Indifferentism

[Brigid]

We must mention another fruitful cause of evil by which the Church is afflicted at present, namely: Indifferentism, that vicious manner of thinking which mushrooms on all sides owing to the wiles of malicious men, and which holds that the eternal salvation of the soul can be obtained by the profession of any faith, provided a man's morals be good and decent ... Let them beware who preach that the gates of Heaven are open to every religion! Let them seriously consider the testimony of the Savior that some are against Christ because they they are not with Christ, that they scatter who do not gather with Him, and therefore without doubt they will perish in eternity unless they hold to the Catholic faith and observe it whole and inviolate.

Pope Gregory XVI

[Shin]

Great quote, Brigid! St. Brigid must be happy!

Speaking of mushrooms... 

'This is a good rule of conduct, to do nothing but what we can offer to the good God. Now, we cannot offer to Him slanders, calumnies, injustice, anger, blasphemy, impurity, night clubs, dancing; yet that is all that people do in the world. Speaking of dances, St. Francis of Sales used to say that "they were like mushrooms, the best were good for nothing." Mothers are apt to say indeed, "Oh, I watch over my daughters." They watch over their attire, but they cannot watch over their hearts. . . Ah, if they well understood this responsibility they would never have any dances. Just like those who make bad pictures and statues, or write bad books, they will have to answer for all the harm that these things will do during all the time they last.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

Thanks be to God from whom all blessings flow for providing us the quotes of the saints!

[martin]

There is another grave problem which has probably not existed so much in previous generations but is widespread in our own time. Many parents can control their childrens appetites while they are still young but in our time as soon as they reach their teens a much more ominus authority imposes itself upon them to the extent that parental authority is scoffed at and obedience is looked upon as a weakness. Many parents then feel they are failures and are humiliated by the fact that their older children no longer obey them.

There really is only one answer to this terible situation. One must identify where this promotion of disobedience originates and shut it out. I am convinced that it originates from the media. TV, movies, radio. magazines, modern books and newspapers. It might sound extreme but they are more dangerous to the souls of the young than we can begin to imagine and should not be housed at all. Even adults don't know the extent of the damage these have inflicted even on themselves. This great monster of the media has to be confronted somehow and starting with oneself might not seem significant but it can have a knock on (or more precisely in this case, a knock off) effect and for the first time maybe in their lives others begin to question this.

It is all put so clearly in the "Few that are saved" thread.
Lord help us to respond even if it seems we are leaving so much behind. In reality we have everything to gain and nothing at all to loose. It's all a mirage set up by the evil one to make us think we can't be happy without it.
We can call his bluff and give it all up.   

[Shin]

I completely agree Martin.

It is the media.. it is the culture of the world.. and if it is not removed in the beginning.. it will be much harder surgery to ever cut it out..

You're making me think of how corrupt education can be too.

It's an entire way of life that is devoted to entertaining through wrong use of the passions. And because one receives it all in a passive state one is so much more easily sucked into habitual sin than say if one is actively thinking and aware. What should startle and upset, becomes accepted because of the accompanying entertainment, until sin is forgotten and does not seem to exist though the material that is put forth contains an endless deluge of trash that an aware soul would note, and realize was causing interior harm as well as offensive in Heaven above.

I am going to have to start that 'No-TV' thread one of these days, I think I have enough notes from Fr. Frank Poncelet's writings on the topic to begin, just have to get my thoughts in order.

He certainly shoots a machine gun, so to speak at the target, with his 'Our Lady's Apostolate of No TV' and even when he might not've with absolute certainty hit the bullseye he still hits the target and provokes thought. And he certainly hits the bullseye a good deal. 

[martin]

Shin that will be a good thread to keep going regularly as it's so easy to forget what we learn and become lax. Constant reminders are always good.

I agree about education being another source of this and so much bad education now is promoted too by the media and most of the teachers are also infected by what they watch and listen to. It's a vicious circle in the full sense of that cliche.

[Brigid]

Faith in Christ cannot be maintained pure and unalloyed when it is not protected and supported by faith in the Church ... Faith in Christ and faith in the Church stand together ... Whenever a person obstinately separates himself from the infallible teaching of the Church, he gradually loses the certain and true doctrine about Jesus Christ. If we should ask the many different sects, especially those dating from the 16th and 17th centuries and still bearing the honored name of "Christian," what they now believe concerning Him, we would receive varying and often conflicting answers. They present Jesus Christ as man, very similar to God, but they are far removed from a full and sincere profession of Catholic faith. Hence, it appears that all these heretics wish by rash endeavor to dissolve Christ and therefore, according to the Apostle John, "are not of God" (I John 4:3) ...From the exalted summit of this Apostolic See, We there- fore call with fatherly spirit upon all individuals and groups who glory in being disciples of Christ and who place in Him their hope of salvation ... always to cling ever firmly to the Roman Church in which belief in Christ is maintained with one entire and perfect faith, worshipped with sincere adoration, and loved with undying charity. Let those who govern flocks separated from Us remember how their forerunners solemnly professed the faith, and how in the past as in the present, this same faith has been preserved and earnestly defended by this supreme Chair of Truth. Let them remember that this genuine unity of faith rests only on the One Rock established by Christ and, further, that it has been preserved safe and secure by the supreme authority of the successors of blessed Peter.

Pope Pius XI

[Bailey2]

There really is only one answer to this terible situation. One must identify where this promotion of disobedience originates and shut it out. I am convinced that it originates from the media. TV, movies, radio. magazines, modern books and newspapers. It might sound extreme but they are more dangerous to the souls of the young than we can begin to imagine and should not be housed at all. Even adults don't know the extent of the damage these have inflicted even on themselves. This great monster of the media has to be confronted somehow and starting with oneself might not seem significant but it can have a knock on (or more precisely in this case, a knock off) effect and for the first time maybe in their lives others begin to question this.

This is not extreme at all. 
I had to think about this carefully when raising our boys.  I could tell I was going to be unsuccessful cutting them off from TV once they were late elementary school age.  So, I watched TV with them providing a running critique, at times asking them what the real life end result of presented things would be.  For example, an interaction between two high school students  that ends with a subtle walk into the bedroom after kissing.  "Helloooo?"  I would say.  "So they go and do it.  Now what?  What happens?  What happens when they want to get married later to someone special?  Is that boy she wants to marry going to think her special for him?  Is that girl he wants to marry going to trust that he has self-control and therefore will remain respectful of her over his wants?  And what happens if she gets pregnant?  What happens if she has an abortion?  If it was you, how would you feel that you helped create a child and then have to know that child was killed and you could do nothing?  Would you regret going to that bedroom in the first place?"   Oh, I'd go on and on.. not all at once of course.  I had many years to do this.

Even when they were little.  "Barney says you are special?  What makes you special?  Does that mean you should have what you want because you are special?  What do we believe about being special?  How do we act when we are special because God made us special?  If you were God and created a precious special person, how would you like your special people to act?"

Our kids are teens. They argue, protest, question.  I tend to think that's OK.   They are bucking for independence.  If they get too disrespectful we nail them of course.  Then there is the ultimate threat: the keys and the mouse.  So they obey, even with protest and questioning.  But, all those questions I asked when they were younger?  They now ask....about everything out there.  I think they will do wrong things and I think they will reject aspects of our faith as they question but I am confident they are sufficiently "brain washed" enough to come to their senses sooner or later.  Their brains aren't fully functioning till their mid-twenties anyway (it's true, really) so I tend to think God is merciful to young people who don't have all their marbles yet. 

Did I get off track in my ramblings?  So sorry if I did!