But every once in a while, a publication runs something so monumentally stupid that it would be wrong not to say anything. That is the case with a blog post on "In All Things," the group blog of America, the Catholic weekly run by the Jesuits.
The post, entitled, "What If 'Occupy Wall Street' Could Be Attempted in the Catholic Church?", was written by Tom Beaudoin, a Boston College Ph.D. who is an associate professor of theology in the Graduate School of Religion at Fordham University, where (according to his website Rock and Theology—that's rock music, by the way, not Peter or the rock of our faith), "he teaches courses in practice-based theologies." The Jesuits used to understand that "practice-based theologies" is redundant; any true theology implies practice. Of course, that's not really what Professor Beaudoin means by this awkward phrase.
What he means can be found in the first sentence of his blog post:
While participating in the "Occupy Wall Street" protests in lower Manhattan, I have begun to wonder what would happen if Catholics took this model and applied it to their passion for and grievances with their own church.Read the full post (here) by Scott P. Richert,
Boodoing uses the phrase "practice based theologies" because he is not well schooled in and incapable of expounding classical Catholic theology with any substance. In an attempt to make his self-chosen niche commentary on pagan pop pseudo-spirituality (remember his discredited book "Virtual Faith"?) sound academic and Catholic, Boodoing uses "practice based theologies" in a desperate attempt to make his goofy ideas appear academic and relevant to the Church. He's a glorified reporter on pop culture trends. No doubt he's taking photographs of all the OWS "shrines" for inclusion in his next book on how secular pagan pseudo spiritualities have something to teach the Church about how it should get with the times and abandon the Apostolic Faith.
ReplyDeleteKind of like another favorite when "making it up at they go along", @ America Mag, "lived experience". You know, we live this way, we like it, so it is "true theology", lol.
ReplyDeleteTom Beaudoin is cool and some people cant deal with that - he doe make theology relevant. to discredit someone because their thinking is forward and use the word stupid is quite un-Christ like to me
ReplyDeleteGod bless the protestors
I am not sure exactly how you define 'monumentally stupid'; and can consider a few different interpretations; and none of them may be what you actually mean. So I am not able to say whether I agree with your interpretation.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I consider the Occupy Wall Street protestors incredibly naive. I would not want them in my church. They sound like people who want to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and get free beer and wine, in order to participate. Absolutley stunningly bereft of any critical thinking skills, is my view.
Prof Tom is a creation of Jesuit Theology Departments. I feel sorry for his parents who shelled out vast amounts money to pay for it. Jesuits for many years have worked very hard to get their Theology Departments into such bad shape, it will take many more years to get them back into good shape.
ReplyDeleteHey Sal--what's a good theology department? if it doesn't examine knowledge, challenge it, and create new knowledge it isn't higher learning.
ReplyDeleteA better "Fordham Theology Program" would not include Prof Tom.
ReplyDeleteSal's just demonstrating his vast knowledge of theology.
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