Brilliance from Archbishop Chaput August 26, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, General Catholic, sadness, Society.comments closed
He’s a very good archbishop, and I had been meaning to read the speech that Archbishop gave in Slovakia all week. Finally, here are some key parts. Brilliant, in my view. We must all pray and work for a society that is firmly grounded in the Truth of Christ and is not a neo-pagan secularized time-bomb, waiting to implode.
Today’s secularizers have learned from the past. They are more adroit in their bigotry; more elegant in their public relations; more intelligent in their work to exclude the Church and individual believers from influencing the moral life of society. Over the next several decades, Christianity will become a faith that can speak in the public square less and less freely. A society where faith is prevented from vigorous public expression is a society that has fashioned the state into an idol. And when the state becomes an idol, men and women become the sacrificial offering.
We face an aggressively secular political vision and a consumerist economic model that result – in practice, if not in explicit intent — in a new kind of state-encouraged atheism.
To put it another way: The Enlightenment-derived worldview that gave rise to the great murder ideologies of the last century remains very much alive. Its language is softer, its intentions seem kinder, and its face is friendlier. But its underlying impulse hasn’t changed — i.e., the dream of building a society apart from God; a world where men and women might live wholly sufficient unto themselves, satisfying their needs and desires through their own ingenuity.
This vision presumes a frankly “post-Christian” world ruled by rationality, technology and good social engineering. Religion has a place in this worldview, but only as an individual lifestyle accessory. People are free to worship and believe whatever they want, so long as they keep their beliefs to themselves and do not presume to intrude their religious idiosyncrasies on the workings of government, the economy, or culture.
[…]
In the United States, a nation that is still 80 percent Christian with a high degree of religious practice, government agencies now increasingly seek to dictate how Church ministries should operate, and to force them into practices that would destroy their Catholic identity. Efforts have been made to discourage or criminalize the expression of certain Catholic beliefs as “hate speech.” Our courts and legislatures now routinely take actions that undermine marriage and family life, and seek to scrub our public life of Christian symbolism and signs of influence.
In Europe, we see similar trends, although marked by a more open contempt for Christianity. Church leaders have been reviled in the media and even in the courts for simply expressing Catholic teaching.
The West is now steadily moving in the direction of that new “inhuman humanism.” And if the Church is to respond faithfully, we need to draw upon the lessons that your Churches learned under totalitarianism.
[…]
Relativism is now the civil religion and public philosophy of the West. Again, the arguments made for this viewpoint can seem persuasive. Given the pluralism of the modern world, it might seem to make sense that society should want to affirm that no one individual or group has a monopoly on truth; that what one person considers to be good and desirable another may not; and that all cultures and religions should be respected as equally valid.
In practice, however, we see that without a belief in fixed moral principles and transcendent truths, our political institutions and language become instruments in the service of a new barbarism. In the name of tolerance we come to tolerate the cruelest intolerance; respect for other cultures comes to dictate disparagement of our own; the teaching of “live and let live” justifies the strong living at the expense of the weak.
[…]
Writing in the 1960s, Richard Weaver, an American scholar and social philosopher, said: “I am absolutely convinced that relativism must eventually lead to a regime of force.”
He was right. There is a kind of “inner logic” that leads relativism to repression.
This explains the paradox of how Western societies can preach tolerance and diversity while aggressively undermining and penalizing Catholic life. The dogma of tolerance cannot tolerate the Church’s belief that some ideas and behaviors should not be tolerated because they dehumanize us. The dogma that all truths are relative cannot allow the thought that some truths might not be.
The Catholic beliefs that most deeply irritate the orthodoxies of the West are those concerning abortion, sexuality and the marriage of man and woman. This is no accident. These Christian beliefs express the truth about human fertility, meaning and destiny.
These truths are subversive in a world that would have us believe that God is not necessary and that human life has no inherent nature or purpose. Thus the Church must be punished because, despite all the sins and weaknesses of her people, she is still the bride of Jesus Christ; still a source of beauty, meaning and hope that refuses to die — and still the most compelling and dangerous heretic of the world’s new order.
Systematic discrimination of the Church now seems inevitable……
Dont’ we all see that coming? Gird your loins, as St. Paul says.
Activists plan to lead Catholics away from Truth UPDATED! August 26, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, sadness, scandals, sickness, Society.comments closed
A group of homosexual activists have formed an organization, “Catholics for Equality,” in order to lure Catholics to reject Church doctrine and support the gay agenda, including gay marriage. The group claims:
American Catholic laymen support “LGBT equality,” and deplores that the “official voice of the hierarchy is increasingly one favoring discrimination and opposing just, humane, and reasonable efforts to secure legal equality for LGBT Americans.””We believe this trend is a repudiation of Catholic teaching about the equal dignity of every person as well as the American and constitutional values of fairness and equality under the law,” it states.
Who will “Catholics for Equality” target? Given that most of their intellectual base, such as it is, can be found on college campuses, including many “Catholic” college campuses, they will start by forming “campus outreach” groups and hold lectures to try to convince college students to support the homosexual agenda. Specifically, they want to try to encourage students to accept “LGBT equality as an American Catholic value.” More on that later. In addition, their website will include a page to report “anti-equality acitivity,” in order to bully those who remain faithful to the Truth revealed by Christ. Their most important targets will be priests, like Fr. Michael Rodriguez, who proclaim the Church’s doctrine clearly.
This is truly disturbing. First, to proclaim “American Catholic values” is an attempt to divide the Universal Church. So, American Catholics have different values than other Catholics, we believe different things, have different doctrines? This is plainly in line with groups like Call to Action and others who have sought to break parts of the Church away from obedience to the Bishop of Rome. Secondly, the leadership of this organization is dedicated to the promotion of freaky gay sex above everything else. A main leader of this “Catholics for Equality” is Mark Matson, who heads Dignity USA (which helped distribute the materials in use at St. Elizabeth Seton in Plano for their gay ministry), and who also leads a “Leather Ministry,” seeking to somehow “Christianize” bondage and domination involving leather. Sr. Jeanine Gramick, so frequently quoted in the “Let’s Talk About Homosexuality” materials used at Seton and also told by the Vatican to stop discussing homosexual issues at all in public (she is not obeying), is also a leader of this new group. Another leader is an openly gay priest and Georgetown professor, Fr. George Palacios (how can this be – an openly gay priest still serving?)
This is very dark. As I said, priests and bishops will be a primary target of this group. They will likely lobby for legislation making it a crime to proclaim fundamental Catholic moral Truth, that homosexuality is intrinsically disordered and homosexual sex is a serious sin – any means they can to silence one of the few remaining voices opposed to the homosexual agenda. As we have seen, one cannot depend on famous “conservatives” to remain opposed to the homosexual agenda, and I would imagine that a great many non-Catholic Christian sects will fold, as well. But none of this matters. Christ has revealed through his Church His Truth. The Church proclaims this Truth. His Truth is unchanging. These “activists” can bang their heads against the wall all they want, but they will not succeed in changing the Doctrine of the Faith. They may lead many Catholics into sin by rejecting this Doctrine, which is probably their main goal (many of these ‘dissident’ groups seem bent on forming their own, infinitely malleable “American catholyc church” at some point in the future), but they will not change the Truth, because it cannot be changed.
Pray for your priest, for all priests, and for the bishops to remain steadfast and ever more bold and clear in proclaiming Christ’s Truth. Many souls may well depend on our prayers.
UPDATE: Larry D. at Acts of the Apostasy has more. Is Larry advocating meek acquiescence to the steamroller of the lavishly funded homosexual agenda? No, no he is not:
Which proves that all the claims that so-called gay marriage will in no way impact or force the Church to accept such beliefs were just big fat heterophobic lies. That gay marriage will have no impact on straight marriage. Yeah, right. Well, if it affects Church teaching, then it affects straight marriage, because that’s the only form of marriage that exists: one man + one woman. Anything else is a sham.
But the bigger issue? It’s the parade of organizations that purport to call themselves ‘catholic’, when at the end of the day, there’s nothing remotely Catholic about them. There’s “Catholics For Choice”. “Catholic United”. “Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good”. Not to mention the countless other Wandering Tribes, many of whom are involved with the upcoming American Catholic Council. Now “Catholics For Equality”. What do they all have in common? An abject hatred for the authoritative teachings of the Catholic Church, and a desire to wield the power of government to squash the influence of the Catholic Church in the public square.
While there’s nothing we can do about these groups being created – after all, Americans do have the guaranteed right of free association – there’s plenty we can do, and ought to do, to demonstrate repeatedly that these groups are opposed to Catholicism, not supporters of it. They are wolves in the sheepfold, poison in the veins. Faithful Catholics – who aren’t slaves to political correctness or idolaters of the spirit of the age – must expose the wolves and neutralize the poison.
And while there are plenty of great Catholic groups who stand for authentic Catholicism – Catholic League, Catholics United for the Faith, Catholic Answers, and numerous others – I think it’s time to create one more.
Catholics for C.A.T.H.O.L.I.C.I.S.M. That stands for “Crusading Against The Heterodox Organizations Lurking Inside Churches Increasingly Spreading Manure”. How’s that?
I had planned on dressing up as a crusader for Halloween this year (and pretty much every year after that, because of the expense involved). I’m not talking about a cheap “crusader” suit, I’m talking real chain mail, sword and shield, barrel helmet, the whole works. The only think I haven’t figured out yet is what to do for my legs and footwear. To quote my one time acquaintance Maj. Gen. “Suphi” Supatra, Royal Thai Army: “It’s time for a crusade.”
Whoa – this is an amazing video August 26, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, General Catholic, sickness, Society.comments closed
I haven’t seen a video this factual and moving in a loooooong time. Kudos to the American Life League. They totally eviscerate the dehumanization that must take place in order to justify infanticide abortion. This is the greatest evil of our time. At some point in the future, young children will read in textbooks about how hundreds of millions of children were killed because they were viewed as somehow less than human. And all for the most pathetic of reasons. Those doing the killing have one objective, in spite of their rhetoric of “reproductive health” and “rights.”
They are in it for the money.
This video has been around a bit, but I have to post it. If you’ve seen it already, watch it again!
Does this statement encapsulate someone who has lost their faith? August 26, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, General Catholic, sadness, scandals, silliness.comments closed
From Catholic Culture (I’m busy ripping them off today), some women’s ordination supporter in Britain has these words to clarify her support for that heterodox (heretical?) view: “I think the Church has got to change or it will not survive.”
Does this statement encapsulate a complete lack of Faith?
1) The Faith must change to suit me, for I am wiser than the Church (and hence, God)
2) The Church will not survive – so, essentially, the Church is just a social construct, a creation of man, and God hasn’t got anything to do with it.
Is it any wonder a person who thinks the Church is dumb as an ox and just a big happy clappy gathering would not adhere to any Truth of the Faith?
Huge Breaking News on CCHD August 26, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, scandals.comments closed
I posted recently how Deal Hudson had found that dozens of Marxist, pro-abort, pro-gay marriage, and other groups are still receiving funding from CCHD. Now, Catholic Culture is reporting explosive information regarding a high-level re-assessment of the CCHD occurring right now at the USCCB. It appears that there is a document circulating among the bishops calling for a radical reappraisal of CCHD activities. This document has been revised several times, but it seems that the majority of bishops still feel that it does not go far enough:
All members of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have been asked to respond by Friday, August 27, to a confidential report on the CCHD. The document—“The Review and Renewal of the Catholic Campaign for Human Deveopment”—was prepared in response to bishops’ concerns that the CCHD has strayed from its original and become too closely involved with radical political movements.
Although the “Review and Renewal” document has gone through 5 successive drafts, a number of bishops within the USCCB appear unsatisfied with the document, and supporters of the CHD are fearful that at their November meeting, the US bishops may call for sweeping changes in the program.
“CCHD is being closely examined and its mission questioned,” one ardent advocate for the program wrote in a letter to the heads of diocesan social agencies. Robert Gorman, the executive director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, urged allies to contact their bishops and urge them to express their satisfaction with the “Review and Renewal” document, thus giving their support to the current direction and leadership of the CCHD.
The urgency with which CCHD supporters are lobbying the American bishops suggests that they expect a showdown with the program’s critics in coming weeks. So Catholics who hope for a fundamental change in the CCHD approach might also be inclined contact their bishops this week, to express their own concerns before the Friday deadline for comments on the “Review and Renewal” document.
Contact your bishop! Bishop Farrell of the Dallas Diocese can be contacted by contacting the following:
Mary Edlund Chancellor, Dallas Diocese chancellor@cathdal.org 214-379-2819
Elsa Espinoza, Secretary, Bishop Kevin Farrell: eespinoz@cathdal.org 214-379-2816
ADDENDUM: The Catholic Culture report goes on to state that there are two camps – those who work in ‘social justice’ ministries and support CCHD, and the majority of bishops. The CCHD supporters only want to make minimal changes – if any. They will just continue as they have, occasionally “de-funding” groups when the pressure gets great. The bishops want to re-orient CCHD to address the fundamental causes of poverty through the lens of Catholic social teaching – fixing the institution of marriage, restoring family life, improving education (the last could be a quagmire, depends on how they approach it. “Education” is an endless playground of social justice types already). I think the path forward is clear – encourage your bishop clearly, concisely, and politely to support the most thoroughgoing reform of CCHD possible, if not outright termination of the organization.
Separation of Church and State – Obama Admin. Funding Mosques? August 26, 2010
Posted by Tantumblogo in scandals, Society.comments closed
According to the American Family Association, the United States, via the State Department, is going to spend $6 million this year to “restore” 63 mosques in 55 countries. The amounts for the specific mosques are in the $50k – $100k range, which won’t buy you a great deal of restoration in the US, but is alot of money in places like Mauritania and Pakistan. So, not only is this country beyond broke, but, apparently, we have just oodles of money to shower on other countries to improve their religious facilities. A religion that has a history of not being terribly in love with the United States.
And there is the endless irony of it all, like so many things associated with this Administration. Is the Administration funding the restoration of Christian churches around the world? Or in this country? How do you think the ACLU or others with a pathological hatred of Christianity would respond if $6 million were given to restore some classical church somewhere in this country? Would we ever hear the cries of “separation of church and state?” Yet another small sign of the increasing favoritism and cowardice showed toward Islam by the secular elites of this country?
You can take action by going to the AFA link and signing up to contact your congressman. Those guys blow $6 million at lunch, but maybe it’ll make a difference.
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