tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17596486.post112926128757204611..comments2023-10-18T08:36:38.926-07:00Comments on Not Noteworthy: Divided. Really?Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08932010485918756589noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17596486.post-1129601044342074412005-10-17T19:04:00.000-07:002005-10-17T19:04:00.000-07:00Ratzinger ("Truth and Tolerance") talks about how,...Ratzinger ("Truth and Tolerance") talks about how, the 'modernist' project being thwarted, all religion becomes then a mere "penultimate" reality, always fitfully flailing about for 'indeterminate' truth. Back in the day, Verhack spoke of how Derrida mocked this "tolerant, nice God". The God that ceases to reveal himself becomes, not the God of happy tolerance, but the God of war, of the tower of Babil--the kid with the magnifying glass popping ants.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08932010485918756589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17596486.post-1129598247964625322005-10-17T18:17:00.000-07:002005-10-17T18:17:00.000-07:00The point you raise is reminiscent of a long tirad...The point you raise is reminiscent of a long tirade by our beloved Prof. dr. Ignace Verhack of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Verhack notes in the course, "Philosophy of Religion (advanced)" that the current theme of interreligious and interdenominational dialogue perpetuates the modernist tendencies it hopes to transcend. Namely, the modernist says, "there's ONE TRUTH out there and I have it, you don't; nah nah nah!" This line, while true in at least one sense, does little to promote peaceful dialogue. So, the post-modernist comes along and says, "look, we are all really the same, as long as we go beyond our superficial differences and concentrate on our fundamental unity." The idiot (post-modernist) continues by saying all religions are one path to the same god, and absolute truth is an illusion we can deconstruct thanks to our new demi-god Derrida.<BR/><BR/>Verhack aptly points out that the post-modernist commits the same sin she accuses of the modernist: positing a single truth with one group being priveliged to know it. For the post-modernist conception of religious truth simply takes the modernist version and breaks it into many pieces. Now, to find the truth we just have to collect as many pieces as possible, jumble them together and find their common denominator right before tossing them in the dust bin.<BR/><BR/>So, instead of the modernist conservatives having the right answers at the cost of the rights of the poor and so forth, now the post-modernist liberals have the truth at the cost of rich tradition, historical revelation, the factical incarnation, and all the other perks of faith. <BR/>What to do, you ask? Verhack cites the Dalai Lama's approach to interreligious dialogue: you be the best Christian you can be, and I'll be the best Buddhist I can be; then we might have something to talk about.Fr. Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06294875196562952043noreply@blogger.com