5 posts tagged “christendom”

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. 2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. 3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised. 4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me. 5 You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim. 6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live.

The Good News Translation

Here's the talking Points:

• Pope Benedict praised our citizens and government leaders for their willingness to ensure legal protection for God's gift of life from conception to natural death (read: opposing abortion, stem cell research, infanticide, euthanasia)...
• He spoke of safeguarding the family and the institution of marriage --  acknowledged as a stable union between a man and a woman. (read: opposing gay marriage)...
• The pontiff also told ambassador Glendon, a close friend to President Bush, that the world's problems extended well beyond terrorism...

One wonders if His Holiness could have found the very heart of the spiritual quagmires surrounding the Western church with any more concrete diction. He scored a direct hit in his understanding of the struggles of North American church, especially its Protestant branches, though according to his Holiness we protestants are not really Christians at all. But this is the subject of another post. (go here for the story)

What is interesting to me is that these controversies will eventually be decided on their own, without the help of Pope Benedict, Billy Graham or any other religious figure, and they will be decided by those now in high school. That is, the culture wars (go here) we have become so used to fighting will eventually end when the sun finally sets on the values of the Christendom. And, set it will, for there will no longer be a “plausibility structure” (go here) left to prop them up.

Put another way, this coming culture is decidedly post-Christian (not meant as a pejorative, merely as description). So, if you want to know the future of cultural values without benefit of Christendom, just ask most people 16 to 21 about their views on abortion, stem cell research and gay rights. If allowed to speak without fear of judgement, in most cases you will receive an ear full that doesn’t square with the Pontiff’s point of view, the current administration, or most of the Protestant churches I know...

Related Links:

Reuters's Story

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSL2933948520080229?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Mary Ann Glendon

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10786