{"id":7349,"date":"2017-09-14T07:45:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T13:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=7349"},"modified":"2017-09-18T12:30:50","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T18:30:50","slug":"cardinal-cupich-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/09\/cardinal-cupich-christian.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Cardinal Cupich a Christian?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ABlase_Joseph_Cupich_(cropped).jpg;<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quote from a Sun-Times interview<\/a>\u00a0given by Cardinal Cupich:<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell myself . . . that the faith I have is a gift, so I shouldn\u2019t take that for granted. And so when people are struggling and feel they have no faith at all, I shouldn\u2019t say, \u2018Well, it\u2019s their fault.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I just say to people is there\u2019s still a hunger in your life for more, there always is, be in touch with that, and be the best person that you can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the greatest Christians I know are people who don\u2019t actually have a kind of faith system that they believe in. But, in their activity, the way they conduct themselves, there\u2019s a goodness there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might not be articulated in a faith context like my own, but there\u2019s a goodness there that is a witness that encourages me. So I try to find that and encourage that in people. If that\u2019s happening in their life, that\u2019s worth encouraging.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s going on here?<\/p>\n

The first option is that he\u2019s unthinkingly using Christian as a synonym for \u201cgood person\u201d in the way that my grandmother would have, when she would say, \u201cthat\u2019s not a very Christian thing to do.\u201d \u00a0 Christians are good and non-Christians aren\u2019t. \u00a0That\u2019s not meant uncharitably by people speaking that way, but simply means that they aren\u2019t really thinking that their usage implies that non-Christians are bad people. \u00a0Translate what Cupich says as \u201cSome of the kindest and most loving people I know are . . . \u201d<\/p>\n

But that seems unlikely. \u00a0Cupich isn\u2019t my grandmother, after all. \u00a0And\u00a0he\u2019s educated enough to be precise with language.<\/p>\n

The second alternative is that Cupich\u2019s definition of \u201cChristian\u201d is indeed so expansive as to me that it is synonymous with \u201cgood person\u201d in the opposite direction. \u00a0It\u2019s not, \u201cthose who are Christians are good people,\u201d but \u201cif you are a good person, you are also by definition a Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, I think many of these \u201cgood people-deemed-Christians\u201d would be surprised to hear of it, though others do believe themselves that \u201cintent to do good\u201d is all it takes to be a \u201cChristian,\u201d along with, perhaps, a vaguely positive impression that Jesus, the historical figure, insofar as he preached \u201clove your neighbor\u201d and not anything creepier, was probably a good guy.<\/p>\n

But for Cupich himself to adopt this approach? \u00a0That\u2019s unsettling.<\/p>\n

After all, if you don\u2019t believe that being Christian has anything to do with, oh, say, maybe, believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or\u00a0\u201cwas crucified, died and was buried\u201d and \u201con the third day he rose again\u201d \u2014 well, it seems to me that if Cupich is\u00a0comfortable with these beliefs being \u201coptional\u201d rather than defining for Christians, if he has transformed the concept that \u201cGod is generous with salvation and, via \u2018baptism of desire,\u2019 gives it to people who had the right intentions even if they didn\u2019t know Christ,\u201d into \u201cright intentions make one a Christian,\u201d then I\u2019m not entirely sure what he himself believes.<\/p>\n

After all, Cupich, not long ago, of his anti-gun-violence initiative, said<\/a>, \u201cIf we don\u2019t do this as a church, we might as well pack up,\u201d which sure as heck seems to suggest that he is indifferent to the Church as a place to teach Christian doctrine, and to pray and worship, but instead sees the Church solely or primarily as a means of providing social services. \u00a0And in a very early Tribune interview<\/a>, he spoke of \u201cimmigration reform as chief among the issues to tackle here.\u201d \u00a0And, of the issue of divorced and remarrieds, and the LGBT community<\/a>, \u201cdoctrines are at the service of the pastoral mission\u201d and compassion matters above all.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m a skeptic of Cardinal Cupich. \u00a0I see our parish school shrinking every year, and the pews getting emptier. \u00a0Sure, Cupich has put in place something called \u201cRenew my Church,\u201d which may make a difference or may create a death spiral<\/a>; I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

But every time he says these things, it grates on me. \u00a0What\u2019s the point of trying to renew a church, if all that matters is being nice and doing good? \u00a0You can do exactly these sorts of things in any sort of social service organization, of which there are multitudes, or you can take the Social Welfare State approach that\u00a0it\u2019s wrong for social service organizations to do any of these things at all, because the State should be providing for our needs, and individuals should receive those provisions as an act of entitlement rather than charity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s now time to start my day job!<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ABlase_Joseph_Cupich_(cropped).jpg;<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Cupich’s definition of “Christian” so expansive that it is synonymous with “good person” in the opposite direction? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":6383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-7349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-archbishop-cupich"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Cardinal Cupich a Christian?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is Cupich's definition of "Christian" so expansive that it is synonymous with "good person" in the opposite direction?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/09\/cardinal-cupich-christian.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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