In the church, many have told me that they grew up in a very paternalistic ecclesial environment where they were not encouraged to think for themselves. In fact, some didn’t even know that they were supposed to think! As one person put it, “We were told just to pray, pay, and obey.” Bishops and priests were expected to have all the answers, were sought for answers, and generally gave answers to every practical moral question put to them. Now, people are trying to learn how to live in the church after the Second Vatican Council, which encouraged them to take responsibility for both discovering moral values and charting the direction of their lives. (from Richard M. Gula, SS, Moral Discernment. New York, Paulist Press, 1997, 1-2)
ASSIGNMENT • What does the situation stated above (Gula’s introduction) imply? • Have you experienced the same thing? • If yes, cite specific instances and react. If no, simply give your reaction to the situation. As per the situation described above, there was a period when people who grew up in a paternalistic ecclesial environment didn't have the freedom to think for themselves, but instead had their decisions influenced completely by the church. Furthermore, the situation described above suggests that the church's influence in the past grew to the point that most people relied on what the church taught them for their decisions and acts rather than taking responsibility for their own lives. Prior to the emergence of the Second Vatican Council, whenever we hear about religious contexts, we instinctively believe that everything taught in this channel is correct and does not require additional study or investigation. This is not only because it was paternalistic in that we were pushed to pray, pay, and obey, but it is also because our positive impression of religion is directly imposed when we think of it. Many individuals, though, are unsure what all of these things mean to us. We're bewildered because we were simply obeying rather than being encouraged to pause and reflect for a while. We are expected to love as God's disciples, but we don't know what that entails. Our right to follow our conscience was thrown out the window by this authoritarian voice. Change, on the other hand, is unavoidable. As a result of these changes in the religious premise, we have been baffled and perplexed as to what are truly rightful things to do or what we ought to do. Changes in the church's norms and regulations left us unsure of how to proceed with the discovery of our conduct. After the Second Vatican Council, we are now urged to think for ourselves and to take responsibility for our own moral actions. Catholic theology currently promotes the idea that authoritative vice's moral understanding should educate rather than replace our conscience. We are now urged to follow our intuition and our conscience. These huge shifts have left us bewildered as to what is the correct thing to do and how we should act in each of our moral responsibilities and actions.
I didn't experienced the same thing just like the situation cited above, but my reaction to the aforementioned situation was, without a doubt, it truly lead people's views to be bewildered. When changes in the church's pedagogy occur, even I, if I were in the circumstances, would have felt the same level of confusion. People used to grow up in a paternalistic theological environment where authoritative voices became the norm of our daily lives, and we never knew we had the capacity to think on ourselves other than simply obeying, and now that changes have been made that encourage us to be responsible with our paths and follow our conscience, we have become perplexed as to what is the right thing to do or how we should act. Is it appropriate to follow orders without questioning them? or is it correct to follow our conscience and take responsibility for our moral choices? If I were in this circumstance, I would not just follow the church's instructions; rather, I would conduct my own study, reflect, make my own decisions while considering all possibilities, and accept responsibility for my actions. It was the proper thing to do for me since obeying without thinking is the same as allowing another person to rule our lives. It's similar to a robot that can't think for itself and is programmed to speak and perform certain things.
