>>781361
>>781376
I have been thinking about this for a while.
If we are to deduce that modernity is an entirely anti-traditional and more importantly anti-christian program we must find where its roots are, that is 19th and 20th century thought, based on the enlightenment, based on the renaissance, but what is the renaissance have its origins in? I have almost a resentment against the "catholic" church for this, it's fruit is modernity, it is its creator and nurturer, this was the "catholic" church at a "traditional" time. Modernity has its roots in the catholic church, and its misstep was to trust in itself more than God, that is the sin of Adam in a sense.
Why should I be catholic? A good portion of my ancestors have been trodden by them, Europe has always looked down on Turks(and the middle eastern world), even before they were turks and they were Byzantine Romans, the Catholics have done evil to my ancestors. My grandmother is pure Native American and we need no explanation for what the Protestant(and Catholic) west has done to them. The other part of my family was most likely a somewhat wealthy family engaged in the making of fabric which later emigrated to Flanders, then to Britain, then to America.
Even the first martyr in the continental United States, St Peter(Cungagnaq) the Aleut, was martyred by Catholics(Monks and Priests mind you) in San Francisco, where the "…priest had a toe severed from each of Peter's feet", "cut off each finger of Peter's hands, one joint at a time, finally removing both his hands" and "eventually disemboweled him" for refusing to convert to "Catholicism"
Even the notion of Catholicism is somehow related to Modernity and the Western World. To become catholic in some odd sense one must become western, not to dissimilar to the imperialism of the Western Roman Empire. This was not the way of the early church where the traditions and cultures of the peoples of the world were transformed through Christ to be unified with his Church. Many christanons are attracted to "Catholicism" I think for they see Christ in it, but a significant part of this thought process is most likely a sort of "western nationalism".
I am sorry for ranting like this and please let me words not dissuade any other Christanons from serving Christ, many Catholics, especially here may be most likely part of the one true church invisibly, but this matter has been bothering my mind for some time. The thing that has always discouraged me from Roman Catholicism even when I was a protestant, was this fact, that somehow it seems to be tied up with modernity in some strange way, that if the modern world is anti-christian, then whatever triggered it had a part to play, as a lustful suggestion in the mind leads to something horrible, the Patriarchate of Rome being first in authority is maybe fine according to human reason but I have always felt that human reason, though important and not a small part of our Human Experience, must not be trusted to much, let us not forget that Adam used his reason and through it he was struck unto death by the serpent, not taking into account that St. Peter being the first in earthly authority and holding the Potestas Clavium is also something not true to earthly reason but this is besides the point and not something which should be argued about.
I have most likely repeated myself some times and I am sorry for this as well, I simply had to put my thoughts out here not for anybody else but for myself to concrete this down for my own mind. I am not even properly part of the one true Orthodox and Catholic church founded by Christ himself, but I know it to be the true Church and Christ to be the Way, the Life, and the Truth. And please let many of you not feel put down by me when I say these things, Western Christianity has and has had many good things, a zeal and perseverance, and many other unique things many of which were shared by Peter himself, and it is a shame that the Western Church(Many parts of which remained Orthodox for a very long time on the local level at least) separated from the Eastern Church, not only losing many people, but also certain mental types and ideas. Western Christianity is and was good but should not be the entire scope of Christianity.
May Christ, and she who is his Mother, and all the Heavenly host bless and keep you all.