Choose God and choose life. Embrace the Gospel. Flee the hellish culture of death that sees life as important only when expedient. Carl Olson chose well:
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and clinging to him; for that means life to you and length of days... "
Deuteronomy 30.19-20a
I must admit I'm confused as I feel like there's 3 different conversations going on.
ReplyDeleteIt has to do with that young man who immolated himself in protest of Israel in Gaza and later died. Many have rushed out and made a martyr of him, while some - like Olson - have noted martyrdom is a thing, but not that way. And a culture where people are celebrating what our culture once would have rejected goes to show how far we've come. Meanwhile Mark doesn't in any way seem to condemn the suicide or the action, but joins with the fellow who is clearly accepting this act as a logical result of policies or events or anything else to blame. Rather than, you know, saying that committing suicide for a cause is never the Catholic way.
Delete'Ricksteroni' would appear to be another advocate of now-you-see-it-now-you-don't pacifism.
ReplyDeleteIt's a strange pacifism that seems to excuse the taking of a human life.
DeleteUgh! This guy is not to be confused with a martyr. God may love losers but quitters, not so much... what a waste of a life. And what a waste of reason to not see this for what it is.
ReplyDeleteYet it is a sign of the times. Which Colson correctly noted. Life is expendable. Defending this sort of thing only reinforces this.
DeleteTalk about unfair to Carl--he wasn't mocking the misguided suicide, but rather took to task the lionizing of someone who killed himself in such a horrid fashion.
ReplyDeleteThis should not be difficult to see.
Agreed
DeleteThat's what I thought. What is wrong with Colson's observation. It is the very thing Mark would have said 20 years ago. The fellow who first responded strikes me as the ultimate in modern progressive thinking - nothing is every anyone's fault.
DeleteFor reasons beyond me, Shea has let his hatred of the pro-life movement reach near psychotic levels. It goes beyond bad faith readings to the point anything involving them he will read and interpret in the most cartoonishly over-the-top manner possible.
DeleteMark suffers from John Brown syndrome. My son once said the Boomers could never live up to their parents, so they've spent their lives trying to create causes and opponents that were bigger than their parents'. Seeing Mark's self-proclaimed mantle of 'hero and martyr and against the powers of Hell (conservatives)', it's not difficult to read it in light of my boy's observation. Whether he really believed it at first is hard to say. I've noted many who bailed and joined the Left proclaim the 'don't want to do it, but the Right will blow up the universe' excuse. But the last things I've seen of Mark (like swooping in to attack someone concerned about deifying suicide) suggests he seems to believe it now.
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