- Feb 5, 2002
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COMMENTARY: Professing what seems to be unbelievable, and suffering scorn and ridicule from the secular world, need not cause shame.
An authentic Catholic will be pro-life, pro-God, pro-family and pro-traditional marriage. (photo: Lev Radin / Shutterstock)
Many reasons justify a sense of shame: possessing stolen goods, lying to your friends, cheating at cards, taking credit for something you did not do, dishonoring your parents —the list goes on. But there is one reason not to feel shame, and that is for being a Catholic.
However, there are false reasons for attaching shame to being a Catholic. It is important to spell these out so that their flimsiness becomes more apparent and less credible.
The first is that being a Catholic is to belong to a minority. According to recent statistics, 20% of Americans are Catholic, but how many of them practice their faith to a greater degree? The majority is said to rule, but there is nothing in being a member of a majority that makes one superior.
“The majority is always wrong,” said the Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen. The majority can be complacent, dominating and narrow-minded. There is nothing inherent in being a member of a majority that justifies looking down on others. Furthermore, the majority is unstable. The pagan majority in ancient Rome gave way to a wave of Christians.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Many reasons justify a sense of shame: possessing stolen goods, lying to your friends, cheating at cards, taking credit for something you did not do, dishonoring your parents —the list goes on. But there is one reason not to feel shame, and that is for being a Catholic.
However, there are false reasons for attaching shame to being a Catholic. It is important to spell these out so that their flimsiness becomes more apparent and less credible.
The first is that being a Catholic is to belong to a minority. According to recent statistics, 20% of Americans are Catholic, but how many of them practice their faith to a greater degree? The majority is said to rule, but there is nothing in being a member of a majority that makes one superior.
“The majority is always wrong,” said the Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen. The majority can be complacent, dominating and narrow-minded. There is nothing inherent in being a member of a majority that justifies looking down on others. Furthermore, the majority is unstable. The pagan majority in ancient Rome gave way to a wave of Christians.
Continued below.
There Is No Shame in Being Catholic
COMMENTARY: Professing what seems to be unbelievable, and suffering scorn and ridicule from the secular world, need not cause shame.
