tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post2939504553656097343..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: The Past is not a ParadiseDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-87420151897031641542017-11-30T14:52:04.829-05:002017-11-30T14:52:04.829-05:00My critique was that you both missed his real poin...My critique was that you both missed his real point. You seem to have missed mine as well. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-40324483683932918122017-11-13T15:19:16.953-05:002017-11-13T15:19:16.953-05:00Anon, I'm not sure I understand a critique whi...Anon, I'm not sure I understand a critique which claims that both Simcha Fisher and I are complaining about Esolen's nuanced advice when our argument is that Esolen's view of the past is hackneyed and without nuance. mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-85065866000263682352017-11-12T13:47:52.215-05:002017-11-12T13:47:52.215-05:00Both your response and Simcha Fischer's fall i...Both your response and Simcha Fischer's fall into the same trap: you want to complain about someone else's nuanced advice because it's not black-and-white enough for your liking, but you don't offer anything better. What's wrong with acknowledging that sexuality can be a more fluid thing than we'd like to admit, and that our Catholic faith, an appreciation of beauty in the world, healthy relationships, and the cultivation of virtue through wholesome activities can offer a strong counterbalance to where fallen nature might lead a person astray? It's more complicated than simply pointing out what's wrong, I guess. It requires a certain open-heartedness.<br /><br />Esolen's point that in the dance article that Catholic young people have lost a sense of delight in each other is spot on. That is what's missing among unmarried Catholics, and not just young ones. Everyone's so afraid to do the wrong thing in our toxic society that they've forgotten how to want the beautiful things. And telling single people they should take more delight in people of all kinds is particularly tone-deaf--in my experience, single people are generally much better at this already than their married counterparts, who tend to close themselves off to friends and complain about their extended families. It's the single people who, through necessity, actively cultivate and enjoy relationships with people of all kinds. Sometimes they do this at the expense of rejecting love and romance because they're so afraid of getting hurt.<br /><br />Also, didn't you and your husband meet at some sort of dance or party? Were you, at the time, an expert in the "delightfulness of every human person, to the very real and intensely practical implications of every single person being made in the image and likeness of God"? Unmarried Catholics in our current society are already vulnerable and constantly being told that their singleness is their own fault--let's not add top-lofty sounding but virtually impossible ideals to the pile of things they have to fix about themselves. Some people just want to fall in love but have forgotten how--it's a tragedy worth acknowledging, if you're not too self righteous to see it.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com