The Right Hates it When Women, Including its Own, Speak Up
It's seldom one gets to see the inside of the mind of a vast political/religious operation. This link is a great example. It is about a fictional woman, "Susan," who speaks up in Catholic churches. I'm not sure where "Susan" fits in with "Karen", another fictional female character who is regarded as annoying. "Susan" is the reason liberal thinking carries the day in so many aspects of culture, including among Catholic church members. Nearly all Catholics practice birth control. The majority of Catholics favor abortion rights. This, in spite of Trump holding up a Bible in front of a church.
The fictious "Susan" in the Catholic link is a member of the "parish council." She knows the pressures her Priest/Bishop are under and knows the buttons to push. She knows well how the culture has changed and where it is headed. She tells the priest to lay off condemning birth control and go light on abortion. She reminds the bishop there are empty seats in the mass and people don't come to be reminded of their sins. Bishops need to meet budgets so they are listening for cues.
Recently I read elsewhere what I have repeated here many times. Culture runs both politics and religion. Pundits in religion can talk about a developing "revival." Catholic pundits can crow about the return of Latin Mass. Both can celebrate repeal of the Johnson Amendment that allows endorsement of political ideas from the pulpit. The hard cold facts are that each generation has fewer believers then the previous one. The tenets of Christianity are evaporating. Priests, Bishops and red-faced Baptist preachers have to listen to the "Susans" in their circle because the Susans have their figures on the pulse of the culture.
What the seminary of any denomination told budding clergy to preach is unimportant today because those in the pews have moved on. It is those in the pews, the culture, which writes the sermons preached by the clergy. Every clergy who has a "Susan" in his church should write down what she says.
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