Dictatorship of Relativism (A new intolerance is spreading)

Catholic Education ^ | POPE BENEDICT XVI AND PETER SEEWALD

[NYer]

5. Dictatorship of Relativism

In his futuristic novel Brave New World, the British author Aldous Huxley had predicted in 1932 that falsification would be the decisive element of modernity. In a false reality with its false truth – or the absence of truth altogether – nothing, in the final analysis, is important any more.There is no truth, there is no standpoint. Today, in fact, truth is regarded as far too subjective a concept for us to find therein a universally valid standard. The distinction between genuine and fake seems to have been abolished. Everything is to some extent negotiable. Is that the relativism against which you were warning so urgently?

It is obvious that the concept of truth has become suspect. Of course it is correct that it has been much abused. Intolerance and cruelty have occurred in the name of truth. To that extent people are afraid when someone says, "This is the truth", or even "I have the truth." We never have it; at best it has us. No one will dispute that one must be careful and cautious in claiming the truth. But simply to dismiss it as unattainable is really destructive.

A large proportion of contemporary philosophies, in fact, consist of saying that man is not capable of truth. But viewed in that way, man would not be capable of ethical values, either. Then he would have no standards. Then he would only have to consider how he arranged things reasonably for himself, and then at any rate the opinion of the majority would be the only criterion that counted. History, however, has sufficiently demonstrated how destructive majorities can be, for instance, in systems such as Nazism and Marxism, all of which also stood against truth in particular.

"We are building a dictatorship of relativism", you declared in your homily at the opening of the conclave [in 2005], "that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate standard consists solely of one's own ego and desires."

That is why we must have the courage to dare to say: Yes, man must seek the truth; he is capable of truth. It goes without saying that truth requires criteria for verification and falsification. It must always be accompanied by tolerance, also. But then truth also points out to us those constant values which have made mankind great. That is why the humility to recognize the truth and to accept it as a standard has to be relearned and practiced again.

The truth comes to rule, not through violence, but rather through its own power; this is the central theme of John's Gospel: When brought before Pilate, Jesus professes that he himself is The Truth and the witness to the truth. He does not defend the truth with legions but rather makes it visible through his Passion and thereby also implements it.

In a world that has become relativistic, a new paganism has gained more and more dominion over people's thoughts and actions. It has long since become clear not only that there is a blank space, a vacuum, alongside the Church, but also that something like an anti-church has been established. The Pope in Rome, one German newspaper wrote, should be condemned for the sole reason that by his positions he has "transgressed against the religion" that today "is valid in this country", namely, the "civil religion". Has a new Kulturkampf started here, as Marcello Pera has analyzed it? The former president of the Italian Senate speaks about a "large-scale battle of secularism against Christianity".

A new intolerance is spreading, that is quite obvious. There are well-established standards of thinking that are supposed to be imposed on everyone. These are then announced in terms of so-called "negative tolerance". For instance, when people say that for the sake of negative tolerance [i.e. "not offending anyone"] there must be no crucifix in public buildings. With that we are basically experiencing the abolition of tolerance, for it means, after all, that religion, that the Christian faith is no longer allowed to express itself visibly.

[NYer]

Catholic ping!

[Viennacon]

I guess the one shred of good news is that history tells us what happens to hedonistic societies, with no binding, objective truths. They collapse into ruin. That might seem like not such good news, but I’m looking forward to seeing these moonbat voters, particularly these clueless college kids, get exactly what they voted for. Their own desolation. I’m sure homo-marriage will be a ‘deal-breaker’ when the Western World becomes the new Balkans.

[TBP]

Tolerance is unacceptable to The Party of Tolerance.

[schm0e]

The Pope in Rome, one German newspaper wrote, should be condemned for the sole reason that by his positions he has "transgressed against the religion" that today "is valid in this country", namely, the "civil religion".

I hadn't heard the "civil religion" bit before. It seems like the kind of thing you'd find used as a prop in the "Left Behind" series, but there it is in 3-d, proving again that reality is stranger than fiction.

[lavaroise]

Indeed, everyone thinks Bewitched was a funny joke of a flick, ow with modern legal and media judgmentalism, they can turn whomever into a frog or prince charming if they hold the magic wand.

[lavaroise]

The “civil religion”, completely ignorant and uncivil, attacking what the church allegedly substract from life because it is against abortion and somehow these crosses mean more opression than Islam or the book burning memory hole that German Nazi so famously eulogized in particular against Jewish memory.

[little jeremiah]

I have to read this tomorrow and maybe ping it out!