At Cooee’s from the Cloister, Hardman Window asks the question:
“And how can Mr Schutz live with himself, having a link on aCatholica to his nice thoughtful intelligent Catholic blog “Sentire Cum Ecclesia”?
He speaks of the well known and oft-read website (to which I also have a link on this page) “Catholica”. I have a link to them, and they have a link to me because Brian Coyne and I have agreed to be friendly to one another, even if we are both utterly convinced that the other is entirely mistaken in his point of view. This, you see, is dialogue.
You can have a respectful dialogue without sacrificing your own convictions AND without any disrespect to the other as a “thoughtful and intelligent” human being (even though sometimes you might express the view that he could give a little more evidence of that thoughtfulness and intelligence).
Thus it is with me and the folks at Catholica. I respect them above all as my fellow Catholics. They and I are all embraced in catholic communion with the Bishop of Rome. I like to remind them of this every now and again.
And, of course, there is that well known saying in the dialogue business: “Know your enemy.”
More than being friendly Schutz ,in that your dealings with Coynism :
– practise the external purity of the Church
– in agreeing to disagree with Catholica and in any ensuring commentary upon some of the articles it contains,which can be seen as questionable theologically,you practice Christian grace.something which I need to be more proficient with than what i am now.
Hardman window may think he is a hardman in his comments but having been brought up Protestant and dispensationalist at that ,there is nothing as a fight over Biblical prophecy between millenarians and amillenarians to compromise the integrity and purity of the Church.Usually it was the former who were the worst offenders
I have never understood the attitude, which seems to be common in certain quarters, that acknowledging that views other than your own exist and that it may be worthwhile to know what they are, implies agreement with or approval of those other views.
It is probably well to recall that Cooees are very tongue in cheek.
While it is possible to disagree with people one respects, the respect does not always go both ways and in such circumstances, I believe, “dialogue” is no longer possible.
This was not meant to be a reflection upon you, David. If you can converse civilly with Mr Coyne, then more power to you.
In defense of the Cloistered Ones however, a link to a site – in the absence of any further qualification – normally indicates approbation of that site; or at least that the linker considers the site worthy of his reader’s time and attention. Is this really the impression you wish to give your readers?
Well… I think we should be paying attention to what goes on over there on Catholica. “Know your enemy”, remember.
And even more important: “Know where your enemy is going to attack, when he is going to attack, and what weapons he is going to use so you can at least muster a counter attack if not a complete defense”.
And also: “Know your enemies weak points.”
Of course, all this is leaving aside the fact that the good folk at Catholica are our brothers in Christ, and not our enemies…