I have noticed that some traditionalist Christians project-onto "Romantic Christianity" their own notion that it aspires to be some kind of denomination, or church, or - at least - is a would-be organization seeking "recruits".
Ah well... It does not seem to matter how often I or others make explicit what Romantic Christianity actually is about.
Projection is, after all, rooted in self-understanding and self-motivation; and it is therefore impossible to overcome unless there is an honest act of empathy - and a wee-bit of sustained effort.
To understand some-thing entails that we are motivated to... understand it! When our motivations are otherwise, then the inevitable outcome is that we will Not understand it; but will create some kind of bogeyman or straw-man suitable for us to reject, ridicule, or otherwise attack.
And sufficient honest empathy to grasp what the other chap is actually saying, is - apparently - something that too-many traditional Christians find impossible - or at least undesirable.
based on a few conversations I've had with traditionalists, I think I understand why they always default back to that assumption. if it is just another movement, another potential church, another reformation, etc, it is a known quantity, they have the answers ready, the saints can be quoted to oppose it. but a fully individual engagement with God dismantles the whole basis of traditionalism. they are left with no other leg to stand on but... their own individual discernment and engagement with God!
ReplyDelete@Laeth - " their own individual discernment and engagement with God!"
ReplyDeleteWhich is what they Already have and use - but this fact needs to become explicit and acknowledged. And that, in a nutshell, is RC,