tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post8612456195068180482..comments2024-03-23T12:05:23.537-05:00Comments on The Wild Reed: James Carroll on Catholic Understandings of Truth (Part 5)Michael J. Baylyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-74584928626900824702009-09-25T08:51:38.810-05:002009-09-25T08:51:38.810-05:00Well, if the worldwide Church were a "democra...Well, if the worldwide Church were a "democracy", I would not assume the rights of women and gay folk within it would improve at all, and in fact might deteriorate.<br /><br />I believe James Carroll assumes that democracy would be established under limitations that would by definition have to be set by non-democratic means. In other words, who gets to decide what the "bill of rights" and procedural rules are? Is it the entire body of the faithful? If so, shudder now. If not, then you'd have to transparently square this with all that democracy talk. In practice, this is *much* tougher than it appears in theory.<br /><br />This is not idle talk. There are many areas of the world where democracy has been established in form and it has meant a deterioration of rights of minorities and the less empowered. And not all of these places are functional dictatorships. Democracy is not an unequivocal force for progress.Liamnoreply@blogger.com