Paradigms in peril

...They re-dedicate themselves fervently to universal objective truths eternally unchanging, distinctly clear, and absolutely certain...

...People can only subjectively construct and interpret perceived reality within their particular bounded horizons, always operating with partial perspectives Things are now and always have been interpreted, with plenty of revisions reworking the absolute certainties of yesteryear Once you get the message that reality is constituted by dynamic changing systemic forces, within ecological webs of life, limited by subjective interpretations, one's naive confidence in the "real" world and timeless faith tends to wobble...

...A pilgrim's progress through painful approximations toward God and reality is worth living and dying for Shifting continents or no, in seeking you will find ? 9...

...Well, O.K., who isn't afraid of creeping moral decadence...

...Socrates knows nothing, and Saint Thomas considers his achievements as straw) Each normal child is programmed to figure out reality and miraculously learn to speak, think, and morally reason in increasingly rational, expressive, and subtle ways...

...The more you discover the more you see there is more to know...

...In reaction, some believers vigorously reject any "turn to the subject," and resolutely retreat from the relativistic dangers of "process thinking...

...Humility comes with a self-consciousness of the developmental processes involved in discovery...

...Goodby Truth, farewell to the sovereignty of the Good One more culture goes down the drain...

...Bishop . Kenneth Untener, an especially acute theological observer, thinks so...

...If other people don't accept these truths, too bad for them Either the recalcitrant ones cannot reason properly or they refuse in their pride to submit to the authonty of those commissioned by God to pass on divinely revealed truths Fundamentalism comes in many guises but we know it when we see it A refined fundamentalist critique of process thinking forecasts the inevitability of its decline into moral relativism, if not nihilism...

...Slam, bang, wham1 As I recoil from these assaults, I'm often struck by the fact that the particular disagreement over an issue (women's ordination, contraception, homosexuality, just war, or whatever) is secondary to far deeper and more fundamental differences...

...Clearly there exist innate species-specific subjective human capabilities that appear always and everywhere Children in every culture effortlessly learn complex rule-based languages at an astounding rate, there must be an innate rational "universal grammar" capacity in the human brain ready to go Nurture determines which language(s) will be learned, but cognitive constants and common developmental patterns point to innate, highly active reasoning powers programmed to operate within the child Common crosscultural emotional patterns of expression and development also appear...

...Once you grant the reality of constant change, the influence of context, and subjective interpretation, won't you end up a complete skeptic about accepting any truths'' Why isn't my subjective perception of truth as good as yours7 Finally in full-blown epidemics of moral skepticism persons will find themselves too trapped within an imperial protean self to make any moral commitments, or to be faithful to anything...

...Panic, anxiety, vertigo, and intellectual seasickness may threaten one's deepest convictions...

...My own insights spnng from a long career marked by far too much intellectual infighting Liberalleaning Catholic writers, in case you didn't know, receive regular doses of "hate mail," or "fraternal correction," filled with messages such as, "Don't you see, Sidney, that you're really a bad Catholic...

...or "Shame, shame on you for betraying the faith...

...He descnbes the cultural changes that resulted in the event of Vatican II as a fundamental movement in which "the great plates beneath the church have shifted " He claims that while something massive is going on, we're all still trying to figure out what it is Aha, thought I, this not only sounds right but I think I have a few clues as to what's been happening to us...

...While selfishness and evil also appear everywhere, the pessimists and the cultural relativists appear to be quite wrong about either the malleability or amorallty of humankind We undoubtedly have an innate, programmed universal core of moral grammar that is usually exceedingly effective in producing the growth of individual conscience Ironically, when employing a psychological developmental perspective, subjectivity always leads to objectivity...

...I must have a consciousness of myself to understand your claims as another And if I know that I am interpreting something in a particular limited context, then I'm able to see that others must be influenced by their own contexts and viewpoints...

...The human species is social, and forms positive psychosocial bonds of loving attachment Kinship and cultural meanings are created universally...

...Perhaps we can have a common dialogue and progress toward consensus—or all be mistaken together...

...I for one don't want to end up in Therapy Land where "being comfortable" with your choice is more important than making a valid or good decision As a psychologist I' m supersensitive to the accusations (too often justified) of 8 the prevalence of psychobabble and the triumph of the therapeutic However, I deny the charge that the turn to the subject and a recognition of process, systems, context, and interpretation must inevitably lead to moral relativism and a denial of objective reality Academic and rigorous psychological inquiries into subjective processes of development do not end up endorsing subjective relativism Yes, science, including the human sciences, do require methods of skeptical doubt, but this cntical testing is employed in order to seek general consensus and increasingly objective, valid, and lawful understandings (a justification by doubt...

...And remember, any spoken sentence could be extended into infinity by continually adding more clauses and complex constructions Obviously, among other things, we're a species prepared for the eternal conversation So why shouldn't the inquiry and constantly revising search for new and better interpretations and understanding of God and reality be welcomed'' Automatic progress is not assured, but neither must regression be our human fate...

...Unfortunately, opponents in today's church can appear to inhabit different mental and psychological worlds Catholics coping with tectonic cultural shifts become mired in large metaphysical meta-debates or paradigm-clashes Surface conflicts reveal deeper underlying rifts over how we should arrive at our convictions about what is really "real," or God's own truth Take the growing acceptance by thinkers and theologians of the view that dynamic processes and constant change are present in every domain of life, including the Chnstian faith In process thinking all the old familiar posed photographs in the treasured album come to life and turn into moving pictures Things don't stay put anymore, and never did Along with the discovery of constant change and evolutionary development there's a new realization that all entities exist within dynamic systems and interconnected ecological networks No man (or religious faith) is an island Even distinct categories and definitions possess "fuzzy" boundaries Context alters content Things don't come in tidy packages, and never did Then there's the even more troubling realization that human beings are always limited by their particular historical context...

...Few will deny that high probabilities and virtual certainties can be reasonably achieved in science I would also claim that cntical moral reasoning can achieve highly probable objective results worthy of assent My confidence in a critical moral realism arises partly from my understanding of common, universal patterns that characterize the reasoning of human subjects In the midst of dynamic flow, new visions of systemic order and consensus emerge...