John McCreery wrote:
On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 1:20 PM, Julie Krueger <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
At the time I found it inconceivable that someone could decide,
choose, what to believe -- that belief was belief largely
untouched by the rational. Something along the orders of "I
decided not to be hungry" (again, vs., "I decided I was not
hungry"). I have w/ some frequency noted that I can decide *what*
to "believe" until the cows come home, but that that decision
could not/would not actually change what my real beliefs *are*.
I think the term "decided" can mean many things here, some of which do not seem objectionable. I take expressions like this to mean "I concluded that. . ." rather than "I decided." A "decision" is reached; so is a conclusion. But conclusions are suggested by the evidence and are partly rational. What seems to be similar in both terms is that they both include reference to the person doing the "deciding" or "concluding." This seems a reasonably humble expression of limitation; someone else in a similar position might come to a different conclusion or a different decision, either out of some kind of emotional considerations or just out of their superior rational abilities, but here is "my" conclusion or decision.
One can object to the Catholic doctrine of birth control out of personal experience. This seems a reasonable position to take. One can also object to the doctrine because one detects a flaw in the church's current Thomistic reasoning about human nature and natural "functions." Underlying this particular doctrine of birth control is the Catholic doctrine of an "informed" conscience; one's own conscience should be "informed" by church teaching, but the responsibility, ultimately, rests with each believer. The "official" popular media expressions of Catholicism always sound harsher and more absolute than they historically have been. I always wondered why. (Stop me if I've told this story here before. . . )Reminds me of the shock we felt when our daughter, back when she was still at Annapolis, announced that she was converting to Catholicism. Her mother asked her about the Pope's position on birth control. She replied, "It's just like the Navy. My superiors tell me what they think I ought to believe. I decide what I do believe." Ah, we thought, conversion isn't what it used to be.
I think I figured out why on my first trip to Rome, and I figured it out watching the traffic cross the Tiber near the Vatican. When the light turns red, all the Vespas slow down a bit and look around a bit, then proceed. When the other direction gets the green light, they also start forward into the intersection, weaving across the paths of the continuing Vespas. Over-all, it seems to work fairly well; there were no collisions that I observed. Ahaaah! I thought: Now I understand the Pope's public pronouncements! In Rome, the traffic lights turn red. To Americans, that means STOP! and they immediately stop. In Rome, to the Romans, the traffic lights turning red don't REALLY mean "STOP!" they mean "Slow down a bit and be more careful before proceeding." So if the Pope, living in an Italian culture says "stop," that's really the same as a light turning red. It doesn't really mean "STOP!" it means "slow down a bit more and be more careful before proceeding." If the Pope really MEANS "STOP!" he has to jump up and down and SCREAM and REALLY REALLY MEAN IT! Then the Romans will slow down a bit more, perhaps. But good American Catholics, who are used to stopping at red lights, think that a simple "stop" from the Pope means the same thing as an American red light" "STOP!" when what the Pope really means by a simple Papal red light is "Slow down a bit and be more careful before proceeding."
Now, by the way, she identifies herself on Facebook as a "Buddhist Liberal Catholic."
There's a fairly interesting book I'm sure she is familiar with: ZEN CATHOLICISM by Graham. I know several Buddhist Catholics.
John -- John McCreery The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN Tel. +81-45-314-9324 http://www.wordworks.jp/
-- ------------------------------------------------ "Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence and ignorance." ------------------------------------------------ John Wager jwager@xxxxxxxxxx
