G.K does it again:
The modern critics of religious authority are like men who should attack the police without ever having heard of the burglars. – Orthodoxy
Although he wrote neatly a century ago, his words ring as true today as any day. There are so many critics of religious authority that one might begin to imagine that religion (and particularly Christianity) is the evil itself. These critics are so focused in on the occasional abuses of religious authority that they cannot see the great good God has done by establishing authority in his church to be exercised through the office of the keys. They can only see the crusades, the child abuse scandals in the roman church, the televangelist scamming money from followers.
They refuse to see (even from a completely unbiased secular perspective) all the good the church has done by exercising the authority given to it by Christ. They refuse to see how the church has fought the evils of the world with more consistency and boldness that any other entity on earth. They cannot even see the mouths fed, the wounds healed, the children adopted by the people of God resting under the authority of the church. They cannot behold the goods protected, the marriages saved, and the reputations upheld. They cannot understand how much evil has been constrained as the church rebukes evil.
No, they act as if there is no burglar. They suggest that the only evil is the one fighting against sin. Yes, they attack the police. And as they do, the burglar goes free and does great evil. There is abuse among the police. And yet, we can never forget that the real evil which must be our focus is that done by the burglar, not the police. The police are there to do good and should be honored, in state and church. Abuses must be confessed, but the accomplishments should be noticed by all.
