The Gospel for Idiots: Morally, We have Lulled Ourselves to Sleep

By Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq.
6/20/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

What is the cure for this state we are in?

What is novel about the City of Man we have ushered in is its idiosyncratic nature. It is not really a republic, or a democracy, or even a republican democracy or a democratic republic. It is an idiocracy. To have a democracy, you must have a people, a demos. To have a republic, there must be a public thing, a res publica, a common good that is being protected or promoted.

The Gospel for Idiots

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - The Gospels distinguish between the "kingdoms of the world" and the "Kingdom of God." Jesus, who preaches the Kingdom of God, rejects the temptation of having command of all the kingdoms of this world in exchange for worshiping the Devil. (Matt. 4:8-10; Luke 4:5-8) The Devil implies he has control over the kingdoms of this world, at least he claims to have control sufficient to offer it to Our Lord.

But we know the Devil is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). In fact, the Scriptures tell us that at the end of time, the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. So it seems that the Devil does not have fee simple absolute title to the kingdoms of this world, but something less. (Rev. 11:11-15).

Famously, Augustine expanded on this theme of the Kingdoms of this world and the Kingdom of God in his great work The City of God. In that lengthy work he distinguished between the "City of God" and the "City of Man." The big distinction between these is what's loved. The City of Man is shaped by the love of self, to the exclusion of the love of God. Conversely, the City of God is shaped by the love of God, even to the exclusion of self.

It is pretty obvious that the United States--along with the West in general--is becoming, if it has not already become, a "City of Man." Our laws--at first slowly, now more rapidly--are beginning to exhibit contempt of God, of his eternal law, and of the natural moral law which is nothing other than man's participation in the eternal law.

Our laws, for example, protect and enshrine a "right" to divorce and remarriage, a "right" to contraception, a "right" to homosexual sex, a "right" to abortion, even in some states a "right" to homosexual "marriage." In some states, we have the right to engage in "mercy killing," which is a nice way of saying murder.

All of these are moral enormities, and we have them enshrined as rights. That's legal protection given to the violation of a lot of commandments. That's the legal equivalent of sticking your thumb in God's eye.

What is particularly striking as it relates to the modern West is the utter banality of the version of the "City of Man" under which we live. Our government protects and defends as a positive good, the trivialization of life, a life without focus, a life without end or purpose. We are in a banal society when a highly-educated jurist such as Associate Supreme Court Justice Kennedy (supposedly a Catholic) can utter such inanities such that "at the heart of liberty is the right to define one's concept of existence, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life."

Rightly did Associate Justice Scalia deride this concept of liberty (with dripping sarcasm) as the "famed-sweet-mystery-of-life" passage. It is a passage that Justice Scalia (here in dead earnest, not in sarcasm) identifies as "the passage that ate the rule of law."

This passage eats the rule of law because it rejects any objective basis for law. Justice Kennedy's notion of liberty is a concept of law and liberty not based upon the natural law, not based upon the eternal law, not based upon God at all. It is a law based upon man, to the exclusion of God.

What is particularly novel about the City of Man we have ushered in is its idiosyncratic nature. It is not really a republic, or a democracy, or even a republican democracy or a democratic republic. It is an idiocracy.

To have a democracy, you must have a people, a demos. To have a republic, there must be a public thing, a res publica, a common good that is being protected or promoted.

But we have no common good, because there really is no shared world among us, no koinos kosmos, as the philosopher Heraclitus put it. So there cannot be a republic.

There is no good of a people, because there is no people, no demos. So there cannot be a democracy.

Modernly, there are only private worlds, idioi kosmoi. There is only individual good, a good of one individual, the idios. There is no "our good," there is only "my good," and "your good," since, if Justice Kennedy is to be believed, we define our own "concept of existence," our own "mystery of human life," even . . . (and, silly me, I thought only God was the creator) our own "universe."

(By the way, the word idiot comes from the Greek word idiotes, a private individual, which comes from idios, meaning something private or one's own. When we claim to define our own humanity, even our own universe, and build a city and write laws to support these fabrications, we are idiots. Our humanity and our universe--and the ...

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1 - 10 of 20 Comments

Mike
11 months ago
Thank you sir; your words need saying and if only more of those in the cloth would stand up and be outraged too. What use is it to be a priest or minister if you DON'T stand up and be counted when our country is falling down around us? They remind me of the Apostles who ran when Jesus was captured, and then Peter who denied him three times. We need people of conscience to put truth to words and call abortion what it is: murder. We need politicians who ignore popularity and stand on morals and issues that are clearly right and wrong. Obama would sell his soul to the devil--if he hasn't already--in order to be reelected. Nothing else matters to him--win at all costs and continue pandering to the left wing zealots until America has sunk into history as a great nation felled by pride and arrogance. Our Roman Nero period has been upon us for sometime now; hopefully we can still pray and work for a better ending than the burning and destruction of our nation and souls.
Theresa H.
11 months ago
What an excellent Article! (thanks, Andrew); it certainly expresses well the "idiocy" of our "times"--of what happens when, as Pope Benedict put it, "we act as if God does not exist!" Unfortunately, we fool only ourselves as we march en-masse down the road to self-destruction! I think of Abraham walking along with God and talking about Niniveh....Hopefully, there are more than a few good men around and, if we join our prayers together with them, God will convert hearts such that the hedonistic/secular culture in which we are immersed will be dispersed!
JoAnn
11 months ago
Steve: If I understood you right, you think that if there was no religion, society would be much better. You may be getting your wish. People have been turning away from God for far too long and the result is: class warfare, power struggles, the races are enemies again, life has no value, respect for each other is non-existant, promiscuity and filth is rampant, children are non-persons, babies in the womb are just tissue and an inconvenience, therefore are murdered, old folks are being euthanized, charity is a thing of the past, and on and on. You tell me how not believing in God would be so much better. Come on, enlighten me. "Enquiring minds would like to know." God bless.
Steve
11 months ago
All of you here who wear clothing of two different types of material. All of you who eat shellfish. You are an abomination. It's all well and good moaning and griping about one OT passage, but you look silly when ignoring the one right next to it. It is not like this god is going to change its mind on the matter any time soon. What the author fails to notice is that when religious nonsense is removed, we do NOT see what he thinks is the outcome. We do NOT see it becoming more difficult to have a civil society but instead we see a better society, a healthier society. This is the fact he needs to concern himself with.
Don
11 months ago
William,

"Couples who live in loving and committed homosexual relationships", as you say, are not persecuted. They are rightly called out that their lives are sinful. If that is what you say is persecution, so be it, but sinful it still is. These people are forgiven by the Grace of God, but to be forgiven, they must go to confession, be sorry for their sins and promise to better from now on...not If these "couples" live their lives with True Charity for their neighbors. Also, to obtain their salvation, they need to obey ALL of the commandments, not just the first two. Telling them to "dwell in the house of the Lord" will not bring them salvation if they continue in their sin. Terrible it is that people slander them. The Church does love them but must be truthful. How can you truly love someone and yet stay out of their personal lives and watch them continue to sin? It's just as hard to watch our so-called Catholic politicians want their pro-abortion political activism to stay out of their own personal lives.

Thank God you found your way back to the Church. You probably can help those who were like you, but you need to be truthful and loving, like we all should be toward them.
JoAnn
11 months ago
William Clements: The Church is not persecuting homosexuals. Just like God, the Church loves all people, but hates the sin. The Church would be remiss if she did not try to save these souls. And, so would we be remiss if we didn't try to guide our friends back to God. Homosexuality is an abomination. St. Paul preached that adamantly. Plus, homosexuality, in itself, is not a sin. It is the ACT that is the sin. They have excommunicated themselves from the Church by their lifestyle. The Church would love nothing more than for them to repent and return to Jesus' Church. These people need our prayers, not persecution and the Church is well aware of that. God bless.
JoAnn
11 months ago
I may be mistaken about this but I don't believe Marian is a Catholic. She sounds more like a Jehovah Witness. They don't believe in Jesus. At least not that He is God. They believe Jesus was Michael the Archangel incarnate. Plus she sounds like a nature worshipper which would make her an idolatrous. A true Catholic would never say or believe what she is talking about. God bless.
Diane
11 months ago
Good article. I've noticed this phenomenon among people who say they are for right to life for all and for the age old definition of marriage between 1 man and 1 woman, but then turn around and vote for proabort and pro"same-sex' marriage politicians, who then make strong proabort laws and marriage destroying laws of same sex marriage. They don't seem to understand how the rules of civics work. They are civic idiots. There has been a terrible vacuum of responsible people in this country. They do not respond to the common good. Nature will not tolerate a vacuum. Fascism/Communism is poised to rush in , even violently, to fill that vacuum. If you are prolife, pro true marriage, then put you action(voting) where your mouth is, even your mouth of prayer. That is how you create a just and orderly world. The word sin means disorder, don't vote it in by way of immoral anti life, anti marriage politicians. Some TV preachers are now declaring homosexuality a only a spiritual problem. They are idiots. It is surely a spiritual problem that some politicians have made a social/political problem. Well, lets also deal with those politicians politically. Lets vote them out! Lets bring our laws into conformity with the true natural law and 10 Commandments. If not we fall into chaos, then the brutality of Fascism/Communism as people try to right the chaotic social order.
Martha
11 months ago
Marian,

Jesus ate meat.
William Clements
11 months ago
As an American who recently was brought out of an immoral life of fornication with men and women by the Grace of God, I still struggle daily with my fleshly desires. But, I did meet many loving homosexuals. And still am friends with many loving homosexuals. But I know God's law is Eternal. And marriage was defined by, is defined by, and will always be defined by God.

But do the couples in loving, committed homosexual relationships deserve persecution by the Church? I don't think so. I think God still has love for them and mercy for them. Their acts may by sinful in God's eyes, but every human is sinful in God's eyes and We all owe recourse to the Mother Mary conceived without sin.

By the Grace of God, homosexuals are forgiven. Marriage is not granted, but God will forgive those loving homosexuals who live their lives with True Charity for their neighbors. Telling a homosexual they are an abomination to God will never bring them to the Truth of God's Love and Mercy. Telling them to instead dwell in the House of the Lord and Give the Lord all of your Love, to Truly obey the First Two Commandments will achieve their salvation.

And then We as the Church should stay out of their personal lives and let God be the Judge of their personal lives. Amen.

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