I can’t help but think that America is now like your brother who can’t keep a job, drinks too much, is constantly asking for money, and oh, has a crazy bad addiction that’s destroying his life.
You tried just lending him money every time he promised to go straight but he just ain’t gonna’ do it. At some point you accept that he’s going to have to hit bottom. You don’t know what bottom looks like but you know that he’s racing towards it. It might be jail, death, brain damage. Nobody knows. But at some point he’ll hear the thud and wake up face first in a pool of his own vomit and he’ll have to make the decision to turn over and get back up or just die.
And that’s where America is heading. This country is going to have to go absolutely bankrupt and hit bottom before it starts getting better. This country is borrowing money from children that they’re killing in the womb in record numbers. That, is not a recipe for success.
And of the children that we do have, many of them are being born into single parent homes where their chances of spending some time in jail are increased while their economic outlook is severely diminished.
For too many years we slept. Maybe we saw it coming, maybe we just suspected that everything was going to hell.
Leftists have taken over our education establishment, giving them firm control over what our children learn (unless you homeschool or have a great Catholic or private school). The left has long controlled the media and therefore control what people hear about current events. So think about it, they have control over the teaching of history and the present.
And why didn’t we think we were going to be routed? And what did we do to prevent this? We talked about school choice but got weak kneed when the fight got bloody. We snarked about the media and congratulated ourselves on how many interesting and funny ways we tweeted that Chris Matthews was stupid. Here’s the thing, pretty much everyone in the media agrees with him. It’s an MSNBC media. Some just hide it a little better.
If you want to understand the true power of the media, this election is a prime example. The media propped up a corrupt and egotistical ideologue throughout this entire campaign. They ignored Solyndra. They ignored Benghazi. They covered up the economic ruin we were inviting on ourselves. Sure, FoxNews and the new media have hurt the media establishment but what the MSM showed in this election is that we can snark it up all we want, they’ve got one hand firmly on the levers of power and the other around our throats.
But here’s the thing. I’ve gotten to the point now where I’m thinking about the fact that I have five kids, a wonderful wife, and a good parish. My life is good and full of love. We try to give to charity and work with a home for unwed mothers. We’ll continue with these things. I’m focusing on what I can do in my life. I’ll continue to write and work but I know where this country is heading.
I know where the country is going. I’m not going there and neither is my family. The Church will continue to exist whatever happens to this country. The country’s barreling downwards and when it hits bottom it’s going to explode like shrapnel. My job is to protect my family from the flying pieces. And then we’ll start gathering the pieces.
The only good news in all this is that I think that we’ll hit bottom awfully quick because we’re heading there awfully fast.
November 8, 2012 at 12:37 am
"I know where the country is going. I'm not going there and neither is my family."
Well said! We can't always control what happens in the world, but we can control how we respond to it. Whatever comes my way will test and strengthen my character, not change or weaken it.
To paraphrase Rocky Balboa, "Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It will beat you to your knees and keep you there if you let it. But life's not about how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"
November 8, 2012 at 12:41 am
Good heavens…I meant "unbelievably stacked" and "esteemed host". Apologies for the typos.
November 8, 2012 at 12:44 am
I love how in the wake of this disgusting debacle, more people are finally seeing the non-future of the United States. For my part, I've taken to saying lately: "My kingdom is not of this world." I am first and foremost a subject of Christ, the king of the universe; and then later, maybe, if I decide upon it, a citizen of the United States: a country with a long history of hating my Church and my fellow Catholics.
Regardless of who was elected (There's two of them? Could have fooled me!), this country is in absolute freefall. But remember this: the persecution of the Church is just one symptom of a much bigger destruction taking place. Why, just look at the national debt! Point, set, and match. The Church is like the man who tries to stop a suicidal man from killing himself and gets coldcocked in the process. But if the suicidal man wants to kill himself, he's really going to do it and no one can stop him. That's the United States for you. Brace for impact. There's a good possibility we won't have a country left by the time of the next election.
November 8, 2012 at 1:07 am
Let me take this opportunity to beat a drum I've been beating for years: it doesn't have to be this way. All that is needed is a geographical region with just a few million good guys willing to stand up and resist, to call the bluff of the powers that be. A region, a place. We're not after utopia here, just a lifeboat.
November 8, 2012 at 1:49 am
Anon @7:15pm
Of course defending the unborn is not the end of our charity … but it has to be the *beginning.* Try reading "Evangelium Vitae" where Bd. Pope John Paul explains why promoting abortion undermines society faster than anything else.
Also, are you seriously expecting a R president / Senate / House to overturn Roe v. Wade? If not, your comment on that doesn't make sense. If you mean they have done nothing to fight abortion, you are again wrong. They passed and signed the partial-birth abortion ban, which led to the Supreme Court upholding an actual restriction on abortion for the first time since Roe. The justices in the majority were appointed by Republican presidents. While it could be argued that that ban in itself saves no lives, it has made possible further state-level laws such as ones prohibiting abortions on babies old enough to feel pain. Lots more could be said. Check out NRLC's website as an easy place to start.
Your comments about Republicans are also full of prejudice. How can you judge their hearts and know that they don't care about the poor? FWIW, I used to think like you: that Repubs were right on abortion, but Dems on helping the poor. I've come to realize that this is simply not true. They simply have different approaches — and I could easily argue that the R- party is better on that as well. Another item you might look up is the "Moynihan Report" in which Sen. Pat Moynihan (D-NY) predicted how welfare would result in the breakdown of the black family, with generational poverty resulting.
November 8, 2012 at 2:59 am
Several points:
The Church is like the man who tries to stop a suicidal man from killing himself and gets coldcocked in the process.
The Church coldcocked itself a long time ago when it sacrificed its spiritual patrimony on the altar of institutional arrogance, a sense of institutional entitlement, political power, wealth and secular influence. Let's not forget about Cdl. Dolan's bucket of yucks w/Pres. Obama (a lot of good that did, huh?) and Pope Benedict's refusal to discipline Cdl. Wuerl for refusing to implement Canon 915 in the Archdiocese of D.C.
Also, let's not forget that the bishops supported ObamaCare before they opposed it.
…too many Catholics have abandoned the LIVING poor and innocent.
Not the least of whom are the bishops and Vatican themselves. They talk a great game but do nothing! Individual dioceses and parishes might be poor but the Vatican itself is wealthy, given its international investments. How much of that money does it give back to the parishes and dioceses it claims to serve?
November 8, 2012 at 3:13 am
"I know where the country is going. I'm not going there and neither is my family. The Church will continue to exist whatever happens to this country. The country's barreling downwards and when it hits bottom it's going to explode like shrapnel. My job is to protect my family from the flying pieces."
Well, Matt, the best way to protect you and yours from the devastation that is going to engulf this country is to not be here when it happens.
Where to go? This link can give you some ideas. NOTE: I claim dibs on the Irish cottage for $150,000!
November 8, 2012 at 3:15 am
Dave P., I voted for Romney, regardless of this state's political condition. To assume that a devout Mormon would have the same view of abortion as a devout Catholic is ridiculous. I don't expect any president to do anything about abortion.
Besides, when it comes to abortion, Catholics are like liberals regarding welfare: They expect the government to do everything.
Well, why don't the bishops show some spine on the issue when it's not an election year? Why doesn't the pope show some spine and discipline Cdl. Wuerl for refusing to implement Canon 915 in the Archdiocese of D.C.? Why didn't Opus Dei build a clinic and residence for pregnant women who want to have their babies in New York instead of a large dormitory for its lay numeraries?
Because they care more about political power than they do about their stated values.
As far as your other question goes, I suggest you read about the Battle of Britain, the first three years of the Civil War before Antetam, and the first three years of WWII before Stalingrad. That should answer it.
I plan to fight with my mind and with my computer keyboard. If you don't think trying to change the direction of this country is worth the effort, then get the Hell out of the way for those of us who do!!!
November 8, 2012 at 3:23 am
Come on, most Catholics in America are too Americanist to be Catholic. Here is a test- The Austro-Hungarian Empire- a Catholic empire- an empire American Catholics should have backed because they were legit- at least as legit as a government could be. Instead most Americans were all for 'democracy', nationalism, and Wilson's silly policies. If you don't understand that one, go read up on it until you figure it out. That area is still experiencing conflict because of that silliness.
August, my father fought for this nation in WWII. He and millions of his fellows from that generation fought for liberty. He was a devout Catholic until his death.
Your comment about "Americanism" is the conservative side of the attitude displayed by spoiled children who take for granted — and, thus, fail to appreciate — what their forebears earned for them.
And you are seriously suggesting that American Catholics support a Catholic empire nearly 100 years ago in a European conflict? Why? Merely out of religious groupthink? You think the conflicts to which you allude wouldn't have happened if the Treaty of Versailles never was concluded?
You are not only spoiled; you are ignorant.
November 8, 2012 at 3:33 am
Joseph, that is your opinion. But it is dismissed. Voting for a pro-abortion candidate of any stripe is colluding with evil.
Anonymous (great name, by the way; where did you get it?), to expect a devout Mormon to have the same view on abortion as a devout Catholic is patently ridiculous. At the very least, Romney is not nearly the carnivore that Obama is on the issue; as a state Senator in Illinois, Obama opposed a bill that would have allowed abortions in the third trimester.
However, "Catholics" like you, Mark Shea, Erin Manning and Tom from "Disputations" are so infatuated with your hi-falutin, esoteric, antiseptic ideas that you would gladly use them as a facade for your own moral (or, should I say, immoral) ennui, as you did in this campaign. Well, if you're so angry about abortion, what are you doing to hold your own bishop's feet to the fire?
Because people like you and they would rather look right than do right. The problem with your "interpretation" of "Catholic moral teaching" (which, I have learned, is an oxymoron) is that it denies a fundamental reality: People often have to choose between unpleasant alternatives. The fact that the alternatives are unpleasant does not relieve them of making a choice, even if it's for a better alternative not yet in view. Yet too many Catholics use abortion as an excuse not to make a choice, especially when one of the choices is so obviously abhorent.
When you get to meet God, I'm sure billions of unborn babies will thank you for your moral (or is that immoral?) "consistency."
November 8, 2012 at 3:59 am
BTW, this critique of Shea comes from one I.M. Forman on Shea's blog. It fits all too many Catholics:
How high and above it all we are. Can’t sully your hands to vote against Obama to try to protect our church from the HHS mandate. Your aloofness doesn’t excuse you from protecting your church. Not voting against Obama says alot more about you than it does about Mitt Romney. You have sat out this one when your church needed you. Only one of two people were going to win the election and you knew that. Your excuses are lame. Talk is cheap. At least I voted for someone that would have worked for protecting religious liberty – you (abdicated) that responsibility , especially if you voted for a third party candidate that had no shot of victory. Not exactly the Church Militant, aren’t we?
November 8, 2012 at 4:02 am
One final thing: Mark Shea loves neither his country nor his church. He's nothing but a mouthpiece for Iranian interests.
Don't believe me? Then read this:
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-hippolito/a-catholic-writers-propaganda-for-iran/
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-hippolito/a-catholic-writers-propaganda-for-iran/
November 8, 2012 at 4:47 am
Joe:
Thanks for answering my question.
As far as your other question goes, I suggest you read about the Battle of Britain, the first three years of the Civil War before Antetam, and the first three years of WWII before Stalingrad. That should answer it.
I am very familiar with that history – my parents had an extensive library on both the Civil War and WWII…but I think the enemy this time around has a different quality. We have a whole generation of "men without chests",taught "critical thinking" as a way of avoiding how to think altogether. Hearts and minds are the battlefields, and the wall of ignorance is formidable. It can be done (my wife is an example), but for it's still daunting.
If you don't think trying to change the direction of this country is worth the effort, then get the Hell out of the way for those of us who do!!!
Do I want to fight? Yes. Like our esteemed host, I'm going to fight through my family. I've got two boys (5 and 3), and another child coming. If I can make them into Christians and gentleman (or lady, as #3 is still undetermined), I'll count it a victory (Psalm 127:3-5).
November 8, 2012 at 5:07 am
Joseph you are not only a hypocrite but you are morally contemptable. I volunteer every year at 40 Days for Life as well as one overseas trip a year to a mission our family sponsors through Aid to the church in need. We are not rich people, but we work hard and do what we can. Romney was pro-abortion when it suited his need, and only switched once he realized he had larger ambitions beyond MA and wouldn't get the backing of weak-minded people like you who refuse to think rationally. I don't object to your choice for voting for him; I object to your idiocy and hypocrisy in trying to sooth YOUR guilty conscience by attacking others who weighted the decision very heavily and chose to abstain from what we feel is colluding with evil.
You would do well to shove the biggest object you can find into any and all bodily orafices of yours which are causing you to exhibit the deadly sins of pride and wrath and bearing false witness by calling my and like minded thinkers (operative word) who after praying, fasting and wrestling over our decisions as "moral ennui", because from what you've written so far, you don't seem to be at all concerned with morality. How morally and ethically reprehensible for you to even bring up meeting murdered babies in heaven (God bless and keep them) so flippantly. Do you have no soul?
November 8, 2012 at 5:09 am
Hey Anonymous, aren't the babies in the womb "LIVING"? If they're not, why does the abortionist have to kill them? You know Obama voted four times to deny legal protection even to babies outside the womb, if they were alive because the abortionist failed to kill them? I've just lived through a week of Obama commercials saying how much he loves abortion, at any time during the pregnancy, and always paid for by tax dollars. Planned Parenthood paid millions to get him re-elected. Liberal Catholics ALWAYS vote for whichever candidate the abortionists support. Then they write these stupid comments about how they are really pro-life. You don't convince us. I think you do it to try to convince yourself, but you no more succeed than Lady Macbeth gets her hands clean.
Your excuse is that baby-killing politicians say they care about the poor. Government spends a trillion dollars a year on people in poverty. That's $60,000 a year per poor household, enough to get them out of poverty. Why don't the poor actually get the money? Liberal bureaucrats intercept the money and spend it on themselves. The poor get the crumbs left over after the liberal bureaucrats take what they want. Every liberal bureaucrat would always rather hire a new lackey bureaucrat to make feel him more important, and to insulate him even more from poor people, instead of spending the money on the poor. People who care about the poor give their own money away to help them. People who don't say other people should be taxed to hire more bureaucrats who never seem to actually do anything useful to alleviate poverty. The abortionists love to have people like you always voting to make sure the killing continues unimpeded. They know you are 100% reliable. We know it too.
November 8, 2012 at 5:14 am
One more thing, Joe:
I wouldn't accuse Mark of not loving his Church. One can argue about his politics (and no, I don't agree with his position, just to let you know), but I think he sincerely loves his faith, and tries to live it as best he can. So does our esteemed host, and, believe it or not, I have reason to think that you do, too. And I try, even though I fall short…
Pray for Mark, and for me (and believe me, I need it. I'm looking for work. My last job ended up in Mumbai). You have my prayers, for whatever is going on in your life. Hope we all meet in Heaven, just as Paul met Stephen, and Augustine met Jerome.
November 8, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Joseph,
The fact that your father fought in WWII has absolutely no relevance, not only because that is the wrong war, but also because a soldier's impression of what he is fighting for is seldom accurate. You operate emotionally and tell an emotional story in order to dismiss me. Call the man suggesting you can learn some truth by studying a particular time and place a fool? I suspect your defensive position has degenerated to the point where you defend your mind of all knowledge. This happens to people who cannot deal with the fact that what they've been raised to defend no longer exists. Let it go, learn the truth, and take up a better position. Drop the flag, and pick up the cross.
November 8, 2012 at 4:28 pm
This overwhelming emotion reaction has me stumped, quite honestly. Pretty much almost nothing changed with the reelection of Obama. There's the legalization of marijuana that is unique, but that has been nibbling at the fringes of our lives for decades, with medical marijuana being legalized. Pretty much all of what we have now we had under Bush. We had Planned Parenthood. We had gay marriages. We had terrorist attacks (with many more attacks on embassies and personnel killed than under Obama), not the forget 9/11. We had bailouts for the banking industry, that went into a tailspin under Bush. We had raises to the debt ceiling because of the two wars he started.
So why all the sturm und drang? I keep looking for the reason. This country is not burning down at our feet. Our religious freedoms are being threatened. But you know what? Our lives are not over. Our voices are not silenced. People have changed the course their government was heading in before, and we can do it again.
Stop wallowing in self-pity, understand that all of us are equal members of this nation, and embolden your troops.
November 8, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Wow. Not much would have been different under a Romney administration. You would have hoped that he wasn't going to waste your vote and followed the will of the people. But Republicans don't have the best track record on living up to conservative expectations.
Discern carefully, put not your trust in earthly princes. All this moping is for the godless. These are defeated foes! Act like it. God is still the King of Glory. Perk up and get to your fasting and praying like a real Christian man.
November 8, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Julia and Svetlana – couldn't agree more. I remember the 1980's SNL Hans and Franz sketch. Catholicism is not a religion for "girlie-men".