We Are All Superfluous
Sean Carroll is dissatisfied with Pope Giblets
Some time back I suggested that Pope Benedict, the erstwhile Josef Ratzinger, may not have been the best choice to help Christianity broaden its appeal in secular Western societies. Condemning gay marriage and casting doubt on evolution, for starters, wouldn't seem to be effective strategies. Now it appears he might be going for the trifecta: coming down against Harry Potter (via The American Sector).
As with many seemingly paradoxical situations (The "twin paradox," the "EPR paradox"...), there's a flawed assumption at the root of the problem here. Like many people who are mystified by the Pope's actions, Sean is assuming that the Catholic church is trying to "broaden its appeal in secular Western societies." Or that it would be a good idea for them to do so.
I think the proper conclusion to draw from recent events, starting with the selection of Ratzinger as Pope, is that they don't really feel compelled to try to appeal to secular and liberal Westerners. And, really, it's not hard to understand why they would make that decision, given that something on the high side of 80% of the world's population is not secular Western types.
Also, even in secular Western societies, the religious denominations that are doing really well are the intolerant wing-nutty ones, not the sensible and moderate ones. Put that together with the population thing, and it's sort of hard to see the upside of tolerance for the Church.
Yeah, they could take some steps that would make the Church more appealing to secular Western societies. But they don't need to, and it shouldn't shock anybody when they opt not to.
Posted at 7:46 PM | link | follow-ups |