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The Benedict State – Part I

Brett Kavanaugh Swearing-In by Justice Anthony Kennedy

Federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed as the Supreme Court justice to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy – infamous for casting the wrong, but deciding votes in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey (upholding an unlimited right to abortion), Obergefell v. Hodges (mandating homosexual marriage throughout the country) and United States v. Windsor (striking down the Defense of Marriage Act).  Both conservatives and liberals know that Kavanaugh has tipped the court to the right and within two years a case will come before the court challenging Roe v. Wade.  It is expected that Roe will be overturned.  And then what?

The states will decide the question of abortion, and many are already preparing their constitutions and laws for the absence of Roe.  I predict that the resulting patchwork of states banning abortion and those permitting (if not celebrating) it will lead to a mass migration of Americans to states that support with law their particular position on abortion.  Thus, liberals (and liberal corporations) will leave conservative cities of states in the South and Midwest that will ban abortion, and conservatives will leave cities and rural areas of states in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and West that will permit it.  Such a mass migration will not merely be undertaken for moral reasons, although many will relocate for matters of conscience.  People will move because the concentrations of ideology will create general cultural and legislative environments unpalatable to citizens of a different point of view.

And so an opportunity will present itself.  The opportunity for traditional Catholics to concentrate their population in one or more states.  A Catholic evangelical and missionary outlook to save the souls of the liberals left behind should not prevent such a concentration – missions can always be established by brave souls willing to endure persecutions and attacks similar to the Franciscans and Jesuits that evangelized the Indians of North and South America.  A concentration of faithful Catholics will permit the formation and development of such individuals and missionary orders.  Having a home state that reflects in its laws and supports with its culture truth, beauty and goodness will be an essential component of an American revival that may take a century to mature, but will heal a nation conceived in liberty and searching from its very beginning for a soul.

Let us call such a state to which traditional Catholics may move “the Benedict State,” in a nod to The Benedict Option, a book by Rod Dreher in which he discusses the potential to preserve the Faith by concentrating believers into homogenous groups until such time as the culture is ready for re-assimilation.  The preservation and concentration of traditional Catholicism in a way that integrates belief, culture and education is now essential in battling Modernism and embarking on the New Evangelization envisioned by Pope Saint John Paul II.  Forming a Benedict State may be ambitious, but given the signs of the times, it may yet prove to be a propitious means to the salvation of a deeply divided America, and perhaps the Western world.

In Part II of this three-part series, I will discuss where a concentration of faithful Catholics may be most readily achieved in the United States.  Part III will discuss how such a Benedict State may ultimately be useful in a reconquista of a secular and Muslim Europe.

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Toward a New Inquisition

When I wrote Closing the Windows on July 3 in this blog, well before the McCarrick story broke in the press, and certainly before the publication last night of Archbishop Vigano’s letter implicating many cardinals, bishops and the pope in a vast homosexual network and coverup in the Church, some of my subscribers withdrew.  This post may have a similar effect, but here goes.

The sickening and longstanding homosexual misdeeds of then-Cardinal McCarrick of the Archdiocese of Washington have repulsed many in the Church, even on the Left.  That a Cardinal of the Church would use his position to prey upon young priests and seminarians for homosexual trysts, reportedly at his beach house near Washington, and then conduct sacrilegious “masses” immediately thereafter, shocks the conscience and scandalizes the world.  That it was known by many and covered up by Cardinals, bishops and Vatican diplomats for over a decade, allowing McCarrick to continue to abuse innocent victims unchecked, is reprehensible.  And that Pope Francis purposefully lifted the sanctions on McCarrick, imposed by Pope Benedict, allowing McCarrick once again back into the mainstream to find new victims is inexcusable and cries out for Pope Francis to resign immediately.  But that is just the beginning.

It is time for the Holy Office of the Pope (a new pope) to conduct a long overdue inquisition into the presence of the Lavender Mafia within the Church and bring about a purging of homosexuals from the ranks of her clergy.  The Spanish Inquisition comes to mind when one says “inquisition,” and that investigation has an undeserved bad name because Protestants controlled the narrative that made its way into US history texts and pagan men like Voltaire successfully satirized religious faith and the preservation of it with cunning humor.  But the Spanish Inquisition had a legitimate goal in preserving the faith from dilution through half-believers and non-believers, and the Church should pay no heed to the predictable outraged cries of ignorant pagans that will follow the formal establishment of another public inquisition.  The Church must return to her duty to preserve the deposit of Faith entrusted to her, and that includes inquiring into the presence of half-believers and non-believers masquerading as socially conscious priests and bishops, but who in reality are so affected by the scourge of Modernism they explain away the Church’s clear teachings and commit egregious homosexual misdeeds without compunction.

Although a new inquisition could (and likely should) focus specifically on purging Modernism from the Church (the Holy Office is tasked with addressing heresy), the “low-hanging fruit” in combatting Modernism is most readily found in practicing homosexuals that have infiltrated the Church, spread within and protected their network of lies, heinous practices and coverups.  Only Modernism could explain how they reconcile such vile activities with a professed adherence to Church doctrine.  So start by finding the practicing homosexuals and continue through the sympathizers and those other Modernists that look the other way because they can’t reconcile their half-belief with condemning homosexual practices.  And once the offending, recalcitrant Modernists are identified, laicize them and turn them over to civil authorities to be prosecuted for their predations where appropriate.

I feel that at last the real springtime is coming for the Church.  Let’s throw open the windows and shed some light on the clerical perverts hiding in the shadows under the Church’s beautiful mantle.  That can only be done effectively with a formal inquisition focused, at least initially, on rooting out practicing homosexuals and their sympathizers and enablers within the Church’s hierarchy.

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Random Thoughts – Vol 5

  • Fear of the … Internet?  There seems to be a palpable fear among people who browse the Internet regularly that one day they will end up as a side-show story through some sad accident or random attack.  The web is rife with such stories as Teen Trapped in Tree by Malicious Gator and  Dancer Has Legs Amputated after Boating Accident.  Most people wouldn’t want their humiliation or tragic story broadcast to the world.  Oddly, that’s the same “fear” we should have of God.  Fear of the Lord should train our will to avoid sinful actions that are always made known to God, and to our fellow men at the general judgment.  The tragic story or random accident in our lives is bad enough, but unless they are the result of our personal immoral behavior, why not reserve our fear of publication to bad acts that have everlasting consequences?
  • Closing the Windows.  Vatican II was celebrated as a time to “open the windows” and “let the fresh air into the Church.”  What really happened, however, was an alley door was opened and homosexuals within the Church recruited others and began an infiltration of the hierarchy that lasts to this day.  The result was, and is, the devastating abuse of teenage and younger boys.  It is past time to acknowledge the problem as one of homosexuality, and to proactively and publicly laicize and remove homosexuals within the priesthood.  But the window of opportunity to take this needed step without massive reprisals is closing fast.  Homosexual activists have successfully bullied corporations, associations, governments and private individuals with swift and public attacks for even the slightest dissent against their agenda.  Freedom of Religion still protects the Church, but for how long?  Unfortunately, either the pontiff is oblivious to, or complicit with, the homosexual agenda – precisely at a time when a high-level and public witness must be made to stop the scandal wrought by looking the other way.
  • St. Joseph the Martyr.  I wonder if St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, could be considered a martyr.  After all, once Jesus began his public ministry, his father on earth would take on added significance.  If St. Joseph was alive, the Pharisees could demand that he stop his son from preaching, putting pressure on him and possibly taking action against him (remember the man born blind whose parents were questioned?).  And once Jesus was under assault by those seeking to kill him, a good father (unlike a mother) would be driven to take up arms to defend his innocent son.  So St. Joseph likely had to die before Jesus’ public ministry began to avoid these and other conflicts that might impede the spreading of the Gospel.  In this sense, St. Joseph might have died for the Faith as a martyr.
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I Confess…

My family and I have been going to the traditional Latin Mass (“TLM”) for almost two years now and sometimes the differences between the TLM and the new Mass (the Novus Ordo) just sneak up on you.  Then one day, it dawns on you how a subtle change contributes to an overall shift from a focus on Jesus in the Eucharist to a focus on the community gathering.  And it makes you upset.  One such change involves the Confiteor.

The Confiteor is the part of the Mass where the priest and those assisting him confess to God that they are sinful and ask for prayers, that they might be deemed worthy to receive our Lord in the Eucharist.  The changes in the Confiteor are subtle, but the devil is in the details:

1.  In the traditional Latin Mass (“TLM”), the priest recites the Confiteor personally, by himself, asking those assisting to pray for him.  The server responds “May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins and bring you to life everlasting.”  This is not an absolution, of course, and it is similar in the Novus Ordo.  But in the TLM, those assisting then recite the Confiteor, separate from the priest, and specifically ask the priest (… and you, Father) to pray for them.  The priest then provides the same response, and adds a specific absolution: “May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution and remission of our sins.”  Thus, in the TLM you actually receive specific absolution from your venial sins at the beginning of Mass, that you might be as pure as possible before receiving the Eucharist.  You do not receive this absolution in the Novus Ordo.  Why not?

2.  In the Confiteor of the TLM, the priest and those assisting him confess their sins to Almighty God and also to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel, St. John the Baptist, Sts. Peter and Paul and all the saints.  We then appeal to these specific saints in the Church Triumphant, in heaven, for prayers and petitions to overcome our faults and be worthy before our Lord.  In the Novus Ordo, you confess to Almighty God and to “you my brothers and sisters.”  And you then ask for prayers from St. Mary, all the angels and saints, and “you my brothers and sisters.”  Frankly, I’d prefer to seek the help of St. Mary, Saint Michael, St. John, St. Peter and St. Paul, by name, over other people present at Mass (have you ever prayed for anyone there at the Confiteor of a Novus Ordo?).  But the real effect of the change is to focus on the community present and it seems to me to be a slap to those saints who previously were named, but now passed over in favor of “you my brothers and sisters,” whose personal sanctity, let alone state of mind, are questionable.

3.  In the TLM, the Confiteor is said twice.  Once at the beginning of Mass and again by those assisting the priest (the faithful included) immediately before receiving communion.  And once again this second time, the priest says the prayer of absolution to remit all venial sins you may have accumulated between the first time you said the Confiteor and your actual receipt of communion.  How fitting that we should be thus purified, since we are not really fit to receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus at all.  Removing the second Confiteor, with its second absolution, suggests that “we’re good enough” and “let’s not over do this groveling thing.”  If they had to remove one (which they didn’t), why not keep the Confiteor closest to communion, with its associated absolution?

These types of changes in the Mass, along with more obvious ones, have contributed to a general decline in respect for the Real Presence.  And the converse is true as well.  By attending the TLM, without these changes, my respect for our Lord in the Eucharist has increased … making it harder to ever attend a Novus Ordo again.

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Random Thoughts – Vol 4

  • Saints of Google.  It’s funny how Google unwittingly promotes the communion of saints.  Christians believe that the communion of saints is the spiritual bond of the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory and the saints in heaven.  In the bigger picture, there is life after death – with a connection to the living.  Google delights in celebrating the birthdays of their favorite humanist and liberal icons.  But why celebrate the 287th birthday of Jan Ingenhousz if he is no more?  Commemorating his greatest achievement (discovering photosynthesis) should probably be tied to the date of the discovery, not his birth date.  But that’s not how Google does it.  Old Jan does live on – and not just because Google dedicated a Doodle to him.  Perhaps a little more reflection by the Googlers on where their dead heroes ended up after death might lead them to put real saints in the Doodles.
  • Time to Put Down Grandma?  People have always loved their pets, but they euthanize them without a second thought.  Nobody would suggest there is any redemptive value to Rover’s suffering.  But people are different.  No matter how much Grandma is suffering, most people would have serious qualms about directly ending her life.  Why?  It’s a strange thing called natural law.  We instinctively know that to take Grandma’s life is markedly different from taking Rover’s life.  In our hearts, we know Grandma has to complete her walk of life, without being pushed off a cliff.  And so compassion for Grandma is the opposite of compassion for Rover.  But as the line begins to blur between people’s love for their pets (which has become a kind of insanity) and their love for their family (which has become detached indifference to an impermanent group of self-centered individuals), is it no wonder that people are seeking to perpetuate their pets through cloning and rid themselves of their grandmothers through euthanasia?
  • Think of the Children.  As the family is redefined without reference to the needs of children, the national debt becomes both an anchor and a bludgeon for future generations, religion in America becomes merely a banal habit at best and a diabolic tool at worst, and our culture morphs from respectful restraint into salacious sensuality, does anyone think future generations will have it better than past generations?  There was a time when progress meant hope – penicillin, air travel, even computer processing.  Now progress means despair – sex change operations, abortion pills and internet pornography.  Culturally, my kids aren’t likely to inherit a better world.  But spiritually it’s still possible.  Nearly 50 years of the “spirit of Vatican II” is building an inexorable force behind the faithful.  When the dam breaks, the conflict between the culture and the faithful will bring many spiritual benefits.  The coming generations just have to hang on through it all and stand like a rocky outcrop in the rushing waters – their souls cleansed and freed by the deluge.
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Conserving Conservatism

“[T]he essence of conservatism lies not in a body of theory, but in the disposition to maintain those institutions seen as central to the beliefs and practices of society.” — Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke is often hailed as one of the truly great conservatives.  His definition of conservatism is good, but few people today would even recognize the society that Burke sought to conserve – one that included the right to govern based on property ownership, a distinct separation of social classes, and state-sponsored religion.  And yet the conservative movement still soldiers on, especially in America.  But do we all agree on what “society” we are trying to conserve?  Which “beliefs and practices?”  And what “institutions?”

Conservatism in America today largely means the preservation of the limited system of government established by our founders, a strict defense of property rights (including limited taxes), and respect for just laws based on a Judeo-Christian moral code.  So when political battles arise on a national scale, they often center on one of these core principles that are still part of America’s conservative heritage.  Debates over national health care, tax increases to “redistribute” wealth and so-called “homosexual marriage” are just a few examples.

Nobody who calls himself a conservative would argue with the basic principles highlighted above, but digging deeper reveals that American conservatism is frayed on the edges – mostly on moral issues.  For example, many prominent conservatives are loathe to question the recently established liberal orthodoxy that homosexual acts are morally acceptable.  Didn’t Dick Cheney’s daughter get “married” to another woman with his full support?  Didn’t John Kasich say in the debates that he attended a homosexual “wedding?”  Didn’t Donald Trump tacitly support the moral equivalence of homosexuality in his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination?

But even on more mundane matters, there is an appalling lack of intellectual integrity among conservatives.  Didn’t John Roberts uphold the Obamacare requirement to purchase health insurance or face a “tax” for failure to do so?  Haven’t the Republicans failed to repeal Obamacare, the largest, most invasive government intrusion since Social Security (which is nearly bankrupt)?  Aren’t the conservatives in Congress proposing a “revised” tax code that is just more of the same progressive taxation called “soak-the-rich” that liberals have enshrined for decades?

Conservatism as a movement suffers for lack of clarity and lack of leadership.  Much of what passes for conservatism today is promoted by so-called Neocons – social liberals but economic conservatives that are disenchanted with the Left’s drive toward communism.  Pushed on the radio talk shows and in conservative publications like National Review, you’ll hear strong arguments by Mark Levin or Irving Kristol or Charles Krauthammer in favor of defending the limited government of the U.S. constitution, but nearly nothing about, or even tacit approval of abortion, social acceptance of homosexuality or a radical feminism that considers motherhood so non-essential it can be outsourced.

America longs for a truly conservative leader.  She recalls fondly the days of Ronald Reagan, and broods over the lost opportunities and outright betrayal of the double Bush administrations (“read my lips, no new taxes,” John Souter, prescription drugs for Medicare, Americans with Disabilities Act, and two Gulf wars).  She hopes Donald Trump will step squarely into the conservative camp, refine his policies and govern as a gentleman, the way a conservative should.  And in the meantime, she seeks the next leader that will step into the limelight and argue coherently, forcibly and articulately for such things as:

  • the systematic dismantling of every federal program and agency except those that are essential to the purposes of the federal government as outlined in the Constitution (national security and defense, international treaties and trade, immigration, a national currency, conflicts between states, and interstate commerce);
  • a return of the primacy of states’ rights as outlined in the 10th Amendment to the Constitution so each state is the primary source of governance and has different policies and programs, which citizens can attack locally, or simply move if they don’t like where their state is headed;
  • the elimination of the federal income tax (started in 1913) which has become a complex tool to fund a bloated, inefficient government and influence social action (tax credits to buy an electric car?); and
  • a respect for the natural law written on our hearts by an almighty God, including the natural rights of children – principally the right to life, to a mother and a father who are bound together by duty (which precludes “homosexual marriage,” “no-fault” divorce and the equivalence of live-in relationships), to the preservation of their innocence (including destroying the drug trade, eliminating soft and hard pornography, and abolishing in-school sex education), to a mother who serves her children and her nation by using her natural gifts to nurture her children as her first priority, and to an education system (run at the state level) that is focused on imparting actual knowledge of the three Rs instead of indoctrination into an ideology.

This conservative wishlist is not farfetched.  It was the norm only a hundred years ago.  Men live today who would have heard of such a society from their fathers.  The speed with which the original American society has been dismantled is dizzying – it accelerated in the 1960s and is making a final and frenetic push today.

As new generations step up to rebuild a conservative American society, for the present society based on modern, selfish libertine principles will surely collapse,  we must describe and defend the principles and institutions we wish to conserve with clarity and unity so that when the time comes we can recover what was lost of that decent American society upon which was built our great nation.

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Random Thoughts – Vol 3

  • Blessed Lawyer Mary? Women trying to decide between a career or motherhood need look no further for advice than the Mother of God.  Although Mary’s appearances are few in the gospels, her critical role as mother is unmistakable.  Jesus himself, having known and loved her as his own mother for 33 years, continues her motherhood over all the Church at the crucifixion.  Some might say, “She didn’t have a choice but to be a mother in that male-dominated culture that kept her down (which would mean Jesus continued her ‘oppression’).”  But ponder for a moment if she had a different role.  Somehow it doesn’t seem very impressive, or comforting to think of the Blessed Lawyer Mary, or St. Mary – the Professor of God, or even Mary the Middle Manager.  Thank you Mary for choosing motherhood with your fiat.  Your children need you.
  • Participation Failure.  Ever notice how the Novus Ordo mass requires participation, but the congregation often falls short in fulfilling their mandated duties?  For example, have you been to a mass where the Gloria is being said (not sung) and it falters mid-way through because people don’t know it except according to the tune?  Or when the Creed is being recited and there is a long pause for the Incarnation (like at the Easter Vigil), but people don’t know how to start it again since it’s not being rambled off?  Or in small masses where the faithful are asked to sing songs they don’t know and the halting attempt or off-tune result is hardly a fitting worship of the Divine? Or even in large masses where the choir can’t sing or a single cantor is uncomfortably off tune?  You can say, “Oh well, they at least are trying.”  But it’s better that they didn’t.  Quiet would be a more fitting offering.  Relying on the laity to “perform” in the N.O. show is like asking for audience participating at a dinner theatre.  You never know what you’re going to get.  At the Tridentine Latin Mass, there is no such risk.  It’s beautiful and prayerful (even at the silent low mass) from beginning to end.
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Random Thoughts – Vol 2

  • A Servant’s Heart.  Shows depicting the old British way of life with butlers, valets and maids for the wealthy upperclass might spark the American sentiment of indignation.  After all, American’s might be tempted to ask “who would ever debase himself to become the servant of another?”  Think Remains of the Day or Jeeves and Wooster.  But working for Lord So-and-So or the Duke of Wherever most likely afforded the same type of cachet and name-dropping of which those who slave away for the likes of Google or Amazon are so proud.  As a middle manager responsible for the Department of Whatever at Google, making merely a salary with no real wealth of your own, is there no indignation at your dependence?  Well, at least you can say you work for Google – for whatever that’s worth.
  • Ignoramuses.  The left can be ignored and they know it, that’s why they’re resorting to violent protests now.  How many conservatives use Google? or Apple iPhones? or go to left-leaning universities? Millions.  Sure, there can be occasional reprisals if you bother to expose their hypocrisies (like the recent incident involving an employee at Google), but if you don’t work there you can just simply ignore the leftist ideologies of these companies and institutions.   You don’t have to watch the little Google videos and you can still use Google search.  You don’t have to believe in so-called “climate change” and still use an iPhone.  You don’t have to subscribe to gender bending theories and still go to Yale.  See or hear something offensive from these places?  Ignore it.  What the left wants is acceptance – like children with emotional disorders.  The violence from Black Lives Matter, antifa and other leftist groups is just the tantrum that follows being ignored.  And how do you stop a tantrum?  Administer a dispassionate spanking. A little jail time will stop the protestors – it’s not worth what George Soros is paying them.  Soon the leftist fad will pass with the sunset of its spoiled progenitors.  In the meantime, just ignore it.
  • Perfect Timing.  The appearance of Jesus Christ in human history was perfectly timed by Almighty God.  If Christ had come much sooner in time, there would be few if any written accounts of his actions and words.  If he had come much later, there would be too many – imagine videos and photographs that could be altered or misconstrued, or a superabundance of commentary or “spin” that would certainly confuse many (as contemporary “news accounts” do today).  As it happened, God’s timing was perfect and the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397, 419) had a reasonably limited but complete set of accounts and writings to sort through to establish which were the inspired books of what is known today as the New Testament.
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The Rot of Modernism

Something is off with the Catholic Church today but for many people it’s hard to nail down exactly what’s amiss.  Is it the modern music? the rambling homilies? the smarmy glad-handing before communion? the chatting and general lack of reverence inside the church?  Or is it something deeper like political liberalism within the hierarchy or a spineless approach to confronting disturbing social trends? These things are bad, but they are all symptoms of a much more grave reality – the scourge of modernism that is rotting the Church from within.

Pope St. Pius X identified the philosophical trend of modernism and its impact on theology and the humanities in the early 20th century.  His encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, published in 1907, exposed the modernist heresy and warned the Church against its alluring ideas and wiley promoters.  It was in Pascendi that he established the imprimatur and the nihil obstat as a means to provide the faithful with a safeguard against modernism in materials designed for their consumption.  So what exactly is modernism, how has it affected the Church and how can we clear out the rot?

Continue reading “The Rot of Modernism”

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Overzealous Liberals will Unseat the Left

In a demented drive to bring down President Trump, their hated quarry, the liberal left has overplayed its hand.  As a result, mainstream America is beginning to realize that the left has far less power than they project with race-baiting, false outrage and fake news – measures that have cowed Republicans and other adversaries for decades. Once the curtain is pulled back and America realizes that the great Oz is just a small number of well-placed, America-hating, socialist, whiners without any real power, the gig will be up and the liberal left will lose its hold on the hearts and minds of the unthinking masses.

Trump’s election was itself a statement that the liberals were losing power. Trump was so demonized by the liberal media and the drumbeat of bad news so frequent during his campaign, he was expected to go down handily in defeat.  Instead, he took the Democrat strongholds of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania with protest votes against the liberal agenda that put the struggles of unemployed middle class families behind leftist signature issues like “climate change” and gender-neutral bathrooms.  Leftist ideologues were so stunned that their pawns rebelled they had to take a personal day following the election to recover with coloring books and chocolate.

Continue reading “Overzealous Liberals will Unseat the Left”