(RNS) Feature plus my comments

From the Crescent City we have this report.
Bold and comments are mine.

Archbishop wrestles with doubts on school paddling

By Bruce Nolan

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) As a high-school student in the mid-1960s, Greg Aymond occasionally saw an angry teacher cuff a student. It never happened to him, nor does the memory of faculty discipline in those days particularly trouble the man who later became the archbishop of New Orleans.

But now, as Archbishop Gregory Aymond confronts formal physical punishment at one of the city’s top Catholic high schools jewels, he is clear:

“I do not believe the teachings of the Catholic Church as we interpret them in 2011 condone corporal punishment.

“It’s hard for me to imagine in any way, shape or form, Jesus using a paddle,” he said. [perhaps a whip on one occasion]

Moreover, Aymond said, the social research “is very, very clear: Violence fosters violence.” [research is also clear that DISCIPLINE fosters DISCIPLINE. which is just what folk forget about in our times.]

The 61-year-old archbishop’s concerns about corporal punishment at St. Augustine High School received a public airing late last month (Feb.) in an extraordinary meeting with the school’s parents and alumni.

The alumni urged the school to drop its temporary ban on paddling—a ban put in place, Aymond disclosed, as a result of concerns he quietly raised months ago. [parents requested the ban be dropped...notice how that works?]

One after another, business and professional men, tradesmen and fathers recalled getting bent over and whacked by a lay teacher or a priest during their days at St. Augustine. [one wonders how they grew to be such fine citizens in N'awlenz]

With the distance of age, they told Aymond they appreciated the crack of the paddle for its ability to force a mid-course correction on a young man grown lazy, or disrespectful, or too full of himself. [popcorn or Proverbs, anyone? this is getting good]

A few recalled memorable collective punishment: a whole class getting caned, one by one, for substandard academic performance, or because one miscreant declined to come forward. [let's be fair--I hate this type of punishment. but who am I?]

[Dr. Spock, isn't all this paddling just pent up eroticism? Kinky stuff, right?! You'll know why I ask in a moment...]

“I listened, genuinely,” Aymond said. “The words I heard are that we are different. We are unique. It works for us. It’s not a problem. This is the best way we can do discipline.” [so let's see how the good shepherd responds to the voice of his sheep for the GREATER GOOD.]

Still, Aymond said after the meeting, physical punishment is banned in all Catholic schools for reasons both theological and psychological. “It saddens me that any school in the archdiocese uses corporal punishment,” the archbishop said. [I'm not surprised by the psycho-babble load, but I really want to hear the theological reasons not to DISCIPLINE young people]

Aymond said the concern about corporal punishment at St. Augustine dates back two years, and the concern is his—not a parent’s, nor a lawyer’s.

“I’m not concerned primarily about liability,” he said. “I am concerned about morality. [who mentioned liability? oh, yes. YOU did. hmmm. All that the parents were talking about was discipline.]

“In my mind, to strike another person in this day and age—40, 50, 60 years ago, it might have been OK—but in this day and age, all the data says this is not an appropriate thing to do. [Am I being unfair to see the CLEAR connection between this day and age and HIS mind?]

“It doesn’t foster a positive self-image. I don’t think it’s what the Catholic Church should be doing. And it’s not what Jesus would do.” [He must be watching The View, or Orpah]

The archbishop said he found the matter waiting for him when he arrived in New Orleans from Austin in the late summer of 2009. [Pet peeve alert! Only this time I'm glad they're not capitalizing his title for respect.]

Aymond said his early official readings contained an unusual letter forwarded to New Orleans by the national bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection, the abuse-prevention department set up in the wake of the Catholic sex abuse scandal. [?]

Aymond said the letter came from an activist (whom he did not identify) who wrote from Ireland, which is suffering through a sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church worse than the American experience in 2002. [Do I, alone, find it odd that there be a connection?]

Aymond said the Irish author singled out the continuing existence of physical punishment at St. Augustine in New Orleans and called it to the bishops’ attention.

Aymond said he inquired and learned that despite archdiocesan prohibition, corporal punishment was and is expressly authorized in St. Augustine’s handbook, administered with a piece of wood at the front of a class. [Just like I remember it being done through my school years]

He said he learned that the archdiocese occasionally received parental complaints, which were forwarded to St. Augustine for handling.

Troy Henry, who chairs the board that runs day-to-day operations at the school, said he was surprised to hear the archbishop had received parental complaints. Henry said he had spoken to school officials, who maintain they have not heard any. [No, I'm not surprised by this either]

Aymond said in late 2009 the archdiocese hired Monica Applewhite, a national consultant on “safe environments” for minors, to review the environment at St. Augustine in conversations with administrators, teachers, parents and students.

Although he declined to discuss her report, he said it was her research underlying his statement that St. Augustine is the last Catholic school in the country to use the wooden paddle.

Aymond said his conversations with the Josephites, the order of Catholic priests that runs St. Augustine, prompted them to call a temporary ban on corporal punishment.

(Bruce Nolan writes for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans.)

Biretta tip to GetReligion

Nashotah podcasts

see here
http://ancientfaith.com/specials/in_the_footsteps_of_tikhon_and_grafton

Jesus Prayer

I am finishing a course on Anglican Spirituality. In this course we are brought up to speed on the history of spirituality and shown how our Anglican context applies proficiency at the parish level. As a future minister this is important. But applying it comes only after living it. It has been well said, "the only way to preserve values is to live them."

Also as a future minister, it is important that I am the example to anyone that I attempt to direct spiritually. This has scared me to death ever since the great fish spat me back onto the shore. I left the pursuit of God's call just after my first seminary experience. When I returned I had picked up some major seaweed! Mostly that was evident in my attitude, but as often it was obvious that I had lost my sense of personal piety. The Evangelical machine caused me to question ALL its results. That was not fair of me. To be a holy man is still expected of all ministers. The Evangelical method may be misguided along the way...but they are still on the way.

The best way to explain this failure of piety is to point out one's language. I have come to regard off-color language quite like body-odor. If a man is a bit skunky, he can easily remedy that...so don't question his piety every time he turns up with b-o. Likewise a man's language is easily curtailed if he is too profane. Don't judge by that alone. I began to apply this to myself liberally. Just ask my wife. She began to hear words from my mouth that don't suit a man committed to following Christ. Jesus' words about the filth coming OUT of us being more important than the food that goes IN seemed to slip my mind. In our culture how do you bring this up to someone?

Guidance and Direction
That is what is missing in the Evangelical Church that I left. If I don't have mastery of Sin then I have no business advising others how to overcome damaging thoughts and behavior. "Blind leading the blind" ring a bell? We all need to live by rules...we all need guidance...we all need direction. We don't need people making up their own rules and foisting them legalistically over others. So I have picked back up another weapon in the fight for my soul. That tool, or weapon, is the Jesus Prayer.

Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Anytime I encounter a tempting thought or image, I now say this prayer. No, that does not make it a talisman nor the foot of a rabbit. I puts me right where I need to be in relation to The King of Glory. In a book I'm reading we are advised, "Whenever Sin knocks, let Jesus get the door." He already proved that He can tackle, trample, repel, overcome, and rid Sin...why not let him help me? By the way, doesn't that quote sound like the cheese you could get from the local Christian bookstore self-help section? Why do I like it so much?

When you begin to struggle (that's opposed to simply wallowing in Sin) against temptation, you are quite wise to take the yoke of Christ and let him pull. Just knowing that you are stuck in a dank squalor is proof that you cannot get out alone. You never could do, and you never will. Also since the tempter is crafty, he will leave you be until you are alone. He don't much like crowds. So temptation is sharper when you are isolated. Who better to call upon than He who is Lord of creation...able to join you at any location, in any situation?

But there are other warriors ahead of us, ready to instruct. We call them pastors, or shepherds. They are best suited to dispense the grace of God as well as 'reign in' wayward sheep.

I want to blog more about spiritual direction after my last class session.

2009 Anglican Way Institute Conference

All readers are encouraged to spread the word about the upcoming conference.
Thanks!

Plantinga

I had the chance to hear Alvin Plantinga speak at Criswell College in Dallas yesterday. I would definitely recommend this guy to anyone interested in philosophy. Though his talk was philosophical, we should never divorce that discipline from Theology. His presentation was on Naturalism v. Evolution...the real battle between science and religion.

See the connection? Naturalism is the 'religion' in conflict with evolution, in other words. Though he would not support an evolutionary cosmogony, he explained why its major incompatibility is not with theism, but with naturalism. Naturalism, by the way, is the standard message coming from all the science/learning channels--buyer beware.

Plantinga has captured the theistic world's attention. He is highly regarded and now I know why. He can boil mountains of complicated philosophical data down to my level. I hope to read more of him after graduating. Cogency in presentation proves that you really have command of your material. I wish I had that too!

Pelikan brief

In his last chapter of The Vindication of Tradition Jaroslav Pelikan describes our task in the Church as that of an Olympic long jumper. He contrasts our task with the standing-long-jumper.

The latter try to jump from a standstill. They ignore the terrain behind them and leap forward with awkward footing. Alas they cannot get very far.

The former begin their jump at...the beginning. They do not ignore the centimeters [read centuries] of the course up to the launch pad. They traverse the entire length before they jump.

He sums it all up with a quote from Goethe:

What you have as heritage,
take now as task;
For thus you will make it your own!

R.I.P. professor

Dr. Harold Hoehner, longtime professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary entered the presence of the Lord today.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Thou only Creator Who with wisdom profound mercifully orderest all things, and givest unto all that which is useful, give rest, O Lord, to the soul of Thy servant who has fallen asleep, for he has placed his trust in Thee, our Maker and Fashioner and our God.

With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Thy servant where sickness and sorrow are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.

REMEMBER thy servant, O Lord, according to the favour which thou bearest unto thy people, and grant that, increasing in knowledge and love of thee, he may go from strength to strength, in the life of perfect service, in thy heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς, τοσοῦτον ἔχοντες περικείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων, ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα καὶ τὴν εὐπερίστατον ἁμαρτίαν, δι᾽ ὑπομονῆς τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα

Children at Church

I was startled by a sign I recently saw in the dentist's office. Here it is...

"You don't have to floss ALL your teeth...just the ones you want to keep!"

Brilliant. By way of analogy let me announce my philosophy of children in Church. All parents should keep this in mind when struggling to muffle the outcries of their little ones during worship.

"You don't have to teach ALL your children to worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness...just the ones you want to keep!"

After all, family is our first vocation. Our children are the litmus test of our parenting. We have a responsibility that is beyond our ability.
LORD have mercy!

W.H. Griffith Thomas Memorial Lectureship

Just a note to let you know about the spring Lectureship at Dallas Seminary Feb. 3-6.
The speaker is Dr. Thomas C. Oden, Professor of Theology Emeritus, Drew University;
General Editor, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Intervarsity Press.

The four individual topics will be as follows ...

Feb 3: A Story Awaiting Discovery

Feb 4: Christian Beginnings in Cyrene

Feb 5: Early Christianity from Marmarica to Tripolitania

Feb 6: Why Are We Talking About Libya?

"Quivering" upper lip...and all that!

Be sure to check out my shared items feature located down the right column. Rather than posting a bunch of back-links to other stories in the main entry spaces, I put them there for your consideration.

This one could not be relegated to that position. It is a must read.

Hat-tip to The Ugley Vicar.

Ad Fontes

When I started this blog I intended to write my thoughts on the blessed St. Ignatius of Antioch. You see from my title banner that he means a lot to me. While finishing my 1st master's degree I researched him and wrote a short paper describing his idea of discipleship. Soon I will publish that work here. I have been drawn to do that because we are going through Hebrews in my Sunday School class and have uncovered a lot of the same ideas.

Troll Under the Bridge

This was written in response to things-as-they-are where I work. It is a place where happy evangelicals dutifully work for the salvation of every soul, usually oblivious to any other expression of Christianity. This usually comes out vividly when students write for on-campus newspapers about their summer missionary activities. I wanted to submit this to said newspaper, but I think it's much to threatening for that audience.

Troll under the Bridge

When we are young and impressionable, the big folks like to tell us fables, myths, and legends to pique our imagination. Those tales most often have a purpose too. So it is with the proverbial troll that lives under the bridge. Perhaps there was a widespread desire to keep young children away from bridges. Bridges are not safe for young kids-that is easy to imagine. More likely it was to protect the ‘kids’ from what was beyond the bridge. So it may have been common to protect our cubs by fear. "You know," goes the tale, "there is a troll under the bridge that will scare you/eat you/kill you/molest you. So stay far away from that bridge." We don’t need to know what a troll is to be afraid of the bridge. It works…both ways. We are saved by fear and enticed to imagine.

Then we grow and learn how the world works. There are no ‘boogy men’--at least not the imaginary kind. And that troll never has been caught by our eager eyes. We grow up to feel safe about ‘our world’ and physically safe from the danger of the bridge, er uhm the troll. Maturity leads us to ditch the myth but no one really ever tells us it's a myth. No one ever sits us down and says, "we just wanted to keep you safe and close, so we made up the story of the troll." Forget the Viking stories that we crib from, we simply use tales as best suits us.

I write this because of my great angst about evangelicals’ collective, deep-rooted fantasy. It's somewhat like the troll story I describe, but much more sinister. Whether it be the ‘Church of Christ’, the ‘Methodist Church’, or the ‘Roman Catholic Church’ we prevent our kid-goats wandering too far from the reservation by fear. We protect them by branding the other guys as heretics, cults, or anti-Christs. And this works too. I am particularly beleaguered by the attitude we foster about the Roman Catholic Church. I wish I had a dime for every time I heard the ole line about the Catholics being idolaters, magic peddlers, anti-Christs, and a vast cult bent on usurping the "true" gospel. Many coins would be from my own pocket, sadly. If I banked those dimes I could do a lot of good.

Imagination is a good tool unless we forge it with prejudice or stereotyping. I’m now convinced that’s what we’ve done with the Catholics. We’ve painted them with our own imaginative ignorance. We, in fact, weaken our own view of God’s power when we portray the Catholics as so very influential that they can prohibit the ‘true’ gospel from peoples’ comprehension. In other words, the legend is too weighty to stand up under the smallest scrutiny. All those ‘things’ adorning the gospel are imagined by evangelicals to cloud the truth and veil the Lord from the people. Most prejudice is simply ignorance. What we miss is that all the ‘adornments’ point to Him.

While I had hurled insults at Catholics, I had never stepped inside a Catholic Church in my life. So it is with many of us. Oh, I know, many people embrace Christ ‘personally’ after having been Catholic much of their lives. Others have a sprinkling of Catholic experience because of mixed family ties. In this latter case I bet they still operated with fear and prejudice when they attended that wedding, or that Baptism. I remember once in my college years being afraid that something would happen to me while attending a Church outside my approved list. Good grief! (Shocking as it may be, Dallas Seminary was not on that list either!) Remember what that troll will do to you!

But the more sinister aspect of our prejudice is doctrinal. We simply do not understand their system. We fearfully and ignorantly reject their Episcopacy, Sacraments, Veneration of Mary and Saints, etc. The best we can muster is, “We don’t need to know what they believe to be sure that they are wrong.” Yet, you cannot disagree with an unknown. Students of history are urged to suspend judgment until they learn history’s content. That doesn’t mean to chuck judgment entirely, but you must have the facts first. Only then can you discern. In fact, then you must discern. Be not afraid of the truth, but neither be unmoved by it. You are at seminary to learn, to forge the habits that will fuel your future. If your time here is only spent learning how ‘wrong’ others are, are you not becoming a prejudiced servant?

Fear keeps us out of the woods like the 2^nd generation of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village. We feel comfortable at the encampment, secure on the reservation. We don’t want to confuse our younglings with crucifixes, statues, smoke, tradition, stained glass, creeds, chants, wafers, alcohol, icons and beauty. We envision what terrible direction those things will lead their imaginations! Children are better served sitting and staring at the hymnal or the back of bro. Bob’s head. Or worse, we remove them from our company and let somebody else tell teach about the most important action in all creation, namely worshiping God. Even worse still, we remove them from worship for play and activity because they don’t understand everything that’s going on…they are stupid and unable to have, much less cultivate, faith. And they should never take communion for we are not ‘sure’ they ‘truly’ ‘believe’ in our ‘fill-in-the-blank-doctrines-necessary-for-true-spiritual-relationship-with-Jesus’. Yep, those Catholics are truly deluded and misguided.

Evangelicals champion the gospel. That name is from the Greek word for gospel, for goodness sake. Yet the gospel isn’t naked. It never has been. It has been clothed and adorned with beauty, tradition, order, dignity, and many other Catholic things. Neither are its recipients bare. We like to think that we are: that God wipes our slates clean at conversion, tabula rasa. Some folks get very near apostasy before they realize that grace’s landing strip needs maintenance. It is not tabula rasa, but tabula humanae. The human mind is vast. God created it that way. But today evangelicals usually see grace only as a heart and soul issue. I hope that you will engage your mind such that you fulfill your Lord’s summary of the Law, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” Regarding our estranged brethren in other Churches, I hope you will struggle to honor Jesus’ words concluding the summary, “And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these to commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.” This is especially true if you have family devoted to the Catholic Church.

Those of us that consider ourselves students of The Book would do well to appreciate the entity that for centuries preserved our Book. We would do even better if we considered their preservation of Scripture at least as authentic in devotion to Christ as our modern accretions. I implore you to move beyond folklore to fact. Call a cease-fire between those that damage one another. Most of all, carefully avoid friendly-fire. We have enough to battle with Islam and secularization crowding out anyone that bears the name of Christ. Sadly, most of us would simply rather believe in the truth of our own making. We much prefer the safe fantasy world that our masters confined us within.

Moon

A few nights ago we saw the Grand Prairie AirHogs baseball club in action.

When we got home my son had this to say about the overcast sky and bright moon.

"Dad, the moon is all blurry. It soaked up all the day-clouds, that's why it's all blurry."

I love the things that come to his mind!

This is Jeopardy!

This week the opening line could be..."This is Jesus!"

I have watched Jeopardy since I was very young. My wife knows that it's a life goal of mine to appear on Jeopardy. This week is the 1st of two weeks of College Championships.
I'm just shocked how many questions come from religion, Christianity, the Church, and the Bible.

One category was Get Your B.A. [answers alliterated by B. A.] & one answer was, "In John chapter 3 Jesus says that unless a man be B. A. he cannot see the kingdom of God" to which the question was...silence. Hmmm, I wonder if it's "what is BORN AGAIN!?"

My guess is they wanted to stump the college students since no one studies religion seriously anymore. Their answers support my assumption, unfortunately.

Unless we educate our younger generation about the faith, our Church is in, well, you know...
J-E-O-P-A-R-D-Y

Really NEW Catechism format

Somebody had to do it. I wonder if it will catch on...

That day may never come

I was thinking about my failed efforts to Blog my thoughts. You know, I just get overwhelmed with today's blogging culture. Everyone is so fast to link to this or that news story, comment on it, and move to the next bling news story. I simply don't have time to reflect on things that fast. I also think that pace too fast.

I have a running autobiography with the working title, "That day may never come." So far I've cast my life story in two modes of thought. The first is my juvenile attitude that one day I'd be a great man, revered by many, with loads of success. The second mode is my present one in which I simply hope my family will ascribe that description upon my life. Thus the title, which may apply to my 'success' on this blog as well.

Oh, I've got stuff to post on. I've written some things that I could post. I don't think I will just yet. I don't yet know if they are worthy of wide distribution. Just in case I get in the mood to post them, these are some of the things I've written, just email me if you want to read them. I don't know how good they are...


Discipleship according to Ignatius of Antioch. Senior research paper in lieu of thesis at Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002.

H-Net book review of Robert E. Brown. Jonathan Edwards and the Bible. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002. Xxi + 320pp. Notes, bibliography, and index. $35.00 (cloth), 0-253-34093-4. Great book, poor review.

Bibliotheca Sacra article review of “Rapture Fictions and the Changing Evangelical Condition,” Crawford Gribben, Literature & Theology, 18:1 (March 2004): 77-94.

Why Anglicanism? A letter I wrote to family and friends after I left the PCA to join a small Anglican denomination called the Reformed Episcopal Church. Written in 2005.

Bibliotheca Sacra article review of “Spiritual but Not Religious: The Influence of the Current Romantic Movement,” Owen C. Thomas, Anglican Theological Review 88 (summer 2006): 397-415.

I've also written papers for each of the classes I have taken from my new seminary, Cranmer Theological House.

But as I understand blogging, everything I've mentioned should simply serve a background to my thoughts on life and the stories of life. I guess this means--don't check back each day, as you might for the blogs listed to the right, for my daily reflection upon the marketplace of religion. I'm not sure I'll ever get to that point.