Just an update to say I've not fallen off the edge of the world. I said here that I was going to lay low over the Easter season. Technically that season, Eastertide for sticklers, lasts until Pentecost. I didn't really mean for that long. But I've been thinking on things. I said here that life itself was beginning to push me in new ways as I also wonder about the effectiveness of fussing about things on Social Media. Especially because things appear to have entered a new era.
Yes, I've watched with some humor the apocalyptic hysterics regarding Elon Musk and Twitter. It's not surprising. The problem everyone has isn't that he's some hard right MAGA Trump Conservative Religious Right fanatic. For all I know, he's Lenny the leftist and might be as bad for Twitter as anything we've seen.
Then why the outrage? Because they can't control him. That's why. He's outside the cabal and the control now demanded, and that has them going unhinged. Which shows how much and how many are now controlled, that one single out of control individual sets off so much unilateral outrage. And how many are already thralls of this new order? Observe:
Note well, Fr. James is pro-LGBTQ and embraces the liberal framework of all minorities against the White Western Majority. That's typically where his advocacy is aimed. Deacon Greydanus is among the 'not wanting to align with the Left, but the horrifying MAGA Trump racist sexist Alt-Right types make me do it' clan. If they're taking to Social Media, it's typically to attack on behalf of this or that minority group, or attack the Trump/MAGA/Right.
Yet Musk is none of these things. For all I know, he is nothing but liberal about most LGBTQ issues. He's not a Trump person from what I can tell. I could be wrong on that. But MAGA and Musk are not terms I've heard linked. So why the rush to Social Media by these two in order to lob barbs at Mr. Musk? I don't see them fuss about money spent by Soros, or Hollywood, or various Social Media moguls. I don't recall them being worried about Free Speech one way or another regarding what Social Media outlets have been doing to dissenting voices for several years. So what gives?
Because the Machine has said so, that's why. They're simply charging forth because the hysterics demand it. The whip was cracked, they moved into action. Not because Musk is pro this or that in anything. But because he is now a threat to the established order. Yes, Fr. Martin uses the old ploy of 'bad use of money' first floated by Judas all those years ago. That's a common trick, almost always reserved for people on the opposite side of an issue. But the reason can be nothing other than the Left has gone into hysterics, and these two Catholic voices have charged forth in complete obedience to the bugle call. It's no longer about embracing this or that template, or promoting this or that cause. It's about responding when the machine says so. I find that development very significant.
It shows just how far things have gotten. It also shows how far we've sunk. We have long ceased to be the nation, and even culture, we grew up with. That ship has sailed. This shows how long ago and far away that ship is.
So during this Eastertide, I'm still sitting back and thinking. Praying. Pondering. Reflecting. If something catches my eye, or some special prayer request. I may just post dribble or fun things as always.
Martin and Greydanus are both examples of enemies within the Church. They are faces of the most insidious of lies, ambiguity and blindness of the faith we have while being cloaked in the 'holiness' of their ordained status as cover Their words do not build up the Church in any way and actually lead the weak away from the faith and truth. All Elan Musk did was to shine the light in the dark crevices of our society and expose the cockroaches as they scatter about.
ReplyDeleteTo be clear, the Anonymous above is not the same Anonymous who has been posting in recent weeks.
DeleteYou are correct Anonymous. The comment section seems to be a bit different than the last time I used it. I didn't sign in correctly. Sorry for any confusion.
DeleteYeah, this looks different. I haven't commented since things appear to have changed. I'm no fan of the comments section, and I've been told by more than one that they would comment if it was easier. Alas, it's what comes with the platform.
DeleteBut yes, the growing number of Catholics willing to side with this movement, no matter how awful it becomes or what it advocates shows just how far we've gotten. Especially since now it appears the point it so blindly support rather than advocate.
Disney purchased Fox for 71 billion dollars. The only real outcome of that purchase was more profit for Disney and more crappy franchise movies for us. I really doubt that SDG could be moved to outrage over the world not being "71 billion dollars better" for the purchase.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, the old 'misuse of money' trick is something most often trotted out to score points against someone I disagree with. That is often used against the Church (if they really cared about the poor, they wouldn't have all that expensive art!). The point isn't the substance of the complaint. The point is the establishment is threatened, sent out a call to attack the one threatening them, and the voices above reacted in complete obedience.
DeleteI think "misuse of WEALTH" is a more interesting direction. If Twitter is somehow "worth" tens of billions of dollars, it was some kind of real wealth; how was it being used before? Likewise, the art treasures owned by the Vatican -- are they being enjoyed by the public and curated for future generations, or are they hidden away in the private gallery of a mansion in Malibu?
DeleteThere is also the "widow's mite" aspect. Does the $44 billion really mean as much to Musk's budget as the $9.99 per month of a Netflix basic subscription means to the budgets of working stiffs? Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also -- even if your treasure is $9.99/month.
Last but not least, it is dangerous to get into the business of judging people, be they Musk or Greydanus. OF COURSE everyone doing the judging will SAY they are judging the act, no the person.
True that. Though that's always the trick with judging. I grew up always hearing we should never judge, often from people who did a fair share of judging in the process. Consider Pope Francis who has famously said 'who am I to judge', and yet does a fair share of judging. The apostles did to be sure. I think the idea is don't be judgmental, in that 'I'm a million times as righteous as though are', while certainly calling attention to things that are problematic at best, wrong at worst.
DeleteI think a good analogy with having a friend who is about to appear before the judge. The judge, NOT US, who will determine guilt and set the punishment. We can, however, advise our friend to come clean and ask for mercy, and to stop doing things that anger the judge. And we must never, under any circumstances, give up the hope and the desire that each person will repent and find mercy. We cannot hope for all -- universalism is impossible to square with Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition -- but we MUST hope for EACH.
Delete"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
ReplyDeleteI'm in a weird middle ground. I love that Musk is buying Twitter while also wishing he and others like him would also do more to create solutions for poverty and other issues. If billionaires did more for the poor that would mean less ammunition for the socialists to use against capitalism. That's the problem with politics. Everybody is either considered to be a saint or a villain. Most public figures are somewhere in between
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe. Poverty in the US is not like poverty in many parts of the world; very few people literally die of starvation, for example, and homelessness is largely intertwined with problems like mental illness and addiction. The hard truth is that you cannot raise people out of poverty with money any more than you can raise people out of sin with laws; they have to really WANT to improve, and for it be generally successful, society has to cooperate, which is not the case now. Ultimately it is like evangelization: "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." So, yeah, he and we have to do our part, but we have to do so knowing that success is beyond our control.
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