Dichotomy

Dichotomy

Mary Matalin and James Carville
Are well-known political strategists
Who met and married after working
For opposing presidential candidates.

They continue to pursue separate careers
While raising their two daughters in New Orleans.
They appear together only occasionally.
They say they never talk politics at home.

How can this be?
Doesn't a strongly held position
Alienate oneself from civil discourse with
Those who are of different minds.

Perhaps the Carvilles simply respect each other's beliefs
And do not let differences harm their affections.
Does the holding of opposing views
Require disdain for the other party?

Have we reached the point in our society
Where expressing a definite position on a current topic
May be regarded as a hostile act --
Even prosecuted as a hate crime?

A dichotomy is a mutually exclusive set of opinions.
Are those who hold opinions unable to, or forbidden
To try to understand the logic and the passion
Of their opponents in public debate?

We need to respect the opinions of others
Even if we cannot agree with them.
Out of respect comes tolerance,
Rather than hatred and verbal abuse.

Divergent opinion on hot button issues
Such as abortion or gay marriage
Can never be reconciled in compromise,
But they can be tolerated in the larger whole.

(Otherwise we experience the schism
That split our beloved church into
Two separate Anglican denominations
That can never be recombined.)

Christian Books II

Mary Eberstadt has written the definitive book
On the reasons for the decline in church attendance
At mainline Christian denominations in the classical "West,"
Entitled:  "How the West Really Lost God."

The title is a misnomer, probably dreamed up
By a publisher attempting to promote readership.
The subtitle is:  "A New Theory of Secularization,"
Which at least focuses on the principal conclusion.

And that is:  The decline of the traditional family
Has led directly to the decline of religious practice.
She sees the two as symbiotic, using the
Double helix of DNA as a metaphor.

She blames the sexual revolution, and all its manifestations,
And what is quaintly known as "womens' liberation"
As the proximate causes of church failure,
Without denigrating the merits of either social change.

This a scholarly work, bristling with references
That are carefully footnoted by chapter at the end.
But it is also an easy read, intelligible to anyone
With a modicum of education and interest in society.

Mrs. Eberstadt, wife, mother, and Roman Catholic
Critiques just about every relevant study of note.
She proves the universal fact about social science
Is that none of the applicable theories can be proven.

In the National Review of July 15, 2013,
W. Bradford Wilcox summarizes the book neatly.
Neither he nor the author propose any quick solution
Given the expanding trend of family dissolution.

One omitted element, which seems trivial at first,
Are the overwhelming demands on the time of two-earner parents.
Making church attendance a requisite for their children
Means giving up much of their unstructured time.

Eberstadt blames the mainline churches for retreating
From the proclamation of a moral code to their parishioners.
Perhaps they do not wish to chase anyone out of church,
Whereas fundamental churches center their faith upon it.

Neither Eberstadt nor Wilcox see a reversal anytime soon
In the "declining cultural and practical power of strong families."
And yet Eberstadt herself in a brief piece in First Things
Forecasts the possibility of reaction to the excesses of society.

Meanwhile, at our little church of modest means,
We cherish and praise the young parents in any family situation.
Our assistant pastor has revived the church school
To the point where it attracts more of them to regular attendance.

Community, Not Theology

A dear friend passed away last month
From Parkinson's disease.
He and his wife were our close friends
Until my wife died ten years ago.

When their older son died,
I suggested that they look for solace
In a church that offered "community,"
Relegating theology to later consideration.

So they joined the First Parish in Brewster
Where they found community
By plunging into church activities.
My friend managed the reconstruction
  of the historic meetinghouse.

The little church in which I now worship
Lost a third of the congregation to
  theological disputes.
It took our new pastor nearly four years
To rebuild a spirit of community.

Does that mean theology is not important?
Certainly not, but it does mean that
Splitting hairs about biblical interpretation
Results in conflicts that cannot be resolved.

Only God knows what is just and what is true.
A Christian denomination that stands on
Certain beliefs to the exclusion of everything else
Has arrogated to itself exclusive revelation
  from God.

The strength of the Anglican Communion
Has always been tolerance of diverse views
And different ways of worship among the
"High Church" and "Low Church" factions.

As Robin Williams has supposedly said:
"No matter what you believe,
You can always find one Episcopalian
Who agrees with you!"

To The Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., I wrote:
"You cannot force beliefs from the top down."
To the Anglican Church in North America, I wrote:
"You cannot build a church on being against something."

I have been to each, and survived by
Refusing to engage in theological debate,
Nor making my personal views known,
Instead, listening to what others reveal.

I have found godly people in each camp
And in churches that espouse no strong beliefs.
The principle that guides success for a church
Is respect for each person's discovery of faith.

Choral Works

The Outer Cape Chorale recently gave a concert,
"21st Century Choral Masterpieces,"
Featuring segments or short works by
Contemporary composers of choral pieces.

Choral works may be unknown to the general public,
But to the thousands of choirs and chorales,
They are the staff of life, so many of
Their composers are known to such groups.

Most choral composers are music professors
And conductors of their works to audiences.
A few have received broad recognition
And critical prizes and awards.

Wikipedia search will bring up the biographies of
Morton Lauridsen, Arvo Part, John Rutter,
Eric Whitacre, and Z. Randall Stroope.
Who are almost entirely choral composers.

Stephen Paulus and Frank Tichelli are
Multi-faceted, composing orchestral works as well.
Also featured on the program described above were
Selections from Abbie Betinis and Gyneth Walker.

Two rising young stars, to use an old expression,
Are Ola Gjeilo and Kentaro Sato, whose
Breadth and depth of composition astonish.
See their websites for their extensive repertoire.

The internet has made these composers
Commercially savvy in their activities.
CDs and sheet music are available directly
From their sites or from subscription sources.

To this Anglican Witness, choral works are
One of the three great pillars of our worship,
The others being the exalted language of the prayers,
And the interaction of celebrant and congregants.

Habemus Papem

Let us wish them well with their new pope.
He seems to be a nice enough fellow,
Sort of like a pillar of a small town.
Too bad he's another old guy.

The retiring pope was a tottering old man,
Too frail to tackle the problems of his church.
The RC's needed a dynamic CEO to
Bang heads, fire people, clean house.

The hierarchy resists change
But change forces itself upon them.
If your congregations are restless and diminishing,
What do you throw out to keep them?

They deep-sixed both limbo and purgatory,
They translated the liturgy into common tongues,
They introduced insipid praise songs,
And they no longer heard confessions in a phone booth.

None of this compensated for the hideous history
Of sexual predation by the parish clergy.
The RC resistance to abortion and gay unions
Sounded sanctimonious and hypocritical.

Two forces will break down the walls
Of the medieval Roman Catholic Church,
Which will be resisted bitterly by the old guard
As destructive of whatever they stand for.

Catholic priests must be allowed to marry,
Have children, and be normal human beings.
Women must be admitted to the priesthood
As full and equal in all offices.

A book and recent articles by George Weigel
Ruminate upon the church becoming more evangelical,
By encouraging the faithful to study the bible,
And forge a closer bond with Jesus.

Maybe that also means giving up on goddess worship
Which is what the Catholic emphasis on Mary has become.
Maybe that also means accepting the existence of
Contradictory lay views on social and behavioral issues.

One has to admire the Catholic faithful
Who have stuck with their church, though
Their voices have been squelched and
Lay participation in governance forbidden.

Schism and Separation

Nine years ago
A small Christian sect
Took a momentous step
In the name of progression.

In sync with the changing attitudes
Of the general population,
This church in conclave approved
The consecration of a homosexual bishop.

While a state of being
Is neither sin nor crime,
His intimate homosexual relationship
Would heretofore be proscribed.

Media swarmed over the news
As a juicy story of potential conflict.
But no riots or outcry resulted.
Parishes went about their activities.

No story, hence no publicity,
Until a few parishes
Declared a separation from
Their dioceses and denomination.

Shocked by their resistance to change,
Bishops expelled these congregations
From their property and seized their assets
To preserve them for future loyalists.

Meanwhile, a very modest bishop
Who occupied the see of Pittsburgh
Slowly gathered a network of faithful
Distressed by the departure from tradition.

Since then, they have established
A rival denomination that grows
While the parent suffers
Loss of attendance and support.

It is not our purpose to
Debate or defend theological differences,
But the politics of the situation
Are similar to the division of nations.

No revolution need occur.
When for the good of both parties,
A separation becomes necessary,
It may be quietly negotiated.

Unfortunately, the parent denomination
Of the Christian sect in our story
Has acted with extraordinary malice
Toward its rebellious children.

Christian Books

I read books suggested by Christianity Today concerning the
state of the religion in America today.  It is a frequent topic.
My interest was sparked by the (temporary) popularity of
Rob Bell's "Love Wins."  I gave that a separate review in this
blog, entitled: "Love Wins; Jesus Loses."  Enough said.

My interest is now due to the tremulous state of my present
denomination in the bigger picture.  The Episcopal Church
is busily progressing itself into extinction.  An excuse offered
by its leaders is that it is simply sharing the decline of all major
denominations, for a host of reasons.

"Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe," by Mark Driscoll
and Gerry Breshears, is a pure, unapologetic dissertation on
orthodox Christianity.  This is bedrock theology, in language
we can understand.

"What We Believe and Why," by George Byron Koch, is an
offbeat, unedited attempt to find the areas of common ground
among all Christians.  Then he hopes that we can agree to
disagree about that which divides us, and get on with the
important job of spreading the good news.

"Bad Religion:  How We Became a Nation of Heretics," by
Ross Douthat,  reviews the history of Christianity in the past
century or so, played against cultural and political upheavals.
He concludes, unsurprisingly, that we have to get back to basics.

"The Searchers," by Joseph Loconte, is a charming and poignant
story of those who are looking for godly love in all the wrong
places.  He advocates meeting them where they are and leading
them to see the light that Christianity offers.

"One Nation Without God?" by David Aikman begs the
question as to whether the U.S.A, is a Christian nation.  Instead,
he traces the religious influence throughout our history.  Like
the other authors, he offers hope for rediscovery of our
Christian legacy.