Dancing with Mr. D

In my Smoke of Satan I take up a discussion of how the ever-present schema of “liberal” (progressive, left) vs. conservative (traditional, right) which followed upon the close of Vatican II is wholly inadequate for explaining the present-day crisis of faith within the Church of Jesus Christ, though it is most unfortunate that usage of these terms persist among many Catholics and in the media today. Of late I have stumbled upon yet another label currently in vogue in the blogosphere, namely “neo-Catholics.” An attempt to discredit these Catholics has been made by two prominent traditionalists, Christipher Ferrara and Thomas Woods. One who has suffered the injustice of being labeled such by “Traditionalists”, Mark Shea, summarizes the views of this brand of Catholic, as follows [my take in brackets]:

The Second Vatican Council was a positively good thing. ….The pastoral strategy given by Gaudium et Spes is authoritative and, more importantly, correct. The problems in the Church following the council are not the fault of the conciliar documents themselves, but can be blamed on misinterpretation, misimplementation, or ignorance of them. [agreed]
The Bugninine liturgical reform was a positively good thing. [I highly doubt this] The problems following the promulgation of the new Mass are not the fault of the content, form or circumstances of origin of the new Mass itself, but can be blamed on liturgical abuse at the diocesan and parochial level. [True enough, but not the whole story] When celebrated reverently, there is "nothing illegitimate or doctrinally inexact" about the reformed liturgy. [True]
The ecclesiastical tradition of the Church has no permanent objective content. All "little T" traditions can and should be modified according to perceived pastoral or evangelical expediency. [can, but not necessarily “should”]
The pope can and should positivistically innovate in matters of liturgy and devotion. [not the teaching of the Church]
Ecumenism is a positively good thing and a "solemn and binding duty" on all believers. [Ecumenism properly understood]
Modern philosophical (e.g. phenomenology), artistic, and cultural (e.g. World Youth Day) forms can and should be used as vehicles for the Gospel, and there is nothing intrinsically and qualitatively superior about the forms used by the Church in the past (e.g. Thomism, Gothic architecture).
The 1992 Catechism is a "sure guide" to the faith, and can be considered a final authority on any matter it addresses. [True]
Disagreement with the above statements puts a Catholic in danger of "private judgment", "being more Catholic than the pope" or "Protestant mentality". [False]

Division within Christ’s Church is a clear attack by the evil one. Satan’s strategy here is the time-honored one of divide et impera - divide and conquer. Remember, too, Jesus' words to the Pharisees: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” What are we to make of this branding of those who do not fit ones' personal interpretation of what is Catholic? Though I take it up at length in my book, the abbreviated version is, quite simply, membership in the Mystical Body of Christ presupposes personal conversion....

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Are We in a War?

Power Line POSTED ON NOVEMBER 22, 2020 BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN DEMOCRATS , LIBERALS , SOCIALISM FIGHTING WORDS, BY DAVID HOROWITZ Our friend David Horowitz wrote this essay, which he titled “Fighting Words.” It is a call for freedom-loving Americans to fight back against the totalitarian Left. By now it should be obvious – even to conservatives – that we are in a war. It is a conflict that began nearly fifty years ago when the street revolutionaries of the Sixties joined the Democrat Party. Their immediate goal was to help the Communist enemy win the war in Vietnam, but they stayed to expand their influence in the Democrat Party and create the radical force that confronts us today. The war that today’s Democrats are engaged in reflects the values and methods of those radicals. It is a war against us – against individual freedom, against America’s constitutional order, and against the capitalist engine of our prosperity. Democrat radi...

On Marriage and Family

Today should one attend a wedding, it is quite possible that the parents of either the bride or groom in attendance will be married, either in the Catholic Church or outside it, to someone other than the one they were first married to. In such a case, one would find oneself praying that the offspring of said marriage will not meet with the same fate. The state of marriage today is what it is in part due to poor sacramental preparation in the years immediately following Vatican II for reasons I take up in my book, another fruit of the “sexual revolution” . Sad, but as is well-known, many young Catholics these days are delaying marriage, hooking up, practicing birth control, and cohabiting before getting married. Traditional marriage is under assault, and many baptized Catholics are joining in the attack, especially in favoring “same-sex marriage.” Thus it is inspiring to see the shepherds of the flocks gathering in synod to discuss “the pastoral challenges o...

Dancing With Mr. D: Grooming the Little Children

A former pro-transgender activist said she regretted her previous work in pro-transgender activism, adding she felt she was "indoctrinated" on gender ideology in an interview with Fox News Digital. "I started to realize that what I had been doing at my job at the LGBT Center, it was grooming," Kay Yang, a former employee of a location in New York, said. Grooming in this context means "to get into readiness for a specific objective." Kay works as a 'deprogrammer' to help parents and children who have been 'indoctrinated' by the 'cult-like' transgender agenda. Yang herself previously went by they/them and worked as a 'trans educator' in schools for years. Listen to her testimony.

Blogging Disciples!

To promote a book I spent years in writing , I began this blog. I am a baby boomer who knows all too little about blogging and the latest techie stuff. As I was perusing various Catholic blog sites, I noticed a post by Fr. Longenecker entitled, "The Smoke of Satan." If one troubles oneself to read Fr.'s quite accurate assessment, and becomes interested in just exactly how, according to the Pope who coined the phrase "Smoke of Satan" the Devil made his entrance into the post-Vatican II Church in the U.S., then my book is just what the Savior may have ordered, so why don't you!?

Greetings in the Lord!

Well, folks, here I am attempting to learn the world of blogging to promote a manuscript for publication of The Smoke of Satan in the Temple of God, a book which I wrote over the last ten summer vacations from my day job as a history teacher. It is described at right. As I was perusing various Catholic blog sites, I noticed a post by Fr. Longenecker back in January of this year entitled, "The Smoke of Satan." If one troubles oneself to read Fr.'s quite accurate assessment, and becomes interested in just exactly how, according to the Pope who coined the phrase "Smoke of Satan" the Devil made his entrance into the post-Vatican II Church in the U.S., then my book is just what the Dr. ordered.

Reflection on the Meaning of Suffering

FROM THE DAD'S EULOGY FOR HIS SON: On Wednesday night, I think I may have confused Ethan. After arriving to the ER and after being worked on by the trauma team, Kristen and I were pulled into a waiting room to be told that Ethan’s heart had stopped…..that Ethan had passed, and that there was nothing the doctors could do. I immediately ran into the trauma room where I found Ethan’s naked body on the table. I grabbed him by the arms and said “Ethan, your a little scrapper, you know how to fight, so fight for daddy, you have to come back, daddy says come back!” In that immediate moment his heart started up again. I think the confusion for Ethan was that as he was making his way to Jesus, he heard my voice calling to him. His mind full of wonder was probably attracted to the beautiful light of God but the obedient boy that he is, he came back when he heard me. At that very moment, Ethan’s ministry began. I didn’t see it ...

The Year of Faith

Last October Pope Benedict announced a Year of Faith to begin this Oct. 11. He described it as “a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Savior of the world.” The reason for calling for a Year of Faith is simple. Faith, at least in Europe and some parts of America, is dying. In the past, faith in God, the contents of the Gospel and the values inspired by it were part of the cultural matrix that families could rely on to help them transmit the faith to their children. Not anymore. “This presupposition” the pope said, “can no longer be taken for granted, but is often openly denied.” Read more...

The Dysfunctional Nations

From time to time a local pastor fires us up with fortitudinal e-blasts, of which this is his latest: Dear Parishioners, Every Catholic should be angry about this. Please take the time to read the editorial below that recently appeared in Investor's Business Daily . Cheers in the Lord, Fr. Tony United Nations Scolds Catholic Church On Human Rights Anti-Religion: Ignoring abhorrences such as China's one-child policy and atrocities condoned by Shariah law, a U.N. committee tells the Vatican to deal with abusive priests and change its teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality. That the report issued by the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child would mention the instances of abuse of children by priests in the United States is not surprising. What is surprising and unfortunate is that the U.N. would act as if the Catholic Church had done nothing about it and use the report as a ...

The 21st Century Must Come Into the Church

Continued from September 14.... T hrough the Church’s teachings, God has also revealed his truth on how humanity can live happily. What is so little understood by Catholics and Christians is that doctrinal revelations that come through the Church come out of God’s very Self. They are not tied to culturally constructed norms! Read Vatican II’s Dei Verbum : “by divine revelation God wished to manifest and communicate both himself and the eternal decrees of his will concerning the salvation of humankind.” Our Lord’s Church derives its basic vision not from mere human speculation, which would be tentative and uncertain, but from God’s own testimony—from a historically given divine revelation. Thus Catholics believe that just as God himself is immutable, so, too, are His teachings as revealed through the Church because they come from him. As I discuss in my book, although the Church does not change its central teachings, we do see the theological principle of “devel...

Fifty Shades of Pleasure

Having written about how secular social science has documented the sexualization of American culture, largely dating from the introduction of the Pill, it is hopeful to find stories such as the following in the mainstream media. Lara Johnson is a freelance writer who also recommends T he Price of Pleasure .

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