Take the endless, painful, and frustrating survey for the 2015 Synod

So, the Diocese of Dallas (ht MJD) has on their website a Survey for the 2015 session of the Synod on the Family.  46 questions, all worthy of a multi-paragraph it not a multi-page response. I did not go that far, but I bet I just spend 5000 words on that thing if I spent one.  What a nightmare.  My spleen feels well vented, I can tell you that.

So, I guess this thing is the “official” survey.  Many probably saw some of the questions from last year when this thing was first trotted out. They are every bit as bad and misleading as I feared.  The diocesan website, upon completing the survey, doesn’t say “your results will be forwarded to Rome,” but something like “we’ll look over what you had to say, and then decide whether to include much or any of it.”  So, I probably am only going to bore some flunky at the chancery for a few minutes, until they hit delete, but I feel I did my ecclesiastical duty.

Man are those questions bad, though. I agree with Cardinal Burke and others, the questions really drive towards a conclusion as the survey goes on.  Much of it is in stilted, obtuse, academic language, but you can tell a point is being subtly driven home: “wouldn’t it be merciful to grant the Blessed Sacrament to those in disordered/sinful/abusive relationships?”  I had copied down some of the questions to share, but then I lost them!  But, the problems with the survey questions, and their leading/disordered nature, was discussed a great deal already last year.  They did not appear to be any different in this case.

So, if you want, take the survey.  They do ask for your address, but I suspect it wouldn’t be impossible to spoof if you live outside the Diocese. I frankly doubt to many kasual katholycs are going to bother sitting through 46 interminable questions.  But then again, given how many of those same folks work for parishes and probably the chancery, who knows?  So, it might be a good thing to balance out the rah-rah for the revolution crowd, if they’re present.  It would be pretty funny to have some cardinal scratching his head about why Dallas is such a bunch of radical neo-pelagian promethean rabbits.

Yeah, so that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 3 hours with no posts.