God’s love for all His creatures is the favorite mantra of Universalists, Unitarians, Christian Scientists, Theosophists, Arminians, Spiritualists, Russellites, etc… and charismatics. So widespread is this belief and so very comforting to the heart of those who oppose God that there is little hope of convincing them of their error. I have a longtime friend who believes in “something”, not in God though and particularly not in Christ, yet she is certain she will go to heaven, because she is a “good person”. To tell my friend that God still loves her would just pacify her conscience and would give her a false sense of security in her sins. Once I asked her “What makes you think Christ will take interest in you in the next life when you have no interest in him in this one?” The truth is that God loves only his children and my poor friend and other people like her are not among them. We shouldn’t tell people like these that God loves them, because first of all that would not be true and because it would be taking the children’s bread and casting it to the dogs. Harsh as this may sound it would be false charity to suggest otherwise.
In our pluralistic society pluralism and its ancestor humanism, for purposes of their own, continue on with the seduction of the Church. The dignity of the human person is a central theme of humanism and true enough we are morally responsible to listen and to respond to each other. In the Catholic Culture for True Humanism the CDF writes:
"In this perspective we can understand why within Christianity we find the highest and most motivated humanism. Already classic antiquity could proclaim: "Many things are wonderful in the world, but the human person surpasses them all" (Sophocles, Antigone, chorus of the first stasm). Christianity accepts and assimilates Greek humanism, and transfiguring it, transcends it to give it meaning, even in the case of the first and immediate finality of visible things, as we gather from what St Ambrose wrote: "The human person is the peak and the compendium of the universe, and the highest beauty of the whole of creation"(Exameron, IX, 75).
Meaning here of course is that the ancient Greeks had some great ideas. But it would be grave mistake to ignore the fact that naturalism and humanism are both antagonistic toward God.
"If we believed there were an actual being ‘out there’ called God, then it would make sense – and indeed be essential – to ask which of the many versions of God is closest to the truth. Only one could be right. But if we admit that religions (and the branches within each one) are parallel human developments, and each has created its own God, with some common elements and some interdependent ones, then it is much easier to be positive about all of them. We are not forced to call one right and another wrong, any more than we do with traditions, say, of art." (Anthony Freeman, God In Us.)
Humanists place their trust in basic human goodness and resourcefulness. Why impede with religion and dogma? Why not carry on with the tradition that existed for over 2,500 years? The morality that evolved from the human experience is perfectly valid and doesn’t need reliance on religion. As our own makers we can create God in our own image; then all religions can be valid. Hello Shirley MacLaine!
To quote pluralist-humanist Ralph Reed, Jr: "We believe in an America where all citizens are judged on the content of their character, and not on their gender, race, religion, or ethnic background."
It sounds good – eliminating discrimination based on those variances. But this also means there is no room left for God in western culture. Western culture has imposed many of its values on the Catholic Church; to some degree the culture is compatible with Catholic Christianity, but in reality it is more often foe than friend. The issues associated with gender equality, enculturation may appear harmless, until the family, the priesthood, or the liturgy is under attack. And while these problems are not entirely owed to the charismatic presence, charismatic Catholics are more likely to lobby for these kinds of issues. And so the rainbow masses, the female ordinations, the sweet grass ceremonies just keep cropping up and gaining acceptance.
