In science, the ability to predict what will happen is considered proof of validity. For example, Einstein was able to predict certain events that could be measured when Mercury passed in front of the Sun in some particular way. The event was then recorded and measured, and his theory was proven either true or false.
Same thing with economics. If your theory is valid, then you should be able to tell us what's going to happen. There are certain economists who are wrong virtually every time, yet they keep making false predictions. But smart people only invest with the ones who get it right.
The content of the Catholic Faith is not a question of science or economics, but the status of the Church today is just such a question. Those who are able to analyze the current situation the most accurately are the ones who will be able to predict what will occur in the future.
For the past 25 years we have Archbishop Lefebvre being 100% right and Pope John Paul II being 100% wrong. One said that the Church was becoming apostate and the other said that the Church was entering a new springtime. Now JPII has come out 25 years later and agreed with what Lefebvre said back in the seventies -- JPII now admits that we have reached a stage of "silent apostasy."
The future will continue to tell who was right and who was wrong. But it will only be able to give us a witness to the Truth if we are willing to listen. If we shut our eyes and ears to the thousands of voices that are all proclaiming a deepening crisis, the information won't do any good.
Let's see what happens in the next 10 years. The defenders of the regime of novelty claim that we have had 40 years of catastrophe, but that we are just about to turn the corner. Kind of like the CEO of company that has lost money every year for the past 40 years, but at each annual meeting he claims that the tide has turned and next year will be the year when it all pays off. Or a sports team that have been perennial cellar dwellers for 40 years in a row, but the management always has their "Next year" speech ready for the fans. Let's see if "next year" really comes. Will we see a revival of Catholic devotion in 2005? or in 2006? or in 2010? When will some people open their eyes and finally decide that enough is enough?
Amen.
"In science, the ability to predict what will happen is considered proof of validity. For example, Einstein was able to predict certain events that could be measured when Mercury passed in front of the Sun in some particular way. The event was then recorded and measured, and his theory was proven either true or false."
Does it seem to you that there are a lot of people who are unable to apply this principle? Or are they just unwilling?
Sometimes I just don't get it. Even Bullwinkle J. Moose, after pulling the wrong thing out of his hat a few times, progressed from "This time for sure" to "No doubt about it, I gotta get a new hat."
A lot of people just seem to be stuck at the "This time for sure" stage with no prospects of moving on. I guess they're just so attached to that hat that they can't bear to give up on it and get a new one.