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MILAN One of the most vexing questions facing Christians in the West in the early 21st century is whether, and how, the Church ought to keep fighting the culture wars.

On the Christian left, theres a powerful current of thought that the Church ought to withdraw from the field of battle because on many issues, such as contraception and women, it was on the wrong side. On the right, some, such as Rod Dreher and his advocacy of a Benedict option, say the Church ought to pull back because its already lost and the most it can hope for in this culture is to keep alive small islands of the faith.

In effect, Father Julin Carrn, leader of the influential Catholic movement Communion and Liberation, represents another form of the argument for de-emphasizing the wars of culture. In his view, its not that the Churchs traditional positions are wrong, and its also not because the battle is already over.

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Instead, its because starting with ethics was always the wrong way to present Christianity to the world, which at its heart is an event a word that might seem banal in street usage, but in the lexicon of Communion and Liberation that derives from its founder, Italian Father Luigi Giussani, is rich with meaning.

The faith as an event means that someones life changes when they encounter a fact, like what happened to John and Andrew when they met Jesus, he told Crux on Monday. You cant avoid the reality of whats happened, you cant undo it. Its like St. Paul, who was a persecutor of Christians, trying to destroy them, met the living Christ and it revolutionized his thinking.

The choice cant come down to either the culture wars or a Christianity emptied of content, because neither of those options has anything to do with Abraham and salvation history, Carrn said. Abraham was chosen by God to begin introducing into history a new way of living life, that could slowly begin to generate an external reality with the capacity to make life dignified, to make it full.

Carrn spoke to Crux at his residence in Milan, among other things about the recent English release of his book Disarming Beauty, about how to present the Christian event in the post-modern and secular culture of the West.

Part one of Cruxs conversation with Carrn appeared yesterday. The following is the second installment.

Rod Dreher recently argued that Christians should abandon the culture wars in the West because weve already lost, and the most we can hope for is a Benedict option, meaning creatively preserving small islands of the faith amid a decaying and hostile culture. You too seem to be saying that we should get past the culture wars, without abandoning those positions, but for a different reason.

Certainly, absolutely. Its always struck me, the contraposition between trying to make Christianity into a civil religion, on the one hand, and on the other, trying to make it entirely private. To me, its like trying to amend the design of God. I ask myself, who would ever have bet that God would begin to reach out to the world by calling Abraham? It was the most unlikely, most confusing, way of going about it anyone could have imagined.

The choice cant come down to either the culture wars or a Christianity emptied of content, because neither of those options has anything to do with Abraham and salvation history. Abraham was chosen by God to begin introducing into history a new way of living life, that could slowly begin to generate an external reality with the capacity to make like dignified, to make it full.

I imagine that if Abraham were around today, in our minority situation, and he went to God and said, Nobodys paying any attention to me, what would God have said? We know very well what hed say: Thats why I chose you, to begin posing to reality a presence significant enough, even if no one believes it, that I will make of you a people so numerous that your descendants will be like the stars in the sky.

When he sent his son into the world, stripped of his divine power to become man, he did the same thing. Its like St. Paul said, he came to give us the capacity to live life in a new way. Thats what generates a culture. The question for us is whether the situation were in today gives us the chance to recover the origins of the design of God.

You seem fairly optimistic thats still possible.

Yes, absolutely. Im completely optimistic, because of the nature of the faith itself. Im an optimist based on the nature of the Christian experience. It doesnt depend on my reading of things, my diagnosis of the sociological situation. The problem is that to be able to start over again from this absolutely original point of departure, we have to go back to the roots of the faith itself, in what Jesus said and did.

If theres a case for pessimism, its that too many times weve reduced Christianity either to a series of values, an ethics, or simply a philosophical discourse. Thats not attractive, it doesnt have the power to seduce anyone. People dont feel the attractive force of Christianity. But precisely because the situation were living in today is so dramatic, from every point of view, paradoxically its easier to get across the novelty of Christianity.

If we look at Europe today, theres a new generation coming of age that really isnt invested in the old battles over religion v. secularity, because theyve been raised in a largely post-religious culture and thus often look on it not with animosity but curiosity. Does that create a new moment for evangelization?

Yes, theres a new moment. The question is whether Christians can take advantage of this opportunity to understand ourselves what the faith really is, what it means to be Christian, because it ought to interest us and it will interest others. We have to go about that independently of worrying about the numbers, and project ourselves solely to the fullness of the experience that Christ poses in our lives.

I think of an expression Giussani often used, speaking of the faith, he said, The faith is a present experience, where I have in my own personal experience confirmation of the human fittingness of the faith. Without that, the faith wont be able to hold out in a world in which everything says the opposite to us.

So, your strategy for evangelization in the early 21st century is to live the faith in such a way that this experience of confirmation comes across, and then gradually to introduce others to this way of life?

When a Christian lives the faith with this kind of joy, with this fulness, its evident that when he or she goes to work, or hangs out with their friends, or is in the airport, others will see this novelty in them. If you show up at the factory at 8:00 am and you go onto the work floor and find a colleague whos singing, embracing you and sharing your weakness and difficulties, youre going to ask, What is it about you, that you can show up for work singing at 8 in the morning?

That gets Christianity across much more than lots of other things, than all these ethical arguments, because when you see someone like that, you naturally want to ask, Where does this joy come from? Where does this fullness of life come from? People may not immediately think that the ultimate origin of this happiness is called Jesus Christ, that its called the faith. But when you start to understand that this stupefying way of living in the real world, so happy, so joyful, is rooted in the faith, theyll start to get interested.

Christianity, in a phrase, is communicated by living it. Eliot once asked, Where is the life we have lost in living? For us, its the opposite we gain life by living in the faith. If thats not the case, we wont interest anyone, including ourselves. To put it differently, has the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?

Were not pitching a series of doctrines, but a way of life?

Its an experience of life.

Pope Francis talks a lot about creating a culture of encounter, and of course encounter was also a fundamental concept for Giussani. As you look around the church today, what are the examples of a culture of encounter that impress you the most?

Im always impressed with those examples of creating a space for encounter among people who are completely different. For example, we [Communion and Liberation] have here in Milan an after-school program, a center, in which a group of teachers some of whom belong to the movement, some dont offer their free time to help kids with problems in school.

Italians go there, immigrants, members of different religions, mostly Catholics and Muslims, and there you see a space of encounter. They come from very different situations, and they can find there a place where their humanity is reborn.

One time, a kid showed up with a steel blade in his backpack, and under different circumstances he might have ended up as a terrorist. But by spending time with these people, he got rid of all his aggression, and eventually became an official of that operation. Thats the power of encounter.

What about examples outside your own movement?

Well, I dont know the whole world, of course, but I can give examples. For instance, I move in and out of different parishes in Rome and Milan sometimes, and you can see this spirit of encounter alive in them. I know a priest here in Milan who has a relationship with some prisoners. Hes got an amazing capacity and involved himself in the lives of others, in a way that helps them rebuild their lives.

Theres this experience of APAC in Brazil, this network of jails with no guards and no weapons, and where the rate of recidivism, which is about eighty percent in normal prisons, drops all the way to 15 percent. You might think thats just an illusion, that whats really happening is that theyre encouraging criminality. Instead, its an example what happens when theres a real encounter. Everything that gets in the way of true humanity, sooner or later falls away.

For instance, there was a prisoner who escaped from a series of different jails who eventually showed up at one of these, and he didnt try to escape anymore. There was a judge who was so struck by that story he went to the prison to ask, Why havent you tried to escape? The prisoner replied, You cant run away from love.

Our problem sometimes is that we just dont believe in certain things anymore. We think virtually any other solution, however violent, is more effective than the power of love.

Youre saying that in the end, our realism isnt actually all that realistic.

Thats clear. Weve just taken for granted that certain things are illusions, and weve cast aside the lone chance of truly penetrating to someones heart. Again, this is what makes me an optimist the faith works!

Like Pope Benedict said years ago, is there still a chance for Christianity today, in this world? He said yes, because the heart of the human person needs something that only Christ can give. That capacity to correspond to what people are truly seeking is what will always make it attractive.

You also seem to be saying we have to be audacious about it, to not be afraid to challenge conventional wisdom in this world.

What we cant have is a reduced Christianity thats a little ambiguous, thinking thats the way to be able to encounter anybody. No, we have to live it audaciously, fully, we have to be convinced, with the same audacity of Jesus entering the house of Zacchaeus, without in any way overlooking the things hed done, but disarmed, responding to what was in his heart. Historically, thats an absolutely new method. Jesus astonished St. Paul, in the same way he astonishes us.

Theres nothing that challenges the heart of a person more than a gesture like this, a gesture thats absolutely astonishing.

A key concept for Giussani, which you repeat throughout the book, is that the faith is an event. Can you explain what that means and why its important?

The faith as an event means that someones life changes when they encounter a fact, like what happened to John and Andrew when they met Jesus. You cant avoid the reality of whats happened, you cant undo it. Its like St. Paul, who was a persecutor of Christians, trying to destroy them, met the living Christ and it revolutionized his thinking.

Its like that scene in the novel by Manzoni, I promessi sposi the experience of meeting someone so ready to forgive was so astonishing that it was impossible not to yield to its attractive power. When the cardinal greets the bandit, saying, When will I come back? Even if you refuse to see me, Ill show up here at your door, obstinately, like a poor beggar needing to see you again.

Thats the sort of shocking experience that changes a life, and thats the faith. [Note: The cardinal character in I promessi sposi is believed to have been inspired by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo of Milan, 1564-1631.]

Pope Benedict always said that at the origins of Christianity, its not a doctrine, its not a teaching, its an encounter with Christ. The form of the Christian event is this encounter, not in a virtual way or just as a proposal someone makes. No, its an encounter so powerful that you dont want to lose it for the rest of your life.

Is the aim of your book to reawaken a consciousness of this event?

Certainly. The problem is how to get this event across to people. Its like the experience of love, of falling in love it doesnt happen by talking about it, but by actually falling in love.

You write at one point that the purpose of the community, presumably meaning Communion and Liberation but also more generally the Church, is to generate adults in the faith. What do you mean by that?

I mean people who are regenerated by participating in the Christian community, in the sense that they have a new capacity to grasp reality, a new capacity to be free in a way differently than before, and a new capacity to transmit a sense of awe to others. If Christianity isnt able to generate a new kind of person, then itll stay detached from their lives.

Theres nothing more decisive in the present moment than the ability to generate adults in the faith, adults who live freely among others and who can testify to the faith not just when they go to church or when they take part in some activity thats apart from daily life, but in the middle of their work and their lives.

We need people who can get across the newness of the faith in the middle of the world, which invites the question, But where are you getting this newness, this freshness? Whats behind it? To be able to respond to that, it will naturally lead people to something bigger and greater.

Thats a real witness to the faith even if people cant even identify the name of Christ, just looking at that person makes it impossible not to want to understand what makes them tick. Theyll want to know who the third party is, and thats a witness.

Only a real witness can make visible and tangible the event of the faith the ability to make the faith seem reasonable to people can only come from a real experience of it, an event. Thats what enables one not to be afraid of being misunderstood, and to resist the temptation to reduce Christianity to something else.

Let me ask you something: Why do we think sometimes that for a gratuitous gesture to be understood, it has to be reduced to something else, it has to be less gratuitous? The more gratuitous it is, the more astonishing and captivating, no? We dont have to reduce things to be understood.

Sometimes we think that for someone who doesnt have faith, we have to reduce things to be understood. But its the other way around the more a gesture is gratuitous, like forgiving someone for an offense, rather than responding in kind, it will absolutely astonish that person. Its not that we have to reduce it, take the edge off, to avoid scandal nobodys ever scandalized by being forgiven.

In the last line of the book, you write that joy is like a cactus flower. What do you mean?

The faith introduces an attraction into life, which at the same time attracts us to it but also doesnt leave us alone. Nothing challenges a person more than something that responds to all their expectations in complete fullness. Theres nothing that turns life on its head quite like having all its promises fulfilled! Thats why the faith is like a cactus its beautiful, it draws us in, but it also stings. You can accept it or reject it, but nothing transforms and upsets your life with the same power.

Would it be fair to say that this book is an attempt to express the vision of evangelization that comes from Giussani, and which has been amplified by the last three popes?

To me, the answer is yes.

See the rest here:
CL head sketches a Christianity beyond the culture wars - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

An opponent and two proponents of marriage equality demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington DC, June 25, 2015 (Elvert Barnes)

In 1967, Timothy Leary told the Human Be-In of San Franciscos Gate Park to Turn on, tune in, drop out. It was a high point for counterculturalism, a crescendo of anti-establishment, anti-centrism that exploded into antiwar protests, race riots, civil rights marches and an definitive end of Americas 1950s cultural high.

It wasnt the beginning of the twentieths centurys culture wars, but it was the point by which it was impossible to ignore they were ongoing. They first stirred somewhere in the 1950s in the backrooms of Beatnik poetry slams and the road warrioring of juvenile delinquents as postwar youth experimented with the edges of their humanity in the safety of a democratic superpowers economic boom.

The term culture wars took some time to come about. In 1991, James Davison Hunter coined the term when he wrote about a split between progressive and orthodox views of morality (PDF), giving a label to the phenomenon that went back to the early 1960s. As social scientists delved into the subject, they realized that the clean progressive versus conservative split had more than a few subsets, complicating an already fractured social landscape.

That same year, William Strauss and Neil Howe published their book Generations, tracing American history through a four-cycle pattern of generational behavior that they would later develop into Generational Theory. Through the ebbs and flows of generations, some would engage in culture-shaking Awakenings, while others would find themselves forced to reorder society before it could unravel.

The former the Prophets of the Awakening generationcorrespond to the Baby Boomer generation, which the Pew Research Center defines as those born from 1947 to 1965. They started the culture wars, have fought them their whole lives and are now, as they approach retirement and mortality, fighting the final phase of it.

The latterthe Heros of the Crisiscorrespond to the Millennials, those born from 1980 to about 2005, according to the Pew Research Center. They grew up during the tumult of the culture wars, have spent their formative years picking and choosing the most useful aspects of them and are now, as they enter their early 30s, about to impose their worldview on politics and society.

But thats all broad and people will (rightfully) demand proof.

So lets examine how the Pew Research Center measures attitudes and approaches of the four living generations.

The Boomers and Millennials are the largest generations in the United States, making them formidable voting blocs. The Silent Generation is the oldest and therefore the smallest while Generation X is bigger than the Silent generation but still wedged between the Boomers and Millennials as a smaller slice of the pie.

In 2015, there were about 75 million Millennials, 74.9 million Boomers, 66 million Gen Xers and 28 million Silents.

From a mere demographic standpoint, the political and social weight of the Boomers will rapidly collapse after 2020. They will be eclipsed by Gen X in 2028, a mere three presidential elections away. As Millennials age, their voter turnout will also likely increase, adding weight to their demographic dominance.

Too right. But thankfully Pew has done work on the ideological approaches of the generations. They conform to the Strauss-Howe theory that Millennialsthe Hero archetypeswill close ranks culturally to preserve society.

Millennials are heavily Democratic; heavier than any other generation, with 54 percent favoring the Democrats and only 39 percent choosing the Republicans. Only the shrunken Silent generation is dominated by the Republicans; the Baby Boomers, as would be expected of culture warriors, split Democrat/Republican 44 to 44 percent.

Gen X has a 48-37 percent split as well, once more tilting the political field away from the Republican Party.

In other words, if these trends hold, we can expect that from 2020 onwards, Republicans will have increasingly tough election fights if theyre pinning their hopes on turning out a shrinking base of conservative Boomers. Thats already a narrow needle to thread, as shown by Hillary Clintons popular vote victory in 2016.

Not really. Political socialization happens in the teen years, with the most powerful shapers occurring at or around 18, according to a study from Columbia University.

While attitudes will shift marginally in response to events, fundamental approaches to politics wont. The only way the GOP will win Millennials is by changing their party platform to suit their core values, since Millennials wont be changing their minds about Trump, Bush, the War on Terror or many other of their formative events later on in their lives.

So what will Millennials want?

Beginning in the 2020s, as the culture warriors of the Baby Boomer generation lose steam, the outlines of this new America will emerge.

So what will that mean for Republicans and Democrats?

First, it wont necessarily mean the coming of a Democratic permanent majority. Millennials arent loyal enough to the Democratic brand for that; they can be won over by the Republican Party, or by a new third party, with the right planks.

But it is all bad news for neoliberal Democrats and Republicans who favor creditor and boss-friendly policies. Hillarys workaholic approach didnt impress Millennials and neither did her relationship with a Wall Street that brought Millennials the Great Recession.

Thats good news for more traditionally left forces like Bernie Sanders, but its not a slam dunk: Millennials wont be loyal to staid socialist policies that dont rebalance society away from creditors and ease their burdens. You might call the winning formula of the 2020s neo-socialism: an improved take on the statist policies of the past without the attachment to traditional institutions.

Its also going to dramatically shift the political climate. Nobody is going to win big elections anymore by appealing to cultural wedges. Abortion will be settled, gay rights will be accepted and racial and gender cards will be far less effective. Millennials wont elect the woman or the Hispanic unless the candidate has the merits they saw in Barack Obamas intelligence and oratory.

Theyll also have a knee-jerk reaction with someone throws down an identity card, meaning both the alt right and alt left, with their heavy use of identity policies, are almost surely dead movements.

Itll also utterly reshape how America behaves in the world. Millennials dont want to dismantle NATO or end Americas global hegemony so much as use it with less expense. Millennial leaders will form alliances with unsavory types who provide stability and keep American troops out of wars; they will surely like effective proxies armies and have few qualms if they arent democratic. Americas pursuit of human rights by force of arms will rarely see political rewards.

Finally, Millennials will want to self-indulge within limits. While divorce, sex and marijuana will be fine, there will be increasingly elaborate social cues around them. As Millennials age, they will draw ritualistic lines in the sand about marriage, relationships and how they spend their past time, forming increasingly tough cultural taboos that their children will balk at.

It will be a self-interested time of stability and, most likely, comfortable but boring conformity.

Which will irritate the kids of the Millennials, especially the ones born in the 2020s. As they grow up in a safe but dull time, they will seek identity and individuality in their own way and start the cycle of cultural transformation all over again.

This article originally appeared on Medium, June 20, 2017.

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The Culture Wars Are Ending. Here's What's On the Other Side ... - Atlantic Sentinel

I know we attended the wedding and we are going to welcome our new son-in-law into our family with open arms. I know we are going to continue to promote love and unity in our family.

I work to help prevent suicides in Utah, especially youth suicides. I know that when we marginalize any group in our society, we are sending a negative message to everyone, especially our vulnerable youth. We all have a basic need to be loved and to connect with other human beings. We will always have a healthier society if we all work to support each other.

The family is the most basic unit of society; anything that weakens the family weakens society. Strong families make a strong society. Strong families include all its members. It is one of the most important protective factors in suicide prevention. Strong families, congregations and societies include all of their members. Unfortunately, "Some exclude from their circle of fellowship those who are different" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign Magazine, October 2007).

We are grateful to all who joined us in letting our son know he is loved and will be welcomed anytime he wants to join us in our church congregation. We are grateful to the many people who have expressed love and support for our family. I am most grateful for those who have realized that their religion is one of hope and teaches us to love each other saints and sinners alike.

All society wins when we cease-fire and put an end to cultural wars. We all win if we choose to value all people in our society. We all win if we seek to understand and respect each other's points of view and work to defend each others' rights, especially in housing and employment. (See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Religious Freedom, Texas Regional Conference Sept. 10, 2016.)

Let's all start with our own families and neighborhoods. We don't need to agree to be kind. Kindness and strong families will help save lives.

Debra Oaks Coe, a Lehi Realtor, is an executive committee member of the Utah Commission on LGBT Suicide Awareness and Prevention.

The rest is here:
Op-ed: We all win when we end the culture wars - Salt Lake Tribune

BANGKOK After the prime minister became preoccupied with a teen luk thung singers sexuality and apparently dispatched police to cover her up and count her hip thrusts, Lumyai Hai Thongkam has become an icon of the national cultural wars.

Details of her signature gold bikini and even her stage name were being dissected, debated, defended and criticized online and off this week.

On a recent episode of the Hoan Krasae talk show, Lumyai, 18, and record label owner Prachakchai Navarat were asked if she wore anything else under her sparkly hot pants.

Read: Police Sent to Cover Up Teen Country Singer Lumyai

Theres a petticoat, stockings and underwear, so you wont see anything, Lumyai said, a rejoinder to Gen. Prayuth Chan-ochas comments that she was about to show all her genitals with her twerking.

Lumyai, who has been singing for nine years and performing as Lumyai for two, said her routine has brought her success, and shes now doing up to five concerts daily.

I found her when I heard her singing at a banquet. Her singing was on pitch and her dancing was good, said Prachakchai, who contends that Lumyais fame is mostly due her singing talent.

Her breakout song, Phu Sao Kha Lor, (Party Girl) was watched more than 244 million times since its November release, despite its low-production values.

Its not even a music video, just a low-budget song, Prachakchai said.

Her costume, he added, isnt outrageous and is consistent with other country singers.

Read: Prayuth Criticizes Teen Singers Sexy Dancing, Blames Farangs

This kind of dancing and clothes are very common in mor lam sing and coyote dancing. Their clothes are even smaller. We dont know where the line of morality lies after the phu yai started criticizing.

Former Khon Kaen Sen. Rabeabrat Phongpanich, a cultural conservative who heads the Society to Create Happy and Warm Families, earlier called Lumyai cultural trash. She called in to Hoan Krasae to say Lumyais stage name, Hai Thongkam (Golden Jug), was disgusting.

Theres no way she thought of it herself. She was given the name for fame and business purposes using sexI dont want to see her get taken advantage of, Rabeabrat said. Why isnt she named Lumyai Jaidee or Lumyai Jaingarm? she said, suggesting names that mean good-hearted.

The name will stand, Prachakchai told Rabeabrat.

While cultural crusaders make their points laying into the 18 year old, the internet mostly responded with a collective eyeroll at what netizens see as a cultural double-standard.

The Loke Maeng Dudjrit page compared the cultural double-standard between high-class ballet and low-class luk thung.

Current-event savvy webcomic Kai Meaw underscored the double-standard at work.

The story went through the wringer of millennial internet sensibilities that is Pim Thai Mai Dai, which plastered LUM YAI over the junta leaders face, referencing the singer and slang suggestive of lumkarn or annoying.

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Police Sent to Cover Up Teen Country Singer Lumyai

Prayuth Criticizes Teen Singers Sexy Dancing, Blames Farangs

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