On my post from a few days ago entitled "On the Sad State of Catholic Youth Ministry," I want to retract a statement I made regarding Kumbaya. I am told by someone who was at this event pictured in the video that the Kumbaya singing was a parody at a comedic event and was not meant to be taken seriously. I apologize for speaking about what I knew not. I do question the prudence of whoever put this video together, however. If the Kumbaya was not meant to be sung seriously and was not really part of the spirituality of the event, why include it in the promotional video without reference to its comedic context? Someone I was speaking to about this said that it was "obvious" that it was not meant to be taken seriously, but it was not obvious to me. After the bizarrity I saw at NCYC in Columbus, I am willing to believe anything!
It is not my goal to be overly angry or demeaning towards the persons involved in NCYC - indeed, in my original post on NCYC I made the following statement:
NCYC is not a monolithic event, but a huge convention in which over 500 separate organizations participate. Therefore, I will refrain as much as possible from making blanket statements about the entire event. I met wacko liberal-commies there, and some really good priests and nuns as well.
I do not mean to characterize everybody who participates in these events as heretical or "wackos." I admit readily that there are many good and pious persons who participate in this event, as I mentioned initially. It is not the people I am condemning whatsoever but the ideological thrust of the event as a whole. If I speak with such vehemence against this type of thing, it is only because week after week I talk to kids from other youth groups who tell me how horrible this type of spirituality is and I run into Catholic teens all the time who are raised in this environment and who don't know the first thing about Catholicism. When I see NCYC, I see a spirituality that is destructive to souls, and therefore I call it out.
But, in my zealousness to call it for what it is, I do not want to be uncharitable or hurtful, and so I apologize if I have come off that way. We must condemn what must be condemned, but must also remember that the judgment with which we judge will be the same judgment we receive. Therefore, when I see videos of people singing "Kumbaya," I ought to be lenient and say, "What is the best possible light I can interpret this in?" rather than assuming the worst. I apologize for my rashness.
But the event still is horrible.
It is not my goal to be overly angry or demeaning towards the persons involved in NCYC - indeed, in my original post on NCYC I made the following statement:
NCYC is not a monolithic event, but a huge convention in which over 500 separate organizations participate. Therefore, I will refrain as much as possible from making blanket statements about the entire event. I met wacko liberal-commies there, and some really good priests and nuns as well.
I do not mean to characterize everybody who participates in these events as heretical or "wackos." I admit readily that there are many good and pious persons who participate in this event, as I mentioned initially. It is not the people I am condemning whatsoever but the ideological thrust of the event as a whole. If I speak with such vehemence against this type of thing, it is only because week after week I talk to kids from other youth groups who tell me how horrible this type of spirituality is and I run into Catholic teens all the time who are raised in this environment and who don't know the first thing about Catholicism. When I see NCYC, I see a spirituality that is destructive to souls, and therefore I call it out.
But, in my zealousness to call it for what it is, I do not want to be uncharitable or hurtful, and so I apologize if I have come off that way. We must condemn what must be condemned, but must also remember that the judgment with which we judge will be the same judgment we receive. Therefore, when I see videos of people singing "Kumbaya," I ought to be lenient and say, "What is the best possible light I can interpret this in?" rather than assuming the worst. I apologize for my rashness.
But the event still is horrible.
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