Is the Old Order Passing Away?

Fr. DONNELL KIRCHNER

Baton Rouge, La. — It seems to have started with that holy and venerable group, the Catholic Church, when the press began denunciations against the sins and faults of some of the Church’s clergy.

Then it was the universities and the coaches who came under fire for sexual misconduct. Not far behind we have seen the military, Hollywood and the entertainment world, the White House occupied by a public adulterer, the Southern Baptists, the judiciary, rejected politicians at the ballot box, TV personalities, the NRA’s officials living high off the hog, Planned Parenthood for selling fetal tissue, etc. Every major social or public institution has been eyed, weighed and condemned because of its sinful, wicked ways.

As our modern world has become more and more interconnected and integrated, how is it to survive and function if we have lost confidence in those instruments and agencies which we lean upon and need to direct us as a society? We really do need organized structures to manage our complex systems, to avoid not only chaos, but total meltdown.

What to do? What are our options? A bit of good old wisdom and common sense are called for. First on the list should be a good dose of humility. Every one of the groups cited above exist to serve the well being of people they claim to exist for. Instead of haughty, arrogant and omnipotent rulers, we need more humble servants who acknowledge and recognize their limitations, that they can fail us. No one is perfect, but we do expect those in charge to try to do the right thing, and not go to the troth to look for advantages and privileges, only for their own comfort and pleasure.

Maybe the military can teach government people about limited time on the job. Term limitations, if you will. So many generals and admirals only serve and remain for two years in one function, then give way to others. They do not stay on the job for 40 years, like some judges or southern politicians.

If we follow the example of people like the Rev. Billy Graham’s son to pray for an embattled and oppressed president, we hope that such prayers cause change and growth, METANOIA, a conversion from prideful and arrogant conduct. Wasn’t it President Lincoln, during the height of the Civil War, who warned of the danger of thinking that God was on our side!

Without checks and balance, the worst in human nature arises and takes over. Whether one cares to call it Original Sin or not, facts and history show us that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts even more so. While a free press is never free from all prejudice or its own blind biases to certain inalienable truths, where would we be without one? Honest judges, free from bribes and seduction, are needed to protect a democracy run by the people, yet they too need to be subjected to supervision and evaluation, something not easily done but necessary to be executed. Do we really want (or need?) life-long positions to guarantee independence and freedom from pressure?

Some people see it as a question of inheriting an old, run down house that needs fixing up. Repair the roof, put in new windows, lay beautiful carpeting. A paint job. Maybe a better way is to look to creating a brand new house, something that has not existed before. Building anew what has not yet been here. Instead of renovating the past, we look to the future with a different vision. Not patching up what is broken, but constructing a new marvel.

Another virtue for our Institutions to practice is INTEGRITY. Honesty. Nothing phony, hidden, deceitful. What you see is what you get. Whatever the institution or its purpose, its leaders must be honest and not conceal flaws. He or she must be willing to accept and own mistakes and short comings, of things that went wrong. He who is without sin, however, cast the first stone. We are all frail, limited humans with short comings, who do not always get things right. So we should cut some slack when another comes forward and admits that we need to try again to get it right.

Brian Tracy lists factors like cooperation and respecting people, really caring for them and their needs, not just using them to advance one’s personal agenda. No one can do it alone. I think I could even become rich if my father gave me a million dollars as seed money. We all need someone to help us along, not Lone Rangers, who think that they are doing in along, or end up stomping on those around them. No one built that on his own, without help from someone.

Cooperating with others (and not only looking for gain personal gain or advantages) is the glue that holds us together as a group, allowing us to achieve our goals. Even neo-Nazi racists, Islamic haters or anti-immigrant vigilantes band together to find strength in their blinded causes.

Only those who are confident of themselves and their own capacities share the spot light, promote others around them. The insecure, the bully and the incompetent need to hog the limelight so people do not notice that the emperor is naked, without clothes. It is never wrong, bad business, to support and encourage someone else to develop his or her talents and abilities.

Since we humans are flawed and imperfect creatures, our institutions will show warts and defects also. But if we recognize and accept our limitations, constantly working to perfect our actions, our social institutions and agencies will accomplish so much more and leave us better off. They can only be as good and noble as we the people who make them up!

Father Donnell Kirchner, CSsR, received a degree in moral theology in Rome and taught for 39 years as a Redemptorist priest in Brazil, teaching at a regional pastoral institute in Manaus. He is currently ministering in Baton Rouge, La.

From The Progressive Populist, September 1, 2019

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