Errors of the left and of the right
By Fr. Daniel Pinheiro, IBP - The left exaggerates human reason and the right tends to despise it, albeit subtly
Note from the translator: With the rise of the right-wing/conservatism in South America for the past few years, the Traditional Catholic priests are now dealing with new, subtle, errors. This right-wing movement, influenced by protestant North American conservativisms in politics, offered a new challenge to South Americans priests that were used to fighting against the opposite errors, namely: socialism, communism and liberation theology. In an heroic effort, priests of the Institute of Good Shepherd have been preaching against both errors (the old leftism and the new right), instructing their flock to be Catholics, not more, not less. On Sunday, September 25th, 2022, father Daniel Pinheiro, Superior of Good Shepherd Institute in Brazil, delivered a sermon that summarizes a list of points that were extensively covered in previous sermons. You can watch, the original in portuguese here.
Dear Catholics, each of us must be honest with himself and before God, because God is not to be mocked as Saint Paul tells us in the readings of last Sunday's epistle.
In this sermon today we will deal with a topic of paramount importance, which is the total and complete fidelity that we must have towards the constant magisterium of the church. The total and complete docility that we must have in what the church has always taught, that is, dear Catholics, we cannot choose what we like within Catholic doctrine, we cannot choose what we like among the truths and refuse some others, we cannot choose the moral precepts that please us, that we want to do for some reason and refuse some other moral precept. We cannot choose the points of the church's social doctrine that please me and refuse some other point of that doctrine, and so on.
The only true Catholic religion, the only one given to us by God, which is not the fruit of the invention of man or the devil, this Catholic religion is not a grocery store in which I can choose, from the shelves, the doctrines that please me, leaving aside others that I don't like, or that I don't want so much. If we leave out a single point of what the church constantly teaches about God, about man, about the spiritual life, about grace, about the church itself, about society, about the liturgy, if we leave aside a single point of what the church has always taught in any matter, we are no longer Catholics, and we must therefore be consistent with that; choose some points and reject any point that is precisely what is called "heresy", which means, etymologically — originally — "choice".
The heretic is the one who, instead of accepting everything that God has revealed without reservation (and) faithfully, (the heretic personally) chooses what he accepts and what he does not accept, even if it is only one thing, that is the heretic.
Today, dear Catholics, we live in a true Grocery Store within the Church, each one accepting what he wants. Don't we look outside, but let's look at ourselves.
Introduction to the two errors
In the time of Christ the Sadducees — a group composed mainly by priests — they chose to deny the resurrection of the bodies. The Sadducees were a kind of materialists of the time, we could modernly call them leftists.
The Scribes and Pharisees — the doctors of the Law — on the other hand, chose one point of doctrine, rejected others, attenuated some, exaggerated other points of doctrine; we could call them, in modern times, rightists. For example, they said that something was consecrated to God so that they would not have to help their parents with these goods, but at the same time that they had consecrated to God, they were no longer obliged to help their parents with these goods, they could continue with them, enjoying these goods. Thus, the Scribes and Pharisees gave a completely personal interpretation, distorting the duty to help parents, distorting the consecration of things to God. We see today in the gospel an example of how they chose what pleases, for them it is possible to take care of the ass and the ox on the Sabbath day, pulling them out of the hole they fell into, but it is not possible to perform a miracle to heal a sick person.
Dear Catholics, let us be very careful not to become consumers of religion, like someone who chooses products on the shelves of a Grocery Store, choosing between what we like and what we don't like, what we think is good, necessary and what we don't think. We have no right to do that! It would be putting ourselves at the center of everything, basically conforming God to us! It would set us up as judges of the truth revealed by God and transmitted by the church.
Today, this choice (to) treat religion as a market where you choose what you want on the shelf, this is done from all sides.
The history of human thought always navigates between two major trends, the rationalist/materialist on the one hand, and the irrationalist/anti-rationalist, false-spiritualist on the other.
Let's take a look at what is usually chosen within each side.
The error on the left: Rationalist and Materialist
On the materialist/rationalist side, we can enumerate among the most common errors the reduction of man to matter, denying the existence of the soul, or denying the immortality of the soul, consequently denying the resurrection and eternal life, denying the existence of heaven and hell. .
The rationalism exaggerates the power of our reason and denies everything that our reason cannot know by its natural force. Rationalism therefore denies Divine Revelation, denies supernatural truths, denies religion — as "The Opium of the People" — or simply reduces it to something practical. Rationalism worries too much about social issues and it worries wrongfully about those issues; issues that may be legit, but it worries and solves the wrong way, because it makes them the most important, since it denies eternal life.
Rationalism reduces everything to science — in the sense of the natural sciences — exaggerates the limits of science. Rationalism is an irrational faith in human reason.
Rationalism is an irrational faith in human reason
Materialism also often reduces humanity to the economic aspect, and religion in this perspective must first and foremost be a means of securing social and economic issues, and so on. Religion must adapt to this with its doctrine, its morals and its liturgy. And of course the materialist side drags countless people, because, like any false doctrine, it always has some elements of truth but it misrepresents them and disregards the other points of truth.
The error on the right: Anti-Rational and False-Spiritualist
On the anti-rational / false-spiritualist side, we also have many errors that arise. It is important to note that the “new right” — that has spread diffusely through Brazil and the world, through politics, through Protestantism, through Evangelicals — it is important to note that this newright is precisely of an anti-rationalist tendency, it has always been like that. The error on the right is an anti-rational — irrationalist error.
The left exaggerates human reason and the right tends to despise it, albeit subtly. It despises human reason on many points.
The left exaggerates human reason and the right tends to despise it, albeit subtly
The reality, dear Catholics, is that our reason must not be exaggerated or despised. The truth is that, within its limits, we can know the truth and reality of things.
Thus, dear Catholics, we see this irrationalist error spreading in conservative Catholic circles and the Tridentine Mass, which places a general distrust in human reason, in valid scientific discoveries, thus, for example, the issue of the Flat Earth arises, the general distrust of Medicine arises, distrust arises even, as such, of the school as the church has always favored it.
Let us briefly, and without breaking it down entirely, take the case of medicine. More and more people want to use medicine from the Middle Ages, or simple oils, or extracts, putting antibiotics or other medicines as an absolute evil, raising doubts about the interest of pharmaceutical companies.
These things — oils, etc. — may even have some effect, dear Catholics, but is it enough, is there enough evidence, research, impartial studies, or is there, perhaps, also the interest of those who propagate this
“distrust” and propagate these same products? With the goal to be able to sell them, to have a lot of views on social networks, to earn, in short, your money with all this?
If these things from past medicine are so effective, why did we have such a low life expectancy?
If the Pharmaceutical Industry simply intended to kill everyone at an early age, to reduce the world's population, why are people actually living longer and longer?
Far be it from me to canonize the Pharmaceutical Industry, of course it has its problems, and even serious ones, but I want to show that things are not as simple as they would have us believe.
Let us not be, dear Catholics, simplistic and foolish.
It is also unreasonable and irrational to reduce illness to an emotional state or simply a lack of certain nutrients. Of course, the emotional state contributes to health in general, as does good nutrition, but to say, as I was shown the other day, that cancer is merely the result of emotional problems or the lack of some vitamins, basically blaming the patient himself, is not reasonable, it is then necessary to reflect.
It is not my intention to go into this field so much and we have the conferences on this topic by Father Pasquotto that are very worthwhile. The objective is to show this anti-rational mentality that has been developing in Catholic circles under the influence of American Protestant conservatives who have penetrated Brazil through political conservatism and other sources of this anti-rationalism which is precisely perennialism or esoteric traditionalism, yet, another right-wing doctrine.
Yes! Many are considering as “very Catholic” ideas, those that are typical of an American conservative Protestantism and as we said the other source of these ideas is perennialism or esoteric traditionalism that is the matrix behind the emerging right and is also anti-rational and irrationalist.
A great representative of this new right, long dead, said that human intelligence cannot really know the truth. They generate distrust in people in relation to everything, to then present — of course — a supposedly superior, higher, solution, with its symbolism, with its ancestral practices, its ancient sciences such as astrology, such as medicine (said traditional), riddled with esoteric doctrines and so on.
Of course, they oppose the true errors of materialism, rationalism and leftism, but they go much further, practically destroying human reason with false spiritualism, with false primitive and perennial traditions, putting people in distrust of everything and then putting in their heads what they want.
So, for example, we see some people saying that before reading the Catechism, before reading the Saints and books on spirituality, before reading the magisterium of the church, it is necessary to read the classics of literature... It is necessary first to read the classics of literature they say. And what do they want with it? Give people “their” interpretation of these classics. So that when the person goes to study the Catholic religion, he already studies it and practices it according to the principles given by them, in this interpretation of the classics of literature. In this way, they want to fuse a vision of the world.
It is therefore necessary, dear Catholics, to remain very attentive, very vigilant.
Catholics take their own reasoning (intellect) seriously, recognizing its limits. Catholics recognize the value of science within its limits, recognize varying degrees of certainty, in varying matters. Catholics are not skeptics of everything. They, with their reason, recognize the principle of cause and effect, with their reason study the elements in nature and use them well, with methods they succeed in proving the relation of cause and effect, with their reason they prove the existence of God.
We still have, dear Catholics, many other errors that pop up, for example, the error of fighting the State in itself. Catholics, on the contrary, recognize the legitimacy of the State. Catholics are not an anti-system conspirator — again, a notion, a vision, that comes from that perennialism, that traditionalism that wants to generate chaos in order to more quickly, according to them, return to a spiritual society according to its principles. Wrong! Catholics recognize the legitimacy of the State, even the taxes. Tax is not theft by definition. Of course, the State often goes too far, taxes are often exaggerated, and in this case the Catholic tries in the right way to do his part to make things better, studying and spreading the real doctrine of the church, organizing himself so that this doctrine be taken into account, manifesting itself in an orderly manner. The Catholic cannot refuse, on principle, the legitimacy of the State and the tax. Our Lord, Himself, recognized both. He told Pontius Pilate that his power, as governor, came from God. We cannot say that the State, or that the Roman Empire, were perfect — they were right there condemning Our Lord to death — He recognized that Pontius Pilate's power came from God. He quietly paid tribute for Himself and for St. Peter, saying that He should give Caesar what is Caesar's — to the state what is the state's.
The first Christians brutally persecuted by the Roman empire, recognized the legitimacy of the empire, the tributes/tax that were charged. Anarchism, the minimal state, totalitarianism, none of this is Catholic. Catholicism recognizes the legitimacy of the State and the possibility that its size varies according to circumstances, without the particular good — above all essentially the possibility of living virtuously and with freedom in the good — without this particular good being swallowed up by the state. The Catholic also cannot choose from shelf of Doctrine the Economic liberalism or any form of liberalism, for that has already been condemned by the church, cannot refuse the church's condemnation of socialism, communism, or anarchism, or liberalism, or even modern democracy, with its principle that all power emanates from the people and not from God.
(Catholics) cannot refuse the church's condemnation of socialism, communism, or anarchism, or liberalism, or even modern democracy, with its principle that all power emanates from the people and not from God.
The Catholic either takes everything the church has always taught or is actually non-Catholic.
We also have, dear Catholics, aberrations in the moral field and they say “Ah, who knows”, for example, “you go to the beach in clothes that are suitable for you”. This is clearly an occasion of sin: Frequenting beaches as they are today, as people dress on them. Or, not taking into account, doctrine in attending a gym, for example, exposing their own body — some even do it on social networks — or exposing themselves to the bodies of others, to an environment of body worship, etc, as if it were something normal. There are criteria to be followed if the person really needs to attend a gym for a serious reason, I took two examples that are a little too simple but to make it clear how we can chose what we want in our daily life.
Others exaggerate Catholic doctrine, for example, they make pregnancy and childbirth something sacred, condemn hospital birth or a necessary c-section as intrinsically wrong, others condemn home birth as intrinsically wrong, even if they have proper, really technically guaranteed assistance. Each one dictates mortal sins to the others here and there, without taking into account the principles of Catholic doctrine, morals, prudence... it's a real chaos.
Others go so far as to say that drinking soda is a sin or that Fast Food is intrinsically evil or a disorder, or suggest that women must “necessarily” wear socks to avoid sinning, others will say that men should not take painkillers. because you have to know how to deal with pain, the need arises to have blessed candles on the “Day of Purification” and not open the door in the supposed three days of darkness so that the person can be saved... and grace? And the practice of virtues? And the life of prayer? Of union with God? … What matters then are the candles and not opening the door to be saved.
We see these madness circulating in Catholic circles and taking many people. The duty also arises for people to go to the country with the whole family and so on. These are things that we as priests have encountered in our daily lives.
Where did so much nonsense come from? From the head of anyone who took a misunderstood, isolated principle, made their own interpretation, thought it was coherent and put it on the internet or in writing.
We, dear Catholics, must be Catholics, no more and no less.
But as these errors, all, quickly become popular. These irrational things, this morality, to whom or beyond what the Church asks. How all this becomes popular very quickly, because, deep down, everyone chooses from the shelf what they like and justify themselves with these things. We live in complete chaos, we need to be normal Catholics, it's not living like the world, it's being normal Catholics, strictly faithful to what the Church has always taught and teaches in all fields, we can't keep choosing what we like or what we want in matters of doctrine, dogmatics, morals, social.
Let's keep the sanity, dear Catholics, that we have lost with these materialist and rationalist influences on the left, and with these false-spiritualist anti-rationalist influences that come from conservative Protestantism through politics, and from perennialism and esoteric traditionalism — it's important to know the source of this right-wing anti-rationalism.
Let us be Catholics, always, neither more nor less than what the church teaches.
The summit between the errors, on the right and on the left, a summit that is not the synthesis of the two sides, it is not an average of the two errors, this summit is the truth and the good given by God in the revelation and known in part also by our reason. There is, dear Catholics, happiness and peace.
In the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Ghost, Amen!