I'll forego any polemic I might have on the RCC, for the nonce. This is a legitimate issue. Why are we here? How did we get here? Because we did one thing and forgot another-
1.) We *accommodated*. As regards to Women, over the last 100 years or so, Men were told incessantly that there was no difference between the Sexes (I refuse to use the word, 'Gender'. It refers to Language ONLY. 'Sex' refers to the Objective Fact there are only two biological forms for humans- Male & Female.) we were told that Women were just as good as Men in any task they chose to set their minds to. Guarding & Protecting Women was Insulting & demeaning. So, and I am fairly sure this came primarily from a desire for peace in the home, NOT because we thought it would actually do them good, we gave in. We let Women have everything they wanted.
The results speak for themselves.
2.) We forgot that Nice does not equal GOOD. In our modern Feelings-Based culture, this fact has been all but lost. Some halfway decent parents may still have passed something of it to their children, but in the wider culture, telling someone they 'Can't', or even worse, 'Shouldn't', is one of the greatest sins that can be committed. If you dare to suggest that perhaps it WILL do someone harm where they put their genitalia, or that mutilating it or destroying it, might have serious negative consequences, you will be subjected to all the Wrath of Disapproval that modern society can provide.
To warn someone that something they 'feel' they need may not, in fact, be desirable, is monstrously judgmental. To voice a concern that perhaps 'following your heart', is a dangerous endeavor, as the heart is often a damn liar, is insensitive beyond belief.
If a Man won't stand for what is Right, he will get trampled by all that is wrong.
That reminds me of a Fr. Ripperger talk (wish I remembered which one) in which he said Eve was deceived but Adam, being the head, was more culpable in a sense because he wasn’t. Women were told by Marxists (again thanks to Fr. Ripperger for that bit) to want to work outside the home and be immodest and devalue home and childbearing. In the end, this is not what women want or need at all. They were told to want it then and we are told now that we have to do it to prove ourselves or because we asked for it or so as not to be a burden on a man. I wonder if it was a desire for peace on the part of men or, like Adam, just a failure to lead as God ordained.
I am not arguing. Just participating I hope, from the perspective of a disenfranchised career woman told as a child not to be a burden on a man. I would never want to be a man. I do not want that headship. I want to be the woman God created me to be. It is very hard in this world, as that is quite unacceptable to the point that we have a hard time even knowing what that would look like.
Thank you for the good & reasonable comment. Yes, regarding Adam & Eve, in my 31 years as a follower of Christ Jesus, I have *never* heard a sermon preached on the fact that Adam was NOT deceived.
A few years before he died, I did see a sermon by Chuck Missler, where he spoke not of that aspect of the event, but he speculated on how 'great' Adam's love must have been for Eve when he choose to follow her into darkness. He speculated that Adam must have trusted that God would find a way to save them both (Which God DID, of course, However...) Chuck clearly felt very strongly about this, as he was struggling to hold back tears while speaking. However, I vehemently disagree with his support of it. In no way, IN NO WAY, was what Adam did a 'good' or 'noble' or 'heroic' act. I have no doubt it was done because he loved her, but in that choice, he put her above God in his love & as a result, we have had 6,000+ years of horror to go through.
The fact that the Ancient of Days, in his unimaginable mercy, DID offer humanity a way out, does not mean Adam choose correctly. Consciously, willfully, choosing to sin is NEVER what God wants, even if He can defeat the consequences of it. Adam should have given that loss & pain & fear to God & HE doubtless would have come up with a different plan to save Eve, mostly likely one that Adam, in his then preserved unfallen state, could have participated in.
I too, struggle to deal with the powerful emotions this topic brings out. But I have no choice, I'm dealing with it right now & have been for the last 8 years.
It's a long & very involved situation & I don't want to write a novella about it. Especially in this context. However, I'll try to sum up-
I've been dealing with Chronic Pain for the last 29 years. (Inoperable Spinal Damage, since 1993, at the age of 22.) When I met the woman who is now my Wife in 2007, I did not then know the cause of my CP. So when we started dating, I tried as well as I possibly could, to explain the situation to her. In no way did I want her to be unprepared for this issue. She accepted the situation & in late 2008, we were married.
Sadly however, it turned out she could *not* deal with living with my disability. As my condition worsened, I was unable to work, nor fulfill my... 'Marital Duties', let's say. In 2013, the source of my CP was finally discovered, as well as the fact it could not be fixed. As of now, I am almost totally disabled & with the current insanity about how 'evil' opioid pain meds are, I am on only 20% of what I should be. All I am capable of is sitting in my recliner, trying to find the least painful position & constantly praying that God will give me the strength to make it to the next day.
Eventually, my Wife's frustration turned to anger & resentment. in 2014, she decided that no physical intimacy was better than not enough & we have not been together as a couple since. In addition, not only did she withdraw from that aspect of our relationship, but over the years she has essentially, created an entire life that I am not a part of.
The worst part of all this though, is that since she resents me & does not want to talk to me & takes nearly everything I say in the worst possible light (one single example- When the news first published the story about the Male Swimmer who had 'transitioned' & was now crushing all the women's swim records, I lamented to her that Women had better step up & confront this, or they are going to lose all the hard work they've put into sports. My Wife responded- "You don't care about Women! You just hate trans people!" Prior to this, I had not said word one about transgenderism.), under these conditions, it is impossible to have any meaningful dialogue.
So, with growing horror, I have slowly watched the woman I love become, in the pop term- 'Woke'. She has now fully accepted the Cultural Marxist lies, to the point of wanting to argue with God that Homosexuality & Transgenderism are not wrong, because those people are 'born that way' and can't help it.
But it gets worse still. During the Summer, I tried to talk to her about a theological forum topic I came across, where many people were saying that God is unfair in judging humanity. They argued that because He made all the rules, it is *impossible* to come up with an alternative morality that will not get you Damned. I should have known what was coming, I *should* have, but I love her and I continue to hope.
Hope dashed this time though, because she told me that, she AGREED with them. She called it, 'Cake or Death' & it was incredibly unfair of God to not only set all the rules, but make us completely incapable of thinking about any alternatives.
Do I need to say it? This is THE lie. The first lie the Serpent told Eve- 'You shall be like God, *deciding* what is Good and what is Evil.'
Now understand, before I married this Woman, I made as sure as I could that her faith in Jesus Christ was genuine. Back in the mid 1990's, when, in my ignorance, I believed that, by & large, most people who claimed to be Christian, actually were, I was engaged to another young woman I loved deeply, who professed to be a Believer. However, she was not. She was actually a closet Pagan & used Scripture like a Buffet Table, taking what she wanted & dismissing the rest. I tried, gently & carefully, to show her this could not be done. God's Word was intentionally written to be taken as a whole, or dismissed entirely.
It's a whole story itself, but God Himself actually stepped in, directly, in a supernatural event between us, to show her I was speaking the truth. However, it wasn't enough, she refused the correction & with more heartache than I'd ever known up to that point, she ripped herself out of my heart & left. Making sure to tell me that because of my attempt to show her the truth in love, I was, 'the most abusive man she'd ever known.'
So. When, 10 years later, I met my now-Wife, I was VERY careful & as discerning as I could be, regarding her understanding of God's Word. I daresay that anyone who knew her in depth, would have agreed that her faith seemed genuine.
But now? Now? Now it seems that my Love wants to follow in Eve's footsteps & can't wait for her bite of fruit.
I understand why Adam made the choice he did. I understand it on a visceral, bone-deep level that resonates through my Body, Mind & Heart. There is a part of me that wants to stop this struggle, to give up this seemingly unwinnable battle. I have lived with agonizing physical pain for nearly three decades, but it is as nothing compared to the pain of watching my other heart walk off into the darkness of the Abyss & not go after her.
I know that if I do that, I will not only lose her, I will lose my King and Redeemer. So I continue to keep the Faith, I am determined to live in Love, and I will not give up Hope.
But that does not stop it from hurting. God, Almighty God, it hurts.
SO, yes, this whole, 'Manliness' thing? What does it mean to be a Man? To stand for what is right, no matter the cost?
You know, I was awfully nervous to put a response in a chivalry substack. Thank you for your very kind and earnest reply! Reading it brought tears to my eyes as I realized how very lucky and protected I am. Not to mention just imagining what it must be like for you dealing not only with daily pain, but also with inability to get any real help for it. And then to imagine how alone you must feel that this woman, your helpmeet, has seemingly been taken hostage by the serpent so that she cannot/will not help you at all. I don’t understand how exactly it is that people get roped into believing the whole trans thing or the shot thing. It seems so simple. Satan wants you destroyed and dead, preferably suddenly dead and without provision. Knowing that, how cautious we should be when hearing anything from the world! I don’t understand the cake or death idea at all. Clearly, we are in hostile occupied territory. God has laid out for us a way to make it to our eternal destination-life forever in Paradise with Him! Naturally some of it will be difficult. I’ve no doubt it was difficult to follow Patton in the Battle of the Bulge, but how many 19 year old boys knew better than the general? And that’s just one human battle on one front with one opposing army! How small compared to the Legion we’re up against, and how sophisticated their weapons compared to tanks and phosphorus and all!
The idea that Adam made the choice to eat after Eve out of love for her never occurred to me. I’ve wondered why he did it, assumed it was curiosity or even a desire to one-up her sudden knowledge. Maybe several motivations played a part. I wonder why Eve did it, too. Usurpation, curiosity, vengefulness toward Adam because he was derelict in protecting her and didn’t want to take the time to explain to her why she shouldn’t.
I wish I could answer what does it mean to be a man from a place of wisdom and understanding rather than just general guideline. The general guideline is scary enough, though. I think it is in Ephesians. Men are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, even to give up their own lives for her. And that requires that in all aspects of his life, a man must be very humble and very courageous. Yes, women are to be humble and courageous too. But for a man, it seems like to be a good authority requires him to follow Jesus’ steps so closely that he can hardly err, because others will be following him in that error. He can’t let his own thoughts and desires and weariness take hold. And he has to always know that those are the things that he has to battle against. He has to be courageous enough to take those spears thrown and him and keep marching on despite the pain of the wounds. All the cake or death spears and the woke spears and the insult you to the core spears, not to mention the withholding of the balm of nurturing to sustain you in the battle.
For what it’s worth, Mycroft, I will pray for you and for your Eve. Advent is the perfect time. May God bless you and her, and may Mary wrap you in her mantle and hold you so tight!
Keep fighting, friend. I can't put myself in your shoes but we know what the Church preaches and what is our duty. No matter what. We are oath to live and to fight. There is no alternative, no matter the pain.
It's awesome to see someone writing about the true meanings of magnanimity and meekness! I couldn't agree more. Great essay.
Do you worry that the words might be unsalvageable, though? I do.. Because of language drift, the connotations and even definitions have changed so much we might be better off translating them differently from e.g. Greek or Latin or French.
I've been investigating to find words to replace them. Meekness, I think, could (in today's English) better be called forbearance or longanimity. Magnanimity might be salvageable; if not, perhaps valiance. Valiance means lion-heartedness, high-spiritedness, magnanimity, etc.
I like where your head's at and I've often wondered the same thing myself, especially with regards to meekness. But then I have to conclude that the principle is all wrong. In a show of manliness, we have to reclaim these words!
Let me make it clear. I was baptised Catholic. I was told repeatedly "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic".
Perhaps that is true. I demanded that the Pope excommunicate me when the Church bribed and blackmailed Australian politicians to overturn the Northern Territory voluntary euthanasia legislation, even though this was the wish of 90% of Territorians. I got no reply, even though the local NT News repeated it the next day. So I excommunicated myself. DIY damnation. The Catholic Church is implacably opposed to democracy and is, thus, my mortal enemy.
The stigmata of Catholicism is branded so deep I am prepared to speak to those who have supported the corruption and decay of the Catholic Church, especially the un-named driver of Opus Dei, the cardinals and bishops, and the Pope... when the time comes I will take no prisoners. To the paedophiles... your demise will be the most hideous of all.
Planet earth has been invaded by aliens dominated by ignorance, stupidity, sociopathy, and the lust for power and control. It is the responsibiity of all real men to fight and to defeat this invasion, and to ensure it can never return.
The Church did good. You are just a Satanist. Just because "the people" want something it doesn't mean they should get it. That's the whole point of the Bible. God makes the rules, not you nor "the majority."
I'd recommend Alexandre Havard's "Virtuous Leadership" for more on magnanimity, humility and modern day leadership. Almost every sentence is worth reflecting on and expanding upon.
That the US is populated by people, 51% by one count, in the grip of such medieval-delusionism, is probably why it has been so easy to manipulate by the globalists, including the Vatican since Pius the Tenth (according to one Catholic resistance movement of that name). To mix evidence with belief is the epitome of antilogic. Um, when do I get burned at the stake?
That was eye-opening! I have seen translations which use "gentle" instead of "meek", but the difference didn't truly click with me until reading the article. Passing it along.
---
Many denominations have pushed out lower T men as well when they dumbed down Christianity in the 60s and 70s. The replacement of dignified services and contemplative music with forced emotionalism and repetitive jingles has driven away many of the types of people that write code, teach in college, and run bureaucracies. Not everyone appreciates a weekly rock concert.
I am a “returned to the faith” Catholic who came back by means of deep study of computing and computer science. You are nailing one huge facet of the problems with the church. I absolutely got the signal that aspiring to greatness was something unbecoming of a Catholic, and this is not only bad for Men, it’s bad for the world because it leaves these positions of greatness up to the sociopaths who are going to aspire no matter what. If good men don’t strive for greatness, the only great men will not be good.
I think another area the church is wholly lacking is in promulgating serious theology that actually grapples with theodicy instead of just dropping it with warm and fuzzies. I was at a Jesuit high school and left the faith because I thought science gave us the only reasonable way of pursuing the truth, and I couldn’t see a solution to the is/ouhght problem.
The teachers and school didn’t see this as both a spiritual emergency and an easily rectifiable situation they could have been solved by a sufficiently intelligent, well read priest who could argue from first principles.
Why aren’t those people everywhere?
Peter denied Christ three times before the cock crowed. What does that mean? To me, it possibly signifies three major failures of the Catholic Church before the end time.
Thank you for getting it! Sounds like you have a pretty fascinating intellectual autobio. You are right on about greatness then becoming the domain of sociopaths. We have a lot of work to do in reclaiming it, and like men who aspire to magnanimity we should savor the challenge. God bless!
Nice, I agree. I'm your target audience and the weakness of the catholic church and the men in it repel me. Definitely feel the attraction of eastern orthodoxy in comparison. Yet i know that that isn't my blood.
You are right on with that, my friend. With all due respect to the EasternOrthos, their faith has little to do with our history and our traditions and I don't believe the answers to our problems are to be found there. The Catholic Church is worth fighting for.
I'll forego any polemic I might have on the RCC, for the nonce. This is a legitimate issue. Why are we here? How did we get here? Because we did one thing and forgot another-
1.) We *accommodated*. As regards to Women, over the last 100 years or so, Men were told incessantly that there was no difference between the Sexes (I refuse to use the word, 'Gender'. It refers to Language ONLY. 'Sex' refers to the Objective Fact there are only two biological forms for humans- Male & Female.) we were told that Women were just as good as Men in any task they chose to set their minds to. Guarding & Protecting Women was Insulting & demeaning. So, and I am fairly sure this came primarily from a desire for peace in the home, NOT because we thought it would actually do them good, we gave in. We let Women have everything they wanted.
The results speak for themselves.
2.) We forgot that Nice does not equal GOOD. In our modern Feelings-Based culture, this fact has been all but lost. Some halfway decent parents may still have passed something of it to their children, but in the wider culture, telling someone they 'Can't', or even worse, 'Shouldn't', is one of the greatest sins that can be committed. If you dare to suggest that perhaps it WILL do someone harm where they put their genitalia, or that mutilating it or destroying it, might have serious negative consequences, you will be subjected to all the Wrath of Disapproval that modern society can provide.
To warn someone that something they 'feel' they need may not, in fact, be desirable, is monstrously judgmental. To voice a concern that perhaps 'following your heart', is a dangerous endeavor, as the heart is often a damn liar, is insensitive beyond belief.
If a Man won't stand for what is Right, he will get trampled by all that is wrong.
Re: #1
That reminds me of a Fr. Ripperger talk (wish I remembered which one) in which he said Eve was deceived but Adam, being the head, was more culpable in a sense because he wasn’t. Women were told by Marxists (again thanks to Fr. Ripperger for that bit) to want to work outside the home and be immodest and devalue home and childbearing. In the end, this is not what women want or need at all. They were told to want it then and we are told now that we have to do it to prove ourselves or because we asked for it or so as not to be a burden on a man. I wonder if it was a desire for peace on the part of men or, like Adam, just a failure to lead as God ordained.
I am not arguing. Just participating I hope, from the perspective of a disenfranchised career woman told as a child not to be a burden on a man. I would never want to be a man. I do not want that headship. I want to be the woman God created me to be. It is very hard in this world, as that is quite unacceptable to the point that we have a hard time even knowing what that would look like.
Thank you for the good & reasonable comment. Yes, regarding Adam & Eve, in my 31 years as a follower of Christ Jesus, I have *never* heard a sermon preached on the fact that Adam was NOT deceived.
A few years before he died, I did see a sermon by Chuck Missler, where he spoke not of that aspect of the event, but he speculated on how 'great' Adam's love must have been for Eve when he choose to follow her into darkness. He speculated that Adam must have trusted that God would find a way to save them both (Which God DID, of course, However...) Chuck clearly felt very strongly about this, as he was struggling to hold back tears while speaking. However, I vehemently disagree with his support of it. In no way, IN NO WAY, was what Adam did a 'good' or 'noble' or 'heroic' act. I have no doubt it was done because he loved her, but in that choice, he put her above God in his love & as a result, we have had 6,000+ years of horror to go through.
The fact that the Ancient of Days, in his unimaginable mercy, DID offer humanity a way out, does not mean Adam choose correctly. Consciously, willfully, choosing to sin is NEVER what God wants, even if He can defeat the consequences of it. Adam should have given that loss & pain & fear to God & HE doubtless would have come up with a different plan to save Eve, mostly likely one that Adam, in his then preserved unfallen state, could have participated in.
I too, struggle to deal with the powerful emotions this topic brings out. But I have no choice, I'm dealing with it right now & have been for the last 8 years.
It's a long & very involved situation & I don't want to write a novella about it. Especially in this context. However, I'll try to sum up-
I've been dealing with Chronic Pain for the last 29 years. (Inoperable Spinal Damage, since 1993, at the age of 22.) When I met the woman who is now my Wife in 2007, I did not then know the cause of my CP. So when we started dating, I tried as well as I possibly could, to explain the situation to her. In no way did I want her to be unprepared for this issue. She accepted the situation & in late 2008, we were married.
Sadly however, it turned out she could *not* deal with living with my disability. As my condition worsened, I was unable to work, nor fulfill my... 'Marital Duties', let's say. In 2013, the source of my CP was finally discovered, as well as the fact it could not be fixed. As of now, I am almost totally disabled & with the current insanity about how 'evil' opioid pain meds are, I am on only 20% of what I should be. All I am capable of is sitting in my recliner, trying to find the least painful position & constantly praying that God will give me the strength to make it to the next day.
Eventually, my Wife's frustration turned to anger & resentment. in 2014, she decided that no physical intimacy was better than not enough & we have not been together as a couple since. In addition, not only did she withdraw from that aspect of our relationship, but over the years she has essentially, created an entire life that I am not a part of.
The worst part of all this though, is that since she resents me & does not want to talk to me & takes nearly everything I say in the worst possible light (one single example- When the news first published the story about the Male Swimmer who had 'transitioned' & was now crushing all the women's swim records, I lamented to her that Women had better step up & confront this, or they are going to lose all the hard work they've put into sports. My Wife responded- "You don't care about Women! You just hate trans people!" Prior to this, I had not said word one about transgenderism.), under these conditions, it is impossible to have any meaningful dialogue.
So, with growing horror, I have slowly watched the woman I love become, in the pop term- 'Woke'. She has now fully accepted the Cultural Marxist lies, to the point of wanting to argue with God that Homosexuality & Transgenderism are not wrong, because those people are 'born that way' and can't help it.
But it gets worse still. During the Summer, I tried to talk to her about a theological forum topic I came across, where many people were saying that God is unfair in judging humanity. They argued that because He made all the rules, it is *impossible* to come up with an alternative morality that will not get you Damned. I should have known what was coming, I *should* have, but I love her and I continue to hope.
Hope dashed this time though, because she told me that, she AGREED with them. She called it, 'Cake or Death' & it was incredibly unfair of God to not only set all the rules, but make us completely incapable of thinking about any alternatives.
Do I need to say it? This is THE lie. The first lie the Serpent told Eve- 'You shall be like God, *deciding* what is Good and what is Evil.'
Now understand, before I married this Woman, I made as sure as I could that her faith in Jesus Christ was genuine. Back in the mid 1990's, when, in my ignorance, I believed that, by & large, most people who claimed to be Christian, actually were, I was engaged to another young woman I loved deeply, who professed to be a Believer. However, she was not. She was actually a closet Pagan & used Scripture like a Buffet Table, taking what she wanted & dismissing the rest. I tried, gently & carefully, to show her this could not be done. God's Word was intentionally written to be taken as a whole, or dismissed entirely.
It's a whole story itself, but God Himself actually stepped in, directly, in a supernatural event between us, to show her I was speaking the truth. However, it wasn't enough, she refused the correction & with more heartache than I'd ever known up to that point, she ripped herself out of my heart & left. Making sure to tell me that because of my attempt to show her the truth in love, I was, 'the most abusive man she'd ever known.'
So. When, 10 years later, I met my now-Wife, I was VERY careful & as discerning as I could be, regarding her understanding of God's Word. I daresay that anyone who knew her in depth, would have agreed that her faith seemed genuine.
But now? Now? Now it seems that my Love wants to follow in Eve's footsteps & can't wait for her bite of fruit.
I understand why Adam made the choice he did. I understand it on a visceral, bone-deep level that resonates through my Body, Mind & Heart. There is a part of me that wants to stop this struggle, to give up this seemingly unwinnable battle. I have lived with agonizing physical pain for nearly three decades, but it is as nothing compared to the pain of watching my other heart walk off into the darkness of the Abyss & not go after her.
I know that if I do that, I will not only lose her, I will lose my King and Redeemer. So I continue to keep the Faith, I am determined to live in Love, and I will not give up Hope.
But that does not stop it from hurting. God, Almighty God, it hurts.
SO, yes, this whole, 'Manliness' thing? What does it mean to be a Man? To stand for what is right, no matter the cost?
I get it.
You know, I was awfully nervous to put a response in a chivalry substack. Thank you for your very kind and earnest reply! Reading it brought tears to my eyes as I realized how very lucky and protected I am. Not to mention just imagining what it must be like for you dealing not only with daily pain, but also with inability to get any real help for it. And then to imagine how alone you must feel that this woman, your helpmeet, has seemingly been taken hostage by the serpent so that she cannot/will not help you at all. I don’t understand how exactly it is that people get roped into believing the whole trans thing or the shot thing. It seems so simple. Satan wants you destroyed and dead, preferably suddenly dead and without provision. Knowing that, how cautious we should be when hearing anything from the world! I don’t understand the cake or death idea at all. Clearly, we are in hostile occupied territory. God has laid out for us a way to make it to our eternal destination-life forever in Paradise with Him! Naturally some of it will be difficult. I’ve no doubt it was difficult to follow Patton in the Battle of the Bulge, but how many 19 year old boys knew better than the general? And that’s just one human battle on one front with one opposing army! How small compared to the Legion we’re up against, and how sophisticated their weapons compared to tanks and phosphorus and all!
The idea that Adam made the choice to eat after Eve out of love for her never occurred to me. I’ve wondered why he did it, assumed it was curiosity or even a desire to one-up her sudden knowledge. Maybe several motivations played a part. I wonder why Eve did it, too. Usurpation, curiosity, vengefulness toward Adam because he was derelict in protecting her and didn’t want to take the time to explain to her why she shouldn’t.
I wish I could answer what does it mean to be a man from a place of wisdom and understanding rather than just general guideline. The general guideline is scary enough, though. I think it is in Ephesians. Men are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, even to give up their own lives for her. And that requires that in all aspects of his life, a man must be very humble and very courageous. Yes, women are to be humble and courageous too. But for a man, it seems like to be a good authority requires him to follow Jesus’ steps so closely that he can hardly err, because others will be following him in that error. He can’t let his own thoughts and desires and weariness take hold. And he has to always know that those are the things that he has to battle against. He has to be courageous enough to take those spears thrown and him and keep marching on despite the pain of the wounds. All the cake or death spears and the woke spears and the insult you to the core spears, not to mention the withholding of the balm of nurturing to sustain you in the battle.
For what it’s worth, Mycroft, I will pray for you and for your Eve. Advent is the perfect time. May God bless you and her, and may Mary wrap you in her mantle and hold you so tight!
Amen
Keep fighting, friend. I can't put myself in your shoes but we know what the Church preaches and what is our duty. No matter what. We are oath to live and to fight. There is no alternative, no matter the pain.
It's awesome to see someone writing about the true meanings of magnanimity and meekness! I couldn't agree more. Great essay.
Do you worry that the words might be unsalvageable, though? I do.. Because of language drift, the connotations and even definitions have changed so much we might be better off translating them differently from e.g. Greek or Latin or French.
I've been investigating to find words to replace them. Meekness, I think, could (in today's English) better be called forbearance or longanimity. Magnanimity might be salvageable; if not, perhaps valiance. Valiance means lion-heartedness, high-spiritedness, magnanimity, etc.
I like where your head's at and I've often wondered the same thing myself, especially with regards to meekness. But then I have to conclude that the principle is all wrong. In a show of manliness, we have to reclaim these words!
Have to agree.
Let me make it clear. I was baptised Catholic. I was told repeatedly "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic".
Perhaps that is true. I demanded that the Pope excommunicate me when the Church bribed and blackmailed Australian politicians to overturn the Northern Territory voluntary euthanasia legislation, even though this was the wish of 90% of Territorians. I got no reply, even though the local NT News repeated it the next day. So I excommunicated myself. DIY damnation. The Catholic Church is implacably opposed to democracy and is, thus, my mortal enemy.
The stigmata of Catholicism is branded so deep I am prepared to speak to those who have supported the corruption and decay of the Catholic Church, especially the un-named driver of Opus Dei, the cardinals and bishops, and the Pope... when the time comes I will take no prisoners. To the paedophiles... your demise will be the most hideous of all.
Planet earth has been invaded by aliens dominated by ignorance, stupidity, sociopathy, and the lust for power and control. It is the responsibiity of all real men to fight and to defeat this invasion, and to ensure it can never return.
Amen.
I obviously am not going to take my criticism as far as you do, but I know that you have your reasons. We have a lot of work to do. God bless--
The Church did good. You are just a Satanist. Just because "the people" want something it doesn't mean they should get it. That's the whole point of the Bible. God makes the rules, not you nor "the majority."
The opinion of a person armed with nothing but 'belief', is worthless.
Begone Satan, drink your own poison.
I'd recommend Alexandre Havard's "Virtuous Leadership" for more on magnanimity, humility and modern day leadership. Almost every sentence is worth reflecting on and expanding upon.
That the US is populated by people, 51% by one count, in the grip of such medieval-delusionism, is probably why it has been so easy to manipulate by the globalists, including the Vatican since Pius the Tenth (according to one Catholic resistance movement of that name). To mix evidence with belief is the epitome of antilogic. Um, when do I get burned at the stake?
That was eye-opening! I have seen translations which use "gentle" instead of "meek", but the difference didn't truly click with me until reading the article. Passing it along.
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Many denominations have pushed out lower T men as well when they dumbed down Christianity in the 60s and 70s. The replacement of dignified services and contemplative music with forced emotionalism and repetitive jingles has driven away many of the types of people that write code, teach in college, and run bureaucracies. Not everyone appreciates a weekly rock concert.
Rant here:
https://rulesforreactionaries.substack.com/p/rule-7-market-christianity-to-college
Instant follow. Instantly.
I am a “returned to the faith” Catholic who came back by means of deep study of computing and computer science. You are nailing one huge facet of the problems with the church. I absolutely got the signal that aspiring to greatness was something unbecoming of a Catholic, and this is not only bad for Men, it’s bad for the world because it leaves these positions of greatness up to the sociopaths who are going to aspire no matter what. If good men don’t strive for greatness, the only great men will not be good.
I think another area the church is wholly lacking is in promulgating serious theology that actually grapples with theodicy instead of just dropping it with warm and fuzzies. I was at a Jesuit high school and left the faith because I thought science gave us the only reasonable way of pursuing the truth, and I couldn’t see a solution to the is/ouhght problem.
The teachers and school didn’t see this as both a spiritual emergency and an easily rectifiable situation they could have been solved by a sufficiently intelligent, well read priest who could argue from first principles.
Why aren’t those people everywhere?
Peter denied Christ three times before the cock crowed. What does that mean? To me, it possibly signifies three major failures of the Catholic Church before the end time.
Thank you for getting it! Sounds like you have a pretty fascinating intellectual autobio. You are right on about greatness then becoming the domain of sociopaths. We have a lot of work to do in reclaiming it, and like men who aspire to magnanimity we should savor the challenge. God bless!
Nice, I agree. I'm your target audience and the weakness of the catholic church and the men in it repel me. Definitely feel the attraction of eastern orthodoxy in comparison. Yet i know that that isn't my blood.
You are right on with that, my friend. With all due respect to the EasternOrthos, their faith has little to do with our history and our traditions and I don't believe the answers to our problems are to be found there. The Catholic Church is worth fighting for.