Gabriel Garnica
Catholics are not stupid, they have just been hijacked...temporarily
By Gabriel Garnica
The day before Halloween, 1975, The New York Daily News ran an infamous headline which read "Ford to City: Drop Dead" which, although never explicitly stated by President Ford, were the essence of his speech the day before denying federal assistance to spare New York from bankruptcy. Many observers, and Ford himself, would later acknowledge that the headline cost Ford the presidency the following year, when Democrat Jimmy Carter narrowly carried the state. Many of those same observers, however, likewise acknowledge that Ford and the words he never explicitly stated ultimately did New York a favor by buying time for the city to make its case to an even more unfriendly Congress as well as galvanizing a unified support for New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/nyregion/28veto.html
Fast forward to the current year, into the firestorm caused by Barack Obama's birth control mandate. Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik, posted a letter on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh's website which stated, in part,
"It is really hard to believe that it happened. It comes like a slap in the face. The Obama administration has just told Catholics of the United States, 'To Hell with you!' (italics mine).....There is no other way to put it......This whole process of mandating these guidelines undermines the democratic process itself. In this instance, the mandate declares pregnancy a disease, forces a culture of contraception and abortion on society, all while completely bypassing the legislative process."
Might Obama's implied message to the Catholic Church cost him a presidency as well? How preposterous is it that we can even be wondering if Obama will lose the Catholic majority that gave him 54% of the vote the last time despite having the most pro-abortion record of any presidential candidate ever? Is it possible to escape the conclusion that Catholic voters are utter fools in light of questions whether, at this late hour, they are finally figuring out just who Barack Obama is and how extreme his pro-abortion position is? http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/2012/01/30/kincaid-catholic-church-rejects-surrender-terms-from-obama/
As a faithful, devout, solidly pro-life Catholic, I am here to assure you that Catholics are not imbeciles. Sadly, what they are is divided, and we do not need Abraham Lincoln to tell us what happens to divided houses. As of this writing, Catholics seem clearly divided into three groups. Likewise, although Barack Obama has gotten to his present post with more than a little help from his friends, he is no fool either. If he dared to push this mandate down the throats of Catholics so close to an election, he must think that he has the first group in his back pocket and can fool enough of the second group to achieve his purposes. Given the background and history of how we got to this point as well as the nature of each of the divided segments of the Catholic population, Obama may be right. The three segments of this divided Catholic presence are as follows:
"I Shall Not Serve"
The first group can best be described as the rebels with a very sinister cause. That cause is to arrogantly, defiantly, selfishly, and very insolently drag and reshape the Church into the kind of institution which fits their radically liberal and subjective buffet morality. Briefly stated, this is the sort of finger paint Catholicism which drivels out of the mouths of moral luminaries like Nancy Pelosi and supports Kathleen Sebellius, the "Catholic" HHS Secretary who apparently equates abortion with dental work. Pelosi regularly lectures Church leaders on her brand of superficial, pop theology while making profound comments such as stating that the relationship of The Girls Scouts with Planned Parenthood is "very valuable." This despite evidence that a book written by a Planned Parenthood executive and handed out to all children in attendance at a Waco, Texas, sex education event co-sponsored by the abortion giant and the Girl Scouts states that abortion can be a "positive experience." http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/02/pelosi-girl-scout-relationship-with-planned-parenthood-valuable/.
This rebel section of the Catholic Church has roots and connections to the radical, left wing activism of atheist Saul Alinksy, who infiltrated the hierarchy of the Chicago Catholic Church in the 30s and 40s in order to use the Church and Church leaders to further his socialist agenda. Alinsky's disciples, lay and clerical, included Msgr. Jack Egan, the socialist Chicago priest who helped found The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which has been accused of being more a "funding mechanism for radical left wing political activism in the U.S." than a traditional charitable organization. Over the past 40 years, the CCHD has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to over 40 pro-abortion, pro-birth control, and non-traditional family organizations and groups. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has at least been grossly negligent and at worst partly participatory in this shocking betrayal of Catholics' trust and charity donations. http://www.realcatholictv.com/store/index.php?tag=30
Egan became associated with such clerics as Fr. Theodore Hesburgh of Notre Dame, the liberal President of that institution who spearheaded the notorious Land O' Lakes Conference which divorced Catholic Higher Education from its Catholic identity. Some observers have argued that the Rockefeller Foundation wanted to neutralize Catholic opposition to its eugenic, pro-abortion, and pro-contraception agenda, and that Hesburgh provided just the vehicle from which future generations could be warped toward acceptance and even promotion of contraception and abortion as acceptable practices. http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/8102-catholic-show-exposes-rockefeller-assault-on-church-life.
Once Notre Dame, the leading Catholic university in the nation, sold its Catholic identity for funding from this Foundation, other institutions such as Georgetown, Boston College, and Fordham followed suit. Today, most Catholic universities are more promoters and defenders of birth control, abortion, and non-traditional marriage and family positions than of traditional Catholic identity and dogmas. As a graduate of Fordham, I have seen this warped indoctrination with my own eyes. It should not surprise anyone, for example, that the above so-called Catholic institutions regularly host seminars and conferences which openly defy traditional Church teaching as well as performances of such questionable moral fare as The Vagina Monologues. This first segment of the divided Catholic landscape is the scene of radical feminist nuns who push for female ordination and declare the God is a woman. It is also the scene of radical theologians slapping together their own brand of theology at whim. Today, we see the fruits of this moral programming in the second segment of the divided Catholic population.
Clueless Cafeteria Catholicism
An online Catholic TV show dubbed the Catholic Investigative Agency (CIA) run by Catholic media personality Michael Voris has exposed a shocking network of leftist radical organizations; powerful financial figures; and disloyal, rebellious clerics and lay people embarked upon an effort to remove the Catholic Church as the primary opponent to their political and social agenda. From the atheist father of all community organizers to an atheist multi-billionaire financier to a cunning foundation out to realize its population control agenda, the Catholic Church has been targeted for an abortion of its own from the womb of society's moral core. Cognizant of the need to conceal their sinister plans, these forces have sought an ingenious triple strategy which has largely succeeded.
First, they have sanitized their intentions under euphemistic facades such as "reproductive choice" and concepts twisted from their original meaning such as "the common good" and "social justice." Second, they have used money, pride, and power to buy Catholic higher institutions so as to indoctrinate young minds in their philosophy of self over God. Third, they have infiltrated Catholic groups and propped up false Catholic organizations to hijack the mantle of Catholic identity in this country. Thus, we see radically liberal "Catholic" organizations such as Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Catholics United, Call to Action, Catholics for Choice, and Catholic Students for Women's Health spewing views diametrically opposed to Church teaching and calling press conferences in order to declare themselves the voice of Catholics in this country despite espousing absurd views propped on twisted theology and false teachings, often citing biased statistics traceable to Planned Parenthood itself. Alexia Kelly and Chris Korzen, the co-founders of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, for example, have strong ties to the Democratic Party's effort to reshape its moral identity in a more palatable image to win over the values voters so critical to election success. Both of these people have records consistent with pro-abortion and pro-contraception positions despite pretending otherwise. A common ploy used by these folks is to create ten organizations all seemingly separate yet like-minded voices in support of more liberal Catholic positions to create the illusion of wide-scale representation. More often than not, they are blatantly contradictory and biased propaganda machines for the left. It is fascinating that Kelly presented herself as a crusader seeking to liberate the poor on an annual salary of $ 110,000 per year. http://www.realcatholictv.com/store/showvid.php?product=33&tag=30
Between the strong indoctrination practiced in so-called Catholic institutions of higher learning, the pathetic religious instruction often provided to children at the parish level, and the warped theology and declarations of fraudulent Catholic organizations, this second segment of the divided Catholic landscape is dumber than a doorknob when it comes to perceptively integrating and assessing moral and theological realities. This state of utter moral and theological ignorance renders most Catholics completely vulnerable to even the most superficial and mindless arguments by forces seeking to create confusion and dissent among Catholic ranks. These forces have managed to herd this increasingly vulnerable yet equally influential segment of the divided Catholic landscape toward radically liberal social and moral positions under the guise of a "Catholic social tradition." This so-called tradition has more to do with rebellion and defiance than tradition, and was instilled under the influence of radical leftist Saul Alinksy and his priest disciples such as Msgr. Jack Egan, nurtured under the auspices of liberal clerics such as Theodore Hesburgh and Cardinal Bernadin, and spread as gospel by the above mentioned false Catholic organizations. The influence of such liberal clerics also resulted in various liturgical abuses which were unlawfully approved, such as receiving Communion in the hand http://catholicvox.blogspot.com/2011/07/some-think-one-has-to-be-traditionalist.html
Nowhere is the destructive influence of these liberal movements and clerics more apparent than in such spectacles as the recent National Press Club forum whereby so-called Catholic students from local Washington campuses spewed twisted theology, biased statistics right from Planned Parenthood's propaganda machine, and insolent defiance to true Church teaching on contraception which could have just as well come out of the mouths of Nancy Pelosi or Kathleen Sebellius. In fact, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, no stranger to warped Catholicism, was one of the speakers. Such events illustrate both the blatant and arrogant defiance of the first rebellious segment of the Catholic population as well as the mindless vulnerability of young people skewed enough to consider themselves worthy, much less qualified, to dictate true Catholic teaching and theology. Imagine pre-schoolers finger painting on the Mona Lisa and declaring it an upgrade and you will get some idea of the utter absurdity of such proceedings. The students at this event distinguished themselves from "conservative" Catholics, criticized the "backlash" of bishops opposed to the birth control mandate, parroted the typical "social justice" drivel fed them by false and defiant Catholic mentors, repeated the twisted "religious freedom" justification for the mandate, declared that the right to have their promiscuous sexual practices financed by taxpayers is a right rooted in so-called Catholic social tradition, cited the usual "individual conscience" excuse for buffet morality, and declared the contraception is healthcare. Since healthcare typically aims to avoid disease and promote freedom from disease, equating contraception with healthcare is akin to declaring pregnancy a disease to be avoided when possible. This last view of pregnancy is consistent with the present Administration, which has also declared pregnancy and children a punishment when they are unwanted.
As if the above absurdity were not enough to complete this tragic situation, we should not forget that the typically liberal, secular, and anti-Christian mainstream media is ever ready to crown false Catholic groups with the license to represent all viable Catholic thought; to either ignore or mock true, traditional Catholic teaching; and to waste no opportunity to paint the Catholic Church as steeped in confusion, rebellion, and intrigue. http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/02/13/analysis-spiraling-scandal-reveals-machiavellian-manoeuvering-within-the-vatican/
The Unholy Trinity
The best representation of the American Catholic leadership's role in disconnecting true Catholic teaching and identity from responsible Catholic voting may be found in three unholy events which may be termed the unholy trinity of cafeteria Catholicism. These are:
Faced with such an onslaught of heresy and deception warping so many young and vulnerable Catholic minds; with such a barrage of blatant defiance, arrogance, pride, and insolence by so-called Catholic leaders clerical, lay, and political; and by such a willing, gleeful, and sinister cooperation by a mainstream secular media determined to mock and marginalize traditional Catholic teaching, one might wonder if there is any hope for the Catholic Church. Thankfully, that hope lies in the third segment of the currently divided Catholic population, the faithful remnant.
The Faithful Remnant
This third and final segment of the presently divided American Catholic population remains loyal to true Catholic teaching, and represents the only legitimate voice representing that teaching. The members of this segment reject the notion that such issues as abortion, contraception, and traditional family positions are merely negotiable chips in a societal or Catholic poker game. Rather, they are at the very least a critical litmus test by which any candidate, group, or viewpoint's adherence to true Catholicism must be measured.
This third Catholic segment fully embraces the sanctity of life and marriage and refuses to compromise on those issues. It is inspired by the belief that Jesus Christ Himself will guide its efforts to ultimate success.
There are those who believe that the Catholic Church is fast approaching a schism or apostasy whereby the first and much of the second segment of the Catholic population will leave the Catholic Church, leaving those remaining alone to fight for and defend true Catholic teaching. If such is the case, and given the present confusion and harm to Catholicism being caused by dissident viewpoints and the confusion they cause, such a schism may well be a blessing of addition by subtraction.
Conclusion
Many observers cite the Catholic voting majority's selection of a clearly pro-abortion Barack Obama and the present backlash by many Catholics against Obama's birth control mandate as evidence that the American Catholic population is either stupid, naïve, inconsistent, indecisive, or confused. After all, many argue, Barack Obama 's road to the White House would have been either hampered or perhaps even prevented had all Catholics joined in block against him as the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever. Now, they argue, these same Catholics go wild when that same Barack Obama presents a mandate entirely consistent with his past pro-abortion record and allegiance to the pro-abortion position and radical feminist lobby that so passionately promotes it. That, these critics conclude, makes no sense.
Others argue that the mere fact that people are still wondering if most Catholics will vote for Barack Obama again given this mandate makes the point that Catholics are either wimps, stupid, or embarrassingly gullible.
This piece makes a third observation. Namely, that the apparent inconsistency of the Catholic population is more representative of its unfortunate division than its general ignorance. The argument is made that this division has resulted in three segments. The first is composed of powerful, prominent and often elite and wealthy Catholics defiant of traditional Catholic teaching financed by sinister forces seeking to impose an agenda of eugenics and population control along the lines of Margaret Sanger, the radical racist who sought to eliminate races and people she considered inferior http://maafa21.com/. This first segment has fed off the socialist influence of Saul Alinsky and the defiant theology of dissident clerics to install an entire network of false Catholic organizations and groups which create the illusion that their liberal Catholicism truly represents the prevailing and legitimate Catholic viewpoint.
The second segment, poorly instructed by a faltering Catholic educational system and a warped Catholic higher educational system, is so ignorant of true Catholicism and so intoxicated in false Catholic theology that it is mostly vulnerable to any drivel spewed by the first segment. It is most prominently represented by hordes of students at those warped Catholic colleges who insolently and arrogantly parrot the very talking points fed them by the first segment, as if their two decades on this earth render them worthy and qualified to interpret and preach moral and social theology to the masses. Sadly, it is this very segment, so indoctrinated in the lies of the first segment, that will continue to reproduce the myths, delusions and rationalized morality so characteristic of this present Catholic mess.
Finally, the third segment, represented by those who, despite the above absurdity, manage to remain faithful, and loyal to true Catholic teaching amid the mockery, ridicule, and attacks of secular society in general and even the other two Catholic segments, retains its hope for ultimate vindication in the promise of Jesus Christ that His true Church will never perish regardless of the demonic forces that may gather against it.
Perhaps no other example better illustrates the utter absurdity of this situation than the fact that the first and second segments of this divided Catholic population are presently following the influence of the radical revolutionary Saul Alinsky, the father of all community organizers, who dedicated his 1971 book Rules for Radicals to Lucifer, whom he described as the first radical "who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom." http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/Alinsky-SaulRef.html
This is the man who used the Catholic Church to further his revolutionary socialist agenda, who influenced the Clintons and Obama, and who, in an interview shortly before his death, declared that if there is an afterlife, he would prefer hell to Heaven because hell contained his kind of people. If the fact that the disciples of such a man would include priests and lay people who now navigate at least part of the Catholic population toward moral oblivion is not ironic enough, then it should at least provide a fitting explanation as to how and why the majority of Catholics could ever vote for any candidate who would let a newly born but unwanted infant die abandoned and alone. The worst part of all this is that this majority may do it all over again.
Against this entire backdrop, one might wonder if the outcry by the bishops against Obama's mandate is totally genuine, part disinformation, or perhaps part of a script whereby the churchmen will eventually be pacified by bogus concessions such as the one already proposed, and the Church populace will once again be duped into thanking their oppressors for oppressing them less than intended. If one just accepts the fact that there are sinister forces out there obsessively and passionately seeking to destroy the Catholic Church by hijacking and navigating it toward hell, and that there are legions of counterfeit Catholics working to fool enough useful idiot Catholics to join them and largely succeeding in that effort, the story becomes perfectly clear. Ultimately, this is not about how stupid, gullible, or naïve Catholics are but, more optimistically, just how devoted, loyal, and courageous true Catholics will prove to be. In a word, while the shepherds pay lip service to the wolves or even hand the sheep over in return for favors, we may well see the sheep take matters into their own hands.
© Gabriel Garnica
February 16, 2012
The day before Halloween, 1975, The New York Daily News ran an infamous headline which read "Ford to City: Drop Dead" which, although never explicitly stated by President Ford, were the essence of his speech the day before denying federal assistance to spare New York from bankruptcy. Many observers, and Ford himself, would later acknowledge that the headline cost Ford the presidency the following year, when Democrat Jimmy Carter narrowly carried the state. Many of those same observers, however, likewise acknowledge that Ford and the words he never explicitly stated ultimately did New York a favor by buying time for the city to make its case to an even more unfriendly Congress as well as galvanizing a unified support for New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/nyregion/28veto.html
Fast forward to the current year, into the firestorm caused by Barack Obama's birth control mandate. Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik, posted a letter on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh's website which stated, in part,
"It is really hard to believe that it happened. It comes like a slap in the face. The Obama administration has just told Catholics of the United States, 'To Hell with you!' (italics mine).....There is no other way to put it......This whole process of mandating these guidelines undermines the democratic process itself. In this instance, the mandate declares pregnancy a disease, forces a culture of contraception and abortion on society, all while completely bypassing the legislative process."
Might Obama's implied message to the Catholic Church cost him a presidency as well? How preposterous is it that we can even be wondering if Obama will lose the Catholic majority that gave him 54% of the vote the last time despite having the most pro-abortion record of any presidential candidate ever? Is it possible to escape the conclusion that Catholic voters are utter fools in light of questions whether, at this late hour, they are finally figuring out just who Barack Obama is and how extreme his pro-abortion position is? http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/2012/01/30/kincaid-catholic-church-rejects-surrender-terms-from-obama/
As a faithful, devout, solidly pro-life Catholic, I am here to assure you that Catholics are not imbeciles. Sadly, what they are is divided, and we do not need Abraham Lincoln to tell us what happens to divided houses. As of this writing, Catholics seem clearly divided into three groups. Likewise, although Barack Obama has gotten to his present post with more than a little help from his friends, he is no fool either. If he dared to push this mandate down the throats of Catholics so close to an election, he must think that he has the first group in his back pocket and can fool enough of the second group to achieve his purposes. Given the background and history of how we got to this point as well as the nature of each of the divided segments of the Catholic population, Obama may be right. The three segments of this divided Catholic presence are as follows:
"I Shall Not Serve"
The first group can best be described as the rebels with a very sinister cause. That cause is to arrogantly, defiantly, selfishly, and very insolently drag and reshape the Church into the kind of institution which fits their radically liberal and subjective buffet morality. Briefly stated, this is the sort of finger paint Catholicism which drivels out of the mouths of moral luminaries like Nancy Pelosi and supports Kathleen Sebellius, the "Catholic" HHS Secretary who apparently equates abortion with dental work. Pelosi regularly lectures Church leaders on her brand of superficial, pop theology while making profound comments such as stating that the relationship of The Girls Scouts with Planned Parenthood is "very valuable." This despite evidence that a book written by a Planned Parenthood executive and handed out to all children in attendance at a Waco, Texas, sex education event co-sponsored by the abortion giant and the Girl Scouts states that abortion can be a "positive experience." http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/02/pelosi-girl-scout-relationship-with-planned-parenthood-valuable/.
This rebel section of the Catholic Church has roots and connections to the radical, left wing activism of atheist Saul Alinksy, who infiltrated the hierarchy of the Chicago Catholic Church in the 30s and 40s in order to use the Church and Church leaders to further his socialist agenda. Alinsky's disciples, lay and clerical, included Msgr. Jack Egan, the socialist Chicago priest who helped found The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which has been accused of being more a "funding mechanism for radical left wing political activism in the U.S." than a traditional charitable organization. Over the past 40 years, the CCHD has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to over 40 pro-abortion, pro-birth control, and non-traditional family organizations and groups. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has at least been grossly negligent and at worst partly participatory in this shocking betrayal of Catholics' trust and charity donations. http://www.realcatholictv.com/store/index.php?tag=30
Egan became associated with such clerics as Fr. Theodore Hesburgh of Notre Dame, the liberal President of that institution who spearheaded the notorious Land O' Lakes Conference which divorced Catholic Higher Education from its Catholic identity. Some observers have argued that the Rockefeller Foundation wanted to neutralize Catholic opposition to its eugenic, pro-abortion, and pro-contraception agenda, and that Hesburgh provided just the vehicle from which future generations could be warped toward acceptance and even promotion of contraception and abortion as acceptable practices. http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/8102-catholic-show-exposes-rockefeller-assault-on-church-life.
Once Notre Dame, the leading Catholic university in the nation, sold its Catholic identity for funding from this Foundation, other institutions such as Georgetown, Boston College, and Fordham followed suit. Today, most Catholic universities are more promoters and defenders of birth control, abortion, and non-traditional marriage and family positions than of traditional Catholic identity and dogmas. As a graduate of Fordham, I have seen this warped indoctrination with my own eyes. It should not surprise anyone, for example, that the above so-called Catholic institutions regularly host seminars and conferences which openly defy traditional Church teaching as well as performances of such questionable moral fare as The Vagina Monologues. This first segment of the divided Catholic landscape is the scene of radical feminist nuns who push for female ordination and declare the God is a woman. It is also the scene of radical theologians slapping together their own brand of theology at whim. Today, we see the fruits of this moral programming in the second segment of the divided Catholic population.
Clueless Cafeteria Catholicism
An online Catholic TV show dubbed the Catholic Investigative Agency (CIA) run by Catholic media personality Michael Voris has exposed a shocking network of leftist radical organizations; powerful financial figures; and disloyal, rebellious clerics and lay people embarked upon an effort to remove the Catholic Church as the primary opponent to their political and social agenda. From the atheist father of all community organizers to an atheist multi-billionaire financier to a cunning foundation out to realize its population control agenda, the Catholic Church has been targeted for an abortion of its own from the womb of society's moral core. Cognizant of the need to conceal their sinister plans, these forces have sought an ingenious triple strategy which has largely succeeded.
First, they have sanitized their intentions under euphemistic facades such as "reproductive choice" and concepts twisted from their original meaning such as "the common good" and "social justice." Second, they have used money, pride, and power to buy Catholic higher institutions so as to indoctrinate young minds in their philosophy of self over God. Third, they have infiltrated Catholic groups and propped up false Catholic organizations to hijack the mantle of Catholic identity in this country. Thus, we see radically liberal "Catholic" organizations such as Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Catholics United, Call to Action, Catholics for Choice, and Catholic Students for Women's Health spewing views diametrically opposed to Church teaching and calling press conferences in order to declare themselves the voice of Catholics in this country despite espousing absurd views propped on twisted theology and false teachings, often citing biased statistics traceable to Planned Parenthood itself. Alexia Kelly and Chris Korzen, the co-founders of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, for example, have strong ties to the Democratic Party's effort to reshape its moral identity in a more palatable image to win over the values voters so critical to election success. Both of these people have records consistent with pro-abortion and pro-contraception positions despite pretending otherwise. A common ploy used by these folks is to create ten organizations all seemingly separate yet like-minded voices in support of more liberal Catholic positions to create the illusion of wide-scale representation. More often than not, they are blatantly contradictory and biased propaganda machines for the left. It is fascinating that Kelly presented herself as a crusader seeking to liberate the poor on an annual salary of $ 110,000 per year. http://www.realcatholictv.com/store/showvid.php?product=33&tag=30
Between the strong indoctrination practiced in so-called Catholic institutions of higher learning, the pathetic religious instruction often provided to children at the parish level, and the warped theology and declarations of fraudulent Catholic organizations, this second segment of the divided Catholic landscape is dumber than a doorknob when it comes to perceptively integrating and assessing moral and theological realities. This state of utter moral and theological ignorance renders most Catholics completely vulnerable to even the most superficial and mindless arguments by forces seeking to create confusion and dissent among Catholic ranks. These forces have managed to herd this increasingly vulnerable yet equally influential segment of the divided Catholic landscape toward radically liberal social and moral positions under the guise of a "Catholic social tradition." This so-called tradition has more to do with rebellion and defiance than tradition, and was instilled under the influence of radical leftist Saul Alinksy and his priest disciples such as Msgr. Jack Egan, nurtured under the auspices of liberal clerics such as Theodore Hesburgh and Cardinal Bernadin, and spread as gospel by the above mentioned false Catholic organizations. The influence of such liberal clerics also resulted in various liturgical abuses which were unlawfully approved, such as receiving Communion in the hand http://catholicvox.blogspot.com/2011/07/some-think-one-has-to-be-traditionalist.html
Nowhere is the destructive influence of these liberal movements and clerics more apparent than in such spectacles as the recent National Press Club forum whereby so-called Catholic students from local Washington campuses spewed twisted theology, biased statistics right from Planned Parenthood's propaganda machine, and insolent defiance to true Church teaching on contraception which could have just as well come out of the mouths of Nancy Pelosi or Kathleen Sebellius. In fact, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, no stranger to warped Catholicism, was one of the speakers. Such events illustrate both the blatant and arrogant defiance of the first rebellious segment of the Catholic population as well as the mindless vulnerability of young people skewed enough to consider themselves worthy, much less qualified, to dictate true Catholic teaching and theology. Imagine pre-schoolers finger painting on the Mona Lisa and declaring it an upgrade and you will get some idea of the utter absurdity of such proceedings. The students at this event distinguished themselves from "conservative" Catholics, criticized the "backlash" of bishops opposed to the birth control mandate, parroted the typical "social justice" drivel fed them by false and defiant Catholic mentors, repeated the twisted "religious freedom" justification for the mandate, declared that the right to have their promiscuous sexual practices financed by taxpayers is a right rooted in so-called Catholic social tradition, cited the usual "individual conscience" excuse for buffet morality, and declared the contraception is healthcare. Since healthcare typically aims to avoid disease and promote freedom from disease, equating contraception with healthcare is akin to declaring pregnancy a disease to be avoided when possible. This last view of pregnancy is consistent with the present Administration, which has also declared pregnancy and children a punishment when they are unwanted.
As if the above absurdity were not enough to complete this tragic situation, we should not forget that the typically liberal, secular, and anti-Christian mainstream media is ever ready to crown false Catholic groups with the license to represent all viable Catholic thought; to either ignore or mock true, traditional Catholic teaching; and to waste no opportunity to paint the Catholic Church as steeped in confusion, rebellion, and intrigue. http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/02/13/analysis-spiraling-scandal-reveals-machiavellian-manoeuvering-within-the-vatican/
The Unholy Trinity
The best representation of the American Catholic leadership's role in disconnecting true Catholic teaching and identity from responsible Catholic voting may be found in three unholy events which may be termed the unholy trinity of cafeteria Catholicism. These are:
- Cardinal Bernadin's Speech at Fordham University in 1983 introducing the Consistent Life Ethic, a theological view stating that all life issues carry equal moral weight such that concepts as war, poverty, healthcare, and the environment are just as important morally as abortion and contraception. This "Seamless Garment" view actually provides a loophole whereby Catholics can justify their support of abortion and contraception by arguing that their focus on the other issues counterbalances their positions on the former two issues. This position is the root of the so-called social justice argument that many Catholics use to shift moral focus away from their abortion and contraception positions. This false teaching fails to distinguish the fact that, unlike war, abortion and contraception are intrinsic evils. War can at times be just and moral, such as war in self-defense or to stop a Hitler; but abortion and contraception are never moral or justified.
- The USCCB's "Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility" presented in 2003. This sometimes vague document extended that equal moral weight of morally unequal moral issues to the voting booth, allowing Catholic voters to counterbalance a candidate's abortion position, for example, with his or her poverty record. This perspective allowed liberal, dissident Catholics seeking a voice to combine with liberal politicians seeking a more "values" oriented vocabulary after the Democratic Party's loss in the 2004 election at the hands of "values voters." An illustration of this delusion was Pepperdine law professor Doug Kmiec's call advising Catholic and conservative voters to support Barack Obama despite his notorious record on abortion and traditional family issues based on the fact that his social justice and opposition to the Iraq war stands brought him closer to Church teaching than his opponent was. Equally absurd was the so-called "Catholic scorecard" generated by so-called Catholic Dick Durbin which used this USCCB document to declare John Kerry and Durbin the "most Catholic" members of the senate!
- The USCCB's "Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship" presented in 2007. This document pretends to clarify and reinforce the centrality of life issues yet still falsely equates abortion and contraception with poverty, war, the economy, immigration, and the like, thus continuing the allow Catholic voters the wiggle room to vote for candidates with horrendous records in those two life areas.
Faced with such an onslaught of heresy and deception warping so many young and vulnerable Catholic minds; with such a barrage of blatant defiance, arrogance, pride, and insolence by so-called Catholic leaders clerical, lay, and political; and by such a willing, gleeful, and sinister cooperation by a mainstream secular media determined to mock and marginalize traditional Catholic teaching, one might wonder if there is any hope for the Catholic Church. Thankfully, that hope lies in the third segment of the currently divided Catholic population, the faithful remnant.
The Faithful Remnant
This third and final segment of the presently divided American Catholic population remains loyal to true Catholic teaching, and represents the only legitimate voice representing that teaching. The members of this segment reject the notion that such issues as abortion, contraception, and traditional family positions are merely negotiable chips in a societal or Catholic poker game. Rather, they are at the very least a critical litmus test by which any candidate, group, or viewpoint's adherence to true Catholicism must be measured.
This third Catholic segment fully embraces the sanctity of life and marriage and refuses to compromise on those issues. It is inspired by the belief that Jesus Christ Himself will guide its efforts to ultimate success.
There are those who believe that the Catholic Church is fast approaching a schism or apostasy whereby the first and much of the second segment of the Catholic population will leave the Catholic Church, leaving those remaining alone to fight for and defend true Catholic teaching. If such is the case, and given the present confusion and harm to Catholicism being caused by dissident viewpoints and the confusion they cause, such a schism may well be a blessing of addition by subtraction.
Conclusion
Many observers cite the Catholic voting majority's selection of a clearly pro-abortion Barack Obama and the present backlash by many Catholics against Obama's birth control mandate as evidence that the American Catholic population is either stupid, naïve, inconsistent, indecisive, or confused. After all, many argue, Barack Obama 's road to the White House would have been either hampered or perhaps even prevented had all Catholics joined in block against him as the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever. Now, they argue, these same Catholics go wild when that same Barack Obama presents a mandate entirely consistent with his past pro-abortion record and allegiance to the pro-abortion position and radical feminist lobby that so passionately promotes it. That, these critics conclude, makes no sense.
Others argue that the mere fact that people are still wondering if most Catholics will vote for Barack Obama again given this mandate makes the point that Catholics are either wimps, stupid, or embarrassingly gullible.
This piece makes a third observation. Namely, that the apparent inconsistency of the Catholic population is more representative of its unfortunate division than its general ignorance. The argument is made that this division has resulted in three segments. The first is composed of powerful, prominent and often elite and wealthy Catholics defiant of traditional Catholic teaching financed by sinister forces seeking to impose an agenda of eugenics and population control along the lines of Margaret Sanger, the radical racist who sought to eliminate races and people she considered inferior http://maafa21.com/. This first segment has fed off the socialist influence of Saul Alinsky and the defiant theology of dissident clerics to install an entire network of false Catholic organizations and groups which create the illusion that their liberal Catholicism truly represents the prevailing and legitimate Catholic viewpoint.
The second segment, poorly instructed by a faltering Catholic educational system and a warped Catholic higher educational system, is so ignorant of true Catholicism and so intoxicated in false Catholic theology that it is mostly vulnerable to any drivel spewed by the first segment. It is most prominently represented by hordes of students at those warped Catholic colleges who insolently and arrogantly parrot the very talking points fed them by the first segment, as if their two decades on this earth render them worthy and qualified to interpret and preach moral and social theology to the masses. Sadly, it is this very segment, so indoctrinated in the lies of the first segment, that will continue to reproduce the myths, delusions and rationalized morality so characteristic of this present Catholic mess.
Finally, the third segment, represented by those who, despite the above absurdity, manage to remain faithful, and loyal to true Catholic teaching amid the mockery, ridicule, and attacks of secular society in general and even the other two Catholic segments, retains its hope for ultimate vindication in the promise of Jesus Christ that His true Church will never perish regardless of the demonic forces that may gather against it.
Perhaps no other example better illustrates the utter absurdity of this situation than the fact that the first and second segments of this divided Catholic population are presently following the influence of the radical revolutionary Saul Alinsky, the father of all community organizers, who dedicated his 1971 book Rules for Radicals to Lucifer, whom he described as the first radical "who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom." http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/Alinsky-SaulRef.html
This is the man who used the Catholic Church to further his revolutionary socialist agenda, who influenced the Clintons and Obama, and who, in an interview shortly before his death, declared that if there is an afterlife, he would prefer hell to Heaven because hell contained his kind of people. If the fact that the disciples of such a man would include priests and lay people who now navigate at least part of the Catholic population toward moral oblivion is not ironic enough, then it should at least provide a fitting explanation as to how and why the majority of Catholics could ever vote for any candidate who would let a newly born but unwanted infant die abandoned and alone. The worst part of all this is that this majority may do it all over again.
Against this entire backdrop, one might wonder if the outcry by the bishops against Obama's mandate is totally genuine, part disinformation, or perhaps part of a script whereby the churchmen will eventually be pacified by bogus concessions such as the one already proposed, and the Church populace will once again be duped into thanking their oppressors for oppressing them less than intended. If one just accepts the fact that there are sinister forces out there obsessively and passionately seeking to destroy the Catholic Church by hijacking and navigating it toward hell, and that there are legions of counterfeit Catholics working to fool enough useful idiot Catholics to join them and largely succeeding in that effort, the story becomes perfectly clear. Ultimately, this is not about how stupid, gullible, or naïve Catholics are but, more optimistically, just how devoted, loyal, and courageous true Catholics will prove to be. In a word, while the shepherds pay lip service to the wolves or even hand the sheep over in return for favors, we may well see the sheep take matters into their own hands.
© Gabriel Garnica
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
