The Necessity Of Tension And Division

Within the past month, a Vatican office hosted a conference for "Catholic bloggers" from all over the world.  A number of American bloggers attended.  When I first heard about this, I was just a bit wary and skeptical of this.  I asked myself, "Why now, after ignoring us for so long?  Are they going to try to rein us in, to stifle us a bit?"  Sounds paranoid?  Well, maybe not.

In today's Vortex, Voris makes mention of some exhortations at that conference to avoid an "us versus them" mentality.  In other words, we bloggers should be "nice and sweet - charitable (buzz word)".  Clearly that's an attempt to get us to stifle ourselves and more to the point, not to make the bureaucrats and "professional catholycs" squirm too much when we call out their malfeasances.

Voris points out that there is nothing inherently wrong with divisions, stating that such is necessary as long as there is evil in the world.  We cannot be afraid of division, for such makes clear that there is distinction between good and evil, between God and Satan. 

I've dealt with this lamentable squeemishness against tension, division and conflict in front of the abortion mills.  Of all places where we might expect to see such division, and indeed hope for that divsion, I am appalled at the timidity that so many display.  I've heard too much talk on trying "too mitigate tension, to have peace on the sidewalk".  Ladies and gentlemen, particularly those on the sidewalk, consider that the tension, etc is merely a symptom of the greater evil of child-murder that is happening a few feet from you.  We should not concern ourselves with the symptom, but rather the cause.  The "division and conflict" will end only when abortion ends, and not one split-second before then!  Got that?

While we don't aim for conflict as a goal, we don't run from it, either.  Watch and see how the presense of conflct might signal health instead of stagnation.  Click here if you cannot see embedded video.