They’re just bollixing up the entire church for everyone else. At least according to a UK Catholic Bishop.
The Rt Rev Patrick O’Donoghue, the Bishop of Lancaster, has claimed that graduates are spreading scepticism and sowing dissent. Instead of following the Church’s teaching they are “hedonistic”, “selfish” and “egocentric”, he said.
In particular, the bishop complained that influential Catholics in politics and the media were undermining the Church. While not naming names, he suggested that such people had been compromised by their education, which he said had a “dark side, due to original sin”.
How does that work?
Bishop O’Donoghue, who has recently published a report on how to renew Catholicism in Britain, argued that mass education has led to “sickness in the Church and wider society”.
“What we have witnessed in Western societies since the end of the Second World War is the development of mass education on a scale unprecedented in human history – resulting in economic growth, scientific and technological advances, and the cultural and social enrichment of billions of people’s lives,” he said.
“However, every human endeavor has a dark side, due to original sin and concupiscence. In the case of education, we can see its distortion through the widespread dissemination of radical scepticism, positivism, utilitarianism and relativism.
“Taken together, these intellectual trends have resulted in a fragmented society that marginalizes God, with many people mistakenly thinking they can live happy and productive lives without him.
The peasantry was much easier to control before they were taught to read, don’tcha know.
“Due to original sin and concupiscence”
Apparently God made a big mistake when He invented sex…
Well, it’s not like He intended for those parts to be, y’know, used. I guess.
Anti-intellectualism in the churches is a slippery slope that leads to Sarah Palin.
Religion is too important and too powerful a force in people’s lives to be left in the hands of idiots.
For what it’s worth, there are some strong pro-intellectualism currents in the Catholic Church, too, including among the orthodox contingent. Even in the article, the same bishop said he wasn’t against education per se (thank heavens):
“They should be taught to think so long as it’s goodthink.”
The Catholic Church too an awfully long time to come to terms with this ‘democracy’ thing as well. I never bought the argument that The Holy Spirit could work through a self-perpetuating elite, but could not work though a large mass of people.
Googling on ‘concupiscence’, I don’t think there are any surprises as to which specific Catholic doctrine is being ignored by educated Catholics. Perhaps that’s because those Catholic laypeople are right, and the dogma is question is wrong?
The Catholic Church (as far as the hierarchy itself goes) works through authority and the authoritative promulgation of doctrine. It is not at all surprising that concepts like freedom of thought and democracy are long in gaining approval, and that only guarded.