Monday, December 19, 2016

The Sexual Revolution’s Unhappy Result: Self-Marriage -




With everyone marrying anyone, it would seem only a matter of time before someone would end up marrying no one. Leave it to the postmodern imagination to open up absurd frontiers in non-marriage. Marrying no one is now an option.
Officially, it is called sologamy. It consists of a person marrying one’s self. It sounds bizarre, but the fact is that these same-self “marriages” are now happening, although not on a mass scale. People—mostly women at this phase—are holding public ceremonies in which they say “I do” to themselves, and celebrate, complete with ring, wedding dress, cake and reception. Predictably, trendy writers, artists and life coaches, who already live in an unreal world, are the ones not tying the knot.
Marketers have even latched on to the trend. There is an “I Married Me Self-Wedding-In-A-Box” kit that can supply lonely self-spouses with ceremony instructions, sample vow formulas, fake certificates and other materials. It is to be supposed that the photography would be taken care of with selfies. As for the legality of the act, there is nothing to “legalize” since this ultimate private fantasy only exists in the imagination of the one-ple (not couple).
A Logical Consequence
As crazy as sologamy sounds, there is something terribly consistent and logical about its appearance on the “define-your-own-marriage” scene. It is a fitting metaphor to represent the failure of the promises of the Sexual Revolution to make people happy. It is a lonely indication of just how extreme individualism can go when given free reign.
Indeed, once one ventures outside the bonds of a traditional indissoluble marriage as defined by the Church, every other bonding has something of sologamy since self-gratifying unions eventually become narcissistic.
The Autonomous Being
The solitary march down the aisle toward sologamy is part of a long process toward moral chaos inside liberal society. It is the fruit of modern individualism, which declares each person is an entirely autonomous being. Individuals are told that they are the sole architects of their freedom and destiny. Their principal purpose in life is to engage in an inebriating pursuit of self-interest.
This myth dominated American society until the sixties and still lingers on in other forms today. There seemed to be no limits to what one could achieve alone.
The Need for Social Institutions
In the beginning, modern individualism worked around the complications of human nature that are contrary to its basic premises. It had to deal, for example, with the reality that no one is an entirely autonomous being.
In fact, all individuals are social beings that need other people. People naturally crave society. They tend toward God, their creator. There are certain social bonds and institutions (like marriage) that form and shape the individual and anchor the person to reality. People need those strong ties to religion, tradition, family, custom, or moral law so as to keep society in balance and provide the social capital that makes a nation prosperous.
Modern individualism never fully acknowledged such realities, but rather lived off the rich social institutions from which it sought freedom. It was much more these institutions that helped individuals achieve greatness than the sheer power of the individualist will. America had just enough social capital before the sixties to build a vibrant economy and sturdy social fabric.
A Constant Tension
However, there was ongoing tension between the liberal myth of individualism with no limitations and the traditional model with its natural restraining social institutions. In theory, Americans preached the desirability of pure individualism without restrictions. In practice, they clung to the family, church, and other social structures that gave their lives meaning.
Regarding marriage, the American ideal before the sixties was traditional marriage since it contributed substantially to the desired prosperity. At the same time, the pre-sixites culture already started eroding the foundations of marriage with the gradual promotion of divorce, promiscuity and contraception.
War on Restraint
The Sexual Revolution shattered the uneasy peace between restraint and unrestraint. A new more radical postmodern individualism exploded onto the scene.
The modern individualist knew how to use restraint to advance self-interest. The postmodern individual knows how to destroy any institutions that hinder self-gratification.
Above all, this individualist became the ultimate judge of what is right and wrong. This attitude was infamously reflected in the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, which read: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”
The Imagination Gone Wild
The tragedy of postmodern individualism is that it goes beyond reality and degenerates into fantasy. The old individualism chafed under the restraint of the natural external structures of tradition, custom, or community. At least it stayed inside the logic of the real world and natural vice.
The postmodern individualist seeks to destroy the internal structures—logic, identity, or unity—that impede instant gratification. This can be seen in the blending and blurring of distinctions and “genders” that has so destroyed certainties. This trend can be found in the deconstruction of identity, as individuals now find the “right” to self-identify as anyone or anything that they desire at the moment. Finally, postmoderns avoid all that is reasoned, structured, or systematized by escaping into fantasy, dreams and ecstasy found in the experience of drugs, bizarre sexual promiscuity or online fantasies.
Once, these internal structures come crashing down, there is no limit to the absurdities that can be imagined. Hence, sologamy.
The Tyranny of the Unrestrained Self
There is a particular tragedy associated with the fantasy of self-marriage that makes it so symbolic of individualism’s failure. It is an extreme expression of a denial of all contingency. Each person becomes a world unto himself. Society becomes at best an occasion of what Sherry Turkle so expressively called being “alone together.”
With sologamy, the individual reaches the sad conclusion that there can be no happiness with another. Indeed, many who self-marry, do so only after a string of failed relationships, which they blame on the tyranny of others. They mistakenly believe they can live happily ever after only with themselves.

But such happiness is yet another illusion. It is only a matter of time before the person will experience a greater tyranny: the tyranny of the unrestrained self. Eventually, the lonely self-spouse will meet in the mirror the tyrant responsible for all past failures. The person then will embrace the nihilism that so marks postmodern life bereft of meaning and purpose.
The appearance of sologamy underscores the rejected beauty of sacramental marriage. The Church protects marriage from the tyranny of self by uniting two individuals who generously give themselves to each other until death. The Church sanctifies a fruitful and uniting contingency blessed by God, from which children are born and society is built.
The Sexual Revolution promised happiness and has delivered loneliness. By “doing your own thing,” people thought they could reach personal fulfillment. They are now finding a sad and empty celebration of self.
As seen on crisismagazine.com
The Sexual Revolution’s Unhappy Result: Self-Marriage -: The Sexual Revolution’s Unhappy Result: Self-Marriage

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Humility Is Compatible with the Rich Dress of One’s Office

Written by Father Francis Spirago
Saint Francis of Sales, the bishop of Geneva, while on a journey during Lent, went to a church that was attached to the monastery of Capuchin friars. He arrived at sermon time; the preacher had taken ostentation in dress as his sermon’s theme and was inveighing vehemently against prelates and ecclesiastical dignitaries who, instead of setting an example of humility, wore splendid garments.

When the sermon ended, the bishop went into the sacristy and summoned the preacher. Once they were alone, Saint Francis said, “Reverend Father, your discourse was edifying. It may also be true that we who are in authority in the Church are guilty of sins from which the inmates of the cloister are exempt. Nevertheless, I consider it highly unwise to say such things as you did on this subject from the pulpit to the common people. Moreover, I wish to call your attention that for many reasons it is a matter of necessity that the princes of the Church should keep up an appearance befitting their rank. Besides, one never knows what may be hidden beneath a silken robe.”

Saint Francis unbuttoned the upper part of his purple cassock, and let the monk see that he wore a ragged hair shirt next to his skin.

“I show you this,” Saint Francis added, “so that you may learn that humility is quite compatible with the rich dress of one’s office. From henceforth, see that you are less harsh in your judgements and more prudent in your speech.”

If the dignitaries of the Church were wretchedly dressed, they would lose the respect due to themselves and to their office. Therefore it is not only permissible, but obligatory upon them, to dress in accordance with the official rank they hold.

From Father Francis Spirago’s Anecdotes and Examples Illustrating the Catholic Catechism (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1904), 187-188.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

The Invisible Army That Occupies America | The Stream

The Invisible Army That Occupies America | The Stream: Over the past few decades, America has been invaded by an invisible army of ten million men — solutions need to be found quickly.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Those Who Claim Christianity Harms Society Are Wrong!





So many liberals claim that Christianity is backward and harmful to the general welfare of society and the State. Such “modern” ideas are woeful wrong and outdated.
The Church has faced such accusations from the very beginning of Her existence. One of the best replies to this empty claim comes from Saint Augustine. He magnificently describes the beneficent action of Christianity upon society in the following way:
“Let those who say that the teachings of Christ are harmful to the State find armies with soldiers who live up to the standards of the teachings of Jesus. Let them provide governors, husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, kings, judges, taxpayers and tax collectors who can compare to those who take Christian teachings to heart. Then let them dare to say that such teaching is contrary to the welfare of the State! Indeed, under no circumstances can they fail to realize that this teaching is the greatest safeguard of the State when faithfully observed.” (“Epist. 138 ad Marcellinum,” [Chap. 2, no. 15]) in Opera Omnia, vol. 2, in J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, col. 532). (American TFP translation.)
Those Who Claim Christianity Harms Society Are Wrong! -: Those Who Claim Christianity Harms Society Are Wrong!

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Did God Give America a Great Reprieve?

To those Americans concerned about the moral state of the nation, the immediate reaction to the November 8 elections was one of enormous relief. It was as if a colossal amount of pressure was suddenly released. There was the thrill of something entirely unexpected. People were overjoyed beyond words.
Adding to the intense drama, there was the sensation that a great danger was taken from our path. We had averted a dead-end situation for which there were no human solutions. We were somehow saved from a terrible calamity that had seemed so imminent.
Two main elements contributed to this perception of inevitable disaster. The first was that so much was at stake—the Supreme Court, anti-abortion laws, socialist big government programs, massive regulations and even the specter of persecution for the Faith. The candidate that represented all these things enjoyed all the prestige of the media and the favor of the pollsters. The foreboding of a sinister outcome could not have been greater.

The second element was the lack of a moral solution proportional to the level of the crisis. Moral conservatives were faced with a candidate that was universally acknowledged as flawed and many considered as merely the lesser of two evils. This was an election of desperation not enthusiasm because the alternative was just too awful to fathom. Significant sectors of the electorate, however, did not feel they could unite around a candidate that did not share many of their values.
And then it happened. A startled electorate watched the results come in and saw the numbers slowly shift in their favor with a sweep of the White House, both houses of Congress, and a record number of state houses.
Analysts are still scrambling to explain the unexpected results of the elections. They point to abstract categories like the blue-collar vote, the white vote or the Catholic vote. For them, all elections are number games and media shows. They believe the outcome depends on who plays the game best and spends the most.
There was, however, another factor outside the game that should not be underestimated. In the face of an impending disaster, many Americans did something that they do not often do in political situations like these. They prayed.

Prayer is not something that can be measured by polls or political observers. And since it cannot be quantified, those without faith treat them as something quaint and childish hardly worthy of consideration. But in an election where all the rules of the game were broken, there is no reason to rule out the influence of prayer. The fact is many Americans did pray in the weeks and days leading up to that fateful November day when the course of the nation was decided.
Not only did they pray, but it appears they prayed hard. All across America, there were prayer vigils, rosaries, novenas and benediction services that were mentioned on social media or announced in church bulletins. Some fasted for the nation. Thousands gathered and prayed in the public square. Others simply poured out their souls to God in almost biblical manner asking for His aid in their moments of affliction. And as is common with such prayers, there was an implicit promise that if we were delivered from this trial, we would turn back to God.
Of course, to suggest that this prayer might have had something to do with the final results of an election is anathema. None dare whisper it for it is so politically incorrect.
But in this election that broke all the rules, why not break one more rule and shout it about? The fact is countless Americans who woke up on the morning of November 9 after the election sensed their prayers had been answered beyond all expectations. They sensed unexplainable Christian joy and hope in seeing a calamity had been averted. They were convinced in the depths of their souls that God had heard their prayers. They were energized by the results, and are determined to turn back to God.
This is not to say that God endorsed the winning candidate (he lost the popular vote) only that He heard the cries of those who were afflicted and found a way to deliver them from a catastrophic future. The victory may have been due much more to those who called it forth with their prayers than the efforts of its flawed victor.
God also did not grant total victory. However, many feel He has given America a great reprieve, a second chance, to get it right with Him.
If we have been given this reprieve, then we should use it to turn back to God. We should keep our part of the bargain and turn back to Him and His law. There is no time to be complacent or delve into purely economic solutions that sidestep the moral crisis in America. The fervent prayers must continue. Above all, we must also make sure our elected officials follow through on their promises of a platform that puts God first and thus will truly make America great.
Indeed, we have a little time, a short reprieve. We would do well to use this time wisely. This election has shown what can be done. If we uphold God’s law, we can count on Him to break all the rules.
 Did God Give America a Great Reprieve? -: Did God Give America a Great Reprieve? Many feel He has. We should keep our part of the bargain and turn back to Him and His law.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Eleventh Award for ‘Return to Order’ Proves Book More Timely Than Ever



SPRING GROVE, Penn. (November 18, 2016) – How a deeply divided America can recover from a grueling election cycle is far from clear, but the book, Return to Order, contains valuable insights that can help. In fact, the book’s message is more timely than ever as can be seen by the fact that it has just won its eleventh award. The book, written by John Horvat II, vice president for The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), earned the runner-up prize in the 2016 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition. It has also just passed the quarter million milestone of books in circulation.

“The news about the award was very welcome,” Horvat commented. “I think it shows how much people thirst for order in our chaotic times.”
Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go is reaching readers and decision makers nationwide. Horvat is constantly speaking to groups, talk show hosts and leaders about making the necessary connection between the economy, faith and moral values. He points out how the frenetic intemperance of today’s secular culture is tearing the nation apart. More importantly, he proposes what he calls organic solutions.
The 2016 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition rewards those independent writers who stand out in their fields. The award is sponsored by the Shelf Media Group, publisher of Shelf Unbound indie book review magazine, which features the best of small press and self-published books. The magazine reaches 125,000 avid readers in more than 70 countries and is known for its in-depth interviews with authors ranging from unsung talents to Pulitzer Prize winners. The award attracts writers in fiction and non-fiction categories.

The award comes as over 265,000 copies of Return to Order are in circulation in print, e-book and audio formats. The over-quarter-million milestone is the product of an intense campaign to get the word out about the book. Horvat has given presentations in more than six dozen cities across the nation, including recent appearances in Las Vegas and Bismark, N.D. He has participated in more than 355 media interviews and is a frequent contributor to numerous national news outlets including American ThinkerCrisis MagazineThe StreamImaginative ConservativeTheBlaze and others.
“The solution to the present crisis must involve a return to an order that addresses the whole picture of what has gone wrong in America, not just pieces of the puzzle,” said Horvat in a recent commentary on the elections.
Return to Order has received dozens of endorsements from church, military and political leaders. It has ranked #1 on Amazon/Kindle in four countries.
Return to Order sets forth valuable recommendations for restoring our society to its foundations of ordered liberty and traditional values,” says the Honorable Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General of the United States.
For more information about Return to Order, visit the web site at www.returntoorder.org. Schedule an interview, talk or book event with John Horvat, by calling 717-309-7147 or e-mailing him at jh1908@aol.com.


Eleventh Award for ‘Return to Order’ Proves Book More Timely Than Ever -: Eleventh Award for ‘Return to Order’ Proves Book More Timely Than Ever, as it passes the quarter million milestone of books in circulation

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

To Make America Great, Turn Back to God -

By 

More than a White House contest between two candidates, the 2016 election was the groundswell of growing discontent over America’s increasingly socialist tone.
Now, thanks be to God, the conservative vote won the White House, Senate and House, and a record number of governorships and statehouse majorities. This reality has brought relief and awakened great hopes. Above all, conservatives were buoyed by the promises of President-elect Donald Trump who assured them they would not be forgotten and that they would have a voice. Now is the time to fulfill these promises. American conservative voters must not be betrayed.

Joining with many organizations in the conservative movement, and acting as the voice for moral values of its 200,000 campaign members nationwide, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property—TFP expresses its hopes here and lists its demands for what must be done to right the course of the American nation.
*     *     *
What moved America’s forgotten voters on November 8 was a shattered order that has affected all aspects of life. As was repeated during the election cycle, the whole system is broken, its liberal and permissive vision for society has failed and voters are desperately looking for solutions.
Burdened by overregulation and social breakdown, the American model that worked for so long no longer functions. Indeed, the system even works against the interests of citizens. It no longer fuels dreams but rather sows uncertainties and nightmares, bringing stress, anxiety and depression.
Components of a Return to Order
That is why the solution to the present crisis must involve a return to order that addresses the whole picture of what has gone wrong in America, not just pieces of the puzzle. It must above all address the forgotten moral issues that are commonly left behind by politicians.
All too often, conservatives have fought tooth and nail against that which they do not want to see implemented in the country—abortion, socialism, transgenderism, social engineering in the military. This election victory provides the opportunity to outline the kind of order they do want for America.
Thus, any proposal for a return to order must include the following three points:
1. It must be a moral order in which leaders fearlessly do everything possible to advance the cause of life, the traditional family and Christian morals. If the nation is to prosper, it needs to return to that moral code based on the Ten Commandments and natural law that made America great. People must no longer be afraid to affirm this and stand up to a politically correct culture that claims there is no right and wrong by blurring all definitions. Without this essential component, America will not recover.
Indeed, any attempt to stimulate the economy without this return to morality will fail, since an economic system cannot thrive without the firm foundation of a work ethic, honesty and trust. A culture that knows no moral restraint and is obsessed by the frenetic intemperance of instant gratification will always be unbalanced and must ultimately fail. A nation that continues on the path of moral destruction can expect nothing but disaster.
2. It must be an anti-socialist order based on free enterprise. America must be freed from the burden of onerous regulations, massive one-size-fits-all government programs and high taxes. It is time to find organic solutions based on the ingenuity of the American people, their love of ordered liberty and their practical sense to get things done well. It is time for leaders at all levels of society to step up to the plate with creative solutions that eschew intrusive government. As long as America is suffocating under the yoke of socialist tyranny, there will be no return to order.
3. It must be an order that enthrones God once again. America has always been a nation that trusted in Divine Providence. However, that trust is now waning. But if we are not on God’s side, how can we expect Him to be on our side?
Enthroning God Once Again
The forgotten conservatives who worked so hard for this victory want a return to order that will make America great. More importantly, they want to build that moral America that God will bless.
It makes no sense that a nation built on Christian principles and one that defeated atheist Nazism and Communism, finds itself in a situation where Ten Commandment monuments, crosses, nativity scenes and Christmas carols are targeted by secular rage.

 

For too long, political correctness has held sway, banishing God from His rightful place in society, and now, in some instances, replacing Him with the public worship of Satan. Americans from all walks of life must have the courage to exercise their right to honor God in the public square. They must not be afraid to call upon God’s blessing and implore His aid in these difficult times. They must keep and respect His law by living lives of virtue and charity. If she is to prosper and be great, America must enthrone God again.
Wholesale Change
We must now adopt a program of wholesale change by immediate and urgent executive, legislative and judicial actions to right the nation’s course. The work to be done encompasses change not just in government, but at the very core of our culture. And more than just our elected officials keeping their promises, the task involves everyone in the conservative movement: clergy, individuals, families, grassroots organizations, think tanks and academia. To effect this needed change, the mindsets of many Americans must change. The labor is monumental and calls for a willingness to fight for America greater than the dogged opposition of those whose liberal agenda has brought the country to the verge of ruin.
Fighting for Life
Among America’s forgotten voters are those who fight for the most vulnerable—the  unborn—demanding for them the fundamental right to life.
Now is the time to bleach out the stain on America’s honor, its great sin against God: Roe v. Wade.
These forgotten voters expect President-elect Trump to nominate, and the Republican majority in the Senate to confirm, unquestionably pro-life judges for the U.S. Supreme Court and all federal courts. These judges must subscribe to our Common Law legal tradition of a higher law (divine and natural law) that should inform the laws of the land. They should interpret the Constitution to mean what was written and intended by our Founding Fathers, putting an end to the judicial activism of the past decades.
They expect federal and state governments to defund Planned Parenthood.
The forgotten pro-life voter not only expects life for the unborn, but protection against euthanasia and assisted suicide that ravage the moral landscape and threaten society’s most vulnerable.
Fighting for the American Family
America’s forgotten voters also include those who defend the sacred institutions of marriage and the family.
Now is the time to overturn that second immense sin against God: Obergefell v. Hodges.
Together with getting marriage right again, America’s forgotten pro-family voters expect a Trump Administration to overturn Obama’s tyranny that forced homosexual and transgender policies on federal workers and contractors, the military and, above all, the nation’s schools.
America’s forgotten pro-family voters expect the prompt burial of Common Core, No Child Left Behind, Every Child Succeeds and a whole slew of other socialist chokeholds on the wholesome and solid education of America’s children.
All these things are tearing America and its families apart. Now is the time to set them right. Without strong families, America can never be great.
Fighting for an Anti-Socialist America
The nation’s forgotten voters reject and demand the immediate repeal of a massive tide of socialist regulation, legislation and entitlements that inhibit the nation’s economic development and suffocate their efforts to prosper.
They have two sets of demands from the nation’s political leadership.
First, they demand the quick repeal of Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, the Death Tax and the thousands of socialist regulations and executive orders that are crippling and stifling America’s economy. This will liberate the nation’s potential, create jobs and help stabilize the economy.
Second, they demand the downsizing of government to its legitimate and constitutional limits. Not just the federal, but bloated and top-heavy state, county and municipal government as well.
Between killing the socialist regulatory behemoth and downsizing government, the economy will be stimulated, while government spending and debt will be reduced to manageable levels.
Fighting for America’s military and law enforcement
America’s forgotten voters demand the repeal of the sequester in our defense budget, and the homosexual, transgender and women-in-combat policies Obama imposed on our Armed Forces.
They demand a strong military and an Administration that backs it up in its role of defending the nation from all threats. These include a resurgent Russia and China, and Islamists who are pledged to destroy America and Western Christian civilization.
They are alarmed by the murder of our police officers and the anarchy now surfacing all over the country. They long for a return to the rule of law and a culture in which law and order are cherished and enforced.
Fighting for Sovereignty and a Pro-America Foreign Policy
Respect for borders is for a nation what respect for ownership and private property is to a family.
America’s forgotten voters demand this respect for borders and an end to sanctuary cities’ anarchical mocking of our immigration laws. They demand an end to the travesty of elections in which non-US citizens vote.
They demand a full reversal of Obama’s disastrous foreign policy including his Iran deal; the normalization of relations with Castro’s Marxist Cuba (the island prison); and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
They demand that America immediately reassure its traditional allies that the nation will always be true to its pledged word of honor and stands ready to defend them in the event of hostilities.
They warn against a misguided and baseless trust in and cooperation with a resurgent nationalist Russia and a faithless communist China. And they urge cautious and prudent measures to forestall the danger from a rising authoritarianism, as seen recently in Islamist Turkey.
*     *     *
These are the demands of millions of forgotten American voters on the cusp of the new Trump Administration and the TFP joins its voice to theirs.
May God grant wisdom, prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude to President-elect Trump and all our elected leaders.
And may the Blessed Mother protect and favor all Ten Commandment Americans who toil in the gigantic rebuilding that must be carried out, the rewarding labor of making America “one nation under God.”

November 15, 2016
The American TFP