The Greys of The Faith

The Greys

Why do we as Catholics possess this weird pseudo-philosophy, that I like to call the "Greys of Faith", where we skirt right up against the edge of what is permissible and prohibited. What I mean is how so many of us fight tooth and nail to find a way to do certain things that although aren't impermissible per se, but definitely aren't the most prudential thing we could choose to do.

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skating along the edges

For example, my most recent posting about New Agey Stuff (this isn't about Yoga here). There are some people that are going to fall on the sword of such things, purely to win their point. Why? Most likely because they enjoy doing these things, and believe that if they can win an argument about the propriety of something in and keep it in unity with Catholicism, then they have somehow saved their ability to continue that practice. This post isn't about just New Aged technique or Yoga, in fact you see this all over the place – it is even worse in doctrinal and theological realms. Name something that is 'newer' to the Faith or somewhat controversial and my theory applies. Labyrinths, Meditation, Cohabitation, NFP, 'Birth Control,' the Rubrics, attire, art, music, etc...

Fog of War or Deceit?

It reminds me of kids that try and skate their way through something in school. Whether it be cheating, laziness, or defiance they look for a way to purposefully not do what is required of them. You know what I am talking about, the kid that spends more time making up a lie, an excuse, or an easy way out instead of studying. The kid that if they put half the time into studying instead of their stupid plan would not only do fine on their task but actually learn it as well? We all do it, even as adults we do it at work. Instead of learning a procedure or protocol we learn a short-cut. We even do it in our personal lives, even in small ways. Think that pair of boots or shoes that we leave loosely tied so we can easily slip them on, but in reality it is hard to slip them on, and once on they are too loose for our comfort. It would be better overall to just tie and re-tie them every time.

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Why do we do this in our faith though? Do we think God won't notice? Are we that daft? 

I was once at a meeting where I told someone how I fast before Mass. I explained that I didn't eat prior to Mass on Sundays. A person became visibly and audibly upset at me, not because I was telling others that they should do the same, in fact I said that I personally chose to do so and didn't expect others to do likewise. Still, she was upset that I would personally do such a thing. She reprimanded me and said, "It is only an hour fast, why would you DO SUCH A THING!?" I really didn't know what to say, I didn't mention to brag and it was only brought up as an example to something someone else had said. I was so taken aback though by her displeasure with my practice I was left wordless – yet it was clear that she was upset that I would go beyond what the Church has asked us to do.

Judgmental?!?

So it isn't just about Yoga, it is about lots of things. I started realizing this was a problem within our faith, it seemed almost pathological. I thought for a long time that I might have been the one inducing it. Especially as I moved to a new area and found myself a little more traditional or orthodox than most. Maybe I was becoming "uber-Catholic-boy", the guy that runs around acting holier-than-thou making everyone feel bad because they aren't just like him. Maybe I am, that, but I wasn't the catalyst for this problem because I wasn't the only one inducing these actions.

Another example was when there were some liturgical abuses during Holy Thursday last year. I asked some folks who had lived here a while about them and whether it was a common practice. I thought I asked it rather politely and without any indictment of anyone in particular and yet there was such a defensive snap given as an answer that I obviously struck a nerve. Again, it could have been just me and the manner in which I asked the question but the answer revealed to me that it was more about the belief than the actor or question. To them, I was somehow attacking their beliefs. My question was not seen as inquisitive but judgmental – a most serious offense to someone in The Greys.

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living in the Greys

I finally have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of modernist Catholics that have grown up in what a friend of mine calls the "Am Church", that have spent their lives living in the "Greys" of the faith. That place sort of between doctrinal obedience and heterodoxy or heresy. Like in Doctor Who there is this theory that between dimensions there is a void that exists where nothing exists naturally - time, creatures, etc... just dont occur. It is sort of like that margin area in the middle of a book – it holds space, but nothing else really. You see, these Catholics exist there, the middle margin, the void – THE GREYS. It isn't really black and bad, they aren't going against the Church...really. But they surely aren't in the White, in other words they wouldn't be getting applause from the Pope for their beliefs and ideas.

The Fog of Sin or the Greys? Are they the same?

I always thought it was because they were lazy, ignorant, or undereducated. I knew for certain the root cause was sin. Just as some of the worst creatures are nothing more than the best of creatures, except in a deformed state, like how demons and the devil are the fallen angels. Except these people who live in The Greys aren't casting away good, in fact they cling to it by their fingernails. They ultimately want to be "in the light" except they want it on their own terms. As I said, I always thought it was that they were under-informed. Yet, I am more and more becoming of the belief that it is worse than that. I unfortunately believe that they really are so attached to their wants and desires that they will do anything to try and conform the rest of us to their way of thinking. It is as if might makes right for them. If only they can convince enough folks to their beliefs, they then will hold dominion over what are the teachings of the Church on some particular subject. As I said, to them fidelity is not important, but ultimate acceptance is.

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a protestant way of believing the faith

It really is a very protestant mentality really, and I don't use that in a pejorative sense. What I mean by it is that they want to change the Church through opposition and convincing. Take for example the teaching on contraception. There is a very adamant wing of folks that call themselves Catholic but don't believe that we as humans should abstain from using contraception in marriage. What that means to them, and to the bigger picture is that it shouldn't be (or isn't really) a sin. Now obviously the Church doesn't make something a sin simply by saying it is or it isnt... well, not exactly. There is that whole "what you bind on Earth, I will bind in Heaven" thing... but it isn't as if Church Teaching is some malleable thing like the legislative texts of a state. Things can't just be argued and lobbied for until they change.

So what we have is a bunch of people that want 95% of what the Faith offers but as long as they can conform the other 5% to their liking. To them, the Church is all reason, and no faith. God is an intellectual pursuit, and the faith is something to argue for in an intellectual way. To them the teachings of the Church are oppressive and legalistic, so they argue for flexibility, they are crafty. But is that what we really need, or want from our Faith? The Greys? The 90%? The "you're ok, I'm ok" kind of religion where "as long as we are all happy, and mostly on the same page we are good, cuz God is gonna' save us all anyways!" Of course it isn't... at least not what we want, but not those in the Greys.

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wanting it their way

The Greys want exactly that, a faith where things are very loose and open to interpretation. Moral absolutes, Canon Law, and even Mass Rubrics are much more fluid than firm. Restraint, law, rigidity, rubrics, requirements, absolutes, facts, truths, and other hard and fast things are not what exist in The Greys. In fact, nothing really exists in the Greys. The Greys is a sort of plyable matter, sort of like silly putty where you can bend it, shape it, mold it, bounce it, and bend it any way seen fit for a purpose.

So anyone that speaks boldly and in absolutes is an enemy. Anyone that professes that there can be, and should be, a right and wrong is cast out as a traitor. The Greys have no room for the whites, and they surely can't be associated with the blacks neither one accomplishes their goal and so they want nothing to do with them. The Bible, the Catechism, The Pope, and anything that is undeniable is only used in support of their points or to attack someone in the opposition. They are used as tools and not a road map. They become a means and not the ends. God is a person that grants them their desires, and isn't an ultimate goal. Heaven is a reward, and for some even an entitlement.

I have finally come to understand these folks are not the naive little lost wanderers of the faith. They aren't the misguided, the unfortunate, and the underprivileged. No, they know full well what they do. They sit and plot, they anger and fight, and they know full well their thoughts and actions. You see, those smiling adversaries that skate along the edges of the truth aren't misunderstood simpletons, they are plotting geniuses. They wait in the fog, the mist, they infiltrate everywhere they can under the cover of their fog. They want to change what we know to be true into what they want to believe. This isn't about a conflict of ideas, this is about systematic eradication of our beliefs for theirs.  If this were a purely intellectual pursuit, there would be discourse and a meeting of minds, there would be a common ground upon which we all started – but there isn't. This is about cafeteria selection of ideas, this is about intellectual dishonesty. This is about desires over truth. This is spiritual war for the truth of our Faith. Those Catholics in The Greys... they are the enemy within.

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