I kinda thought the whole “Jesus-was-a-hippie” thing had faded away in the 1970s. I guess I was wrong about that.
“Christians” do the Bible a disservice when they filter out the parts they don’t like. The hard parts need to be understood, not dismissed or ignored. Besides, the hard parts are actually the most helpful parts; that is, if you really want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Anyone can claim to be a “Christian”. That’s easy. But the biblical goal is to become a disciple. And that’s hard.
Going to college for four years to learn that there is no such thing as normal behavior is not normal behavior.
To the extent that I am “political”, I support candidates and policies that promote Catholic values. To the extent that I am “moral”, I am informed by Catholic ethics. To the extent that I am “dogmatic”, I worship and pray and believe by referring to Catholic doctrine. And here’s the thing: I actually do all this without asking for permission from anyone.
I honestly believe the wealthy “prosperity-gospel” preachers on TV are fake. There are lots of reasons why serious Christians (I’m talking to you, Catholics) should avoid them. But for me, the most obvious reason is that these folks seem to be quoting from a Bible that never says anything about the hard challenges of authentic discipleship, even though the Bible I read is full of such passages.
I don’t think there’s anything special about Latin Masses. I just want Catholics to get the English-language Masses right. Reverence and beauty, y'know? But mostly, I want our music and our preaching to focus on the Scriptures rather than on watered-down bromides.