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| Big Ears was a Traditionalist |
It seems that people, understandably, do not like labels.
But the word 'Catholic' is a label and, back in the early 60s it was enough to establish your spiritual lineage.
Now it is not.
So, we have become fragmented and divided; we are no longer one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
We are modernists, CINOs, uber conservatives, right wingers, liberals and so on.
And the labels are often inaccurate; I really do not know how I would describe myself.
I am right wing politically, but does that apply also to my Faith?
I believe the core of the problem lies in the fact that our secular acts are working in opposition to our spiritual ones.
We like to stand and receive the Host in our hand, therefore, we are liberal.
We prefer to kneel and receive by mouth, therefore, we are......what?
When I first entered the education sector back in 1989 one of my first duties was to send a group of lecturers to our local Ferryside post graduate teacher training base. I forget the nature of the course, it has no relevance.
When they returned I asked how the day had been received and I was told this story:-
" They put us into two groups with the College X staff in one and us in the other. And then they called us Group A and Group B.
Well, College X did not like to be referred to as 'Group B as they felt that was second rate so the instructors deliberated for ten minutes and then re-classified us as Group 1 and Group 2.
We were now Group 2 and we felt that we had been relegated to second place so we objected.
The instructors thought again and came up with the idea of Black Group and White Group but College X felt that to be dubbed 'Black' was insulting (but not in a racial context, of course).
We then had the mid morning break while various other ideas were put to us and all were rejected.
At about 11.15am, the instructors came back in and offered us the titles of Pixie Group and Fairy Group and these were found to be acceptable to both teams".
So that's it then.
History was made on that day in October 1989 - the link to Catholic identity was outlined for the very first time.
So, I propose that this innovative lead is adopted at once and, from now on we shall be known by the following nomenclature:-
Liberals - Fairies
Modernists - Goblins
Traditionalists - Dwarves
Orthodox - Elves
Charismatics - Pixies
NOT FAIR- Goblins is much worse that Pixies(LOL)
ReplyDeleteFollowing Cornford, I identify myself as a Liberal Conservative, i.e., "a broad-minded man, who thinks that something ought to be done, only not anything that anyone now desires; and that most things which were done in 1881-82 ought to be undone."
ReplyDeleteTraditionalists should scrap all the previous labels and start a fresh with two new ones:
ReplyDelete1. Abolitionists
2. Orthodox
They do exactly what it says on the tin.
OK, we'll have to have traditionalist tag as well, because this tag is never going away, but these days it comes with considerable baggage. This includes the fact that traditionalists are now turning on each other (in some cases with some ferocity).
Speaking as an Elve, in my personal opinion, the Catholic Church is in a period of grave discord and danger such as has not happened since the Protestant Reformation. That is normally taken as starting from Luther’ theses in 1517 and it was about a hundred years before the term Protestant Reformation was generally accepted.
ReplyDeleteIf we take the start of the current chaos as the New (albeit valid but distorted) Mass in 1969 then we have about another fifty years before things settle down again into THE Catholic Church and whatever the latest wave of heretics will call themselves.
Jacobi, you speak the truth.
ReplyDeleteKathy - Goblins are much worse than Pixies.
Evagrius - I'm sure there is a designation for you.
OPN - Succinct and to the point, can't argue with those titles.
"o ciuckoo! shall
ReplyDeleteI call thee bird or but a wandering voice?"
State the alternative preferred with reasons for your choice.