Monday, November 21, 2005

"When Winston's right, he's right. When he's wrong, well, my God."

--The inimitable F.E. Smith, magnificent barrister and future Lord Birkenhead, on his close friend, Winston Churchill.

That's rather how I feel about Diogenes, whom I regard as the bourbon of Catholic blogdom: ideal for the periodic neat belt while socializing on the weekend, but not recommended to float one's morning serving of shredded wheat.

Here, he's absolutely dead on, revealing the fatal flaw with intra-church "dialogue":

Remember the push for women's ordination -- first priestly, then episcopal -- within ECUSA? In the years preceding the capitulations the cant phrase was "Can we talk?" Dialogue was essential. Waverers were assured that the questions were not going away and to decline the debate was simply to put off the day of reckoning. Well, the innovators got what they wanted. Do you hear any of them today asking the Church to re-visit the question, to continue the dialogue about whether the restriction of the priesthood to men is not, after all, the will of God? Of course not. The change has been effected, the pawl has clicked in, there's no going back, and therefore -- as Bishop Gene would insist -- nothing to talk about.

Bingo! It's what Zach Frey calls the "You talk, we'll act" phenomenon. The "dialogue" inevitably ends with: "We've won, so shut the hell up. Now." The Catholic dimension of the problem is set forth later on, so make sure to read the whole thing.

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Be reasonably civil. Ire alloyed with reason is fine. But slagging the host gets you the banhammer.

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