CoL 49

[Paul Mackin]

On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 11:59 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>wrote:

> As to Catholicism and its relation to the adult, one can do worse than
> consider the role of metaphor and meaning as they shape the experience
> and 'history' of the individual through his identification with the
> events of the day and how he talks about them.  What we learn as
> children does not go away as we grow older and more complex, it just
> becomes sublimated in our psyche.  Although I do not identify as a
> Christian, there can be no denying that my ideas of good and evil are
> derived from my Christian upbringing.  The ways I look at the events
> of our time are largely shaped by that core structure in my
> intellectual, emotional, moral and ethical framework.  So too, with
> anyone, however well-informed.  Even great authors.  Even
> psychologists, philosophers and Buddhists (you might be impressed to
> learn how many Tibe"tan Buddhists are disaffected Catholics -- the
> resonances between the two religions are startling when viewed from a
> distance.)


I agree with what you say but would carry the argument further.

Even if you grew up totally without religion, but live in "The West," your
moral outlook can't help but be shaped by Christianity.

Western Civilization (for good or ill) had a very Christian upbringing.

I have always thought that the postmodernist affinity for acceptance and
lack of exclusion is basically Christian.

Nonreligiouly,

P.

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