Skip to main content

Pro Life and Pro Creation

Image
By


Tom Richard, a friend of mine, sent this to me re. the Christopher West debate. Tom writes ...


***


Fr. Pat Koch, SJ, may he rest in peace, covered this exact subject in sophomore theology for us, and I'll never forget it:


"Gentlemen, when you leave this place, Satan will tempt you with assumptions that have not an element of truth, but instead the foundation of a twisted lie. 'The naked body is beautiful' as justification for it's portrayal in any fashion is one such lie. The whole work of pornography is, 'It's too hard for you to obey, so don't - give in to the things that made you the human animal - come fornicate, come masturbate.' It is true that you are a human, but listen to the word of God. You are above the animals - don't give into the lie that you are just another one of them. Listen to the voice of your reason. Do you really believe that pornography conveys the image of woman that God intended? Mr. Hefner would have you believe that the most sanctifying bond between a man and a woman is mere recreation, as if the business of man is recreation. No, gentlemen, the business of man is the family of God, and the business of that family is procreation, and I mean that in all senses of the word. We are Catholic in our belief that we are pro God's creation."

Labels:

Comments

Deacon Jim Russell said…
With respect to my friend (and yours) Tom, and to you, Kevin: Christopher West doesn't seem to disagree in the least with Fr. Koch or with you on this issue.

Basically, to date, over multiple days of conversation, what is being said is that West is making "implications" that lead to a crossing of the line despite the fact that the things he says are not themselves guilty of crossing the line. What he says is fine "as far as it goes," has been said a couple times.

But, what if that *is* as far as it goes, as far as West is concerned?

There is such a big difference between "implication" and "inference" when dealing with someone else's writings.

Often times what we "infer" is absolutely NOT in keeping with what someone intends to "imply."

In West's case, he emphasizes a view of grace that is *deeply* Catholic--a grace that does not merely "cover" but actually *changes* us and "heals" us, makes us better than we were before.

Concupiscence is not "total depravity"--it has an antidote, which is grace. Nowhere does West move from this fact to some additional assertion that people who respond to this grace and are in control of concupiscence should therefore look at porn.

At heart, what you seem to be inferring is not in fact what is being implied.

And, to the extent that my *own* Archbishop is willing to add his voice of support to West at this time is very consoling to me.

Tom, Kevin et al.--God bless you.

Deacon Jim R
February 6, 2012 at 10:13 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Full Story on Bishop Finn

By
" Let's step outside and settle this thing like men ," she said, and she was a lady. " You're spewing anti-Catholic rhetoric !" he insisted. "How can you criticize a bishop when you're an actor and everyone knows actors are perverts and nitwits ," she screamed. (That last gal had a point). These are all reactions to my post last week about Rod Dreher's article on Bishop Finn's Indictment. And above all, people are charging me with believing the biased media coverage of the scandal. This, at least, is not true. In fact, everything I say in this post will be taken not from a media account of the scandal , but from the independent report on it as commissioned by the diocese , the Graves Report, which you can read on your own here . So let's shove the media aside and see for ourselves what's contained in this internal diocesan report conducted by an independent firm. *** Fr. Shawn Ratigan was a priest of the diocese of Kansas Cit...
99 comments
Read more

Escape from Utopia

By
“Karen, I was right!  Someone escaped!  She says they are a cult!” I said to my wife, exuberant. It was Monday, Labor Day.  We were at the Lake of the Ozarks, in mid-Missouri, and Karen, my wife, noticed a group of people standing near the overlook on the hill above the lake’s dam.  A man about my age was about to take a picture of a group of teenagers with the lake in the background.  All of them were well groomed, well behaved and wearing polo shirts and caps that said “Shepherdsfield” on them.  Karen offered to take the picture for this man, so he could be in it as well.  He was very grateful. “What’s Shepherdsfield?” I asked after the photo had clicked. “We’re a Christian community near Fulton, Missouri,” the man answered.  “We’re on our Reward Trip.  These young people have been working very hard all summer, and we’re taking them on a Reward Trip before school starts again.”  My eyes locked with one of the young people....
Post a Comment
Read more

Charlie Johnston's Followers take the Next Wrong Step

By
NOTE - On April 29, 2106, Charlie Johnston responded to this post and my previous one with outright lies, doing his best to libel me in the process. I go into detail about that here - Charlie Johnston Lies about Me - and I Admire Him for It! Charlie is one of the most outrageous frauds in the Catholic Church. He actually fascinates me - in a sad way. Read on ... Charlie Johnston is a false prophet. His archbishop has "strongly" advised Catholics to be cautious of him.  His archbishop has also banned him from speaking in his own archdiocese. Charlie, in the great tradition of false prophets, has spun this warning to his own advantage , and Charlie's True Believers have rallied around him and have been guzzling the Kool-Aid since the bishop's letter and Charlie's spin appeared earlier this week. I posted about Charlie Johnston last fall , detailing at least one of his prophecies that have proven false, and detailing, from evidence on his Faceb...
13 comments
Read more