As a young man, Wills himself at one time thought he had a vocation, a calling, to become a priest. As a result, he entered the Catholic religious order known as the Jesuit order. For a few years, Wills was a Jesuit seminarian. (Disclosure: At one time in my life, I was also a Jesuit seminarian. However, I am no longer a practicing Catholic.)
However, after a few years, Wills left the Jesuits and took a job working for the Catholic polemicist William F. Buckley, Jr., at the NATIONAL REVIEW. Wills went on to complete a Ph.D. in classics at Yale. In following years Wills' vocation as a polemicist emerged and flourished. His new book is yet another manifestation of and expression of his vocation as a polemicist. In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, I give him credit for discovering his true vocation in life -- being a practicing Catholic polemicist about the Roman Catholic tradition.
Indeed, Wills is a leading practicing Catholic polemicist against the Roman Catholic tradition. Other leading practicing Catholic polemicists against the Roman Catholic tradition include Fr. Hans Kung, Fr. Charles Curran, and layman James Carroll. For a discussion of the numerous practicing Catholics silenced or otherwise dealt with by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), see Matthew Fox's fine book THE POPE'S WAR: WHY RATZINGER'S SECRET CRUSADE HAS IMPERILED THE CHURCH AND HOW IT CAN BE SAVED (2011).
As I noted above, the world today does not appear to be in danger of having an over-supply of shamans. But we can wonder if the
However, Pope Benedict XVI has just startled the world by renouncing the papal office at the end of February 2013, which hopefully will be accompanied by the end of his ministry as a practicing Catholic polemist favoring and defending the Roman Catholic tradition. But he appears to be an exception. Nevertheless, his example can give us hope that other polemicists may renounce their calling to be polemicists and retire from that august office in life.
Now, according to
In short, polemicists such as Wills and the ancient Hebrew prophet Amos are cultivating the warrior archetype in their psyches, not the archetype that shamans such as the historical Jesus and Catholic priests and psychotherapists of all stripes and spiritual directors in all traditions cultivate. The archetype that shamans cultivate is also the archetype that "good enough" mothers and fathers cultivate and that trustworthy teachers of all stripes cultivate, including medicine men and women and even medical doctors today cultivate ("doctor" means teacher).
The warrior archetype that Wills and the ancient Hebrew prophet Amos have cultivated is also cultivated by other public polemicists of all stripes, including all polemicists about social justice (the theme advanced by Amos), by professional lawyers of all stripes, by people in the armed forces, by police officers of all stripes, and by all of us whenever we muster our courage to stand up in public and say or do something that is potentially controversial and possibly even dangerous. In short, whenever we must muster our courage, we are mustering our warrior archetype. Courage is the signature virtue we need to cultivate and regulate the warrior archetype.
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