Sometimes Wisdom Requires Judgmentalism and Intolerance.

The Welcome Closing of the American Mind - Closed-mindedness, because “G. K. Chesterton said that the human mind is like the human mouth — both are meant to close down on something solid.”


Saw this on Facebook today. It's from a commencement address by Rev. Robert McTeigue, S.J., a philosophy professor and director of discernment at Ave Maria University. So often today the buzzwords are "tolerance," "compassion" in an I'm OK, you're OK world of moral relativism where there is no recognition of Truth.

Judgmentalism, because we have to know the difference between good and evil, the beautiful and the ugly. We owe it to ourselves and the people around us, the communities we are in. “Yes, prejudice is wrong; but a well-honed and hard-won habit of good judgment is a hallmark of moral and intellectual maturity.” Seek good judgment.

And, finally, intolerance, because:

Socrates was intolerant of the Sophists. Moses was intolerant of Pharaoh. Jesus was intolerant of the Pharisees. Frederick Douglass was intolerant of slavery. Blessed Rupert Mayer was intolerant of the Nazis. Blessed Mother Teresa was intolerant of abortion. Blessed Pope John Paul was intolerant of the culture of death. Intolerance can be a beautiful thing — you just need to know how to do it properly.

This does not mean a refusal to listen. This does not mean you’re always right. But it is an affirmation that there is truth out there, within your grasp. With a little humility and confidence, and a rootedness in things eternal and historic and cultural, with friends and teachers along the way, you can keep building a culture that seeks more for itself than watching Snooki and playing hooky. Perhaps you’ve heard about our culture of adolescence. You can lead us into something else. You can actually be discerning adults.

See the complete article by Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online, HERE.