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pages/blog/2020-10-12-modernism.html.php

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