The unanswered question is why?
Pope Francis seems to understand this. He does not refute Catholic dogma; instead, he prefers to focus on its intent rather than its rigidness.
He clearly understands we are in an evolutionary process of change - and as a result the awareness and consciousness of the average person is changing.
The old values no longer hold sway, and new collective values have yet to happen. This is why people still cling to dogma, even though they no longer believe in its tenants.
When in quicksand, we need to hold on to something, regardless of the contradictions in may produce in our behavior.
Whenever there is confusion it is much easier to move to “intent” as a way of creating more original and gentler behavior. We can all deal with intent because it is more abstract. When the rules are concertized as part of collective culture, there is no place to go other than “to believe.”
In the digital world of communication this concept no longer works. When information is ubiquitous, we are allowed the false sense of being knowledgeable. It becomes very easy to confuse information as knowledge.
Christianity is a wonderful example of witnessing the change that is occurring in all aspects of modern life. Originally, Christianity was very simple - “Love your neighbor as yourself” – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
It does not take a very involved theology to understand what this means. What evolved is a very compelling and complicated autocratic theology that codified all the rules of behavior.
To paraphrase the late Supreme Court Justice, William Douglas – “…interpreting the law is easy; trying legally to evade the law is takes time.”
So where does this leave Christianity today - very much in a state of flux. The more modern societies evolve, with access to easily obtained information, the less orthodox they become.
This is certainly the challenge for all orthodoxy today, including the conventions of most traditional religious beliefs.
So is the solution to return to the original intent? I propose it is. Many will argue that the earlier intent was never lost. I believe the state of the present world, and most of its orthodoxies answers the argument for me. As stated before, Pope Francis “gets it.”
By returning to the simplicity of the original Christian message, he allows believers something they can accept. Not only is the message simple, it is relevant.
Yes, the Christian message demands sacrifice and love without judgement, nonetheless; it is still compelling and easily understood - and when put in the actual words of its founder, a return to the original intent.
It seems there is a lesson here for all dated orthodoxies, including political theologies as well.
John Frank Giovanni, commenting for "The Pizzaonian" a division of the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network, Diverti Mento, editor
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Posted by: patrick | 06/30/2017 at 02:51 AM