[sitetest]

Dear Desdemona,

"How much of it do you think is a form of intellectual laziness?"

I don't know.

But I think that this has been an on-going problem, at least here in the United States.

I think that in this country, prior to WWII, most Catholics were either immigrants or the children of immigrants. Many of these immigrants were not well-educated. The religious education provided by the Church seems to have mirrored their secular education.

My parents were taught some rules and regulations about how to be a Catholic. They weren't taught much about the theology behind the rules and regulations. They were quite confused when the rules and regulations were changed. It was initially difficult for them to understand that abstaining from meat on Fridays was not an eternal dogma of the Church.

And then, in the case of my parents, they went to the other extreme, and figured that ANY sort of moral rule was subject to change. But they were susceptible to that because when they were children, they really weren't taught much at all.

In the past few years, I've come to know a lot of older Catholics, folks a decade or two or three older than me. Through participation in the Knights of Columbus (average age, about 85 - well, maybe a little younger ;-) ), and other activities, I've met a lot of folks older than myself. Some are very well-educated Catholics. Most are not. I'm coming to the conclusion that the sort of religious education that my parents received wasn't all that unusual.

In my parish, we recently started Bible study, Des. I was a bit surprised to find how little some folks knew about the Bible. Obviously, the amount of education most folks received concerning Sacred Scripture wasn't very much.

And it probably still isn't. The fact is, the religious education in Catholic schools around here ranges from not-too-bad to pretty good. But religious education in CCD ranges from not-too-good to pretty awful.

I don't think it's exactly intellectual laziness. I think it is lack of motivation. If it ain't that important to you, you won't make the effort. That isn't really laziness, it's just not caring.


sitetest

[Desdemona]

I don't think it's exactly intellectual laziness. I think it is lack of motivation. If it ain't that important to you, you won't make the effort. That isn't really laziness, it's just not caring.

There is defintely something to this. Personally, I like to hang out in museums and tour historical sites and browse antique malls. Many people I know have never heard of the Smithsonian. I used to know Air & Space and the American History Museum like the back of my hand. It's just sad.