Coming out against that not small number of individuals, often decidedly left of center, cheering the cold blooded murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?
Now, I'm the last person to defend insurance companies. I worked for them at one time, and like most people I've been shellacked by them over the years. But the problems, like most problems, are complex and wide reaching and there are many things at play - including the media's general lack of being worth anything when it comes to zeroing in on such troubles today. Really. I told my sons, journalism is basically AWOL nowadays. I remember back when the press went after the Tobacco industry. Whew.
Where is that today, unless it is something to do with Republicans or Trump or someone challenging leftwing narratives? If you want to kick around a conspiracy theory, you could be forgiven for imagining that the press obsesses over Trump and company in order to deflect attention from things that might not be advantageous for the press's pet agendas. But that's for another time.
Fact is, there are many problems intertwined today that are behind the legitimate issues people are pointing at. But as is usual in the postmodern era, our most educated generation in history wants things reduced to a simplistic caveman level 'My group is too good for God, and group B is Hitler because of Issue X' framework. Thus:
Helping more minorities vote GOP as 20% of black voters learn they are white nationalists |
And if our esteemed institutions of information and learning have anything to do with it, we'll keep Issue X simple enough to fit on a lapel pin and no more.
Nonetheless, what is shocking in all of this is the stunning silence from the bold and brash New Prolife Catholics out there. You know, the ones who condemn the use of any violence ever. When people celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden, the reaction across St. Blogs was swift and fierce. That's what Seamless Garment Catholicism is all about Charlie Brown - it's comprehensive support for the dignity of all life with no exception. Violence is wrong, full stop. Any killing is to be condemned. To celebrate or even justify death and violence is to sniff around the doorpost of the Antichrist.
Yet during the 2020 protests and riots, most such Catholics were strangely silent. Some even defended the violence, and even the killing. That leftwing Catholic troll over on Mark Brumley's Facebook page, one of the few I've ever blocked, wrote a lengthy post explaining why, though we shed a tear for innocents killed in 2020, it was for the greater and just good.
Same with the October 7th massacre. Most NP Catholics did offer prayers and even decry the slaughter of a thousand Jews, but generally wrapped it up with some variation of 'however...'.
And now we have this. Not only the cold blooded murder of a human being, but a large number of people (including one of the alleged shooter's professors) celebrating him as a hero and cheering for what he is said to have done. Some are even calling for more of the same, while bringing out the customary religious icons with the alleged killer's face on them.
So where are those New Prolife Seamless Garment Catholics in all of this? With the ones I know (and can access), I've not seen any mention of it at all. Period. I mean, it's only one of the biggest stories right now, so they can't possibly invoke 'never heard of it', since clearly they keep up with the news in other cases. Granted, I've been blocked by several such Catholics, so perhaps on those sites they're all over this.
Fun note. With the exception of the Huffington Post, the only people who have blocked or banned me over all these years are left leaning Catholics. Secular, Orthodox and non-Catholic Christian leftwing sites might lock horns with me, but none have blocked me. Even the ironically titled, and hyper to the left, Friendly Atheist never blocked me or threated to do so (I voluntarily stopped going there it should be mentioned). And on top of it, most leftist Catholics who have blocked me (or threatened) are Catholic converts. Mostly former Protestants. Go figure. It probably means something, but I'll kick it around somewhere down the road.
Anyway, assuming not all of those sites are different from the ones I can access, why the silence - yet again? When at the beginning of the year the Democrats said if there is no other reason to vote for them and Biden, vote because of abortion, abortion, abortion, those same NP individuals were silent as feathers. And now, we have the latest example of those on the left saying, yet again, that what they once condemned is now just fine, and what they once condoned is a grave evil. So you heard postwar liberalism say violence is never the answer? Well the Left now says violence can be a damn good answer for a growing number of reasons.
At some point we have to admit the obvious when it comes to our New Prolife Seamless Garment brethren. As much as it pains us to do so. Remember this.
UPDATE: To his credit, Shea has stepped into the mix and condemned the shooting - sort of (See Nate's comment below). In a way that has come to define a common leftwing Christian tactic with the Left, he basically repeats why the shooter did what he did. The Left's opponents are genocide Nazi Hitlers all. Including Musk. Fun exercise: go to leftwing Catholic sites and Google Elon Musk and see how few even mentioned him until the Press declared war on him for doing what he did. Which was exposing their collusion with the White House to censor and oppress dissenting and politically opposed views. It's like the press whipping a donkey and hearing those bloggers bray. Anyhoo, so many leftwing Christians will do what Mark does, and basically accept the premises of the Left about such things as abortion or killing Israeli Jews or just about anything, and then add a technical caveat that it is still wrong, but everything else is spot on right. Abortion is technically bad, but everything the pro-abortion movement says (oppressed women, economic injustice, misogyny, the patriarchy) is gospel truth. And so we have Mark do the same thing here. Every reason that boy murdered Brian Thompson is completely sensical (the same could be said about those who tried to murder Trump). But technically cold blooded murder is still wrong. Count me as one who doesn't see that as more than a Vichy approach to morality. Like I said, 'My Group is God's Group, Group B is Hitler, and all because of X'. As long as Mark, other believers, the press, our educators and politicians push such simplistic templates, they might as well hand out guns at the next radicals' convention.
Funny you mention that because look what just posted today. (I was about to email you a link)
ReplyDeletehttps://markpshea.com/2024/12/17/just-war-and-people-we-think-just-need-killin/
You might think this is a halfway decent piece but then he can't help himself...
They are Donald Trump. They are Elon Musk They are Mussolini. They are Stalin. They are Mao. They are Pol Pot. They are every murderous asshole who ever proclaimed themselves a god with the absolute power of life and death over everyone else in the world “for the greater good”.
I checked. No mention of Trudeau or Starmer. In fact, isn't it funny how when he's referring to the Left, Shea is all about a vague "them" but loves to name his pet boogeymen along with the worst murderers in history.
Even when he starts to grow something of a moral spine, Mark Shea still remains a complete partisan hack.
IMHO Mark himself aligns FAR more closely to the last four on his list than do either Musk or Trump. I mean, what do Musk or Trump have in common with tyrants other than having a human body? And I wonder why he left Hitler out of his list. Did he forget his marching orders?
DeleteI have a suspicion that Shea's family encourages his blogging as it makes him less difficult to manage in domestic circumstances. His utterances are unedifying, but they've got their priorities.
DeleteI found the article. I love how he frames those cheering the murder of the CEO as being the same as those who apparently mock Just War - which I've never heard anyone do, BTW. A reader tried to correct him, but he didn't respond. He merely did the Pope Francis thing and give an out by saying 'JW can almost never be today - unless we say so.' Like Ukraine. Again, I'd attend a Bible study at Waco before I would pay attention to Mark's unhinged ramblings at this point.
DeleteMollie Ziegler Hemingway reminds us of the reality of the left.
ReplyDelete==
https://thefederalist.com/2024/12/16/while-kbj-enjoys-broadway-her-constitution-loving-supreme-court-colleagues-can-barely-leave-their-homes/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=while-kbj-enjoys-broadway-her-constitution-loving-supreme-court-colleagues-can-barely-leave-their-homes
My one beef in that article is the idea that those to the right (justices) somehow spend their time with family in humble settings and food kitchens. No. Many a justice spends his or her time on yachts and million dollar beaches just the same. They just don't typically embrace the insanity of the modern Left in doing so.
DeleteHow much of his time do you imagine Clarence Thomas spends on vacation? (I don't recall complaints about any other justice in re the use of his free time).
DeleteWell, Scalia was known to enjoy a few luxury excursions with Ginsburg. I think had she said Conservative justices might like to fulfill their dreams, from day cruising on yachts to taking their grandkids to the parks and going out to dinner, it would have made sure that she wasn't trying to cultivate the impression that the left are wacked out fringe elitists, but conservatives are all about that simple living.
DeleteI was listening to Mollie's podcast and while I haven't read the article yet, if I understood correctly I think the contrast is that Leftist justices are allowed to do all sorts of things, while Conservative justices are not even allowed simple pleasures.
DeleteI for one don't begrudge anybody their enjoyments (as long as it's not something like hunting people for sport) and do find a big problem in part of the court not being allowed to live their lives while the other part are treated like rock stars.
The Scalias and the Ginsbergs occasionally attended the opera together. Kennedy Center opera tickets vary wildly in price depending on where you're seated and availability. As we speak, a bloc of four tickets can be had for as little as $264 & tax.
DeleteIMO, your interpretation of what she said is pretty idiosyncratic.
DeleteIt just hit me, the contrast. Probably not intentional, but framing it like the conservatives are all about that good old fashion humble family living seemed to set up a critical reader, in light of the media obsession with Thomas (or memories of the two SCOTUS buddies and their excursions). Just adding something about yachts or opera (it may be hard to believe, but 264.00 for a ticket to anything is, for many today, well out of reach) would axe that. And usually I assume if I thought of it, others more clever than me would also.
DeleteLike Nate says, I have no problem with people living the life they've earned, I just wouldn't want it to seem as if I'm suggesting only one side does so.
DeleteIt's $264 for a set of FOUR tickets in the cheap section. Of course its 'out of reach for many'. They have other priorities with the income they have. And for some people, it wouldn't be worth it for one-tenth that price w/o regard to what their income was.
Delete==
That wasn't her 'framing', by the way. It was yours.
It was mine. But again, I just think including something other than them worried only when they are in domestic settings with the humblest of activities would keep away the idea that we're suggesting, however slightly, that the conservatives are all about that small town living.
Delete(Tom New Poster)
ReplyDeleteWhen a man does not arrive at a position because of argument, he will not leave it by argument (Jonathan Swift). Many people seize on a political position initially because they hate its opponents, often for reasons that have nothing to do with thought. My initial impulses toward conservatism in adolescence came from a disdain for hippies and a hatred of Communist persecution of my fellow Catholics in Eastern Europe. As I read more about my faith and history (and writers like Chesterton, Lewis, Sheen and others) I embraced conservatism intellectually and left off disdaining the people as opposed to condemning their ideas. I came to see that many "good ideas" didn't look so good after close examination and that even really good ones had downsides, and that politics is a practical art practiced by fallen men, that even bad men can have some good ideas or have worse opponents (Trump v Clinton). People like Shea set aside their brain to react with their gut and trap themselves. They seem frozen in middle-school-type thinking about the world: as if it's all "angel-devil" and our side is angelic, which of course is the quickest route to the demonic.
Yeah... a youthful visit to Russia in 1993 solidified me into a staunch anti-communist. I long for the day it is as pariah as fascism.
DeleteTo me, communism and fascism are sort of 'fraternal twins'. Both born of the state, their mother. Not identical, but twins nevertheless.
Delete'Our Enemy, the State', by Albert Jay Nock, should be required reading in every high school in America.
The amazing thing about Mark (and many to the Left) is how they engage in the very things they once condemned. Was a time when Mark would ban you for accusing someone of being something, or calling names, or making personal attacks on someone. That is now his stock and store. But he's not alone. The very high profile Deacon Greydanus (who consistently now reminds people he is the ordained clergy with formal theological training in the room) engages in a 'words speak louder than actions' approach to saying one thing and doing another in a way I know he wouldn't have accepted a decade or so ago. Like most things, not exclusive to the left of center, but almost universal to the left of center - and especially among believers who have aligned left. I often wonder why.
DeleteOf course Mark Shea - Mr. Seamless pro-life himself - has now completely removed his twitter account and posts only on bluesky...
ReplyDeleteA website with a death threat problem.
It's like every day his convictions become more of a joke.
He went off the rails ages ago. Even early on you could see signs of him keeping in the kiddie pool when it came to his approach to things. And of course his early on 'it's OK when me and my hipsters do it' was a sign of concern. Unfortunately he has been completely enabled by Catholics on the Internet, and not all of them hard left types.
DeleteBut of course, in his exalted opinion, the death threats are prompted by the continued existence of the Bad Orange Man, and are therefore the fault of the Bad Orange Man.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I do still have on my bookshelves his 'By What Authority', which I consider a fair examination of scripture.