A Reader's Analysis of Cahill

Rob Driscoll writes:

"Thank you for posting that article by Thomas Cahill today. 

I found it interesting that in the same breadth he poured words of praise upon the modernizing tendencies of the Church “after the regressive policies of Pius IX,” and then laments the pews on Sundays which are “now sparsely populated with gray heads.”  Does it not seem odd that as “modernizing” tendencies have taken hold and attacks on traditional Church moral doctrine (such as abortion, birth control, etc) have become more accepted, that attendance at Mass has declined?  Even homosexuality can be right even though the Bible says explicitly otherwise, why pay attention to the rest of the Bible?  Why attend Mass?  Why learn the Church’s teachings?  Modernity, and Post-Modernity is akin to Relativism.  If modernity attacks the very basis of the Church; that is, the existence of timeless principles, then its no wonder people cease to attend Mass.

Cahill seems to want it both ways.  He likes modernization, but does not like the fact that people no longer are as faithful as they once were.  Yet he ignores that Catholics, in America at least, were remarkably devout even in the Dark Ages Cahill describes: that is, before the 1960’s.  Isn’t it odd to say it is a mere coincidence that as the Church liberalized, the Church also lost influence among the faithful? 

One other point: while he rightly praises John Paul II for bringing down communism, he also criticizes him for insisting that the clergy not have a hint of Marxism in it.  It seems that Cahill has the old romantic notion of Marxism that the blood of millions of Russians, Chinese, Cambodians, etc. has not washed from his imagination."