Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas returned home to Roman Catholicism two years ago and, more recently, a few high-profile conservatives have converted \u2014 ranging from Norma \u201cJane Roe\u201d McCorvey to Florida Wasp Jeb Bush.<\/p>\n\n
While the Evangelical Right gets the most ink, it isn\u2019t hard to figure out what\u2019s happening, said Joseph D\u2019Agostino of Human Events, a conservative weekly based in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a reaction to an incredible decline in Western and American culture. The very concept of truth has, today, come under attack. We\u2019ve come that far. Meanwhile, the Catholic church is still viewed as being a defender of truth, reason and traditional values,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, despite the best efforts of the church hierarchy \u2026 some conservatives are converting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
D\u2019Agostino understands because he, too, feels the pull of centuries of tradition and faith. But in a recent article in a traditionalist magazine, The Latin Mass, he described why he hasn\u2019t joined the procession. While most criticism of Roman Catholicism comes from the left, his confession \u2014 \u201cWhy I\u2019m Almost a Catholic\u201d \u2014 offers a rare unbeliever\u2019s view from the right.<\/p>\n\n
When Catholic leaders prepare to face skeptics, they don\u2019t prep to handle the theological questions of someone who was raised as a Reform Jew, majored in Latin and classics in college, and then found his niche in political journalism.<\/p>\n\n
The bottom line is that D\u2019Agostino is a free agent. He has looked at other options, such as Orthodox Judaism. He bluntly said he considers Protestantism \u201ca joke.\u201d He believes that the Protestant right offers \u201cfaith without intellect,\u201d while the left offers \u201cintellect without faith.\u201d Needless to say, this viewpoint isn\u2019t very popular among Southern Baptists, traditional Lutherans, doctrinaire Calvinists and legions of other religious conservatives.<\/p>\n\n
D\u2019Agostino said he has always felt drawn to Catholicism\u2019s emphasis on reason, order, structure, beauty and \u201csimply goodness.\u201d As a conservative, he also believes that Rome has all the right enemies.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe resentment men, including most Catholics, hold against the Church intrigues me. \u2026 I believe this, and the Church\u2019s willingness to take a stand in a society of moral cowards, drew me toward the Church before all else,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhen I look at the Church\u2019s enemies present and past the Church comes out looking very good. I suspect that men resent her because, consciously or not, they fear that her demanding doctrines might be true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Quite frankly, D\u2019Agostino puts himself in this latter category. While not an atheist, he describes himself as an \u201cAristotelian Deist\u201d who accepts some role for God in governing the universe and he believes reason can lead to moral laws, as well. But D\u2019Agostino just can\u2019t make the leap to Christian faith. He has been left with big questions, such as: Why is the world so messed up? Why am I so messed up? What happens after death?<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAt some point, you either go with Aristotle or you go with Jesus and that\u2019s that,\u201d he said. \u201cReason can only take you so far. \u2026 My problem is that I just don\u2019t have faith. In the end, I have not accepted, by faith, that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
But there is another hurdle that stands between him and conversion. Most of the Catholic clergy that he has met seem to lack confidence that they have solid answers for tough questions, said D\u2019Agostino. They seem more comfortable working with converts who will quickly accept some, but not all, Catholic teachings, than they are wrestling with someone who hungers for the faith of the ages \u2014 all of it.<\/p>\n\n
As a skeptic, D\u2019Agostino said he is convinced Catholicism cannot afford to make peace with its critics.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cMost Catholicism today seems so soft. It doesn\u2019t openly compromise with the world, but it doesn\u2019t really attack modernity,\u201d he said. \u201cYou see, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the church\u2019s job to hold polite dialogues with the world. The church\u2019s job is to give people the answers that Christians have lived and died to defend through the ages. If I\u2019m going to convert, that\u2019s what will convert me \u2014 the real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas returned home to Roman Catholicism two years ago and, more recently, a few high-profile conservatives have converted \u2014 ranging from Norma \u201cJane Roe\u201d McCorvey to Florida Wasp Jeb Bush. While the Evangelical Right gets the most ink, it isn\u2019t hard to figure out what\u2019s happening, said Joseph D\u2019Agostino of Human […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n