Gabriel Garnica
Response to my Trump-bashing Catholic friend
By Gabriel Garnica
I begin by thanking you for your articulate response to my initial letter to you regarding your decision to boycott the March for Life because, as you so openly put it, Trump is a jackass who will do more harm than any good to the Pro-Life Movement. You know that I have always considered you a bright young man of sincere conviction for which you should be commended. In your response you point out that Trump's words are low hanging fruit which make it easy for the media to bash him. Unfortunately, although your response was articulate, it was a veritable tree orchard of low hanging fruit. Frankly, I was not sure where to begin, and brevity was never my skill as a writer I am afraid, but I will do my best in the interest of time. I hope that you do not mind, but I brought a few friends to this discussion, namely; Aristotle; Thomas Aquinas; Popes Leo XIII, Pius XI, John XXIII, John Paul II, and Benedict; Doctor of Philosophy and Professor Taylor Marshall, and author Timothy Gordon, who has degrees in philosophy, law, history, and literature.
Trump, The "Bad" Man, Obama, and Others
Your response interprets my open letter as admitting that Trump is a bad man doing some good things, which is inaccurate. I consider Trump a very defective man with many faults, as we all have, who is no standard of moral rectitude. You practically depict him as the worst thing that could have ever happened to both this nation and certainly the Pro-Life movement. You say that Trump's harsh treatment by the media is mostly due to his own moronic and hypocritical ramblings and cite, for example, that he played golf during the recent shutdown yet ignore that his predecessor, Obama, played over 100 rounds of golf during what Obama himself called "the second Great Depression" and "the worst recession in 70 years." I guess golf playing by presidents during national crisis situations is terrible only depending on who is playing golf. Obama, the man you said "seems like the kind of man you can have an intelligent conversation with" made far more gaffes and blunders in his term as president, with practically no media coverage. My three personal favorites are once saying that there were 57 states, referring to his having bowled a 129 as being in the Special Olympics, and stating " I see many of the fallen heroes in the audience here today as we celebrate Memorial Day." Good luck on that intelligent conversation, my friend.
Your jabs at Trump sound like MSNBC or CNN narrative scripts. You call the caravans refugees when, in reality, many are merely fleeing poverty not political turmoil or danger. I know you consider Trump a misogynist yet Obama's favorite 2017 songs were full of degrading lyrics against women and I suggest that abortion itself is a misogynistic degradation of women's uniqueness and ability to succeed through motherhood. By the way, Bill Clinton's sexual harassment of women and his wife's attacks on his victims seem misogynistic to me as well. Yes, Trump seems to have clear misogynistic traits, but such proclivities did not seem to prevent you from praising Obama. You argue that Trump is no Lincoln or Mlk but, guess what, neither is Obama whom you favor. My point as always is that you have a bias against Trump which dilutes your arguments against him. The deaths of Americans at Benghazi seem to speak against your depiction of Obama as some noble leader albeit with an unfortunate abortion problem.
You say you have become a bit more merciful regarding your view of Obama lately, which is more mercy than he showed in supporting the murder of unborn children as clearly the most pro-abortion president in history. You speak of Trump as a bad man, but I see him as a very defective person, as we all are. No, I reserve the adjective of "bad" to those who directly and intentionally cause the death of thousands of innocent lives. Men such as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Lenin, Pol Pot, and even Herod come to mind. If you think Trump is in their company I rest my case right here. As the most pro-abortion president in US history, Obama promoted and defended the murder of millions of unborn children during his stay in the Oval Office. So, you see, I do not use the term "bad" lightly.
You said that Trump is "the greatest hypocrite to hold the Oval Office" even as you once supported Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders , two bastions of hypocrisy, deception, and manipulation and say that Obama's biggest fault is defending abortion even as he pretended to be a Christian. I suspect that you would have signed up for Warren or Bernie in the White House, at least at one time, so your knack for sniffing out hypocrites might need some work. Given that Bernie bashed others as unfit for office given their Christian faith and Warren managed to offend the very people she was pretending to belong to, I would hope that you no longer support them. In fact, your claim that I mocked you as a Don Quixote dreaming for a pure leader is false. I am waiting right there next to you, buddy. The difference is that I recognize, perhaps thanks to my years of experience and cynicism, that dreaming for better demands better aim than merely bashing the low hanging fruit the media points out for us. I get it, you hate Trump. This is why you paint him out as Hitler while giving a pass to your conversation buddy Obama and your two exes, Liz and Bernie. You are entitled to dislike Trump, but that is irrelevant to the greater issue that you exhibit.
An Evil Distortion by Any Other Name...
I was amused by your attempt to name The Seamless Garment Theory you espouse by your new name of Foundation of Rock. As you describe it, you are still talking about the Seamless Garment, for I ask you, any foundation must begin by the cornerstone and that cornerstone is abortion. Professor Taylor Marshall has often stated that the Seamless Garment Theory, or any theory like it pretending to be something else, is a joke inconsistent with core Catholic teaching. Prolific Catholic historian Timothy Gordon agrees. Both men cite this evil as the infiltration of socialism into the Catholic faith through the trojan horse of so-called social justice which, again, both men brilliantly illustrate and cite violates our faith. They cite Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius XI, and Pope John XXIII in spectacular fashion to show that socialism's redistribution of wealth, classless society, and state intrusion dismantling the proper hierarchical order of society according to natural law is completely inconsistent with Catholicism. In fact, these two brilliant Catholic scholars agree with the idea that the Seamless Garment ( in any new fancy name) is more dangerous to the Catholic faith than ten Trumps will ever be. I sent you the link to their 90 minute discussion of this topic which, as someone who has studied philosophy, you might appreciate. You cite the lack of Catholic moral education of us Catholics in the pews and, given your study of this in college, I am sure you know much more about that topic than I do. However, with all due respect, I will nod to the writings and discussion of Professor Taylor Marshall, who holds a doctorate in philosophy and is an expert on Thomas Aquinas.
Marshall and Gordon also point out how Thomas Aquinas notes that egalitarianism, the myth that everyone is equal, is unjust and inconsistent with the natural order and contrary to Catholicism. They add that Aquinas pointed to patriotism and national sovereignty as virtues under justice. By extension, a nation has a right to protect its borders and the wall is a morally legitimate means of doing just that. Wait, you say, many bishops speak out against immigration abuses, the wall, and seek to allow illegal immigration into our country in some form. Marshall and Gordon educated me by pointing out that the USCCB received $ 73 million dollars from the U.S government or 1/ 3 of its budget primarily for migrant and refugee services (immigration), $ 79 million dollars in 2014, $ 80 million dollars in 2015, and $ 95 million dollars in 2016 or roughly 39% of its budget. In other words, the Catholic leadership receives money for helping more people come into this country, legal or otherwise. Trump, his policy, and his wall, takes money out of the pockets of the Catholic leadership in this country. By my book, that gives the Catholic leadership a good motive to attack the wall and Trump; namely, dollars. They also point out, as I have witnessed myself, that Catholic leadership quietly espouses the Seamless Garment theory to justify their distorted social justice view and shoves abortion to the side via argument by disproportionate emphasis. Simply put, many of our Catholic leaders have sold out abortion, which brings them agita, to favor the other so-called social life issues, which bring them money.
So You Think Trump is a Scandal?
Many of our Catholic leaders step aside to avoid confronting scandals such as so-called Catholic Nancy Pelosi, as Pro-abortion as it gets, receiving a victory mass in Washington. You want more real scandal? How does New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, another so-called Catholic, smiling from ear to ear as he signs a bill allowing abortion right until birth sound to you? I was just looking at a photo of one of your favorite cardinals smiling with Cuomo. While you worry about Trump creating scandal, leading Catholics embrace abortion like Linus embraces his security blanket. I guess I also have another sense of what a real Catholic scandal is all about than you do.
Marshall and Gordon point out, again citing Aristotle, Aquinas, and the Popes, that the Church has a moral duty to help those in need but not at the expense of a nation's sovereignty and right to try and protect its borders. All of this to argue that your attack on Trump for the wall and his apparent lack of compassion in helping people invading our nation illegally is not based on core Catholic duty but rather a socialist distortion of same which, again, is a warped version of Catholicism hoisted by socialists invading our faith years ago. Professors Marshall and Gordon clearly point this out in their discussion on the topic. Abortion is an intrinsic evil; immigration, poverty, the environment, and healthcare issues are not. Period. It is not intrinsically evil to prevent trespassers from illegally invading our border, unless you have studied at one of our wonderful Catholic universities teeming with, you guessed it, the Seamless Garment theory and socialist Catholic rubbish. Guess which of your foundation stones gets to be the cornerstone which gets our attention first.
The Bottom Line
You speak of fear, and of not being alone despite basically being a Pro-life moderate Democrat of some sort because, let us be honest, that is what you are. You even imply that I spoke in fear, but I have no fear regarding Donald Trump. I was not having a seizure on election night because I have never reacted that way to any election, even of candidates that I did not like. I know that he is a very defective man like those before him and those who will follow. I reserve the term bad for those men and women who intentionally, with conviction, and for self-interest, greed, and convenience, murder thousands of innocent lives through genocide. Any leader who publicly supports, defends, and promotes the termination of innocent life is, in my opinion, a bad person pushing an evil cause, regardless of how good a conversation partner he might seem. You say that Trump is a bumbling hypocrite using the Pro-Life movement for votes. I say that is better than a polished pro-abortion hypocrite using abortion and anti-Catholic socialism for votes and apologizing for the greatest country in the world. Besides, I suspect that Trump has at least a shred of sincerity in his pro-life rhetoric, although I will grant you that he can never be as sincere as Obama, Cuomo, and Pelosi are when they wave abortion as the divine right they claim it is. You say that we face saving our souls in the face of Trump. As Catholics and Christians, I suggest that we should worry more about saving our souls in the face of Cuomo. You worry how far we have fallen when we prefer Trump because his worst aspects are not nearly as bad as the slaughter of the unborn is. I worry how far we have fallen as Catholics when 47% of us vote for pro-abortion candidates compared to only 38% of Protestants. I speaks volumes that, if I am an unborn child looking for someone to help me, my chances are better with a Protestant layperson than with a Catholic American cardinal or bishop. That is about as pathetic a Catholic scandal as one can have.
You misinterpret my words to imply rationalization, fear, and even delusion regarding Donald Trump and his danger to the Pro-life movement and cause. However, I have no fear or delusion regarding the fact that God often uses very defective people to accomplish His Divine Will. You worry about the future of the Pro-life movement and even our own faith if we tie our wagon to this very defective man. However, as I have desperately tried to explain, the Pro-life movement is much bigger and greater than any one defective man. It has survived a leader dripping with hatred for its premise. It has endured fraud Catholics who embrace and smile when condemning innocent lives to death. Come to think of it, I believe that the Pro-life cause will even outlast the consequences of our present so-called Catholic educational system and that may well be its greatest accomplishment.
© Gabriel Garnica
February 12, 2019
I begin by thanking you for your articulate response to my initial letter to you regarding your decision to boycott the March for Life because, as you so openly put it, Trump is a jackass who will do more harm than any good to the Pro-Life Movement. You know that I have always considered you a bright young man of sincere conviction for which you should be commended. In your response you point out that Trump's words are low hanging fruit which make it easy for the media to bash him. Unfortunately, although your response was articulate, it was a veritable tree orchard of low hanging fruit. Frankly, I was not sure where to begin, and brevity was never my skill as a writer I am afraid, but I will do my best in the interest of time. I hope that you do not mind, but I brought a few friends to this discussion, namely; Aristotle; Thomas Aquinas; Popes Leo XIII, Pius XI, John XXIII, John Paul II, and Benedict; Doctor of Philosophy and Professor Taylor Marshall, and author Timothy Gordon, who has degrees in philosophy, law, history, and literature.
Trump, The "Bad" Man, Obama, and Others
Your response interprets my open letter as admitting that Trump is a bad man doing some good things, which is inaccurate. I consider Trump a very defective man with many faults, as we all have, who is no standard of moral rectitude. You practically depict him as the worst thing that could have ever happened to both this nation and certainly the Pro-Life movement. You say that Trump's harsh treatment by the media is mostly due to his own moronic and hypocritical ramblings and cite, for example, that he played golf during the recent shutdown yet ignore that his predecessor, Obama, played over 100 rounds of golf during what Obama himself called "the second Great Depression" and "the worst recession in 70 years." I guess golf playing by presidents during national crisis situations is terrible only depending on who is playing golf. Obama, the man you said "seems like the kind of man you can have an intelligent conversation with" made far more gaffes and blunders in his term as president, with practically no media coverage. My three personal favorites are once saying that there were 57 states, referring to his having bowled a 129 as being in the Special Olympics, and stating " I see many of the fallen heroes in the audience here today as we celebrate Memorial Day." Good luck on that intelligent conversation, my friend.
Your jabs at Trump sound like MSNBC or CNN narrative scripts. You call the caravans refugees when, in reality, many are merely fleeing poverty not political turmoil or danger. I know you consider Trump a misogynist yet Obama's favorite 2017 songs were full of degrading lyrics against women and I suggest that abortion itself is a misogynistic degradation of women's uniqueness and ability to succeed through motherhood. By the way, Bill Clinton's sexual harassment of women and his wife's attacks on his victims seem misogynistic to me as well. Yes, Trump seems to have clear misogynistic traits, but such proclivities did not seem to prevent you from praising Obama. You argue that Trump is no Lincoln or Mlk but, guess what, neither is Obama whom you favor. My point as always is that you have a bias against Trump which dilutes your arguments against him. The deaths of Americans at Benghazi seem to speak against your depiction of Obama as some noble leader albeit with an unfortunate abortion problem.
You say you have become a bit more merciful regarding your view of Obama lately, which is more mercy than he showed in supporting the murder of unborn children as clearly the most pro-abortion president in history. You speak of Trump as a bad man, but I see him as a very defective person, as we all are. No, I reserve the adjective of "bad" to those who directly and intentionally cause the death of thousands of innocent lives. Men such as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Lenin, Pol Pot, and even Herod come to mind. If you think Trump is in their company I rest my case right here. As the most pro-abortion president in US history, Obama promoted and defended the murder of millions of unborn children during his stay in the Oval Office. So, you see, I do not use the term "bad" lightly.
You said that Trump is "the greatest hypocrite to hold the Oval Office" even as you once supported Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders , two bastions of hypocrisy, deception, and manipulation and say that Obama's biggest fault is defending abortion even as he pretended to be a Christian. I suspect that you would have signed up for Warren or Bernie in the White House, at least at one time, so your knack for sniffing out hypocrites might need some work. Given that Bernie bashed others as unfit for office given their Christian faith and Warren managed to offend the very people she was pretending to belong to, I would hope that you no longer support them. In fact, your claim that I mocked you as a Don Quixote dreaming for a pure leader is false. I am waiting right there next to you, buddy. The difference is that I recognize, perhaps thanks to my years of experience and cynicism, that dreaming for better demands better aim than merely bashing the low hanging fruit the media points out for us. I get it, you hate Trump. This is why you paint him out as Hitler while giving a pass to your conversation buddy Obama and your two exes, Liz and Bernie. You are entitled to dislike Trump, but that is irrelevant to the greater issue that you exhibit.
An Evil Distortion by Any Other Name...
I was amused by your attempt to name The Seamless Garment Theory you espouse by your new name of Foundation of Rock. As you describe it, you are still talking about the Seamless Garment, for I ask you, any foundation must begin by the cornerstone and that cornerstone is abortion. Professor Taylor Marshall has often stated that the Seamless Garment Theory, or any theory like it pretending to be something else, is a joke inconsistent with core Catholic teaching. Prolific Catholic historian Timothy Gordon agrees. Both men cite this evil as the infiltration of socialism into the Catholic faith through the trojan horse of so-called social justice which, again, both men brilliantly illustrate and cite violates our faith. They cite Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius XI, and Pope John XXIII in spectacular fashion to show that socialism's redistribution of wealth, classless society, and state intrusion dismantling the proper hierarchical order of society according to natural law is completely inconsistent with Catholicism. In fact, these two brilliant Catholic scholars agree with the idea that the Seamless Garment ( in any new fancy name) is more dangerous to the Catholic faith than ten Trumps will ever be. I sent you the link to their 90 minute discussion of this topic which, as someone who has studied philosophy, you might appreciate. You cite the lack of Catholic moral education of us Catholics in the pews and, given your study of this in college, I am sure you know much more about that topic than I do. However, with all due respect, I will nod to the writings and discussion of Professor Taylor Marshall, who holds a doctorate in philosophy and is an expert on Thomas Aquinas.
Marshall and Gordon also point out how Thomas Aquinas notes that egalitarianism, the myth that everyone is equal, is unjust and inconsistent with the natural order and contrary to Catholicism. They add that Aquinas pointed to patriotism and national sovereignty as virtues under justice. By extension, a nation has a right to protect its borders and the wall is a morally legitimate means of doing just that. Wait, you say, many bishops speak out against immigration abuses, the wall, and seek to allow illegal immigration into our country in some form. Marshall and Gordon educated me by pointing out that the USCCB received $ 73 million dollars from the U.S government or 1/ 3 of its budget primarily for migrant and refugee services (immigration), $ 79 million dollars in 2014, $ 80 million dollars in 2015, and $ 95 million dollars in 2016 or roughly 39% of its budget. In other words, the Catholic leadership receives money for helping more people come into this country, legal or otherwise. Trump, his policy, and his wall, takes money out of the pockets of the Catholic leadership in this country. By my book, that gives the Catholic leadership a good motive to attack the wall and Trump; namely, dollars. They also point out, as I have witnessed myself, that Catholic leadership quietly espouses the Seamless Garment theory to justify their distorted social justice view and shoves abortion to the side via argument by disproportionate emphasis. Simply put, many of our Catholic leaders have sold out abortion, which brings them agita, to favor the other so-called social life issues, which bring them money.
So You Think Trump is a Scandal?
Many of our Catholic leaders step aside to avoid confronting scandals such as so-called Catholic Nancy Pelosi, as Pro-abortion as it gets, receiving a victory mass in Washington. You want more real scandal? How does New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, another so-called Catholic, smiling from ear to ear as he signs a bill allowing abortion right until birth sound to you? I was just looking at a photo of one of your favorite cardinals smiling with Cuomo. While you worry about Trump creating scandal, leading Catholics embrace abortion like Linus embraces his security blanket. I guess I also have another sense of what a real Catholic scandal is all about than you do.
Marshall and Gordon point out, again citing Aristotle, Aquinas, and the Popes, that the Church has a moral duty to help those in need but not at the expense of a nation's sovereignty and right to try and protect its borders. All of this to argue that your attack on Trump for the wall and his apparent lack of compassion in helping people invading our nation illegally is not based on core Catholic duty but rather a socialist distortion of same which, again, is a warped version of Catholicism hoisted by socialists invading our faith years ago. Professors Marshall and Gordon clearly point this out in their discussion on the topic. Abortion is an intrinsic evil; immigration, poverty, the environment, and healthcare issues are not. Period. It is not intrinsically evil to prevent trespassers from illegally invading our border, unless you have studied at one of our wonderful Catholic universities teeming with, you guessed it, the Seamless Garment theory and socialist Catholic rubbish. Guess which of your foundation stones gets to be the cornerstone which gets our attention first.
The Bottom Line
You speak of fear, and of not being alone despite basically being a Pro-life moderate Democrat of some sort because, let us be honest, that is what you are. You even imply that I spoke in fear, but I have no fear regarding Donald Trump. I was not having a seizure on election night because I have never reacted that way to any election, even of candidates that I did not like. I know that he is a very defective man like those before him and those who will follow. I reserve the term bad for those men and women who intentionally, with conviction, and for self-interest, greed, and convenience, murder thousands of innocent lives through genocide. Any leader who publicly supports, defends, and promotes the termination of innocent life is, in my opinion, a bad person pushing an evil cause, regardless of how good a conversation partner he might seem. You say that Trump is a bumbling hypocrite using the Pro-Life movement for votes. I say that is better than a polished pro-abortion hypocrite using abortion and anti-Catholic socialism for votes and apologizing for the greatest country in the world. Besides, I suspect that Trump has at least a shred of sincerity in his pro-life rhetoric, although I will grant you that he can never be as sincere as Obama, Cuomo, and Pelosi are when they wave abortion as the divine right they claim it is. You say that we face saving our souls in the face of Trump. As Catholics and Christians, I suggest that we should worry more about saving our souls in the face of Cuomo. You worry how far we have fallen when we prefer Trump because his worst aspects are not nearly as bad as the slaughter of the unborn is. I worry how far we have fallen as Catholics when 47% of us vote for pro-abortion candidates compared to only 38% of Protestants. I speaks volumes that, if I am an unborn child looking for someone to help me, my chances are better with a Protestant layperson than with a Catholic American cardinal or bishop. That is about as pathetic a Catholic scandal as one can have.
You misinterpret my words to imply rationalization, fear, and even delusion regarding Donald Trump and his danger to the Pro-life movement and cause. However, I have no fear or delusion regarding the fact that God often uses very defective people to accomplish His Divine Will. You worry about the future of the Pro-life movement and even our own faith if we tie our wagon to this very defective man. However, as I have desperately tried to explain, the Pro-life movement is much bigger and greater than any one defective man. It has survived a leader dripping with hatred for its premise. It has endured fraud Catholics who embrace and smile when condemning innocent lives to death. Come to think of it, I believe that the Pro-life cause will even outlast the consequences of our present so-called Catholic educational system and that may well be its greatest accomplishment.
© Gabriel Garnica
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