In a conscious effort to reinvigorate Western ritual, [Matthew] Fox deconstructed forms of worship inherited from the modern era, such as sitting in benches and being read to, being preached at and singing from hymnals. In the late 1990s in California, he incorporated the premodern practice of dance with modern music and computer technology to create what he called Techno Cosmic Masses.
The Roman Catholic Church had it right… exiled….
I think that the last two sentences of the article explain it all.
Honestly, if I had absolutely no shame and was good at lying and faking with a straight face, earnest demeanor, and sham scholarship, I’d do this, too — Make a sizable income by creating some odd niche for myself by exploiting the silliness and lack of discernment of the PC crowd. I really dislike cliches but this one is spot on — those who don’t stand for something will fall for anything. To which I would add “and there are many who stand ready to profit enormously from that fact.”
I the Ferengi in Star Trek had this one pegged in their Rules of Acquisition: “No matter how bad things get, someone somewhere is making money.”
Ironically, the related links on the page had this gem:
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/24/religion/anglican-liturgy-evangelical-worship-style-combine-at-imago-dei-in-orono/?ref=relatedBox
#1 — The RCC has a lot of niche-dwellers who remain unexiled. Joan Chittister comes immediately to mind but there are much more insidious, destructive people than she who have actually won papal favor. Google Marcial Maciel and the Legion of Christ. They had JP II totally bamboozled.
#4: so *you’re the Ferengi! Figures.
Teatime2, that situation changed as soon as Pope Benedict was elected. He knew exactly what Maciel was up to and immediately removed him from leadership of the Legion and banished him to a life of prayer and penance.
So, is this a case of the eponymous Fox being let loose in the Episcopal hen house!?
Laura, but the pope formerly known as Ratzinger was already in a position to shut down Maciel and his groups. To his credit, he was one of the very few Vatican power prelates who didn’t take any money from Maciel but surely his powerful office could have done something or made sure it got JP II’s attention. While the Vatican dithered, more people were victimized. In the end, a full investigation wasn’t done, even under Pope Benedict, and Maciel died within 2 years of being put out to pasture. The organizations remain.
The point, though, is that there are corrupt individuals and groups within every organization. Patting the RCC on the back for getting rid of Fox when they have let far more damaging people linger makes no sense. It boggles how so much effort can be exerted on loonies while evil ones are given preferential treatment.