Ralf Stuttgen’s Views and Perceptions
On my recent visit to Papua New Guinea I had some far-reaching discussions with my friend, Ralf Stuttgen. Ralf has many interesting and discerning points of view which are worth airing in the hope that they can be commented on and further discussed by others.
Our conversations ranged over theological, philosophical, educational and environmental questions and were tackled uniquely and insightfully by Ralf.
Here are his views:
Who and what is God? Any definition of God cannot be divorced from our material existence and humanity’s system of values. Fundamentally God is love and with this concept in mind no one with values is essentially an atheistic according to Ralf. By a stretch of the imagination most, I guess, could accept a principal power and reality in the universe named God or something else. Theological definitions must continually be refined and explained in modern terms. Objective truth is not just a question of what is right and what is wrong.
Symbol and myth reveal and divulge theological and ethical truths. Virginity is a symbol of divine wisdom and life is like the rising dawn. There is no doubt in Ralf’s mind that the essence of the Christian message is fundamentally sound, but the interpretation of the message needs to be refined and updated.
Ralf looks at sin and an appropriate definition; Sin is any act where the damage is greater than the advantages. I suppose in a sense the end justifies the means. All acts have good and bad potentials. Untruths and lies are always involved with sin and the suppression of information. An ill-informed conscience cannot be an arbitrator of good and evil.
Science fiction can be a useful tool for awakening future generations to development possibilities for in this genre humankind looks at the desirable and the possible.
On the broad question of the economy, education and development Ralf continually stresses the primary importance of quality education. Any country without an educated population is doomed to a state of undevelopment. Even a state without abundant natural resources but with an educated population has the capacity for significant economic development, look at the South Korean economic miracle and compare this with Papua New Guinea, a country with vast natural resources and a seemingly inability to lift the standard of living for its population. Over the past thirty years or so South Korea has put in place a vibrant education and training programme throughout the country, whereas in PNG the state of education at all levels: primary, secondary, tertiary and technical training is at best poor and only available to a small percent of the population. The result being that South Korea exports the products of a technically advanced economy with vast returns to its educated and well governed population, whereas PNG is increasingly becoming a land that is largely being exploited for its resources by others. The country is plagued with inappropriate and destructive resource exploitation with little return to its people in general. One need only look at the logging and mining industries and the environmental hazards they are creating. Corrupt officials and politicians and overseas companies get their rewards but the uneducated masses get comparatively nothing. One example of poor governance and supervision in PNG is that 60% of the gold extracted from the country is exported illegally. This means that the state gets nothing for this valuable resource.
Ralf is emphatic in his assertion that education is the solution to all the world’s problems.
Doing it right – Success Doing it wrong – No Success
Education will improve public health. The most common cause of death is stupidity.
Education will protect the environment, stupidity leads to the killing of wildlife and even over-population. Governments must improve their education systems before they improve their health services. In British India the health services were better than the education services; result over-population.
Education, Research and the Future
Our biological, genetic and evolutionary future is tied up with education and new ideas.Let us look at some problems with new insights: Is Western Agriculture appropriate in undeveloped countries? Not always as it requires deforestation; more research is needed into methods of growing food. Humankind should be able to live off trees. The whole world could be covered with trees. Trees are a great source of starch and more research is needed to fully utilize them as food. Sensible conservation will protect the jungles of the world. In the past in PNG when the kunai grasslands were protected from burning it was noticed that the jungle trees come back. It is true to say our scientists need a broader education.
General reflections
Who does the Development Bank develop? Answer: The Development Bank. Only take out a loan when land and labour are there with future prospects to guarantee success. Look at the bind the West New Britain oil palm small holders are in trying to repay the Development Bank.
Indigenous people at least should be guaranteed health, fresh air and natural conditions.The reality is that indigenous people must adapt or vanish.The laws of evolution are there. In North America some indigenous people were known as little heads because of their small brain size. Presumably the evolutionary process had past them by. We must face the fact that some genes become outdated Will we in the future condone and allow some form of genetic engineering?
What was the principal cause of the fall of the Roman Empire? The Roman State did not have a Department of Education as an institution preserving and passing on knowledge to future generations.
Global warming has been going on for years, markedly since AD 400. Development and education are historically intertwined with changes of climate.
We must all learn to manage our health. Sleep is the most important anti-malarial. In the future humankind must learn to eat different foods.
The attempt to commercialize the production of sago in the Sepik will be a disaster. The keeping of cattle and wet rice growing are inappropriate as agricultural ventures in PNG as tasks associated with these endeavours are foreign to the people.
Managing rubbish is a problem for PNG towns and cities.
What is a Jew? Ralf looks at this broadly: There are ethnic Jews and theological Jews. Ethic Jews are those with a racial connection to Israel and theological Jews are all people of good will. This is in accord with God’s promise to Abraham:
Your descendants shall be as numerous as the stars in heaven. Your descendants will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
The ideas of a better world are not exclusively Jewish but also come from other ancient people such as the Persians and Egyptians. The big question was and is just how to achieve a better world? The answer will come from the chosen people who are all people of good will.
The Reverend John Spender makes himself available to anxious intentional communities
It recently came to my notice that Rev John can be called on by needy intentional religious communities. To ascertain the qualities of this man, I dug up an interview he gave me sometime ago. (See the previous post)
Confession and the Catholic Church
The Confession that changed everything
Why do so few of us seem to go to confession these days?
BY DAN CONNORS
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There was no next time. More than 30 years later Robert still goes to Mass every Sunday and takes an active part in his parish’s life, but he’s never been back to Confession.
He and I talked about it recently. “You’re not still mad at that priest, are you?” I asked.
“No, of course not,” he said. “I forgave him a long time ago. We all have our bad moods.”
“Then why have you never been back to Confession?” I asked, one friend to another.
Robert thought for a moment. “I don’t know,” he said. “At first I stayed away because I was mad. But as time went by I just got out of the habit. I found I didn’t miss it, and maybe didn’t need it. I’m a good person,” he added.
Robert isn’t alone. Catholics don’t go to Confession as often as they used to. Maybe our ideas of sin have changed. Maybe some got out of the habit of confessing. Maybe some had bad experiences with the Church that they haven’t gotten over. Maybe some feel that what they do in their lives is none of the Church’s business. All of them probably see themselves, like Robert, as “good persons.” And generally they are.
“But you know Penance isn’t just for great sinners,” I said to Robert. “It’s a sacramental encounter with the Lord that can help everyone, even saints!”
“Yeah, I know,” he replied. “And,” he added before I could say it, “if we are all such ‘good persons,’ why is our world such a mess?” He thought for a minute. “I know I’ve hurt people when I’ve been in bad moods, too. Am I any better than that priest was?”
Robert is thinking about all this. His parish’s Lenten Penance service is coming up soon. Who knows? He might show up.
I’d also love to hear your thoughts about Penance today. Why do you — or why don’t you — go? What advice would you give Robert? Please write to me at Catholic Digest, P.O. Box 6015, New London, CT 06320 or e-mail me at dconnors@catholicdigest.com. CD
On Feb 14, 2009, at 9:22 PM, David Wall wrote:
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Dan,
I think that Western-present-day Catholics have mainly fallen away from regular confession, or no confession at all, because of the Church’s obsession with sins of the flesh.
This fixation encompasses many so- called sins that are no longer considered sinful by the average Catholic. Take, for example, the practice of artificial birth control by Catholic married couples. I recently attended Mass and listened to a sermon haranguing the congregation to go to Confession. The sins uppermost in the priest’s mind ranged from birth control to abortion with the unworthy reception of Communion by those who had not confessed being specially mentioned. The fact is that since Vatican II the average Catholic has changed but not the official position of the Church on anything of significance. I myself still try to confess at least once a year, but I must say, not out of any deep commitment to Auricular Confession, but I think more out of a sense of guilt that still remains from my early pre-Vatican II religious indoctrination. Just a few thoughts on the subject that I hope are relevant. With all good wishes, David
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Thank you, David, I appreciate your thoughts!
Dan
Dan Connors
Editor-in-Chief
Catholic Digest
Oh, for an intentional community!
What I’m looking for is an intentional community of the Roman and Catholic persuasion in the inner city of Sydney, where I can worship and be a part of a community of faithful who exemplifies the defining aspects of a dynamic church: the church militant, the church suffering and the church triumphant.
I want a parish church where there is an open conflict between the parish priest and the congregation, with no clear guidelines as to, who is actually conducting the weekly Mass. Let there be long-winded dissertations and outpourings by congregation members when the time comes for prayers of the faithful; and as for the sign of peace, anything less than chaos, as people move around the church, kissing, hugging and shaking hands would be unacceptable. The pastor must wait patiently while these expressions of love are taking place. With a bit of luck, he might not even turn up for next week’s Mass and leave the faithful entirely to their own devices.
The community I want is one dedicated to the first Australians; be they functional or dysfunctional, the more dysfunctional the better. The call for “any change brother” would be like music to the ears of the parishioners, especially if the hard word is put on one during the consecration at Mass. The advisability of keeping one’s possessions close especially when going to communion need not be stated. The spirituality of those moving about the church must be a known fact and not open to question.
I like the idea of putting items of supposed sacredness on the altar without reference to the pastor; what would he know anyhow?
I want a priest who says very little about social justice and a lot about sin and damnation. I want a parish that has a fierce and ongoing memory of a past charismatic pastor and wants to preserve this at all costs; one that moves with the times but is stuck in time. It would be energizing if during Mass someone jumps up and informs all about a television service that impressed him or her and is far better than the present one.
The parish that I want must be militant, triumphant and suffering and I put to my readers, is there such a parish?
One might accuse me of looking for drama rather than spirituality, and this might be right, but please protect me from the insipid and dull and let me grow in the excitement and exuberance of a truly intentional community.
Catholics in conservative parties
December 2, 2009 at 3:56 am (Barnaby Joyce, Catholic Church, Commentary, Joe Hockey, Malcolm Turnbull, National Parties, Riverview, Sectarianism in Australia, St Aloysius' College, Tony Abbott)
Australian Catholics of past generations would find it hard to believe that the three recent candidates for Liberal Party leadership were Catholics: Malcolm Turnbull, Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott.
It was generally assumed up until the late 1960s that Catholics had no political future in conservative politics in Australia. The first slight breach in this came with the emergence of Philip Lynch as a Minister in the Gorton and McMahon governments in the late 1960s and early 70s.
If you include Barnaby Joyce, the National Party leader in the Senate, with Abbott and Hockey, it is interesting to note that they all come from Jesuit schools – Abbott and Joyce from Riverview and Hockey from St Aloysius.
When Nick Greiner (an old boy of Riverview) became NSW Premier in 1988 it was an event for the school almost like the Second Coming.
Catholics coming into their own in conservative parties in Australia raise a number of interesting questions about the demise of the Anglican Presbyterian ascendancy, or perhaps the general indifference by Australians to denominational considerations and sectarianism, or then again, just an apathy towards religion.
Whatever answers we come up with one thing is for sure our fathers and grandfathers would be amazed.
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