Contempt

My problem: for some years now I am gripped by contempt...deep, intense moral contempt...specifically for our civil and ecclesial leaders and the values/ideologies they embody. This is troubling! It is not just me: both sides of the class/culture wars harbor visceral contempt for each other. This is a big deal! A marrige counselor said: "A resilient marriage can rebound from addiction, adultery and even abuse, but not contempt; if the spouses are speaking with contempt for each other, the marriage is already dead." The health of our families, communities and organizations requires a basic respect for and trust in leadership, however flawed and imperfect. Our civilization and Church have entered a deep darkness!

What is contempt? It is far more than disapproval, distaste or disagreement. It is aversion to what is ugly, evil and false. It is best understood as the opposite of reverence or respect. We are created for intimacy in the True, the Good and the Beautiful. Our purpose is to delight in, protect, share, serve, and revere the True/Good/Beautiful. The flip side: we must despise the false/evil/ugly. Like reverence, contempt is far more than a feeling: it is emotional, physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, volitional, social, personal-communal-institutional. It is an interior-exterior act of the entire person: body, heart, intellect and soul. Our love for the good will be as deep as our disgust for the bad: our YES is only as strong as our NO!

Raised in the post-war period, I learned contempt for Soviet Communism, Nazism, and later in my teen years American slavery and racism. I knew Protestants and Jews were different from us Catholics but I had no bad feelings for them. Son of a union organizer, I recognized Republicans, conservatives and captitalist as our adversaries, but in a peaceful, wholesome sense as in an athletic competition; Eisenhower was not one of us but he did lead us to win the war so he was basically okay; and that extended to his entire group.

Over the years, however, I have developed an extended "contempt list":

First, Cultural Liberalism, progeny of the Sexual Revolution, especially as institutinalized in the Democratic Party. Joe Biden is particularly revolting as a Catholic who has betrayed his legacy and disguises it as a good natured, ordinary, even pious working-class Joe.

Secondly, the horrific Communism of China and North Korea, but also Cuba and Venezuela.

Third, the progressive conspiracy within the Catholic Church to destroy our precious legacy. This includes Pope Francis, in his inconsistency and incoherence, and especiall his lieutenants.

Forth, Donald Trump and most of the Republican Party that panders to his shameless narcissism, shocking incompetence, disregard for truth, disrespect for women-immigrants-and all who disagree with him.

Fifth, more recently, Critical Race Theory, Black Lives Matter and the blanket allegation of systemic white racism as: scapegoating of the police, viciously polarizing, and destructive mostly of black communities and specifically of the black man who is imagined as passive, victimized, and impotent.

It gets worse however. My moral aversion to both Trump and Biden extends, of course, to those who support them. They are collaborators, ennablers of systemic, aggressive evil. This means, obviously, most of my family and friends, almost everyone I know. I find myself surrounded by a hidden web of the ugly, the false, the bad. This is only somewhat mitigated by the fact that many voted out of contempt for the opposite side: not fo much for Trump as against the liberal elite; not so much for the Biden program as against the Narcissist! Understanding these subjective intentions, both sides did nevertheless vote for a morally obscene program (although not equally so).

What to do about this fierce, profound contempt? A bourgeois, accomadist moral mediocrity would say: "Relax! Chill! Trump is not that bad...Who is perfect? Don't worry about the slaughter of the innocents; at least the liberals care about Mother Earth!" Such is not an option for me: the falsehood, the evil, the ugliness is just too thick, deep, despicable!

As I reflect, however, I see two rays of light:

First, I realize that when I deal with a specific, concrete person, the contempt dimishes immensely as I am more aware of the person's beauty and charm, goodness and virtue, pain and suffering, inherent dignity and worth. I am aware of the presence of evil, but not overwhelmed by it. Actually, the false/bad/ugly present in a specific person arouses not aversion but tenderness. For example, a number of women have told me of their abortions: I feel only sadness and care, never disgust or moral judgmentalism. I can speak with a contraceptor, a drug dealer, a smoker, a hedge fund manager, a Nietzchean and even a Democrat and my moral disdain is more than overwhelmed by delight, admiration, comraderie and compassion. (Disclaimer: This is not evident in this blog since Fleckinstein is not addressing a person, but an idea or movement and therefore unrestrained in his contempt.)

Secondly, I see that my contempt has to be brought, with all things, to Jesus crucified and risen. In Him I encounter: his absolute holiness, truth, beauty and goodness; his hurt and suffering for me; and his undying love for me, even in those aspects of myself for which I myself have contempt. This changes everything! My own self-identity is transformed: I feel the attraction of the holy; I grieve my sin but moreso I rejoice in His love. And I look with enhanced esteem and tenderness on my brothers and sisters, even as I renounce the evil which afflicts them and myself.