SlutWalkers, Occupiers, and Idiots

October 24, 2011 by Tim Muldoon

Continued from Page 1

Both SlutWalk and OWS idiots highlight the need for institutional commitments to practicing the virtues. The long history of Greek philosophy and Christian asceticism is founded on an insight that contemporary culture desperately needs to recover: namely, that the only social cure for sin and evil is spiritual practice. Aristotle understood such practice to be like unbending a stick: that is, unbending the human heart in the opposite direction of vice so as to find its center in virtue. Augustine similarly understood that such "unbending" occurs only through the participation in communities of conversion, rooted in the shared desire for goodness.

The idiot wants to critique institutions. The wise person wants to call institutions to recover the virtues. I agree with Gandhi's basic insight: be the change you want to see in the world. Practice the virtues; interrupt the patterns of unhealthy imitation of sin. And don't be an idiot about it; be a citizen.

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10/24/2011 4:00:00 AM

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About Tim Muldoon

Tim Muldoon holds a Ph.D. in Catholic systematic theology and is an award-winning author and Catholic theologian of the new evangelization.

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