Everything's Right is Wrong Again

The result is a catalogue of disharmony in the service of contemporaneity, an artefact that is already ossifying into a 1990s design style. It is a style that presumes that more is hipper than less, confusion is better than simplicity, fragmentation is smarter then continuity, and that ugliness is its own reward.

In reading an article on Catholic Exchange on using pop culture in the New Evangelization referenced a phrase, "the cult of the ugly."  Interested in that I "googled" the phrase "cult of the ugly" to see who coined that phrase.  In doing so I found an article on graphic design from the early/mid 90's by a man named Steven Heller.  In that article was the above quote.

The piece was a ravaging of what was then called "post-modern" design in the graphic arts world.  It is filled with a vast array of ideas applied to the artist's craft.  It is also about graphic design, very useful and necessary profession, but not one of any interest to me.  The article, and the quote above particularly, got me to thinking about how his point can apply to all phases of life, including Christianity.

Mr. Heller speaks many truths in his article, truths that apply to more than the world of graphic design.  I think the main point of his article is that there has to be some higher standard and that the "post-modern" concept of throwing away the old rules and making new rules as the individual sees fit doesn't work.  However, a quick review of the history of the Catholic Church shows that this too is not a new idea.

We see this in the words of Martin Luther and other sixteenth century "reformers." They too wanted to throw out the old, i.e., the Catholic Church, and put in place their own ideas of what should be the basis of Christianity.  Much like the post-modern design artists decried by Mr. Heller, the "reformers" wanted to set aside what they saw as corrupt and broken in the Church and replace it with their own ideas.*  Even if Luther and the other "reformers" started out with the right intentions, they quickly devolved into exercises in egomanicalism. 

*there undoubtedly were many things that needed changing in the Church at the time, parts were broken and corrupt.

The question then becomes how do we apply this experience to our own lives.  In our own day we see things like the priest sex abuse scandal, the Vatican banking scandal, the dissident voices from the clergy on modern social and moral issues and even dare I say many Church leaders living lives of luxury while so many suffer in poverty.  It isn't hard to look at these things and feel, like those "reformers" of old that the Church is beyond saving and a new body must be formed.

It is that very line of thinking that has led to the founding of thirty-some thousand denominations.  It is this type of thinking that leads us from the Church and to sin.  It leads us away from God.  It is this self-focused thought that leads us away from our "neighbors," as Christ described them in the parable of the Good Samaritan.  It is the other that we must strive to be focused on.  It is the needs of our fellow man and not our own desires that we should strive to make our life's work. 

"If you want to be happy, really really happy, use your talents to serve others." - Eduardo Verastegui