a good article<\/a> today at CRUX.<\/p>\nHe is commenting on the continued conversation about converts who criticize Pope Francis.<\/p>\n
He makes a good point that it is one thing to convert to Catholicism and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been a Catholic for about 15 years, and from his own experience he acknowledges two areas where he has had to grow into his Catholicism. One is the deep felt love for the Blessed Virgin as Mother. He says it is one thing to get one\u2019s head around the Marian dogmas and accept them\u2013even if one only accepts them on the authority of the church. It is another thing to really get the \u201cMary Thing\u201d.<\/p>\n
This has been my experience too. We have been Catholics now for 22 years and it has only been within the last few years that my love and appreciation for Mary as Mother has completed\u00a0the long journey from head to heart. Of course, this journey is made\u00a0by saying the rosary, and celebrating the Marian feasts with attention and devotion.<\/p>\n
He makes another point that converts take a while to appreciate the long sweep of Catholic history. Most of us have only ever known Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict. Pope Francis has opened up another way of being pope and not all conservative converts are happy. Benedict is my pope because he\u2019s more my personality type, but while Pope Francis is not my favorite I haven\u2019t been thrown by him because I\u2019ve read (among other things) Eamon Duffy\u2019s\u00a0Saints and Sinners<\/em>\u2013a history of the papacy.<\/p>\nRead it in case you have ever been inclined to ultramontanism. Popes? Some have been superstars and saints. Some have been scoundrels and sinners. Many have been mediocre. Most have been good, solid, God fearing men. Popes? They come and they go.<\/p>\n
Mills goes on to say that converts (especially if they have been wounded by the wars in their previous denominations) will be suspicious of change and worried that the Catholic Church will capitulate to the same trouble the mainline churches have fallen into.<\/p>\n
He says converts are often troubled by the development of doctrine, and shrewdly points out that the way doctrine develops is not only through quiet, scholarly discussion and prayerful times of discernment, but through theological brawling, the fisticuffs of the faith. I agree.<\/p>\n
There is something else, however, I think we often overlook the fact that Protestantism was \u00a0born in conflict and it continues to have conflict as part of its genetic code in a way Catholicism does not. I can\u2019t remember any group I belonged to as a Protestant in which the preaching, ethos and atmosphere was not conflict oriented. There was\u00a0always\u00a0<\/em>an enemy. The Catholics were the enemy. The liberals were the enemy. The neo Evangelicals were the enemy. The Muslims were the enemy. You name it\u2013the Protestant is always protesting.<\/p>\nThis is also a dimension to some of the convert\u2019s criticisms of certain strands of Catholicism. They\u2019re hard wired to have an enemy and will find one even if there isn\u2019t one.<\/p>\n
Overall, I like Mills\u2019 analysis, and I agree that conservative critics, for the most part, should have the good manners to listen and learn in their new home.<\/p>\n
Catholicism is like a big old country mansion with many rooms, galleries, stables and outhouses. We converts should take a bit more time to wander around and wonder around.<\/p>\n
I would only add this: if development of doctrine emerges from a tug of war, then you need people on both ends of the rope.<\/p>\n
If it is valid to say that doctrine develops through debate, then the critics of innovation should have their say. They should do so from a position of expertise and authority and should do so respectfully, but if sometimes those critics are media loudmouths, naive newbies or conservative converts, well that\u2019s part of the hurly burly too.<\/p>\n
If doctrine develops through theological pie fights, conservative converts\u00a0have pies to throw too.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll probably have bad aim, so you\u2019d better duck!<\/p>\n
Image Creative Commons via Bing<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is it one thing to convert to Catholicism, and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":22831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Should Converts Shut Up?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it one thing to convert to Catholicism, and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it?\" \/>\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\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should Converts Shut Up?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is it one thing to convert to Catholicism, and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-17T14:39:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-21T15:49:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/149\/2017\/08\/gagged.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2555\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html\",\"name\":\"Should Converts Shut Up?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-17T14:39:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-21T15:49:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\"},\"description\":\"Is it one thing to convert to Catholicism, and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Should Converts Shut Up?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should Converts Shut Up?","description":"Is it one thing to convert to Catholicism, and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Should Converts Shut Up?","og_description":"Is it one thing to convert to Catholicism, and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html","og_site_name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","article_published_time":"2017-08-17T14:39:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-21T15:49:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3840,"height":2555,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/149\/2017\/08\/gagged.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html","name":"Should Converts Shut Up?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-08-17T14:39:24+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-21T15:49:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad"},"description":"Is it one thing to convert to Catholicism, and another thing to really see the world as Catholics see it?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2017\/08\/should-converts-shut-up.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should Converts Shut Up?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","caption":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/149\/2017\/08\/gagged-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n