Liberals' Favorite Religion: Themselves

During my studies for a B.A. in Asian Studies at UMUC while I was working in Korea, one of my most difficult but rewarding classes was the required Asian Philosophy. It was taught by a Canadian professor with a PhD in philosophy who lived in Seoul, and the textbook was the excellent Asian Philosophies by John M. Koller (highly recommended but expensive).

The class was challenging because for the average American, the material is completely foreign. Furthermore, the religions and philosophies of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Confucianism (more a philosophy than a religion), and Taoism have a highly developed tenets and thousands of years of writings. Imagine learning Catholicism and Protestantism for the first time in a semester class having only had a superficial exposure to Christianity. I thought I would never survive the term. However, my effort paid off and I ended up with an "A" in the class, and living and traveling around Asia helped me with my comprehension of the philosophies. I also took another class in Anthropology of Asian Religions by the terrific Janice Sacherer Turner, the foremost authority in the world of the Himalayan Sherpas, who got her doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris.

As a Catholic not at all interested in converting to Eastern religions (although I have great respect for the traditions)--Catholicism has the fullness of truth-- I was always interested in how many similarities there were with Buddhism, particularly the Mahayana version, with Catholicism. In addition, both Theravada and Mahayana have strict moral and ethical codes with the Noble Eightfold Path.

For example, premarital sex, homosexual sex, and contraception are wrong in Buddhism. There is a hell in Buddhism where the wicked go. The boddhisatvas are very similar to Catholic saints. There are many aspects with Catholicism. In fact, in the amazing and wonderful movie Into Great Silence, there is a definite Eastern feel that is 100% Western in culture and tradition. It is just that people are not familiar with this aspect of traditional Catholicism that it feels foreign to them.

From a Catholic theological perspective, there are reasons for the similarities. The great Asian religions were created before the Incarnation of Christ, so they do have some revealed truths, and these truths are the ones that find their similarities with Catholicism, the fullness of truth.

What always is comical about liberals, though, is how they almost always reject the rich and noble tradition of Catholicism (or other Protestant religions) and our beautiful language Latin and turn to Eastern traditions and philosophies.

There is a common Catholic saying: "Heresy always begins below the belt." Almost always, liberals reject Catholicism because the teaching about proper sexuality is too much for materialistic liberals interested in instant self-gratification to handle. They coolly state, "I will not serve" and either (1) continue to think of themselves as Christian but attempt to reformulate the religion in their image by dumbing it down (see God is Love's comment on Matt Sanchez's post "Scaling Terrorism," a perfect example, or (2) reject Judeo-Christian philosophies altogether and turn to exotic and fun religions and spiritualities that conform to their sexual proclivities.

The second always has comic results for those who actually know the Eastern religions and philosophies--either by living in Asia or having studied firsthand the actual philosophies-- because liberals almost never follow the true Eastern religions, such as Buddhism or Taoism, the latter particularly in vogue with shallow liberals these days. They rejected Catholicism for its strict moral rules in rebellion over the sexual rules that God has in fact ordained for our own true happiness, yet they then reject the exact same aspect in the Eastern religions. Self control and restraint below the belt is extremely difficult for these adolescent liberals (think Richard Gere), which is why, of course, they rejected the dignity of Western religion in the first place.

For instance, study the history, beliefs, and actions of Taoism, and witness how far shallow liberals have bastardized this great Chinese tradition. From a newletter advertisement I received in the mail "Healing Tao Retreats" about the wonders of the liberal Tao:

What does Tao teach about sexuality?

The principles of energy flow are nowhere more pleasurable and downright fun than in the bedroom. Single or married, straight or gay, the Daoist arts of the bedchamber profoundly improve sexual health. From strengthening your glandular and hormonal systems, to experiencing truly mystical full-body orgasms, the ancient chi science of sexology will allow you to merge spirituality with sexuality. In alchemy, this sexual play occurs deep inside your body-mind--very dynamic fun meditations.

Strange--this is a very novel form of Taoism, one that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Taoism I studied in my Asian Philosophy class and which was described in Asian Philosophies, the text we used. Come to think of it, the Buddhism that liberals often practice (e.g. Hollywood stars) bears no resemblance to the Buddhism in Asia. Liberals just pick and choose superficial aspects of these exotic religions and philosophies and mesh them to themselves, of course never conflicting with their liberal sexual lives. After all, that is why they left Western traditional religion: They wanted to get away from anything that limits their pursuit of sexual and material fulfillment. The emptiness that arises, they then try to fill with Eastern philosophy, rejecting the exact aspects that they reject in Catholicism.

In the end, liberals simply do what they do best: Worship themselves.

Liberal Narcissism

Father Paul Scalia of the Diocese of Arlington has a devastating critique of liberal narcissism in the Adoramus Bulletin. He demonstrates how the liberal tendency to throw out the past--in this case the beautiful and traditional Latin music, Gregorian chant, and Catholic hymns--and replace them with more "relevant" expressions has dumbed down the liturgy. In its place, insipid, boring, lame music that liberals love has led to a narcissitic tendency to worship ourselves instead of God:

The Cult of Conceit: Why Are We Singing to Each Other?

A conversation demands that we include the other in the discussion. If someone speaks to you about himself, about you, about himself and you, but never really with you, you would call that person conceited. So have we become in our conversation with God: He humbles Himself to dwell among us under the form of bread and wine, while we ignore Him and sing about ourselves and to ourselves.

Of course, many traditional hymns also address the other believers rather than God. But a close look at such hymns (for example, "Now thank we all our God", "Praise, my soul, the King of heaven", or "Ye watchers and ye holy ones") reveals a crucial difference: the traditional hymns address others only to invite them to worship God, while most contemporary songs invite us to glorify ourselves.

The narcissistic tendencies of liberalism can be seen not only damaging religion but also education, with the same effect of turning our perspective from our heritage, tradition, and common culture crudely straight back onto ourselves. Diane Ravitch, in her wonderful book The Language Police, describes in the chapter "Literature: Forgetting the Tradition" how meaningful classics have been replaced by mediocre teen literature and god-awful multicultural pap that bores instead of stimulates:

There are so many superb novels, short stories, poems, plays, and essays to choose from that it is impossible for any student to read them all. But this fact makes it all the more important that teachers amke the effort to identify the writers and works that will broaden their students' horizons beyond their own immediate circumstances and reveal to them a world of meanings far beyond their own experiences. Great literature is "relevant" not because it echoes the students' race, gender, or social circumstances, but because it speaks directly to the reader across time and across cultures. A child who is suffering because of the death in the family is likely to gain more comfort from reading a poem by John Donne or Ben Jonson or Gerard Manley Hopkins that from reading banal teen fiction about a death in the family.

"Banal" is a great description for the multicultural and feminist trash taught in schools and the lame folk music sung in parishes led by liberal priests. Not surprisingly, as Father Scalia describes, it has led to a generation that is cruder, less educated, and more narcissistic, and recent studies have confirmed this. It has also led to balkanization instead of unity under the common languages of Latin (in the Catholic Church) and English (in America).

Fortunately, conservatism and a return to tradition seems to ascendant in the Church today. Young Catholics are turning back towards the beauty and dignity of Latin and the timeless Latin hymns. Is it any wonder? Compare the following Latin hymn (in translation):

Ave Verum Corpus
Hail, True Body, born of the Virgin Mary,
Who has truly suffered, was sacrificed on the Cross for mortals.
Whose side was pierced, whence flowed Water and Blood:
Be for us a foretaste (of heaven) during our final examining.
O Jesus sweet, O Jesus pure, O Jesus, Son of Mary,
Have mercy upon me. Amen.

To a narcissitic "hymn" popular with liberals:

Anthem

We are called, we are chosen. We are Christ for one another. We are promise to tomorrow, while we are for him today. We are sign, we are wonder, we are sower, we are seed. We are harvest, we are hunger. We are question, we are creed.

Liberals: "Me, me, me, we, we, we." Thank God I live in the conservative Diocese of Arlington. But I have heard this self-centered liberal song in more liberal dioceses, such as the Diocese of Richmond and the Archdiocese of Mobile.

Is it no wonder that Generation Y is more narcissitic than other generations? They have had hymns like the above in church. They have had multicultural literature celebrating their ethnicity and race instead of their common national traits. They have been told that literature is more relevant if it relates directly to them, and they have given teen literature instead of classics. They get Judy Blume instead of Charles Dickens. They have had self-esteem classes nonstop since kindergarten.

Father Scalia says:

The myth of Narcissus provides a good lesson for modern liturgy. The handsome young man, so enchanted with his own looks, sat gazing at his reflection in the water. He could not bring himself to leave his image and so grew rooted to the spot, admiring himself. Too many current songs encourage us to do the same. We talk to ourselves and sing love songs to ourselves. Just as Narcissus's self-adulation rendered himself incapable of a relationship and therefore of love, so also these hymns of conceit cripple our ability to speak with God. If God sees that we are so smitten with our own presence, He may judge us unfit to enter His.

The solution, of course, is to get back to a time-tested tradition and heritage both in the Church and in society. In the Church, we need to return to Latin and traditional hymns (already many parishes are doing this especially in conservative dioceses). Latin is a great unifier in liturgy, especially with the diverse immigration. In schools, we need to return to our e pluribus unum values that have made our country prosperous and free and eschew divisive, banal multiculturalism. Let's return to classics, tradition, and renewed emphasis on our heritage both in schools and in the Church.