Comments for What If We Fail? at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 15 out of 15 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:14:15 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12158 1984: Fulfillment of Our Lady of Fatima’s request to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall. Coincidence? I think not! Unfortunately Russia's errors had spread all over the world by then, just as Mary predicted. On May 13, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI stated, “We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete.” If we have let Mary’s requests slip, we can start anew. Remember what God told Abraham in Genesis 18:32: "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." - Louise Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:14:14 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12157 @Randall; I'm afraid you may be right. Anticipate and plan on it getting worse before it gets better. Robespierre wreaked a lot of havoc and murdered many before the blade fell on his neck. I note Voltaire's quote: "The only way to comprehend what mathmaticians mean by infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity." It never fails that the trap a person sets for others ends up ensnaring them in the process as well. How the Left will come crashing down like ton of bricks built like a house of cards is a mystery to me. The Left has taken on Christ's Church. Guess the news, they lose. - Frank Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:27:12 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12156 "...the way that the Soviet Union fell. ...JPII's witness has fared better against Communism ... " The rumors of Communism's death are greatly exaggerated - because the Soviet Union failed to have its Nuremberg, it has risen again (some contend it was a faked death). International Communism colluded with the Fabian Socialists and Frankfurt Schoolers to bring the West down through the Culture War rather than the Cold War. It required infiltration work inside our social institutions, which is why we must still be wary of fifth columns within the Church. The Rockefellers funded much of the decay in the 20th century, Soros has assisted with much of the destruction further in this century, funding evil groups with euphonious names. What if we, America, fails? I am not an Americanist, but I would think it tragic if the principles of the Declaration went down with the ship. Jefferson committed the original sin with his slaveholding, but the 500k deaths of the Civil War ought to have redeemed our country, had the Marxists and Fabian Socialists not steered our country into the welfare state after the Civil War. The Church missed a great opportunity post-CW in not outreaching to the blacks in a major way. The Church could take back America by leading it back to the Declaration - we have the exceptional teaching on human life, our leaders only need to put it into practice and stop incrementalizing. Abolish abortion! No exceptions! - Sue Mon, 25 Jun 2012 08:58:09 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12155 Gian's recommendation is unwise...because it surrenders to the government on the principle of who has the authority over medical treatment, service and insurance. The current administration's position, and that of thousands permanently entrenched in its bureaucracy, courts and law schools, is that rights come from the government. The govt will define what rights exist and do not, and which have priority and which are subordinate. They have decided that health care is a right, in contradiction of those who have correctly answered that no -health care is a "good" but not a right. They believe that health care (HC) is a primary right, and that HC also trumps certain rights in the Constitution's Bill of Rights. For instance, they hold that Freedom of Religion is not a right - hence they insist that people are permitted "freedom of worship," but not "Freedom of Religion" as the Constitutional founders asserted. Since the current administration and its political alliance declares that health care is a right, then they assert that they have the right to set prices and ration the shortages. They thereby intend to use this to "reward their friends and punish their enemies" (to quote the current President). They are determined to engineer which doctors and hospitals are priced out of the market, whose rights are favored in admission to medical schools, what companies are "permitted" to provide health care and "health insurance. They will decide whose rights are "more equal" than others. - Chris in Maryland Mon, 25 Jun 2012 08:31:21 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12154 Communism fell because the devil no longer needed it for his purposes. The west was doing a far better job of destroyiing the morals of youth with the entertainment/media industry doing the heavy pulling. - Mark Mon, 25 Jun 2012 08:17:25 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12153 In my opinion, the American Church is receiving Divine Justice at last. Thirty years ago, I sent my seven children to a "catholic" high school noted for its excellent AP courses. The "religion" courses consisted of, among others, LOVING which was a PRO-contraception textbook, and Johnny Got His Gun, an anti-war screed by Dalton Trumbo (Google him). My wife and I brought these books to the attention of our Ordinary, Abp. McCarrick, who handed us off to an auxiliary bishop. After 45 minutes of the most inane conversation I have probably ever had, we asked that the Chancery review the books and we left them. Three months later, the books arrived by mail in a plain brown wrapper with no note or letter. If I appear intemperate at times in my replies on this site, it is because of my experiences, face-to-face with these destructive people. BTW, my family and I are very comfortable living as the Amish as we have been living their way for the last thirty years within the "catholic church" as well as the larger society. Thanks for a fine update, Robert. - Manfred Mon, 25 Jun 2012 06:47:17 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12152 Gian: I am pretty sure your "pay the penalty" solution is a stop-gap. The penalty is designed to be small and look attractive at first. It then balloons to the punitively expensive range once enough employers have opted for that choice. - Grandma Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:57:52 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12150 For forty years, bishops and Notre Dame have been giving cover to moral barbarism. With the emerging generation of bishops, we now have a chance. But they have to recover so much ground ceded by their elder bishops - Dennis Larkin Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:48:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12149 A well written article. It seems to me that if America fails, our existence as Catholics will be harder, but our obligation to proclaim Christ to the world will not change. We'll just be hated more while we do so. - Arnobius of Sicca Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:35:39 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12148 Just to clarify a point that's already risen in these comments, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, one of the wisest of counselors in these matters, repeatedly warned that a Christian has no business being an optimist or pessimist. We live in hope, not earthly hope, but the hope of Christians who know that God has already overcome the world. I, too, hope that we'll see a spectacular fall of the anti-Christian regime the way that the Soviet Union fell. But it's only speaking the truth to say that JPII's witness has fared better against Communism than against our radical autonomy and consumerism. That said, we have to be prepared for all sorts of possibilities, public and private. - Robert Royal Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:24:45 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12147 All well and good, but 2 million "marched" in NYC celebrating "gay pride" as the mayor and other "leaders" cheered them on. Spenglerian doom may yet prove to be correct. I can't see America reversing course if current social trends are not checked. And they won't be so long as the mass media help push the liberal agenda and the re-education of upbringing of children stays on course. Orwell was largely wrong and Huxley was largely right. There are too many "somas", chief of which is TV, to drug the masses into a mood of apathy and indifference to the issues you raised. All, we are told, is that it's the "economy" that is the main issue in the election, as it is election after election. More bread, more circuses, the mobs demand. Give us Barabbas, not Jesus. Nothing has changed. - Grump Mon, 25 Jun 2012 03:39:55 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12143 Why does not Church terminate all employer-provided medical care and just pay the required penalty. After all, paying the penalty would be cheaper than providing the medical care (even without objectionable parts). And there is no obligation for Church to provide its employees with medical care. It is just the way things have evolved in America. But it is certainly not so elsewhere. Eg in India, the Catholic Church does not provide medical care to its employees. How is the conflict over contraception handled in other developed nations of Europe?. We never heard about any conflicts there. - Gian Mon, 25 Jun 2012 02:49:34 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12142 @Frank - I'm with you on this. The pessimist in me thinks that things will get worse before they get better. And yet . . . I remember the Cold War and it didn't end at all in the way I or a lot of people expected it to. God's always a few steps ahead of us, so to speak. I suppose we'll all be astounded at the way the Culture War turns out. Glory to God. - Randall Mon, 25 Jun 2012 02:14:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12141 Well written, Mr. Royal. Two quick qualifications: Thirteen years in Church-run schools often are not significantly different than thirteen years in government-run schools. Parents often have politically correct values, want their children to "think for themselves," and do not want Catholic schools to teach orthodoxy--and priests and bishops either share their heterodoxy or are afraid of alienating them. - Jon S. Mon, 25 Jun 2012 01:57:14 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/what-if-we-fail.html#comment-12140 The Cold War ended in ways few thought, a Pope traveled to his home country and said, "Be not afraid." The culture war will end in similar manner; in ways no one ever imagined and much to the dismay of "the enlightened." The center target of the Left's actions is the Roman Catholic Church. Because of this, it's a war the Left will never win. - Frank Mon, 25 Jun 2012 01:25:57 +0100