He confesses, he confesses not

I recently saw this article on the washington post site. Thought it was interesting. The premis is: No one goes to confession anymore, why? What, if anything, is acting in its place?

What's all the fuss about sex?

Sex is the most natural thing in the world. Are you shocked? Appalled? Really, it should come as no surprise. Man is driven by desire, he is an intentional, relational creature who is drawn to beauty, expression, and freedom. I don't care if you're an atheist or Mormon, if you believe in God or not. The human person is composed of a universal nature and a make-up which includes a pervasive sexual impulse. To boot, these urges are no self-creation, in the voluntary sense. Humans come into this world sexual beings and will one day leave this world as such. It was not until our recent prudish, Puritan-minded times that we actually have begun to supress these desires and even to be ashamed of them. Thanks to Freud, we now know that avoiding, ignoring, or even belittling our own sexuality can prove distructive to our well-being...And they say that 'sexual' people are the warped ones.

But how did we come to this? Why do we need a shrink to tell us it's ok to share our 'inmost' thoughts and feelings? We live in a time when people who are open about their sexuality are often shunned, especially by religious folks. There were vast periods in human history (even still today) when everyone slept in the same room, and parents did not think once of hiding their most intimate moments from their children. We grew up cognizant of sexual drives and activity.

You will look to no end in the greater animal kingdom and see that the rest of creation is 'doing it' as well. And the things is, the sex you'll find there is not necessarily just for procreation either. Dogs rape, dolphins rape, camels masterbate, some species of ape in Japan partake in regular homogenital activity. In fact, humans have no period of estrus, so we have sexual desires of one kind or another all year long. We are actually the king of the jungle when it comes to sexual capacities. So if you were to, in search of a scapegoat for the denegration of morals, point at another human being who is honest about their sexuality, just make sure to first take a peak underneath your own panties. You want to take a stand against sexuality? Be my guest. But as for me, I'm on nature's side.

Benedict: Not Funny

Pope Benedict XVI, or as the Vatican Latanists call him Grandpa Joe, has had what we could safely call a timultuous rapport with the question of traditional and diverse expressions of religion (even within his own). Serving for many years as the 'Perfect' for the Council of the Doctrine of the Faith, he had the unfortunate but perhaps necessary task of keeping major theologians and Catholic idealogues on the train tracks of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Some claim that he has, as a result, silenced quite powerful voices, which could be those of prophets. All prophets were disputed by religious leaders in the Scriptures. What is to say that we could not still today be drowning folks with holy water? Others are of the position that his was an obligatory job, the point of which was to maintain unity in a wide-spread, global church. In any event, his time as cardinal was certainly a topic of contraversy and passion.

That was the former Cardinal Ratzinger. But now as Pope Benedict XVI, the man has tip-toed around, with his subtle theological finesse. His addresses, for the most part, are filled with poetic nuance and grace. For months, he flew below nearly everyone's radar. The media, buzz in Rome and around the Vatican, no one quite knew what to make of the man. Perhaps much of this dynamic was due to the massive shadow cast by his predecessor, John Paul II. And JPII he is not. While everyone seemed perplexed by Benedict, nearly all could agree on one thing: he is a darling man. Not many expected him to make great leaps in the world of interfaith dialogue, be it within Christian circles or interreligious dialogue, based on his past. He then surprised everyone with his encyclical 'Deus caritas est,' God is love. Nearly all were taken aback and shocked by the man's sincerity. Here we have a top-notch German theologian, who after a lifetime of reflection could say with all his heart that God is love. Prostestants and Catholics, clerity and lay folk alike were able to unite behind his message. It served as a virtual nexus of dialogue, providing a rich space in which many could share in their passion.

But this was not to be the only surprise that Benedict would reveal to us. His now famous address at The University of Regensberg in Germany took the church and the world by storm. It, unlike his encyclical, was a catalyst for polemic. The 'scope' of the address was to discuss, within an accademic setting, the history of relations betwee faith and reason. The only problem is that he wandered a bit from that scope in discussing another traditions 'mistaken view.' Not wishing to discuss Islam explicitly, he used a 14th century dialogue between a Muslim cleric and Greek Christian as a point of departure. Though the reference was specific to a time and place in the distant past, that is a diplomatic 'no, no' when it comes to religious leadership in today's world. Everyone has sensibilities, even those who do not take religion seriously, just as everyone has prejudices, even pussy-footing advocates of political correctness. We cannot pretend that this is untrue, because if anything that is the greatest enabler of social demons: pretending that social demons do not exist. The best way, and I could be wrong here, to go about dialogue that is open to other religious traditions is to first and formost take our own skeletons out of the closet. How about the Vatican cover-up in Poland reaching all the way up into church hierarchy as high as the Papal seat? How about the crusades? Not only those against others, but also those against our own people. We could mention the various cover-up scandals reguarding child-molestation or whatever problem that you wish.

Needless to say, many were enraged over the comments, harkening back to the contraversy about the cartoons in Holland this time last year. Those who work towards healthy interreligious relationships were overcome with a sense that there was no hope for our rapport with the Muslim world. There was a great stain left in people's minds, some thought it an indellible one. The Pope did, however, take a recent trip to Turkey. The stakes were high, as many feared for the worst: an assasination attempt. His advisors and Catholics around the world would rather that he had not gone. But the man would hear no such thing. He continued and spent some time traveling across Turkey, visiting with the masses and with religious leaders, even spending time in prayer at a mosque. A fragile, vulnerable old man at the age of 79 went fearlessly into the terrain of a people whom he had greatly offended. Though he released apologies, one right after the other, his trip in person to a predominantly Muslim country was a gesture that dwarfed any other he could muster.

Recently, February 1st, the Pope released a document to those involved in interreligious and multicultural work. Filled with hope and a clear, heart-felt vision for the importance of dialogue, the document shows that Benedict seems to have gone through a conversion of sorts. It calls for 'trust' and 'mutual respect' especially among the world's three major monotheistic religions. He calls for all Christian, the world over, to honor each other in brotherhood. Here is the letter if you are interested. What a challenge to us all.