93 lines
5.0 KiB
HTML
93 lines
5.0 KiB
HTML
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<blockquote>
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<i>"The Catholic Church never suits the particular mood of any age,
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because it was made for all ages. A Catholic knows that if the
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Church married the mood of any age in which it lived, it would be a
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widow in the next age. The mark of the true Church is that it will
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never get on well with the passing moods of the world."</i><br />
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- Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
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</blockquote>
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<p>Today, this quote, a critique of Modernism, is probably more
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applicable than ever. Both within the Church and in secular society
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we're used to hearing the retort "get with the times." A retort usually
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encountered whenever a traditional view is defended, all the more if it
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is currently unpopular.</p>
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<p>To discuss Modernism we will first need to define it and then
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consider two of its consequences: rejection of Tradition, and the
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promotion of Liberalism.</p>
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<p>In the same way that <i>Antiquism</i> would be a biased preference
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for the old things, Modernism holds a bias for the new things. The idea
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that because something is newer it must be better. It should not be
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difficult to see how such a bias is completely erroneous, and yet it's a
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very common bias in our modern times. This bias truly does derive from a
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Marxist view of history, whereby history can only be seen as a chain of
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improvements, where all changes that occurred are good, or at least
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they were for their time. But in reality, one could say that the
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Modernist doesn't truly understand even this principle, since it fails
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to see that, even throughout history, anything that was an improvement
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had to compete with and eradicate error. Just as today there may be some
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good ideas for changes that will improve our society, but they must
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compete with and eradicate those ideas that are erroneous. As such, not
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all new ideas are good ideas, but rather only some new ideas are good
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ideas and they must eradicate the bad ones.</p>
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<p>Of course, even with such a philosophy that simply accepts some of
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the new things is still Modernism if it holds bias towards these new
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things over the old simply because they are new. This contrasts with
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Traditionalism, which builds a foundation of old things which over
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thousands of years have been shown rationally and practically to be
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beneficial, while adopting changes in form when necessary to better
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communicate the essence. Therefore, while Modernism and Traditionalism
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may not always contradict in those small areas where the Traditionalist
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sees it necessary to adopt newer forms, they will always contradict with
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the Traditionalist sees it necessary to maintain the older forms and (in
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particular) essence. In this regard, on matters of essence, the
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Modernist and the Traditionalist will always be at odds, for the
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Modernist holds nothing sacred while the Traditionalist holds essence to
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be sacred and immutable, as well as maintaining some forms that are
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truly more effective at conveying the essence, which Modernists do not
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defend in the first place. As such, Modernism is by its very nature
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contrary to Tradition.</p>
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<p>But perhaps most sinister of all would be the element of Modernism's
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promotion of Liberalism, a nefarious ideology that deserves a criticism
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all of its own. However, here I am not referring to the modern
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conception of <i>Liberalism</i>, which is something vague and isn't
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always completely liberal in nature, but rather true Liberalism which is
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founded in the idea of the sovereignty of Man as both a individual and a
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political being from God; or as a much more well-formed man had put
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it:</p>
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<blockquote>
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"What naturalists or rationalists aim at in philosophy, that the
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supporters of liberalism, carrying out the principles laid down by
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naturalism, are attempting in the domain of morality and politics.
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The fundamental doctrine of rationalism is the supremacy of the
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human reason, which, refusing due submission to the divine and
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eternal reason, proclaims its own independence, and constitutes
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itself the supreme principle and source and judge of truth. Hence,
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these followers of liberalism deny the existence of any divine
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authority to which obedience is due, and proclaim that every man is
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the law to himself; from which arises that ethical system which they
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style independent morality, and which, under the guise of liberty,
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exonerates man from any obedience to the commands of God, and
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substitutes a boundless license."<br />
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- Pope Leo XIII, <i>Libertas</i>, The Holy See Official Website, p.
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15
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</blockquote>
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<p>Seeing that God's mandates are eternal, for once and for always, this
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puts God and His law at direct odds with Modernism. God's laws are
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immutable, and as such they will never change. But this is not
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acceptable to the Modernist who adheres to change more than he adheres
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to God. As such, it is necessary for the Modernist to adopt Liberalism,
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and therefore heresy.</p>
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<p>Modernism is not an acceptable or rational philosophy, as it defies
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reason, historical human experience, and God Himself in agreement with
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reason. As such, it is a philosophy that must be wholly rejected and
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repudiated.</p>
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