Saturday, June 23, 2012

Fr. Francis Xavier Clooney, S.J. Writes About A Pagan Pornography At America Magazine

Fr. Francis Xavier Clooney, S.J.
Let me say a bit more about the Kama Sutra, of which you can find here the old (Victorian) Burton-Arbuthnot translation (now very much superseded by recent Wendy Doniger-Sudhir Kakar translation). The Sutra is one of a series of instructive Sanskrit texts, summaries and condensations, that appeared in medieval India. Some such texts covered the law and society’s rules, or commerce and the best practices of kings; others condensed the true meaning of the scriptures, be it the ritual texts of the Vedic hymns or the more theological meditations of the Upanisads. Some, like the Yoga Sutras, distilled the practical and intellectual insights required for a true discipline of the bodily, psychological, and spiritual reality of human being. The Kama Sutras distill the overall meaning, physical practices, and social conventions of love, sexual and social, in premodern India. Farley is correct in pointing out, in her elegant few pages on the framing insights of the text, that it puts love and pleasure in the context of human life as a whole, and makes kama – desire, pleasure, yearning, delight – available to learned readers. (It notes that even if women, barred from learning Sanskrit, cannot pick up and study the text, they do nevertheless relate to the same human realities of which the Sutras speak.) She made a good case, albeit very briefly, for learning from India’s tradition of erotic love.
Link (here) to America Magazine

22 comments:

Maria said...

But, in a hunderd years, Sister Farley will have, no doubt, proved herself to have been a Saint ;)

"Whole nations are living in a dream world created by the media, and the dreams are scientifically calculated to keep the human mind from contact with reality.

We define "truth" as conformity of the mind with reality. On these terms, must we not say that the evil spirit is demonically successful in deceiving whole nations by filling their minds with lies?"

Servant of God John Hardon SJ

Anonymous said...

This quote from Fr. Hardon has absolutely nothing to do with article.

Maria said...

Do you think Fr. Clooney's article reflects conformnity of the mind with truth?

Anonymous said...

"Conformity"?

You really don't know anything about this highly respected scholar's work do you?

Asher said...

Fr. Clooney is respected by few non-Christians, a couple of Jesuits, his mother and few others.

Maria said...

Guess what? God isn't interested in whether you are a "highly respected scholar". He is interested in our hearts and our obedience. The Church has spoken on the the heretical positions that Sr. Farley espouses and yet, Fr. Clooney, undeterred, disregards the condemnation of the Church and boldy publishes an article in praise of her work. That is a problem, my friend. It really isn't that complicated.

Anonymous said...

And who put you in charge of determining Fr. C.'s "heart and obedience"?


Asher is a goose. Fr. C. is a widely respected Harvard scholar. If you disagree w/his scholarship then fine. But maybe read his work first.

Maria said...

MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ THE NOTIFICATION ISSUED BY THE CDF. COME TO THINK OF IT, MAYBE FR. LOONEY SHOULD TOO.

1. General problems

The author does not present a correct understanding of the role of the Church’s Magisterium as the teaching authority of the Bishops united with the Successor of Peter, which guides the Church’s ever deeper understanding of the Word of God as found in Holy Scripture and handed on faithfully in the Church’s living tradition. In addressing various moral issues, Sr. Farley either ignores the constant teaching of the Magisterium or, where it is occasionally mentioned, treats it as one opinion among others. Such an attitude is in no way justified, even within the ecumenical perspective that she wishes to promote. Sr. Farley also manifests a defective understanding of the objective nature of the natural moral law, choosing instead to argue on the basis of conclusions selected from certain philosophical currents or from her own understanding of "contemporary experience". This approach is not consistent with authentic Catholic theology.

2. Specific problems

Among the many errors and ambiguities of this book are its positions on masturbation, homosexual acts, homosexual unions, the indissolubility of marriage and the problem of divorce and remarriage

Read the rest @:

www.vatican.va/.../congregations/cfaith/.../rc_con_cfaith_doc_20120330_nota-farley_en.html

Maria said...

Theme Song for the LCWR Under Investigation from Rome

http://youtu.be/2SRPr0Gf5dA

Where all the girls look like men;)

Asher said...

Vishnu and Shiva are down with Fr. C

Maria said...

I am laughing OUT LOUD Asher ;)

Asher said...

Has "The Point of no Return" been crossed? When Fr. C authors and America Mag publishes, both are advocating pornography. If this post is allowed to stand, than any post/article America Mag publishes on buggery is apart of the heathenish trend at America Mag. Let see if Fr. Malone the new Jesuit publisher can stand up to to correct the other Jesuits.

Asher said...

Dear Anon June 23, 2012 10:17 PM,

Are you publicly supporting pornography?

If you are, I know who the goose is...

Anonymous said...

The CDF. . . getting it wrong since Galileo.

What is pornography?

Anonymous said...

Couldn't he have posed less effeminately for the photo?

Anonymous said...

"Couldn't he have posed less effeminately for the photo?"

Possibly, but then you couldn't explore your same-sex attractions like you did w/your post.

Anonymous said...

Typical lib with your smug ad hominems. The pose is objectively effeminate. Observing that truth and speaking it imply nothing about same-sex attraction disorder on the part of the observer.

How pathetically banal and wrong you are, yet you think you're something special.

You troll this site to compensate for your feelings of insecurity and inferiority. At least that's what I'd say if I had ad hominem proclivities like you libs do.

TonyD said...

In general, I have no problem with reading things that are censured by the Church, and that is especially true if they are censured by the Congregation for the Doctrine and the Faith, which has a history of reversing itself and deciding that what it thought was heresy was actually faithful.

One can and should choose a degree of conformity, if it is allowed by community values.

There is a long history of alignment with God's will being poorly aligned with existing practice. At some point, conformity may actually promote evil. We have a real obligation to exercise our free will. The Church is not God.

We ignore our obligation to exercise our free will and judgment at great risk.

Anonymous said...

"The pose is objectively effeminate. Observing that truth and speaking it imply nothing about same-sex attraction disorder on the part of the observer."

Okay. In that case, my "objective" observation is that you display barely concealed homoerotic feelings. The literature is clear that people who are not gay but make detailed observations and condemnation are struggling with their sexuality.

You've written at length on this site about gay men. Good luck with your struggle.

Anonymous said...

So women were banned from learning Sanskrit, yet in our misogynistic Church women could and did learn Latin...

Anonymous said...

The "literature" is sham scholarship, barely concealed propaganda.

The "literature" I've read is clear that people who troll Catholic websites in an attempt to annoy faithful Catholics with half-truths and errors posing as sophisticated thinking are struggling with their hatred for the truth of the Catholic Faith or their jealousy over people who joyfully and sincerely and authentically live as disciples of Christ in full communion with the Pope.

You have demonstrated in your posts that you are seriously mistaken about Revelation, about the Church, about magisterial authority, about discipleship.

God bless Maria for putting up with you.

Anonymous said...

God bless Maria for putting up with you.

That is pee-in-the-pants funny.

Can't stand to debate another Catholic, huh?