Happy 250th Birthday America

I was in third grade when our Bicentennial came along.  It was quite a show.  Half of our year starting January was taken up in a vast, lavish production our school put on.  Each grade did something different.  Our third grade did a combination skit of settlers traveling into the West (including what had to be a guffaw inducing attempt at the Virginia Reel) with a nod toward the 1812 era as well.  My best friend was Uncle Sam. I was the narrator.  We saw videos, read books, and it seemed the Spirit of 76 was everywhere.  It wasn't so much by the time I entered 4th Grade later that year.  In fact, I remember little about the Bicentennial being dwelt upon by then.  I suppose July 4th had come and gone and that was that.

That was a different time of course.  I hear there were divisions then, as I'm sure there were.  I do recall some talk about America's best days being behind us.  But that's about all.  Otherwise, when it was mentioned in my earshot, it seemed to be talked about rather enthusiastically.  And though that was the first time I remember learning about things like Indian Wars and slavery, the overall package was one of positive praise and thankfulness for our country and those who came before: 

The president on the dollar

That Yankee Doodle dollar

The president on the dollar

George Washington's his name

I still remember that song we sang at the time.  And it was just one of many.  Again, by then we were being given a kiddy portion of 'they weren't all saints and angels'.  But the overall focus was on the good. At least from a kid's perspective.  A focus that, at least officially, remained until well into my college days. 

Looking back at the pop culture output through my adults eyes, however, I'm amazed at how counterculture such an upbeat and patriotic celebration really was.  Certainly most things we were celebrating were, by then, held up to derision or mockery by our emerging post-Western social standards, if they were mentioned at all.  As Mark Shea once said, back then if you wanted to know who the patriots were in popular entertainment, well there was Archie Bunker.  He was a patriot.  Frank Burnes on the TV show MASH was a patriot.  

Other ideals like honor, duty, loyalty were as often as not punchlines, not life principles.  People wrapping themselves up in the flag and singing God Bless America must have been seen as freaks or losers or, well, how our popular media culture and progressive society today see those who want to make America great again.

Back then, however, I have a feeling there was still the benefit of a majority witness for those who wanted the bands and bunting and Kate Smith renditions of patriotic songs.  We weren't quite finished yet, and the arrival of Ronald Reagan in 1980 would make patriotism cool again.  It would also force a shift in the Left's anti-patriotism to a new manifestation of patriotism. That is, you declare your patriotic love of America, but insist that love is only valid when you focus on the evils and failures and horrors of its past and present. It's still patriotism, just patriotism done right.

Nonetheless, in 1976, to my third grade mind in a small Midwestern farming town, patriotism wasn't that bad.  And not only because the big celebrations got us out of the usual school doldrums.  Not that it wasn't lost on us. But I remember feeling genuinely good about being in America.  And even today, after everything for so many decades, and so many attempts to get me to think otherwise, somehow I'm able to feel good about it again.  So raise a cold one, thank - not curse, thank - those who came before who made this possible, and say happy birthday #250 USA.  I still think it's not a bad way to spend a fourth. 

Did I mention the Spirit of 76 seemed to be everywhere?

Pray for the Nigerian victims of Palm Sunday

This went right by me.  Again, there are problems with turning away from most social media.  All you have left is the mainstream press, which is like having only half the answers in the back of a math book.  Fact is, Nigerian Christians being killed by Muslims doesn't help the narrative or agenda one scrap of a bit.  Hence I saw nothing.  It just came by randomly yesterday, like that strange story from Rhode Island.  Every now and then, when trying to find the news online, odd outlets or local news rooms will pop up.  

Not that social media is altogether reliable. It isn't.  But at least it might point to stories, no matter how big or important, that the press is clearly trying to avoid or sweep under the carpet.  So with only news to turn to, I'm mindful of the fact that there are endless stories out there of major importance I'm probably not hearing about.  Like this one.

Of course it isn't new.  One of my closest friends from my ministry days was a Nigerian Christian named Joseph.  If ever the joy of Christ manifested in someone, it was him.  But he could also be deadly serious.  Even in the 90s, this was going on.  And it's been a continual clash for decades because the Islamic presence, while expanding, is still meeting the substantial Christian presence that is in the country.  So we have a chance to witness Islamic expansion, at least as it is happening in Nigeria. 

Sadly, again, it doesn't fit the post-Western globalist narrative. So don't expect to hear of this.  I actually went to various news agencies and typed their names with this story.  To its credit, the NYT had the story.  And that was it.  Apart from Yahoo news, for what that's worth, but at least credit where it is due.  Otherwise, the only outlets covering it are right leaning, or religious, or other non-Western media outlets.  

So there you go.  A much belated prayer for those souls who were taken at the beginning of our holy week.  For us, it's easy to see and admit what is happening, even if for reasons many won't.  But for those on the front lines, pray for them.  They do not know if they will be there the following week, more than is normal for us mortals traveling this sod.  Something that occupies their prayers and has for decades.  As my dear friend Joseph made clear all those years ago.  

The enemy of the Christian West is their friend

Thus: 

I'm old enough to remember when it was offensive that Western women, like journalists, had to don such apparel when visiting a Muslim nation.  Heck, I can remember when the very appearance of such apparel was seen as an affront to women's universal equality.  But I do believe that if that the Left, or some ally committed to the demise of the Christian West, said here wear this:

that liberal women would fall over themselves to do just that.  And not just feminists. For instance: 

Yep. Because we know that nowhere in the Muslim world do those within the LGBTQ lifestyle enjoy anything close to equality, if not the ability to survive.  But the enemy of the West is the Left's friend.  Better the Muslim world thrive even as it crushes gay rights than the country that panders to gay rights not be destroyed.   

Oh, and I'm not stupid.  I know one of the Left's talking points is that if anyone not Euro-American does something bad, like oppress homosexuals, browbeat women, murder Jews - it's because they learned it from the West.  That is not only a common retort, but an increasingly accepted one. But that sort of BS that only an intellectual could believe is for another time. 

The (almost) last of the birthdays

At least traditionally for the young'uns.  Now that we have our first November baby in the family, that title will pass to him.  Nonetheless, October, in addition to having my late Grandma's birthday, the month of my best childhood friend's birthday, and the Feast of St. Francis to boot, was also the month our oldest son was born. 

Not the one born to the best fortunes, he suffered from ill health in his early years.  We never knew why.  But endless doctors visits and hospitals and surgeries were his lot in his youngest days.  A lot of it was respiratory, and we began to think that living in the Ohio River Valley, known for its panoramic vistas of endless coal plants and thousand foot smokestacks, might be part of the culprit. 

In 1999, while I was pastoring a church in southeast Indiana, and quite frankly one of the most pleasant of all the congregations I ministered to, we nonetheless decided to move away.  We came up to Ohio, where skies might be gray more often than not, but without the same industrial blanket covering the air.

And things turned for him.  Within a year, most of the problems he had vanished, which was nice.  Of course being the first child he was what all first children are, and that's our guinea pig.  You look back when you're a parent at your first kiddo and just shake your head.  By the time the other ones come along, you're already getting your parent's feet on firm ground.  But those first ones are the ones who bear the brunt of your learning.

Nonetheless, with all the ups and downs he lived through, I can't deny he makes us proud.  Everyone here knows how he had planned to go into the world of gourmet cooking, only to be torpedoed by an out of the blue seafood allergy.  After wondering for a year or so what to do then, he finally found his new path and has been working toward it, where he stands today.  

But he has a knack for excelling whenever he puts his mind to it.  In middle school, though already involved in school activities like band, he decided to go out for track in order to enter the sports side of life.  It was a dismal performance.  At one point during a race, he actually veered off the track and slipped and fell.  The good news was that he was so far behind everyone else, nobody noticed.  Not to be beaten, however, he went out for cross country the following year. He asked me - who had run track and such in my day- to train him.  And so I did.  By the end of that season, he was second in his school only to the boy who was a freak of nature when it came to running, with our son often coming in near the front few even with multiple schools competing. 

But that's been him.  He may start out slow.  Sometimes he takes forever to start.  And that wasn't the only time he began with a trip and a fall.  But once he hunkers down and sets his mind to it, even if life throws him a curve ball that makes him change his entire life's plans, he ends up graduating, and with honors to boot. 

By request, a family outing for our yearly pumpkins

And off to a local college football game

Not OSU, but a great game and a great time nonetheless

For old times' sake on our way from the old apple orchard

A nice shot that captures his thoughtfulness

Getting her own pumpkin right before her brother arrived!

Right now he is in the process of going back to graduate school, the application being quite an undertaking, given his major.  More on that down the line.  As it is, he's still that oldest son.  And while we have always loved our sons equally and have made sure to divvy out our attentions across the board, there is no denying that there will always be something about that first child - no matter how old they are.  

Obligatory gloating over the grandkids picture, speaking of birthdays - now that they're both here to cause endless mischief: 

An October Friday Frivolity: A Ravenloft Retrospective

Bless that good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck! for it is a comfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help.  From Jonathan Harker's Journal, Chapter III, Dracula. 

Released in 1983, Ravenloft was an 'Adventure Module' for the Dungeons & Dragons brand roleplaying game. By 1983, the Fantasy Renaissance kicked off by Star Wars was beginning to fizzle.   It was still there.  Fantasy and Sci-Fi would still find plenty of interest for the next few years.  But it was slowing.  By then, the media's full blown assault on D&D and the collateral damage to the genre as a whole was starting to reveal growing cracks in its popularity.  Perhaps that is why TSR, publisher of D&D, was looking for something new. 

Since I wasn't particularly into the whole D&D/Roleplaying world, the release of this went right by without me noticing.  But in college, I ran into a fellow who played the game extensively.  He had quite a collection of these books, including this one, so I decided to have a look.

I discovered in later years that this was a new approach to the game in at least two ways.  First, TSR hired a new batch of  highly skilled professional freelance artists to give a more credible look to the product as a whole.   Gone were ink sketches and line drawings that looked like they came from a middle school art class.  These were seasoned pros, and it looked it. 

From the original 1974 edition, and the later pro artist version

Second, TSR looked to a new author who decided it was time to move from 'hack and slash and get the treasure in the next room' to something more story centered.  His name was Tracy Hickman.  He already broke with the traditional theme of most modules by writing an adventure module containing a little more atmosphere and story.  Centered around an ancient Egyptian themed setting (and not the usual quasi-Medieval European), the product was called Pharoah (co-authored by Laura Hickman).   

As I said, I was completely unaware at the time, but I guess it was quite successful and made an impression on the TSR management.  Perhaps people wanted more, too.  So Hickman was given the chance to produce another similar module, expanding on what he had done before.  This time, the module, released near Halloween in 1983, would be Ravenloft.  Cool name, huh.  

You didn't have to be a genius to get the basic setting of the module or figure out the genre that it was based upon. Mind you, this was the early 80s.  We were still a somewhat homogenous culture, so we got vampires and Dracula and all.   You didn't have to wonder what someone meant when they said vampire.  Most of us still conjured images of Bela Lugosi, or perhaps Christopher Lee.  A few might have thought of Frank Langella, but not likely.   No Twilight edgy dropouts, Underworld ninja warrior vampires or Rice hipster rockstar types.  Vampires were basically supernatural undead vermin that must be destroyed, looking like an Eastern European nobleman for trappings.  

After I perused the module, there were a couple things that happened. First, it lent a credibility that I felt had been lacking the first time I attempted to get into the game.  I suppose this is what made me more receptive when a mutual friend invited me to a group of students - mostly in the computer science field - getting together and playing games on Wednesdays.  Though different games were played, and I eventually pushed the group to a more strategy game focus, at the time the anchor game was obviously D&D.  Since by then I had seen this and other more professional products (such as the second 'Monster Manual' ), I was willing to give it another shot. 

The second thing that happened was that it encouraged me to track down and buy the original source material behind the module.  That is, the actual novel Dracula.  Even growing up, I was aware that Dracula was originally a novel.  Though my exposure to vampires was typically through the sequel runs of Hammer or Universal or Abbot and Costello.  Back then, the originals, the classics, like the original Dracula, or  The Wolfman, or Frankenstein, were seldom shown.  Rare was the occasion for those to appear on TV.  It was usually Dracula XVII, or Those Darn Vampires or similar fare on Fritz the Night Owl's Friday Night Double Feature. So I tracked down the novel at the old Long's Bookstore at OSU to discover what I might have been missing.  I bought it in small, Penguin Classics form and took to read it. 

I'll admit, it's an acquired taste.  Done up in epistolatory form, the basic premise is that we're looking at diaries, journal entries, papers, news articles, captain's logs, and a variety of written sources that, pieced together, tell this remarkable tale that the heroes of the book experienced.  Of course I needn't go into the details of the story proper.  That's too well known.  But when I first read it, the format and just the basic cultural and social contexts were certainly a trick to get through.

Despite all that, over the years the novel has grown on me.  I wouldn't say it's a regular read.  Though I have read it several times over the decades.  But I will say the opening - Jonathan Harker's entry Journal - is stand alone one of the best pieces of horror fiction ever.  Even if I don't read the whole book, every Fall I will make sure to squeeze in a jaunt through Mr. Harker's experiences visiting Castle Dracula.  I know of few horror novels or stories that hit almost every perfect bullseye the way that section of the book does.  And not only did it leave a mark with me - heh - it also turned me on to an entire genre of literature that I had, up until then, largely ignored.  Not bad for a game module. 

Oh, and one more thing.  I was a long time fan of maps, dating back to when I would pull out the old Mercator projection we had and spread it on the living room floor, spending hours looking over the different countries and places of the world.  I must admit the breakthrough 3-D maps of the module were alone a piece of inspiration for me - even if the game itself still didn't make sense. There was something they triggered by having the small scale inkblot for the castle, which was then unpacked by such a magnificent 3-D, interconnected floorplan. I've always been a sucker for maps, and castles, and just that feeling you get when you look into a dark doorway and wonder what's beyond. That was more than satisfied with the module's floorplans. 

So that isn't bad from an old module to a game that, at that time, I didn't even play.  It made me receptive to the game after a less than stellar attempt to learn it years earlier.  That helped in later decades when, during the age of Jackson and Potter-mania, my boys would be all about this and similar genre based activities.  It also turned me on to reading not only gothic horror, but 19th Century literature in general.  And that, over the years, remains my favorite period for fiction.  I guess it strikes a chord with me that aligns with my general personality and tendencies.  

I seek not gaiety nor mirth, not the bright voluptuousness of much sunshine and sparkling waters which please the young and gay. I am no longer young; and my heart, through weary years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth. Moreover, the walls of my castle are broken; the shadows are many, and the wind breathes cold through the broken battlements and casements. I love the shade and the shadow, and would be alone with my thoughts when I may.  From Jonathan Harker's Journal, Chapter II, Dracula 

An ugly fact

So the media has exploded about news that the very elderly Mel Brooks put his stamp on a sequel to the 1987 movie Spaceballs.  Here's what I have to say.  I'm sorry to the Brooks fans out there, but when that movie came out, I knew nobody who saw it that liked it.  They just didn't.  The general consensus was that whatever magic Brooks had in the 70s with such classics as Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, or even History of the World, Part I, was long gone.

The common narrative was that the out of left field comedy Airplane! had out-Mel Brooksed Mel Brooks.  It was everything Brooks had done, but on steroids.  And from that point on, Brooks just didn't know how to top it. When he tried, such as with Spaceballs, or Robin Hood, Men in Tights, it came off like a screenplay written and produced by adolescents and fifth graders.  Lots of heavy handed and contrived jokes, one dimensional humor, with no real wit, meaningful homage, or even clever commentary.  For instance, with Young Frankenstein, you can almost see the love that Wilder had for the original source material (for he was a major creative force in the movie).  With Spaceballs, you felt they simply watched Star Wars and then said 'put a joke here.'  

This is what my sons often call 'the movie that nobody wanted.'  Oh, they'll make huge noise about it.  The media today often acts in the role of marketers and promoters for various artists and products and productions.  My guess is this will be something like Wicked or Taylor Swift or Lebron James, that will receive 100% media backing and hoisting and advertising over the next couple years.  And given a global audience in the billions, it will no doubt make some good money.

But don't be fooled.  As I hear the original called a classic or a smash hit or beloved, we were the audience the original was aimed at, and I knew nobody who thought much of it.  And that included mixed reviews at best from the critics.  Not that there weren't funny parts. We all quoted 'They've gone to plaid!' a million times.  Of course everyone loved John Candy's 'I'm a Mog, half man, half dog!  I'm my own best friend.'  But save for one friend who felt the various bits did outweigh the blah of the whole, we were far more taken by the movie The Princess Bride released the same year. 

Friday Frivolity: A very good movie

So our youngest hadn't seen all of the movies the older boys grew up with when they were young.  He's seen many, but not all.  Recently he watched, for the first time, the first Sam Raimi Spiderman film.  He was impressed, but not overly.  

I remember that well.  The X-Men movie had come out and brought back some of the good will lost to the genre after the disastrous Batman and Robin starring George Clooney.  After that garbage heap, I recall some folks wondering if this time the Superhero Movie genre was dead for good.  The same conversation came after the dismal performance of the uber-preachy Superman IV back in the day, only to get a second chance from Tim Burton's first Batman movie - admittedly due to the hype around then superstar Jack Nicholson's turn as the Joker. 

But X-Men got people's attention and folks thought perhaps it could work, or at least it was worth trying again.  Then came Spiderman.  In those infancy years of the Internet, I was only partly on board with the cultural conversation trends.  And I've never been a big comic book fan in the first place.  I know some of the bigger characters, and recall Saturday morning cartoons here or there from back in the day, but that's all.  

Nonetheless, I couldn't help but hear that there was quite a lot of controversy surrounding that upcoming movie.  Because for this Spiderman, some young, rather diminutive actor named Toby Maguire had been tapped to play the superhero.  A scrawny little geeky kid?  That's not Peter Parker!  Heading into its release, I remember the scuttlebutt about the assumed pushback.  This was only exacerbated by the delay in release because of the movie erasing scenes involving the World Trade Center towers, which ceased to exist after filming.  

But when it came out, it was an out of the box smash. The idea of Spiderman as the alter-ego of an otherwise put upon, beaten up, bullied and awkward super-nerd captured the imagination of young filmgoers everywhere.  Sort of every geeky wallflower's dream.  Even if they made the unwise decision of covering the face of crack actor Willem Dafoe and not allowing him to emote as he could have, it was a mega-hit.  And then, of course, you had 'the kiss', which became the talk of the pop culture mainstream media that year. 

Now the next question was, could they do it again. X-Men 2 had come out, and many felt it was better than the first.  But the X-Men franchise was always somewhat niche for the comic book world.  Spiderman, like Batman and Superman, was a household superhero name.  I knew of the character after all, and that's saying something.  Being that well known does place a burden after all. So was it luck for the first time out, or could the success of these franchises keep the genre alive?  

Then came Spiderman 2.  The first correction to the original came to the supervillain - Dr. Octopus. This time the main antagonist was played not by some A-List actor's turn as the latest supervillain, but by accomplished character actor Alfred Molina.  No masks or face coverings here.  He was allowed to show all of his human expressions and emotion, and he did so in spades.  Being an almost would be mentor to young Peter, he is transformed by a science experiment gone terribly wrong that costs him everything.  Bringing a combination of wit, snark and at times understated delivery, he was able to do what Dafoe couldn't.  And he did it wonderfully.

But more than that, my son noticed that the movie was, well, mostly just a good movie.  The 'comic book' parts were few and far between.  In fact, a sizeable part of the movie could have been a teen romantic comedy with nothing superhero about it at all.  You could have taken away the minimal comic book  story and replaced it with a young, conflicted kid overworking to get ahead, struggling with his romantic relationships, with a disgruntled coworker whose own dreams have been dashed and is seething with resentment, and the main crux of the plot and the characters would remain unchanged. Which only adds to the punch when the actual comic book element comes crashing back into the story.

FWIW, I'm not a professional film critic, and I don't know the jargon and the gibberish that film critics use to unpack this or that film.  I just know a good movie when I see it. For example, in addition to the movie itself being hailed even now as one of the best in the whole genre, my sons tell me that the climactic confrontation upon a speeding L-Train is still considered one of the best action sequences ever, not only in comic book movies, but movies in general.  I'm inclined to agree. 

Because like the best filmed scenes in any good movie, the action flows from logical development to logical development - it helps tell a story.  Just like the lightsaber duels in the original Star Wars films.  As opposed to much of the CGI action now (including later Star Wars films), which is just endless CGI action followed by more endless CGI action almost to the point of numbed boredom.  When the action starts in Spiderman 2, it's moving the film from point A to point B, as all scenes in good films should. And it's worth noting that those scenes are surprisingly brief. 

A big shout out goes to the effects for not being merely a ton of CGI on greenscreens.  For instance, the mechanical arms of the villain were real, and worked by puppeteers off screen for most of the shots.  For those cases where CGI was needed, and certainly it was used extensively throughout the movie, it was still built upon the modeled arms for reference.  It was similar to the original Jurassic Park, which filmed all dinosaur scenes with stop motion models as reference, giving the CGI more depth and realism when it was used.  

But the most important thing, at the end of the day, is that it's a movie that is incidentally a superhero movie.  The important part of the film is the storyline, the struggles of the main character and his interactions with those most important to the story arc.  Take away the fight scenes and spiderwebs and costumes, and you're still left caring about what happens to him.  Will things work out?  Will he find his footing in life?  Who is going to get hurt?  Because the rival for Mary Jane's affection is not portrayed as a one dimensional jerk.  Rather he's shown as a great guy who is genuinely good, at which point you know someone good is going to lose.  And that's a bold decision in any story.  It would be easier on the audience to have her beaux be a jerk or frothing at the mouth sexist or something.  But nope, someone has to be hurt when the dust settles, and the film does a good enough job preparing you for the star being the one who gets the loser card at the end (assuming you don't know the comics).   The same goes, it should be mentioned, to the very shy and awkward daughter of Peter's quirky landlord.  She obviously has a crush, but for her to hope for a chance, Peter must lose what he wants the most.  Otherwise, she loses. And she is nothing but a sweet, shy girl. 

That's how the movie works so well.  Maguire does an excellent job as the beat-dog superhero who is a genius on one side, but at times socially awkward and lacking in basic life skills on the other.  The guy who just seems to be there to be kicked around.  His one benefit is being a superhero, but even that is as much bane as boon in this movie.  Kirsten Dunce does a good job with the frustration and confusion she has over this would be lifelong childhood friend and possible love interest. J.K. Simmons chews up the scenery with his few minutes of screen time as Spiderman's chief critic J. Jonah Jamison. James Franco  merely broods and growls and complains about Spiderman, but this is one more part of Parker's life that seems in shambles.  And behind the scenes but always felt is Dr. Octavius, who is his own tragic character in the mix.  One of the best such villains, he is also one of the few who pass from mentor to monster and finally redeemed hero.  His classical training as an actor no doubt lent help to his role. 

Overall, it was just a good movie.  Like the original Raiders of the Lost Ark, it transcends the genre and becomes, not just a fine superhero movie, but a fine movie overall. 

As a side note, I should mention that it's been probably over a decade since I last saw this.  That's why I was almost shocked with a movie made before the last dozen or so years of the era of bat-nuts crazy.  At the end of the day, it's a movie with mostly white people, men and women, in what used to be a focus on story, characters and action.  There is no feeling that a demographic chart is at the bottom of the screen tracking various groups and their proportional representation, ready to blacklist the moment it fails in its obligation to meet appropriate group identity quotas.  There is an African American in a small part, Molina is part Spanish and Italian (but still "white"), and some long shots of crowds show a variety of groups (it is New York after all), but that's it.  It's neither a problem nor a focus. It just is.  In those days, we wouldn't have thought much about it one way or another.  Just the fact that some diversity was represented was good enough.  Likewise, Mary Jane doesn't suddenly turn into a Ninja warrior and take out a platoon with her bare hands, pinning Dr. Octopus in a half nelson for Spiderman to finish off.  She's the damsel in distress who must be save by Spiderman.  It all seemed so ... normal, natural, common sensical, and in the oddest twist, a million times more real than agenda driven movies today supposedly based on reality but that seem anything but real. 

Original teaser art that I remember got people talking

What I've been saying for years

John C. Wright, who sometimes can be a bit gruff for my tastes, nonetheless hits the nail on the head:  

The Left will support whatever causes the most harm to Christian civilization and likewise will oppose whatever most is needed to help it: whatever most degrades the social fabric, whatever spreads vulgarity and ugliness, whatever promotes vice and crime

Because: 

They hate the West and seek to dismantle it, because and solely because the West is Christendom.

Not that he's alone, or that I'm the first to say such a thing.  It's just something I've been saying for years now, especially in the last few years where it takes more blind ignorance to deny the fact than admit it.  

The Left is about the utter destruction of the Christian, Western democratic tradition.  The values, heritage, heroes, principles, manners, attitudes, beliefs, virtues, decency, common sense and base morals of anything vaguely connected to the Western Tradition are at best suspect, at worst in dire need of eradication.  And that includes apparently timeworn assumptions such as liberty, equality, the value of life and the abhorrence of violence.  All thrown upside down, changed or tossed in the trash.  Anything, anywhere or anyone that aids in that mission will be tolerated at worst, lionized at best.  

Whether it can be stopped or we're merely witnessing that next stage in history that moves into a dark age after a period of development and striving for the better remains to be seen.  After all, a growing number of Christian leaders today seem to begin every statement with an explanation that Christianity is best seen through a post-Western set of glasses.  

Nonetheless, know thine enemy, as the old saying goes.  And it's almost impossible to think of the manifold blessings and benefits that the Christian West brought to the world and not see the ones trying to undo it all as the enemy. 

"We are told to love our enemies, but Jesus never once said that in doing so they would cease to be our enemies."  A quote from an old Presbyterian colleague and friend from my ministry days. 

Updated links for the new book

The book launch went very well, and it looks like things are off to a great start. To that end, it appears the first batch of books at Amazon are now out of stock.  So I was given the following links for those interested.  One is for the paperback, and one is for the hardcover.  Again, spread the word, tell a friend, and remember, there are only 274 shopping days until Christmas!

Hardcover Link is here.

Paperback Link is here.

Thanks again!

The big day is here

As I've said, not content with getting married, starting a new life, having a first child - and one born prematurely no less - and going into business themselves by opening a brick and mortar book store, my son and daughter-in-law decided to publish a novel.  That's right, and actual novel.   

I could never do something like that, lacking the discipline to keep going past writing my name on the cover page.  But they did it, and after more than two years writing, editing, rewriting and writing some more, today is the big release date.  

In keeping with how youngsters apparently like things being promoted nowadays, here are some images that tap into the feel of the setting and the fictional world they've built together: 

I'll admit, anything that can tap into Anime and Horatio Hornblower and King Crimson at the same time has to be worth looking at.  Which is why their book has me looking forward to what they have done and created.  If those of you who like the various genres it taps into, or fantasy fiction or similar approaches to story telling in general, I'll refer you to the Amazon page:

The Heart of Resistance at Amazon

where hopefully by now it is available.  They tell me of all the places to get the book, Amazon apparently helps them the most, picking it up in person at the store being the only better way.  Feel free to get your own copy.  Tell a friend. Spread the news.  Hijack a bus.  Anything to let the world know there are a couple new authors in town, something our modern literary age should be happy to hear. 

So there you have it.  I'm proud of all my boys.  But at this time, a special congrats to those two for their industry and commitment and the fact that going on three years of their business in these crazy economic times, they found time to be good and loving parents, committed to pursuing their dreams, and taking one more amazing step  in the life they've chosen to travel together.  Something I'll admit warms the cockles of this papa's heart. 

Oh, and another gratuitous photo of the little one, because you can never have enough laughing baby pictures: 

  

Seems like old times

It was a cold, rainy spring day in 1977.  Most likely March, or possibly early April.  I lived about a mile away from our school, so I walked back and forth most days.  Since my mom was, like most moms back then, a stay at home mom, she would sometimes take me or get me if the weather was too bad.  

This particular afternoon, however, she was nowhere to be seen  after school let out.  There was heavy rain, it was cold, and a battalion of cars arrived as other parents showed up to pick up their kids who normally walked.  But no mom.  Finally, I saw a kid walking by who was in another homeroom class than mine.  It was fourth grade after all.  We each had our own home classrooms apart from the other ones. Even in a small town you didn't know everyone.  

But I recognized him because his mom and my neighbors' mom were friends, and he had been there a couple times when they visited.  I suppose they knew each other from being Catholic.  Catholics were not a majority group in our village by a long shot.  Plus his mom was Lithuanian, and our neighbor Dutch.  So there was probably a bit of the non-native bond, too. 

I didn't know him otherwise, except I was aware he went by my house on his way home.  It wasn't hard to notice.  His dad drove an old, black pre-60s pickup truck with wooden slats, and a big Donald Duck painted on the passenger door.  So noticing him walking to his truck that afternoon, I asked if he could give me a ride home.  Knowing little more about me than I knew of him, he nonetheless agreed and asked his dad if I could get a ride. 

And the rest, as they say, is history.  After a rocky start, he would end up being my all time best friend I've ever had.  More a surrogate brother actually.  He was an only child, and I had one surviving sibling, a sister almost nine  years my senior. Which is sort of like being an only child, but without the advantages. 

I've mentioned him many times over on the old blog. We had many grand adventures over the years, some when we were young and some when we were not so young.  My wife and I still raise a glass of beer as we undertake some annual traditions in memory of the times he and I had, even before I ever met my wife. 

As I said, we were more brothers, and brothers who often had little in common. He loved cars, I cared enough that they worked and got me where I was going.  I preferred to stay home and read and listen to my dad's classical, crooner and soft jazz records.  He loved to party with the popular set and was up on the latest MTV rock group and heavy metal tour.  He was also one of the premier football jocks in a setting that elevated football to Trinitarian levels.  I wasn't.  I ran some track and cross country, and played baseball for a few years in my younger days.  But athletics and I were always distant relatives.  

He, on the other hand, was competitive, athletic, and very cosmopolitan for our rural community.  Partly because his godfather worked in Hollywood and often helped them travel and gave him a heads up on coming trends, like Space Invaders, a host of video games, the latest music news, and of course the upcoming release of some new space movie we might like called Star Wars.  And he was very, very popular.  

Nonetheless, he never cut ties with me.  In fact, apart from 'members only' social gatherings for his various sports teams, he often invited me along with the rest of his team friends when they were out and about.  It would be them with their varsity jackets and me in my customary sports coat and jeans. But the gang and I got on well enough, and he and I would always be there for one another no matter what.  

In college if I needed him at 3:00 AM, he would be there.  Even if he belonged to a fraternity and I  didn't. As can be guessed, he was my best man when I married the love of my life.  And of course I paid back the favor of being there in my own ways over the years.  Even when he lived in California, working in third party companies that rent out to the music world, and we went decades not seeing each other, I knew if I needed him he would be there. 

Over those many years of adventures, we developed certain traditions and traditional pastimes together.  One was always going to each other's home on Christmas Day.  Another was visiting him at least once in the Fall in college when he lived on Columbus campus, before I began attending the main campus as well.  And yet another was, in keeping with the MTV spirit of the age, attending rock concerts. 

Like many things, I was a Johnny-come-lately in that department.  But in the 80s, almost everyone seemed to be attending concerts.  Contrary to some fears in the music world that MTV would cause a drop in desire to attend such events, it seemed to do the opposite.  But not for me.  Again, my tastes had been informed by listening to my dad's music, and I can assure you that did not - usually - include the latest on American Top 40 or MTV playlist.  

But in the summer of 84, several of the gang got tickets for a group that hit it big at that time called RATT. A throwaway group to be sure. And not to my preferences in the least.  But everyone in our cadre was going, and I didn't want to be left out.  So I went, too.  

Despite my low expectations, I was still disappointed.  I can see why they didn't last.  They seemed less invested in the concert than I was.  Though the opening act was impressive. I hadn't heard of that group, but after the concert I told the others that the opening act would probably go places.  They were energetic, enthusiastic, filled with an obvious love of what they were doing, and the lead singer possessed that important trait great entertainers have of making us think we were the only ones in the arena that they were performing for. That opening act's name was Bon Jovi. 

I ended up attending dozens and dozens of concerts over the years, usually with my friend.  The only one we didn't see was Van Halen in 1984, since those tickets were like gold.  But we did see the group and singer after the breakup a couple years later.  Despite it all, I was never a big fan of this, not only because a lot of the music wasn't my cup of tea, but I've never cared for large crowds or loud music.  

Nonetheless, my friend was all into it, and eventually would work in the industry - stage design and setup.  So I went and went again.  In later college and after, he worked for companies that the tours would hire in local areas to set up the bulk of the lighting and stage sets that you see.  It was working in such a setting, BTW, that my friend was able to get some choice goodies for me.  This included a stage hand T-Shirt for Paul McCartney's 1989 world tour and, the biggest of all, tickets for excellent seats for my parents and me to see none other than the legendary Frank Sinatra in one of his last concert tours.  We sat in the center in the first row behind the VIP limo section.  Not bad at all.  A memory I cherish. 

But that was long ago. This year has been a rough year for him.  His mother, who was like a second mom to me, died back in January.  And this November, his dad - the one who agreed to take me home on that cold, wet spring day all those years ago - passed away.  Because of their health concerns, he moved back a few years ago during the Covid lockdowns, living in the same house he lived in when we were kids. Having never married, and with most of his family gone or in distant countries far away, it's pretty much him at this point.  Still in that old house in which I spent many an evening playing games, watching movies, or just crashing after long weekends. 

I met with him after the passing of both parents a month ago.  We chit chatted as always.  Though it's amazing how talk runs dry when you have distant memories to recall, but decades apart otherwise. Still, shortly after our dinner he texted me.  He invited me to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra the day after Christmas when they play at Columbus. 

Now, the Day after Christmas (in some places, Boxing Day) has long been our real Big Day of the holidays.  First, in my ministry days, people sometimes invited us to a Christmas dinner or such things on Christmas Day proper.  Plus, Christmas Day is busy.  That's why, as a pastor, I always took my Christmas vacation starting on Christmas, not before (since unless Christmas fell on a Sunday, no church).

That was something I also did in the secular workplace.  In fact, most people oddly like to get the weeks leading up to Christmas off for vacation.  That left me, even when I had scant seniority, open to get the week after when I wanted it.  So for most of our lives, we usually had the whole week after Christmas off together - at least until the boys grew up and got jobs and their own schedules.

But the day after has always been our big 'kick back, relax, enjoy the fruits of the day before, and chill' day.  So much so that there have been times when the boys said they were prepared to work Christmas Day itself at long as they could get the day after off.  

Which is to say, it is on the precious Family Day of the Year, the day after Christmas, that the concert is taking place.  I wasn't sure about saying yes, and first checked it with the family.  But we concluded he probably could use a little bit of an outlet this year, and some company.  A concert with me, like the olden days, might be the ticket.  So breaking a thirty year plus tradition, I agreed to take our big Day After and go with him to the concert this year.  Christmastime, the two of us hanging together, going to a concert - it will be like old times.  Hopefully it will give him a bit of a boost after the year he's had.

Oh, and I'm still not a fan of loud music or big crowds.  But you do for family. 

The master of games

Or Gamemaster.  As in the Gamemaster Series.  In the mid-1980s, Milton Bradley, that Standard Oil of game companies, produced a series of games called the Gamemaster Series.  The flagship of this series was the game Axis & Allies.  Turns out, MB obtained the idea of Axis and Allies from an old, and rather crude, chit style wargame centered broadly around WW2.  I was happy when I discovered the game was purchased from one first published in the late 1970s.  In high school (c. 1981), I had the idea of a WW2 version of RISK, but never pursued it. When I discovered A&A, I was a bit bummed and wondered if I missed out.  Glad to see I didn't.  The idea was already there. 

Anyhoo, Axis & Allies is the main game, and I believe the most successful by far, spawning an endless stream of expansions, special editions, and micro-versions based on the original (my oldest recently received the latest, an A&A version of the North African Campaign from WWII).  Nonetheless, it wasn't the only one, as the name 'Series' suggests.   Over the years I managed to find all but one.  And even in the day, I managed to play all but one.  Several friends and acquaintances back then had at least one of the games.  Below are the games that made up the series.  Not in any order, just for fun and trivial things during these crazy, hazy days of the tale end of Bidenomics.  

Axis & Allies (1984)

I've written enough on this before, such as here.  Suffice to say it's still a favorite among the boys.  Naturally, we don't play it much now.  But in the day, it was a goto when game time was available but not so much as to stretch over endless days.  As I said, I believe it spawned the most variants, and we own several of those from back in the day.  

Conquest of the Empire  (1984)

This was the Ancient Rome variant.  I bought this some years ago, and our boardgame guru son warmed up to it nicely.  Unfortunately, the others didn't express much interest.  It's a shame, because just in our little tutorial session, it appeared fun, if not a bit predictable.  It was a game that seemed more interested in developing a skill for the game than sweating any thing close to a simulation of ancient Roman politics and military maneuvering.  Still, every game has to give and take. 

Fortress America (1986)

My best friend, who didn't mind D&D flavored video games but wouldn't be caught dead playing D&D, was the same way with board games.  He was like that with anything to be honest.  As a bona fide jock in high school, he was always sensitive about how any pastimes might appear to others around him.  He and I used to play RISK, but he kept it hush-hush.  Until a friend he knew, who was in some big local metal band in Columbus, came by one afternoon.  I was there and had brought the RISK game.  My friend was visibly aghast at me having a RISK game there and his cool big hair metal guitarist friend showing up.  Until his friend saw my game and brightened up immediately, singing the game's praises, and asked if we could play a round.  After that my friend practically had RISK tournaments in his house going late into the night with any and all friends available.  For some reason, piggybacking on this openness with RISK, he felt Fortress America was acceptable.  When I bought A&A a year or so into college, he purchased this on the same shopping trip.  I think it was an old Service Merchandise, but don't quote me on that.  The premise is basically Red Dawn in board game form, with a little sci-fi tech to add flavor.  Problem is, it seemed rather slanted toward America against its three invaders.  My friend chose the invaders. I simply hunkered down in Denver and let the super-lasers do their work.  After four rounds of trying to take Denver and losing everything, my friend took the game board with pieces still on it and heaved it out the door.  That was that.  But it was fun for those minutes we played.  Years later I got a copy and played it with our three older sons.  I was America, they were the invaders.  When it was over, they sympathized with my friend.    

Shogun (1986)

Perhaps the second favorite among my sons.  Shogun, as the name suggests, loosely (and I mean loosely) runs with the feudal period of Japanese history.  Truth be told, it's Axis & Allies, just scratch out 'Tank' and add 'Samurai.'  Or more honestly, it's really just RISK at the next level.  There is some secret investing in various items, and a ninja - because you have to have ninjas - you can hire for the odd assassination.  It has a little bit of a 'fog of war' mechanic, with entire armies peopled by so many of the plastic playing pieces, but only a single marker on the game board to show its location.  The idea being the others can't tell how large your armies are.  But they can.  All you do is count the pieces on the army board on the other side of the table.  But it adds flavor. And let's face it, any game that allows finely crafted miniature models of the celebrated Osaka castle is going to be pretty awesome. 

Broadsides and Boarding Parties (1984)

Never owned it.  Never saw it.  Never met a person who did.  You can almost see the desperate stretching of the concept to include the age of buccaneers into the series.  From what I've read, it didn't work.  Hence there's a reason I've never met a person who owned it.

RIP Pete Rose

Never run home when you can dive - a Rose trademark

Every now and then someone whose name was practically etched into your cultural brain comes along, and Rose was one of them.  When I was a kid, and the Big Red Machine was smashing records, every third kid in my school wanted to be Pete Rose. 

I recall my mom and dad driving to Cincinnati to watch them during those crazy, wild days when the Reds were a juggernaut in the sports world.  I even went down a couple times with my dad and the family.  Once my dad and his best friend from the railroad, along with his friend's son, took me all the way down, through torrential rain squalls, to see them play.  It was a little beyond me, since I was never a huge sports fan.  History was my interest even then.  

Yet I knew there was something especial about everything happening. I knew there was something memorable about using my dad's binoculars to see fairly up close (very good binoculars) these players who were household names - Ken Griffey Sr., Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo and - standing high above them all - Pete Rose.  I can still remember in third grade, we had to give a presentation to the class about someone we admired.  I can't even remember mine.  But I remember Cindy C., standing in her Reds jersey and proudly announcing that her hero was none other than Pete Rose.

The all time Hit Champ in baseball history (the most hits of any pro ball player ever), his reputation became marred by the scandal involving his betting on the game. In those days, there was still a residue of the old 'if you do the crime, you do the time.'   And he did it.  Even many fans in the Cincinnati area had to concede that he violated major rules and laws, and that's what happens.  It was sad, it didn't take away from his accomplishments, but he was going to pay a steep price for his violations.

The problem, of course, was continuing to punish him into the modern era, where players may or may not be punished for assault, or cheating, or getting tattoos.  Perhaps someone who sent an off color email twenty years ago will be canned, but another accused by multiple women of assaulting them might go up in the league.  And now, that sports betting is legal and college kids are becoming millionaires as amateur athletes, is this the age that can still hold ol'Pete to the fire?  

Nonetheless, before that conversation could be brought back up, time did what time does, and Pete Rose has died.  Opinions were strong with him, but his fan base and his legacy were strong.  For me, he occupies a place in my memories and my childhood.  So massive his fame that I can't recall the world without him.  But I will have to now.  And pray that he finds some peace that he lost in this life, as well as peace for his loved ones and millions of fans who are left behind. 

The Big Red Machine

Dave Armstrong takes off the gloves

And goes full Mark Shea on those who dare suggest Pope Francis has been nothing but orthodox regarding the blessing of people in same sex unions.  You can read the post and all the gracious and humble comments on his facebook page here.

So-Called "Conservative" Catholic Media and "Conservative" American Catholicism Have Gone to Hell ("Big Pulpit" and "Fiducia Supplicans")

+++++++++++++++++

"Big Pulpit" is a website that collects noteworthy Catholic articles and links to them. I've been cited there many times. In yesterday's edition, it featured a section called "Fiducia Supplicans (FS) Scandal" (note how even the *title* is thoroughly slanted and biased), featuring some 40-50 articles: ALL critical of the new document, with the exception of a Catholic Answers' roundtable, which is of mixed opinion (and doesn't include arguably its two best apologists: Tim Staples and Jimmy Akin).

This is an absolute disgrace, and shows that "conservative" Catholic media is now as incompetent and untrustworthy as the mainstream radically secular liberal media. It merely spews one-sided propaganda and slander, where the pope is concerned.

Imagine: a venue that bills itself as "Catholic" and collects Catholic articles, can't bring itself to publish even a SINGLE example of a pure defense of the new document, "Fiducia Supplicans" and a defense of the Holy Father. It's casually assumed that there couldn't *possibly* be such an explanation or take. Not a single one is allowed to be aired in their venue. There aren't two sides; there is supposedly only one: just as in Communist and fascist societies. We now have no free speech in most of the "big" conservative Catholic venues. It's like the old Soviet newspaper, Pravda. I've experienced it myself, in submitting articles that defended Pope Francis.

I'm proud of the fact that the host of my blog, Patheos Catholic -- for all its faults -- , actually allows free speech. I've never had one word of nearly 4,000 articles there censored. I have complete editorial control. I can defend the pope, and I currently have 228 articles posted there that do exactly that. Bravo for true free speech and the exchange of ideas! Catholic365, where I have recently posted some articles, too, also allows this diversity of opinion. So there are still some, thank God.

And this current fashionable skepticism, cynicism, and yes, pseudo-modernism and postmodernism entails -- when all is said and done -- the presupposition that the magisterium can defect from the faith in a matter of faith and morals. It's a denial of the doctrine of papal indefectibility, which was stated in Vatican I in 1870 in the same document where papal infallibility was defined at the highest level of authority. I'll be writing about that again soon, by the way.

The folly of the now-farcical so-called "conservative Catholicism" is manifest to one and all. It has now decided to in effect equate Catholicism with Anglicanism. The Catholic Church (so this mentality would have it) can put out a document that is vastly contradictory to past received tradition. This makes us no different (such folks seem utterly unaware) from Anglicans or any other Protestant denomination that doesn't even *claim* infallibility or indefectibility.

There are very few Catholic apologists who even seem to be aware that the Church and the pope are indefectible and who openly explain and defend those things. I have told you who they are: Pedro Gabriel, the website "Where Peter Is," Michael Lofton, and Tim Staples. My friend, Dr. Robert Fastiggi, a renowned systematic theologian, also defends the pope. As all my readers know, so do I. There are others who don't make it a *habit* of defending the pope. I can certainly understand why, and we apologists have many topics that we have to address. So I won't mention them, but they're out there, and they haven't jumped on the bandwagon.

As in all fascist societies, and now in "conservative" Catholic circles, not only is one single view allowed, but also those who dare to contradict it must be mocked and called names and marginalized. And so those of us who defend Pope Francis are called "popesplainers" (the latest idiotic epithet), "ultramontanists," "papolaters," or "hyperpapalists" or just plain "modernists" or "liberals." And those are just the ones that I can repeat in polite company. I'm proud to be called all these names. Bring it on! You only show yourself to be a fool if you sling these stupid insults around.

I have provided resources of defenses of the pope for those who wish to remain faithful, orthodox Catholics and to avoid the clueless, faith-challenged verbal diarrhea sadly seen almost everywhere today in "conservative" and reactionary Catholic circles. Catholic ecclesiological "conservatives" by and large, now, think no differently than dissident, "progressive" heterodox, theological liberals. I am simply an orthodox Catholic. That's what I have always called myself (if "Catholic" isn't enough).

They pick and choose whatever papal decree they like, and reject at will whatever their subjective opinion dislikes. They make themselves their own popes. They are not a whit different from Martin Luther in this respect. He thought ecumenical councils could err and contradict each other, as well as papal decrees. So do the pope-bashers today (apparently being blissfully aware of the history and the irony). I've studied the history in great depth. It's primarily what made me become a Catholic.

There is also a milder form of pope-bashing or "papal nitpicking", whereby it's admitted that a given document or statement is itself orthodox, BUT it's terrible pastoral guidance, imprudent, unwise, etc. This mentality is also widely used regarding Vatican II. A true Catholic view, I contend, that extends proper deference, reverence and respect towards popes, would be most reluctant to express itself in this way (if it is ever necessary). To do so is to immediately second-guess the pope and the magisterium of the Catholic Church, as if it (and/or the pope) knows less than any Joe Blow Catholic sitting in the pew. It's arrogant and presumptuous in the highest degree. I hate to be so blunt, but for the love of God, just SHUT UP! No good can come from all this dissent and infighting.

In my collection of writings from others, "Pope Francis Defended: Resources for Confused Folks," I provide (currently) 317 articles. I have seven articles up so far, that defend the new document and the pope. I will add more as I find out about them. Here they are:

311. “Despite everything, always blessed” [blessings for homosexuals] (Mike Lewis, Where Peter Is, 12-18-23)

*

312. Catechism on the New Gay Blessings Document (by a “very holy priest” & Michael Lofton, Reason & Theology, 12-19-23)

*

313. Demystifying ‘Fiducia Supplicans’: Answering 7 Frequently Asked Questions [blessings for homosexuals] (Pedro Gabriel, The City & the World, 12-20-23)

*

314. If Social Media Was Around in Christ’s Day [satire] (anon. priest, Reason & Theology, 12-20-23)

*

315. Blessings: A pastoral development anchored in tradition (Rocco Buttiglione, Vatican News, 12-20-23)

*

316. Does The Catholic Church Now Allow Same-Sex Unions? (Fr. Pablo Migone, Labyrinthine Mind, 12-21-23)

*

317. Cardinal Fernández: Same-sex blessing ‘does not validate or justify anything’ (Edgar Beltran, The Pillar, 12-23-23)

*

If you want to actually read a different opinion from the one-note tune propaganda, groupthink, and assumed "self-evident truths" of the pope-bashers, these articles will allow you to do so. If you want to remain a truly "traditional" faith-filled Catholic (which includes belief in papal and ecclesial indefectibility) they'll help you quite a bit, I think. If you're brave enough to be a nonconformist in the present fascist, death-of-critical-thinking, "no one can disagree" intellectually and spiritually toxic atmosphere, here is your chance.

*

If I didn't have such a sunny, optimistic temperament by nature, and a very strong, God-given faith, I would be in deep despair over what has happened to orthodox Catholics (I'd be crying all day long, and feeling like Jeremiah did). I can't -- and don't -- think about it too much or for very long. It's too disturbing. It's the devil's victory. He has divided and conquered because we're so stupid and blind and ignorant of doctrinal development and history and Catholic teachings alike.

*

Orthodox Catholicism (i.e., the group of those who *actually* accept -- or *claim* to accept all that the Church teaches) is now a laughingstock, and we are making pathetic fools of ourselves --ruining any good witness for evangelism that we have. We're self-destructing. My own job is made much more difficult now because of all this idiotic nonsense and lack of faith going on. But I will continue. That you can depend on. By mostly ignoring this garbage, I can better continue the work that God called me to.

*

Yes, I know I said I was done talking about this stuff. I intend to keep to that policy, but I also said there might be exceptions on occasion. I posted about the communion of saints today (doing my "regular" work), and then I received notice of Big Pulpit in my mail and saw this surreal fascism that they have adopted as regards the pope, and I just HAD to speak out against it. I couldn't possibly not address such an indefensible outrage (especially since it seems so few others are protesting).

*

So this constitutes my own "jeremiad" on the topic. A jeremiad is not an argument; it's an impassioned "prophetic" proclamation. It's "screaming bloody murder" and warning folks of spiritual danger. I'm not angry (in the raging, furious, intemperate sense). I'm not out-of-control. Don't even try to make that charge. You don't get it if you think that, and have very little familiarity with me as a person. I'm cool as a cucumber, as I always am. But I'm passionate. I'm very upset about what is happening to the Church (mostly in America). And so I "loudly" condemn it in this post.

*

The arguments and rational defenses are in the seven articles I noted in the OP. I also have many sustained arguments regarding papal indefectibility on my Papacy web page, if you want to better understand that, so that you can believe it and not reject it, as is massively happening today.

*

So take note. I will discuss this topic in *this* thread, but that's it. Please don't bring it up in this venue, or in PMs. If you know of a good pro-pope, pro-magisterium article, please let me know in a PM and I'll add it to the collection. Someone notified me of one today (#317 above).

*

My contribution to this controversy will be to continue collecting positive, *truly* traditional Catholic articles.

*

Now, I usually don't provide links in posts because that kills them in the feed (no one sees them). But I think this post will generate enough interest, to be able to avoid that. So here it is:

https://www.patheos.com/.../pope-francis-defended-helpful...

I'll also provide a link to the collection of my own articles in the combox.

Please like and share this post, if you agree. Spread the word. Thanks. Relatively few read my material. You can help make it possible for many more to do so, if you think what I expressed here is important. So please like, share, and comment (actual civil, charitable discussion). If you troll, you'll be deleted, and if you persist, you'll be blocked.

The sad part isn't what he writes.  The sad part is that it was entirely predictable.  As I said, when people either swing to the Left or defend parts of it, they must:

1. Do that which they once condemned, and

2. Use block, delete, and ban to shut down having to deal with dissenting views, and 

3. Assume worst motives through calumny, accusation, name calling and other childish tricks

I've said a thousand times that these things are hardly unique to the Left.  But they are almost universal among those who must defend anything from the Left.  It's worth noting that, on the whole, these reprobate outlets and individuals like those at Big Pulpit are pretty much the same as they've been for the last several decades.  What has changed is, well, those who are trying to keep next to decidedly leftwing issues and ideologies.  

That Dave once condemned such tactics when it came to attacking Catholics who supported Trump or - and this is rich - back in the day, those who had problems with Pope France, just proves #1. We won't even discuss the laughable whining about Free Speech given his propensity for blocking or banning people who dare challenge him on his pet issues.  Again, it's always disappointing to watch someone become what they once mocked or condemned.  

Not surprisingly, I notice Orthodox Christians are having a field day with this.  Because they see it for what it is.  This is where the Catholic assurance that the Church will never teach error and that no Pope can change Church teaching hits the rock of reality.  All we can do is either be honest, or do, well, what Dave has done, and that's just a long, multi-paragraph version of 'because their mamas wear army boots and dress them funny.'  Again, sad but predictable.