I want to repeat some things that I have said before because of some current political circumstances both in secular politics and within the Church: True morality consists far more in how well we care for others than in the external behaviour we demand of others. This why moralism is truly immoral and, moreover, moralism is the last refuge of the pervert.
What is true cannot be a heresy and what is false cannot be sound doctrine. We must stop telling lies as if we were doing so to defend doctrine. We cannot demand of educated people that they must choose between God and truth, but that they cannot have both. Nevertheless, this is being done, and it is not only immoral, but it is feeding atheism far more than any militant atheist could ever hope to.
Fear cannot produce sincere repentance, but only trigger a survival instinct which produces a false formula of repentance. Such repentance is not about being sorry for sins, but about regretting that you cannot get away with them. Only love can produce a true, heartfelt repentance.
Moral outrage is a form of public confession; we hate most in others what we fear most in ourselves.
Orthodoxy of the mind is merely an intellectual exercise. Until one attains to Orthodoxy of the heart, one is still an alien to the faith. This is why the prayer of the heart directs us to bring the mind into the heart.
With some sort of power, you can brutalise and bully people into what you consider correct external behaviour according to one or another "moral code," but like the law of the Old Testament, this cannot save anyone, it cannot serve for the transformation of the inner person.
Hypocrisy is among the greatest acts of immorality and sin. It is 100 times worse when the hypocrite is a hierarch or priest. It not only destroys the soul of the hypocrite but forms a stumbling block to others who seeking to follow Christ.
I’ve had this stirring in me over the weekend, and I think I need to ask for a clarification. Where does defending the poor and oppressed play into this?
This may just be that I’m conflicted over the phrase “moral outrage”. Outrage in the sense of irrational anger is clearly not a place likely to do good. But I’ve watched a lot of activists who I see calling for more justice, more compassion, who then get accused of stirring up “outrage”.
The turning point in my mind is how this relates to Jesus’ life. There were political issues of the time which he decidedly brushed aside — thinking of when he was questioned on taxation — but he was very publicly vocal about institutional oppression within the culture of faith. Was it “outrage” when he scolded the temple leaders? (And is it too cliche to bring up flipping moneychangers tables?)