Sunday, December 03, 2006
HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME
thou shalt not.
That is the meat of the First Commandment. If we fail to keep No. 1, do the rest matter?
John Paul II constantly created controversy about worship. Cardinal Ratzinger was the epitome of orthodoxy, at least in the eyes of those who had not separated from the Church. When he was elected, the liberals cried and the rejoicing among the traditionals was glorious, if short-lived. Then came the appointment of Levada, and with that appointment a warning that Benedict was not Ratzinger. The man had reinvented himself.
Now there is Regensburg and the Regensburg aftermath. Standing alone on the world's stage must be a daunting role. With the world on his shoulders, and a murdered nun in his heart, Benedict sallied forth to the Blue Mosque, and Catholics held their breath. Would he die for his peace efforts? Would he betray his leadership role?
Once again the man has shown us that he is incomprehensible, as was his predecessor; that he follows a program unprecedented prior to Vatican II. Now the religious web is buzzing. What exactly did he do there? Did he betray Christ? Did he pray to Allah? His actions are speaking for him since so far he offers no explanation. Those actions include moving lips, a hand wrapped around a crucifix, and a selected direction of vision. He has his champions, and he has his detractors.
Questions those actions raise for me include questions about who God is, and what the First Commandment requires. The background from which I ask the questions is the understanding of the First Commandment from the reign of Pius XII.
When Pius XII was Pope, I was not permitted to look inside the Methodist church of my best friend. I was certainly prohibited from stepping inside to see what was there. To do so would have violated my faith. A Pius XII Catholic would not have contemplated entering a mosque; but since the opportunity did not present itself in America in the 1950s, it wasn't a concern. How does one wipe those prohibitions away as though they never existed? How can one dishonor God in 1950 by committing the same action that today we are shown honors God under a different Pontiff who sets such an example? With such a reversal, is there any absolute truth left?
This is not 1950 anymore. A great deal has changed on the world scene. "Peace" is on everyone's lips, and threats dog us in the airport and scare our children in their classrooms. Threats. There have been few real life examples, and thank God this is true. Threats, though, can be invented. We should not forget that. They can also be incited by those who have nefarious intents. Without the newspaper, the TV news, the computer, the radio, would any of us believe there was a need for luggage inspections?
But my subject is the First Commandment, not the Fifth.
If I could ask Benedict, these are the questions I would ask in the light from the Blue Mosque:
1. Is there redemption in symbols? If I voluntarily attend a Black Mass while clutching a rosary and praying to the Triune God, have I violated the First Commandment? In fact, how do I violate the First Commandment in the light from the Blue Mosque?
2. In research is there any valid reason to continue avoiding the reading of rituals? Are rituals sterile until we activate them? Are they contingent upon our choice of deity? Is intent all that matters, or must I be concerned about giving scandal?
3. May I pray with the Wiccans, or must I restrict my prayer life to only those who descend from Abraham? Do all really pray to the same god because there is only one God, and only the words change?
4. Is Allah God the Creator? Can God the Redeemer be excised from God the Creator so as to develop a religious faith centered solely on the One God, that does not acknowledge the Trinity? Or are the Three, One inseparable God? If the first is true, doesn't that make us polygamists as those who promote the Noahide Laws suggest? But if the second is true, how can you pray in a mosque?
5. Does the symbol of a dove suffice for a symbol of the Trinity while at the same time sufficing for the symbol of the gods believed in by others? Do symbols matter objectively, or do they only matter within context?
6. Peace at what price? What part of our Tradition do you retain and what part do you reject in the name of peace? Who do you serve? Who do you love?
You have the world's attention, Benedict. What do you plan to do with it?
