Tag Archives: Christianity

Hope Rises: A Call to Purge the Church

27 Monday Aug 2018

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It’s a call in the strongest, most straightforward terms imaginable. It’s a response more powerful and more informed than anything we could have hoped for. And that magnitude inspires hope anew.

Unless you’ve been under a rock (or glued to the TeeVee), then you’ve heard about the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Not the generalities, rumors, and bad jokes, decades old; but the hard and very fact specific allegations and supporting evidence as most recently manifested in the Pennsylvania grand jury report. I wrote much about that and the Vatican’s limp-wristed response thereto in last week’s TPC column.

One comment to TPC asked about news of “good” apples:

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Now comes a whole barrel of good news apples. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former  apostolic nuncio (a diplomat or ambassador) to Washington dropped a bomb on the corrupt hierarchy of the Church.

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You can and should read his 11-page letter, at the above link in Scribd format, or HERE, in plan text. The rot truly go all the way to the top.

I say “read” the letter knowing full well that half cannot and most of the other half will not. We are a “postliterate” society. (Read more on that concept HERE – try to understand it from the perspective of a writer; “postliterate” looks a lot like illiterate [all I shall say on that for now]). Anyway,

Vigano’s missive cuts to the heart of the nature of what’s wrong on many different levels. Fully comprehending, he even touches on the utter confusion which moots the understanding of morality (thus often preventing proper identification of major problems when they come up):

Father James Martin, S.J., acclaimed by the people mentioned above, in particular Cupich, Tobin, Farrell and McElroy, appointed Consultor of the Secretariat for Communications, well-known activist who promotes the LGBT agenda, chosen to corrupt the young people who will soon gather in Dublin for the World Meeting of Families, is nothing but a sad recent example of that deviated wing of the Society of Jesus.

The Pope’s (tempted to place that title in quotation) performance in Dublin was weak at best – and was rightly criticized. But even some of those who are critical are so confused from the start as to be completely ineffective (the pot and the kettle, in other words). Take this ignorance – from a somewhat sympathetic source – for example:

“So much has been covered up by bishops in the Catholic Church,” the woman said. “I was so small when I was abused, not by a member of the Church but it was covered up by the Church.

“Everyone knew, my mother, the teachers in school, everyone but that was back in the 70s and everyone was so afraid of the Church.

“It was important for me and other victims, to be here today, to use Pope Francis’ visit as a stage for protest, to force change in the Church – that bishops must no longer be allowed to cover up child abuse.

“Ireland has come so far, with the ‘Repeal’ movement and LGBTI marriage rights and now in Ireland we are going to send a message to the Church together.“

Read that again. “Ireland has come so far…” She suffered abuse, horrible abuse. That is a problem faced by so many, on many continents, for years. But she fails to see the interrelation among the various evils. In fact, she views some of them as progress. The repeal movement refers to the recent legalization of child murder in IRE. Progress? LGBTI “marriage” is progress? I understand the aforementioned Father Martin was live and in full force in Dublin – connect those dots. What then, exactly, can the message be from the people of the Emerald Isle to the Church?

One cannot expect any organization, religious or political, to correct its mistakes if half of those mistakes are mistaken for successes. As I’ve noted before a full purge is in order. Vigano gets it and calls for it: the best of this “good apple” good news:

Francis is abdicating the mandate which Christ gave to Peter to confirm the brethren. Indeed, by his action he has divided them, led them into error, and encouraged the wolves to continue to tear apart the sheep of Christ’s flock.

In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them.

Even in dismay and sadness over the enormity of what is happening, let us not lose hope! We well know that the great majority of our pastors live their priestly vocation with fidelity and dedication.

It is in moments of great trial that the Lord’s grace is revealed in abundance and makes His limitless mercy available to all; but it is granted only to those who are truly repentant and sincerely propose to amend their lives. This is a favorable time for the Church to confess her sins, to convert, and to do penance.

Let us all pray for the Church and for the Pope, let us remember how many times he has asked us to pray for him!
Let us all renew faith in the Church our Mother: “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church!”
Christ will never abandon His Church! He generated her in His Blood and continually revives her with His Spirit!
Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!
Mary, Virgin and Queen, Mother of the King of glory, pray for us!

Since the letter was delivered the Pope has been silent on the matter(s). Something tells me he (and certain associated figures) will not go quietly. It is up to the Faithful, then, to make some noise. Vigano is veritable shouting from the rooftop. I reiterate my call to arms.

***

There was another comment at TPC which I had thought to re-address. This one:

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…blah, blah, blah … heretical, mid-witted blah…

In hindsight, I think my short reply was enough:

He dismisses with false interpretation and rampant speculation, all Trinitarian Churches, presumably in favor of his own organization which he doesn’t even mention by name. (I did cut out a few of his links; if he won’t name it, I won’t promote it).

Totally off subject, he presents a fake problem and then offers no solution. He fails to realize (or does not care that): there are many ways to interpret a dream; there is quite a bit of Bible prior to Revelations; The Trinity is real and Holy; more than a few countries boasted Christian death tolls to rival his (oddly unstated) number of murdered heretics, and; his misuse of Rev. 17:4, taken all the way through the cup, results in utter and self-defeating blasphemy. His use of Colossians 2:8 is projection. Fortunately, the same Christ who told us to pray in the Name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit also warned us about false prophets.

And the same Christ will never abandon His Church!

A good and happy Monday to you all.

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If You Must Revenge, Try to Get the Target Party Right

23 Thursday Aug 2018

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Chalk this one up to most people being idiots. That, or general anti-Christian sentiment.

Yesterday’s TPC column, syndicated here, on the recent Church abuse report has generated interest. The episodes detailed therein are the tip of a deep, dark iceberg. The abuse calls out to Heaven for justice. But any justice needs to be tailored to the appropriate offenders, the actual offenders.

A man in Indiana got it wrong.

A Catholic priest was beaten while praying at his church in Merrillville, Indiana, and authorities are investigating the attack as a hate crime.

The Rev. Basil John Hutsko told police he was attacked Monday morning inside the St. Michaels Byzantine Catholic Church as he was praying in the sacristy.

The attacker “grabbed him by the neck, threw him down on the floor and immediately started slamming his head against the floor. Both sides, front and back,” Merrillville Police Chief Joseph Petruch told CNN affiliate WBBM.

The assailant left Hutsko battered, bruised and unconscious. And during the assault the attacker yelled, “‘This is for all the little kids,'” Petruch said.

It was an apparent reference to the clergy sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in recent years. Just last week an explosive grand jury report out of Pennsylvania detailed decades of abuse of children by more than 300 priests in that state.

“I have enough there to say it’s a hate crime,” the police chief said.

That’s why the FBI has been called in on the case.

Efforts by CNN to reach Merrillville police and Hutsko on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Detective Sean Buck of the Merrillville Police Department told CNN that Hutsko was attacked in a dimly lit area and was unable to provide many identifying details about the suspect. The priest lost consciousness during the attack, Buck said.

A fellow priest said Hutsko has never been accused of sex abuse.

“He’s a very dedicated priest and hardworking and in good standing, it’s just a random act of an innocent priest,” the Rev. Thomas Loya told CNN affiliate WGN.
Loya said he’s not surprised by the attack because of the recent headlines.

“The stories are very ugly, you know, let’s face it, and very unbecoming of the church so I can see where some people might become enraged,” he said. “But at the same time people get enraged and do this to an innocent priest and that’s not going to help or solve anything.”

Hutsko sustained bruises to his head and was treated at a hospital and released. No one’s been arrested so far in the case.

Surprise, surprise, but CNN missed something here. Odds are the police missed it. Post-literate Americans have no idea. Certainly, the attacker overlooked something (unless he knew something about this specific priest or, more likely, just didn’t care).

The Byzantine Catholic Church is the GREEK Byzantine Catholic Church. Greek. Orthodox. That’s different from the Roman or Latin Catholic Church. While not as prolific as their Protestant Sisters, there are some 20 or so “Catholic” Churches. Similar but different. Different Rites, histories, hierarchies, etc. As I’ve noted previously, the Eastern, Orthodox branches have not suffered many of the modern afflictions of the Latin Church of Rome.

At least get it straight before going all vigilante.

Full Take on the Catholic Abuse Report and Response – From TPC

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

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As promised yesterday:

READ THE WHOLE COLUMN AT TPC

Or, here:

22 August 2018

[Perrin Lovett] – Horrific New Light Shed on the Crisis in the Roman Catholic Church (That Crisis Which Threatens All of Christendom)

Christianity is one of the three fundamental pillars of Western Civilization (along with the Greco-Roman legal legacy and the European nation-state). And, of the three, it is arguably the most important. The West cannot stand without it. Our enemies know this and that is behind the constant globo-secular attacks on the Faithful and the Church. Those assaults, however, are likely not the worst obstacle to our continued functioning religion and way of life.

 

The real threat is inside. Many in Europe, in America, and elsewhere have been aware of this phenomenon for years. But last week a story surfaced which renewed the call to alertness and action like nothing I have ever seen before.
In a blog post last week I first examined the spectacle, one seemingly lifted from the pages of a gothic horror novel. A Pennsylvania grand jury released a 900-page report detailing over 1,000 cases of predatory sexual abuse, committed by some 300 priests and other leadership figures, over many decades, at various PA Catholic parishes and institutions.
Read The Report HERE. ***WARNING: This is among the vilest evil imaginable.***

We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this. We know some of you have head some of it before. There have been other reports about child sex abuse within the Catholic Church. But never on this scale. For many of us, those earlier stories happened someplace else, someplace away. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere.

Remember that PA is but one of 50 states in one of about 195 countries with practicing Catholic populations. PA has roughly 3.5 million Catholics out of 1.285 billion worldwide (or .0027%). Out of such large numbers, even in the Keystone State alone, the percentage tally of abuse incidents and victims is statistically small. However, the concern should be huge. The real problem is with the priests and the hierarchy. These are clergymen who, direct abuses aside, simply cannot administer their offices effectively.
After reading more of the cases than I cared to, I discerned a pattern: abuse, cover-up, abuse, cover-up, shielding from civil justice, insanely slow administration of Canon justice, and denial. Why and how did it take so long for this to become public knowledge? Parishioners have literally been held hostage and forced to pay (hush money) for the abuse. Such a tragedy is beyond belief. It’s beyond systemic corruption. It is indicative of the embedded presence of Lucifer and his evil.
I, along with others, call for a purge. A macro purge would involve reversing Vatican II and probably Vat. I as well. At the operational level, every single identifiable satanist, atheist, sodomite, pederast, communist, and globalist in the Church must be removed. (It would be just to remove many from the world, period).
Without a substantial overhaul, traditional Catholics are left with three choices: 1) continue to suffer; 2) withhold money and support in protest until reform comes, or; 3) leave (one notes Orthodox Churches do not seem similarly afflicted).
Picture from Vatican News.
On Monday, August 20th, Pope Francis responded via a Letter to the People of God. Therein he admitted:
Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient.  Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated.
One will note that among the various Biblical passages cited, Matthew 18:6 is absent. But, Amen!, we do need action. Some are already contemplated what I suggested above and the withholding of financial support. But, in testament to the force and nature of this trouble, even as some talk about a purge, others busy themselves building bridges and fomenting better relations with the enemy. Yes, wolves are eating the flock. So bring in more wolves! Madness.
Picture by browniecheesecake.com. And no offense offered to actual wolves, our lovely if noisy woodland friends.
The recent report, while very specific, is also somewhat applicable to the general and greater tribulation of the whole Church in the West. I recall a late article about the decline of Southern Baptists and other Protestants in South Carolina. The decline of Southern Baptists. In South Carolina. The Bible Belt. Said article paints a partial picture of post-Christian “culture.” It isn’t a Rembrandt: ”The share of Americans who identify with Christianity is declining, while those who say they have no religion is growing rapidly.” Remember the important pillar of that which we like to call Civilization…
The numbers are shocking. In less than a decade, while gaining 11 new Baptist church buildings, SC lost 78,516 church members. At this rate, in a few years, the state might only have 50,000 Southern Baptists, each attending his own, individual church… Unity?

This is the result of decades of decline, confusion, and degeneracy in society generally and, specifically, in the parishes. In a time and place where literally anything goes (unless it makes sense), people look for refuge in the Church. Increasingly, in place of sanctity and safety, what they find is more anything goes, worldly conformity, virtue signaling, postmodernism, taboos, rock n’ roll services, Churchianty, cotton candy theology, and, in many cases, outright evil.
This decline cannot stand. If it does, then we will not.
**A Note about Facebook: Your author is barely on that spy tool service. As such, please leave your comments and interactions here via the convenient “Post a Comment” feature immediately below.

Fellow Terry College of Business (UGA) grad Brother Perrin Lovett is a true renaissance gentleman & scholar. A recovering attorney, he’s into guns & cigars, and the US Constitution. Apublished author, Prepper columnist &YouTube personality, and an acclaimed blogger, TPC is very proud to have our old friend on board as the C.F. Floyd Feature Writer of National Affairs.

 

*Reprinted from The Piedmont Chronicles.

*My goal is to have the TPC column syndicated nationally or at least regionally. By posting the entire structure here I have achieved minimal syndication. A start.

A Letter From the Pope

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

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Came yesterday, Monday, August 20, 2018, addressing the Pennsylvania abuse report. Its kind of vague, almost watery, and lacks reference to Matthew 18:6, but it is a start.

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis
To the People of God

“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (1 Cor 12:26). These words of Saint Paul forcefully echo in my heart as I acknowledge once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons. Crimes that inflict deep wounds of pain and powerlessness, primarily among the victims, but also in their family members and in the larger community of believers and nonbelievers alike. Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient. Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated. The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.

…

Much more on this later in the week via my TPC column. That, here, then.

Pure Evil in the Church

15 Wednesday Aug 2018

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The following is one of the most disturbing things I’ve read in a long time (a long time of reading disturbing things).

A Pennsylvania Grad Jury released a nearly 900-page report documenting hundreds of homo-pedo priests in the State’s Catholic churches.

The 884-page document, two years in the making, shines a light into the dark corners of these dioceses going back seven decades, exposing the predators and the efforts of their bishops to protect them.

“Today, the most comprehensive report on child sexual abuse within the church ever produced in our country was released,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “Pennsylvanians can finally learn the extent of sexual abuse in these dioceses. For the first time, we can all begin to understand the systematic cover up by church leaders that followed. The abuse scarred every diocese. The cover up was sophisticated. The church protected the institution at all costs.”

Several clergy abuse victims who had testified before the grand jury attended Shapiro’s news conference. At least one of them could be seen breaking down in tears.

The report begins with the following statement:

“We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this. We know some of you have head some of it before. There have been other reports about child sex abuse within the Catholic Church. But never on this scale. For many of us, those earlier stories happened someplace else, someplace away. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere.”

It truly happened in every corner of PA (and you know it’s not limited to one state). There’s a pattern running through all the disgusting cases. Abuse, cover-up. Abuse, cover-up. Constant shielding from civil justice. Slow, very slow administration of Canon justice – which, as codified, makes all of these offenses, at once, deposable. Instead of immediate action, the hierarchy took years, decades to do anything meaningful. Hush money was paid as abusers were shuffled across the country. The Faithful are literally held hostage and forced to pay for the abuse. Life after life ruined.

It’s beyond systemic corruption. This is pure Satanic evil run amuck.

THE REPORT

[1,356 pages, PDF] [These accounts are long, exhausting, and VILE. Be forewarned.]

Problem: Evil. Answer: Purge.

Action is now demanded. Necessary reforms include: driving the Satanists, the sodomites, the pederasty leeches, and the globo-communists from all ranks of the Church (into the sea would work); rescind Vatican II (and Vat. I, most likely); institute a strong and vigilant watch to ensure the evil is held at bay.

Barring a substantial overhaul, traditional Catholics are left with three choices: 1) continue to suffer; 2) withhold money and support, in protest, until reform comes, or; 3) leave (one notes Orthodox Churches do not seem similarly afflicted).

Protestant friends: please pray for us, and consider your own inquests.

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“Significant Religious Change”

10 Friday Aug 2018

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The State (Columbia) does a great job looking into the predictable decline of the Church in South Carolina, the South, and the West:

FAITH BY NUMBERS

The South is slowly catching up to national and European trends shifting toward what many call a “post-Christian” culture — that is, a society with characteristics no longer dominantly rooted in Christianity.

Studies and surveys have documented the decline of self-identified Christians and the rise of “nones,” or the religiously unaffiliated, across the United States for years.

The Pew Research Center describes the United States as in the midst of “significant religious change. ”The share of Americans who identify with Christianity is declining, while those who say they have no religion is growing rapidly.

This isn’t new but it is still a little surprising in the Bible Belt. The Southern Baptist numbers are interesting, if alarming: adding 11 churches while shedding 78,516 members… This partially illustrates one of the problems with Protestantism: when does the schism stop? At this rate, in a few years, SC might only have 50,000 Southern Baptists, each attending his own, individual church…

This is the result of decades of decline, confusion, and degeneracy in society generally and in the parishes. In a time and place where literally anything goes (unless it makes sense), people look for refuge from the Church. Increasingly what they find is more anything goes, worldly conformity, postmodernism, tattoos, taboos, rock n’ roll services, Churchianty, cotton candy theology, and, in many cases, outright evil. It’s not a recipe for success.

The State is correct; it is starting to look like Post Christian America. This is change we don’t need.

We are assured long-term survival though it may be a little painful.

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“No Moshing in the Pulpit…” The State.

Religious Bigotry in America

03 Tuesday Jul 2018

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The war on God is getting so heated that even National Review has noticed:

If you ever need much evidence that the growing “God gap” in American politics fosters an immense amount of ignorance and occasionally outright bigotry, look no farther than the concern — the alarm, even — that Amy Coney Barrett is on President Trump’s short list to replace Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court.

The alarm isn’t about her credentials. She’s checked every box of excellence — law review, appellate-court clerkship, Supreme Court clerkship (with Justice Scalia), elite law-firm experience, law professor at an elite law school, and now experience as a federal judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She’s a young, brilliant woman at the apex of her profession.

So, beyond her obvious originalist judicial philosophy (shared to varying degrees by every person on Trump’s list of potential nominees), what’s the problem with Judge Barrett. Why do some progressives single her out for particular scorn?

It turns out that she’s a faithful Christian who lives a Christian life very similar to the lives of millions upon millions of her fellow American believers.

No, really, that’s the objection.

It’s not just that they’re afraid of losing Roe v. Wade (the Dred Scot of the 20th Century, but worse and so wrong even Jane Roe came around). They’re afraid of losing the battle to finish off what’s left of America. They’re afraid of failing their prince, not realizing that it’s a lost cause, win or lose.

Imagine if Barret was Jewish or Muslim. Or an atheist. Or a satanist. If she was, then the howls from the same progressives happy to attack a Christian would be audible on the moon.

2033.

amy-barrett-faith-attack

Still not sure about the Fed-Soc.

Hating On Our Girls

13 Friday Apr 2018

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They still call this country-shaped place “America” though the shenanigans sometimes cause doubt.

Take the NFL (please!). The F is supposed to stand for “football.” Once upon a time that was a manly American sport. The post-American NFL seems to shun all things: manly, American, decent, normal, noncriminal, and free. Oh, they also shun Christian virgins too.

A former Miami Dolphins cheerleader claims that she was discriminated against by the team and the NFL for talking about her Christian faith — and mocked after she admitted that she was a virgin.

Kristan Ann Ware, who cheered on the Dolphins for three years, charged in a complaint filed with the Florida Commission on Human Relations that the workplace turned hostile after she told some of her fellow cheerleaders that she was waiting until she was married to have sex.

It got even worse, Ware charged, when she posted an image of her baptism along with a Bible verse on social media.

“Let’s talk about your virginity,” cheerleader director Dorie Grogan allegedly said when Ware arrived for an interview for returning dancers in April 2016, according to the complaint. “As far as we are concerned you have taken something that was once upon a time pure and beautiful and you’ve made it dirty.”

Ware, who is no longer with the Dolphins, is now seeking arbitration from the Florida commission and a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. She said female cheerleaders should be allowed to express their faith publicly the way the male players do.

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Even if she misses the job she must look much better without those gaudy anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Western rags. Getty/CBS.

According to the Dolphins, stating the fact of one’s virginity makes it dirty? Really? Was it that, or the Baptism, or both? I’m sure that had Ware identified as a gun controlling, Hindu, Hobbit, non-binary, sodomite, she would have received some sort of award. “Three cheers for our new captain!” Any arbitrator worth his salt will order Badell, Kraft, Peter King, the freaks, and the thugs on the first boat out. And why haven’t we heard from the DOJ Office on Violence Against Women, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the NOW gang, and the #metoo brigade? Odd.

Those Americans, over forty, proud, and sane, might also find it odd that assorted lowlifes willfully attack another beautiful young woman for expressing her faith and pride in the Second Amendment.

A University of Tennessee Chattanooga senior’s graduation photo has generated controversy on social media. In the photo, Brenna Spencer is seen wearing a bright pink “Women for Trump” T-shirt with white jeans. A black handgun is tucked into her waistband.

Spencer shared the photo on Twitter Saturday and captioned the post: “I don’t take normal college graduation photos.”

I, for one, haven’t the faintest idea what’s controversial about any of this, except that I also don’t see anything about the photo as abnormal. Oh, wait. We’re in post-America now… Some non-Americans chimed in. I bet that had the shirt been a “F*ck Trump!” model they might have been more accepting. Anyway, their drivel:

@DadForChange:
Using a gun to make a political point is irresponsible gun ownership.

@Jasminleroy1:
Hmm..heres a question, what point are you trying to make by sticking a gun in your pants, I would think you want to irritate others and enhance your political point.. Are you going to use the gun( because that’s why they were made). I’m sorry but I’m confused by your ignorance.

@Eldergothfather:
If you had chosen to brandish your most valuable asset we’d be looking at your brain, we’d be seeing you accomplish something for humanity. Instead you chose a an extension which you think makes you who you are. It does not.

@keithboykin:
I don’t know anything about Brenna Spencer and don’t care if she wears a “Women for Trump” t-shirt while strapped with a gun. What bothers me is the reflexive racism that allows people to see Spencer as a “patriot” but to see an armed black woman or man as a criminal threat.

I’m not sure if the lovely Ms. Spencer or her followers wasted time replying to these wastes of oxygen. I happen to have a few seconds to spare, so:

Dad: There’s a lot of exciting change in North Korea, Sudan, Iran, etc. Why not go be happy somewhere else?

Jasmine: You’re confused and irritated but something stinks, little flower, and I think it’s you.

Goth Boy: I’m sure her pistol has done more for humanity than all the black-clad, sad-face freaks in all of history. And certainly more than yours.

Keith (kudos for using what seems like a real name): It’s not 1850 anymore. No one cares. Maybe, as he heads to his own greener pasture, Dad could drop you off in Mugabe Land or somewhere.

All: Great! As the NFL hates Christians, so you hate free, armed, attractive young women. Got it. I note that, the First Amendment being a relic of the 18th Century, you have absolutely no right to express your opinions like this. Kindly cease and desist. Furthermore: Go to Hell!

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I find this normal and more than a little alluring. Watch out, Dana Loesch! Twitter.

If this “highly respected web log” hadn’t blown the budget on cigars and hydrazine, then I would heartily offer these young ladies employment here. As is, I offer them the most sincere respect for being who they are. I accept them. If you can’t, if you can’t abide beautiful women, American, Christian, and free, then you are worse than a bigot. Literally worse than Hitler. Knock it off.

Back on Track: ‘Rejoice and be Glad’

11 Wednesday Apr 2018

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Following last month’s supposed question of whether there is a hell, the Pope delivers a tour de force on beating the hell out of the devil through clean, Holy living. (Actually published before the Scalfari Report surfaced).

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION: GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE (Rejoice and be Glad) OF THE HOLY FATHER, FRANCIS, ON THE CALL TO HOLINESS  IN TODAY’S WORLD

March 19, 2018

…

More than a myth

160. We will not admit the existence of the devil if we insist on regarding life by empirical standards alone, without a supernatural understanding. It is precisely the conviction that this malign power is present in our midst that enables us to understand how evil can at times have so much destructive force. True enough, the biblical authors had limited conceptual resources for expressing certain realities, and in Jesus’ time epilepsy, for example, could easily be confused with demonic possession. Yet this should not lead us to an oversimplification that would conclude that all the cases related in the Gospel had to do with psychological disorders and hence that the devil does not exist or is not at work. He is present in the very first pages of the Scriptures, which end with God’s victory over the devil.[120] Indeed, in leaving us the Our Father, Jesus wanted us to conclude by asking the Father to “deliver us from evil”. That final word does not refer to evil in the abstract; a more exact translation would be “the evil one”. It indicates a personal being who assails us. Jesus taught us to ask daily for deliverance from him, lest his power prevail over us.

161. Hence, we should not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea.[121] This mistake would lead us to let down our guard, to grow careless and end up more vulnerable. The devil does not need to possess us. He poisons us with the venom of hatred, desolation, envy and vice. When we let down our guard, he takes advantage of it to destroy our lives, our families and our communities. “Like a roaring lion, he prowls around, looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8).

Alert and trustful

162. God’s word invites us clearly to “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph 6:11) and to “quench all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Eph 6:16). These expressions are not melodramatic, precisely because our path towards holiness is a constant battle. Those who do not realize this will be prey to failure or mediocrity. For this spiritual combat, we can count on the powerful weapons that the Lord has given us: faith-filled prayer, meditation on the word of God, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, sacramental Reconciliation, works of charity, community life, missionary outreach. If we become careless, the false promises of evil will easily seduce us. As the sainted Cura Brochero observed: “What good is it when Lucifer promises you freedom and showers you with all his benefits, if those benefits are false, deceptive and poisonous?”[122]

163. Along this journey, the cultivation of all that is good, progress in the spiritual life and growth in love are the best counterbalance to evil. Those who choose to remain neutral, who are satisfied with little, who renounce the ideal of giving themselves generously to the Lord, will never hold out. Even less if they fall into defeatism, for “if we start without confidence, we have already lost half the battle and we bury our talents… Christian triumph is always a cross, yet a cross which is at the same time a victorious banner, borne with aggressive tenderness against the assaults of evil”.[123]

Spiritual corruption

164. The path of holiness is a source of peace and joy, given to us by the Spirit. At the same time, it demands that we keep “our lamps lit” (Lk 12:35) and be attentive. “Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess 5:22). “Keep awake” (Mt 24:42; Mk 13:35). “Let us not fall asleep” (1 Thess 5:6). Those who think they commit no grievous sins against God’s law can fall into a state of dull lethargy. Since they see nothing serious to reproach themselves with, they fail to realize that their spiritual life has gradually turned lukewarm. They end up weakened and corrupted.

165. Spiritual corruption is worse than the fall of a sinner, for it is a comfortable and self-satisfied form of blindness. Everything then appears acceptable: deception, slander, egotism and other subtle forms of self-centredness, for “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14). So Solomon ended his days, whereas David, who sinned greatly, was able to make up for disgrace. Jesus warned us against this self-deception that easily leads to corruption. He spoke of a person freed from the devil who, convinced that his life was now in order, ended up being possessed by seven other evil spirits (cf. Lk 11:24-26). Another biblical text puts it bluntly: “The dog turns back to his own vomit” (2 Pet 2:22; cf. Pr 26:11).

…

Hard to conceive of Satan without him lording over hell.

One will note, therein the above, the Pope takes a swing at: Gnostics, false prophets, the devil, the world, and … bloggers. Keeping us straight.

We’ll call this “controversy” settled.

*An Apostolic Exhortation, unlike an unrecorded interview, is, generally considered infallible. But, only so far as to Biblical recitation and interpretation, related Doctrine, and Canonical matters; Papal opinion – everyone has one – is not necessarily covered. Catholics and Protestants constantly (or, when they think and talk about it) befuddle the issue of infallibility. As Francis notes in the above Exhortation, be wary of those who always seem to have all the answers.

**An Apostolic Exhortation is essentially a “white paper” covering some issue(s) of concern to the Church Community. It has a rank in the order of Papal Papers; said rank confuses me; I have not always all the answers…

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