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Diaryland
Judge not, lest ye be judged... 2005-01-22 @ 1:44 p.m.
The Seven Storey Mountain is not turning out to be as good as I thought it would be. The introduction warned me about Merton's tendency to look back at his life through fanatical Catholic tinted spectacles, but I never thought it would be THIS annoying. Now, I understand the tendency to be judgemental about your youth when you get older; hell, I've done it myself. And I can understand how Merton wants to find meaning in his earlier years that led him to becoming a monk. I can even kind of get a need to defend his choice to become Catholic given that its true that Protestants love to bash the Catholic church any chance they get (although, the fact the church has given them so many reasons to bash it does not help; although I like Merton's point that the church is not as well-off financially as people think it is). But the way he relates his childhood thusfar (I'm at the beginning of the third long chapter) is just bogus. He really believes that the Roman Catholic church is the only valid church and not only goes out of his way to bash all varieties of Protestantism, but has the gall to say nasty things about people who think all religions are valid paths to God. He even talks about the Albigensians being horrible, evil heretics teaching fake mysticism and denying people the glory of the church, when it was the CATHOLICS who massacred the Cathars by the thousands! And the way he describes his youth, trying to make religious references every other sentence, is just pathetic. He never would have perceived the world the way he describes it as a boy. So, I'm gonna scan ahead to where he starts to really develop an inner life, and if I don't find some good insights in this book, I'm just gonna drop it.
My belief is that all religions can be valid paths to God if people really search them out to the fullest extent. Exoteric religion will never be able to fully "save" mankind in any sense, because "the gods will not do for man what man must do for himself." All the institutions, buildings, symbols, priesthoods, etc... all these help guide people into something deeper. Anyone who gets caught up in the drapery, so to speak, is like St. Teresa says, someone who "lives outside the castle and never enters". People can and have argued back and forth about which institutions instill more positive qualities in their members. But I do think that if people don't follow things blindly, but really study, investigate and question their religions, even going back to their origins, they will find a connection there that will lead them Home. All of them have served their intention many times, and all of them have fallen short of the Glory of God. Some prefer aged and venerable teachings, while others prefer progressive movements aimed to speak in modern language. But I think all of them have something important to say. What standards do people go around judging entire religions on? And who are they to presume their standards are God's standards? God, the audacity!
"Details in the Fabric" - May 31, 2009
Not So Quick Questions - April 6, 2009
The Morning Stars - Lords of the 15 - April 9, 2009
Sincerity and Faith in Magic - April 10, 2009
Not So Quick Questions (2) - April 14, 2009
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