A Call to Arms, Part 2
Earlier in the life of this blog, I posted "A Call to Arms, Part 1".
In it I stated, from a faithful, traditional Catholic POV, that the first thing that needs to be done is to take back our parishes. For too long, we have allowed the most activist, leftist parishioners to occupy key lay positions (pay and volunteer) and through that, influence the life of the parish, the activities of the parish and the liturgical habits of the priest assigned to that parish. They have kept potentially faithful, believing priests from instituting some liturgical correctness while encouraging pious devotions and teaching the faithful real orthodox Catholicism.
And so, for those who read this who aren't Catholic, I understand that Part 1 might not seem applicable to you. But, I would venture to say that in some part of your spiritual life, there is some institution that you may be a part of. And in that institution there are both traditional elements and progressive elements.
In that context, I encourage you to support the traditional elements and forego the progressive, modernist ones.
With that clarification, I am on to the next step.
Step 2: What's your tribe?
Something that our modernist, contemporary intellectuals deny till their last breath is that people are different, cultures are different, religions are different, and heck, even that the sexes are different.
Any level of discernment will tell you that's simply not true. We live in a world of different people, different cultures, different ideas, different values and yes, even different sexes. Differences exist and there's nothing wrong in saying it. What your responsibility is to figure out what and where you come from and what you are a part of.
For reference, I will state here what I am.
I was born in the USA to parents born in the USA (so I guess that means I could actually run for President. Any support?). Most of my grandparents were born in this country, but my great grandparents were not. They all come from Europe and I consider myself, despite some very clear Gen X American elements to be of European descent -- socially, culturally, intellectually, physically (appearance) and religiously.
I was technically born Catholic, was baptized Catholic, but not raised Catholic. So I have attitudes of a convert because it was my responsibility to bring myself to the Truth. And the Truth is very clear to me, which is why I state what I state here and on my Twitter account (@JamesTScorpio)
My allegiance is to that descent and Faith and my orientation is to that descent. Because of that orientation, I know what I will fight for and what I will die for. I refused, at the most fundamental level, the contemporary attitude that homogenizes all social, cultural and religious values to a few base, meaningless platitudes that we should all subscribe to. This is why I have focused on Germany, England and other places in Europe where the first string of battles of WW3 are commencing and why I know those same battles are coming to America. I know clearly what I will fight for, what I will die for and what I identify as.
That is the great danger that I am specifically addressing with the second stage of A Call to Arms - confusion.
If we subscribe to that homogenized culture, then we will blindly listen to everything our governmental and intellectual masters tell us. Unfortunately for us Catholics, that also explicitly includes Jorge Bergoglio (I have made my statement regarding him earlier) and the Vatican. Within that homogenized culture, racism, sexism, homophobia, democracy, and political correctness are the only things worth fighting for - which is why most of the mass media is highlighting the "neo-Nazi" elements in Europe that are not welcoming with open arms these poor, hungry refugees that only want a better life elsewhere. What's the problem since they are just brothers in our global community, right? If they are raping young adult, white, blonde, European girls then I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding, right? If we were just more accomodating to them, this wouldn't happen? Maybe, just like the Koln mayor said, if these same nubile, young women weren't flaunting themselves in such a callous disrespect for these refugees, we could all live together peacefully.
The problem with that is that it isn't just illogical, it's wrong. History tells us its wrong.
And don't counter with the "well, we are wiser and more evolved now than previous generations and we are making right what was wrong" argument. That argument, a subtle undercurrent in many mainstream arguments, is the height of arrogance.
Humans are, for better or worse, tribal. That tribe might be tens of people or it may be billions. But tribal we are. At this time on this planet, when the world war 3 has begun, when all institutions will be challenged, when it is incredibly important that you don't become a casualty, that you know what you are a part of and what that entails.
So, I ask you, as part 2, to consider through true discernment, to clearly identify what you are a part of, whether that is religious, social, cultural or philosophic -- or all of them. Whatever tribe/group you identify with will tell you what values you have and what values you will fight for.
This will not be easy, but at least at the end of this process, you will know where you stand.
In it I stated, from a faithful, traditional Catholic POV, that the first thing that needs to be done is to take back our parishes. For too long, we have allowed the most activist, leftist parishioners to occupy key lay positions (pay and volunteer) and through that, influence the life of the parish, the activities of the parish and the liturgical habits of the priest assigned to that parish. They have kept potentially faithful, believing priests from instituting some liturgical correctness while encouraging pious devotions and teaching the faithful real orthodox Catholicism.
And so, for those who read this who aren't Catholic, I understand that Part 1 might not seem applicable to you. But, I would venture to say that in some part of your spiritual life, there is some institution that you may be a part of. And in that institution there are both traditional elements and progressive elements.
In that context, I encourage you to support the traditional elements and forego the progressive, modernist ones.
With that clarification, I am on to the next step.
Step 2: What's your tribe?
Something that our modernist, contemporary intellectuals deny till their last breath is that people are different, cultures are different, religions are different, and heck, even that the sexes are different.
Any level of discernment will tell you that's simply not true. We live in a world of different people, different cultures, different ideas, different values and yes, even different sexes. Differences exist and there's nothing wrong in saying it. What your responsibility is to figure out what and where you come from and what you are a part of.
For reference, I will state here what I am.
I was born in the USA to parents born in the USA (so I guess that means I could actually run for President. Any support?). Most of my grandparents were born in this country, but my great grandparents were not. They all come from Europe and I consider myself, despite some very clear Gen X American elements to be of European descent -- socially, culturally, intellectually, physically (appearance) and religiously.
I was technically born Catholic, was baptized Catholic, but not raised Catholic. So I have attitudes of a convert because it was my responsibility to bring myself to the Truth. And the Truth is very clear to me, which is why I state what I state here and on my Twitter account (@JamesTScorpio)
My allegiance is to that descent and Faith and my orientation is to that descent. Because of that orientation, I know what I will fight for and what I will die for. I refused, at the most fundamental level, the contemporary attitude that homogenizes all social, cultural and religious values to a few base, meaningless platitudes that we should all subscribe to. This is why I have focused on Germany, England and other places in Europe where the first string of battles of WW3 are commencing and why I know those same battles are coming to America. I know clearly what I will fight for, what I will die for and what I identify as.
That is the great danger that I am specifically addressing with the second stage of A Call to Arms - confusion.
If we subscribe to that homogenized culture, then we will blindly listen to everything our governmental and intellectual masters tell us. Unfortunately for us Catholics, that also explicitly includes Jorge Bergoglio (I have made my statement regarding him earlier) and the Vatican. Within that homogenized culture, racism, sexism, homophobia, democracy, and political correctness are the only things worth fighting for - which is why most of the mass media is highlighting the "neo-Nazi" elements in Europe that are not welcoming with open arms these poor, hungry refugees that only want a better life elsewhere. What's the problem since they are just brothers in our global community, right? If they are raping young adult, white, blonde, European girls then I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding, right? If we were just more accomodating to them, this wouldn't happen? Maybe, just like the Koln mayor said, if these same nubile, young women weren't flaunting themselves in such a callous disrespect for these refugees, we could all live together peacefully.
The problem with that is that it isn't just illogical, it's wrong. History tells us its wrong.
And don't counter with the "well, we are wiser and more evolved now than previous generations and we are making right what was wrong" argument. That argument, a subtle undercurrent in many mainstream arguments, is the height of arrogance.
Humans are, for better or worse, tribal. That tribe might be tens of people or it may be billions. But tribal we are. At this time on this planet, when the world war 3 has begun, when all institutions will be challenged, when it is incredibly important that you don't become a casualty, that you know what you are a part of and what that entails.
So, I ask you, as part 2, to consider through true discernment, to clearly identify what you are a part of, whether that is religious, social, cultural or philosophic -- or all of them. Whatever tribe/group you identify with will tell you what values you have and what values you will fight for.
This will not be easy, but at least at the end of this process, you will know where you stand.
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