Miami priest Alberto Cutie is found in an illicit sexual relationship. A few days later he’s on CBS “Early Show” confessing and explaining what happened. Did his bishop approve the media appearance?
“Constantinianism” is, in Yoder’s terms, the church’s peace with the world; as RR Reno has explained Hauerwas, the protest against Constantinianism is a protest against everything that makes the church weightless and invisible.
It’s a protest worth making, but it shouldn’t be made only against the church’s relation to political power. There’s an equally pointed protest to be made against the church’s coziness with media power, which is, today, a far more insidious and real temptation than the supposed temptation to theocracy.
Doesn’t the church have its own ways of dealing with sin, confession, discipline, restoration? Do we want media rummaging around in the church’s business any more than we want the state meddling?
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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