Almost that is. If you happen to be a celebrated and beloved liberal director in Hollywood, on the other hand, what's drugging and raping a 13 year old girl after all? Heck, even the victim can end up saying the culprit may just be a nice guy who's had a rough go of it because of this quest for 'justice.' For Halloween, I tried to think of something scary to post. Then I realize the scariest thing out there is another example of the Leftist juggernaut, with its ability to persuade a country founded on God and Liberty that there are no morals, there are only whatever tools exist to crush and exploit anyone and everyone on its march toward oppression and tyranny based on slaughter and slavery and anti-religious bigotry. That's as scary as I can do. If anyone else has anything better, I really don't want to hear it.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
Governor Jerry Brown legislates morality
If you're around my age, you'll remember a very popular, and oft repeated, mantra of the Left: You can't legislate morality! Remember that? It was right up there with 'You can't impose your values on others!' And of course that oldie but goodie, 'You must open your mind and accept different viewpoints'. Remember those? Those were as loved and celebrated by the Left as guns and racism are by the Right.
And yet, once again proving that Animal Farm is perhaps the most prophetic book to be written in the last 2000 years, we have a proud member of the modern Left, holding office, and declaring certain expressions unacceptable and passing laws eradicating those expressions based upon a set of morals and values he has ever intention of imposing on the population. Once again we see representatives of liberalism doing what they once insisted was the antithesis of liberal values.
See how the Left is becoming the very thing it once decried as symbolic of evil and intolerance? Again, read Animal Farm. Reread Animal Farm. Report.
Oh, and if you argue 'yeah, Dave, but he allows Confederate building names!", just hold that thought. The thing about progressive movements is that they are the slow creep. Just like if we went back 30 years and I told you someday a presidential candidate would embrace the thought that a Christian should either abandon her livelihood or go to prison over endorsing homosexual marriage, you'd probably think I was daft. See how it works? Trust us, we'll never go that far! If you believe that now, you, my friend, would have to be the one who is daft.
And yet, once again proving that Animal Farm is perhaps the most prophetic book to be written in the last 2000 years, we have a proud member of the modern Left, holding office, and declaring certain expressions unacceptable and passing laws eradicating those expressions based upon a set of morals and values he has ever intention of imposing on the population. Once again we see representatives of liberalism doing what they once insisted was the antithesis of liberal values.
See how the Left is becoming the very thing it once decried as symbolic of evil and intolerance? Again, read Animal Farm. Reread Animal Farm. Report.
Oh, and if you argue 'yeah, Dave, but he allows Confederate building names!", just hold that thought. The thing about progressive movements is that they are the slow creep. Just like if we went back 30 years and I told you someday a presidential candidate would embrace the thought that a Christian should either abandon her livelihood or go to prison over endorsing homosexual marriage, you'd probably think I was daft. See how it works? Trust us, we'll never go that far! If you believe that now, you, my friend, would have to be the one who is daft.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
A defense of Christopher Columbus
From Tommy de Seno for Fox News. I know. But why do we assume he must be some partisan hack, while those who pull all sorts of figures out of the air and quote sources without reference or background are automatically correct? Because post-modernity, that's why. We're far less interested in truth than we are being awesome and advancing agendas. Truth be told, I have no problem condemning Columbus for some of his actions against the native population. Just as I have no problem condemning Thomas More for his actions against Protestants. Nor do I just use 'oh well, different time' as a blanket excuse. Nor do I pardon the natives who slaughtered Columbus's men because, well, different culture. But I don't simply condemn them. Nor do I accept whatever latest 'proof' happens to scratch my vindictive itch. Right now, based on what we know versues listening to people 500 years with axes to grind, Columbus was like so many of us: a product of his time, a flawed human being, and someone who did amazing things all at the same time. More proof than the same ones trying to convince me that a million were killed during the Inquisition or that we're approaching a hundred million dead in Iraq is going to be required.
A counter-cultural look at Christopher Columbus
Here is an interesting quote. Like the wonderfully subversive 1491: New Revelations About the Americas Before Columbus, that seriously challenged the PC/MC narrative of life before the evil Europeans, it might we be worth the read and a worthy inoculation against the idiocy, evil, racism and hate of the post-modern Left.
Some thoughts on the awesome season of Autumn
I've always loved the Fall. For reasons I'm not going to repeat. But here are some posts over the years in which I try, in my amateur way, to explain just what it is about Fall that I love so much. Here, here, here and here. Some of those may tend more to be rants about our lives at the time, but they include snippets about how important this season has always been. Enjoy.
Growing tired of Democracy
I know, we're technically a republic. Not a democracy. And a good thing, too. For it seems we're growing tired of the once lauded Checks and Balances that were supposed to keep us from spiraling into a police state or dictatorship. So once again, Barack Obama is moving to make the Executive Order less about naming national Apple Dumpling Day, and more about circumventing Americans with inconvenient ideas about the way the Left should truly be obeyed. Of course if a Republican becomes president, I don't see them rolling back the clock. I fear they'll at least keep the pace the same, and worst, begin adding to it even more - much to the celebration of conservatives maybe? I don't know. But the trend, for any thinking person who doesn't get their education from Wikipedia, should be alarming.
When Liberal Democrats say controversial things
Is about as often as when pigs fly. Think of it. Can you count three times in the last ten years that the media went 24/7 coverage about a 'controversial' statement made by liberal democrats? I can't. Why not? Well obviously. Duh. It's propaganda, not news. Still, think about it. So Hillary Clinton supports jailing traditional Christians who haven't been saved by the Blood of the Left, or quitting their jobs and giving up their livelihoods. Pretty controversial position for a potential president of these here United States of America, at least in my opinion. And yet nobody has reported it as such.
But then, when President Obama said mass killings are routine, I could see that being controversial, too. I could see, if I were a journalist, going out and finding the family member of a shooting victim who would say the death of their loved one wasn't routine. And yet, not only was it not controversial, it has been lauded and celebrated by the same media who have deliberately misrepresented Ben Carson's statements and used them to continue a near week long campaign against the black man who dared to be popular among
Of course controversial is one of those media labels that are pretty subjective anyway. After all, remember when the majority of Americans overwhelmingly opposed gay marriage, yet standing against gay marriage was always reported as 'Controversial'?
Again, does anyone still believe the media? About anything? Anyone? Anyone at all? Bueller?
The Synod of the Family
Is happening. It's barely been mentioned. After the press coverage of the Beatles Invasion visit of Pope Francis, why the major event of the Catholic year is all but being ignored, is beyond me. The press should be running out and telling us that gay marriage is soon to be consecrated and abortion will soon be an officially sanctioned practice. And yet, silence.
It isn't as if there aren't hints that some changes could be in the future. But right now, it's been pretty quiet. Both by detractors and supporters of Pope Francis and his leadership. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
It isn't as if there aren't hints that some changes could be in the future. But right now, it's been pretty quiet. Both by detractors and supporters of Pope Francis and his leadership. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Hell and the Year of Mercy
An equally interesting article on our modern notions of Salvation and Damnation, of Mercy and Judgement. As a rule, a large number of Catholics today implicitly - if not explicitly - seem to accept a sort of vague universalism, a 'we'll all go to Heaven since Hell is bogus' mentality. This is a nice reminder that even though it would be nice if God and love and awesome and just special nice stuff, the reality of reality might be a tad different.
The culture wars then and now
I couldn't have said it better myself. Except to say that who controls the institutions of communication plays a big role. So when the majority of Americans opposed gay marriage, gays and gay marriage advocates were popularly and officially portrayed as the courageous crusaders of truth and justice. Now that the majority of Americans support gay marriage, those who oppose it are portrayed as the bigots and hate mongers who will get what they have coming. So the role of propaganda can't be downplayed. Otherwise, excellent article.
How does the Left deal with the slaughter of babies?
But even then, a society with soul and morals might still get a little squeamish about hacking up dead babies that were killed by a doctor to keep the electric bill paid. Or killing them at all for that matter. So now the Left turns to its other arm of defense: the Entertainment Industry. It will, of course, mock those concerned about murdered and hacked up babies. It will try to mock the very issue itself.
I don't know if it will work. Personally, I think the silent treatment was working better. Perhaps focus on the evils of Christopher Columbus, or find some police brutality video (against African Americans gets you bonus points). We can always keep focusing on the Civil Rights Movement. Maybe find some GOP candidate who says something unprecedented in its awfulness. That seems to be the better move. But bringing it back into the light and hoping people can just have a good laugh over the whole slaughtered babies, especially because it reinforces our ability to have abortions for more noble things (like more active sex lives), might be hoping against the tide of goodness that might still flicker in the hearts of the dying West.
Remember, once something is funny, it ceases to be a big deal |
Celebrate Columbus Day!
Yes, in fighting the tide of anti-Western radicalism egged on by PC Multi-Cultural education, I take a moment to celebrate Christopher Columbus. Does that mean I celebrate everything the man did? No. Just like I don't celebrate what every soldier ever did when I celebrate, or remember, Veterans Day. Or that I don't celebrate everything America did when I celebrate Independence Day. Or I don't celebrate everything done by Native Americans when I celebrate my American Indian heritage. Or I don't celebrate everything done by the Catholic Church when I celebrate the Church. OR I don't affirm and celebrate the sins of Martin Luther King, Jr. (if he had any) when I celebrate him.
See how easy it is. What Christopher Columbus is damned for is the color of his skin, when you get right down to it. We know that Native Americans enslaved each other. So did Africans. Most thinking, educated people know that Muslims had a robust slave trade based on arguments not too dissimilar to the 'Africans are animals' arguments we hear from Europeans. We know Native Americans fought brutal wars of conquest, genocidal extermination, and could out-Machiavelli the best European princes.
Did Columbus personally kill people? Did he personally enslaved Natives? Yep. It wasn't uncommon in those rough and tumble days (unlike our sophisticated and morally superior age we live in). Of course that doesn't make it right (see Native American atrocities above). But the true 'hate' of Columbus that people embrace and advocate is for no other reason than the color of his skin. He was a white European. Over the centuries, the Native population would be displaced and even killed by others who were white Europeans. Therefore, guilty - him and his entire being.
It's racism, of course. Just like those who defend illegal immigration. When a case is brought up of Americans being attacked, or even murdered, how often have I seen the response 'Oh yeah! Well look what your ancestors did!' Again, racism through and through. The same racism that heaps the sins of an entire civilization over subsequent centuries on the shoulders of a single explorer.
So while I lament the actions taken by Columbus personally, and wish he had been a better person, I still celebrate him. Because I still celebrate aspects of the dying West, and therefore celebrate the events that unfolded to bring a Christian founded society to one that was in no way saintly or even close to Christian in its moral standards, I don't need a scapegoat to apologize for the valueless West. For all the flaws of the West, they were flaws because of deviations from its moral grounding. The flaws of the Native population, like so many other civilizations, were flaws grounded on the adherence to its moral groundings.
And since I don't want to be a racist, even if it's the hip and awesome racism of post-modern hipsters who can't help but be awesome because awesome, I'm not going to condemn a man because over the centuries others who looked like him and shared his skin color did other wrong, even heinous, things.
So here's to you Christopher! It won't be long before the juggernaut of endless censorship reaches you, as it will no doubt reach others. But while it lasts, while freedoms and liberties are still around, I'll part way from my moral superiors, and remember the boldness and courage it took for you to do something amazing, especially from the vantage point of an era where so many moral crusaders at best risk the terrors of Carpal Tunnel syndrome, and little more.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
The Friendly Atheist says the craziest things
So after over a decade of the radical anti-religious New Atheists spouting rhetoric against religion that would make a party in the 1930s Reichstag look Kosher by comparison, atheists are dealing with the ugly notion that evidence suggests the killer of nine people at Umpqua College purposefully targeted Christians. Of course for most atheists, like most liberals and secularists, Christianity is the prime enemy. So most contempt, disgust, hatred, spite, demagoguery and lies are aimed at Christians and Christianity. And of course we know that such rhetoric is always behind things like racist hate crimes, and anti-gay hate crimes, and anti-Muslim hate crimes.
But as Western Liberalism tends to do, once again we have a case where the zealousness of its righteous crusaders turns on itself and seems to expose the movement's hypocrisy and agendas. So Lauren Nelson, penning for the always ironically titled Friendly Atheist, steps in to say 'not so fast, it may not have anything to do with it after all!'
That, of course, is a favorite tactic of the leftist propaganda machine. If a person kills blacks or gays or another minority group adopted by the Left, then hatred is the only motive. The only focus. If someone breaks from that, or a member of the approved minority community commits the crime, or a victim is from a non-accepted group, then it's all about anything but the hatred. Once again, reminding us that we are dealing with a movement that hates us; one that likely doesn't care for the various groups it claims to support, but one that certainly hates certain groups - like Christians.
Still, it is fun reading. Most normal, sensible people wouldn't buy it. How college educated post-moderns with access to the Internet will accept it remains to be seen.
P.S. If you're unfamiliar with the good Ms. Nelson, here is a post explaining why she is not just pro-choice, but happily and proudly pro-abortion. She is, in her words, not just pro-choice, but pro-abortion And Proud Of It!
Where have I been?
Busy, that's where. Which accounts for the sparsity of my posts. So much continues to happen: birthdays, soccer season, new jobs, old jobs, school at home and just the general life issues. Plus, I must admit, we've been in a bit of a funk looking for our lives and where we fit in our post-Protestant days. I know, we've been Catholic for almost 10 years. You'd think we'd be settled in. But we aren't. Whatever glorious stories of Protestant Clergy Converts coming into the Church and finding a whole blessed ministry and new life in their new tradition you might have heard, it's not been our lives.
I think at this point it might be our bishop, who for some reason has made it clear 'I don't serve their kind.' I have met with several over the years, including individuals high up in the diocese, only to hit a dead end when it was all over. The last individual had me ready to sign up. I would be in charge of multiple parish Religious Education departments. It would be tough, and I would be traveling from place to place. Wow! Like pastoring a church? I was so excited. He loved what I had to bring through my experience, even though it's been years. He was meeting with the bishop that very week, and was going to bring my name up. After all, he said, they were having trouble finding people to fill such spots for all the parishes. It would be perfect.
And then...silence. For weeks I waited. I reached out, and heard nothing. Just as I have so many times in the past. And finally he responded: sorry, having' heard anything. If I do, I'll let you know. I'll keep you in my prayers. Bless.' And that was it, Once again, we hit a wall and I fear it is our bishop, who isn't going anywhere soon. But not just him. As I wrote earlier, another diocese was hiring a person who would be in charge of Evangelical Ecumenical relations. They needed someone with a religious degree (MDiv preferred), who knows the Bible and has experience with Church history. I was denied the next day. They hired a fellow with a degree in communications and web development. He was a life long Catholic. He knew some Protestant friends in college.
So that has left us swinging in the breeze. Tomorrow, my wife and I meet with a priest to lay it out: we lost our lives when we became Catholic. The lives my wife and I, and our boys, had together as Protestants. We all took part in the ministry. My boys and my wife and I were all together. We all shared in the calling. And then we became Catholic. And while we're thankful we have jobs, and even some extra money, they are jobs. Pushing paper. Waiting for the departments to move or shut down and scramble for the next thing.
We're trying to homeschool, but it is nigh on impossible when both parents have full-time jobs away from home. Our youngest is barely holding on. And when all is said and done, our big ministry contribution is being able to make it to church on Sundays. So where to go now? That is going to be the question. Not an ultimatum. But definitely it will set the stage for where we might go. At this point, we so desire to bring our family back together as it used to be, we've flirted with going into business! Which isn't a solution, since neither my wife nor I have the skills needed for that. But that's the point we've come to. So we'll see.
There is much to talk about that has happened, as imprisoned state workers and murdered college students give us a portent of things to come for Christians in the coming years under the post-Christian secular leftist tyranny. But for now, tomorrow is on our minds. Please pray for us.
I think at this point it might be our bishop, who for some reason has made it clear 'I don't serve their kind.' I have met with several over the years, including individuals high up in the diocese, only to hit a dead end when it was all over. The last individual had me ready to sign up. I would be in charge of multiple parish Religious Education departments. It would be tough, and I would be traveling from place to place. Wow! Like pastoring a church? I was so excited. He loved what I had to bring through my experience, even though it's been years. He was meeting with the bishop that very week, and was going to bring my name up. After all, he said, they were having trouble finding people to fill such spots for all the parishes. It would be perfect.
And then...silence. For weeks I waited. I reached out, and heard nothing. Just as I have so many times in the past. And finally he responded: sorry, having' heard anything. If I do, I'll let you know. I'll keep you in my prayers. Bless.' And that was it, Once again, we hit a wall and I fear it is our bishop, who isn't going anywhere soon. But not just him. As I wrote earlier, another diocese was hiring a person who would be in charge of Evangelical Ecumenical relations. They needed someone with a religious degree (MDiv preferred), who knows the Bible and has experience with Church history. I was denied the next day. They hired a fellow with a degree in communications and web development. He was a life long Catholic. He knew some Protestant friends in college.
So that has left us swinging in the breeze. Tomorrow, my wife and I meet with a priest to lay it out: we lost our lives when we became Catholic. The lives my wife and I, and our boys, had together as Protestants. We all took part in the ministry. My boys and my wife and I were all together. We all shared in the calling. And then we became Catholic. And while we're thankful we have jobs, and even some extra money, they are jobs. Pushing paper. Waiting for the departments to move or shut down and scramble for the next thing.
We're trying to homeschool, but it is nigh on impossible when both parents have full-time jobs away from home. Our youngest is barely holding on. And when all is said and done, our big ministry contribution is being able to make it to church on Sundays. So where to go now? That is going to be the question. Not an ultimatum. But definitely it will set the stage for where we might go. At this point, we so desire to bring our family back together as it used to be, we've flirted with going into business! Which isn't a solution, since neither my wife nor I have the skills needed for that. But that's the point we've come to. So we'll see.
There is much to talk about that has happened, as imprisoned state workers and murdered college students give us a portent of things to come for Christians in the coming years under the post-Christian secular leftist tyranny. But for now, tomorrow is on our minds. Please pray for us.
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