A couple of years ago, Rod Dreher was a Catholic, distressed to the max over corruption in the priesthood, and worried about the spiritually polluted Church. He eventually talked himself out of the Church, on the grounds that if he were to stay, then his kids might not remain Christians at all. He did it for the children, not because of any doctrinal issues.
Now, Rod's a member of one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and writing about the mysterious workings of God's grace -- about how some phony Orthodox monks in Texas, in spite of the spiritual frauds and sex crimes they committed, had accidentally brought about some good in the late '90s: that Rod met a young Protestant lady who would eventually become his wife. They were, despite everything, once a means of grace, he says.
To some extent, I'm pleased to see this attitude in Rod: a recognition that God accomplishes some good even despite sin and corruption. Here he seems to lack the harshness and anger with which he suffered for years.
Rod admits he was conned: he had his ears tickled by claims of a weeping icon, and he was fooled by the pseudo-monks there who blessed him and his fiancee. But if he's admitting that he didn't have good discernment then, doesn't that call into question his more recent discernment about leaving the Catholic Church? Wouldn't it be proper for him to go back to the status he had in 1996? Or is he going to switch to a pre-Chalcedonian Church now?
RC: You are right in praising him for this gift; however, getting him to go back to the status he had in 1996 is very unlikely. This is because of the belief he has that being a journalist means never having to say your sorry or where wrong.
Oh, pshaw. Plenty of non-journalists are stubborn about mistakes; I act that way half the time too.