(We are interrupting here our brief series of OBITER DICTA, and return to the blog’s theme of religious credulity, a.k.a. blindfaithblindfolly. We will, from time to time, include other O.D. posts, marked as such.)
“Republicans in Name Only” – “RINOS” – obviously inspired the title of this post. I have, indeed, begun to wonder whether all those people who say they are Catholic, really believe what their Church teaches. Before Vatican 2, we called some folks “lapsed” Catholics, meaning that though they may still have been (lukewarm) believers, they no longer went to Mass or to Confession. “Nominal” Catholics were practically their equivalent. Today, many “good” Catholics have given up regular attendance at obligatory Sunday Mass. They go to Mass at Christmas and Easter and a few other times during the year, but they clearly no longer believe their “missing Mass” is going to send them to Hell.
How many other doctrines and commandments do they ignore, dismiss and roundly reject ? I suspect that many of them do not believe that Mary was assumed into Heaven , or perhaps even that Jesus rose from the dead before ascending into Heaven. The Resurrection is, of course, THE fundamental doctrine of Christianity. But to them it’s like so many of the other Gospel “miracles”, a story, nothing more. In saying “Amen” at Communion to the priest’s “The Body of Christ”, they no longer mean it literally. The one belief they have not abandoned concerns what happens when they die. They continue to fear the “Last Judgement”, and willingly accept the Last Rites, including the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, after confessing their sins and receiving Holy Communion, “Viaticum”, food for the journey (!). Even on their death-bed they may not be 100% sure about the “afterlife”, but feel safer by hedging their bets in accepting Eternal Life Insurance. They have probably never heard of Pascal’s Wager but, like the French philosopher, figure what have they got to lose ? Of course, they may not have the luxury of having a priest at hand when the time comes. Maybe an Act of Perfect Contrition will do the trick . . . Cross your fingers, mate !
RIDENDA RELIGIO
Blind Faith: Blind Folly 
B.I.B. (Back In Business) I see Frank. You are probably right that there are many temperatures within the flock, going from frigid, via lukewarm up to scalding.
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I think for a lot of people, religion is like installing software. There are lots and lots of terms and conditions, but you never actually read them, you just scroll to the bottom and click “accept”.
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An original thought – and so true !
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Hello, Frank. It seems we need a map of some sort, a universal map of the universe. Is hell in heaven or is heaven in hell? Where are these often mentioned realms of devils and divines? How can the delusion be so pervasive and so strong as to believe that they exist anywhere outside of the human cranium? Cheers! GROG
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“Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high . . . “. Kids’ stuff, but we all fell for it.
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Approved !
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You will recall Frank that I commented some years ago on my very brief interaction with a small group of young Catholics who were here for an international Catholic Youth Year festival. The brief exchange happened at an inexpensive cafe-restaurant in Sydney’s Kings Cross where I briefly engaged an adjacent table of young attendees in a light-hearted exchange about some aspects of Catholic doctrine and teaching. It became obvious very quickly that they had no idea what I was talking about – and equally obvious to me that it was of no particular interest to them.
I suspect that this is much more likely to be the norm than the exception.
I feel sure that they would all have strongly affirmed their status as Catholics – even though they clearly had little or no understanding of what their religion required them to believe
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I remember perfectly your story. I did not think of it in writing this post, but it is a perfect example of what I hearby baptize as Ovine Catholicism. Australia’s economy was long founded on sheep. The shepherds who are priests – like the Good Shepherd before them – refer rightly to their … flock !
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You might also recall that there were reports at the time that business at brothels etc was said to have increased significantly. I don’t know what lesson one might learn from this bit of trivia.
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That bit, I must admit, I had forgotten. A tribute to my purity, if not my Immaculate Conception.
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