Do we unquestioningly and without a moment's thought repeat what Church Authorities claim is Truth? Do we happily attribute to fallible men a frightful power to think for us in all matters of metaphysics and morals? Do we march to a pre-programmed beat, leaving logic, reasoning, and inquiry in our wake? Well, obviously. Just look at how seriously we take papal encyclicals.
Now I'm sure one would not have to spend much time in the Catholic blogosphere before encountering a Catholic who seems to adhere unthinkingly to whatever the Pope says, but then one wouldn't have to spend much time browsing the Internet to find people who, without reflection, trust other authorities, such as philosophers, talk-radio hosts, or celebrities. I, for example, have to remind myself that while Paul Ricoeur was beyond genius, he could have been wrong about stuff. (Please don't tell me what that stuff was. You'll bring my fragile philosophical world crashing down, and that's more than I can bear).
It's true that Catholics submit to the teaching authority of the Church. However, our submission and obedience here is not unthinking, but rather the logical consequence of what we believe about the nature of the Church. We believe that God himself founded the Catholic Church and that he guides and protects it in its mission. Our thinking about matters of faith and morals doesn't take place in a vacuum — no one's thinking does, actually. Our thinking about faith and morals starts from the premise that God has spoken to humanity about these things and that he continues to speak to us through his Church.
Whether or not this premise is true is something every Catholic ought to have thought over a great deal. I said above that we start our thinking about faith and morals from this premise, but we ought to have arrived at this premise after much intellectual effort. If we have reflected on its truth and, after much questioning, come to the conclusion that it is true, then we are not unthinking in our obedience to the Church's teaching authority. We are not mindless robots. Rather, we are true to the consequences of holding a particular premise.
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