Today more than ever the Christian must be aware that he belongs to a minority and that he is in opposition to everything that appears good, obvious, logical to the 'spirit of the world', as the New Testament calls it. Among the most urgent tasks facing Christians is that of regaining the capacity of nonconformism, i.e., the capacity to oppose many developments of the surrounding culture. ~Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, The Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church
The City of God and the City of Man
And this interview is from 1985. How much more necessary is the need for nonconformism in today's zeitgeist?
Great quote. I agree with it completely. I think it emphasizes the fact that we need an alternative culture. And this culture must be fostered in concrete terms, if we are going to do more than engadge in idle thinking. We need a non-conformist Christian culture--a community of people living a day to day life together that is in complete opposition to the mainstream. We need different standards of education, worship, family structure, recreation, social interaction, dress, civic involvement, everything. Time to stop being afraid of being different. Or, better yet, time to develop an alternative culture so strong that the fear of being different would never enter people's minds in the first place. Gotta be different when being the same is being pathetic.
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