He writes:
I’ve been thinking about something recently, you already know that I agree with you, that regardless who the Dems run it will be better than the current crazy person in the Whitehouse, but I still have a lot of fears about the left in power, I do see you report on the left when they go off the reservation but I rarely hear you voice your own fears on what a Democrat controlled government would look like on things we care about, abortion, marriage, religious freedoms, this is not a whatabout question, because I agree that one is better than the other, but it does sometime seem in your writings that your not giving any real credence to the concerns that people have about Democrats, and agree, the religious freedom fears are mostly overdone, but I wouldn’t look down on someone for having those concerns,
Sorry for my incredible slowness in replying. I’ve been working on not one, not two, but three books (a wild occult thriller novel, a book on the Creed (easy peasy!) and a book on Catholic Social Teaching called THE CHURCH’S BEST KEPT-SECRET: A PRIMER ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING). The latter will be out from New City Press in September/Octoberish. Between that, pandemic, and economic catastrophe, I’ve been keeping busy. But I finally came up for air and have been plowing through my mail, where I found yours languishing, neglected and forlorn. 😊 Please forgive me.
In a word, no. I’m not worried about the Dems. Trump, the GOP Crime Syndicate, and the MAGA antichrist cult that backs them all constitute the gravest domestic threat the US has faced since the Civil War. From the criminal mishandling of the Pandemic (in which, out of sheer spite, this lying moron burned to ashes a response team and plan handed him by his predecessor), to the ruin of economic recovery (also handed him by his predecessor), to the dodging of richly deserved impeachment courtesy of the GOP Crime Syndicate, to countless harms inflicted on the environment, the least of these, public discourse, race relations, foreign relations and, most recently on our military by his treasonous betrayal of our troops to Russian bounties on their heads, the damage this criminal has done is incalculable, long-lasting, and catastrophic.
I honestly could not care less about the fears of religious persecution American Christians have been taught to fret over. That’s because I believe the revelation. Even if, which I don’t believe for a second, the Dems were just waiting to unleash a wave of persecution on the Church, Jesus tells us, ” do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” ( Mt 10:28).
In short, the real threat to the Church is, and always has been seduction, not persecution, because what destroy us in hell is our own sin, not oppression from without.
The MAGA Cult is itself the proof of this. In 2016, the Catholic arm of the MAGA Cult, led by such fearmongers as John Zmirak, stampeded conservative Catholics with the lie that Clinton was Diocletian and Trump was Constantine. This kind of fearmongering has characterized Right Wing Lie Machine propaganda for a couple of decades. And its fruit has been to turn conservative Christians, Protestant and Catholic, into a subculture where accusation is always a form of confession. They claimed that “liberals” were going to be the authors of a wave of religious persecution. They themselves now are the authors of that persecution for brown refugees on the border. They themselves are the authors of that persecution for brown Christians across America while they admire a thug who calls Nazis “very fine people” and peaceful Black protesters asking not to be killed by police “sons of bitches”. They lied ten years ago that “liberals” would subject us to “death panels.” Now they are the ones telling people dying of pandemic that some things matter more than life and the weak need to die for the economy. They lie that they and they alone represent the gospel while having morphed into a freak show so consumed with selfishness that they would rather consign their own children to death than have the consideration for others to wear a mask or observe common sense. They are eaten up with a butthurt sense of persecution so profound that it blinds them to the realization that they, not their Culture War enemies, are the biggest threats both to the common good and to the witness of the Church.
That, for me, is the incredible thing: the backbone of this cult of human sacrifice to Mammon self-identifies as “Christian” and “prolife” and is at open war with Holy Church and the Holy Father while it prostitutes itself to this Golden Ass. They, not the Dems, are the clear and present danger the Church faces in this hour. They, not some imaginary persecution from liberals are what I most fear. And my gravest fear is that the damage they have done has already wrecked the witness of the Church in this country for rest of my life at least.
For me, the great irony of this time is that I virtually never meet liberals who try to tell me to renounce my Faith (as the Cult constantly insists Libs do). It is Reactionary Catholics who do that, demanding that I spit on the “Novus Ordo/Vatican II Church” and reject the Holy Father as a fraud and a false pope. Liberals don’t demand that of me. What they do, in droves, is beg on their knees for Christians to act like Jesus. And what they typically receive for their troubles is contempt and spite from the Cult who sneer at kindness, human decency and charity as “Kumbayah Catholicism”. I have very little sense of threat from them. They want to see a Church that cares for the least of these, that respects human beings, that is generous and kind to the poor. That’s why they like Pope Francis. Do they often lack a supernatural faith in Jesus as the Son of God? Sure. Are they wrong about abortion? Typically. But how on earth should we expect them to see differently when the face we show them is so often that of the Trump Freak Show of stupidity, spite, and cruelty?
So no. I don’t fear liberal persecution. I fear the horrific antichrist false religion that has overcome conservative American Christianity and set its face against God. He will overcome it with the breath of his mouth in his own timing, for his glory and our good, as he turned the betrayal of Judas Iscariot to his glory and our good. But meantime, it is our task to try to save those we can from this diabolical cult.
Hope that helps!
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18 Responses
“It is impossible to follow the teachings of Christ and be a Republican.” – Neil Peart interview, 2014.
“The way that moral issues have been co-opted by a political party for nothing else but to develop a constituency whose votes they can depend on is really dangerous. I feel like it is nearly impossible to walk a party line — especially in a two-party system — and follow Jesus.” – Derek Webb, 2006
And he was an atheist.
I appreciate your comments and almost agree completely. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have concerns about what a Democrat takeover would look like for orthodox Christians in this country. I’m especially concerned because of how American politics seem to whipsaw between overcorrections and overreactions. In other words, the reaction to conservative Christians lickspittle support of Trump won’t be a “return to normal”, but rather a big pendulum swing to the other side and a bunch of orthodox Christians who didn’t vote for or support him will get caught up in the vendetta. I hope I’m wrong.
Well, from my observation point up North, I can see clearly that you are wrong. I just cannot believe that at least a good number of Democrats have so little discernment to not see any of the “wheat” fighting to grow in spite of the weeds. And don’t expect any government to support all of Jesus’ teaching. He said himself not to trust the princes and the powerful of this world. It is up to us Christians to show by our lives what true Christianity is, in spite of the hardship that it could bring. Another point, not absolutely related to this, is that the threat that a schism could happen and break up the Church in America might not be the disaster that we fear: There is a real possibility that those who have been turned off by the pseudo-christianity of people on the “right” who have been seduced by the MAGA cult will in this way have the opportunity to distinguish clearly between the wheat and the chaff… Many times (at least in my own life) it can turn out that something that seemed catastrophic at first is actually God at work to open doors to a situation that turns out to be much better than we could have imagined if things had remained the same. In other words, “blessings in disguise”…
“But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have concerns about what a Democrat takeover would look like for orthodox Christians in this country.”
What would you say is your one biggest concern?
There is not party that sides with the Church completely and the possibility of something anti-Catholic in our politics is always there. But the clear and present danger is obviously from the GOP at present. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. And yes, I will be surprised if the Church does not find itself on receiving end of retribution for the MAGA cult’s disgusting support of evil. The good always bear the sins of the evil.
I think in general most people are confused as to what overturning Roe v. Wade/ Planned Parenthood v. Casey really means. These are privacy/ due process laws. Overturning them means we as human beings do NOT have a right to decide what is happening in and with our own bodies. We are handing that right over to the government. If it is true for women it will be true for men as well. As a Christian, under democratic leadership, I have the right to choose to carry a child to term, to never have an abortion. I can decide whether or not I wish to use birth control. A man or women can choose whether or not to undergo sterilization. The point is we Christians can freely choose what we believe is the morally correct choice. The minute we overturn either of theses laws is the beginning of the slide down the slippery slope. The government will have control over all of these matters. The question is not whether or not we will have abortion but rather, who gets to dictate when and if we have one. Same for sterilization. I would rather decide this for myself than have the government decide its good for population control. If you think this is far fetched the United State already has existing eugenics laws on the books that have never been overturned
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_v._Bell
Incidentally Buck v. Bell was written by a republican as were Roe and Casey.
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” is THE scripture quote for this. I was reminded yesterday that the prayer of so many incredible saints throughout history has not been, “Let me crush my enemies and one-up my fellow Christians,” but, “Let me have the grace to accept the martyr’s crown if one is offered to me.”
Like the early Christians, we aren’t supposed to go around begging to be fed to the lions, but we also aren’t supposed to carry ourselves off into mortal sin trying to avoid it, either. Risking persecution even unto death in order to do the right thing is, yknow, actually a pretty key part of the Christian witness.
I don’t think Democrats have a plan to persecute Christians en-masse. I was old enough to hear all about how Obama was gonna unleash persecution and lock up Christians etc., and it didn’t happen then, and it’s not gonna happen now. But Jesus is clear that, if we ARE to be persecuted in one way or another (and we are), that’s a blessing and will, God willing, be an ornament to us in the Kingdom. It’s absolutely *not* something we need to live in terror of to the point where we try to stop it by any means necessary.
How can you not see that your fear mongering about Trump is identical to the fear mongering about Obama? Left-liberals and right-liberals have the exact same playbook.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/zippycatholic.wordpress.com/2018/08/13/why-different-kinds-of-liberals-think-each-other-are-nazis/amp/
Your Both Sides lies have passed their sell-by date.
You only think that because it is the question begging air you breathe.
Are you seriously going to argue that support for abortion, gay marriage, sexual liberation, euthanasia, etc. are not going to be catastrophically, long-lastingly damaging to souls?
Are you seriously going to argue that support for abortion or gay marriage is any less a hatred of human beings and disregard for the least of these than the disregard of the poor you attribute to Republicans is?
This “well my sides evils can be excused because of how evil your side is” argument is universal and is incredibly damaging to souls and the only solution is repentance and to refuse to play for either side. The winner in all of this is evil.
https://zippycatholic.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/the-druid-abides/
For the umpteenth time: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2018/02/dont-talk-theology-instead-politics-mark.html It is legit to vote to lessen evil. You both sides bullshit only increases evil.
To my knowledge, Obama never was accused of crimes while in office and never faced impeachment for treason. And I never heard, for one example among others, of Obama using troops to clear a park of peaceful demonstrators just because he wanted to cross it on foot… There are many, many real reasons to be afraid of a person who acts like a psychopath, a behaviour I never seemed to notice about Obama.
Note: I did not click a “like” to myself, I just thought that if I clicked the underlined word I would find something about the person who liked my comment, since a reader suggested that I should go and see “their” comments. Link, please.
jj
As I gay man, I hope the Church changes her teaching on my life and my love. The church now agrees it got it wrong on slavery and the death penalty; so the church can now “get it right” on my orientation. Gays aren’t asking for the church to change things like the Trinity or the Papacy, just on the joys of love.
The MAGA cult is a cult. Those like myself have been persecuted and burned at the stake because of whom I love. And the MAGA cult is worried about cake bakers. As Mark said, they must be destroyed.
Ironically enough, the following headline just popped up over at the “Friendly Atheist” blog: “Despite Evangelical Base, Trump Denies Aid to Truly Persecuted Christians”.
https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/07/12/despite-evangelical-base-trump-denies-aid-to-truly-persecuted-christians/
The gist of the story is that in their zeal to significantly cut down the number of refugees allowed to enter the US, they’re leaving a lot of persecuted Christians hanging out to dry. But I guess its okay, after all, they’re not the “right” type of Christians.