Bishop Thomas Paprocki (CNS photo)
Posted on 09/10/2013 5:42:01 PM PDT by NYer
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois recently did an interview with the Washington Times in which he lamented what he calls the “rupture” in the relationship between Church and culture:
“We [Christians] have to mentally adjust. I know it is an adjustment for me because – and I assume for many other people as well - because I grew up in this country at a time when the values in our secular world mirrored the values of the religious world,” Bishop Paprocki said. “And I think what’s happening now is that relationship – that symbiosis between our culture and the church – has been ruptured.
Paprocki compares today’s situation in the U.S. to Christians being persecuted under Communist regimes and even in ancient times.
“We [Christians] find ourselves now – just in this short period of time - where the early Christians found themselves in the Roman Empire. So the church in 2,000 years, we started out as being a persecuted faith, with Constantine being an accepted established faith, then for centuries, kind of moving in that direction that had this close relationship between the secular world’s values and Judeo-Christian values,” Bishop Paprocki said. “And now I think we are moving in a direction that – not only is it more than secular – it’s a rejection. It’s an outright rejection [of Judeo-Christian values]. It’s a pagan kind of a culture.”
“The reality is that – ironically, it is becoming more like the Church was in the time of John Paul II in Poland under Communism where you [Christians] lived in a very hostile environment. We still have the First Amendment of our Constitution but that is being sorely tested.”
Pagan vestments and symbols, perhaps, but not pagan beliefs, and beliefs are what count.
There was no "fish god dagon.". Dagon was an agricultural deity associated with the grain harvest. Just one of about 200 things Alexander Hislop got wrong.
He shoulda been pope
instead of that El Salvador 1970s acting dude
We have to compromise with paganism, eh? Reminds me of our illustrious Senator McCain “reaching across the aisle,” and our establishment Republicans compromising at every turn. Its the reason America is in the mess its in.
In religion, there is a name for this sort of thing, syncretism. The bishop is merely repeating what his predecessors did centuries ago. Protestant/Evangelicalism is an ongoing attempt to undue the pagan damage done to Christianity by the syncretist Roman church centuries ago.
The same sort of thing is what is wrong with America. Socialist Catholic voters being a big part of what’s wrong...yet they have the gall to call themselves “conservative” on this conservative website.
This bishop who advocates sycretism, the blending of paganism with Christianity, is a gutless compromising coward. So where does that put all you who support him on this thread? If this was the Old Testament, and we had some Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s around, pagan Christians would know what it feels like to get their hides skinned.
ROTFLOL
Non-Catholic "Christians" who sit out elections have handed the democrat fascist party control of this county from top to bottom for the past fifty years. As long as they can blame someone else while they go along to get along they're happy.
No matter how someone squirms and yells, they can't hide the fact that if the people who love to point fingers at Catholics even cared enough to show up and vote, who won the Catholic vote by a few percentage points wouldn't matter. And given the concentration of the Catholic vote in a few states, it really doesn't matter who they vote for anyway even in most Presidential elections unless 80% of people who claim to be non-Catholic Christians don't bother to vote .
Anti-Catholic garbage is just a Gnostic game played by people who worship their own, Most High and Holy Self.
Were that not the case King Barry wouldn't be on the throne today but since non-Catholic "Christians" prefer making excuses to doing anything we have wall to wall lies and excuses to go with the democrat fascist government such "Christians" don't even bother to vote against.
Gall?
Gall is someone who is part of the 80% of the population who aren't Catholic blaming their unwillingness to behave like and vote like Christians on the 20% of the population who are Catholic.
Why would he start now?
Yes and no. As Msgr. Pope observed earlier this week, referencing C.S. Lewis’s writings, pagan cultures had quite a few advantages over today’s miasmic belief system. They believed that water would wet you and fire would burn (cf. Kipling). Today, the notion that it’s hawg-stupid to jump into water if you can’t swim, or take reasonable precautions regarding fire, is Racist and “blaming the victim.” Physics is an oppressive social construct, not unavoidable reality.
“when the gods of the New Paganism come they will not be merely insufficient, as were the gods of Greece, nor merely false; they will be evil. One might put it in a sentence, and say that the New Paganism, foolishly expecting satisfaction, will fall, before it knows where it is, into Satanism.”-Hilaire Belloc from the book ‘Essay’s of a catholic.’
Hilaire Belloc quotes to start the day. Excellent!
The situation today in Syria looks like Thomas Paprocki needs to read the WORD of G-d.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Specifically the Book of Revelation,
as it describes the current End of Days.
the Book of Ezekiel chapters 38-39.
WOW ! And the Ru'ach HaKodesh had nothing to do with it.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
By the rules, you are supposed to provide a translation to any foreign language posted.
The non-Catholic Christians who sit out elections, with the vast majority of socialist and Liberation Theology minded Catholics who vote with the Democrats, are BOTH the problem. Thanks for bringing up those who sit out elections.
As to the notion that it is ONLY non-Catholics who sit out elections, this must be your personal theory as there is probably as many Catholics who sit out elections as non-Catholics.
80% of the population is non-Catholic? Sounds like you consider non-Catholic Christians on a par with unbelievers.
Since most non-Catholic Christians are conservative, and do NOT vote with the democrats as most Catholics do, your percentages here on FR, a conservative site, don’t jive. The Catholics run rough shod here, so much so one would get the impression it is a Roman Catholic website. Look at all the threads on the RF, Pope this, Pope that, etc. Your 20% Catholic looks more like 99%.
This being a conservative site, most Catholics vote with the Democrats, and according to you only 20 % of the population are supposed to be Catholic, yet the RF is 99% Catholics, what’s wrong with this picture?
If there is no one worth voting for, then it makes sense to sit out elections
I know, a sad state of affairs for sure. But who’s at fault here? Many here put the blame on the Repub party, I disagree, bottom line it is the Republicans themselves. It is the Republicans that voted Romney their standard bearer, they have no one to blame but themselves.
My last two votes were AGAINST Obama, not FOR the standard bearer Republicans picked. I know, lesser of two evils, I hate it.
Since I am not a Republican Party member not registered as one, I’ll just vote for conservatives and if there is not one I will skip it.
Reasonable people adjust to their environment.
Unreasonable people make the environment adjust to THEM.
All progress is made by unreasonable people.
"If there is no one worth voting for, then it makes sense to sit out elections"
An absurd excuse that perfectly fits the Loser Logic of people who are comfortable with surrender.
Even if you replace an incumbent piece of scum with functionally identical scum you've deprived your opponent of the very real benefits seniority grants them.
Not according to God.
Deuteronomy 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God:
God gave direction on how to serve Him and taking pagan practices etc. to serve HIM was NOT something He said was “what counts”.
>>There was no “fish god dagon.”.<<
I suppose the fact that from the waist down he was a fish doesn’t count for anything right?
http://www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/dagon.html
Dagon was the god of the Philistines. This image shows that the idol was represented in the combination of both man and fish. The name “Dagon” is derived from “dag” which means “fish.”
Although there was a deep affection from Dagon’s worshippers to their deity, the symbol of a fish in human form was really meant to represent fertility and the vivifying powers of nature and reproduction.
Note the hat of the priest to dagon. Then you may want to search scripture for references to dagon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.