The function of the post was in response to another post telling another poster that they hadn't established why Opus Dei is bad. I believe Opus Dei is bad for the Faith because I believe it is a de facto cult, I believe they place no value on the Traditions of the Church and I believe they are such defenders of John Paul II and everything he does that they lose credibility. We can disagree whether Opus Dei is bad or not, but the religion forum is full of opinions. That's why we are here.
So judge in your own case: is your post Wise or Foolish?
Neither. Not everything we do falls into one category of the other. Is it wise or foolish to order a pizza on Saturday night? Just stating my opinion, based upon personal experiences.
If your experience is not too personal, would you consider letting me know what it is that Opus Dei has done that disturbs you?
My three sisters were kicked out of an Opus Dei grade school, even though they were very devout practicing Catholics, received very good grades and paid full tuition. The reason: my parents would not permit them to formally join Opus Dei and become numeraries, super numeraries, etc. They were publicly humiliated in front of other students for not joining.
I have my own personal experience: I was confronted at a social gathering by some lay people who were active in Opus Dei (different city than my sisters). They asked if I had ever considered joining Opus Dei. I replied that I had considered it but decided against it. When asked why, I replied that I felt that since I was baptized a Catholic and a life-long practicing Catholic, I was already a member of the only group I thought I needed to belong to (i.e. the Catholic Church). They replied that I was a "Protestant to think like that" and that I needed more than a personal relationship with Christ. Anyway, being a practicing Catholic was not good enough for them.
I have other instances but these are just a couple of personal experiences which have led me to believe what I do about Opus Dei. In hindsight I probably should have stated my reasons again so that new posters and lurkers knew I was speaking from personal experience. For that I apologize.
I am deeply sorry for whatever I said that offended you. Please believe that it was not my intent.
Thank you and I appreciate your sincerity but an apology is not necessary. I will take your advice seriously and try to be more careful in the future. God Bless.
I tend to disagree. From the definition of St. Thomas, an act is Wise if it is rightly ordered toward its proper end. Now any action either attains its end, or it does not. If it attains its end, it does so either intrinsically (and is therefore Wise) or extrinsically (and is therefore Foolish, and attains its end out of mere luck). Again, if it fails to attain its end, it does so either intrinsically (and is therefore Foolish), or extrinsically (and therefore the act itself is Wise, but is frustrated only by circumstance).
But as every agent acts with an end in mind, it seems to me that every act must be either ordered to its end or not, no?
Is it wise or foolish to order a pizza on Saturday night?
If you were hungry, and you felt like pizza, it seems like ordering pizza would attain the end of satisfying your desire, and would therefore be wise. You might say that this is a rather small wisdom, but then again it was a rather small example. That some ends are lesser than others does not mean that they are not ends, or that they are matters of complete indifference. If a matter cannot be even wise or foolish, certainly it cannot ascend still higher to be virtuous or sinful: yet temperance is a virtue and gluttony a sin. So I think we must conclude that even meals should be approached with a certain seriousness, which is probably why we pray before them.
I am inclined say that there is nothing in this world so small that it cannot be an occasion for pleasing God, or offending him, for he made the little and the great, and he hath equally care of all.