No one has a "thick skin." I studied this in Psychology for years. You would not believe the victims of verbal sexual and verbal emotional abuse that counselors treat in their daily work. I have many Psychologist and therapist friends who talk about it daily.
When I hear this term I just shake my head and ignore most of what the person says after that. Speech Communication theory has studied cussing extensively. What is not surprising is that cussing is universally offensive, even to the person doing the cussing. Anyone heard of self-abuse?
Low Self-Esteem
Low self-esteem is often caused by verbal abuse. Calling someone stupid or an idiot is not something a person can brush off if the person doing the abusing is their family member. These persons are close to you, they have a deep effect on your life. If you are called dumb as a child these attacks often become "tapes" that replay in the victim's mind over and over again throughout your life, until the tapes are dealt with in a healthy way.
People are sending messages all the time. If someone is sexually abused, the message that is sent is "you are worthless" and "a sexual object to be used." The abuser does not have to say a thing. It is communicated by the action of the abuse. If you were worthwhile in their mind, they would not abuse you.
Final Thoughts
Get rid of the "thick skin" analogy, research disproves it. In apologetics and evangelization I often encounter people who cuss or call names. I ask them to stop. If they continue, I cut off communication. When they can calmly talk about a subject, I am with them. When they want to abuse, I am gone.
What happens over time, and many people have told me this. is that they learn to be respectful. It is part of the evangelization. Otherwise, they are gone.
If a evangelee has a different opinion on something, I can deal with that. If another person wants to attack, there is the door. Come back when you are respectful. I can put up with some slips, but intentional attacking is off-limits. Learn to respect yourself and others will begin to respect you.
Showing posts with label evangelization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label evangelization. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Growing Secularism
In case you didn't know, Secularism is growing in the United States. The Pew Forum estimates it at about 12%. This means it has grown from under 1% in the 1990s to about 12% today. This is very disconcerting.
While Catholicism continues to grow, it also has a 76% approval rating among Evangelicals. This is while Evangelicalism continues to shrink. Only 20% of evangelical leaders think Catholics need to be converted. This is much lower from the times of the Westminster Confession, which called the pope the "antichrist."
Secularism
Secularism is divorcing religious life from public life. Even Christians may, wrongly, be secularists. Former Presidential candidate John Kerry is a prime example of a professed Catholic who is "privately against abortion" but would not vote against it.
An atheist is a secularist, he just divorces religion from public life altogether. He just wants to divorce other people's faith from public life, because he has no faith himself.
The Challenge
The Challenge is to convert secularists. How is this best accomplished? Certainly science is foremost in secularists minds. From my experience, to be a Catholic apologist scientist, either a social scientist or physical scientist, often leaves secularists silent at our arguments. To be able to argue the scientific method and link it with examples from doctrines from the Catholic faith is invaluable.
I have converted a few atheists in my day, even though atheism is not my specialty. I continue to increase my knowledge of the physical sciences. However, a social scientist is not what an atheist expects. He expects a fundamentalist who hates science, not one who understands its methods. Knowledge of science is key to facing secularism down, and winning the culture to Christ.
The Sacraments and Prayer
Without the Sacraments and prayer, especially with the rosary, all our efforts are for naught. Grace must permeate our evangelical efforts. Prayer first, evangelism second is my axiom. Without the action of God, beseeched in prayer, there will be no evangelization.
Patience, Patience, Patience
Even for someone who has done evangelization for years, patience can be in short supply. It is important to limit your evangelization time. Every evangelist needs time for himself or herself. I limit my time to 2 hours a day, maximum. On some occassions I go on for 5 hours, but this is rare. We all need time for relaxation and play. Patience will grow, when self-care and self-nurture are part of our daily life.
Final Word
To overcome secularism, we need to start with first principles. God wants the salvation of all mankind (1 Tim 2:4). We must have a foundational trust in this. When we speak in a spirit of humility, good things follow. Even if the intended convert converts years later, we may plant that invincible and irreplaceable seed that was key their conversion.
While Catholicism continues to grow, it also has a 76% approval rating among Evangelicals. This is while Evangelicalism continues to shrink. Only 20% of evangelical leaders think Catholics need to be converted. This is much lower from the times of the Westminster Confession, which called the pope the "antichrist."
Secularism
Secularism is divorcing religious life from public life. Even Christians may, wrongly, be secularists. Former Presidential candidate John Kerry is a prime example of a professed Catholic who is "privately against abortion" but would not vote against it.
An atheist is a secularist, he just divorces religion from public life altogether. He just wants to divorce other people's faith from public life, because he has no faith himself.
The Challenge
The Challenge is to convert secularists. How is this best accomplished? Certainly science is foremost in secularists minds. From my experience, to be a Catholic apologist scientist, either a social scientist or physical scientist, often leaves secularists silent at our arguments. To be able to argue the scientific method and link it with examples from doctrines from the Catholic faith is invaluable.
I have converted a few atheists in my day, even though atheism is not my specialty. I continue to increase my knowledge of the physical sciences. However, a social scientist is not what an atheist expects. He expects a fundamentalist who hates science, not one who understands its methods. Knowledge of science is key to facing secularism down, and winning the culture to Christ.
The Sacraments and Prayer
Without the Sacraments and prayer, especially with the rosary, all our efforts are for naught. Grace must permeate our evangelical efforts. Prayer first, evangelism second is my axiom. Without the action of God, beseeched in prayer, there will be no evangelization.
Patience, Patience, Patience
Even for someone who has done evangelization for years, patience can be in short supply. It is important to limit your evangelization time. Every evangelist needs time for himself or herself. I limit my time to 2 hours a day, maximum. On some occassions I go on for 5 hours, but this is rare. We all need time for relaxation and play. Patience will grow, when self-care and self-nurture are part of our daily life.
Final Word
To overcome secularism, we need to start with first principles. God wants the salvation of all mankind (1 Tim 2:4). We must have a foundational trust in this. When we speak in a spirit of humility, good things follow. Even if the intended convert converts years later, we may plant that invincible and irreplaceable seed that was key their conversion.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sheep-Stealing?
There is a common saying amongst priests and religious today, that I first encountered in the 1990s. I was visiting the Paulist Community in Washington, D.C. when a priest there said that evangelization of Protestants was "sheep stealing."
I was taken aback by this saying and I did not know what to make of it. Later in the car I thought something like "So Protestants are just another [valid] Christian Community who preach the truth? All the talk of Protestants being in heresy is just overblown?"
I did not know what to think. Not having much theological education at the time, I did not have the arguments to refute it, except several so-called Catholic theologians opinions. Some were orthodox (correct) and some where heterodox (incorrect). This left me confused for a couple years, until I formally studied theology and understood the error. This confusion is the reason we must be careful what are the implications of our belief. To say that we are "sheep stealing" is to imply that Protestant Communities are valid Christian Communities, with correct doctrine. This is not true.
There is No Such Thing as Sheep Stealing (Catholic vs. Protestant & Orthodox)
While there have been agreements between the Catholic Church and various Orthodox Communities not to proselytize, this does not infer that the Orthodox have 100% valid doctrine. These agreements are simply pastorally prudential decisions to allow dialogue between the two communities to take place in relative peace.
The Catholic Church is not validating all Orthodox Doctrine, including Papal Primacy and The Filioque (The Generation of The Holy Spirit within God) or Sola Scriptura. They are simply trying to keep the waters of discussion from the storms of upset that occur when an Orthodox or Catholic are converting to the converse faith.
This being said, evangelization is supposed to continue:
It runs counter to reason that anyone in Heaven is a non-Catholic. The Church has been clear, dogmatically, that our Blessed Mother was assumed body and soul into Heaven (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2853). It has also been clear that Jesus Christ is God. When we enter Heaven, we no longer believe. Belief, in a sense, is transformed into knowledge when we will see God "face to face" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #163).
So a muslim in Heaven continues to be muslim? The Koran is clear that it teaches that Jesus is not God: "it is not consonant with the majesty of the Most Gracious that he should beget a son" (Koran, Surah 5:92). So, we only have former muslims in Heaven, not a current muslims. Why? Because they behold the face of the Son, who is God. This is antithetical to Islamic doctrine.
While the Church is clear that persons of goodwill can enter Heaven. That is, persons who pursue the Truth to the best of their ability, and are in invincibly ignorance (have no chance to know better). It is also clear that:
The danger for not embracing the truth of the Church, is committing the mortal sin of faith by belief in Relativism. Rather the way of righteousness requires a far holier path.
I was taken aback by this saying and I did not know what to make of it. Later in the car I thought something like "So Protestants are just another [valid] Christian Community who preach the truth? All the talk of Protestants being in heresy is just overblown?"
I did not know what to think. Not having much theological education at the time, I did not have the arguments to refute it, except several so-called Catholic theologians opinions. Some were orthodox (correct) and some where heterodox (incorrect). This left me confused for a couple years, until I formally studied theology and understood the error. This confusion is the reason we must be careful what are the implications of our belief. To say that we are "sheep stealing" is to imply that Protestant Communities are valid Christian Communities, with correct doctrine. This is not true.
There is No Such Thing as Sheep Stealing (Catholic vs. Protestant & Orthodox)
While there have been agreements between the Catholic Church and various Orthodox Communities not to proselytize, this does not infer that the Orthodox have 100% valid doctrine. These agreements are simply pastorally prudential decisions to allow dialogue between the two communities to take place in relative peace.
The Catholic Church is not validating all Orthodox Doctrine, including Papal Primacy and The Filioque (The Generation of The Holy Spirit within God) or Sola Scriptura. They are simply trying to keep the waters of discussion from the storms of upset that occur when an Orthodox or Catholic are converting to the converse faith.
This being said, evangelization is supposed to continue:
"For that reason, Saint Paul's words are now more relevant than ever: 'Preaching the Gospel is not a reason for me to boast; it is a necessity laid on me: woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!' (1 Cor 9:16). This explains the Magisterium's particular attention to giving reasons for and supporting the evangelizing mission of the Church, above all in connection with the religious traditions of the world" (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dominus Iesus, 2).While we are to respect other faiths, not forcing our views of people of faith (Dominus Iesus) we must present the truth, even to Christians:
"Today the Church must face other challenges and push forward to new frontiers, both in the initial mission ad gentes and in the new evangelization of those peoples who have already heard Christ proclaimed" (John Paul II, Redemptoris Mission, 30).Are Non-Catholics in Heaven?
It runs counter to reason that anyone in Heaven is a non-Catholic. The Church has been clear, dogmatically, that our Blessed Mother was assumed body and soul into Heaven (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2853). It has also been clear that Jesus Christ is God. When we enter Heaven, we no longer believe. Belief, in a sense, is transformed into knowledge when we will see God "face to face" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #163).
So a muslim in Heaven continues to be muslim? The Koran is clear that it teaches that Jesus is not God: "it is not consonant with the majesty of the Most Gracious that he should beget a son" (Koran, Surah 5:92). So, we only have former muslims in Heaven, not a current muslims. Why? Because they behold the face of the Son, who is God. This is antithetical to Islamic doctrine.
While the Church is clear that persons of goodwill can enter Heaven. That is, persons who pursue the Truth to the best of their ability, and are in invincibly ignorance (have no chance to know better). It is also clear that:
“Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved” (Vatican II, Paragraph #14, Lumen Gentium).and...
“...it is clear that it would be contrary to the faith to consider the Church as one way of salvation alongside those constituted by the other religions...” (Dominus Iesus, Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Church).Is it not time that certain individuals killed relativism in their own hearts? Maybe what they might find is a flourishing desire for the conversion of others, not a condemnation of others as some might fear.
The danger for not embracing the truth of the Church, is committing the mortal sin of faith by belief in Relativism. Rather the way of righteousness requires a far holier path.
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