Crisis Magazine: A New Devastating Critique of the Global Sexual Revolution

"It is quite remarkable that we are fighting the same battle from before the French Revolution, the fight between sexual license and sexual morality. The fight has been non-stop. Sometimes we are winning, other times, like now, we are losing."

-Austin Ruse,  Crisis Magazine.

Crisis Magazine: A New Devastating Critique of the Global Sexual Revolution

The link above is to a remarkable article about a powerful book that analyzes the roots of the sexual revolution and its resulting destruction all around us. The most eye opening part of this article is that the immoral sexual ideology of today's progressive movement can trace its roots to cultural Marxism and arguably as far back as before the French Revolution. The battle between sexual license and morality really goes back to the serpent in the garden convincing our first parents that they could be like God and determine for themselves what is right or wrong. 

I recommend this book as well as Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Family and Marriage by Paul Kengor, Ph.D. Both these books provide the reader a much better perspective of what is really driving the LGBTQ agenda in today's culture and the historical roots of this revolution.

My hope is that books and other media like this will be successful in waking people up to the madness around us before it is too late.

The Catholic Vote and The Non-Negotiable Moral Principles

With Election Day approaching, I think its important to clarify what Pope Benedict XVI has called the non-negotiable moral principles. I want to first start with a letter that was published recently in my local newspaper, The Providence Journal by a self identified "Catholic" voter.

My conscience as a Catholic voter

Conscience and voting have been the the topic of concern throughout the Catholic community as well as many other religious communities. Seeking to establish a clear and informed conscience, I have concluded:
* To gut many safety-net programs for the poor, the handicapped and the elderly would be contrary to the Vatican II declaration of "preferential option for the poor."

* To force us as citizens to make the lives of illegal immigrants who have not committed any other crime in our country so miserable that "they will want to leave on their own," flies in the face of our commitment to charity and the corporal works of mercy.

* To remove the long-overdue opportunities for so many more of our citizens to receive health care is blatantly unjust in our democratic society. Trying to justify this just to satisfy a "teaching" that all contraceptives are either a means of abortion or at least contrary to the unfounded notion that intercourse between husband and wife must be with the accepted knowledge that a pregnancy might result is wrong.

Our Catholic leaders' role is to persuade; not to control. And the range of persuasion is to its own and those who might be interested. Many Catholic institutions employ large numbers of non-catholic people.

* To believe that running our country like a huge corporation will result in millions of new jobs, increase in wages and major reduction of debt in four years is, to say the least, unrealistic.

* To think that our modern world of global communication and myriads of governments and religions will be convinced by military domination is naive and dangerous.

Thus with a clear and informed conscience (which my Catholic Church teaches is the bottom line for any decision-making) I will vote for another term for President Obama.

Ray H__.

This is my reply letter which was published the following day:

Catholic Teachings 

This is in response to the letter by Ray H__ , “A Catholic's Vote”, published on the Providence Journal on October 31, 2012. While the issues of safety net programs for the poor, illegal immigration, and healthcare are all very important, Mr. Hodges own remarks demonstrate that his conscience is not as well informed on Catholic doctrine as he thinks it is.

Pope Benedict XVI has stated repeatedly that there are three non-negotiable moral principles that should come before all other issues in politics. Those principles are the protection of human life, the protection of traditional marriage and family, and religious freedoms. President Obama has failed miserably on these three issues. Ray H. is correct that the Catholic Church teaches about the primacy of the conscience. But that applies to a conscience well formed by Catholic teachings grounded in moral and natural law. By this standard, no Catholic in good conscience can justify voting for Obama because of his disregard for these moral principles.

Secondly, Ray H__'s comments such as “gutting safety net programs” and removing healthcare demonstrates that his political beliefs are not formed by the Catholic Church or Vatican II documents but by the falsehoods of a Presidential administration that has been an abysmal failure over the last four years.

Rob A.

I shared this to highlight how so many Catholics are in denial , misinformed, or poorly catechized about these moral issues. I agree that issues like aiding the poor, illegal immigration, and healthcare are all very important matters which deserve consideration when voting. However, the three non-negotiable moral principles, mentioned in my letter above, are the foundation stones which all others are built upon. When these are not properly respect and come under attack, society and all other issues will greatly falter as is clearly evidenced by what is happening in our nation today.

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI as well as Blessed John Paul II have spoken and written extensively on the utmost importance of these moral principles. Unfortunately many Catholics and non-Catholics alike have yet to open their minds and hearts to this truth. Please pray for our nation during these final days before the election that all people and especially our newly elected leaders will embrace these principles and rebuild a culture of life. I have included links below to a voting guide on EWTN.com based on these moral principles and to a speech given by Pope Benedict in 2006 in Europe regarding these same issues. Please share this information with others.

Voting and the Non-Negotiable Moral Principles

Pope Benedict XVI's Address to European People's Party

Re-emergence of the Church Militant

 I want to share with you an outstanding article by Fr. Rick Heilman on the growing prosecution of  our church:
The Growing Persecution of the Church and the Re-emergence of the Church Militant.

In this article Fr. Heilman quotes Pope Pius XII and Pope Benedict XVI on the attacks the Church has faced in the past and up until the present day:

“The Church, the Mystical Body, exists on this earth, and is called the Church militant, because its members struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

In 1953, the Pope who had led the Church through two decades of darkness in a world besieged by war, Pope Pius XII stated, “We belong to the Church militant; and She is militant because on earth the powers of darkness are ever restless to encompass Her destruction.”

We are becoming increasingly aware in our time that we are the Church militant as we battle the ravages caused by the culture of death. In addition, as we witness the growing hostility toward the church throughout the world, we realize that we are indeed engaged in a spiritual warfare.

This article from Fr. Heilman is a great reminder that there is an ongoing spiritual battle and we are all enlisted to stand against this evil and defend our Church and our faith. Pray for our Church, our Pope and Bishops, and our families, that God may strengthen us in this spiritual war and that more Catholics also wake up and stand with the Church Militant.

I have also included below the awesome video, "The Church Militant - Bringing Catholic Back", which Fr. Heilman included at the end of his article. Please take the time to read the full article and watch this powerful video.

 

The Most Anti-Catholic Administration in History

The title of this post is pretty blunt, but as time goes on, it is becoming increasingly obvious. The latest headlines just further prove my point:

• Obama administration refuses to change contraception mandate
• HHS Rejects Compro­­mise, Embraces Abortion Lobby 
• Conscience, Denied
• Health plans ordered to cover birth control without co-pays 
• Obama admin: birth control mandate is final; bishops vow to fight

All of the above links are reporting that the Obama administration and the Secretary of Health and Human Services have refused to change the new requirement for all health plans to cover sterilization and birth control, some of which are known abortifacients. While churches are covered by a very narrow exemption, organizations such as Catholic hospitals and universities will be forced to violate their religious beliefs.

This comes on the heels of the Hosanna-Tabor decision by the Supreme Court where, against the wishes of the Obama administration, the court upheld the ministerial exemption to anti-discrimination  laws. This allows church the freedom to decide who they hire to teach their faith. The Obama administration appeared that they were ready to use anti-discrimination laws as a backdoor to influence who churches hire as ministers and priests.

The disgusting behavior of the Obama Administration in both these cases should outrage all Christians and especially Catholics. Never in the history of our country has our religious freedoms been attacked as they are today. It is unbridled arrogance and thirst for power on the part of our elected officials that allow them to slowly erode our religious liberties to benefit their own personal agendas. It doesn't seem so far fetched to imagine a United States where religion is under the thumb of the state much like we see in communist countries today. This is the path were we are headed if we don't take a stand today. This attack on our faith has become so obvious that our Bishops and the Pope have been increasingly vocal in their concerns:

 Pope: America is “increasingly hostile to Christianity”

If you think I may be exaggerating in my statements above, read what our Holy Father said recently concerning these attacks:

The Pope was emphatic in insisting that the threat posed by current trends threatens not only Christianity but “humanity itself.” He said: “To the extent that some current cultural trends contain elements that would curtail the proclamation of these truths, whether constricting it within the limits of a merely scientific rationality, or suppressing it in the name of political power or majority rule, they represent a threat not just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God.”

Public Schools Undermining Our Role As Parents

Please read the following opinion piece from the March 24 edition of the Boston Herald.

Sex Ed Wrong Rite of Spring

This article was written by a mother of 2 who is criticizing the mandatory sex education in public schools in Massachusetts. I completely agree with her concerns about teaching sexual topics to children as young as kindergarten. These children are far too young for this subject matter and all it does is erode their innocence.

Pope John Paul II has said that it is the duty of the parent to protect this innocence in children and that parents should be the primary educator on sexual matters. (See: Familiaris Consorto) Pope Benedict XVI has also spoken out on several occasions about the problem with modern sexual education. (Click here to read the Pope's remarks.)  But these powerful statements by both Popes were either ignored or ridiculed by many.

What's most revealing about the Boston Herald opinion piece are the last few lines. I have pasted them below. Read them carefully and then take a look the the statements of both Popes above. It looks to me that both Benedict and John Paul were accurate in their assessments. The administrators behind the sexual education programs in our schools today are more interested in undermining parents rather than collaborating with them. Here is excerpt from the Boston Herald. 

Indeed, when specifically asked why the school presents lessons on HIV in the third grade, rather than in middle school, one school administrator made this shocking admission:

“The goal is to reach kids before they absorb their parents’s values. By middle school it’s too late.”

May God bless and strengthen us in our duties as parents. St. Joseph pray for us.

The Pope, Condoms, and the Media

I have often been very critical of the mainstream news media on this blog, usually with good reason. I want to thing perfectly clear. I believe the mainstream media, with only a few exceptions, has become the mouthpiece of Satan himself. I know this sounds pretty harsh, but look at the facts. Whether it's CNN, Associated Press, the New York Times, or a whole list of others, they always look for any opportunity to distort the truth to malign the Catholic Church and attack the Pope. Look at these latest headlines from AP, CNN, and NY Times:

Pope says some condom use 'first step' of morality 

Pope says condoms may be OK in some circumstances 

Pope Says Condoms to Stop AIDS May Be Acceptable

The Pope drops Catholic ban on condoms in historic shift - Telegraph.co.uk 

These so called reputable news sources would have you believe that the Pope is drastically changing the Church's stance on condom use. They are practically giddy with the revelation that the Church is admitting it's wrong and changing it controversial teaching against condoms.

When I first saw these stories earlier today, I had a hard time believing this, especially since Pope Benedict XVI has stood so firmly against giving into the relativistic nature of our society. I want you to form your own opinion on this story however. Read the above stories and then read this last article below from EWTN/CNA.

Pope Benedict advocates right sexuality, not condom use, in fight against HIV 

I think it's pretty obvious who is telling the truth in these articles. The first four articles above don't even come remotely close to being accurate. The EWTN/CNA article uses the condom statement in the proper context so the reader can see that the Pope is actually defending Church teaching and not trying to change it. Secondly, the Pope made these remarks during the course of an interview with a journalist. They were not made in any official Church or Papal document like an encyclical. In other words, they are just the Pope's opinion and he has freely admitted that even the Popes can have opinions that are incorrect. By no means whatsoever do these statements reflect a change in any official Church teaching. Jimmy Akin on his blog at the National Catholic Register does a remarkable job dissecting these reports and getting to the truth behind this mess. Please take the time to read his posst at the following links:  

The Pope Said WHAT about Condoms??? 
Understanding the Pope's Dilemma on Condoms 

As I mentioned before, this is typical of the anti-Catholic mainstream media. What can we as Catholics do about this? We can start by not taking anything from the news media at face value. It doesn't take much time to do a little research online to get both sides of the story. You will be surprised by how often the news media is not as accurate or unbiased as they lead to you believe. Secondly, educate yourself on your faith. A Catholic with a firm understanding of their faith would know just by reading those headlines that the story is just another distortion of the truth. Finally, don't be afraid to speak up and defend our Church and the truth. It's up to us to stand up for the truth when we hear others trying to tear it down. This includes even contacting the various news media and telling them that is unacceptable. We could make a difference if these news outlets are flooded with calls and emails from faithful Catholics telling them enough is enough.

In case you have any doubt as to what the official Vatican response is to this media circus, I will leave with these links to the statements from the official Vatican spokesman:

Vatican spokesman: Pope not changing Church teaching on condom use 
Statement on Pontiff's Words Regarding Condoms

Anti-Catholic Propaganda in the Main Stream Media

I can honestly say that I have lost all respect for the major news outlets in this country. Supposedly “unbiased” journalists demonstrated how they are nothing more than propaganda machines with their sickening infatuation with the Obama administration, liberal causes such as gay marriage, and their political correctness run amok over Islam. They stooped to new lows last March when, led by the NY Times, the news media unfairly implicated Pope Benedict in a few sex abuse cases. In my opinion, this was obviously timed to coincide with the Catholic Church’s opposition to Obamacare. It was propaganda, much like was seen in Nazi Germany, to destroy the credibility of the Pope and the Church.
But just when you think they can’t stoop any lower, CNN rolls out a series of articles and a TV special once again implicating the Pope in the sex abuse scandals. These supposed journalists have decided to drag out the same cases that the NY Times first surfaced in March. The most ridiculous part about this is that CNN delivered absolutely no new facts or information about these cases. The just rehashed the same false arguments all over again. These are the same accusations that were proven to be lies back in March by many prominent figures inside and outside the Church.

First, I want to get the facts straight. CNN, much like the anti-Catholic NY times, left out the important details that prove the Pope’s innocence. Both cases were covered up by Bishops who themselves were actively gay, credibly accused of sexual abuse, and resigned in shame, Rembert Weakland and Daniel Ryan. In both cases these bishops attempt to deflect the blame from themselves by implying that the Pope failed to protect children by not defrocking certain abusive priests in their diocese. In both cases, it was proven conclusively that these bishops covered up sexual predators in their diocese and failed to notify the police. These bishops deserve the blame because they failed to remove the abusive priests from active ministry. What then Cardinal Ratzinger did was to tell these bishops that he would not laicize these priests without the proper Canonical trial and that these bishops are responsible for handling this mess in their own diocese. The other important fact that the media left out was that neither the Bishop nor the Vatican needs to defrock a priest in order to remove him from active ministry and hand him over to authorities. Weakland and Ryan purposely chose to cover up the abuse by shuffling these priests to other parishes and then claim the Pope failed to act.

Adults Acting Like Spoiled Children and the Pope's Visit to the U.K.

As many of you already know, Pope Benedict is visiting Great Britain for the beatification of Cardinal Newman. As expected, the media and the rest of the anti-Catholics are piling up the verbal attacks on the Holy Father. Just look at the list of headlines from CNN.com this morning:

Pope: Priest abuse came as 'a shock'
Pope hasn't done enough to stop abuse, British say 
Why I oppose the pope's visit 
Our moral code is out of date 

These articles are beating the usual drumbeat of how organized religion is bad, the Pope is out of touch and intolerant and the Catholic Church is evil. Blah, blah, blah. We are living in a world were the Pope can't even sneeze without someone attacking his every action, this includes some Catholics. But what I found most interesting about England recently was this article:

Catholic Marriages Plummet in Britain 

According to this article, Catholic marriages in Britain have declined dramatically over the past three decades. A Catholic priest in London made some interesting observations about this decline:

Fr. Timothy Finigan, a parish priest in the London diocese of Southwark and founder of the Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life, told LifeSiteNews.com that in general Catholics of Britain have followed the trend in the secular world of rejecting marriage.

“Sadly, Catholics who are not well catechised tend to follow the prevailing culture.”

“In the UK, marriage is regarded by many as risky because of the possibility of divorce,” he said. “They have not been helped to understand that non-marital relationship are far more likely to break up.”

He also pointed to a deeper cause, saying that men in particular are unwilling to commit to a permanent relationship. They suffer from “a mistaken belief that commitment involves predicting the future instead of making a promise whatever the future holds.”

There is a connection here between the reaction to the Pope's trip and the plummeting marriage rates. People are are forgetting what it means to be real men and women. In Britain and Europe, as well has here in the U.S., people are being brainwashed by a hedonistic culture that tells them it is normal and good to avoid commitments and true virtues such as loyalty, honor, humility, and self sacrifice. Instead they are acting like selfish spoiled little children whose only goal is their personal pleasure and entertainment. They choose cohabitation and contraception over marriage and children because it allows them to selfishly focus only on themselves.