You could do worse than following liberals as a source for your propaganda - courtesy of Iran State-affiliated media:
Yep. Going back to our first Gulf War, I said our enemies shouldn't waste time or money on their own anti-American propaganda. They need only watch the news and record interviews with Democrats and liberal pundits.
Call me old-fashioned, but one of my all time favorites for capturing that feeling of pre-modernist American sensitivities at this time of year is from that rascally Hoosier laureate, James Whitcomb Riley. His poem Little Orphant Annie was one of the first poems I remember reading outside the slap happy sing song rhyme poems that are aimed at kids.
I don't know why this always evoked. Something about it made me think of a simpler time, though never an easier one. A time when people entertained - each other. When sitting around a kitchen hearth or a lamp lit living room and telling stories and listening to someone sing was the entertainment of most days.
Today, we fork out a surprising percentage of our annual incomes in order to make filthy rich a slew of far away celebrities who neither know us or who, increasingly, don't seem to care. They plaster digital imagery on a screen and invest a few months of effort so that we can be more sophisticated than those simple people who would have enjoyed such Hoosier fare in the day.
But those simple folks back in the day got such fare, as often as not, for free. A tale, a poem, a reading from someone educated was as good as a blockbuster today. Heck, they may have been a bit frightened by Ms. Annie's tales. If they were, then they were a far sight sharper than we are, who spend most of the time being frightened by the threats we've made for ourselves and not nearly enough with those real threats that exist beyond this mortal realm.
Anyhoo, here's the poem in all its Midwestern glory:
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
So when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wasn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout--
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever'one, an' all her blood an' kin;
An' onc't, when they was "company," an' ole folks was there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They was two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' little Orphant Annie says when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
For a bonus, here is a link to an early silent film based on the poem. It's a strange brew, as many early attempts to harness the new technology of film tended to be. The above image is from the meat of the film, and I must say it's as unnerving as many images coming from the Hollywood dream factory are today.
Case in point, from Unitarian pastor John Pavlovitz:
Oh, speaking of the above qualities of leftwing discourse, as a bonus from the Tweet thread I saw above, there's this:
Heh. Oh yeah. Perhaps the least credible journalist in modern history. The man who was booted from CBS because he acted like an old blithering stereotype. It wasn't because he got caught colluding with the Democrats in order to unseat the president. It wasn't that he dug in on evidence after it was debunked. It wasn't even that he invoked the increasingly popular idea that evidence, proof and facts are not needed when we know someone is guilty.
Despite the official story, we all knew it was because he railed against the ascension of them 'New' Blogs like some tired old geezer railing against them young whippersnappers and their Rock and Roll music. Almost all conservatives I knew then, and not a few liberals, had to hang their heads with that one. There was no way he could keep being the face of network news sounding that out of touch with what was already old hat to more and more Americans.
But at least he gets his homophones.
I wrote last year on the observation that the Catholic Church seems to have put St. Michael in the cupboard along with the old cookie cutters and other archangels, while Satanism is becoming all the rage in our country. Thank goodness a growing number of Christians and their leaders are pretty sure angels and devils were just literary devices and myths fabricated by ancient humans who didn't have science!
The great warring angel has been sent to pasture by modernity, a war veteran retired from service, sent to the old angel's home. I'm sure the Satanic legions are fine with that development.
It took the most educated and scientifically sophisticated generation in history to miss what any other age of humanity could have seen a hundred miles away. Perhaps it's because we think we're better than them for not seeing it that we don't see the obvious. Everything in our world today suggests it's we who are the blind generation, and those ancients huddled around the fire pit and longhouse hearth were the ones with eyes.
For a bonus, here is the always informative Fish Eaters with a nice little write up on Michaelmas from that more Christian influenced world of old. Complete, of course, with some cultural trappings and even a few recipes!
Just to be clear, from my years of watching news reports of budge battles and Government shutdowns:
Just to bring us up to date, as once again we see the debt ceiling and budget talks being framed as more or less crashing and burning because of the Republicans.
The only time this might change is, for instance, the budget battles during the Obama years in which Washington closed down due to stalled negotiations. At that point, several media pundits pointed out that the same thing happened under the Clinton administration in the mid-90s, but that was because both sides, including Clinton, were belligerent. Unlike the always wonderful Obama.
Which, of course, stands in stark contrast to the media narrative of the mid-1990s, when it was exclusively the fault of the GOP and Newt Gingrich that the government shut down. But then, that was ancient history, and the media can always count on a collective memory that doesn't begin caring about sins until at least 30 years ago.
For some reason, many thought that the Internet would put an end to the collective amnesia the media has always relied upon. A decade of the Internet later, I can see that such assumptions were a bit premature.
In a reminder that science and smart can be as far removed as Kosher and ham, an editorial in the Scientific American reminds you of what it takes to get people dedicated to studying science for the betterment of humanity to turn their skills to nuclear weapons and gas chambers instead.
It's a lot of leftwing bilge and idiocy, racism and ethnic cleansing. Star Wars is problematic because Jew White people evil! Oh, and violence when not glorying the Leftist state, as the riots, destruction and death of the BLM protests did. Of course Vader was also an evil dig at disabled people? That's a new one.
But the Left is ever interested in finding new ways to prove everyone else was wretched and evil. I'm sure there could be hundreds of clues and triggers proving just how Star Wars makes Himmler seem like a saint. That's the modern Left. No inquisitor, witch hunter or lynch mob ever came close to the Taliban like self righteous hatred and destruction of - everything and everyone that the Left opposes.
But again, these are scientists. The ones who will be building the computers, medical advances and technology of tomorrow. And given what I'm seeing, the ones who will happily set those aside when the call comes to invent new STEM driven solutions to deal with the new undesirables.
Remember, we celebrate those scientists, intellectuals, artists, film makers, poets, ministers, doctors, and educators who fled Nazi Germany or stayed to fight the great fight. And well we should. But never forget the majority in those professions and others remained in Germany and turned their professions, arts, skills and industry to the service of the Nazi regime. Never, ever forget that.
I didn't even know there was such a day, but never one to miss a chance to brag, I figured I should post a picture of the four.
I was going to perhaps get a nice portrait, or get them out in nature, or a nice pose together by the planter. But I figured this one would be best, for it shows them as they are:
It was after my wife came home from the hospital. They all made sure they were there as much as possible. Then they decided to camp out in the family room to make sure they were available near at hand - in a pinch. I'd say that does better than any composed picture.
The four are 1) my oldest, still trudging through college, but getting good enough grades that so far it's free, 2) my second, college grad and working his way up the ladder with his degree in hand (and no college debt), 3) my third (under the covers, and having worked late that night) who at 21 is already a manager eyeing the next level up, and 4) my youngest, in seventh grade and doing a nice job inserting himself in the brotherhood as one of the four. By the way, A) is the pooch. always present and usually stuck to the hip of my third son.
That's them in a nutshell. Don't know if they'd care to find out I posted a picture of them sleeping. But knowing why they were there together sleeping in the family room and what it meant to my wife, I couldn't think of a picture from the recent files that tells their story better.
As we gear up for the Season of Seasons, I found this humorous, but quite accurate, post. Why leaf blowers are evil. Basically, they show our decadence, our sloth, our divorce from the natural world. They demonstrate the worst of modern, industrial age humanity that sees the world over there, and men here. Gone already was a world in which God is everywhere in the world I'm in. Now it's barely God, and a world I'm happily separated from.
So we have this:
Now that's just pretty to see, but it means nothing in modern discourse.
We know that for liberalism, inclusive means conform to liberalism or watch your butt. The same goes for tolerance, which usually means conform to liberalism or watch your butt. Or diversity, which also can be translated as conform to liberalism or watch your butt.
Is that what Pope Francis means? I realize God's love is universal, and Christ reaches out to all sinners. Does that mean inclusive despite - anything? One can be, do, think, or whatever and it's all inclusion and no distinction? Does Pope Francis mean white supremacists, arms dealers, people who deny Global Warming, people who question Covid lockdowns, people who support border walls? I don't know. He might.
But once again, Pope Francis uses empty pop culture terms that are common on Oprah and The View, but are of little use elsewhere. If only he would speak like a religious leader not of the age, but merely in the age.
Oh, and for the record, I had no idea that Jesus's teachings on the sheep and goats and wheat and chaff meant that there are no distinctions. I thought that the point was you didn't want to be goats or chaff, not that it didn't matter to Jesus. Did I just seriously misunderstand those teachings?
Or the USSA as we like to call it:
Yep. The messaging is picking up steam: those who fail to bow before the Leftist State should be shunned and ostracized accordingly. Reeducation camps to follow presently. This is merely the latest in a long line of 'shun them now' announcements. See the difference in response between the BLM riots and the January 6th riot to see just how this attitude is filtering into the halls of our government. Death, destruction and violence are fine - when done to glorify the Left. Those that put a toe over the line to the Right? Hunt them down now.
How do you get the freest, most prosperous and one of the most charitable societies in human history to sell it all for tyranny, oppression, want and misery? Easy:
Turn one generation after another into a bunch of drugged up, sexed up nihilists. Who cares? F-you. Get high, get laid, and abort 65 million pregnancies to keep it going since life sucks unless I say otherwise.
Well done American Christianity for taking no stand. I have no doubt that in ancient Rome you'd lead the charge to lay wreaths at Caesar's feet, that is if you could pull yourself away from helping feed dissidents to the lions.
Though the positive is that I think we're about to see just who still believes the Christian Faith, and the ones who have only been going along with things they no longer believe because it's what you do on a Sunday. Nothing will separate the wheat from the chaff like the winnowing fork of persecution. May I stand firm along with my loved ones in the face of the coming storm.
 |
| Merlin gets it |
So said Merlin in the movie Excalibur. One of many old tropes in which the Enlightened march of Christianity and the Western way came to drive out the barbarism and paganism of the old world.
Well, let's try that now given developments over the past few years:
Science comes to drive out the old Christian god. The spirits and demons grow silent. It's the way of things.
I'd say that's accurate. Whether it should be accurate or not isn't my concern. But I'd say it is accurate for our time. Science is, in many ways, the default god of our time; science is the religion, science is the church, and scientists are the priesthood.
Whether or not they should be, or science is really this and not is irrelevant. I'd wager in the minds of many - perhaps most - Westerners, this is the fact. Science long ago dispelled religion as an archaic superstitious attempt to answer questions of the world. Science is now the answer to everything.
Certainly people outside the Faith hold this view and are open about it. Science and scholarship utilizing the methods of science have long debunked ancient religious myths and folktales. Moses, David, and Jesus are now no more real than leprechauns, minotaurs and banshees. The spirit world has faded into nothing but viruses and molecules, and everything that was explained by the spirit world is now explained by science.
That's the non-believer. Within the halls of the faithful, many have more or less accepted this at face value as well, with the caveat that there's still God of sorts, and eternity is as good as always. But in most cases, the Bible is no more than a collection of myths and fairy tales no different than the Aeneid or the Iliad. More than one of my old liberal Protestant colleagues held to such a viewpoint.
Others, of course, don't go so far. But they'll certainly concede that science has opened up an entirely new way of seeing things. Gone is Jesus casting out demons. Epilepsy you see. Gone are Adam and Eve. Those are just ancient representations of some vague moment when our ape ancestors evolved into the current version of humanity. Gone are many old tales that clearly came from a primitive past outside of the realm of scientific inquiry and our modern knowledge of how things really work.
And those are the faithful Sunday to Sunday believers who still hold to the physical Resurrection or the Virgin Birth. It's just other parts of the Christian vision of the world they're willing to rewrite or dismiss as ancient tales from an ancient world perspective because, well, Science.
So given that, it hasn't been difficult for this new age of Science to become the new religion. An age of Sciencedom you might say. And like being a pagan in old Christendom, being a Christian in Sciencedom is becoming increasingly difficult. Sure, it took some time for the Christian faith to eliminate most vestiges of old pagan beliefs. It's taken less time for Sciencedom to do the same thing to a growing list of Christian beliefs.
What about those who have been the faithful, who have clung to the reality of people walking on water and rising from the dead and crossing Red Seas? Given the speed with which so many of them are now throwing out old priorities, old moralities, old teachings on everything from the nature of humans to the exclusivity of the Gospel message to traditional Christian morals, it makes you wonder just how much they really had resisted the new gospel of Science after all.
Again, I'm not saying this is what science is, or that science should be used this way, or that it's an affront to science or not. Nor am I saying it was the fault of science and it was science that made a bunch of devout believers question everything.
I know full well that many in high places of Western intelligentsia were already questioning even the existence of the One God long before Industrialization came into play. It could be that the faith has been wavering for a while, and now that the institutions of Sciencedom are beginning to push harder, we're seeing just how many had remained faithful to the old time religion, and just how many had already begun to lose faith.
Imagine a bunch of patriots who support FDR. Suddenly they decide his policy of interning Japanese is the worst things they've ever seen, even though they've known of it for years.
So they do the logical thing, they fully align with Nazi Germany. While technically they insist they don't support the Holocaust, they fight with all their energies against anyone trying to stop Germany.
How isn't that an accurate description of those who claim fealty to the historical Gospel who now vote party line, fully support, align with, and fight and attack any opponents of, the party capable of promoting this legislation? If I'm wrong, please inform me how.
Brrrrrr:
Yep. That's Ohio. I've lived in different states in different regions of the country. All areas have their weather quirks. For instance, in Florida you could set your watch by the weather on most days. Ohio is the polar opposite. Winter, Summer, Spring or Fall, give us ten hours and you can have them all.
We were at 90 degrees over a day ago, followed by almost 36 hours of steady downpours, only to wake up in the low 40s. It barely got to the high 50s yesterday. But in a day, it will be back near the 80s. Which is common, at least in the central to southern parts of the state. There are few months in the year where such swings aren't more the rule than the exception. Normally, you don't like the weather now, just wait a few minutes.
Still, it was enough for my wife to get out and just stroll about the front yard, if only for a few minutes. The boys were all here, and were there to help her about. They wanted to go out with her on this first day of Fall and just after the Harvest Moon no less. Plus, this was the type of day that screams 'Autumn!' from the rooftops.
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| Our youngest enjoys the coming season with all the zeal of a young one |
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| The boys were all here and enjoyed a few with their mom and the planters |
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| The type of sky that says Autumn has arrived |
Anyhoo, there were several series produced back then that we received as gifts in the old VHS format. One of them was a show called Castle Ghosts of Ireland, and another Castle Ghosts of Scotland. Narrated by the late Robert Hardy, they're presented as 'documentaries' looking at a collection of famous castles in Ireland and Scotland that are reputed to be haunted.
Eventually we found a DVD collection that had all four of the specials. They were released from 1995 to 1997. There was one for each: Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland. England was the first produced, and shows a somewhat sparse budget, if not some imaginative production values.
The Ireland and Scotland episodes both came out in 1996. We received them as a set, and they were the first we got for a present. Truth be told, they're the best. The England special must have been a success, because both of these show a marked uptick in production quality.
Also, aside from the Tower of London, Scotland and Ireland have some of the most famous haunts and stories that you don't need a Castle Ghosts tour to learn about. The famous Piper of Duntrune, Glamis Castle and its boatload of specters, and Leap (pronounced 'Lep') Castle were known long before we popped those video cassettes into the player.
Nonetheless, the whole of the series continues to be an absolute delight, and an annual tradition. We began showing them to the boys when they were little, usually some time in September before the full brunt of Autumn sets in. Some of them can be moody and evocative and, to be honest, a bit unsettling. In their younger days, our sons all had their moments of sleeping under the covers after watching these.
Robert Hardy is a joy, playing it straight and acting as objective about his belief in ghosts as if he was teaching Algebra. I'm almost willing to accept that he really did believe there was the ghost of a monk in his house that stoked his fireplace. Each episode is a chance to unpack a little regional history and, in the case of stories like the Grey Lady of Glamis or Norman Leslie of Castle Leslie or the Tower of London, a chance to reflect on some of the more violent periods in British history.
If you can, get this set. I encourage anyone to do anything, no matter how fanciful, that points to that Invisible part of God's Creation that gets so little play time in our STEM era. Besides, they're fun, well produced, and a great way to tweak that sense of the fleeting image in the corner of your eye just as you turn down a hallway.
But when you're right, you're right. And she's right.
I'm sure we've all watched with dread and sadness the unfolding story of young Gabby Petito. A tragic tale. Allowed to travel with her boyfriend across country and it ends as things sometimes do in this broken world. May God receive her in His loving arms and cover the hearts and minds of her loved ones.
But Ms. Reid is right. The only reason I know about her is because she fits the checklist that determines 99% of the national media stories surrounding missing persons, and that's: 1) young, 2) blonde, 3) pretty, 4) white. And sometimes 5) rich. If you see a coast to coast national media frenzy coverage over a missing person, you can bet your bottom dollar the missing person fills four, if not all five, of those qualifications.
Younger children will sometimes fall away from that that list, based on circumstances. But teens and older? I don't even have to hear the details. If I hear on a national news outlet 'missing person' I can almost be assured it's a young, beautiful, blonde woman. On the rarest of occasions a beautiful brunet will make the grade. Apparently red heads are never missing.
It's just a fact. I and others have seen this tendency for years. I'm glad for the families of said missing persons that the national press is so willing to mobilize on their behalf. But I also get sad thinking of all those missing persons who don't fit the checklist and who are therefore ignored by the press.
I'm sorry, but it's true. And it shows something that we should all admit. If you accept systemic racism - let's assume for a minute - then it's time to be honest about who's at fault. It isn't old dead people from an age of horse and buggy transportation. Nor is it that coworker or classmate sitting next to you trying to scrape by.
The blame is at the feet of those who have been running the systems for about two generations now. If the reason we only hear about blonde white girls is because they are blonde, pretty and white, it is the media moguls and news organizations running the systems who make that decision. I'm sure there are many out there who would like to hear about others who are missing.
This is the problem. If there are problems - and there are - and those problems are systemic, then blame the ones in charge of the systems. In many cases, they're the same ones who have been running those systems for decades. The ones in the gated communities, behind walled mansions, with private jets and penthouses in Manhattan.
Don't let them fool you by getting you to fear and hate your neighbor. It's also not confined to missing young blonde girls. Those running the system can pick and choose other stories to build narratives based on other skin colors and characteristics just the same. Think BLM to give a quick example. And in those cases, it would be nice to hear Ms. Reid call the news out for those as well.
But then .....
Just as I'm wrapping this up, I hear on the news a nod to this idea that there's a problem with obsessing about pretty, blonde white girls who are missing at the expense of any others. But instead of it being a problem with such a narrow sampling of media bias, it becomes - wait for it, you know the tune, let's start singing - about black and brown people being ignored because the world (not the news media) isn't equal!
Way to go media. CNN picks up the new narrative now. Note it doesn't give two damns or a hell about non-blonde, non-attractive missing women who are ignored. Nor does it care about missing men in general who almost never make such media manhunts no matter what their skin color. Because the same media that only gave a damn about a young, blond girl will now only give a damn about other skin colors or characteristics depending on its latest agendas and designs.
Once again, the press shows itself as one of the greatest forces of evil in our world today. It literally complains and condemns one part of its own 'we don't give a rip about people unless we can exploit them' practices, only to turn on a dime and do the same thing again, ignoring anyone and everyone who is missing whose skin color isn't important for the current BLM/1619 Project narrative.
May God save humanity from the demonic evil that has become the world of journalism and the press. Of all the systems ruining our world with their systemic evil, I'm inclined to say the press is one of the worst.
He's almost right. There's been a surge of people running over to various New Prolife Catholic social media sites to see if anything is being talked about regarding, you know, life. Any mention of the innocents killed by a drone strike? Deporting immigrants from Texas? Assault on abortion restrictions by the Left? Anything? Bueller?
Well, no. I, too, decided to keep looking, just to be fair. I said here that I couldn't resist looking at their reaction to the drone strike that killed ten civilians. That's because I remember vividly the outrage by many NPL Catholics over such things back in the days of Bush and Obama. Certainly they'd at least be consistent and call this out, even if they avoided blaming their guy in the White House.
Nope. Still not one. No mention at all really. Lots of praise for the Biden press secretary. The unvaccinated are baby killing scum as always. And apparently Patrick Coffin sucks because of course he does. I don't know much of Coffin, but he's definitely someone they don't care for.
The best, FWIW, was this little gem:
The story he links to is at this leftwing rag disguised as a religious news service. Ah, it reminds me of those warm and fuzzy days of old when Mark Shea said it was only reactionary rad trads who were so wicked and evil (and sinful) as to say who should or shouldn't be in the Catholic faith.
Anyhoo, on the subject of Mark, it's Mark who I'm talking about in my blog title. In vainly looking about at the various NPL Catholics speaking to the suffering of the [inconvenient] innocents, I saw an interesting piece he wrote. Now I give Mark a lot of criticism here, and rightly so I think. But in this case, he's almost right. Though at the same time, he also gives away how easy it is to fall victim to the same problem he condemns.
The gist is that Raiders of the Lost Ark is a great movie, and the argument that Indiana Jones contributed nothing to the story is wrong. That argument, so says Mark, is indicative of the Internet era's desire to tear everything apart and view everything as a puzzle to be solved or, worse, failure to be condemned. You know, as opposed to just watching a movie and enjoying it.
A couple things. First, this actually began, apart from the realm of professional film critics, long before the Internet. Blame the proliferation of VCRs back in the 1980s. I tell my sons it's impossible to understand what going to a movie was like when you imagined that would be the last time you had a chance to see the movie. The last chance for many years at least.
Once VCRs came by, you knew you would be able to see the movie as soon as you wanted. And you could see it over and over again. And you could begin seeing the mistakes, goofs, gaffes and a hundred other things you missed when you could only see a film a handful of times, if that many, in theaters. That gave birth to the 'watch the movie for the mistakes' trend which, eventually, morphed into the 'see a movie in a combative way to find the problems and attack' approach.
But it's not just movies. I fear the Internet did that to a host of things courtesy of generations pretty low on the accomplishment ladder. The Internet became a vehicle for not just seeing every movie as a chance to say 'gotcha', but as a chance to see everything that way. I do believe the 1619 Project would never make it out of the trash can before now. Not that stupid things haven't been published over the ages. But never to the acclaims and accolades of so many who should know better. There's just something the Internet feeds us in terms of rejoicing over the failings and sins of - everyone else. The same goes for the modern iconoclasm and eradication of our heritage.
The second point is that with Raiders, the criticism Mark addresses isn't the big problem now. I saw that criticism Mark mentions decades ago. Certainly by the mid-00s. Along with the false claim of the Ark being a McGuffin (now that McGuffin simply means plot device), the idea that Jones was irrelevant was being argued when I first began visiting blogs and social media.
Today, that isn't the main beef, especially among younger critics. The big beef today is that Raiders is another prime example of white racist imperialist film making - as are all films made by white Europeans and Americans'. In this case, typical white hero steps in to save the day, while going into non-Western cultures, wrecking them, killing a bunch of swarthy types, and stealing their artifacts (just like real Western archeologists). One review I read even pointed out that, except for a few Nazis here and there, most of those Jones personally kills are non-white. We won't even get into John Rhys Davies racist culturally appropriating portrayal of an Egyptian Archeologist.
These are the big criticisms of the day, and tend to follow just the kind of thinking Mark embraces. Thinking made possible by the same Internet Mark sees as the problem. In fact, if you read his article carefully - and in this rarest of cases, I suggest you do - you see Mark lets a little of that tendency he's embraced out of the bag.
He says the ending of the movie, with the Ark being tucked away by the United States, is symbolic of the US crushing other cultures instead of studying them. No. Not ever before now would I, or anyone I knew, have seen the ending that way. People may see it that way in the last few years, following with the 1619 Project mentality. But traditionally, it was symbolic of our governmental bureaucracies and their corruption and willingness to roll over those with legitimate issues. That's back when liberalism was all about how bad and inept and untrustworthy our government was.
Mark's take that it shows the US crushing cultures is new. I've not heard that until recently. It comes with the rest of the Internet driven narrative that all whites in America and Europe were at their core racist. Everything they did was racist. Everything they produced was racist. And the sum contributions of the West and America is just that, the erasing and eradication of all other (beautiful) cultures.
See how easy it is? Mark see the problem and nails it. He misses a little of the roots of the problem, but still gets how the Internet feeds these unhealthy trends of 'I tear down, ergo I am' that the Internet seems to encourage. But then, without realizing it, he repeats narratives and premises that never would have made any progress in sane minds before today, and still wouldn't, were it not for the very thing Mark sees as a problem.
A word of warning for all of us. Perhaps we all need to remember such tendencies. It's easy to see the problem when others are hitting close to home. But without realizing it, we might be just as guilty in ways that, twenty years ago, we never would have imagined. Splinters and planks in eye perhaps? Or just be careful when pointing out legitimate problems that we've not bought into them our own way just the same.
So a Canadian archbishop has stepped forth to remind the world that to live is gain, to die is a bitch. He's essentially banned all forms of worship for those who haven't received the Covid vaccine. Which vaccine or if it matters doesn't appear in the story.
This happens as an elderly coworker of my son fights for his life. He caught Covid which apparently set off a major heart attack. Far worse of a heart attack than my wife experienced. At this point they don't know if he'll make it. May God bring healing and a fast recovery against all odds. His name is Bob.
He was vaccinated. Sadly, he bought into the hype promoted by both the media and medical pros. If you receive the Vaccine, any Vaccine, then you're free, Free, FREE! Hie to the parties and concerts and arenas and festivals for safe is safe as can be. Except for those evil unvaccinated types. Never mind that, by now, we all should know that it's just such large gatherings in tight quarters for extended periods of time that are the number one cause of Covid spreading.
Not to mention that the elderly population continues to make up a whopping 80% of Americans who have died of Covid. But sadly, he missed all that because it isn't focused on. Propaganda, rather than education, is the name of the game. He had the vaccine, and so he could do anything and everything - even go to Mass apparently! And so he did anything and everything. And so, God bless him, he is dying in ICU.
None of this is to say don't get the vaccine. I've explained our hesitancy, but that's us. I certainly understand why others choose to get it. But please listen to one local doctor interviewed a couple weeks ago on one of our local news stations. Of all medical pros, he was the honest one. If you're vaccinated, it's not a sure thing. You can still get Covid, as we're seeing. Likewise, if you're vaccinated but embark on endless parties, gatherings and crowded forums, you're probably going to get Covid faster than someone unvaccinated who's self-quarantined. As my son's girlfriend - who has been vaccinated - said, they oversold it.
Granted, the likelihood of serious illness appears less for the vaccinated. But those numbers are changing, at least without resorting to more boosters and more follow up shots. As this happens, however, it does suggest we take another look at those thousands of cases of 'rare but serious' side effects, or the over 7500 who have died after coincidently taking the Covid vaccine.
But whatever, even if you are vaccinated, it isn't a Get Out of Covid Free card. That's not the fault of the unvaccinated. It's because we have a vaccine rushed into production to deal with a new virus about which we still know very little and are learning about with each passing day. The over selling of it for political gains is one of the many tragedies of this pandemic. Second only to religious leaders joining in with the worst elements of this crisis.
Either that, or I may never watch Clint Eastwood movies the same way again
That a young family was turned away from a restaurant because they were wearing masks, I immediately wonder why they had to choose that restaurant. Especially if it has made clear it has a 'No Masks' policy. Pick another restaurant. Even if you were unaware its policy, once the establishment explained the policy, the field was open for other restaurants that no doubt didn't have such a policy. Or you could run to the news media and complain.
It makes me think of those gay couples who travel a hundred miles uphill in ten feet of snow past dozens of openly gay owned bakeries that cater to gay couples in order to find that one bakery owned by a conservative Christian. At that point they run to the nearest lawyer or news outlet. It also makes me think of decades of hearing liberals say 'If you don't like it, you don't have to listen, or go there, or watch', and so on, which never seems to apply anymore (like so many old liberal values and talking points).
This is part of the Propaganda Wing of the Covid crisis. It also makes me think of something my second son told me. He said many who oppose the vaccines and masks haven't done a good job convincing him they're right. But those who support the vaccines and masks have done everything to convince him they're wrong.
When I was being interviewed on a Catholic radio show once, we were talking about the state of things in the world and the Church. This was when the Episcopal Church made news after it voted to name the New Testament as an anti-Semitic, racist document. During the radio show the host brought that up, but said 'A certain denomination did such and such.' I responded that it was the Episcopal Church. After all, it was in the news. Anyone knowing about the story knew who we were talking about. Anyone not knowing about it has a right to know. He was not happy, and I wasn't asked to be back on his show.
Quite frankly, I've never cared for that approach of 'You know, there's this denomination in the news that did this crazy thing.' You mean the Episcopal Church? Or, 'You know, it was that damp, foggy island just north of France.' You mean England? Or, 'You know, if you don't study harder, you're going to get an F like Rick and some other people*.'
As a pastor, I didn't care for that trick. If I felt inclined to point out a problem with something particular, I would name it. And if I didn't feel inclined to name it, I didn't point it out. Even if it was calling out our own denomination or one of its offices. I think let my yes be yes and no be no means something.
Unfortunately, too often Pope Francis seems to think it means let your maybe by possibly, then you can always have wiggle room. In an age that sees Truth and Facts the way vampires see garlic and mirrors, I can't help but think that's a bad look. I fear it gives too many already awash in our age of duplicity a feeling of justification for doing the same thing.
Plus, what does he mean by saying he deserves attacks and insults because he's a sinner? That's rubbish, too. However sinful, he doesn't deserve attacks or insults. Rebukes, yes. Correction, of course. A gentle kick in the butt maybe. But not personal attacks or insults. Technically, nobody deserves that, and if I fall into the habit of merely launching attacks and insults at people under the justification that 'the sinful son of a bitch has it coming', then I'm the problem. Glass houses after all.
The more I listen to Pope Francis, the more I want to cringe. He's quickly become so many things I try to raise my boys not to be. And I hate that. I see a lot of potential in him, and I think he could have done great things. Perhaps he wasn't ready for the spotlight. I don't know. I just wish he would act the part of a mature religious leader, rather than a frat boy jockeying for laughs from all the cool kids at the house party.
*That's a humorous story from my youth. A friend of mine named Rick was in French class with me, and he and the teacher hated each other. One day, the teacher called out the superintendent's daughter for not paying attention. He said, 'If you don't pay attention, you're going to get an F like Rick and some other people.' Rick immediately protested being called out. The teacher responded that he didn't just call him out, he mentioned others than just Rick. At which point Rick said, "Oh sure, Rick and some other people!' I always cherished that as a way to be overtly slick and duplicitous while leaving just enough wiggle room for implausible deniability.' Nonetheless, that isn't the sort of story that should come to my mind when I read the latest statements by our pope.
UPDATE: Apparently many are responding with great joy that Pope Francis has once again called out one of those other Catholic types, however thinly veiled. Here's but one example:
So let me get this straight. If it was wrong for Arroyo to say the pope does the Devil's work, then wouldn't it be wrong for Pope Francis to do the same thing? Or does Catholicism operate under the old Protestant stereotypes that being pope takes away the rules of the Lord? Or is it because it's my side doing it, in the greatest tradition of liberal values: Of course it's wrong when non-Liberals censor things!? Or is Deacon Greydanus, and perhaps the pope, pushing us into the post-modern world where we don't sweat consistency of principles or morals anyway, as long as we win? I don't know. But then, can we really be sure Pope Francis meant EWTN? After all, he didn't name names did he?
Read it here. Yep. It's his response to my old classmate Russ Moore's rejoicing over the end of Robert E. Lee. Rod realizes that in another time and place, such a conversation might be appropriate. Heck, such a solution might have its place.
But you are either a leftist, or a fool, to think it has anything to do with Lee, or Jefferson, or Washington, or the Slave Trade, or a host of Western signposts. Its end goal is the destruction of the Western Tradition and its Western and Christian values and principles. That is the goal.
I know this because I pay attention to my sons and what they hear in their world and among their peers. From their classroom discussions a cool 50% of their classmates see the United Stats as a 400 year old Nazi regime. Its entire history one of racism, slavery and genocide. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The books and handouts they show me make it clear that the whole of Western Civilization was a net zero for the world - at best. In most cases it was a negative, being the sole cause of the suffering and evils in the world today. For their college, Critical Race Theory is the gospel.
That Christianity is a myth and lie is also the official teaching, and many classes present that view. My son took a class on mythology and what was added to the fraternity of Greek, Egyptian and Norse myths? That would be the Bible. Right between Thor and Perseus was standing Jesus Himself. And his is a state university. Which is fair and honest at least. I learned that the Bible was just what the biblical authors stole from surrounding religions and myths back in high school. Seeing it now as nothing but an ancient set of folktales and fake stories makes perfect sense. Classes in anthropology, sociology and history present the same picture.
So consider that these kids, learning on the tax payer dime that religions are just folk tales, the West is a net evil, and the US particularly is a racist Nazi state in serious need of extermination, are the face of the next generation of leaders in our world. The move to eliminate almost anyone and anything to do with this most horrid of all civilizations - including the art, philosophy, religion, literature, and its foundational principles - is well under way. And the ones officially being taught that the whole of the civilization should die aren't even out of college yet.
Since the official Catholic - and general Christian - response to this is more or less accepting its premises at face value, don't expect it to slow any time soon. Since our leaders seem to think there is some common ground net neutrality viewpoint that we can work with, the line of the Faithful will be drawn backwards and backwards and backwards again.
Why the speed with which this is happening? I dunno. My sons might have some insight. They have said before that if it was any other generation discussing a radical departure from the last centuries of Christian ideals, it might seem credible. But as it is, you get the impression of a bunch of people unable or unwilling to stand up and fight, so they wrap their surrender in a Jesus flag and hope that disastrous results of their cowardliness and apathy don't come before they've passed from this mortal realm.
Yep. Read the sad story here. Had it happened under Bush, it was a war crime and he's a killer. Heck, I remember in the early days of Obama, such drone diplomacy was met with equal calls of war criminal and anti-Democracy killer memes by those good Nu Prolife Catholics. We don't even need to imagine this happening under Trump.
But not today. I ventured a quick peek into the hell pit of leftwing Catholic social media evil to see if anyone - any single one - even bothered to mention this in a prayer for the poor innocents, much less hold the Biden administration (or anyone) accountable.
Nope. I looked over a couple days to see. It's not easy to wade through such gut wrenching pride and hate in the service of evil, but I did. And not a single mention. I'm convinced that this is one of the signature evils of our time. The media has convinced a staggering number of people that suffering and death only matter if they can be exploited to advance the agenda.. Otherwise, screw it, let them rot.
Not a single Nu Prolife Catholic Catholic I visited, the bold, brave defenders of life, has bothered to mention this story. A story that would have dominated St. Blogs a decade ago. They are so fast with their contempt and hatred aimed at their fellow believers who have not sold out to the Left, they're missing the nakedly obvious. May God have mercy on their souls. By the grace of God may I not fall into the same trap. And may God bless the victims of such a tragic accident and cover the hearts and minds of their loved ones.
Dawn Eden has learned that - horrors! - one of her Catholic heroes held and shared! ... I can't bring myself to say it .... anti-Semitic views! (more on this later).
Sigh. I'm beginning to think condemning the sins of our forebears has become the eighth sacrament of the Church. A generation that defines its righteousness by round the clock dredging up the sinful thoughts and attitudes of past sinners is in a boat load of trouble. It's an appealing narcotic to be sure, to know that it's the sins of others long gone that you're accountable for. Not that it's without biblical precedent. But it isn't hard to see that what is going on now is hell and gone from a biblical approach to national repentance.
After all, a generation whose stellar accomplishment is watching the civilization it inherited crumble under its watch should clean its own house first. A generation that has to discuss arming teachers because of our children mass killing each other in our schools should not be throwing rocks at old time glass houses. A generation that can boast aborted pregnancies in the hundreds of millions, a debauched and hedonistic culture while tens of millions have died of AIDS and drugs, unprecedented levels of depression, drug addiction and even suicide among children as young as ten years old, out to be slow on the judgment. And a generation of believers watching unprecedented numbers of believers abandon the Faith for good, or remain and not give a damn about those tired old fairy tales that nobody believes anyway, is not one that should crow too loudly about the sins of yesterday's prophets.
Yet our continual response to the dumpster fire we've made our generation into is to dig through the records of the past to find out how utterly sinful those who came before us really were. Sins, by the way, that were often sins of thought or attitude that were all too common then - and just as common today when applied to new demographic groups. May God not judge us as we so brazenly judge those who have come before.
As a bonus, the always Jesuit America magazine throws its two rubles in with Ms. Purvis and asks just how we can approach the clear and obvious sins of all those saints we kick around. As if people didn't realize that the sinfulness of saints is part of what makes the saints so darn inspiring. If sinners like those can be saints, there's hope for me! Or do they mean the unforgivable sins of the saints, such as racist thinking, as defined by the Leftist State today?
For my part, I grow weary of the obsession with sins like racism and sexism, accusations easily thrown out but also easily denied or covered up. How do we know the whites who scream racism the loudest aren't the racists? Especially when racism today is more or less defined as failure to adhere to certain politically charged dogmas, based on one's skin color of course, rather than actions and how one lives one's life? Something you'd think a proud Jewish convert to Catholicism would be more careful about. But then, you'd think an African American Catholic would be careful, too.
Also, a bonus observation. Ever notice that liberalism never admits failure? When we embrace the latest, and the latest ends in disaster, it appeals to group guilt. So instead of standing beside the Texas attempt to curtail the slaughter of modern abortion, the always Jesuit America magazine instead appeals to the horrors of our patriarchal (read: the men made us do it) guilt and problems and fault and all that group identity guilt that's all the rage in 21st Century Leftwing discourse. After all, it couldn't have been yesterday's liberals with their promise of consequence free debauchery that is the main problem.
Again, it's increasingly clear that the focus on past sins is the only antidote for a modern generation with so little to show for its time on Earth.
An architect used Legos to build a replica of Vatican City. Here is the article at Our Sunday Visitor. And here is a picture from the article of the beyond awesome results:
It looks like Pope Francis gave another airplane interview. I've come to look forward to those in the same way I look forward to a good teeth cleaning twice a year.
Everyone seems to be jumping all over his statements about Communion and zealously pro-abortion rights politicians. I'll leave others to make sense of what he said about that. Here is a transcript of the interview, translated into the King's English.
But here's what caught my eye, regarding marriage within the context of a discussion about homosexuality:
I have spoken clearly about this: marriage is a sacrament, marriage is a sacrament. And the Church does not have the power to change the sacraments. They are thus, as the Lord has instituted [for] us. These are laws that try to help the situation of many people of different sexual orientations. And this is important, to help these people, but without imposing things that by their nature do not enter in the Church. But if they want to support a homosexual couple in life together, states have the possibility of civilly supporting them, of giving security through inheritance, health [insurance]. But the French have a law on this not only for homosexuals, but for all people who want to associate with each other [in a legally recognized relationship].
But marriage is marriage. This is not to condemn people who are like that, no, please, they are our brothers and sisters and we must accompany them. But marriage as a sacrament is clear, it is clear. That there are civil laws that provide if they want to associate, a law to have the health service, to have […] among them, these things are done. The French PACS, this law […] has nothing to do with homosexual couples — homosexual people can use it, they cannot use it, but marriage as a sacrament is man and woman. Sometimes what I have said is confusing. All the same, respect everyone. The good Lord will save everyone — do not say this aloud [laughs] — but the Lord wants to save everyone. Please do not make the Church deny her truth. Many, many people of homosexual orientation approach the Sacrament of Penance, they approach to ask priests for advice, the Church helps them to move forward in their lives. But the sacrament of marriage is […].
It looks to my eyes, assuming the translation is accurate, that Christian morals are no longer some thing that matter. They're nice. At least for Catholics. But you can certainly live an actively open life contrary to the Church's teachings and it doesn't matter. In fact, it's nice that the State has laws that help you live a life in conflict with Church teaching.
Why? Because apparently God saves everyone. Now the transcript says he laughs, and then says the Lord wants to save everyone. Again, letting his maybe be a good solid possibly without commitment. Sometimes he approaches these things like a drunk in a bar jockeying for a laugh from the girls next to him, not a leader of the largest Christian tradition in the world. Does he really mean God saves everyone? That seems in direct conflict with everything traditional orthodox Christianity has taught for its entire existence.
But then, it has always taught that sexual sin is serious as well. Or at least it is something we'll let people burn in Hell for, or we just don't believe in Hell and it doesn't matter? I have no clue. I know people who worried about Covid lockdowns or question Global Warming or Open Borders Immigration or Covid Vaccines are a reprehensible bunch. Pope Francis makes that clear. But everything else? It may or may not be, well, any particular concern since we're all saved anyway? Or not. Because Pope Francis will never tell. Or he will. And only the spiritually and intellectually superior Catholics will know for sure.
The good Lord will save everyone — do not say this aloud [laughs] — but the Lord wants to save everyone. Please do not make the Church deny her truth. Pope Francis
But I've never stopped to muse about what Autumn really meant for so many ages to people who saw harvest as more than a time to buy football tickets and run out for the latest pumpkin spice flavored pizza (double yuck, yuck). For our ancestors, Autumn was the season of life itself.
It was the season of plenty, of harvest, of feasting. It was the season that set the stage for winter and whether abundance or starvation or death would be the name of the game. In short it was less about costume parties and yard decorations as much as it was keyed to the fruit of the year's labors and the bountiful blessings the Earth yields for those who work her. When they rejoiced and celebrated, they did so for life itself.
Here are a few passages from one of Washington Irving's most famous literary creations, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It describes the lands haunted by the Horseman as the ill fated Ichabod Crane would see them. Being of modest means, Ichabod looked at such seasonal bounty the way a Manhattan stockbroker might look at a Lamborghini today:
"It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech and hickory-nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble field...
On all sides he beheld vast store of apples; some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees; some gathered into baskets and barrels for the market; others heaped up in rich piles for the cider-press. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts, and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty-pudding; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of the most luxurious of pies; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat fields breathing the odor of the beehive...
Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty doughnut, the tender oly koek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller; sweet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of cakes. And then there were apple pies, and peach pies, and pumpkin pies; besides slices of ham and smoked beef; and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, and quinces; not to mention broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and cream, all mingled higgledy-piggledy, pretty much as I have enumerated them, with the motherly teapot sending up its clouds of vapor from the midst—Heaven bless the mark! I want breath and time to discuss this banquet as it deserves, and am too eager to get on with my story."
Ah, what a portrayal of autumnal abundance. Your stomach almost growls at the thought. Even in our age of consumer plenty, online shopping and digital supermarkets, that sort of picture of pre-modern culinary anticipation is enough to get the old gastro pistons popping.
Why not? You read those passages above, or you read some of the poems
praising this most colorful of all seasons, and you can't help but catch the
celebratory feel. It is almost bursting
at the seams with joy and thankfulness for everything laid before the viewer. It may be a season in which life turns to decay, but it was ever the season that pointed to life and what was needed to sustain it.
That's what Autumn should really be about. Perhaps it's because industrialization and technology have effectively divorced so much of humanity from our more earthen roots, we must supplement with traditions of tailgates and horror movie fests. Nonetheless, it might be those roots long gone that still tug at us, and why so many people seem to get excited today, not at the thought of spring blossoms or even silver bells, but of colorful leaves and pumpkin patches and orchards.
After all, in the day, people knew exactly why it was they were thrilled with the coming harvest season. And it wasn't the abundance of decorations. It was the fruit of their labors, the abundance that the land provided. To them, a cornucopia was more than a decoration. It was a symbol of another year of life. I can't help but imagine that was a more pure want than the things we drool over today. Since most of us don't fear starving between now and next spring, much less next week.
As a bonus, and because I'm a swell guy, here's a link to an online cooking site that walks you through your own Ichabod era harvest feast, early American style. Try that some time. We've done Hobbit feasts and Scrooge (or at least Cratchit/Fezziwig), and Henry VIII Tudor feasts. Building a dinner around a particular book or historical era can be fun and, given how the other half feasted in the day, quite filling.
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| Ichabod gets Autumn |
To demonstrate, Mark Shea asks the big question: How is pro-abortion any different than not getting the Covid vaccine? Answer? Aborting 65 million pregnancies might not be as bad!
I won't even waste my time with the falsehoods and tortured logic needed to downplay evil and persecute political dissenters. Read it at your own risk. I will say, however, that if we do not begin applying the term heretic or blasphemer to the growing number of believers willing to twist, torture and throw out endless Christian doctrine in order to conform to the State, then the words heretic and blasphemer no longer have value or purpose.
