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Jesus Christ Superstar
The report below affirms much that is true, good, and necessary. What I cannot reconcile however, is that while the Ecumenical Patriarchate signed the decree, it also supports policies that explicitly, and in some cases, aggressively, undermine the same principles of human value they (according to this report) swore to uphold. I have in mind the uncritical acceptance of the environmentalist agenda, as well as the sophomoric moral reasoning displayed in its teaching on abortion.
People who confuse moral posing with clear thinking will lambaste me for making this point (Don’t you care about the environment?!”, Don’t you care about poor people?!”), but frankly, either you see the danger that secularism poses for the long term, or you don’t. Rome is clear, Moscow is clear, but Constantinople remains confused. If Constantinople were thinking clearly, it would not be sanctifying the environmentalist agenda, and it would not equivocate on the value of unborn life.
Here’s what Constantinople needs to read: Metropolitan Hilarion: Culture is at risk of becoming anti-culture without the Church. It also needs to realize that political correctness is, at bottom, a spiritual affliction. If the Church, particularly its leaders, won’t risk the penalty that clear speaking imposes (of “speaking to the magistrates” that Christ told us we must do), how can we expect others to take courage when they are called to speak?
About the image. You will see the value of the painting if you understand the descriptive power of cubism, particularly how cubism depicts fragmentation, estrangement, disassociation — all the elements of “anti-culture” (anti in Greek means “in place of” and not necessarily “against” although the elements of the anti-culture can be aggressive and hostile and often are). The Christ of the portrait is the way that many (post) moderns see Him, as a projection of their interior world actually, particularly as the ties that bind culture together grow progressively weaker. The painter titled it “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I’d subtitle it “Secular Jesus” or “Acculturated Christ” (maybe even “Episcopalian Savior”). (Jesus Christ Superstar, Anthony Falbo.)
Affirm Duty to Awaken Consciences
RHODES, Greece, OCT. 27, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Representatives from both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Europe are sharing concerns about the secularization of society.
The warned about the dangers derived from a secularized society, “without points of moral reference and without a plan worthy of the human person,” in a final communiqué of the 2nd Catholic Orthodox Forum.
The forum took place Oct. 18-22 in Rhodes, on the theme “Church-State Relations: Theological and Historical Perspectives.”
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