Now I believe this is an authentic review by a bona fide fan the way I believe Elvis Presley is really alive and working on a road crew in Moose Lake, Minnesota. Though it is today, when three Jeopardy contestants couldn't fill in the missing word 'Hallowed' in the Lord's Prayer, and CBS reported on a poll that found 40% of Americans couldn't pinpoint the historical event upon which our Independence Day celebrations are based. So general standards appear to be lowering across the board.
Nonetheless, it's more than telling. Mark is hardly alone among those left of center. But he is the first Catholic I've seen who has made sure attacking those trying to do something about child slavery is the main priority.
Again, I reserve the right to ignore Mark, and I typically do at this point. Even when someone sends me something I will usually set it aside. Nonetheless, when he manages somehow to sink even lower than usual, especially when it comes to attacking those trying to do a good work by fighting the modern enslavement of children, it's worth noting where some Catholics will stand.
"On Facebook and then bravely block you."
ReplyDeleteOn that is RICH coming from the lord of blocking himself, Mr. Shea. That man has NO business mocking the Internet bravery of anybody else with his ironclad hugbox.
I've never seen anyone so defined by projection. 80% of everything he does is blasting people for doing what he so proudly does himself. I think there is a reason condemnation of hypocrisy looms so large in the Gospels.
DeleteI'm never quite sure why the hate leveled towards Abby Johnson? (Unplanned) From the women's corners I can only think it's jealousy on some level. I'm well past celebrating
Deletepersons as some kind of untouchables, even if I agree with their causes, but I can appreciate the information they highlight and the guts it takes to bring it public. Even if Tim Ballard is not the greatest of guys, why can't we just appreciate what is being done with highlighting the subject matter of the film?
What I've seen from people who post about Sound of Freedom is that it has opened their eyes to the human subjects of human trafficking. No one has said anything more than that. In my estimation the only reason you could possibly find a movie like this offensive is that you have a bad conscience. But I go back to the opening lines of John... people prefer the darkness to the light.
In a sane age, that would be the general approach. But we don't only say someone who is wrong, mistaken or somehow flawed negates caring about their contributions. We go out of our way to find things to attack, in order to excuse not listening to them. Hence Johnson, who was an insider in the abortion industry. We can't have that, so find anything to prove she's not God, and then attack and ignore accordingly.
DeleteCompare the cost of each film with the gross receipts.
DeleteThe Jones movie may not make a profit. Sound of Freedom has.
Of course Shea probably despises profit….
David, SoF will likely do quite well. For Mark, profit or not, it's that the movie is in any way connected to someone right of center that matters.
DeleteNote how the posted image isn't content to simply attack The Sound of Freedom, but must also say that Disney is the best.
ReplyDeleteIt really is fascinating how much of modern leftism just amounts to corporate bootlicking.
Mark's world is a simple world: Salvation is to the left of center; to the right of center is irredeemable evil that must be destroyed. He doesn't make it difficult, I'll give him that.
DeleteYou know what tidbit I haven't actually seen in the mainstream media...last month the Biden administration ENDED familial DNA testing at the border, mid-contract. Please tell me again (Mr. Shea) how "not for" child trafficking the media is. At the very best, they are indifferent to it, which is just as bad or worse.
ReplyDeleteOne need only ask where all the Netflix series, movies and media specials focusing on Jeff Epstein are. I mean, that's the stuff Hollywood lives for, and yet virtually nothing. An occasional story in the news here and there, but otherwise silence. The media has perfected that rather evil approach of only caring about evil and human suffering if doing so can be exploited to advance agendas. In this case, the focus on child sex slavery doesn't do that.
DeleteI'm all for doing everything we can to stop human trafficking. By all means. Sign me up.
ReplyDeleteBut --
A conservative podcast (Red Pilled America) found inconsistencies in Tim Ballard's testimony, both in the movie (to be expected, as real-life events are sometimes tweaked to fit a running time and heighted dramatic effect), and in his own interviews sharing his story.
Just this past week, he was ousted from the organization he founded, OUR, so he is now soliciting funds for a new endeavor.
Just as people who donated to BLM didn't realize it went to purchase mansions for its leadership, just as people who donated to stop Covid didn't have any accounting for where the money went, let's make sure that the organizations we support to help stop child trafficking are legitimate.
BTW, my bringing this up on a conservative board had me banned. I'm no fan of Mark Shea, but in this case it could one of the two-times that broken-clock is correct.
Interesting because in an interview I was watching he said he left OUR to found his new organization. Is there evidence of him being forced out or is it just speculation?
DeleteI mean I agree about holding people accountable. But I've also seen wild speculation run amuck and ruin lives as well.
I couldn't say. I don't know anything about the people involved. I know almost any movie made about an actual person has been challenged. I can't list the times I've seen someone challenged for what the movie shows, or what they said, or mistakes or others saying it is wrong. It seems to be part of doing something like writing a book or making a movie. As for him leaving or why, I'd have to look into it.
DeleteI really hate how one of the main conservative reactions to the left saying that someone is the devil is to find some way to say "well maybe he isn't the devil, but he did things which were a little bad, so maybe we should reject him anyway."
DeleteI don't know if this is what you are doing, but I've definitely seen that reaction from elsewhere on the right.
At the moment the accusations you've listed amount to a guy being a bit of an embellisher and a self-promoter, which is consistent with pretty much every other "based on a true story" tale. (Look into the real "Rudy", for example.) So this is all pretty minor, and in particular doesn't impact the movie much at all.
But even if we do grant all that stuff it still wouldn't make Shea's take correct, which includes stuff like affirming
"Anti-trafficking work is providing support for gay and trans kids kicked out of their homes and therefore exposed to heightened risk of being trafficked. It’s pushing for racial justice. It’s writing and voting for policies that provide a safety net and economic certainty."
or that the movie is popular because "stories that center the victims of MAGA racism are all “woke” and need to be silenced" and that the movie appeals to " People like Klanned Karenhood who reflexively make a distinction between “Americans” (=Good White Christians) and “Jews.""
Mark who? :-)
ReplyDeleteI wish. Sadly, he still gets nods from Catholic leaders, schools and other Catholic agencies and publications. As I have said, when I was a Protestant we had our Fred Phelps types, but we did our best to distance ourselves and warn people. We didn't invite him to be a contributor or ask him to speak at local churches.
DeleteI pray for Mark Shea's conversion & return to sanity every day.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, that's about all a person can do. I fear he is beyond reach any other way.
DeleteI'm sure he does so to keep those bona fides. Mark is a pure partisan. Defend anything left of center, attack anything remotely right of center. We warned him years ago, when he went through his 'a pox on both houses' phase, that this could happen. That thinking he is pure and unbiased and simply correct, when he inevitably did slide to one side or another, he would be a thousand times the tribalist that he warned about back then. As for the QAnon connection. That would be part of the modern 'guilt by six degrees of association.' It reminds one of old McCarthyism memes. The whole 'you're a commie because you ate at a restaurant where someone who once dated a person who attended a communist meeting was at' approach. That is becoming common. It's part of the 'you benefited from slavery since you are a white American because slavery once did this or that and your ancestors would have thus, therefore guilty.' Simply applying it to a modern group of varying repute is rather easy, once you accept the premise of guilt.
ReplyDelete