One of them is the level of what we believe.
Are we Lutherans? Evangelicals? Muslims? Catholic means one of these three, just not in the same ritual, same denomination, same community, right?
Do we hate Hitler and therefore also Franco? Or do we love Franco and therefore also Hitler? It must be one or the other, right?
Are we rationalists who admit religious truth cannot be adequately actually known, or are we all of the time receiving private revelations and kept in the impression some truths about God are known, because we hallucinate them, or are perhaps very rigidly trained to certain intellectual responses? It cannot be that some religious truths are fully accessible to human reason adequately informed.
Or monasticism, ascetism prior to marriage, marriage. A man who isn't disgusted by the very thought of sex obviously must be either married, or touching the butts of every lady he fancies or making himself ... shall we say a porn addict. And if on the other hand he is disgusted by sex, he's obviously either a monk or trying to become one. That monasticism can have other attractions than the most hysteric horror of sex, though to some monastics a certain hysteric horror may be a means to not be distracted by sex, that non-monastic Catholics could admire what they do not aspire to be, that a non-monastic Catholic who is not yet married could make efforts to avoid certain kinds of ways to get sexual pleasure because they are illicit, but without being disgusted by sex, no, that doesn't occur to them.
Or turning the other cheek. If you do not approve of the possibility of Jews harrassing people who are non-Nazi Fascists (like myself), or chase down descendants of Nazis (like I suppose the case could have been with the Isdal Woman), you must have an ideal of turning the other cheek which obliges you to never defend yourself at all, and if you do try to defend yourself, you are a damn hypocrite, if you don't allow Jews to continue taking revenge for things that happened 80 years ago on people who were not even the perpetrators. Because, to a Swedish Lutheran, the first duty of a Christian isn't being pro-Christian, but not to be anti-Jewish in any way, shape or form, and also not to take any kind of "revenge" (even if it actually would be defense) against people attacking us. Perhaps even more so to the Swedish Atheist, but then again, the Swedish Lutheran usually is an Atheist.
And if you actually do think that religion can be known, that it can impose duties on you, and that the community as the individual has a right to defense, and if you think that your religion is above the state when it comes to deciding right and wrong, why don't you find Muslims the best possible company? It's not as if we had been somewhat at odds with each other in 1099 or 1693 or sth ... and obviously all the Catholic has to do to get along super well with the Muslims is simply forget all that old stuff (because the Muslim is so willing to forget Saladin). (No, I don't think Sweden is very competent about Muslims either).
There is one thing more Swedes absolutely don't get about Catholics. That we can find it irksome to get along with Swedes. Some Catholics spend time with selected groups of Swedes, listen very carefully to their objections, then try very carefully in the most conciliant way possible to explain Catholicism. Many Swedes will in fact be patient in such a situation. After all, the Catholic is leaving them in control. Many Catholics will also want as long as possible to avoid this situation. They have a job, they interact with Swedes professionally. That's it. Personal interaction with Swedes ... not much. Especially not with religion involved. Oh, a Swede can get that. Yes, concentrating on one's job, leaving religion out, Swedes approve. But if there is a Catholic who prefers a country where Catholics are 29 % (as in France) and used to be singlehanded majority over a country where Catholics are less than 2 %, or if a man who defends teens' rights to marry thinks he's better off in France than in Sweden with three times as often occurring teen pregnancies, oh no! What's wrong with the Catholic? Is he narcissistic or sth? How come he can't see that Sweden knows better than any Swede (10 million to one), and also than any Catholic (who, if one imagined them lumped together like sth like a state* would be 1 billion to 10 million or 100 to 1) ...? What is wrong with this guy?
Yeah, if he's homeless and the homeless have more freedoms in Paris than in Hamburg or Malmö, how could he ever dream of preferring Paris? Doesn't he realise that depriving him of agency in economy (like getting paid for his writings) or shutting him up in halfway houses or offering apartments under some kind of supervision is just for his own good? Really, what's wrong with this guy? How narcissistic can he be?
So, Sweden has turned to some kind of mental health services, on some levels. These have turned to the Catholic Church (or its Novus Ordo perversion). I see Matt Fradd, time after time adressing problems I'm supposed to have (especially according to** Sweden), but I don't see Matt Fradd responding in person to the concerns I actually take up. Just to those he might imagine I have. Well, in this case** it would seem his pastor*** listened to a shrink who pretended to be expert about me, that shrink priorised the view that Sweden has of this Catholic. Or his pastor to that pastor's colleague or superior in Paris who in turn listened to a shrink.
In case you are not a Swede, and retain one ounce of common sense, I think you can sympathise with the reasons for my exile, and the dread I feel for having my life in Paris directed by people from Sweden who tell me to move over while they take the wheel.
Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
Seven Holy Founders of the Servites°
12.II.2025
Sanctorum septem Fundatorum Ordinis Servorum beatae Mariae Virginis, Confessorum, quorum depositio respectivis diebus recolitur. Quos autem in vita unus verae fraternitatis spiritus sociavit, et indivisa post obitum veneratio populi prosecuta est, eos Leo Decimus tertius, Pontifex Maximus, una pariter Sanctorum fastis accensuit.
PS, it's not just the rate of births to mothers under 20, it's also that prior to 2006, a girl of 15 could actually get married in France. It was Napoleon Bonaparte who raised it that high, and it was Chirac who, unfortunately, that year, raised it even higher to 18./HGL
PPS, Trent Horn, when it's not about Sedevacantism vs Evolutionism, often does a good job defending and explaining Catholic truths. On a campus he asked what sex is for, and under his video, I answered:
primum bonum matrimonii proles
secundum bonum matrimonii mutuum auxilium in remedium concupiscentiae
tertium bonum matrimonii fides sive sacramentum
Now, to some Swedes, this very obviously means I'm disgusted of sex. To a Catholic, it means I'm a Catholic or at least agree with Catholics on sexual ethics./HGL
* Catholics might wonder "did someone mention the possibility of Church?"
** What to Do if You're Disgusted by S*x (Christopher West)
*** Not sure if pastor in this case means bishop, priest or just deacon. We use the word pastor too, but it's not a one level item like for Protestants. Priests can't consecrate bishops, and deacons can't say Holy Mass (though they can read the Gospel in it).
° Recall what I said of non-monastic Catholics having often admiration but no aspiration?
No comments:
Post a Comment