Asymmetric Religion and Philosophy

Link: http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/crunchycon/2006/10/orthodoxy-and-me.html

Rod Dreher's conversion is understandable to me and the logical process preceding his decision was both profound and understandable considering the situation in which he found himself. The article is rather long, but basically he didn't have any problem with the tenets of his faith. Rather, he had huge problems with the people in the church, including the child-molestation scandal, the effort of the Church to cover it up, some individuals in the Church that betrayed him, and the negative atmosphere in the Catholic Church caused mainly by a focus on issues instead of Christ.

Of course, a person can say that any Church is made up of sinners and that scandal shouldn't deter one from attending services at the one true Church. But, a Church's truth should be reflected somewhat by the effect it has on its faithful (its fruits), as I alluded to in a previous post. If the true Church doesn't make its adherants better, then a sane man would cast a suspicious eye on that institution.

The lesson for the Church is simple. Like it has many times in its 2000 year history, Catholicism needs to look towards itself and reform. We, its faithful, need to internalize the message of the Church and make sure we show the world how Catholicism effects positive behavior.

The Church sex scandal needs to stop today. If the Church was serious about not creating victims, it would give polygraph tests, for example, as suggested once by William Buckley. Anyways, I hope the Church becomes so good that Rod Dreher comes back.