Saving the Republic

The left loves to confiscate. It stems from its basic belief that individuals do not and should not own anything. In their view, only the state, the acquisitive state, should possess. Socialists, communists, and yes, even fascists all believe the state alone has the right and should, therefore, exercise its power to take anything from anyone in order to further its mission. And what is that mission? To exercise total control over the population, because that's the only way totalitarianism can survive. When all power resides in the state and a people is dispossessed of everything, that same people can do nothing. Of course, we see an example of this with so-called "gun control," a policy that ultimately aims at gun confiscation. An unarmed public is far less threatening to those in power than one which possesses millions of weapons. This, then, is the theory under which the acquisitive state operates.

We saw signs of this in England and elsewhere when landowners and even small property owners were attacked both politically and financially. But the signs became very real during the twentieth century when the Soviet and Chinese Communists, along with their less influential proteges, blatantly confiscated all productive property. In response, the United States government openly condemned the violent and terroristic approach of these nations. And yet, despite the condemnation, our government's policies tended push our nation and its people in the same leftward direction. The New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society, Globalization, Obamacare, the Green New Deal, and many other doctrines and programs moved our nation and its people away from personal freedom and toward increased governmental control of all aspects of their lives.

Although most of these doctrines were hatched in the political incubators of the Democrat Party, the Republicans did little to slow the process. Under Republican administrations we experienced the establishment of many intrusive agencies and recent Republican presidents have expanded government spending by huge amounts, doing very little to slow the advance of an unelected bureaucracy to power. It would seem many Republicans have decided to continue along the same leftward path, but to do so more slowly and less conspicuously. At the same time, they declare the welfare state is doomed, that it will eventually collapse. One is reminded of Margaret Thatcher's famous line: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." Perhaps, but that can take a long time so long as those "other people" willingly provide the funds.

Free-market economies not only offer economic freedom and opportunity, but also encourage political freedom. But it's important to remember that socialist regimes like Communist China have been able to remain in power, even though they reject the true economic freedom and productive benefits of capitalism. They've stayed in power because they use the technological advancements of capitalism, technology they acquire through both trade and thievery.

The Communist Chinese have learned much from the earlier mistakes of the Soviets. Personally, I don't believe they are about to collapse, at least not in the near term. Such regimes, which rely heavily on terror, will manage to survive so long as capitalism still exists. I suspect they can last even longer through the ready use of force and other means of coercion. Force, especially when it is applied brutally, can overcome a people's desire to achieve the material benefits of a free economy.

If we truly want to save our Republic from morphing into just another form of totalitarianism, we must take a totally different approach, less political and more spiritual, more religious. We must openly address the moral inhumanity of all forms of socialism. Socialism aims to deprive the individual of the gift of his humanity since it views people as mere statistics, thereby demeaning them all. It denies the person the ability to exercise the freedom to choose how he lives and deprives him of responsibility for his future and for the well-being of family and community. Only by focusing on moral and spiritual means and ends can the plague of socialist totalitarianism be defeated. It demands more than individual, family, and community prayer. Prayer is necessary, but we must also act. We must courageously address our civilization's and our nation's moral and spiritual foundation, ensuring that those who follow will continue the fight for the freedom God wills for us. We must accept that we are not fighting an economic or social war, but rather a spiritual war. No other approach can succeed.

Just In Case You Missed It

I haven't written much lately about the persecution of Christians and other religious groups, so I decided to share a few recent news stories that describe this growing worldwide trend. Some of these stories address real persecution by governments or other religious groups, while others describe the increased societal rejection of religious values, even in nominally Christian countries. Of course, life for believing, practicing Christians is almost intolerable in most Muslim and Communist nations.

I don't intend to offer much detail since you can simply click on the links I've provided and visit the original news stories. Here goes...

In Africa, Uganda has seen its share of violent persecution. Just last month a Christian pastor was murdered outside his church, in front of his daughter, by three Muslim attackers who demanded he destroy his church because it was too close to the local mosque. Because he refused, he was beaten and slashed with machetes after being told, "Today you will face the wrath from Allah." Sadly, it's just one more story of violent anti-Christian attacks -- read more here.

In Nigeria, a country which has experienced far too much anti-Christian persecution, a Muslim militia group attacked a Christian community, killing 49 residents and kidnapping another 27. Read more about the almost daily attacks on Nigerian Christians here. 

Things are no better in Asia. In Myanmar, for example, the military has been attacking Christian settlements, destroying churches, burning homes, and even murdering clergy. In Afghanistan, hundreds of Christians have fled because of the intolerant, murderous policies of the Taliban toward other faiths. Many more, however, remain in the country, unable to make their way to a safe refuge. Based on experience with the Taliban, many of these will no doubt be slaughtered. Life was never easy for Afghan Christians, but our grossly incompetent exit from the country has made things far worse and will certainly lead to more persecution of these courageous, faithful people. 

French Catholics Threatened With Death. On December 8 a small group of about 30 Catholics in the Paris suburb of Nanterre were taking part in a torchlight procession celebrating the Immaculate Conception when they were accosted by perhaps a dozen Muslims. The Muslims shouted out threats to "the infidels" and called for the death of the priest leading the procession. This is just another example of similar attacks by anti-Christian groups that have become more common in France. Not long ago Leftist Antifa radicals violently attacked a similar procession in Paris. Between the years 2008 and 2019 attacks against Christians in France have increased by 285%.

Christianity: The #1 Target of Hate Crimes. Click on the link and read Raymond Ibrahim's article describing the disturbing growth of attacks on Christianity in Europe. Even though many European countries do not keep track of anti-Christian attacks, such attacks outnumber hate crimes against any other religion. Ibrahim, by the way, is always worth reading. He is among the most knowledgeable scholars and commentators on the Middle East.

Dying Catholic MP, Sir David Amess, Denied Sacraments by Police. On October 15 Sir David Amess, a Catholic Member of Parliament in the UK, was meeting with constituents in a local church hall when he was attacked by a Muslim and stabbed to death. His pastor, Fr. Jeffrey Woolnough, hearing what had happened drove to the scene with the intention of offering the sacraments to Sir David in the event the MP was in danger of death. As it turned out, he was, but the police refused to allow the priest access to the dying man declaring it was a crime scene. Priests, of course, are fully aware of the necessity to avoid causing problems with crime scenes, but the UK has become so officially irreligious that police and other authorities see no reason to accommodate clergy who desire only to minister to the dying. 

President Biden's Build Back Better legislation discriminates against religious facilities. The bill, which includes federal funds to improve child-care facilities, prohibits the use of these funds by religious based childcare facilities. This will no doubt lead to increased costs for these church-based facilities and end up forcing many of them to close, unable to compete with better funded secular facilities. It's just another form of subtle religious persecution by the Biden administration.

I haven't addressed the severe persecution evident in communist countries such as China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba. Perhaps in my next post.

Pray for persecuted Christians here and throughout the world. 

Marxists, Socialists, Communists, Liars, Haters, Disrupters, Purveyors of Chaos, Totalitarians

The title of this post consists of a series of words, synonyms really. Each describes the left of our country, which sadly, has commandeered the very core of the Democrat Party. Their ultimate goal is power and the primary means to achieve this is the destruction of our constitutional, representative republic. If you don't believe this, you are grossly misinformed, simply foolish, or invincibly ignorant.

I've probably already upset a few people, but I really don’t care. I’m sick of listening to the lies emanating from a corrupt media and from even more corrupt politicians, especially from the so-called “squad” and from our puppet-like president. Does anyone really believe these people are smart enough to understand the ultimate ends of the policies they espouse? They are perfect examples of Lenin’s “useful idiots” who do exactly as they are told, and later become expendable. Yes, the great unifying candidate has become the great dividing president who does the bidding, as best he can, of the committed leftists that surround and handle him and of the foreign powers that have bought their way into the Biden family’s graces. 

Marxism, in all its manifestations, never changes. The socialist, the so-called democratic socialist, the communist — they all believe the same monstrous ideology, all seek the same outcome, all accept the same tactics, and all desire one thing: power. Only the names they hide behind change, all in an effort to appeal to those who must be convinced, either to vote for them or to accept without resistance their revolutionary grab for power. Just look at the record. The Soviet Union, Communist China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and all the rest followed the same path to power, a path littered with the bodies of those who dared to resist. These were not revolutions by the people. Each was a coup carried out by a relatively small group of committed, violent ideologues. For the Marxist, hatred between races and classes, disruption of the normalcy of civil society, undermining a nation's religious and historic foundation, chaos in the streets are all desirable. They create the crises needed to consolidate power. Should a people be foolish enough to vote a socialist government into power, as for example in Venezuela, they will never be permitted to vote them out of office. Once it seizes power, the Marxist state always fails its people and turns their nation into a poverty-stricken slave state. Marxists must become totalitarians because that is the only way they can maintain their power.

It’s happening here…right now. Note how the Biden administration welcomes all who cross our southern border and then resettles them throughout the country. That these immigrants enter the country in violation of federal law means nothing to an administration that simply ignores the law. Any attempt to change the law would hurt them politically, so they act as if the law doesn’t exist. These immigrants, of course, are rewarded with cash, housing, and a plethora of government assistance, including promises of quick citizenship so they will vote for those who let them in. 

Contrast DHS policy regarding our southern border with yesterday’s statement by the DHS Secretary. He warned the Cuban people not to try to make their way to the United States or they will be sent back to Cuba. Our borders are indeed open, but only for the right kind of people. Cubans, who for 62 years have suffered under a murderous, totalitarian, communist regime, are not welcome here because we all know they vote for the “wrong” kind of politicians. They will vote for freedom not more enslavement. Instead of welcoming these people, instead of supporting those who courageously resist communist tyranny, our government turns its back on them. According to the Biden administration, the Cuban people are upset not because of communist tyranny but because of COVID and our policy of sanctions against Cuba. The lies continue.

Note, too, how the protests in Cuba have resulted only in deafening silence from the far left of the Democrat Party. For years they have praised Cuba as a showcase of progressive ideology. Cuba has such wonderful healthcare, they tell us. But when we ask Cubans we hear something very different. Even with support from Russia, China, and many other nations, healthcare for the Cuban people hasn’t changed much since Fidel came to power in 1959. And, of course, Cuba’s famous literacy program, so highly touted by people like President Obama, ensured the people could read Fidel’s speeches and those of his successors, but little else. Trust me, and if you don’t trust me, trust those who left Cuba and escaped to this country, Cuba is no workers’ paradise. It’s been a slave state for decades and remains so today.

The Marxist left has captured most of the media, almost all of academia, certainly the entertainment industry, and far too many politicians. They hope to federalize the entire election system, create division in schools and families by means of Critical Race Theory, weaken our national defense, create a population dependent on federal largess, and so much more. 

Like the people of Hungary in 1956, the people of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the people of Poland in 1980, the people of Hong Kong and Cuba today, we should be willing to follow the lead of these courageous people and be prepared to resist those trying to take control of our nation and destroy our God-given freedoms.  

I, for one, intend to resist if necessary. I am not a martyr and have no intention of becoming one. God, of course, might have different intentions but I’ll leave that to Him. I am not of the school, one popular among many Catholics, that teaches active resistance to evil is not a valid option for the faithful. The Church, of course, teaches exactly the opposite. If my family and its freedom are threatened by those committed to the destruction of our nation, I not only have the right, but also the obligation, the responsibility, to resist using appropriate means. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states this clearly: “Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others” [CCC, 2265]. If you don’t believe you are at least partially responsible for defending those who depend on you, you might want to reconsider that belief.

May Day

Today, the first day of May, has a long, ancient history as a day to celebrate the arrival of Spring with festivals, maypoles, dancing and other fun activities. The May celebrations of the ancient Greeks focused on the goddess Artemis since she was the goddess of the hunt, the wild, childbirth, and other activities related to newness. I remember, back when I studied Latin in high school, having read that the Romans dedicated May to the goddess Flora, to whom they attributed new growth. They also celebrated with plays and Dionysian rituals that our Latin teacher wouldn’t describe. Knowing how the Romans liked to party, I’m pretty sure they probably overdid it. And I suppose many of these ancient traditions just continued in modified form, even as Europe became increasingly Christian.

But why do so many celebrate Spring in May when the season really begins, at least astronomically, in late March at the vernal equinox? I think the answer is obvious. Late March and all of April are simply not trustworthily spring-like. Winter just doesn’t like to leave when it’s supposed to, and if you’ve lived up north, you’ll have experienced many April snowstorms. May is really the first Spring month we can trust. And we don’t have to go back too many years to encounter winters without electricity and central heating. Winters in those pre-modern centuries were a lot colder, darker, and bleaker, so the promise of warm weather was the promise of real change, something to be celebrated. Back when I was a midshipman at the Naval Academy, we called those bleak days from January until the first touch of Spring the “dark ages,” and to us they seemed very dark indeed, especially for Plebes who were effectively held captive until Spring leave, which is Naval Academy speak for Spring break. 

Of course, as Catholics we celebrate our Blessed Mother during the month of May. This, too, has roots that extend back at least to late medieval times but really became more widespread during the past 300 years. Many parishes celebrate with a May Crowning in which a statue of Mary is crowned with a floral wreath and carried in procession. The month-long celebration also includes daily family recitation of the Rosary, and other Marian devotions. May is a special month to celebrate our Blessed Mother, the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, and our Mother. Given what’s happening in the world today, we need her intercession more than ever. 

 

Celebrating Stalin - Moscow May Day (2017)

 

In recent years, however, the first day of May has taken on other meaning. Just this morning I heard a newscaster say that “Today is May Day, when we honor workers.” Honoring workers is certainly a good thing, but I suspect this newsman is unaware of the origins of this version of May Day. May 1st was named “International Workers’ Day” by the Communists and socialists of the Second International in Paris in 1889. They called it “May Day” as a way to co-opt the traditional May Day. The Catholic Church, specifically Pope Pius XII, recognizing the problem that could arise by associating honest work with atheistic Communism, in 1955 made today a special feast day to honor St. Joseph the Worker as the patron saint of workers. He is certainly a fitting patron since he supported Mary and Jesus as a carpenter, and taught those same skills to Our Lord.

So go ahead and celebrate workers today, but do so by honoring St. Joseph and devote the rest of the month of May to honoring our Blessed Mother. Pray the Rosary daily this month, asking Mary to intercede for our broken world.