Special to the Catholic Business Journal by Thomas Loarie, reporting on the Napa Institute – Princeton Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Dr. Robert George, told a standing room-only crowd at this month’s Napa Institute that a Neo-Gnostic ideology is permeating Christian and Judaism teaching, and our institutions under the guise of social liberalism. “It is now being taught in schools to our children and this includes come Catholic schools. We must stand up and repudiate the transmission of this ideology and what it values. Sacrifices will be needed.”
“Why are we now bigots if we support a marriage between a man and a woman?…Why are we now bigots if we want our daughters to shower with other girls?…Why are we insensitive when we object to assisted suicide?…Why are we against women’s rights when we are for the rights of the unborn?”
To answer these questions, George said the first thing we must do is to understand what is going on with ideas and name it, Gnosticism, for what it is. Gnostic ideology emphasizes a division (dualism) between the physical (the body) and the spiritual (the mental). “The Person” does not consist of a body and a spirit as it has been defined but is limited to the mental. The body which is inferior exists only to satisfy the mental.
The classical definition of “The Person” integrates the body and the spirit. Our body shares in our personal dignity and is not separated from it. “The human person comes to be when the human organism comes to be.”
With the advance of social liberalism (neo-Gnosticism) which is now driving the culture, we only become persons when we have exercisable faculties and remain persons as long these faculties can be exercised. “A babe in the womb does not have exercisable faculties and can be killed. Uncle Harry is not right of mind and he can be killed.” These are not human persons. “Are they potatoes?” George asked.
Other recognizable beliefs and behaviors flowing from social liberalism that are gaining widespread acceptance include:
“Since the body is separate, the only thing that matters about sex is whether or not you like it. Sex is a means to our subjective ends. So why should it be exclusive?
Marriage is social not a natural construct. The notion of having the consummation of marriage is crazy. There is no biological reality for the social liberal, only mental satisfaction. Polyamorous marriages are on their way since marriage is contingent only on the emotional quality of the relationship.
Children are only contingently related to marriage. Why not assign any baby to the mother when she leaves to go home? It does not matter whose baby she receives since what matters is what goes on in the mind.
Biology does not determine who we are. Your body is not the real you. We can cease to being one self and be someone else. Who we are is only based on how we feel. We can change (mutilate) our body to help us feel as we want. But is there really such as thing as a sex change operation?
Gender becomes fluid. You’re never locked into a gender. You can change at any time.
Christians have historically embraced an anti-Gnostic position. George explained why, “The body senses, the mind understands. We are not two separate entities as the body and the mind inform one another. Our entire experience is unified. The body brings us back to objective reality….’this looks like and is a car, this feels like and is cold, this is a mop and is used to clean, this book is interesting, this person is powerful, etc. The Church recognizes that to be whole, we must exist as body and soul. Our experience is unified.”
Pope Francis is a determined critic neo-Gnosticism, most recently on the issue of gender ideology. But you will not find this in the popular media. “Neo-Gnosticism is polluting the media and Catholic Universities.” Social liberalism is pervasive.
The 6th Annual Napa Institute was held at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, July 6-10, 2016 with a record 550 scholars and Catholic leaders attending. The Institute was formed to help Catholic leaders face the challenges posed in the “next America” — to continue the work of the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops, heeding Christ’s call for ongoing evangelization. By leading participants to a deeper understanding of the truth behind the faith, the Napa Institute emboldens Catholics to live and defend their faith with a peaceful confidence that is borne out of solid formation, fellowship and spiritual enrichment.
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