Reviews for Conscience And Catholicism

The average rating for Conscience And Catholicism based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-10-27 00:00:00 Greg Lattig This 1995 book by Jock Dalrymple attempts to present the facets of psychiatrist Dr. Dominian's thought within the context of Dominian's life, as well as present the critique of Dominian's work, and the author's own critique of the critique (that is, the author's reaction to theologians'/philosophers' critique of Dominian's work). Jack Dominian, the son of an Armenian Catholic father and Greek Orthodox mother, was born in Athens, Greece, and lived in Egypt and Bombay until about the age of 12, because of WW2 (his father had been born in Malta, which was at that time part of the British Empire, thus was a British subject, with a British passport, and could exit Greece with his family prior to WW2). Post war his family moved to England, where his uncle and one of his brothers already lived. The book gives all the details of this portion of Dominian's interesting background - such as how his mother was a woman of great energy, in contrast to his father, who was more remote, although devoutly religious, and so forth. Dominian was an intelligent student and studied at Cambridge and Oxford, eventually obtaining a medical degree so as to fulfill his quest to become a psychiatrist. He realized that the skyrocketing divorce rate in the second half of the 1960s was having a disastrous effect on both the divorced spouses and the children of divorce, and attempted to synthesize his findings as a psychiatrist, with his understanding of theology and reading in sociology and anthropology. A prolific author and speaker, the author of the volume under discussion deems him to have been quite influential in attempting to reconcile or call for a reconciliation of church teaching and the reality of the breathless pace of social change starting in the 1960s ("sexual revolution" "youthquake" etc.). Dominian came up with his own interpretation of religion - which seems quite attractive superficially, although Dalrymple tears it apart in the final chapter of the book. Dominian however was effective in at least calling attention to the deleterious effects of the rising divorce rate, and calling for more support of programs to prepare those contemplating marriage, as well as those considering divorce, although he admits that marriage counseling only reconciles about 15% of those who seek it. The author of this book says Dominian can be repetitive in his books, but I found this book by Dalrymple to be rather repetitive. I wonder if the popularizing writings of a lay person like Dominian should really be evaluated in comparison with the higher/more rigorous standards set by professional theologians and philosophers in their writings. Although Dominian was a psychiatrist, a researcher, and quite learned, he wasn't a theologian, or a philosopher, and so the critique leveled at him from the perspective of theological or philosophical rigor, is a bit unfair. I think the thrust of this book is to undermine Dominian's work and thought, and only grudgingly admit that some of his contributions were helpful, but that's only revealed in the final chapter, although the title of the book itself may be interpreted as perhaps critical of Dominian. I think Dominian was doing the best he could having seen for himself as a marriage counselor and psychiatrist the devastation caused by divorce, and trying to suggest an "update" to the church to accept the new reality more or less caused by the advent of contraception, the ongoing progress of woman's emancipation from the traditional role of housewife etc., which was a result of many factors, as well as the ability to control or decide on how many children to have and when to have them (control of family size) and the preference for smaller families. Even so, the church didn't really change, and consequently church attendance continues to decline as society becomes more and more secular. Although I think the divorce rate has leveled off - perhaps in reaction to the AIDS epidemic of the 80s and people becoming more judicious/conservative in terms of switching partners or staying married to the same partner - there is still a lot of divorce and being a single parent is much more acceptable today than it was 50 years ago. Dominian probably is correct in linking the church emphasis on God being the source of love to marriage, and that probably explains why both the institution of marriage and church attendance have cratered: We've been living in the "me" era for decades, as greed/selfishness/the pursuit of money/consumerism have held sway. Isn't greed the opposite of love? All that - the "market" as it were putting its stamp on personal life - is definitely incompatible with love/selflessness/sharing/helping others/meekness/Christianity or religion in general. The god of Mammon has won the battle for peoples' loyalty, and the church hasn't done a thing about it, which is why folks are glued to their smartphones - rather than attending church and sharing in community and fellowship. The rise of consumerism/greed is directly related to the fall of Christianity. It's incompatible with Christianity and it has won out, long ago. Maybe, if a person can't accept the doctrine of love, if materialism/consumerism becomes the paramount value, how can they be expected to accept love/sacrifice/faithfulness/etc in marriage? Isn't consumerism built on the doctrine of the new, novelty, distraction, acquisition of the latest style, the latest update, the latest model, and so forth? Why should one stay with a spouse on a lifelong basis, if there's always a new "model" around the corner? In fact, why bother marrying in the first place as single parenthood is a perfectly acceptable alternative? Maybe social change is inevitable and the church should simply "catch up" to the way people live, or want to live. Obviously, I'm not a theologian, or a social scientist, so I can't say. It would just seem to me, from the perspective of what capitalism/consumerism/advertising in general does to society, that its effect on people on a personal level, inculcating the "ethics" of greed/selfishness vs. that of Christianity/love/religion in general/respect/etc - its effect will be dehumanizing and depersonalizing, so the expansion of material goods since the war, the rising standard of living, was inevitably matched with a drastic decline in church attendance. How could it not be, if everyone is pounded with messages to consume more, earn more, etc. that buying constantly and "keeping up with the Jones's" is what should be aspired to, materialism vs. religion, love of things vs. love of God/fellow man, that marriage just becomes another casualty in the "re-orientation" of society.. As I said above, I'm not a social scientist, but it might be interesting for someone who does know how to do the research, to find out if with the advent of consumerism/higher standard of living societies generally become less religious, and social ties such as marriage start disintegrating. I don't think it was women working outside the home per se that led to the skyrocketing divorce rate - it must have been why women decided to go to work, and that must have been tied to why consumerism became acceptable or actually the goal to strive for, to get more and more money in order to spend more and more money. There was also the rising cost of living, with wages not keeping up with costs, that made it impossible for women not to work. That at least is one possible way of looking at what happened since the 1960s - of course the change was in the works even before the 60s, but certainly, control of family size (contraception) was a turning point, as well as the onslaught of consumerism (mall "culture" etc) the glorification of the individual which depended on consumerist self-expression, the acceptance of greed as the end-all and be-all, likewise maximizing pleasant experiences and minimizing unpleasant/challenging ones, must have all fed into the widespread social change. Here are some quotes, and commentary, from Dalrymple's book: Dalrymple presents Dominian's thinking on sexuality, which is central to Dominian's work, in that he sees the church as having insufficiently stressed the positive aspects of human sexuality: "In doing so they reaffirm and reassure in each other feelings of being wanted and loved, 'experiences which we have all had in the hands of our parents and seek again and again from those with whom a relationship of love is sought'." "In 1973 Dominian wrote an article entitled 'Birth control and marital love' which is strongly autobiographical. In it he looks back on 'the turbulent period following Vatican II' when 'controversy was marked and persistent' and suggests that there were profound psychological issues at the center of that conflict: 'Traditional Catholic upbringing has generated an atmosphere of utter conviction that all ordained priests -- certainly a bishop, and above all the Holy Father -- represent the person of Christ in special ways and disagreement with any of these invested the exchange with the peculiar guilt feeling of offending someone important. Furthermore in the authoritarian structure in which the Church's organization existed, such guilt was coupled with fear of the consequences, fear which ultimately whispered of hell-fire somewhere in the background and if, if not hell-fire, certainly the loss of approval from someone precious. Psychologically the relationship between lay persons and hierarchical structure was a continuation of the parent-child relationship." Dalrymple says that Dominian claims that "In consequence, if any act of sexual intercourse is to realize the richness of its potential, it requires the secure framework of love that only marriage can offer - the framework of exclusiveness, faithfulness and permanency, which 'all beings long for an have been conditioned to in childhood.'" "Dominian thinks that the scriptural origins of this love of neighbor are to be found in the law of Moses. He cites the book of Leviticus: 'You will not exact vengeance on or bear any sort or grudge against, the members of your [human] race, but will love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.' (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus, in his opinion, picks up where Leviticus leaves off'. He quotes from St. Luke's Gospel: 'And now a lawyer stood up, and to test him, asked 'Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?' He replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' Jesus said to him, 'You have answered right, do this and life is yours.' (Luke 10:25-28).' When the lawyer then asks Jesus 'Who is my neighbor?' he receives 'the majestic reply that has reverberated through the centuries, namely the story of the Good Samaritan'." 'what Jesus did was to enlarge the concept of neighbor to everyone.'" "Sexual integrity is based on the assumption that 'human beings are programmed in childhood to love, and, after puberty, towards sexual attraction, which leads to pairing, and the formation of a bond, called marriage, within which love is expressed'. Sexual attraction is 'the single most important force in human beings' intended, first 'to form and maintain bonds', and secondly 'to continue the race'. It follows that 'the main purpose of human sexuality is no longer biological but personal in which love is the predominant theme.'" "Dominian acknowledges that contraception has made sexual integrity much harder 'because it has reinforced a human frailty to participate in coitus in a variety of conditions in which bonding is not central', and that within the context of bonding 'we have a long way to go to find efficient and satisfactory contraceptives'. However, in general, he views contraception in a positive light as 'a distinct extension of God's gift to man to subdue creation and reveal more clearly' the basic design and purpose of sexual intercourse - the assistance of bonding' - rather than procreation." "He [Dominian] has repeatedly stated his conviction that for the 90 per cent of people who marry, life can be described as a two-act drama: 'Act one is the experience between the child and significant members of its family, and the second act is a repetition and further development of this experience in the marital relationship', because 'whenever we encounter an intimate affective relationship in life we ultimately use all the emotional experiences learned in the first two decades of life'. "The [1991] report [by Dominian] begins by illustrating the strong link between marital breakdown and premature death, particularly among men; divorced men between the age of 35 and 45, for example, are twice as likely as thier married counterparts to die prematurely." "According to [Dominian's research/counseling organization] One Plus One the two principal features of the recent dramatic changes in family life were the contemporary instability of marriage and the changing roles and aspirations of women and, as a consequence, men." "...general education in personal relationships should be complemented by a specific program of preparation for marriage." "Jack Dominian believes that God is the source of all love and that human love is the means of exploring divine love." "...a good marriage is a most powerful source of healing." "...in the intimacy of contemporary marriage, these wounds can become part of the shared world of a couple, so that one partner helps towards the healing of the other." "Reliability is an equally essential component of permanence." "Dominian thinks that these days a couple will make love intending to create new life on a specific number of occasions, but that during the rest of their marriage, possibly extending over 50 years, they will seek in their lovemaking 'sexual intercourse' a non-procreative intrinsic meaning'." "He himself believes that the personal dimension of sex is its supreme value and that it finds its truly authentic expression in the committed relationship of marriage - because ideally that is when the partners have the greatest meaning for each other." "There was a man-woman relationship before the children arrived; it is vital that it remain healthy during the period when the children are growing up; after they have left, the husband-wife relationship continues. Thus the husband-wife relationship is the primary one preceding the arrival of children, and succeeding their departure.'" "Sexual intercourse in marriage has to be understood in this context. Dominian believes that although on a few occasions it leads to a new life, its significance has come to lie primarily in its key role in maintaining the husband-wife relationship, since at all times it has the capacity to give life to that relationship." "A husband and wife's own love was their offspring's tuition in the meaning of love." "Dominian's vision of Christian marriage is founded on three basic beliefs: that the sacrament of marriage is concerned with an unfolding relationship covering fifty years or more, rather than with one wedding day; that at the heart of the sacrament is the daily liturgy of married life in the home, the domestic church, which gives the spouses the chance of a moment to moment encounter with Christ through each other; and that in their daily life as persons united in relationships of love with each other, spouses share in the mystery of the life of the Trinity." "At the center of the Christian faith, as Dominian understands it, is a love which restores wholeness to the human race." "...Dominian considers that priests and married people are united in their respective sacraments of commitment by the call to relationships of love, since that is the vocation of all human beings." "He [Dominian] believes the Christian gospel is at heart an odyssey of personal relationships and that the concept of the domestic Church could help the inner world of the family with its emphasis on love to become the basis of that gospel." "More important to him is whether such a program [of evangelization] increases people's awareness that God is love - the revelation he believes to be at the heart both of the Gospel and of Christian marriage." "Dominian has come to believe that divorce is the single most important social evil in Western society and to realize that effective as counselling can be in individual cases, it is a totally inadequate response to the crisis situation that has emerged." "His stress on the immanence of God has caused self-realization to replace fruitfulness at the center of his vision for married couples." "...he [Dominian] fails to distinguish between human sensual created love - eros - which does not exist in God; and the unconditional love of agape - which is the real way human love reflects the divine." [Dominian wrote in a 1992 review of a book, "Catholics and Sex":] "What is required is a penetrating examination of how sexuality is related to love in an interpersonal journey that lasts some fifty years or more." "...Dominian has created a coherent vision of sexuality which can claim to be both Christian and human. Such an inductive approach challenges the largely deductive methodology of the official Magisterium - especially if it is accepted that a knowledge of psychology is one of the ways we come to an understanding of Natural Law. Moreover, his stress on the unitive rather than the procreative element in sexual intercourse implicitly offers an alternative way of assessing the morality of those two issues which will continue to confront the Church - contraception and homosexuality." I suppose Dominian significantly contributed to the ongoing debate on social change in the past 60 years or so; however, I do not think the church has managed to catch up to change, because the church seems to dodge the question of whether the "greed principle" is compatible with Christianity.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-11-05 00:00:00 Ryan Bell Not my favorite sobrino, but a good addition to his catalogue, great reference for christology in general