What Tucker Carlson and the Pro-Life Movement Miss about Abortion
In a recent talk to the Center for Christian Virtue, Tucker Carlson railed against abortion asserting that it is “no benefit to society” and “it erode[s] its very foundation.”* The former Fox News anchor called the battle over infanticide not a “political debate,” but a “spiritual battle.”** The speech comes as the issue of abortion has heated up in the Republican presidential campaign.
Carlson is certainly correct in his assessment that the fight over abortion is a spiritual struggle, but he, like most of the pro-life movement, does not understand the larger tragedy of abortion. The failure of the pro-life movement to stress this fundamental aspect, and to see abortion in the light of eternity, is one of the reasons why the evil is still a legalized part of the so-called civilized world.
While the killing of the unborn is a crime, a greater injustice of that heinous offense is committed. Most Christians, including presumably Tucker Carlson (who was brought up Episcopalian) and the Center for Christian Virtue, would agree that one must be baptized to have a chance at salvation. Abortion denies that opportunity. Unbaptized infants neither go to heaven or hell, but to the “limbo of the children” where they do not suffer the pains of hell, but neither can they receive the beatific vision.
Abortion is not only the killing of the unborn, which is heinous in its own right, but it denies one from entering heaven. If this aspect had been emphasized from the start, it may have mobilized even greater public and judicial support to outlaw the abominable practice.
Tucker Carlson’s Christian priorities are also skewed as he states:
The point of life is to have children and to watch them have grandchildren. Nothing will bring you joy like that will. Nothing comes close. Would trade your job for your children? Would you trade anything for your children? Of course not.***
The point of life is to save one’s soul and, as the Divine Savior taught, this is done by loving God with “thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind” and loving “thy neighbor as thyself.”
Christ is very clear about those who put either parents or children above Him:
He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. [Matthew 10: 37]
Of course, children are precious gifts from God who add enjoyment and fulfillment to one’s life for those who can have them. Children, however, are sinners and are in need of nurturing and instruction in how to live a moral life. Sadly, despite the efforts and best intentions of parents, some children turn out badly.
The fact that abortion is now a part of the political discourse demonstrates just how far the natural authority figures and institutions of society have failed in fulfilling their roles as moral guideposts. Yet, this was bound to happen with the increased power of the state in all aspects of society, usurping the role that the family (and its extension – uncles, aunts, grandparents), churches, ministers, arbitrators, employers, philanthropists and scholars once held. Where at one time ethical matters were discussed and decided outside of the state apparatus, now nearly every personal decision is subjected to government interference which has become the supreme arbitrator of what is moral and what is not.
That society’s non-governmental authority elements have little clout is also a factor in why most young people do not have much of a moral compass in how to conduct their lives and are susceptible to support the most debauched aspects of society.
The left has long recognized this and has used the state to push through their agenda on all sorts of social and economic issues. Using the levers of the state, a small, determined minority can impose its will on an unorganized majority. This is another argument as to why pro-lifers should be for radical political de-centralization and the restoration of natural authority in society.
Ultimately, the eradication of legalized abortion will not come via politics. Instead of political wrangling, what should be made clear to the pro-abortion crowd is the real eternal consequences of their actions where the Divine Judge, who is not subject to legislative interference or some perverted, phony “right to choose” nonsense, will deliver perfect justice.
*https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-tucker-carlson-spits-fire-anti-abortion-speech
**https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/09/26/tucker-carlson-abortion-not-political-debate-spiritual-battle/
***Ibid.
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
https://antoniusaquinas.com posted 10-3-’23
Pope Francis the Taxman
On the heels of calling for a Marxist economic conference this coming March (“Economy of Francesco”), Jorge Bergoglio (a.k.a. “Pope Francis”) has once again opined on financial matters. The purported head of the Catholic Church has now designated “tax cuts” as sinful behavior on a par, apparently, with stealing, lying, and adultery:
Today’s structures of sin include repeated tax cuts for the richest people, often justified in the name of investment and development.*Bergoglio did not mention what category of sin advocacy for tax cuts falls under – venial or mortal. Maybe the details of how such a policy ranks in offending Divine Justice will be hammered out at the upcoming Economy of Francesco Commie confab! In Bergoglio’s collectivist mind, those who try and keep their wealth from the ravenous demands of the State are somehow denying the poor their just due:
Every year hundreds of billions of dollars, which should be paid in taxes to fund health care and education accumulate in tax haven accounts, thus impeding the possibility of the dignified and sustained development of all social agents.What Bergoglio and his fellow socialists do not understand is that tax cuts lead to economic growth, whether they are for higher or lower income groups. The less wealth that the State confiscates, the more is available to be used for saving and investment – two keys to economic growth. The rich do not horde their money but expand and create businesses which leads to more and better paying jobs for lower income groups who supposedly Bergoglio wants to help. The poor will only be uplifted by greater production where more goods and services are available at lower prices. Redistribution of income via taxation does not create new wealth, but simply transfers existing wealth from the productive class. Moreover, taxation has the deleterious effect of making individuals produce less since their efforts are siphoned off at the point of a gun. More taxation means less production and, thus, less and more expensive goods for the poor. Of course, this is basic economic theory that any sane person can understand unless one has matriculated to a Western university or college or pays attention to economic ignoramuses like Jorge Bergoglio! Bergoglio’s constant attention to the plight of the poor along with other social issues (“climate change,” the environment, immigration) does not align with the vision that the Entity, which created the office that Bergoglio currently holds, had in mind. On at least two occasions, He counseled His followers to focus their attention on spreading the “good news” instead of earthly concerns:
For the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always. [Mt. 26:11] Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou, and preach the kingdom of God. [Lk. 9: 60]While the Church has always sought to protect and help the poor, widows, orphans, and the downtrodden, its primary mission is to preach the Gospel. Since the time of the Second Vatican Anti-Council, 1962-65, and especially during the “reign” of Pope Francis, evangelization has been condemned and, like tax cuts, is now considered sinful activity. Bergoglio’s criticism of tax reduction is, no doubt, aimed at the Trump Administration’s plan for an additional round of tax cuts. Tax reduction, however, without cuts in government spending will further explode budget deficits which are now even beyond sustainable. Without corresponding spending reduction, tax cuts will mean that the Federal Reserve will have to make up for the short fall with further money printing. One cannot have Big Government and tax cuts simultaneously. The inevitable monetary crisis will, unfortunately, be blamed on tax cuts and will play into the hands of Bergoglio and his fellow travelers. That Bergoglio spends most of his time as a social justice warrior instead of the supposed “vicar of Christ” on earth shows the state of the modern Church. Worse, when he does speak on matters of faith, his words and actions are riddled with heresy. For all those concerned, it is best that “Pope Francis” should be ignored not only for the falsehoods he spreads about Christianity, but also as a social theorist. His pronouncements on the latter will only lead to further impoverishment of the poor and the rest of society while inciting class conflict between those who seek to keep their wealth and those who want to confiscate more of it. *https://www.teaparty.org/tax-the-rich-pope-francis-calls-for-global-wealth-redistribution-427517/ Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas https://antoniusaquinas.com posted 2-17-20 Pope Francis and his Mentor
As if there needs to be further evidence that the current occupant of St. Peter’s Chair in Rome is a Marxist, the announcement of an upcoming conference at Assisi entitled the “Economy of Francesco” should convince any skeptic otherwise.
In his invitation letter to “young economists and entrepreneurs worldwide,” Bergoglio sets the agenda for the Leftist confab quite clearly which is virulently anti-market, a call for massive redistribution of wealth, and a reordering of the current economic systems of the world with a healthy dose of climate change nonesense:
. . . a different kind of economy: one that brings life not death, one that is inclusive and not exclusive, humane and not dehumanizing, one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it.*While Bergoglio’s Marxist credentials have been firmly established, his blashemous actions and words has a growing number outside of “sedevacantist circles” calling him a heretic. The legitimacy of “Pope Francis,” however, is more fundamental than him being a manifest heretic, but his standing as a legitimate pope is invalid since his ordination as a priest and his consecration as a bishop came under the new rites of Holy Orders instituted in the wake of the Second Vatican anti-Council (1962-1965). The mastermind behind Bergoglio’s summit is professor Luigino Bruni and from his comments he sounds more radical than the Argentine Apostate, if that is possible. Professor Bruni wants to use taxation as a weapon to “redistribute income and wealth from the rich to the poor.”* Bruni, a professor of political economy at the Italian University, LUMSA, and the author of a number of books, basis his advocacy for redistribution of wealth on the Scriptures:
[T]he Bible has many words to offer our economic life and ideas [with] the transformation of wealth into well-being.**It appears that the good professor’s Bible is missing the Seventh Commandment of the Decalogue which solemnly states: THOU SHALL NOT STEAL! In no legitimate commentary ever written on this Commandment is there an exception made for the confiscation of wealth from the well-to-do to be given to the poor. Probably just an oversight on the Professor’s part. Because they are blinded by socialistic ideology, Bruni, Bergoglio, and the likes of Bernie Sanders cannot see that the growing wealth inequality which they complain about is not the result of “capitalism,” but is the outcome of the monetary policy of the world’s central banks. This, along with tax policies which hamper innovation and shield the entrenched financial class from competition, is why financial elites are able to maintain and increase their power. Central bank policy of suppressing interest rates and of money printing allow banks and financial institutions to receive “free money” which they can invest and speculate with at zero cost. The boom (actually a bubble) in asset prices on Wall Street is a demonstration of how wealth disparity takes place. If Bergoglio really meant to reform the present system, he would call for the abolition of central banking and a return to “hard money.” Under such an order, banks and financial institutions become wealthy on their ability to make prudent investment decisions subjected to profit and loss. A free market in banking is the antithesis of the current system of credit expansion and money printing. Not only have Bergoglio and his cohorts abandoned the Faith, but they have also overturned the Church’s long-held condemnation of socialism and have ignored many of its own outstanding thinkers on financial matters. From the Scholastics to the School of Salamanca through the Jesuits and the great Cardinal Cajetan, who finally taught the proper doctrine on interest rates, the Church has produced scores of eminent economic thinkers in its long history.
School of Salamanca
Ever since socialism reared its ugly head as a social system of thought, the Church has warned of its dangers even its more milder forms as Pope Pius XII wrote, “No Catholic could subscribe even to moderate socialism.” Since Vatican II and especially under Bergoglio’s regime, however, Leftist ideas of all sorts have been warmly embraced.
At the heart of socialism, be it Marxism or its equally pernicious variants, lies envy which became a part of the human condition with the fall of man. While once condemned, envy has been turned into a virtue by the likes of Bergoglio.
While such ideas may sound appealing to human sensibilities, they will not pass the Divine Judge who knows the thoughts and souls of all His creatures even those of supposed popes.
*Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2019/documents/papa-francesco_20190501_giovani-imprenditori.html
**Jules Gomes, “Pope Francis Convenes ‘Anti-Capitalism’ Summit,” Church Militant.com, 15 January 2020.
Antonius Aquinas@antoniusaquinas
https://antoniusaquinas.comhttps://antoniusaquinas.com
posted 21 January 2020
Pope Francis: A Clear and Present Danger!
Europe’s Future if Pope Francis has his way!
There is probably no greater threat to the long-term survival of the Occidental peoples of the world than the purported head of the Catholic Church, Jorge Bergoglio, a.k.a. Pope Francis. In his latest plea for greater “acceptance” of refugees, Bergoglio held a “Mass” where several migrants and their family members attended. The service was to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Bergoglio’s visit to the island of Lampedusa which has been a launching pad for invading migrants on their path to destroy what is left of European civilization. During his “sermon,” the “Pope” condemned the “globalization of indifference” which many hold toward refugees and their plight. “Before the challenge of contemporary movements of migration,” Bergoglio said, “the only reasonable response is one solidarity and mercy.”* While Bergoglio had the gall to call for even greater societal-wrecking migration, one of his Church’s top prelates, “Cardinal” Theodore McCarrick had just been exposed as being a paedophile and was relieved of his public ministry. To date, McCarrick has been the highest Church official to be guilty of sex crimes with more sure to follow. Worse, McCarrick’s abominable actions had been taking place for years and were known to just about everyone within his inner circle (including Bergogio), but none had the courage to speak out or take any action against the predator for his debauchery.
Sex crime partners – Bergoglio & McCarrick
It is beyond hypocritical that Bergoglio expresses so much concern for the refugee crisis, most of which has been orchestrated by the usual suspects, yet has done virtually nothing against his own underlings, many of whom have assaulted, raped, and molested thousands of young boys and girls. Instead of expunging these perverts from the Church, he has, in some instances, promoted them.
Whether Bergoglio knows it or not, it was the Catholic Church which preserved many of the treasures of the ancient world which would have surely been lost forever during the barbarian incursions. Likewise, it was the Papacy itself which inspired the Christian princes to undertake the Crusades and defend Europe from the repeated attempts by the Muslims to overrun the Continent. Now, in a direct refutation of its history, the Church is encouraging Muslim penetration of its once sacred soil.
At one time, the Catholic Church stood for the integrity of the traditional family, realizing that it was the backbone of any healthy and fertile society. The Church condemned artificial contraception, frowned on “working mothers,” and prohibited divorce while it taught that the primary purpose of marriage was the procreation of children not the embodiment of spousal love. Since the Second Vatican Anti-council (1962-65), however, things have changed dramatically, now the Church speaks of diversity, multiculturalism, and, under Bergoglio, coercive integration.
As the West has crazily adopted Democracy as its governing paradigm, voting and elections will be determined by demographics. If Europeans become a minority, they will be voted out of power, have their property confiscated, and eventually be replaced. For an ominous example of what will happen unless mass migration is halted, the horrific plight of white South African farmers is instructive.
While tighter border controls are imperative, fundamental changes need to take place to reverse Europe’s demographic nightmare as the latest statistics have confirmed where the number of deaths (5.3 million) in 2017 have overtaken the number births (5.1 million).** Most critical in reversing the demographic decline is a revival of the family and the removal of the impediments that have been placed in its way to procreate and nurture children. Two of the most important of these obstacles are the welfare state and public schooling, both of which have been used by the Left to replace the critical role of the family in the upbringing, education, and the shaping of the young’s moral values.
If the likes of Bergoglio get their way, there will be nothing left of Western Civilization; its institutions, arts, music, literature, languages will be swept away under a deluge of racially, culturally, and religiously distinct and often hostile peoples that cannot and should not be assimilated. While immigration enthusiasts must be stopped, Europeans must once again realize what it takes to have sustainable and fruitful societies. When this again becomes part of the Western ethos, the demographic imbalance will cease to be a concern.
*John Bowden, “Pope Francis Celebrates Special Mass for Migrants,” The Hill, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/395799-pope-francis-celebrates-special-mass-for-migrants 6 July 2018.
**Gavin Freiburger, “Deaths Overtake Births in Europe, New Stats Confirm,” Lifesite, https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/deaths-overtake-births-in-europe-new-stats-confirm 12 July 2018
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
https://antoniusaquinas.com
posted 7-20-18
Pope Francis Wants Even More Islamic Invasion of Europe
Not surprisingly, the purported head of the Catholic Church, Jorge Bergoglio, a.k.a Pope Francis, has ushered in 2018 with another denunciation of those who want to preserve what is left of Western Civilization. In a New Year’s address that the Church now calls “World Day of Peace,” instead of the traditional feast day of the Circumcision, Bergoglio once again labeled those who want to curb the coercive migration of Third World peoples into Occidental cultures as “sowers of violence,” “xenophobic,” and they “racially discriminate.”*
Francis continued his criticism of immigration opponents as being “guilty” of “demeaning the human dignity due to all as sons and daughters of God.”
A reality check is in order for Francis: the vast majority of migrants are Muslim who are mostly young males. They are not “sons and daughters” of the Christian God and would be, to say the least, a little bit offended as being categorized as such!
Of course, for those who actually pay attention to this cretin, this is nothing new. Since the beginning of his abominable “papacy,” Bergoglio has repeatedly pushed far-out left wing and green causes. What is worse, however, is that Bergoglio is a heretic who has uttered a mind-blowing string of heresies that have disqualified him from being pope of the Catholic Church. Not only has he demonstrated beyond a doubt that he is a heretic, but he cannot be pope on theological grounds. The Argentine Apostate was ordained in the invalid post-Vatican II orders which confer no sacramental grace. He is not a true bishop either since he also was consecrated in the new rite. Bergoglio is simply a layman masquerading as a pope.
Nevertheless, “Pope Francis” has been cheerleading for even greater amounts of immigration, excoriating anyone who opposes him suggesting that such thoughts are “sinful.” He has used the Chair which he illegitimately sits in both an immoral and unhistorical fashion.
In case Bergoglio is unaware, the popes were the main bulwark against the repeated Muslim attacks upon Christendom in the past. It was the popes that encouraged and inspired the Western princes and powers to take up arms and repel the Mohammedans and reclaim Christian territory, most importantly the Holy Land during the Crusading era. Had it not been for the popes, Europe may have already been overrun by the Infidel or at least had most of its lands compromised.
While it is imperative that enemies of the West of the likes of Bergoglio should be rebuked and, if possible, removed from their positions of power, mass migration opponents must likewise address the demographic nightmare that Europe faces. European birth rates have fallen to unsustainable levels and if trends are not reversed, Western man is headed for extinction if not marginalization in global affairs.
Declines in native European birth rates stem from factors both economic and cultural: (1) real income have continually fallen in the West which has now required many women to enter the workplace in greater numbers to offset the decline; (2) the Establishment has vigorously pushed the idea of women in professional roles and the nonsensical idea of “working mothers.” Women working during their most fertile years would naturally decrease the number of child births. There are, of course, other cultural factors – divorce, contraception, abortion – that have effects on low birth rates, all of which need to be taken in account before there can be a return to a more populous European Continent.
Foreign policy has contributed to the migration crisis. The US policy of regime change in Iraq, Libya, and its attempts to do so in Syria and now Iran has dislodged millions, making it easier for the powers that be to orchestrate their coercive mass migration schemes.
There can be no compromise on mass immigration, the future of the European peoples and their glorious past accomplishments hang in the balance. While the enemies of Western Civilization such as “Pope Francis” want to eradicate this legacy, there is still significant numbers that understand the importance of preserving its past and the promise of its future.
For those who seek Western man’s survival, the heroic attitude of the Roman statesman, Cato the Elder, should be adopted who, after every speech, called for Rome’s lethal enemy’s destruction, “Carthago delenda est.” Hopefully, the proponents of mass migration will share the same fate as the Carthaginians did.
*Thomas D. Williams, “Pope Francis: Opponents of Mass Migration Sow ‘Violence, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia.'” Breitbart. 1 January 2018. http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/01/01/pope-francis-opponents-of-mass-migration-sow-violence-racial-discrimination-and-xenophobia/
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
https://antoniusaquinas.com
On the 80th Anniversary of Hilaire Belloc’s, The Crusades
Review: Hilaire Belloc: The Crusades: The World’s Debate, Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, 1937; Republished Tan Books: Rockford, Illinois, 1992.
INTRODUCTION
As millions of Muslim refugees continue to swarm mostly unopposed into Europe’s heartland, it would be instructive to review Hilaire Belloc’s book, The Crusades: The World’s Debate. Written eighty years ago, the work not only gives a unique analysis of the Crusading Era, but addresses what remains today a fundamental issue in global politics, hence, the subtext of the book, The World’s Debate. The Crusades were inspired by the Catholic Church and Papacy which rightly saw the threat that Islam posed to the West and encouraged military action to counter it. The Mohammedans had taken over vast parts of the eastern half of the Roman Empire and with it control of the Holy Land which they increasingly made tougher to access for pilgrims. The Novus Ordo Church and its current pope have repeatedly encouraged Muslim migration into Europe and have scolded those who raise even the tiniest of protests against this orchestrated event with smears of “lack of charity,” “intolerance,” and “xenophobic” among other denigrations. Such action would have been considered heretical by the Crusaders and the popes of the past who called and helped organize the expeditions. In fact, one does not have to go back that far to know that “Pope Francis’”[1] pro-immigration stance would have been considered treasonous a little over a half century ago. Under the radical changes that occurred at the Second Vatican Anti-Council (1962-65), however, acceptance of false religions and heretical sects are now part of the New Creed. For Western man, the migrant crisis has accentuated a more fundamental problem which threatens his ultimate survival – demographics. European birthrates have plunged to unsustainable levels which, if trends continue, will mean, if not extinction, at least the marginalization of the white populations, the institutions and cultures which those peoples have built. Most analysts of the demographic implosion and migrant crises, however, do not see that their source is ultimately a religious struggle. The unwanted migratory invasion and the failure of Europeans to reproduce to at least replacement levels are the result of Western man’s rejection of the One True Faith. The alarming demographic trends had not yet surfaced when Belloc penned The Crusades although the start of another global conflagration was on the horizon as the West would once again plunged itself into civilization suicide with the outbreak of World War II. Nor had the state of Israel been created at the time of its publication, although the troubling Balfour Doctrine had been mandated which would eventually lead to a Zionist homeland in Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel which would become a constant source of conflict in the decades that followed. For Belloc, “the world’s debate” centered on the conflict between the future of a militarily and economically dominant secularized West against a religiously fervent, although economically stagnant, Islam. To this day, the West still holds these advantages, but its vibrancy and spirit are on the wane due to its abandonment of the Faith and the adoption of social democracy. The Crusades were an expression of Christendom’s highest ideals which contemporary Europeans could not hope to grasp or understand. If the West is ever going to defeat Islam, it must be spiritually revitalized which can only come about if the Church becomes once again Catholic and overthrows neo-Modernism which it adopted at Vatican II. Military victories will never be lasting unless they are backed by a religiously committed populace.HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Belloc takes a unique perspective on a number of aspects of the Crusading Era which differ, in some cases, quite significantly from most modern scholarship. Almost all contemporary historians are of the school of thought that the Crusades lasted until at least the campaign of 1295 (the Fourth Crusade) while some, like the late J. Riley Smith, see “crusading activity” going well beyond that time.[1] For Belloc, the First Crusade from its “calling” in 1095 by Pope Urban II, to its improbable and truly miraculous capture[2] of Jerusalem in 1099, was the most important. It not only accomplished its odds-defying goal of freeing the Holy Land for pilgrimage, but in its wake the Latin Kingdoms were established in the Levant.
With the view that only the First Crusade mattered, since it accomplished its objectives, the vast majority of the book covers the years between 1095 and 1187 as Belloc asserts:
There was . . . but one Crusade . . . it was the great breaking out of all western Europe into the Orient for the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre, and within one very long lifetime it had failed; For with Jerusalem in the hands of the Infidel the purpose of the original great campaign was gone, its fruits were lost. [244]Everything that came in the wake of the first Christian triumph in Asia Minor was something different:
That historical episode, 1095-1187, was the true Crusade, from its inception to its final failure. All that followed was of another kind. [244]Yet, within their initial success, the seed of the Latin Kingdoms’ ultimate downfall was laid. While other factors certainly played a role, Belloc, over and over again, stresses the crusaders’ failure to secure Damascus that proved fatal and would eventually allow the Mohammedans to re-conquer and end the Latin presence in the Levant. Without Damascus, the later expeditions were never a serious threat to the Muslim strongholds and were in the historian’s words “rearguard action[s] of a defeat.” [4] While the West failed to hold and extend the First Crusade’s success and later having suffered the tragic fall of Constantinople, it would eventually return and reclaim most of what it had lost. The Muslim victory at Hattin appeared permanent until the end of time; yet within a few centuries, during which Europe had repelled several lethal Islamic assaults to its heartland, it returned to the Middle East, but this time the conquerors were of a different breed religiously. The ending of Muslim rule and the colonization of the Middle East throughout the course of the 19th century up to the time of Belloc’s book (1937) was accomplished by a secularized West under the guidance and inspiration of religiously pluralistic nation states. Christendom had long been dissolved and although the Middle East’s new overlords were superior in resources, technology, and skill their religious vitality was on the wane and would continue to evaporate as the years rolled on. “We have returned to the Levant,” Belloc writes, “we have returned apparently more as masters than ever we were during the struggle of the Crusades – but we have returned bankrupt in that spiritual wealth which was the glory of the Crusades. . . . [N]or is the Levant held as one whole [Christian dominion], but divided between separate nations to whom the unity of Europe has ceased to be sacred.” [249]
RACE
In the modern era of Political Correctness, one can no longer speak of race, ethnicity, kinship, or “blood” unless one is disparaging Occidental people or their ancestors while at the same time trumpeting the virtues of the assorted brown and colored peoples of the globe. Not so with Belloc, who was far from alone among historians of his generation who understood the significance of race and blood in the episodes of the human past and how important these factors were in the creation of societies and civilizations. To scholars like Belloc, race and religion did matter, and in his view it was a significant reason why the Crusades ultimately failed to hold their possessions. Of course, there were other factors that Belloc duly notes – the failure to control the strategically vital city of Damascus; the lack of reinforcements both in arms and people from the West; the refusal of Byzantium to ally with the Crusaders; the lack of a strong monarchy in the Latin states. Race, however, in this instance, the mixture of French blood with the local population, was critical in the eventual defeat. The “mixing of blood” between the Franks and the Near East population especially among the leadership proved fatal. Few, if any academics of today could write such things. The miscegenation among the nobility and the subsequent generations in the newly formed Latin jurisdictions proved to be “inferior” in talent, ability, and leadership to build the type of society necessary for the Crusaders’ initial victories to be turned into a permanent civilization. A stark example of this among the nobility can be seen in the loss of Edessa:We have seen among other causes the mixture of Western with Oriental blood, especially in the case of the rulers, played a chief part. Now, it was precisely to this that the first of the great disasters was due. [T]he loss of Edessa. . . was mainly due to the character of its ruler, the second Jocelyn. . . The mother of the second Jocelyn was an Armenian. . . . [T]he mixture of blood did here what it so often does; it gave a certain brilliance to the character of the second generation, but that brilliance was accompanied by instability. [192]Belloc continues:
[I]t must be emphasized, for it underlay not only the tragedy of Edessa but all that followed, up to the loss of Jerusalem itself. . . . it was Jocelyn the Second, who with his contemporary, the half breed Queen Melisande, so conspicuously typifies that new and too-sudden mixtures of races which was largely responsible for the catastrophe. [193]Outnumbered and with inferior leadership qualities compared to the first wave of Crusaders, the Latin Kingdoms were eventually doomed especially after the Muslims had politically united. Yet, had the Western kings and princes addressed this matter, things may have been different and, as Belloc maintains, the Infidel may have been permanently relegated to the Arabian Peninsula.
[1] Jorge Bergoglio cannot be head of the Catholic Church for several reasons: (1) he is a manifest heretic whose seemingly endless string of heretical acts, words, and “teachings” disqualify him for the post – a heretic is necessarily outside the Church; (2) Bergoglio is not a “priest” on “technical grounds,” but was “ordained” in the invalid Novus Ordo rite of orders which came into being at the time of Vatican II. Nor is he a bishop since he was also “consecrated” under these non-Catholic rites. Only the bishop of Rome can become pope and since Bergoglio is neither a priest or bishop, he cannot, therefore, be pope.
[2] Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A History. 3rd ed., London: Bloomsbury, 1987; 2014.
[3] While Belloc does not stress it, the First Crusade was aided by heavenly intervention which has been attested to by the Crusaders as well as modern secular historians in their narratives. See, Thomas Asbridge, The First Crusade: A New History, (Oxford: University Press, 2004).
To be continued…
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas https://antoniusaquinas.comFrancis: The Pope of Perversity
Last week, the purported head of the Catholic Church, Jorge Bergoglio, a.k.a. Pope Francis, popped off once again about the supposed danger of global warming to mankind. “Pope Francis” called climate change “one of the most worrisome phenomena that humanity is facing” while those who hold dissimilar views on the subject have “perverse attitudes.”
It is interesting that Bergoglio used the term “perverse” to describe those who might see climate change as a hoax being used by global elitists to further enslave humanity. Webster’s New World Dictionary, 2nd college edition defines perverse in the following way:
It would be difficult to find a better term for Bergoglio and his wretched papacy than “perverse!” It is apparent to any semi-cognizant person that Jorge Bergoglio, who has uttered a stream of mind-boggling heresies and has engaged in numerous scandalous activities, is not a Catholic. Not only is it impossible for a manifest heretic to be pope, but Bergoglio’s “papacy” is invalid since he was neither ordained a priest or consecrated as a bishop in the traditional, Apostolic rite, but instead was given orders created after the Second Vatican Anti-Council, 1962-65. If this was not bad enough, Bergoglio who was “elected,” in part, to clean up the Church’s abominable and still ongoing pedophile scandal has done virtually nothing to oust the perverts, rapists, and enablers involved in the child holocaust, but has “perversely” promoted a number of these deviants into high-ranking Vatican positions! Bergoglio has sought to change two millennium of Church teaching, some of which goes contrary to the very words of Christ Himself, on marriage, divorce, and sodomy. Moreover, he has continued, like his post-Vatican II predecessors, to add novelties and make changes to the Church’s ancient liturgy and practices, most of which have been condemned by earlier popes and councils. Despite all of this, Bergoglio has had the audacity to castigate those who do not go along with the phony baloney notion of climate change. He not only has lost all moral authority to do so, but, like many of the climate change hustlers, Bergoglio has no scientific credentials to make such pronouncements one way or the other. Nor does the office that he illegitimately occupies possess jurisdiction in this field. The post-Vatican II popes have turned the august Chair of St. Peter into a pulpit for all sorts of crazed liberalistic causes with Bergoglio being the most radical of its proponents. Another favorite of the Argentine heretic is his championing of mass migration unto European shores. That Bergoglio has been allowed to not only remain in office, but has not been challenged when he utters such nonsense shows the low degree of knowledge of the faith that exists among most Catholics. Popes have very limited authority and are only “infallible” in very specific theological areas. This is why popes of the past never wrote books, issued statements or made speeches on social issues. They are supposed to preach the Gospel. The attainment of the sublime virtues contained in the Beatitudes as the goal of Christian living has under Bergoglio been replaced with a liberalistic creed of social activism that includes climate change, mass migration, and income redistribution. Such a transformation is the very antithesis of what the office that he holds was originally constituted to accomplish. Bergoglio’s support for global warming demonstrates again that the Catholic Church is now an organ of the New World Order. Politics, control and social engineering are the tenets of the New Faith while the spiritual wellbeing of souls is an afterthought. It is a rarity when “Pope Francis” ever preaches on Christian themes, and when he does it is usually laced with heresies, confusion and downright lies. If any institution should be free of perversity, it is the Catholic Church and that its current head is the embodiment of it shows the depths upon which that venerable institution has sunk. When Bergoglio and his crowd are either silenced or replaced, fraudulent ideas like global warming will become regrettable memories of a distant past. Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas https://antoniusaquinas.comimproper, etc. or corrupt, wicked, etc; perverted.
- deviating from what is considered right and good; wrong
- persisting in error or fault; stubbornly contrary.
- obstinately disobedient or difficult; intractable
contrariness
- characterized by or resulting from obstinacy or
Vladimir the Great Sums Up Pope Francis the Fake!
- Pope Francis is using his platform to push a dangerous far-left political ideology on vulnerable people around the world, people who trust him because of his position
- He dreams of a world government and a global communist system of repression
- As we have seen before in communist states, this system is not compatible with Christianity**
Pope Francis and Libertarianism
The purported pope of the Catholic Church recently attacked “libertarianism.” As a number of theologians have ably shown, Jorge Bergoglio, a.k.a Pope Francis, cannot be a legitimate pope since he was neither ordained as a priest or consecrated as a bishop in the traditional Catholic rite of Holy Orders. And, since he is not a bishop, he cannot be “bishop of Rome” – a prerequisite for being the head of the universal Church.
While “technically” he is not the pope, Bergoglio is a notorious heretic who has said a mind-boggling number of heresies, engaged in the most scandalous of actions, and has attempted to change doctrine and Church teaching. He is not the pope since a heretic is necessarily outside the Church and, thus, cannot hold ecclesiastical office, especially that of supreme pontiff.
If Bergoglio’s “invalidity” is not damnable enough, “Pope Francis” is a neo-Marxist who has repeatedly called for the redistribution of wealth, promoted mass migration, and has denigrated capitalism, accusing it of impoverishing the poor.
Naturally, with such a dossier, Bergoglio would be hostile to the concept of libertarianism. And, as a skillful demagogue, he has deliberately mischaracterized the subject.
In a message to a meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Bergoglio harshly stated: “I cannot fail to speak of the grave risks associated with the invasion of the positions of libertarian individualism at high strata of culture and in school and university education.”*
If Bergoglio thinks that higher education is infected with “libertarian individualism,” he is more delusional than he has been given credit for! Academia has long been a bastion of collectivist thought. Libertarianism and, for that matter, conservative ideas have little voice in higher education. Moreover, Western culture is dominated by the ideals of social democracy, a philosophy that is anathema to libertarianism and also to real Catholicism, not the kind that is preached by imposters such as “Pope Francis!”
It is probably deliberate that Bergoglio uses the word “invasion” in his description as he subtly mocks his audience. The only invasion that has happened is not a takeover of academia by free-markets zealots, but by the millions of “asylum seekers” that have been thrust upon European soil which has been encouraged and orchestrated by the likes of multiculturalists such as Jorge Bergoglio.
“[T]he libertarian individual denies the value of the common good,” Bergoglio continues, “because on the one hand he supposes that the very idea of ‘common’ means the constriction of at least some individuals, and on the other hand that the notion of ‘good’ deprives freedom of its essence.”
Of course, to arch collectivists like “Pope Francis,” the common good always trumps individual rights. While he does not explicitly say it, the “common good” means for the good of the state, and for those who place their own self interest or that of their family before the state’s interest, they are to be ostracized or worse.
Libertarianism to Bergoglio is an “antisocial radicalization of individualism” that “leads to the conclusion that everyone has the right to extend himself as far as his abilities allow him even at the cost of the exclusion and marginalization of the more vulnerable majority.” By living “independently of others” a person can attain freedom.
Once again, as he had done throughout his “papacy” Bergoglio demonstrates that he is an economic ignoramus who does not grasp a basic tenet of social relationships.
Libertarians are proponents of the market economy and markets are the result of the division of labor, specialization, and exchange. Society, in part, is the amalgamation of numerous markets and advanced societies are ones with a highly developed division of labor. Overwhelming empirical evidence has shown that such societies are not only richer, but are more culturally advanced than self- sufficient societies (autarky) where individuals produce everything for themselves.
In such an order, an individual produces or provides services which he does best. Since he does not produce everything himself, he, therefore, depends and needs to interact with others in exchange of goods he does not produce. In the market economy, very few live “independently of others” as Bergoglio stupidly believes, but must rely and depend on their fellow man. Even entrepreneurs, who Bergoglio implicitly condemns in the above passage, have to rely on consumers to patronize their products and services or they will quickly go out of business.
Bergoglio, of course, does not understand that there are many shades of libertarianism running a wide spectrum of social, political and economic thought. If there is a common theme among libertarians, it is opposition to the modern state and the welfare/warfare system upon which it rests. The modern state will not tolerate any competition for the minds, hearts, and souls of men.
Until the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Church recognized that the modern state was not only its enemy, but the enemy of mankind. In this respect, the Church had common ground with the libertarian and conservative movements of the 20th century.
The Second Vatican Council and the “reforms” which came in its wake produced an environment that has led to the likes of cretins like Jorge Bergoglio who has not only repeatedly blasphemed the Divine Founder of the institution in which he supposedly heads, but regularly spews out all sorts of discredited neo-Marxist nonsense.
While “Pope Francis” condemns libertarianism, the solution to the financial, political, and many of the social problems which confront the Western world will only be solved by “libertarian means” – a gold/silver monetary standard, political decentralization/secession, de-militarization/non-intervention, authentic free trade, and the application of private property rights to the migration crisis.
For the good of mankind, not only should Jorge Bergoglio be ignored as supreme Roman pontiff, but he should likewise be ignored when speaking on any and all public policy matters.
*Thomas D. Williams. “Pope Warns Against ‘Invasion’ of Libertarianism.” Breitbart. 28 April 2017. http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/04/28/pope-francis-warns-against-invasion-of-libertarianism/
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
https://antoniusaquinas.com
Pope Francis Now International Monetary Guru
Neo-Marxist Pope Francis
As the new year dawns, it seems the current occupant of St. Peter’s Chair will take on a new function which is outside the purview of the office that the Divine Founder of his institution had clearly mandated. Besides being a self proclaimed expert on global warming and a vociferous advocate of societal-wrecking mass immigration, it looks as if “Pope” Francis has entered the realm of global economics specifically, international monetary policy.
In an 18-page document issued through the Vatican’s Office of Justice and Peace, Bergoglio has called for, among other repressive and wealth-destructive measures, the establishment of a “supranational [monetary] authority” to oversee international monetary affairs:
In fact, one can see an emerging requirement for a body that will carry out the functions of a kind of ‘central world bank’ that regulates the flow and system of monetary exchanges similar to the national central banks.*The paper, “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” contends that a world central bank is needed because institutions such as the IMF have failed to “stabilize world finance” and have not effectively regulated “the amount of credit risk taken on by the system.” Naturally, as one of the planet’s preeminent social justice warriors, Bergoglio claims that if a world central bank is not commissioned, than the gap between rich and poor will be exacerbated even further:
If no solutions are found to the various forms of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social, political and economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundations of democratic institutions, even the ones considered most solid.Bergoglio acknowledges that if a central monetary authority is established it will mean a loss of sovereignty and independence among nations, but such “costs” are well worth the overall societal and economic gains:
Of course, this transformation will be made at the cost of a gradual, balanced transfer of a part of each nation’s powers to a world authority and to regional authorities, but this is necessary at a time when the dynamism of human society and the economy and the progress of technology are transcending borders, which are in fact already very eroded in a globalized world.While the document demonstrates that Bergoglio has not a clue of basic monetary theory, it shows again that the “pope” is a radical socialist who has more in common with the loony ideas of Karl Marx than he does with Roman Catholicism. The ongoing and deepening financial crisis that Bergoglio seeks to address is not because there has been no global central bank to regulate more effectively the money and credit flow of the various nation states, but the crisis is because of the machinations of central banking. Central banking, through the fraudulent practice of fractional-reserve banking, has been the culprit in almost every financial calamity that has beset the Western world since the institution was first created. If “Pope” Francis was truly interested in solving the financial crisis and alleviating the income gap between rich and poor, he would call for the abolition of this evil institution and advocate the re-establishment of an honest international monetary order based on gold and silver as money. But, as a good neo-Marxist, Francis is more concerned with the redistribution of wealth from rich to poor. Yet, as sound economic theory has shown, this Leftist ideal is a scam. Redistribution of income never enhances the conditions of the poor but instead enriches the politically-connected elites and impoverishes the middle class. Unlike what Bergoglio believes and what is taught in nearly all college and university economics classes, wealth can only be created by real savings (the abstention from consumption) and the investment of those savings into the production of capital goods which, in time, creates consumer goods. To foster such an environment, however, there must be a sound monetary order not open to manipulation via inflation and credit expansion by central banks. As he has been accused by several of his cardinals for espousing heretical views on re-marriage and the reception of the Sacraments, “Pope” Francis’ position on international money and banking matters is equally erroneous. Jorge Bergoglio’s “pontificate” has been an unmitigated disaster plagued by constant scandal so it would be wise of him before it is too late to remember the ominous words of the Founder of the institution he now heads about the grizzly consequences that are in store for those who bring about scandal. *Baxter Dmitry, “Vatican Calls for ‘Central World Bank’ and ‘Global Authority.'” Your News Wire.com 2 January 2017. Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas https://antoniusaquinas.com/
Brahms & Democracy
In November of 1876, one hundred and forty years ago, Johannes Brahms’ monumental First Symphony was first heard, performed in Karlsruhe, Germany. The much anticipated work – which took Brahms over 20 years to complete – has become part of the canon of Western music. Ironically, the premiere of The Ring by Brahms’ supposed rival and fellow musical genius, Richard Wagner, was performed for the first time in the same year.
While one critic initially called Brahms’ First Symphony “Beethoven’s Tenth,” it has surpassed that unjust description and now stands on its own merit as a distinct masterpiece. The First Symphony, the three that followed, and the rest of Brahms’ works makes him more than Beethoven’s successor, a unique musical figure in his own right.
In one of his best newspaper articles, H.L. Mencken wrote the following about a Brahms’ performance:
My excuse for writing of the above gentleman is simply
that I can think of nothing else. A week or so ago, . . . I
heard his sextet for strings, opus 18, and ever since then it
has been sliding and pirouetting through my head. I have
gone to bed with it and I have got up with it. Not, of course,
with the whole sextet, nor even with any principal tune of it,
but with the modest and fragile little episode at the end of
the first section of the first movement – a lowly thing of eight
measures, thrown off like a perfume, so to speak, from the
second subject.*
The Sage of Baltimore continued on what made Brahms so special:
In music, as in all the other arts, the dignity of the work is simply
a reflection of the dignity of the man. The notion that shallow
and trivial men can write great masterpieces is one of the follies
that flow out of the common human taste for scandalous
anecdote. . . . More than any other art, perhaps, music demands
brains. It is full of technical complexities. It calls for a capacity to
do a dozen things at once. But most of all it is revelatory of what
is called character. When a trashy man writes it, it is trashy music.
Here is where the immense superiority of such a man as
Brahms becomes manifest. There is less trashiness in his music
than there is in the music of any other man ever heard of, with
the sole exception, perhaps of Johann Sebastian Bach. . . .
Hearing Brahms, one never gets any sense of being entertained
by a clever mountebank. One is facing a superior man, and the
fact is evident from the first note.
While Brahms was born in Hamburg, he eventually found his way to the musical capital of the world, Vienna, which, at the time, was part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire. Vienna was more than the musical center of Europe, but a cultural one as well which was rivaled by few in Brahms’ time.
Although mostly forgotten under an avalanche of pro-democracy historiography, the Vienna where Brahms spent most of his adult life was “ruled” by a monarch. The rich cultural life which flourished in that political atmosphere was admitted even by those who were, no doubt, hostile and envious of it as the philosopher and economist, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, describes in his seminal book, Democracy: The God That Failed:
Even democratic intellectuals and artists from any field of
intellectual and cultural endeavor could not ignore the
enormous level of productivity of Austro-Hungarian and in
particular Viennese culture. Indeed, the list of great names
associated with late nineteenth and early twentieth century
Vienna is seemingly endless.**
As Professor Hoppe insightfully shows, the incredible accomplishments of the likes of Brahms came in the pre-democratic era which tragically ended with WWI.
. . . rarely has this enormous intellectual and cultural
productivity been brought in a systematic connection with
the pre-democratic tradition of the Habsburg monarchy.
Instead, if it has not been considered a mere coincidence, the
productivity of Austrian-Viennese culture has been presented
‘politically correctly’ as proof of the positive synergistic effects
of a multiethnic society and of multiculturalism.
Whether the accomplishments were in the arts, music, scientific breakthrough, invention, or entrepreneurial wealth creation, all were the result of individual initiative, skill, tenacity, foresight and intelligence within a society that recognized, praised, and promoted such achievements. There was no affirmative action or policies that promoted artists based on their skin color or gender. When Brahms came to Vienna, he did not receive an Austro-Hungarian version of a National Endowment of Arts subsidy!
Just as important, and what is ignored by the Left and many race-denying realists on the respectable Right, is that all of these civilization-enhancing accomplishments in Vienna were made, for the most part, by white men. No other culture or people have ever produced music comparable to Brahms and his fellow Western musical masters.
The democratic age which followed has been praised by scholars as an advancement of the human condition on all fronts. In his book and in other places, however, Professor Hoppe has shown that just the opposite has occurred under democratic conditions with a trend toward de-civilization. Taking the US as an example, he writes:
. . . less than a century of full-blown democracy has resulted in
steadily increasing moral degeneration, family and social
disintegration, and cultural decay in the form of continually rising
rates of divorce, illegitimacy, abortion, and crime. As a result
of an ever-expanding list of nondiscrimination –
‘affirmative action’ – laws and nondiscriminatory, multicultural ,
egalitarian immigration policies, every nook and cranny of American
society is affected by government management and forced integration;
accordingly, social strife and racial, ethnic, and moral –cultural
tension and hostility have increased dramatically.
As Professor Hoppe notes, the latest phase in the democratic era has been immigration policies which have been deliberately planned to destroy the various Western cultures with Germany being the most devastated. Yet, as Mencken wrote of him, Brahms was a product of Germanic blood not that of multiculturalism. The German people who continue to support and allow those to wantonly destroy the culture that produced a Brahms should consult Mencken:
I give you his Deutsches Requiem as an example. . . . The thing is
irresistibly moving. It is moving because a man of the highest
intellectual dignity, a man of exalted feelings, a man of brains,
put into it his love and pride in his country. That country is
lucky which produces such men.
While Brahms’ music will always be listened to and played for its brilliance, it should always be remembered in what culture his genius was allowed to flourish. How fortunate for mankind that Brahms lived in the pre-democratic era and what a loss it would have been if the First Symphony would have never been composed.
*Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, ed. The Impossible H.L. Mencken: A Selection of His Best Newspaper Stories. With a Foreword by Gore Vidal. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1991, pp. 465-468.
**Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Democracy: The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order. New Brunswick (U.S.A.): Transaction Publishers, 2001, pp. xii-xiii.
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
https://antoniusaquinas.com/
Pope Francis is at it Again
It’s Still the Media, Stupid
It is the intellectuals in this sense who decide what views and opinions are to reach us, which facts are important enough to be told us, and in what form and from what angle they are to be presented. Whether we shall ever learn of the results of the work of the expert and the original thinker depends mainly on their decision. *Since at least the 1960s, the dominant opinion-molding sector of the mass media has been the electronic media, which has far outpaced newsprint and academia in influence. While its power may be on the wane in the Internet Age, it is still the most powerful and important tool in the political elites arsenal for imparting their agenda. The electronic media, through its use of pictures and images, has been able to manipulate political outcomes and shape public policy discussions at almost every turn. As every media realist has long understood, the mainstream media has long been controlled by the Left which has used this power to counter any opposition to its narrative. The major media outlets are controlled by five corporate giants – Time Warner, Disney, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom – the largest purveyors of crony capitalism and cultural Marxism the world has ever witnessed. No dissent is allowed to be heard on these outlets nor is there any hope of career advancement for journalists or writers if the Leftist paradigm is not trumpeted. A free society does not exist because of a free press. In fact, every society which has naively allowed a free press to exist, invariably finds that the press will seek to undermine it, especially its most innovative and successful individuals. The reason, as Hayek so brilliantly explains, is that the press, and in this age the electronic media, is part of the intelligentsia which by its nature is envy ridden since it has little to offer the world in the production of actual goods and services. Its members, therefore, are constantly denigrating their betters. Such a mindset and sociological disposition will naturally lead members of the mass media to support politicians who will regulate, tax, and control the productive members of society. This explains, in part, their vile and hysterical opposition to Donald Trump. For Trump, unlike his crazed opponent, has largely gained his wealth and position through his own intelligence, foresight, and hard work. Offsetting media bias is a Herculean task and can only be done by one who is savvy and financially independent enough. This is why Donald Trump has gotten as far has he has and has used his leverage to heroically call out the manipulations of the mainstream media. It is surprising, therefore, that Trump agreed to the Presidential “debates” in a forum orchestrated by the media with “moderators” who would be gunning to undermine him at every turn. Better to have chosen a neutral environment with an honest third party participant such as Brian Lamb of C-Span. Agreeing to the same rigged debate format was a tactical mistake. For anyone to seriously challenge the American Leviathan, it must be understood that the mainstream media is a part of that despotic structure and it too must be neutered. Donald Trump has done more than any Presidential candidate to expose the treachery of the mainstream media, now others must take up the cause.
“Pope Francis:” Traitor to Western Civilization
Rock ‘N’ Roll Has Got to GO!
1 Reply
Has Got to GO!
Those who believe that the Western world can solely be turned around by the enactment of sound economic policies are sadly mistaken. Until the Left is not only defeated, but annihilate in the culture war, the decline of the West both economically and socially will continue as recently witnessed by the “controversy” over the use of public bathrooms by perverts.
To accomplish such a necessary task, those on the Right must identify the means and mechanism by which liberalism has so adroitly used to accomplish the cultural transformation.
No finer example of the Left’s use of a medium for its depraved ends can be seen in that of rock “music.” It is safe to say that rock ‘n’ roll has done more to undermine public morality than all of the judicial activism and welfare legislation enacted throughout the past half century or so. And, without a conducive social atmosphere created by such music, it is doubtful that the sexual revolution and its perverse byproducts such as militant homosexuality and feminism would have ever flourished.
While initially rock was relatively innocuous, it, nevertheless, was subversive to traditional morality. Most rock songs are couched in cleverly worded lyrics which promote promiscuity, vices such as drug use, and frequently mocks Christianity, all of which has led to the corruption and eventual ruination of countless lives.
Yet, despite these well established sociological “facts” of rock ‘n’ roll’s corrupting influence, those among the Right have long ago accepted this insidious form of music. In fact, many actually promote it. Rock is used as lead-in and background music to conservative television and radio programs while publications carry reviews of rock albums and concerts with writers often boasting about attending such events with their wives and children in tow.
After the recent passing of the degenerate and truly odd character who went by the name of “Prince,” a number of conservative outlets praised his “music” while one popular radio and television personality attempted to make the case that Prince was an opponent of the New World Order!
At one time, the culture war was an integral part of the political discourse, however, the debate over the issues of that war have been abandoned. The acceptance of rock music by the Right is another demonstration of how it has succumbed to nearly all of liberalism’s premises.
The Left has understood (and still does) that through mediums such as television, motion pictures, and music, they could accomplish their agenda despite setbacks in the political arena. While unsuccessful for a time in politics, they were, nevertheless, winning the important cultural battles and it was through rock music that society was gradually transformed.
There is, thus, no need for those who seek a return to traditional society to celebrate and embrace rock music, instead it should be treated with scorn. But, it must first be recognized for the evil that it is.
While rock music must be understood for what it represents and debunked for its part in the triumph of the counterculture, an alternative should also be offered. Happily, one can be readily found in the sublime and societal enhancing music of such masters as Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
Better still, St. Augustine reportedly remarked, “Qui cantat, bis orat” (“A person who sings prays twice”). When Western man’s Creator is once again prayed to through the music of such greats as Palestrina, Victoria, and Byrd throughout all the lands will the cultural war be won and society revitalized while rock music will be a distant and regrettable memory of a troubled time.
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
https://antoniusaquinas.com/
“Pope” Francis and the Disintegration of Europe
A Massive Wall Surrounds Francis-Bergoglio’s Vatican City-State
Despite being rebuked and humiliated by the Republican presidential front runner over his inflammatory statements about U.S. illegal immigration policies, Newpope Francis of the Vatican II sect has continued to opine about the migration crisis. In an address to a Newcatholic French group, Bergoglio admitted the obvious: “We can speak today of [an] Arab invasion. It is a social fact.” Yet, despite the horrific consequences of this fact, mostly orchestrated by New World Order groups and organizations of which his church is a part, Newpope amazingly contends that this will eventually be a positive thing for Europeans: “How many invasions has Europe experienced in the course of its history! But it’s always been able to overcome them and move forward, finding itself complimented and improved by the cultural exchange they brought about.”* Europe “complimented and improved”?! Right. Tell that to the thousands of women who have been raped, assaulted, and terrorized by mostly Muslim fanatics, or look at the widespread destruction of private property that these trespassers have wrought, and worse, the cultural transformation that this deliberately created crisis has produced. Bergoglio furthered these idiotic statements with some multicultural speak: “the only continent [Europe] that can bring some unity to the world.” And that Europe must fulfill its “universal role” and “rediscover its cultural roots.”** If Bergoglio really wants Europeans to “rediscover” their “cultural roots,” they will find that ever since the emergence of Mohammedanism, its fanatical adherents have repeatedly attempted to overrun and conquer the Continent and subject its peoples to the crazed religious and political dictates of its possessed “prophet.” At one time, Europe fulfilled its “universal role” by engaging in a series of military actions (the Holy Crusades) which were mostly inspired by true popes (which Bergoglio and his Vatican II predecessors are certainly not) to expunge the infidel from the sacred places where the Founder of Christianity lived, preached, was crucified, and gloriously rose from the dead. These authentic successors of St. Peter, in particular Urban II and Innocent III, understood the threat that Mohammedanism posed to their flocks both spiritually and culturally. The failure of Christendom to ultimately defeat Islam and drive it out of the former lands of the Roman Empire was not the fault of the popes, but that of the secular powers who increasingly sought their own aggrandizement. If the European principalities had heeded the popes’ calls and driven the Muslims back to their tribal homeland, history would have had a happier outcome. Bergoglio, if he cared to look, would find that Europe’s “universal role” included the justification of “holy war,” in the use of violence against Islam, not only during the Crusades, but in the re-conquest of Spain, and in the defense of its homeland from numerous Muslim assaults. Moreover, the idea of Muslims living side-by-side with Europeans or being able to create their own autonomous communities would have rightly been considered societal genocide. No authentic pope would be engaged in “dialogue,” common prayer meetings, or other ecumenical interchanges with Muslims as Bergoglio and his Vatican II predecessors have repeatedly and blasphemously done over the years. Any pre-Vatican II pope, theologian, bishop, priest, or, for that matter, astute layman would properly consider such actions abominable and would recommend as punishment a rendezvous with some of the scum that abounds at the bottom of the Tiber for its transgressors! Bergoglio and most of the Newchurch hierarchy’s support for free migration and open borders and their condemnation of those who have opposed such lunacy clearly demonstrates that the Vatican II sect is part and parcel of the New World Order which seeks the eradication of sovereignty and the extinction or at least subjugation of European peoples to the global elites. Not only is this cretin wantonly overturning two thousand years of traditional Christian teaching on morality, but he is openly encouraging the destruction of those societies which that morality ultimately helped to build. Despite the skillfully and deceitfully crafted persona as “Mr. Humble” and his white pontifical attire, “Pope” Francis and the sect that he heads are a clear and present danger to what remains of Western civilization and must be opposed and removed from power. *Tom Wyke, “The Pope says ‘It is a Social fact’ that Europe is seeing an ‘Arab Invasion’ and it’s a Good Thing.” Daily Mail.com. 4 March 2016 **Ibid. Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinasQueen Isabella and the Invasion of Europe
The Muslim Surrender of Granada to Fernando and Isabella, 1492
If the Western world ever becomes serious on how to deal with the current, mostly Muslim, invasion of its once sacred soil, all it needs to do is to look to its glorious past. In particular, it should examine the heroic actions of one of its greatest figures, Isabella of Castile. This is why the historian William Thomas Walsh entitled his magisterial biography of the queen, Isabella of Spain: The Last Crusader.
While the Reconquista was not directed at securing access to the Holy Land and Jerusalem as earlier Crusades had attempted, the ridding of the Spanish peninsula of Muslim power was a definite part of what Jonathan Riley-Smith calls the “paraphernalia of crusading:”
. . . with the union of Aragon and Castile in the persons of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1479 and the resurgence of crusading ideas that had followed the loss of Constantinople the Spanish court, with Isabella taking the lead, began to seethe with fervour, nationalistic as well as religious. The paraphernalia of crusading – papal letters and crusading privileges – were in evidence. [Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A History, p. 312Isabella and Fernando used their money and resources not for “national greatness,” or their own self aggrandizement as the later “absolutist” monarchs would do, but instead employed their treasures to triumphantly defeat one of Christianity’s mortal foes.
Huge sums of money were spent and large armies raised and the war was pursued with a remarkable singlemindedness at the expense of almost all the country’s other interests. [Ibid]If Christian principalities and powers had a portion of Isabella’s ardor for the Faith, the infidel would have long since been vanquished or at least pushed out of the former lands of the Roman Empire which they had brutally overrun. Unfortunately, the Western world went in an increasingly secular direction after the passing of the great queen, eventually adopting totalitarian social democracy as its governing system while pushing Christianity out from nearly every sector of public life. Norman Housley in Contesting the Crusades adds, “. . . the Granada war of 1482-92 had shown not just that the crusading mechanism could still work, thereby confirming the lesson of the Hussite crusades, but that it could generate military success.” (p. 138) He points out that the Reconquista was a part of crusading tradition and not some separate political aggrandizement scheme of Isabella and Fernando: “A significant feature of recent research on the Granada war, however, has been the demonstration that the campaigns were advanced with the help of a cluster of ideas and emotions that had strong links with past crusading.” (p. 139) Before the final elimination of Muslim power in Spain, Isabella was engaged in crusading activity. Her forays against the Muslims were undertaken outside of Spain proper and done despite the kind of internal political difficulties which kept other sovereigns from taking up the Cross. In 1479, the Grand Turk Mohammed II besieged Rhodes which Venice had abandoned, in part, to preserve its own trading privileges in the Levant. While the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem had held off the Muslims, it did not end the threat as the Turks set their sights on the coast of Italy which, of course, sent shock waves not only throughout the country, but Europe at large. In August of 1480, the Turks attacked and took the city of Otranto in the Kingdom of Naples. The atrocities committed were particularly heinous as Walsh details:
Of the 22,000 inhabitants, the barbarians bound 12,000 with ropes and put them to death, thus helpless, with terrible tortures. They slew all the priests in the city. They sawed in two the aged Archbishop of Otranto, whom they found praying before the altar. On a hill outside the city, now known as Martyrs’ Hill, they butchered many captives who refused to become Mohammedans, and threw their corpses to the dogs. [Walsh, Isabella of Spain, p. 192]The account of these actions became widely dispersed and certainly known to Isabella. As happened far too often in earlier crusades the political leadership, this time in Italy, was too busy with their own petty squabbles to recognize the Muslim threat despite pleas from the pope: “If the faithful, especially the Italians wish to preserve their lands, their houses, their wives, their children, their liberties, and their lives; if they wish to maintain that Faith into which we have been baptized, and through which we are regenerated, let them at last trust in our word, let them take up their arms and fight.” [Quoted in Walsh, Isabella of Spain, p. 192] Not only for the rest of Europe, but the Moors’ capture of Otranto was a threat to Spain, especially since Granada, with two important sea ports on the Mediterranean, could easily be used as military bases. Isabella, however, keenly understood what the establishment of a Muslim foothold on Italian soil would mean for the security of Christendom. In response, she sent the entire Castilian fleet to assist in the recapture of Otranto. The queen went beyond just providing arms for defensive purposes, but took the offensive despite delaying much needed domestic reform as Walsh describes:
. . . it was characteristic of Isabella to stop at nothing short of her utmost. At a moment when she had need of her new revenues to complete her program of reform and to prepare for war with Granada . . . she generously threw all her energies and material resources into the major struggle for the safety of Christendom. She formed the audacious design of raising a fleet powerful enough not only to defend Italy and Spain, but if necessary to defeat the Turks on the high seas and smash their whole offensive. [Ibid., p. 193]The idea of compromise or coexistence with the Muslims, a policy which had been taken by crusaders both in the East and in Spain’s case with El Cid was anathema to Fernando and Isabella. [S.J. Allen & Emilie Amt, eds.,The Crusades: A Reader, pp188-191] After the sultan of Egypt, al-Ashnat Saifud-Din Qa’it Bay, had won a significant victory over the Ottoman Turks, he demanded that Fernando and Isabella stop their war on Granada. He threatened, among other measures, to take reprisals on Christian pilgrims and suggested destroying the Holy Sepulcher. [Warren H. Carroll, Isabel of Spain: The Catholic Queen, p. 190] Fernando was not to be intimidated. He quickly retorted with a sharp and detailed history of the Reconquista which showed that it was his and his predecessors’ right to regain their homeland from the Muslim invaders. Moreover, if Catholics were killed to stop the war in Granada, Fernando would kill Granada Moors in retribution. [Ibid.] To this warning, no response was ever recorded from the sultan! Isabella’s personal sanctity and love for her people has never been denied. Prior to the attack on the Muslim held fortress of Loja, Isabella organized a massive army the makeup of which consisted of soldiers from across the Continent eager to join the crusade, inspired, no doubt, by the queen’s indomitable will as the late Warren Carroll shows:
The whole army knew that Isabella . . . was praying night and day for their success; knowing her holiness, they were immensely confident in the power of her prayers. Never had her prestige among them stood so high; her constant care for the wounded, her fine and firm hand upon their supply line, keeping them equipped with all they needed wherever they might go, were now known and honored by every soldier. [Ibid., p. 172]Even her love for her husband would not dissuade the queen from accomplishing what she believed was a holy mission. In 1484, Fernando had sought to reclaim rights that his family had in Roussillon, France. Yet, the financial situation at the time only allowed for one war to be fought so a decision had to be made: a conflict over a dynastic dispute or the continuation of the struggle to expel the Muslims. Isabella never wavered. Unlike other sovereigns who became embroiled in internal politics instead of fulfilling their crusading vows, Isabella pressed on, even more determined. In one of the few instances where her disagreements with her husband became public, the queen wrote:
This is so just and so holy an enterprise that among all those of Christian princes there was none more honorable or more worthy, none more likely to gain the aid of God and the love of the people. . . . Two years ago the war with the Moors began, in which great efforts were made and great preparations undertaken on land and sea, at immense cost. In view of all this, it appears unwise to lose all by beginning another war with the French. [Quoted in Carroll, Isabel of Spain, pp, 158-9.]The Reconquista was not only a part of Spain’s struggle, but became one of Christendom’s, which can easily be seen with the participation of knights and fighting men from across the Continent. The most important of these were the Lombards whom Isabella recognized as crucial for the achievement of the ultimate goal as Carroll points out:
. . . the Lombards became the key to the war against Granada; they were the decisive and irresistible weapon, once brought to the scene of action. It was not easy to transport these monsters over the primitive roads of southern Spain, but it was done under Isabella’s constant prodding. [Ibid., p. 159]While the conquest of Granada at the beginning of 1492 ended seven hundred years of Muslim rule on the Iberian peninsula, the victory would have never been achieved without the sacrifices of Queen Isabella. Before an attack on Granada could be made, the fortress of Baza had to be captured, however, Fernando’s earlier defense of Sicily and his foray into France left him critically short of funds. He considered postponing the assault until the needed money and supplies could be procured and sought Isabella’s advice. Her response was typical, “[Baza] has to be continued and it will continue.” [quoted in Carroll, Isabel of Spain, p. 192] Another retreat would be fatal to the spirit of the people and ultimate success. William Thomas Walsh explains the heroic efforts the queen made to secure the funds, soldiery, and supplies for Baza’s capture:
Money was the first need. She pawned her gold and plate, priceless heirlooms from her ancestors; and she sent all her jewels by speedy messengers to Valencia and Barcelona . . . her pearl necklace, her balas rubies, even the jeweled crown of Saint Fernando. [Walsh, Isabella of Spain, p. 312]The amount sold was astronomical totaling some 60,000 gold florins. [Carroll, Isabel of Spain, p. 192] “The pawning of Isabella’s jewels,” Walsh contends,” was the turning point in the Crusade, and the fall of Baza marked the beginning of its third and final phase.” [Walsh, Isabella of Spain, p. 314] The capitulation of Granada and the restoration of Christianity throughout Spain was celebrated throughout Europe and recognized at the time for its supreme significance. Probably no one summed up the accomplishment of Fernando and Isabella than King Henry VII who proclaimed:
These many years the Christians have not gained new ground or territory upon the infidels, nor enlarged and set farther the bounds of the Christian world. But this is now done by the prowess and devotion of Fernando and Isabella, sovereigns of Spain, who to their immortal honor have recovered the great and rich kingdom of Granada, and the populous and mighty city of the same name from the Moors . . . for which this assembly and all Christians are to render laud and thanks to God, and to celebrate this noble act of the King of Spain, who in this is not only victorious but apostolical, in the gaining of new provinces to the Christian faith. [Quoted in Walsh, Isabella of Spain, pp. 333-34]While it took some 700 years to rid Spain of the Muslim yoke, at least Isabella and her predecessors had only to contend with the infidel. Today, however, those who oppose the invaders have a two-fold problem: not only must they battle a hostile, alien group which may freely roam within their midst, but they must counter the Continent’s political elites who are allowing and, often times, encouraging the catastrophe to take place. If victory is to be achieved, those who seek to preserve Europe’s cultural and demographic heritage must adopt Isabella’s uncompromising policies and replicate her own tremendous sacrifices. Many have done so already and will certainly be honored by history for their gallant stand, but many more must join if the contest is to be ultimately won. Selected Bibliography Allen, S.J. and Amt, Emilie, eds., The Crusades: A Reader. 2nd ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014. Carroll, Warren H. Isabel of Spain: The Catholic Queen. Front Royal, VA.: Christendom Press, 1991 Housley, Norman. Contesting the Crusades. Malden, MA.: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Smith, Jonathan Riley. The Crusades: A History. 3rd ed., London: Bloomsbury Academic, 1987; 2014. Walsh, William Thomas. Isabella of Spain: The Last Crusader. New York: Robert M. McBride and Company, 1930; Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1987. Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas – A Commemoration
March 7th is the traditional feast day of one of the most important thinkers of Western Civilization, the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1275). Despite being referred to early in life as a “Dumb Ox,” St. Thomas would, nevertheless, profoundly shape the development of Western theology and philosophy.
St. Thomas was instrumental for the reintroduction of Aristotle into Western thought and synthesized Greco-Roman natural law constructs with Christian Revelation to produce the mighty system which became known as “Thomism.” The eminent saint’s importance in this regard cannot be understated as the late Murray Rothbard so aptly describes: “For in reviving and building on Aristotle, St. Thomas introduced and established in the Christian world a philosophy of natural law, a philosophy, in which human reason is able to master the basic truths of the universe. In the hands of Aquinas as in Aristotle, philosophy, with reason as its instrument of knowledge, became once again the queen of the sciences.”*
A prolific and multidimensional writer, St. Thomas’ best-known work was the Summa Theologiae which has been called by one commentator “the fullest exposition of theological teaching ever given to the world.”** He was also an accomplished poet whose hymns such as Lauda Sion and the Adoro Te Devote are some of the most sublime in all of Christian tradition. Legend has it that Pope Urban IV commissioned the Angelic Doctor and St. Bonaventure to compose hymns for the Feast of Corpus Christi. St. Bonaventure, after hearing St. Thomas’ compositions, was so overwhelmed with their splendor that he promptly burned his own.
Sainthood, however, requires more than a brilliant mind and facile pen, and by all accounts St. Thomas led a holy and virtuous life and despite his intellectual prowess remained the humblest of men. Near the conclusion of his life, he received a private revelation which changed him to such a degree that he could no longer engage in scholarly endeavors. He reportedly said, “The end of my labors is come. All that I have written appears to me as so much straw, after the things that have been revealed to me. I hope in the mercy of God that the end of my life may soon follow the end of my labors.***
A characteristic of nearly all seminal thinkers is that history would have been considerably different if they had not lived. This is undeniable in the case of St. Thomas. One of his 20th-century biographers, G.K. Chesterton, summarized the saint’s role in Western intellectual development in this manner: “. . . St. Thomas was one of the great liberators of the human intellect. . . . [He] was a very great man who reconciled religion with reason, who expanded it toward experimental science, who insisted that the senses were the windows of the soul and that reason had a divine right to feed upon fact, and that it was the business of the faith to digest the strong meat of the toughest and most practical of pagan philosophies.”****
Saint, confessor, theologian, philosopher, mystic, poet, the Angelic Doctor’s works were the summit of the often and wrongly maligned Medieval Era and until St. Thomas is returned to his exalted status, Western Civilization will continue its tragic decline.
*Murray N. Rothbard, Economic Thought Before Adam Smith: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, Volume 1 (Brookfield, VT.: Edward Elgar Publishing Company, 1995), p. 57.
**Herbart J. Thurston and Donald Attwater, eds., Butler’s Lives of the Saints, rev. edition (Allen, Texas: Christian Classics, 1996), vol. 1, p. 512.
***Dominican Saints of the Rosary Series, St. Thomas Aquinas: Universal Doctor of the Church (Rockford, Ill.: TAN Books and Publishers, inc., 1995), p. 30.
****G.K. Chesterton, St. Thomas Aquinas (New York: image books Doubleday, 1956), pp. 32-33.
Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
If future chroniclers of the American past are to have any credibility in their recording of the present epoch, there must be included in their histories the vile and murderous saga of Planned Parenthood and its enabler, the United States Federal Government. That Planned Parenthood will continue to receive state largesse despite the well documented fact that the organization engaged in the selling and exchange of aborted (murdered) baby parts is a dramatic, but accurate indicator of the utter depravity of American society.
For all the bluster and threats by pro-life groups and conservative Republicans of a government shut down if Planned Parenthood was not defunded, the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Paul Ryan, voted to maintain taxpayer support of the organization. The Left, which had fought tenaciously to protect Planned Parenthood’s funding, was clearly pleased over the outcome as The Hill reported:
Planned Parenthood is praising Democrats in Congress after the spending bill released early Wednesday morning spared the organization from cuts. As expected, the spending bill does not defund Planned Parenthood, a clear deal-breaker for Democrats, but the absence of spending cuts is still noteworthy given the intensity of the push to defund the group earlier this year.*While no one expects the den of thieves which roam the corrupt halls of Congress to take a courageous stand in defense of the innocent, one would at least expect the supposed moral leaders of the world to speak out in some regard against such an outrage. While the egregious revelations of Planned Parenthood were becoming known, the purported pope of the Catholic Church was gearing up for another of his scandalous junkets, this time to the Western Hemisphere, with stops in Communist Cuba and the United States. While Bergoglio performed a “Mass” under a huge display of Che Guevara in Cuba and spoke in front of the American Congress about a number of liberalistic causes, there was not one mention of the genocidal acts taking place at Planned Parenthood! Instead, there were smiles, exchange of gifts and backslapping between the supposed “Vicar of Christ” and America’s Chief Executioner of babies, Barack Hussein Obama, who has previously come out in favor of the grizzly procedure of late term abortion even up to and including the moment of birth. Obummer has also been a staunch advocate of “gay marriage” which was recently given legitimization by the other contemptible arm of the U.S. Leviathan, the Supreme Court. Instead of warm words between Bergoglio, whose Church supposedly condemns abortion and sodomy, and high ranking members of the U.S. government, shouldn’t Bergoglio have excoriated the nation’s chief executive, its legislative, and judicial bodies for having fostered these abominations? And, why didn’t the mainstream press question this blatant hypocrisy of the person who is supposedly the chief guardian of the Church’s moral laws? Neither has there been a peep from Bergoglio’s effeminate, clerical American underlings during the “debate” over the bill’s passage. Of course, how could “Catholic” prelates take any moral stand since most of these perverts are still in the midst of covering up and taking part in the Church’s Great Sex and Embezzlement Holocaust, another topic that Bergoglio paid only scant attention to during his infamous visit? If Americans think there will not be some form of retribution for allowing an organization like Planned Parenthood to remain in existence, they are sadly mistaken. Justice must and will be served. Sympathy for tragedies which come down the line will be hard to muster for a society that tolerates such evil. Not only will those at Planned Parenthood and its patrons suffer for their crimes, but those who were in positions of authority and influence and did nothing, like Bergogolio, are also culpable and will be chastised. While psychopaths such as Planned Parenthood’s Vice President, Dana Singiser, dementedly boasted about how they defeated the “extreme members of Congress” who sought to defund the agency, their “victory” will only be fleeting as they will eventually have to face and answer for their atrocities to the Divine Judge who will be a bit more of a formidable adversary than sell outs like House of Representative Speaker Paul Ryan, and the United States Congress. *Peter Sullivan, “Planned Parenthood Unscathed in Spending Bill,” The Hill. December 16, 2015. Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas
“Black Friday:” Symbol of America’s Economic and Cultural Decline
The day after Thanksgiving in recent times has become known as “Black Friday,” a day where retail businesses who have been in the red recoup losses while profitable firms widen their income margins. The day is also a supposed boon for consumers where goods are significantly discounted and new products are first displayed.
The Establishment has long since been a promoter of Black Friday, encouraging Americans, with often patriotic rhetoric, of their duty to frequent shopping malls and the like despite economic conditions or safety concerns from either domestic unrest or international threats.
While not explicit about post-Thanksgiving Day shopping, President Obama made it a point to reassure Americans about their security in light of the recent Paris attacks: “It’s understandable that people worry something similar could happen here. As we go into Thanksgiving weekend, I want the American people to know that we are taking every possible step to keep our homeland safe.”*
The financial press and academia are also big proponents of Black Friday since they are under the mistaken Keynesian belief that consumer spending is the most important component of economic life and the key indicator in the measuring of growth. Thus, retail sales over this period and up until Christmas are closely monitored by financial commentators.
Like most things in the modern world, however, such thinking belies logic and common sense, but typifies why society is in its current deplorable state both economically and culturally.
Despite what clueless politicians may say or what the dominant media may espouse, economic growth does not come about through greater amounts of consumer spending. Instead, prosperity can only be achieved through production and exchange, which itself can only take place when savings have been accumulated. Since production takes place over time, savings are the necessary means for this process to take place, the end result of which is consumer goods.
Without production, there can be no consumer spending. An economy, as for the individual, must first “produce” in order to “consume.” Most economists and politicians have it backwards.
Yet, the Obama Administration has wantonly put up impediments for the creation of wealth with its crazed regulatory policies, profligate spending, confiscatory taxation, and its epic money printing, all of which has done nothing to improve conditions, but have made them considerably worse.
Instead of encouraging people to go out and spend money, which many do not have, the chief executive should be promoting and enacting polices that lead to greater savings and investment. One simple step would be to immediately replace Janet Yellen with a Federal Reserve chairman that would allow interest rates to rise to market levels, which would induce people to save.
Besides financial betterment, the act of saving reinforces commendable human traits, such as self reliance and discipline, characteristics that are sorely lacking in America and most Western nation states. A true progressive society is not “consumer oriented,” but one which rewards producers and savers.
Black Friday is the start of the “holiday shopping season,” which has replaced the legitimate meaning of this time, which is Advent. If the world had its priorities in order, it would be preparing to commemorate the birth of the Divine Savior. Advent is a penitential season, one of sacrifice and self abnegation, not that of gluttonous and often drunken partying and needless purchases of the latest consumer good fad.
None in the dominant media have put forth the possibility that the recent Paris attacks were retribution for the nearly complete secularization of what was once a holy season. Was it just a coincidence that one of the attacks took place at a concert hall where the California based rock band, Eagles of Death Metal, was in the midst of performing a “song” whose title was “Kiss the Devil?”
While most of the modern world continues to ignore it, the Incarnation is the seminal event in human history. Only misery, hardship and despair awaits those who persist in denying this fundamental truth.
Until America, and, for that matter, the Western world recognizes the absurd notion that consumer spending is not a pathway to economic wellbeing and, more importantly, remembers the significance and importance of Christmas, the economic and cultural rot will only continue.
*Pamela Engel, “Two Days After Massive Terror Alert, Obama Says There’s No ‘Credible’ Threat to U.S.” Business Insider. 25 November 2015.
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