All of what you write is true. And yet, I'm not sure the answers we are looking for can all be found in the past. The contradictions of Christianity are what led us here in the first place after all. To go back to a Catholicism before the revelations of Darwin and post-modernism (which is not so much of a cancer as you seem to think, but rather primarily a critique of materialism and child-like faith in institutions (which I write about here (https://deusexvita.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-a-song-of-ice-and-fire) and here (https://deusexvita.substack.com/p/review-12-of-2024-infinite-jest), is not going to work, at least for me.
It's not that I haven't tried. I had a profound spiritual experience in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in 2019, which led to my conversion in 2022. I still go to church every weekend, and to confession, and I think there is a lot of value in the Church, but the postmodernist critiques are kind of right? There is far too much doctrinal rigidity, at least in the American Catholic Church, far too little ecological awareness, and far too much emphasis on the elevation of humans over the rest of the biosphere. It doesn't have to be this way: genesis, the prophets and the gospels preach the virtue of humility and modest living time and time again, but even the priests at my parish (sworn to a vow of poverty) can't do without their cars, cellphones, and meat at every meal.
I think New Romanticism also holds some promise for me as well, but this also requires sacrifices few are willing to make. Being a romantic means connecting with nature in your life. It means giving up the digital and the material and living more humbly. Reading the Brother's K or Walden doesn't fundamentally mean much if you keep on consuming the way the rest of society does.
That said, change is slow, and we each have our own road to walk as we come into this Age of Aquarius. Keep up the good work!
Well done. The individual can strive for the material and spiritual. They are both part of our humanity. It is a paradox that we are created individuals and yet need each other to survive and thrive. I argue that the one who invents and produces the refrigerator by that action helps humankind to endure. Without that I would not be able to live. Reason and the spirit are not mutually exclusive. Once again you have enriched my day. Thanks.
All of what you write is true. And yet, I'm not sure the answers we are looking for can all be found in the past. The contradictions of Christianity are what led us here in the first place after all. To go back to a Catholicism before the revelations of Darwin and post-modernism (which is not so much of a cancer as you seem to think, but rather primarily a critique of materialism and child-like faith in institutions (which I write about here (https://deusexvita.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-a-song-of-ice-and-fire) and here (https://deusexvita.substack.com/p/review-12-of-2024-infinite-jest), is not going to work, at least for me.
It's not that I haven't tried. I had a profound spiritual experience in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in 2019, which led to my conversion in 2022. I still go to church every weekend, and to confession, and I think there is a lot of value in the Church, but the postmodernist critiques are kind of right? There is far too much doctrinal rigidity, at least in the American Catholic Church, far too little ecological awareness, and far too much emphasis on the elevation of humans over the rest of the biosphere. It doesn't have to be this way: genesis, the prophets and the gospels preach the virtue of humility and modest living time and time again, but even the priests at my parish (sworn to a vow of poverty) can't do without their cars, cellphones, and meat at every meal.
I think New Romanticism also holds some promise for me as well, but this also requires sacrifices few are willing to make. Being a romantic means connecting with nature in your life. It means giving up the digital and the material and living more humbly. Reading the Brother's K or Walden doesn't fundamentally mean much if you keep on consuming the way the rest of society does.
That said, change is slow, and we each have our own road to walk as we come into this Age of Aquarius. Keep up the good work!
Well done. The individual can strive for the material and spiritual. They are both part of our humanity. It is a paradox that we are created individuals and yet need each other to survive and thrive. I argue that the one who invents and produces the refrigerator by that action helps humankind to endure. Without that I would not be able to live. Reason and the spirit are not mutually exclusive. Once again you have enriched my day. Thanks.