Saturday, May 5, 2012

Important Information On Just Faith

While all readers can surely benefit from what follows, I especially address this post to those of you who attended the presentation by Jack Jezreel at St Mark's today.  I've no doubt that what you heard seems to be at least benign and even helpful.  However, the Just Faith program is designed to instill in its participants sympathy for liberation theology, "gay" rights, women's "ordination" and other sundry dissidence from authentic Catholic social teaching.

My friend and Catholic Media Coalition colleague, Stephanie Block, has spent countless hours researching the programs of Just Faith, along with the books they recommend.  She has written eleven articles in her series about Just Faith.  With what she is discovering, the number of articles may yet grow.  I link to them below.

  1. Setting the Stage
  2. Growing in Compassion
  3. The Seven Themes of Catholic Social Justice
  4. Challenge and Spirituality of Catholic Social Teachings
  5. Tattoos on the Heart
  6. Waging a Living
  7. Portrait of a Radical
  8. Rising to Common Ground
  9. How Much Is Enough?
  10. Keeping the Earth: Just Faith and the Environment
  11. Solidarity Will Transform the World
  12. Journey to Justice Day
Two years ago I wrote a piece on Just Faith, focusing on the problematic individuals who were board members of Just Faith at that time.  I have found that much of the character and philosophy of any organization can be determined by the composition of its board of directors.  Right below the highlighted sentence is a link to a biographical article written by Jack Jezreel himself.  Pay very close attention to the "conversion stories" at the end.  You'll see people getting involved in "homosexual rights", "women's voices from the pulpit" (women's ordination), etc.

In all these articles, you'll notice that problematic teachings occur at the end of the recommended books and/or articles.  That seems to be a pattern, one which might suggest that while Just Faith seems innocuous enough, it is a Trojan Horse that insinuates (ever so subtly) erroneous philosophies.  While I'd like to think that such is accidental, the regularity and frequency of it indicates deliberation.

Beware before making any commitment to Just Faith.

5 comments:

  1. I did just faith three years ago and it brought me back to the Church after having been an evangelical Christian for sixteen years. I saw our Catholic faith in a whole new light where the Bible and the reality of American society intersect and where faith becomes real in putting the teachings of Jesus into practice. So I don't know what you're talking about I presume you have done this program and know something about it first hand?

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    1. Did you read the well-researched articles to which I linked in the article - including Jezreel's own autobiographical article to which I linked in the post of two years ago? Before I jump into something "first-hand", I do some "due-diligence" research. In your experience, how does Just Faith treat eternal matters such as heaven, hell, death and judgment? Just asking...

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  2. I am so glad you gave this warning. I belong to a nice orthodox parish--Saint John's in Leesburg VA--where we even have the extraordinary form on a regular basis but I attended the 12 30 mass yesterday at Holy Redeemer Church in Kensington MD because we were visiting my niece and that is her parish. There waa a very nice seemingly orthodox young priest who said a lovely Mass but I noticed on the way out posters for Just Faith. I tried to warn the priest about Just Faith and its support for Obama Socialism but I couldn't find him afterwards--you might wnat to warn that parish about just how evil tis program is, especially in an election year

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    1. Anonymous, I looked at their latest bulletin online and I see no hint of Just Faith therein. What did these posters say? Were they merely advertising the Saturday event (a day late),or were they soliciting interest, etc? I'd like to know some specific detail in order to have a conversation with him. Thanks.

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  3. no, they were soliciting interest in Just Faith. I don't remember the particulars but they were hanging by the doors of the church leading out to the parking lot. It seems like a pretty liberal parish--i saw some Obama Biden bumper stickers in the parking lot and I heard from my niece that the pastor is pretty far out there to the left, but the young priest--the one who said the mass--seems pretty balanced. he had short hair and was clean shaven and wore a cassock.

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