There is no true common ground with liars

There is no compromise with that which is wrong or evil. Talk of "common ground" is how those with liberal agendas grab a foothold when they are being backed into a corner. Those with liberal agendas count on indifferentism (under the guise of tolerance) in order to gain this "common ground."

Pray for the soul of Declan Sullivan

Twenty year old Declan Sullivan died last week in a preventable accident at the University of Notre Dame. Pray for Declan's eternal soul and his family. Pray for this once orthodox university that has forgotten its identity.

Worship the same God?

The anniversary of 9/11, Koran burning, and the beginning of Rosh Hashanah has created many opportunities for discussion on a few of the Catholic web logs I read. In a number of those discussions I see it mentioned that "We all worship the same God." The "we" refers to Muslims, Jews, and in some discussion Protestants.

Worship in its most general sense is homage paid to a person or a thing. Christian worship is "homage paid to God, to Jesus Christ, to His saints, to the beings or even to the objects which have a special relation to God."

It could be argued at length whether another religion/faith or even a specific person is or is not actually worshiping God. One alternative possibility is that the other religion/faith practices Idolatry. Idolatry is divine worship given to anyone or anything but the true God. Another possibility is heresy which is defined by St. Thomas as "a species of infidelity in men who, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt its dogmas." St. Thomas goes on to say:

The right Christian faith consists in giving one's voluntary assent to Christ in all that truly belongs to His teaching. There are, therefore, two ways of deviating from Christianity: the one by refusing to believe in Christ Himself, which is the way of infidelity, common to Pagans and Jews; the other by restricting belief to certain points of Christ's doctrine selected and fashioned at pleasure, which is the way of heretics

While idolatry is certainly not worship of God, Those who are of heresy and infidelity practice, at best, an imperfect worship of God.

Discussion could take place about the various degrees of worship, and when Infidelity or Heresy can turn to Idolatry. But let us put that all aside for a moment and ask ourselves a question. What does it mean if the statement is true that "we" worship the same God? Does it mean that those other religions/faiths are not called to conversion? Does it mean that we as Catholics should not pray and work towards the conversion of their souls? Is it a means of just recognizing "common ground"? For what purpose is the statement made?

On the question of "common ground"... it seems that when attempting dialog with a Muslim or Jew (and sometimes the Protestant)... simply saying that we worship the same God is not received well. It is not received well, because often those other religions/faiths do not themselves believe that we worship the same God.

I leave things open ended a bit in hopes to encourage discussion of the topic. Please remember to keep it Charitable.

Thoughts on Tolerance

I have never met Msgr Charles Pope, but his article on tolerance is very interesting. Please read it for yourself, but I have provided a few quotes with emphasis added.

Toleration — from the Latin tolerare: to put up with, countenance or suffer — generally refers to the conditional acceptance of or non-interference with beliefs, actions or practices that one considers to be wrong but still "tolerable," such that they should not be prohibited or constrained... [I]t is essential for the concept of toleration that the tolerated beliefs or practices are considered to be objectionable and in an important sense wrong or bad. If this objection component (cf. King 1976, 44-54) is missing, we do not speak of "toleration" but of "indifference" or "affirmation."

In effect tolerance involves putting up with something we consider wrong or displeasing but not so wrong that we must move to constrain it. Tolerance does NOT mean we approve of something as good. This essential point is often glossed over by those who often demand that tolerance mean approval, and that to disapprove of something makes one “intolerant.”

Msgr goes on in the article to discuss how tolerance is essential in our imperfect world but that it must have limitations.

[T]here are limits to tolerance. There are just some things in human relationships that are "deal breakers." There are things that cannot be tolerated. For example serious and persistent lies breach the trust necessary for relationships and such behavior is not tolerated reasonably. Behavior that endangers one or both parties (either physically or spiritually) ought not be tolerated and often makes it necessary to end relationships or establish firm boundaries. ... We do not permit people to drive on sidewalks, run red lights or drive in the left lane of a two way street. Neither do we permit breaking and entering or the violation of legitimate property rights.

Our culture has a tendency to misunderstand what it mean to be tolerant. Often times those who call a "wrong" what it is are labeled incorrectly as intolerant. The article also discusses the ever changing views of where the limits of tolerance stands. The article gives some examples related to the topic of abortion and homosexuality.

The article is concluded with an interesting point on "ownership" of tolerance.

Opponents of traditional Christians often claim the high ground of tolerance for themselves. But the paradoxical result of this is a holier-than-thou attitude and an increasing intolerance of Christian faith by the self-claimed tolerant ones. Legal restrictions of the proclamation of the Christian faith in the public square are increasing. Financial exclusion of Catholic Charities from Government money used in serving the poor are becoming more common as well. In other parts of the world where free speech is less enshrined, Catholic priests and bishops are being sued and even arrested for "hate speech" because they preach traditional biblical morality. None of this sounds very tolerant. Our opponents need not approve of our beliefs but they ought to exhibit greater tolerance of us, the same tolerance they ask of us.

Now my only point of contention with the article is the last underlined statement "...the same tolerance they ask of us." The "they" can refer to many different groups in our current culture, but as this article pointed out earlier... those groups tend not to practice tolerance but instead indifference.