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Truth, Fact, Opinion, Suspicion, Fiction

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JMJ

Doctrine and Dogmas are 'artifacts' of the Catholic Faith.  You can read them in various Theological texts, but Catholic Culture exists in people as values but primarily as assumptions.


Since assumptions are the result of continuous learning they are stable and if contradicted will result in a strong emotional response.  As long as the assumptions are aligned with what the Church actually teachings / believes, then a person is in calm waters. The real trouble occurs when there is a misalignment between what a person believes (assumes) the Church teaches and what is really Dogma/Doctrine.


As an example, I encountered a person with the pseudonym 'Catholicam' on the now defunct forum Ignis Ardens.

Catholicam made the following statement:
Lumen Gentium: "But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the ONE and merciful God"
To say that the Church of Christ prays to, or adores a solitary pagan God is indeed a blasphemy against the Holy Trinity, and the First Commandment.
In reply I posted the following:

12 Q. Who are infidels? A. Infidels are those who have not been baptized and do not believe in Jesus Christ, because they either believe in and worship false gods as idolaters do, or though admitting one true God, they do not believe in the Messiah, neither as already come in the Person of Jesus Christ, nor as to come; for instance, Mohammedans and the like.  (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
Infidel: in ecclesiastical language those who by baptism have received faith in Jesus Christ and have pledged Him their fidelity and called the faithful, so the name infidel is given to those who have not been baptized. The term applies not only to all who are ignorant of the true God, such as pagans of various kinds, but also to those who adore Him but do not recognize Jesus Christ, as Jews, Mohammed; strictly speaking it may be used of catechumens also, though in early ages they were called Christians; for it is only through baptism that one can enter into the ranks of the faithful.  (Catholic Encyclopedia)
Obviously, the infidels who 'admit the one true God' are not lumped in with those who believe in and worship false gods.  So the meaning of this phrase is that the Jews and Muslims direct their worship to the "one true God". This worship is, of course, false worship because it neither compliant with how God wants to be worshiped, nor do they accept the revealed Truths of the Catholic Faith.

Now Catholicam's reaction to these quotes (I concealed their origins) was as follows:
That is liberal ecumenist hogwash, straight from Vatican II. ...This is an entire waste of time.
When I revealed the source (pre-dating V2 by decades) ... his reply:
I told you, I am through discussing this with you. It is an entirely fruitless effort, and a waste of time.
He then broke contact (the full article is here).  When a person's assumption is challenged it creates mental pain / frustration / anguish that is called cognitive dissonance. In order to reduce this dissonance, there are three choices.
  • Change Action: In this case, the 'action' is reality.  One cannot change reality as it is outside of onesself.
  • Change Belief: This involves unlearning our belief (which is painful) and learning a new belief.  The stronger the belief is held, the harder it is to humble ourselves and accept that we were mistaken.  
  • Change Perception of Action: Basically, this is warping how one understands the 'action' in order to make it consistent with the belief that one is attached to.  Of the various biases, and tricks that we play on our minds to get our way (pride) confirmation bias is the bias of first resort.


So what happens?  Well a person alters their perception of an action using confirmation bias. However, reality has a way of impinging upon this altered perception of reality.  So there arises a need to seek more confirmation that the selected perception is right. Hence proselytization, the seeking of converts to the cause in order to reaffirm the new perception of reality.

Putting this in context of the crisis of the Church.

  1. Facts: Proven Truths
    1. The documents of the Second Vatican Council are ambiguous and appear to contradict pre-conciliar doctrine.
    2. The New Mas is deficient in its exposition of the theology of the Mass.
  2. Truth: Generally accepted outcome or reasoning
    1. The Second Vatican Council precipitated the crisis of the Church
  3. Opinion: A judgement about something
    1. The SSPX believes the Pope is the Pope but 'resists' certain ares of the doctrines / reforms emanating from the Second Vatican Council
    2. The Neo-Catholics believes the Pope is Pope and that he must be obeyed in all circumstances.
    3. The Sede-Vacantists believes that the Pope cannot possibly still be Pope and disregards him completely.
  4. Suspicion: Feeling or thought that something is possible, likely or true.
    1. In spite of what Bishop Williamson thinks, suspicion is not the truth, it isn't even really good opinion.  For example the suspicion that Bishop Fellay was (is) going to compromise and 'sell-out' the SSPX has resulted in a loss of trust in Bishop Fellay by some people. The problem is that there is nothing in the doctrine of obedience about trust of the superior.  It is all centered on the command being issued.
  5. Fiction: When unhinged by suspicion, I've noticed that people will jump to the creation of all sorts of fictions.  For example, when i was fully engaged in forum based discussions my opponents created the following fictions:
    1. he must be in the pay of Menzigen
    2. one person cannot be generating this must information, it must be at least 5 people using one account.
This progression from what is real (Facts), believed to be real with rational basis (truth), judgements (opinion), feelings (suspicions), and altering the perception of reality, is consistent with minds that are unhinged from reality from the get-go.  Bishop Williamson is the most commonly used example, but Fr. Pfeiffer and the other members of the resistance are equally infected with suspicion and fiction.  

So how does one keep a good perspective?
  • Being aligned with reality is the first step.  Accept the facts for what they are and don't try to alter their perception to suit ones opinions and suspicions.
  • Ensure that our 'Truths' are based on verifiable facts and that the data we use is actionable.  Conspiracy theories rarely contain actionable data.
  • Be careful in forming judgments that are not emotionally based.  Otherwise accepting them as wrong in the face of contrary evidence will be very difficult.  Depending on the topic one may end up looking very silly or ___ or both.
  • Do not give way to a suspicious mindset, it will erode all respect for authority.
  • Do not make up a new reality of what was, is and / or should be.  
Just some rambling thoughts for this evening.

P^3


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