Before I commence, I'd like to extend an invitation to those others who have also found their comments deleted by the moderator of that page. You may post your comments here - provided, of course, that they are respectful and in accordance with the Magisterium of the Church.
One hardly knows where to begin so I'll start with the little scolding tossed in my face by the moderator. If one goes to that comment page, you can find this original posting. (Note - if these pictures are too small, just click on them and larger images will appear in their own windows.)
Ironically the condescension is applied to Festus, for for according to the moderator, he wouldn't have "succumbed to the temptation to respond". Is the moderator saying that Festus does not have the intellectual and spiritual fortitude to control himself? Well, given what Festus wrote on my last post, I can see from where the moderator draws his/her apprehensions, but that is the responsibility of Festus. By the way, I don't see any similar scolding directed to Festus. Does anyone else?
But there are some other comments that make me wonder whether or not Festus might be a CM insider. Here's one:
As I said earlier, my comments on that vortex were deleted. Ostensibly what can get comments deleted are if they contain criticisms of the pope. Apparently that's not the only criteria for deletion. I can only suppose deletion can happen simply due to the caprices of the moderator. How else do we explain the following?
Here is a discussion during which Festus trash-talked LifeSiteNews, Voice of the Family, Rorate Caeli. You'll notice in the middle of this picture a notation advising that a comment was deleted. It was mine. I have my deleted comment posted below the discussion.
"Is that what you told the Nuncio when he tried to navigate your blog to get the details together?
No, you didn't even do him that courtesy - you just gave in a link to your home page and suggest that he trawl through your blog to find the relevant details. Presumably while doing that he found what you were saying about the Pope. Have you considered tha t perhaps you and your blogger friends might have had something to do with what happened the priest? As you say it was "after" you and your blogger friends pubished dirt and no doubt publically castigating those who issued an apology to Ms Johnson that more serious charges were raised. When I do a search on key words blogger does not allow me to control the order in which the posts appear"Do you know what that is? That is a bad workman blaming his tools. I don't need to discredit you. Your sloppy blog is more than adequate for that job."
Does this sound like a rational person engaging in calm and reasonable discourse or the rantings of someone who has some very serious issues? But this is the person that the CM Moderator allows to puke all over their comment page while deleting the comments of others offering cogent thoughts (and I reiterate my invitation to them). I pray that he is not affiliated with Church Militant TV.
As I've said before, I respect CM's right to exercise their own policies in the governance of their apostolate. However, when they display disrespect for our policies in the governance of our apostolates, then they must be called out. Whether or not this is the last such post that I'll write is largely up to them.
Sorry to see that happened to you too.
ReplyDeleteI've never noticed "Festus" before (each time I see that I think of the poet Philip James Bailey's poem of the same name). But you are right, this Festus did call out and slander some very good Catholic sites that I enjoy. It's a shame, because I truly believe we (these sites and Catholic bloggers) all want the same thing for the Faith we all love so much.
I will continue to frequent those sites "Festus" slanders because I believe they are beneficial to the Faith, informational and encouraging to Catholics. I may find an article here or there that I don't agree with, but I have the same situation with Church Militant. I don't agree 100% of the time, which only tells me we all have room to grow.
God bless!
Go down the comments from top to bottom. There are quite a few others who've had their comments deleted, too. Pamela Palmer comes immediately to mind.
DeleteLB236 here again. There was absolutely nothing objectionable in Pamela's comments. Nothing.
DeleteHonestly, it's as if CMTV is trying their best to drive away the very people who should make up their core audience.
Very early on I detected the Opus Dei mindset to never allow criticism of a sitting Pope.
DeleteI too had my comments deleted several years ago with the private email reply by a CM Moderator informing me ,"We are NOT interested in your experiences with the dark side of the Church". I posted our experiences with multiple active sodomite pastors and the resulting confrontation with our then Bishop on the matter."
How surprised I was to see that several years later CMTV capitalized on that very subject boosting their readership!
It did not matter that i corroborated my comment with supportive news articles or not. They simply did NOT want to touch on the topic of the homosexual clergy that destroyed not only our parish, but others in our Diocese ! So many of our churches were sold as a result of the fleeing Faithful.
Festus and I have clashed often on CMTV's forum, with me under the name LB236, back before my account was banned, without warning, back in March for supposedly "criticizing the Pope" one too many times. His MO is predictable:
ReplyDelete–Refuse to acknowledge that anything Pope Francis says or does could possibly be interpreted in a heterodox manner;
–Accuse anyone who may suggest otherwise of being "disloyal" and/or throw up an easily knocked down straw man caricature of his opponent's position;
–Refuse to accept any evidence that Francis actually might have said something damaging to the Faith—even when a link to a news source is provided, as he will insist that the source must be using a "bad translation", or be out to attack the Pope;
–When all else fails, he does what he did to you, resorting to crude insults and irrational claims (in your case, about you and your blog) in a desperate bid to avoid admitting that he has nothing of substance to use as a rebuttal.
I am firmly convinced that Festus HAS to be an employee of CMTV, or at the very least someone with insider information who is being fed talking points to post on their forums. The fact that his comments are often highlighted as "featured comments" (read: carbon copies of CMTV's editorial policy), the fact that he is permitted to run roughshod over anyone who dares go against the party line to the point of utter rudeness, and the fact that he, as far as I can tell, has never been publicly reprimanded by the moderator for engaging in such behavior leads while others have been permanently banned for far, far less leads to me to conclude this is the most likely scenario.
There is also another major problem in that certain of churchmilitant.com, love to patrol the comboxes of The Remnant Newspaper. One writer was often known for writing long winded screeds, and was found to be the Ultra Controlling "Big Donor" from The Dallas-Ft Worth Metroplex. This man bought "The Warehouse In Detroit" & donated the place to CMTV.This donor originally came from my Home RC Diocese of Brooklyn.
DeleteLB236 here. I think you're right, Michael. When I was banned from CMTV's forums back in March, I never received any sort of warning from the moderator or an e-mail telling me I was "persona non grata"; I simply tried to comment on a "Download" episode (the one where Voris et al had to do a non-apology apology for their prior screed against washing the feet of women on Maundy Thursday after Francis suddenly changed the rubrics) and received a "You have been blocked from this forum" notification. As far as I know, I never violated CMTV's policy on their forum. However, I did make comments critical of Francis's actions on One Peter Five, The Remnant, Crisis, and other Disqus forums, so I'm convinced that someone on CMTV's staff spends all day monitoring the Disqus activity of anyone who posts there.
DeleteTo make the matter worse, I received a "we want you back" e-mail a few weeks ago from CMTV practically begging me to become a premium subscriber again. I deleted it that time; if I receive another one, however, I'm probably going to give them a phone call and explain to them precisely why I cancelled my subscription. Sooner or later, Voris and company are going to have to acknowledge the reality that a large number of their subscribers are people who aren't willing to bury their heads in the sand regarding the actions of the current pontiff, and they will have to decide just how many subscribers they are willing to lose in order to maintain their absurd editorial line. I think it's impossible to deny that Voris has been influenced by big money donors; he is absolutely unrecognizable from the Voris of 2010 or so, when he ran a whole episode excoriating the process by which the Novus Ordo Mass was created. If anyone in the Catholic media was to run the exact same program with the exact same script, I'm certain that 2016 Voris would excoriate them for "spreading doubt" or "speaking out against a pope".
Update: As of September 5, 2016, Festus has been banned from CMTV's Disqus forum. His comments on Islam and how to call it a false religion violates Church teaching apparently were enough to finally cause CMTV to act.
DeleteI think it is "Festus" Haggen of Gunsmoke.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, "He repeatedly states that he refuses to learn to read, because he has no way of knowing whether what he reads is true".
I have been a loyal fan and premium subscriber of CM for years - and have supported them in other ways as well. To my surprise and chagrin, my comment on the recent vortex disappeared, with no warning. I simply and respectfully said I was disappointed in that episode and was worried about the recent bishop appointments - many of whom fit the liberal/progressive mode CM abhors.
ReplyDeleteI also signed up for their resistance movement - waited weeks before receiving any acknowledgement, responded with a question and have been waiting ever since.
When my vortex comment was removed, I emailed them to inquire why as well as a follow up on my previous resistance movement email.
For now, I am going to give the benefit of the doubt - possibility that my missing comment is the result of a technical glitch and lack of response to my emails is due to being overwhelmed and short staffed.
But I have to admit, I am starting to wonder what's going on, too.
John
Same here. And church militant moderator is quite nasty in attitude too. Festus is a big problem!
DeleteCommenters, please - no ad hominems against Voris or anyone else. I cannot release these. Thank you for your cooperation.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? Or are you being sarcastic?
DeleteDoes the truth hurt a tad bit?
DeleteWhat truth?
DeleteIt seems my comment asking "where is the truth?" has yet to pass moderation here.
Deleteand you complain about the CM moderation policy? At least on CM you can post freely until the moderator sees it and determines if it violates their policy.
Festus, I am at a job during the day and can only break away sporadically. I'm telling you this strictly as a courtesy for I certainly am not answerable to you for the conduct of this blog. Don't you have a job? Or do your duties consist of trolling the blogs of those who dare to question Church Militant? At any rate, you are whining like a petulant child now. I've actually shown you more courtesy than your CM colleagues have shown to me, as many can see. However, all good things must come to an end. This comment of yours will be the last one released. I will entertain no debate on this matter.
DeleteI had the following comment removed. I still think CM is doing some much needed work these days, but they seem to have an editorial policy that prevents them from reporting on Papal comments the way they would some other bishops. Granted the Bishop of Rome is the Vicar of Christ, but that gives his theological inaccuracies and airplane misstatements that much more weight. There's enough confusion out there, folks! I in no way meant to be disrespectful to our Holy Father but now more than ever we need "Just the facts"! Removed comment appears below:
ReplyDelete7/9/16: As much as I love CM for its much needed reporting and insights, Houston, we still have a problem here: the Bishop of Rome is playing fast and loose with elements of scripture and tradition; or otherwise allowing it to proceed without serious challenge or rebuke. I do not doubt Francis' compassion for those caught up in the melee of the social and sexual free-for-all that has become much of Western society in the 21st Century; but we are very much in danger of becoming not just a faith diminished by Modernist tendencies but maddeningly Protestantized as well. If Father Traditionalist gives you a hard time about your struggles with chastity and love, go to Father Churchmustchange instead. Kind of how we somehow got 30,000 different evangelical churches in this country. Many of these may be filled with great love and fervor for Jesus but their teaching is way off course on things (For example,see John MacArthur's absolute horror at the Mass. He thinks it's pagan cannablism! And not because of Novus Ordo!). Danger, Will Robinson! Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison
Your first post to Festus accused him of "sloppy thinking".Perhaps you rubbed him up the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteObviously. Tough toe-nails.
DeleteCM is a commercial enterprise. The face of the outfit lived as a notorious sodomite for 10 yrs., by his own admission. For a time, they owned 'conservative' catholic media. They were completely exposed by their hate and obsession with SSPX. Yes, they control the dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it's proper to hold anyone's past sins against them. They are confessed and thus are not proper subject matter for discussion, let alone judgment.
DeleteI do not think it's proper to hold anyone's past sins against them. They are confessed and thus are not proper subject matter for discussion, let alone judgment.
DeleteThere is much here. Mr. Voris owes me nothing. A book has been published recently about the CM charade. There is a reason that sodomy cries out to heaven for vengence. Would it be a problem if he ran an abortion clinic, was a warlock wiccan or a slave holder for 10 years? Christ judges his eternal soul, i/we are well ordered in building our own cardinal virtues by the use of judgement. He is a laymen making a living off the Faith. Mr. Voris is a public figure and was quite effective and certainly unapologetic about making himself the poster boy for catholic 'manhood'. His confession mentions his Mommy but no mention of his Daddy. Perhaps we should consider the catholic construction workers who built the cathedrals by hand for mentoring. I was snookered by his whirling pencil. YOu're FiRed.
DeleteProper, my eye. HE MADE IT PUBLIC, now we are expected to be decreet regarding his indescretions? Oh, go make me a sandwhich!
"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without conviction" - Chrsterton
E-book. 'The man behind the curtain, Michael Voris and the homosexual vortex.'
DeleteI have the same problem too. I've been supporting CM for many many years. I agree that there is definitely opus dei infiltration as the CM moderator. They are quite nasty in their comments. I did not mention anything against our holy father,its simply on issue with infallibility. Festus brought in the topic regarding on Islam from one of the Vatican 2 documents " the plan of salvation also includes those
ReplyDeletewho acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind." I said this is not part of the deposit of faith which we are bound to believe and it is not something Catholic church's business to teach the faithful regarding on other religions. They're cursing me saying that it's not matter for me to judge and show contempt for the holy father and I'm talking like a Protestant...
Opus dei is dangerous. They look traditional from the outside but they're modernists inside. Im sick of them. I previously commented also regarding on opus dei saying about my past experiences with them and it got deleted. So it's quite obvious that they're linked. I'm so disappointed with CM...it has changed so much!
I love your blog! Keep up with the great job! I finally find my companions here! God bless my friend!
ReplyDeleteI used to go to CM every day and watched almost every Vortex. Not any more. I got tired of them attacking John Vennari and The Remnant. They produced some absolutely excellent material and didn't deserve the vicious attacks. It's all too bad, but I'm afraid it may be one more example of "follow the money." I've seen that happen with many Catholic apostolates that tweak their message either because of their donor base or because of human respect. Most of us small bloggers aren't beholden to anyone so we don't have any reason not to speak as we see it.
ReplyDelete