Coronavirus and other stuff

Do you realize the chance of spreading or contracting COVID-19 while outdoors enjoying God’s gift of fresh air and sunshine is, according to the CDC, just about zero (less than one-hundredth of one percent). And interestingly, the self-described smart people who enjoy telling us how to live the details of our lives have known this for many, many months, probably since April 2020. This is why I have never worn a face mask when outdoors, and why I never will. Since I have been vaccinated, and received my second Moderna shot over a month ago, I don a mask indoors only when a business or organization demands I do so. After all, it’s their property and if it makes them happy, okay, I’ll comply, even though it’s idiocy. As a form of mild protest, I have started to seek out businesses that actually follow the science and realize vaccinated people are not a threat to others. As our enlightened Governor Ron DeSantis stated: “If you been vaccinated, act like it!”  I am so happy I live in Florida. Our president, though, lives in the nation’s most corrupt city, Washington, D.C. Because he is old, almost two years older than me, he too has been vaccinated. And yet he apparently wears his mask wherever and whenever there’s a camera to capture his image, even when he’s on a video call with other world leaders. “It sets an example,” someone in the administration remarked. But what kind of example? Does he hope to convince the leaders of other nations that Americans are fools, or at best led by one? It would seem so. 

Hot news flash! Actually two flashes! The first, President Biden told us today that if you’re vaccinated, being outside without a mask is okay with him...unless you’re in a group, then you’d better ignore your common sense and wear a mask. Too late and too little, Mr. President. You and the CDC are still waaay behind the science. Oh, how the power hungry just love to keep control of people. It’s time to revert to normality and live our lives as we’d like. Interestingly, as the President walked across the lawn to the podium to deliver his message that masks were no longer needed outdoors, he was wearing a mask. Ah, well, maybe he should join the rest of us here in The Villages. He’s certainly old enough. The other flash: I just read that our esteemed Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, will permit President Biden to speak to a semi-virtual joint meeting of Congress this week without wearing his mask. The fact that our congressional leaders still require their members to wear masks, despite the fact they’ve all been vaccinated, is more than ludicrous. But I suppose it helps advance the “we’re got the power, peasants, and don’t ever forget it” syndrome. Whatever happened to the founders’ belief that the people are sovereign, not the government formed to do the people’s will?

By the way, speaking of Nancy Pelosi — the “I’m a devout Catholic” politician who rejects Church teaching — did you happen to catch a rather interesting statistic? In San Francisco, the city she represents in the U.S. Congress, a total of 257 San Franciscans died as a result of coronavirus. But during the same period 713 of the city’s citizens died of drug overdoses. And also during this same period we have spent trillions on coronavirus and relatively little on fighting these killing drugs. As I write these words, these same drugs are pouring over our borders thanks to the incompetence of the Biden administration. As border patrol and ICE agents are distracted and overwhelmed by thousands of unaccompanied children, invited to come here by the president, other illegals are crossing the border carrying drugs like the deadly fentanyl and spreading them throughout our country. The cartels are running the show, running drugs and trafficking children, while our federal government supports them in this evil.

Did you watch the Oscars? Didn’t think so. Judging by the ratings it seems the only folks who actually wasted a Sunday evening watching these woke, out-of-touch, narcissistic imbeciles were other Hollywood types and their immediate relatives. Don’t you just love people who condemn the country that made them rich and famous? They also condemn its citizens as a collection of ignorant racists.  These citizens are the same people that actually pay for the mediocre films Hollywood’s produces. The entertainment industry, of course, has no monopoly on imbeciles. They also fill the ranks of NFL, NBA, and MLB teams, along with the boardrooms of many Fortune 500 companies. Based on the organizations these luminaries support with gobs of money, one can only conclude that they’re hoping for the ultimate triumph of socialism. Another irony, since they’d be the first to lose their incomes, and perhaps their heads, when the proletariat revolution hits the streets. 

Speaking of revolutions, the left would love one, but they hesitate because of one overriding truth: the citizenry of the United States is better armed than the leftist rabble. (Yes, even some deacons have a few firearms tucked away.) One can understand, then, why the left spends so much effort on “gun control.” Of course, it has nothing to do with controlling guns, but everything to do with confiscating guns, for the latter is their goal. This, sadly for them, will be an impossible task because every gun owner I know has no intention of turning over his or her rifles, handguns, or shotguns. And the people of the USA own over 400 million firearms. The leftist revolutionary wannabes face other obstacles, Perhaps the most obvious is the Supreme Court and its recent support for Second Amendment rights; hence the attempt to redefine the court’s makeup. The goal: a friendly, rubber-stamp court that ignores the Constitution. Finally, they hope to restructure the leadership of our military by packing the upper ranks with careerist officers who will go along and get along with the politicians. Once they have the military leadership in their pockets, they can bring in the big guns to control the country as needed. If they succeed in all these efforts the banana republics of Central America will look to us with envy.

Oh, there is so much more...particularly our new, defeatist policy relating to Iran and the resurrecting of Obama’s anti-Israel approach to the Middle East, but I’ll save it for another day.

Pray for our nation, brothers and sisters.

“The Evil One Is At Work Here”

The words in the title of this post are words spoken by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone who has had to cope with a mayor and a governor that seem to be doing all in their power to shut down churches, especially Catholic churches, in San Francisco and throughout the state. Of course, Archbishop Cordileone and his brother bishops in California are not alone. Almost all American bishops, and many others throughout the world, have had to cope with some level of anti-religious control from local and state governments. It’s as if the political forces were just waiting for an opportunity to separate the people from the practice of their faith. Evil will, of course, fail at this, but in the meantime the faith of many will be challenged.

The celebration of Mass has been effectively banned in many cities and states. The same is true of most other sacramental rites. To understand how specifically anti-religious these controls are, one need only look at other permitted gatherings. Here’s just one example, In San Francisco even the celebration of an outdoor Mass, regardless of the size of the venue, must be limited to only 12 people, including the priest. And yet Black Lives Matter “protesters” can congregate in the streets, with no separation whatsoever, and are encouraged to do so by local politicians.  

In a recent interview, Archbishop Cordileone stated that there is a definite “spiritual” connection between these Mass restrictions and the defacing and destruction of Catholic statues that recently plagued His archdiocese. He went on to say, “I performed a minor exorcism at the site of the statue of St. Junipero Serra in Golden Gate Park because statues of holy saints are sacramentals; their destruction is a sacrilege. The Evil One is at work here.” The photo below shows the Archbishop blessing the site.

The Archbishop continued by addressing what this means to us as Americans: “To take something as beautiful and holy as the face of Our Mother and desecrate it? What demons these poor, battered souls must be fighting. In the midst of all our troubles, to be deprived of the Eucharist is both a serious imposition on our rights as Americans and a serious spiritual deprivation.” He went on to say, “I’m not sure the governing authorities here in San Francisco really realize the pain they are imposing on people.” The Archbishop is much kinder than I am, for I believe they know exactly what they’re doing and the effect it has on the Catholic faithful. Yes, indeed, there is evil at work here. 

As for the Catholic faithful, Archbishop Cordileone tells them to “Pray, fast, say the rosary. Focus on living your Catholic faith in the home, with your family, praying the rosary as a family, reflecting together on the Scripture readings for Sunday Mass, watching good Catholic programming together. Reach out to help your neighbors. Let your priests know you care about them. And if you must attend Mass via livestream, don’t just ‘watch’ the Mass: worship.”  

Personally, and I am speaking here only as an American and a Catholic, I honestly believe all the restrictions placed on religious activity by government authorities are unconstitutional. Nowhere in the U. S. Constitution does the government have the power to restrict the religious activity of the people. Indeed, exactly the opposite is true. The primary right of the people, the first God-given right mentioned in the Constitution, is the right of the people to worship freely, as specified in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”

Can anyone not see that those who wield governmental power are preventing American citizens of the right to freely exercise their faith? While I certainly respect Archbishop Cordileone for what he is doing, or attempting to do, as he battles the power of evil that confronts the Church today, I believe it's time for our bishops to resist this evil strongly and openly. We are a Eucharistic Church and, as the fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared, the Eucharist is the "source and summit of the Christian life." Because of the interference of secular government, most Catholics today are deprived of the Eucharistic Bread of Life, as well as the graces that flow from the other sacraments.

It’s time for our bishops to stand tall for religious freedom. "Blessed are the meek," Jesus promised, but the meek are not the indifferent. We don’t need the government to dictate how we may worship, and should resist their attempts to do so. The Church can care for its own people and devise safe conditions to ensure the health of the faithful. Our bishops should demand the freedom to exercise the Church's First Amendment rights and do so safely. They should also be willing to suffer the consequences, even if it means imprisonment and fines. Over the past 2,000 years, beginning with the Apostles themselves, many bishops, in a spirit of courageous meekness, have paid a far greater price for such courageous acts of faith.

Remember, too, how Jesus completed the Beatitudes, this time speaking personally to His disciples:

"Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me..." [Mt 5:11]

Years ago I used to conduct a course on negotiating for businesspeople, and one of the more effective strategies was that used by those who were perceived as powerless: the power of no power. If you are willing to accept whatever consequences your opponent can inflict, you have just given yourself significant power, especially in the court of public opinion. Here's a wonderful example...

Perhaps our bishops and all Christian churches should look to Evangelical Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles County (photo at left). Pastor MacArthur has been threatened with jail time and fines because he refuses to accept Governor Newsome's restrictions that prevent his church from conducting in-person services. 

According to the pastor, "We believe the governor, the county, the city, and the health department are going against the Constitution. And just to remove one obvious question, the rate of COVID in California is 1/100 of 1% of 40 million people...and that eliminates freedom of worship from the entire state?"

The pastor went on to explain that his church has "been meeting together now for weeks and weeks and weeks, and...nobody in our congregation has ever been to the hospital with this...There's another virus loose in the world and its the virus of deception, and the one who is behind the virus of deception is the arch-deceiver, Satan himself. And it's not a surprise to me that, in the midst of all this deception, the great effort that is going on is to shut down churches that preach the Gospel." How did Archbishop Cordileone put it? "The Evil One is at work here."

Pastor MacArthur then added, "We received a letter with a threat that we could be fined or I could go to jail for a maximum of six months. Of course, my Biblical hero, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, is the apostle Paul...so I don't mind being a little apostolic if they want to tuck me in jail. I'm open for a jail ministry. I've done a lot of other ministries and haven't had the opportunity to do that one, so bring it on."

You have to love the man. And as Catholics we should join hands and minds and hearts with other Christians, with men and women like Pastor MacArthur, as we fight the battle against the powers of the world. I really believe that it will be through our common suffering and persecution that the unity Jesus Christ longs for will come about.

A Century Ago

I think sometimes, because we live in the midst of change, we don't always recognize how much change our world has undergone in recent times. I've always had a fascination with history, especially the sort of first-person history written by participants, which is why I enjoy autobiography so much. It not only gives one a look into the writer as he sees himself or would like others to see him, but it also offers a glimpse back in time. And if the writer was particularly observant, he might actually have preserved elements of life that would otherwise be lost.

Last evening I watched one segment of the CBS News show, 60 Minutes, a show I rarely watch. But I had seen a teaser earlier in the day in which CBS promised to air some remarkable footage of a motion picture taken in San Francisco only a few days before the tragic and devastating earthquake that struck the city in April 1906. This soundless film was taken by an early hand-cranked motion picture camera mounted on a cable car as it drove three miles down Market Street. About ten minutes long, the film depicts the people and the heart of the city as it looked over 100 years ago.

San Francisco (Sacramento Street) after the 1906 Earthquake

It is, of course, impossible to watch this film without thinking about the the horrific experience that, for the people caught by the camera's lens, was only days away, a tragedy that would take many of their lives. But it also gave me some insight into the lives of my own family members. My grandparents would have been in their late twenties and thirties in 1906, and although they lived in Connecticut and Massachusetts and not in San Francisco, the world depicted in the film would not have been tremendously different from their world.

Sadly, I knew only my paternal grandparents; my mother's parents died long before I was born. And of the two I knew, my grandfather died when I was only five. Only my grandmother lived long enough to leave me with many memories. But I never think of any of my grandparents living in the world of their youth. I think of them only as I knew my grandmother, a woman in her 70s and 80s, a bit old-fashioned in her habits and language, but warm, loving and always full of fun. Seeing this film made me realize that at one time in her life, she was probably anything but old-fashioned. She was probably not unlike the women we glimpse in the film.

My paternal grandmother (front seat) in 1905

In the film one notices the clothes the people wore, the women in their long dresses and the men in their suits. No man or woman is bareheaded; the men wore hats and the women bonnets. The different modes of transport are evident as we watch them pass by: horse-drawn drays, carriages, wagons, and trolleys; early automobiles; men on horseback; and even the occasional bicycle. There seems to be a complete lack of traffic control of the kind we're familiar with. Pedestrians dart constantly among the huge vehicles making us wonder how they could possible avoid being hit. Perhaps they didn't always avoid it. It would be interesting to learn how many pedestrians died in our city streets in those days. But most fascinating of all are the people themselves, particularly the newsboys carrying the daily paper and mugging for the camera at the end of the film, and the policemen who seem disinterested in all the surrounding chaos. There are even two nuns who appear right before the end of the film.

This was the world in which my grandparents lived. The film even altered, if only slightly, my view of my parents. They were both born only three years later, in 1909, and would no doubt have experienced a very similar world, but one that was rapidly evolving technologically. They witnessed the beginnings of the remarkable advances in communication and transportation that brought about the world we live in today.

As you watch the film (below), I recommend clicking on the icon for a full-screen view; otherwise you will miss much of the detail that makes it so very interesting. Historians also suspect that the film, probably made to publicize the city, distorts the number of automobiles in an effort to make the city look more "up to date." Apparently many of those early automobiles seen in the film reappear again and again, having circled around the cable car multiple times. It seems the spin doctors were at work even a century ago. The accompanying music is unfortunate, because it disguises what must have been a blaring cacophony of street noises. Of course, at this early date they hadn't yet added sound to motion pictures.

One last comment. I mentioned in a previous post that I'm in the midst of reading Compton Mackenzie's ten-volume autobiography. Right in the middle of volume four, Mackenzie mentions the problem of uncontrolled traffic in Manhattan in 1911, just five years after the San Francisco film was made. The authorities in New York City, influenced by London's successful approach to traffic control, decided to use policemen to assist in this effort. It seems New York drivers at first resisted this attempt to reduce the anarchy in their streets, until the policemen took a somewhat harder line. In Mackenzie's words:

"At 42nd Street and Broadway where the traffic was at its thickest a cop was stationed on a kind of rostrum to direct it. New Yorkers, not being used to being ordered about, paid no attention to the upraised arm calling on them to stop. The cop stood this disregard of his arm for a while. Then he drew a revolver and put a shot into a car to make it stop. Realizing he meant business, motorists began to pay attention."

The world has certainly changed, hasn't it?

I've actually embedded two films below: the first shows Market Street just a few days before the quake, while the second depicts the quake's catastrophic results.

If you want to watch a slightly higher quality version of the first video, you might want to check out version on the 60 Minutes' website. You can view it here: San Francisco on Film - Days Before the 1906 Earthquake.