Saturday Detention: Alright students, today we'll pick on another 'heretic', Richard Rhor.

Of course, he may not be a formal heretic...

And when we finish here you will all go back 

to the laundries and wash your uniforms.

An emerging church movement.

Personally I have never been attracted to the spirituality of Richard Rohr and his Center for Action and Contemplation.  I have no interest in New Age spirituality - I left that stuff behind when I returned to the Church and sacraments in 1972.  Back then it was better known as the occult or Gnosticism - or more popularly, the Age of Aquarius.  I'm generalizing of course, but it seems to me this is pretty much part of the mystical cocktail involved in the CAC brand of contemplation.  Rohr's center perhaps being the most successful of all the new contemplative movements from the past 40 years.  If you click here, you can see what I've written on Rohr and associates in the past.

I have of course friends and acquaintances who love Richard Rohr and follow the Enneagram and like to get naked and jump over camp fires, but who am I to judge?  To each his own.  There are 'elements' of truth within these strains of spirituality, but that's the nature of heresy - it is always an admixture of the truth.

I'm happy to note that there are others posting cautions regarding the spirituality promoted by Rohr and similar New Age Catholic gurus.  Such cautions always bear repeating.  Dan Burke of Spiritual Direction blog recently posted on Rohr and the spirituality promoted at CAC:

Fr. Rohr is deeply involved in the New Age. On the website for his Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC), a “training and formation center” based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that he founded in 1987, he says the purpose of his work is to provide “a faith alternative to the dominant consciousness” (whatever that means). 

The CAC was a well-known hub for the Church’s premier dissent group in the U.S., better known as Call to Action (endorses women’s ordination, homosexuality, goddess worship, etc.). 

Fr. Rohr has also been a long-time teacher of the Enneagram, an enormously popular New Age gimmick used for discerning one’s personality type. A specific warning against the use of the Enneagram for spiritual direction is included in the pontifical document, Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life. 

Another area where he is heavily involved is in the Emerging Church Movement, which consists of a diverse group of people who identify with Christianity but think its beliefs and teachings need to be “updated” to better conform to modern society (read compromise the faith). 

Fr. Rohr participates in Emerging Church conferences and workshops alongside the leaders of this movement, such as Brian McClaren, a “theologian” who thinks the current version of Christianity only partially reflects the truth. Another player, Phyllis Tickle, recently told an audience that “By eating the body and blood of our God, we are feeding the god within us . . .” - Dan Burke

I'm always happy when someone with credentials addresses these things.  This type of spirituality has very much permeated cloisters, religious communities, catechetical programs in parishes and schools, and many retreat centers.  The influence is annually apparent at the LA Religious Ed. Congress.  Even Jesuits have been known to write glowingly on the merits of The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics.  

Barking up the wrong tree.

Links:

Can I trust Richard Rohr?

Dan Burke, Spiritual Direction: Can I trust Richard Rohr?

The Development of Doctrine and Forming a Synthesis of Homosexuality ...

 

Locating The Missing Myth.

Which is the title of a new book by Giles Herrada, PhD.

Gilles Herrada, PhD, worked as a research scientist at Columbia and Harvard universities in the fields of reproductive biology and neuroscience. He now dedicates his time to understanding human sexuality and the evolution of symbolic realities in human cultures.

The “missing myth” needs to be invented.

 The gay Catholic movement* - new homophiles ;) - may be way ahead of Dr. Herrada, if not in sync.  Not that it's necessarily a bad thing - except when people claim medieval mystics were gay and the authors of a gay spirituality.**  But that's an old post.

The Missing Myth is an interesting study - I've only read reviews and excerpts so far, but I'm certain it will be helpful to those interested in contributing to the development of doctrine as it applies to Catholic moral teaching on homosexuality, as well as for those interested in developing a new mythology of homosexuality.

There are 9 controversial claims in The Missing Myth ...  (My comments in red.)

1 Biological and anthropological data do not support the existence of a “gay” gene but are consistent with the existence of a complex biological mechanism (the “loose switch”) responsible for generating the spectrum of sexual preferences that we observe among people.

2 Homosexual behavior has provided a startling evolutionary advantage by reinforcing social bonds and strengthening the coherence of the group.

3 The claim that homosexual can’t or don’t reproduce is inaccurate: historically speaking homosexual desire never was regarded as incompatible with the duty of reproduction; and even today many homosexuals would reproduce if only society would let them invent a new kind of family that is not based on the heterosexual model. - That's happening now. 

4 The way homosexual acts, love, and desire are represented in the myths of a particular culture constitutes the only trustworthy indicator of whether homosexual relationships are integrated or not in this culture.

5 Diverging from all other religious traditions, Judeo-Christianity is singularized by the total lack of positive depiction of homosexual love and desire in its mythos. - That's because homosexual behavior is a sin.

6 Today homosexual love still lacks a connection to the “sacred”. - I wonder why?  I'm being facetious of course.  Not to worry however, gay Catholics are developing a queer spirituality .

7 Modern homosexuality, which differs dramatically from all ancient forms of homosexual relationships, has evolved so as to largely embodies the modern Christian relational ideal, a fact that neither the Church nor gay theorists appear willing to acknowledge.  - Not true - gay Catholics are hard at it.

8 Ironically the strong homophobic character of Judeo-Christian culture created the evolutionary context that made the emergence of modern homosexuality possible. - I blame the Cistercians, Aelred and Bernard.**  Evidently their mysticism is very adaptable to LGBTQ sensitivities.  What?  Facetious again.

9 The greatest evolutionary puzzle about the human species is not homosexuality but menopause: most women past 50—nearly a quarter of the female population—cannot reproduce. - Source

 “What is the new mythology to be, the mythology of this unified earth as one harmonious whole?”  - Joseph Campbell.





*My apologies for depending upon labels, but I have no other choice when it comes to this subject.