Why #Brexit Bodes Well For The Church And Western Civilization

Today the people of Great Britain voted to leave the European Union.  This was a vote that the progressive powers that be, from David Cameron to George Soros to Barack Obama to the EU gnomes in Brussels did not want to happen.  Today the British people voted to retrieve their national sovereignty.  The one-government, new-world-order leviathan was dealt a crippling blow.  May many more follow.

Recall in 2009 that Pope Benedict reminded leaders of the EU not to forget their Christian roots.  He did this because the EU flat out refused to refer to this crucial aspect of European history in its founding documents.  In 2003 the European Parliament passed a resolution to call on its member nations to legalize abortion.  The EU's so-called "Human Rights Commissioner" exerted pressure on Poland to mandate sex education and to provide unfettered access to abortion and contraception.  Malta has faced similar pressures.  The EU has also made plain its intentions to force its member countries to recognize same-sex #mowwidge.

The above paragraph makes plain why no Catholic can support the European Union as it currently exists.  Its very existence runs counter to the Catholic social principle of subsidiarity.  It does seem that when governmental bodies are granted too much power, then indeed they do assume behaviors that are characteristic of tin-horn dictators.  EU members have been subject to dictates to admit illegal immigrants and to regulate their industries to the wazoo.  Last year, the EU's "Council" chastised British mothers for the high crime and misdemeanor of (gasp!) staying home and raising their own children!  I'd be willing to bet that some of these mothers voted to leave the EU today.

Today the hulking beast known as the European Union was given some comeuppance. Its overreaching power has been curtailed to an appreciable degree.  This can only provide relief to those Catholics who've been struggling to practice Catholic morality under the threat of the thinly-veiled tyranny known as the European Union.

On LouderWithCrowder we see some benefits to the British vote listed.  We also see similar moves afoot in the U.S. to free ourselves from progressive international tyrants.  Last week Rep Mike Rogers introduced H.R. 1205, American Sovereignty Restoration Act, to cause the withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations and to cease our funding of the UN.  Owing to the UN's own embrace of anti-life and atheistic progressivism, it has earned the moniker that I gave it several years ago - Useless Nincompoops.

Ladies and gentlemen, godless progressivism can be beat back.  We must pray and hold fast to our Catholic faith, both in our reception of the Sacraments and in the public square.  Obviously we need to come en masse to the polls in the presidential election.  Some have cynically claimed that we shouldn't bother to vote because the results are already stacked.  Well, if any vote should have been rigged, it was the Brexit vote.  If indeed it was rigged, the number of decent people voting was enough to offset any rigging.  Will we have the resolve to do the same in November?  Will we also have the resolve to combat progressivism in the Church?

We Have No King But.......

This clip from Real Catholic TV gives a brief definition of the role of civil government.  Michael Voris rightly decries those who look to government to solve their problems, and he also states that it's mostly left-wingers who do so.  I'll take that a step further by illustrating why I believe that liberalism and atheism feed each other.  The atheist claims there is no God.  However, such a claim violates his very nature, as we all recognize a need for God, be that need conscious or unconscious.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  So what, then, becomes the god of the atheist?  Well, there are the usual suspects: money, pleasure, comfort, convenience - but there's another choice of false deity - government!   I truly believe that is why so many atheists are lovers of Big Government and haters of the One True God.



"Too many Catholics look to the State to solve problems that the Church should be solving."  That does describe the modus operandi of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Let us learn the principle of subsidiarity.  Let us learn why Pope Pius XI condemned socialism.  Let such knowledge govern our votes this coming November.

A note to left-wing lawyers regarding my previous sentence.  We are NOT a "501(c)" anything!  Among other things, there are no muzzles upon what we can say, be it political, partisan or whatever.  So stop salivating, now!  There is no lawsuit fodder here!

USCCB an Accomplice to Hell Care Bill - And We Should Be Silent??

When I first started this blog three months ago, a colleague suggested that I keep posts to 200 words or less.  Given the complexity of this topic, I may not be able to implement that suggestion in this post.  However, I ask you to bear with it and follow along.  The topic is crucial and calls for more than just a perfunctory treatment.

On page 7 of the December 17th issue of the Catholic Standard is a column by Archbishop Wuerl ("Believing What the Church Believes") speaking on the bishops and their authority.  As I read the last four paragraphs of the article, I wonder if this article runs afoul of the canonical rights and responsibilities that are proper to the laity.  The following is one quote that caused me to raise my eyebrows:

"Yet, when it comes to matters of faith and morals, when it comes to giving necessary practical prudential guidance, it is the responsibility of the bishops to lead. It is also the responsibility of the clergy and faithful to recognize that leadership."  I've no problem whatsover when it comes to giving obedience to the bishops regarding faith and morals when they teach in union with the Holy Father; the Magisterium has always taught that.  However, when it comes to matters of prudential matters, even the Magisterium recognizes that these are matters over which good Catholics can (and often do) disagree.  There seems to be an overlooking of the rights of faithful laity to their legitimate opinions, particularly in matters regarded as secular - such as the health care debate being waged in Washington at this very moment.

In the last paragraph, His Excellency comments on the oath uttered by the newly-installed pastor to the Pope and College of Bishops, he states "so should every member of the faithful make the same profession. We are called to adhere with an internal acceptance to what the Church teaches because it is the Spirit guiding the teachers of the Church, the bishops, in their proclamation of the faith."  Some care might be required here, lest there be confusion between the "College of Bishops" and the "United States Conference of Catholic Bishops".  I don't know if these two terms are meant to be used interchangably, but if they are, the expectation of obedience of the laity to the USCCB is frought with many problems.

It has been demonstrated on this blog, by the writings of the Catholic Media Coalition and others that the USCCB's leadership has shown dangerous predelictions towards quasi-socialistic goals for society.  Previous entries on this blog and those of like-minded blogs have documented quite extensively that the USCCB's so-called "charitable arm", the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, have funded dangerous socialistic, atheistic and pro-abortion "community-organizing" groups that have helped the most pro-abortion politiican in US history, Barack Hussein Obama, ascend to the White House.

As a corollary to Obama's seizure of the White House, he also wants to grab control of the health care of each and every person in this nation and bring it under draconian governmental control.  And yes, it will allow for unfettered abortion.  Sadly, but not surprisingly, the USCCB supports the Hell Bill, sans abortion funding.  They state that if the abortion mandates are removed, that this health bill will be in compliance with Catholic social teaching.  See my previous post on that.  I also posted on the Maryland Catholic Conference and their trolling for the Hell Bill.

Two excellent articles have been written on this topic and I'll now link to them.  One, posted on the website of the Catholic Media Coalition, is entitled, "For Whom Does the USCCB Speak in the Health Care Reform Debate?"  The other is entitled, "Subsidiarity: Where Justice and Freedom Coexist".  Both are worthy of thoughtful study.

Both of these authors emphasize the need to understand the Catholic principle of subsidiarity.  They point out correctly that those wielding power in the USCCB hold this fundamental principle in contempt.  The first article quotes from 1 Samuel 8:10-18.  I urge you to read it, as it states quite clearly God's displeasure with centralized government, as often that government usurps His role in society.  Our Founding Fathers understood it.  However, as we have rushed towards abandonmnet of God and of Christian morals (particularly in matters of life and sexual ethics), we have looked to the government to be our task-masters.  We have become morally weak and flabby and crave a "nanny" to care for our needs in our laziness.  As history tries to teach us, there will always be some smooth-talking tyrant who is all-too-willing to oblige such a deadly request.

The author of the second article states where a Catholic News Service (a branch of the USCCB) columnist twisted the principle of subsidiarty with this quote:"The Church’s teaching of subsidiarity insists that higher levels of government and social organizations must take action and do what individuals and smaller groups cannot do for themselves." Of course that's not true.  I remember having an almost identical conversation with a staffer at the Maryland Catholic Conference, where he flat out pooh-poohed the principle of subsidiarity.  He has since moved on to the USCCB; I don't know if he is still there.  At any rate, have you noticed that "advocacy for the poor", at least in the eyes of these socialism-adoring "Catholic" agencies really means badgering the government to throw money at whatever the concern may be? 

That's exactly what the USCCB is attempting to do with the Hell Bill - to take our money and throw it towards the government, ostensibly to solve a problem.  In reality, they are turning a blind eye to the babies and to the elderly and other vulnerable individuals who will be killed outright or have their care rationed away from them.

I'll close this with anothe quote from the first article, which in turn is a quote from Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville: “A man’s admiration for absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.”   That does sum up the USCCB's attitude towards us.  They've even gone so far as to attack Rush Limbaugh for speaking out against liberal malfeasances (read my earlier post).

I think it's way past time to dismantle the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Obamacare and the Principle of Subsidiarity

The principle of subsidiarity, described in Pope Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno and Pope John Paul II's Centesimus Annus certainly seems to be "An Inconvenient Truth" (to borrow Al Gore's term) a goodly percentage of the United States bishops. It certainly seems to be so for the USCCB and for many of the state Catholic conferences. It almost seems that there isn't a governmental handout after which they won't slobber and pant. It even seems that Renato Cardinal Martino, a former Vatican official known for his rabid liberalism, has lavished praise upon Obamacare, inherent and fatal flaws nothwithstanding.

It is therefore most refresing to see that some US bishops realize the peril that Obamacare poses to true Catholic social teaching, regardless of the presence or absence of abortion and euthanasia. Let us be clear; the specter of taxpayer-funded abortion and euthanasia is horrible beyond description. However, the elimination of these murderous provisions from the bill will not render the bill any more acceptable to the true Catholic. The presence of socialized medicine foists its own deadly and yes, sinful poisons upon civilization. Please read and study the linked articles closely.