The Other Side of Francis -- Things for which to be Grateful!

Where are the other nine? Did only this foreigner
return to give thanks?

Being thankful is a virtue -- first of all to God, of course, but then to those who deserve our thanks. And so I present this article from Crisis Magazine,  The Politically Incorrect Francis—14 Shocking Statements. Author, historian Paul Kangor begins it writing:

Let’s be honest. Actually, let’s state the obvious. Many orthodox Catholics have had it with Pope Francis, as have non-Catholic conservatives who liked previous popes. It’s no stretch to say that a good number detest him. At the very least, many faithful Catholics are frustrated by the current pope. What with the ongoing confusion from Rome, atop the 2018 abuse report from Pennsylvania (with many more states to follow), plus the Cardinal McCarrick fiasco, and the Viganò letters—their patience is exhausted. 

Oriana Fallaci's "Sermon for the West" on Islam

"My soldier's weapon is the TRUTH. From Afghanistan to Sudan, from Palestine to Pakistan, from Malaysia to Iran, from Egypt to Iraq, from Algiers to Senegal, from Syria to Kenya, from Libya to Chad, from Lebanon to Morocco, from Indonesia to Yemen, from Saudi Arabia to Somalia the hate for the West swells like a fire fed by the wind. 

And the followers of Islamic fundamentalism multiply like the protozoa of a cell which splits to become two cells, then four, then eight, and sixteen and thirty-two to infinity. ... The clash between us and them is not a military clash. It is a cultural one. A religious one." Oriana Fallaci

Do You Simply Stand Against What you Oppose, or Do You Witness For What You Believe?

I have just returned from a 12 day road trip with a friend who needed a companion along for the ride to Texas where she had the task of preparing her parent’s home to be sold.  It was also her goal to retrieve some precious treasures still in the house which were too large to be carried on a plane.  One such jewel was a cradle her father had made for his own children, including my friend, and which has now been slept in by most of his grandchildren.  

As we drove along, I read aloud from a tote bag full of books I had selected for the purpose of sharing specific chapters with my friend, a like minded Catholic, thoughtful, very smart, and leaps and bounds ahead of me, a convert, in knowledge of Church history and doctrine. 

Our trip each way took three days in the car so we had a LOT of time to read and discuss and read and discuss.  It was a kind of “retreat from the world” which whizzed by us, as we rolled along from one state to the next, and an opportunity to step outside our daily routines and spend the kind of time you generally only WISH you had with a good friend. 

Pet Peeve for the Day: Political Correctness

The book used at my parish.

I hate political correctness. I particularly hate political correctness when it invades the sanctuary. This morning at Mass my eyes kept going to the Mass booklets in the pew in front of me where they feature a large top headline IN SPANISH with the English underneath. Can English not even get top billing in our English-speaking country? Does anyone really think that if they have Mass booklets in Mexico (Anybody know?) they would list English first? Would they even include English? How many Americans are invading Mexico seeking sanctuary cities?

Then I came home and sat at my computer where I looked at the Catholic calendar distributed by the parish. You got it -- bilingual with all the months of the year and days of the week in Spanish first and all the feasts and solemnities, etc. in both languages each day in print so small it's unreadable. I took the calendar off the desk and threw it in the circular file. Then I looked through all the 2018 calendars I received in the mail and hung up one that has nice big blocks for writing my appointments and is all in English.

When Lying Becomes History: Was the Noble Savage Really Noble?

Will the real Chief Seattle
please stand up.

I recently read an article in Chronicles, my favorite magazine of cultural commentary, that got me thinking about the idea of the "noble savage." Roger McGrath penned an article titled The Indians Who Never Were about Chief Seattle and the myth surrounding him. The chief supposedly delivered an inspiring speech in 1854 questioning government purchase of Indian lands during negotiations of a treaty. Here's a bit of what he supposedly said:

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries memories of the red man. The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man . . .

And more on Transgender Insanity...

and I do mean insanity!

The Ugly Truth About Sex Reassignment the Transgender Lobby Doesn’t Want You to Know

Here's a bit from the article that provides much food for thought:

Reaping the Consequences of Political Correctness - Univ. of Missouri Scrambling

What do you mean my degree in gender studies is worthless?
That's a macro-aggression. I need a safe space and a teddy.

Mizzou Loses Applicants Thanks To Political Correctness, Forced To Rent Dorms For Football Games

Ya just gotta laugh! And rejoice that alumni have enough common sense left to cut off the dough to these crazy places.May all such schools experience the same. Hey, they can convert all those empty dorms into apartments for the illegals invading the country! The lobby lounge can be the prayer space for Muslim worship.

Personally, I think most colleges and universities will be collecting cobwebs as graduates with degrees or courses in feminist studies, black studies, gender studies, climate studies, queer musicology (USLA), etc. try to find jobs in the real world. "I went into $100,000 in debt for a degree and now all I can get a job doing is driving a truck, tending bar, or being a greeter at Wal-Mart?"

Think of an employer asking a prospective employee fresh from the ivory tower about his degree and hearing that his favorite course was The Phallus (Occidental). You can't make this stuff up. Satire is dead. It's been replaced by the insanity of the leftist loons!

When I Use the Terms Liberal and Liberalism, This is What I Mean

A comment on this morning's blog post from Hans Georg Lundahl made me think I need to address how I use the terms liberal and liberalism. Here's what Mr. Lundahl wrote, "Chesterton said 'Capitalism is a Sin, Communism is a Heresy' and I think how you use "Liberalism" falls more under the label Communism. (As using labels myself, I am conscious of how other bloggers use them)."

Mr. Lindahl is correct. First, I use "liberal" to define principally those individuals who are cultural Marxists or secular moral relativists. Their beliefs shift in the wind because they do not believe in absolute truth. Whether or not they describe themselves as such, they are revealed by their stated beliefs and their actions. Second, I use the term "liberalism" as did Fr. Felix Sarda Y Salvany in his classic work, Liberalism is a Sin. His book, to me, perfectly describes the liberal mind and can be illustrated through liberals' words and behavior.

So how does Fr. Salvany define liberalism? He identifies four principles of liberal propaganda:

Have You Heard the One about the Catholic School Superintendent....

Support Mark Smythe!

...in Florida who is threatening a teacher for quoting St. John Bosco on the evils of Islam? Read the article from Catholic World Report here. Is anybody really surprised? The principal defended the teacher, but the diocese is threatening his metaphorical beheading (or is it the beheading of the intelligence of the students?).

The superintendent, Henry Fortier, made it clear that St.John Bosco does not fit with the currently approved approach to Islam.according to the "living witness of Pope Francis." Of course Pope Francis' "living witness" also includes purging the Fatima message of all reference to sin, conversion, punishment, and the need for penance and reparation. At the recent canonization of Jacinta and Francisco none of that, you know, negative stuff was even hinted at. No more warnings. Fatima is a message of peace. Here's how Professor Robert de Mattei described the pope's message at the canonization:

The tragic dimension of the Fatima message, which rotates around the concepts of sin and punishment, has been put aside. Our Lady had said to little Jacinta that wars are nothing other than punishment for the sins of the world and that the sins which carry most souls to hell are the ones against purity. If today we are experiencing “a [world]war in pieces” , as Pope Francis has often repeated, how can we not connect this to the horrifying explosion of present-day immorality, which has gone as far as legalizing the inversion of the moral laws? Our Lady once again had said to Jacinta, that if there had not been any amendment and penance, humanity would have been punished, but in the end Her Immaculate Heart would triumph and the entire world would be converted.

Reality and Political Correctness are on a Collision Course

Jillian Bearden is no woman! And competing as one is unfair.

Transgender cyclist places first among women in Arizona race

In November this man who thinks he's a woman beat out all the other women cyclists competing. Surprise! Even with male suppressing drugs, men are stronger and have more endurance than most women. It gives them an unfair advantage. Hey, I can beat my husband at Scrabble every day and twice on Sunday, but I sure couldn't beat him in a wrestling match.

On the Shameful Left and their Tantrums

Stand Strong against the Left

The picture accompanying the article shows a limo on fire. (Below) I read later that the owner of the limo business was a Muslim who was not a Trump supporter. Why bother to find out if your damaging the business of an opponent or a supporter when you're out to commit mayhem? Hey, it was a limo and part of the Democrat propaganda is that anybody who looks more affluent than you (unless it's rich, liberal politicians like Bill and Hillary Clinton or the rich Hollywood elitists like the disgusting crude-talking celebrities at the women's march) deserves to be punished. "You didn't build that!" One day this type of behavior is going to bite the folks who foment it. Evil always ends up consuming its own. Remember Robespierre and a modern feminist example, Laura Kipnis. Robespierre was fed to the guillotine. All Laura got was a progressive inquisition, but it was a taste of the political correctness whip used against so many conservatives.

Letters to Providence College about the Persecution of Anthony Esolen!

I'd like to post your letters to the president of Providence College (or his representative) about the persecution of Anthony Esolen. (Read the original article here.)  Copy them in the comments section below. Here are two samples, mine and a friends. Let's stand up for this great Catholic gentleman against the political correctness at Providence College! Interesting, isn't it, that on their website they call themselves PC. And they sure are!

My email:

Dear Fr. Shanley,

The Wolves are Howling for Professor Anthony Esolen!

I consider Anthony Esolen one of the finest Catholic writers today. So when I saw Matthew Archbold's headline this morning, Faithful Catholic Professor Anthony Esolen Under Attack at Providence College, I immediately went to his site to read the article. Of course, in today's politically correct world where most Catholic colleges joined the zeitgeist decades ago, persecuting a solid Catholic teacher is no surprise. What's more surprising is to see any of the good guys avoiding persecution, especially in view of the "bias response protocol" which assures us that, "To be clear, this process is in no way intended to curb the free expression of opinions or ideas." Yeah, right! How exactly will the current persecution of Professor Esolen affect other professors who see the collapse of Catholicism on their campuses? Anybody think they'll write an article questioning diversity?

Reflections on Great Britain's Vote to Exit the EU

Please welcome my friend and colleague Chriss Rainey to the Les Femmes team. This is her first contribution as a contributor and since she isn't comfortable posting yet, I'm doing it for her. I look forward to her thoughts and opinions on a wide range of issues that affect Catholics. 

Who will lead them?

by Chriss Rainey

I watched the news last night as the votes came in across Great Britain. By 11 PM I realized that in England most people were asleep and had gone to bed not knowing the outcome of this world changing referendum. Many who wanted to stay in the socialist EU woke up SHOCKED this morning. They had fooled themselves into believing they could demonize people and shame them into taking a position contrary to what they truly believe. Polls on election day indicated that the REMAIN contingent would win but, what the polls didn't take into account was the fact people were intent on following their heartfelt convictions even if they were "politically incorrect."

What Was it Really Like in the Classroom as the Gay Activists Took Over?

A career schoolteacher, Tom McLaughlin, from Maine shares his story and asks a good question. Why was AIDS treated differently by public health than other sexually transmitted diseases? Here's the paragraph:

One of my sisters worked as a public health nurse in Massachusetts early in that period.

Political Correctness Even Infects the Marines. God Help Us!

Young man with this tattoo is rejected by Marine recruiter for racial hatred. What nonsense!

Have a Politically Correct Non-White Christmas

Some things are so ridiculous you can hardly believe anybody would fall for them. (See the video below.) Stupidity is rampant on college campuses where feelings trump intellect and students have a right to be protected from the "micro-aggression" of words that might offend them.

Come to think of it, didn't a high level Vatican official recently say that words that hurt used against the pope are the same as violence against his person, an offense that incurs excommunication? Archbishop Fisichella addressing reporters in early December talking about the year of Mercy described offenses against the Holy Father opining:

Insanity Reigns on Campus!

More free speech here than on campus!

What a week! I still can't wrap my mind around the evil attacks in Paris. So I'll focus on our own insanity here.

On campus students are repeating the antics of the 60s. No, they aren't holding sit-ins at the administration buildings. They're using hunger strikes and manufactured injuries to get people fired and turn campuses into bastions of political correctness rather than institutions for rational discussion. I'm not sure these privileged lefties have a rational cell in their collective brain. (Yes, I know I didn't put an s on brain. There's only one -- the brain of the collective, the puppet master of the left.)

Meditation for Sunday: Pontius Pilate, Patron of Political Correctness and Human Respect

In the Passion today, the Narrator reads, "So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified."

Isn't pleasing the crowd the epitome of political correctness?

Pilate knew the truth, despite his cynical question, "What is truth?" He told the crowd Jesus was innocent when he said, "I find no guilt in him." He further illustrated it when he asked, after releasing Barabbas, what they wanted him to do with Jesus. At their insistant cry, "Crucify him!" he again reflected his awareness that Jesus was innocent. "Why? What evil has he done?" Even the Gospel writer, Mark, witnesses to Pilate's awareness of the truth writing, "For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over." But still, he had an innocent man scourged nearly to death, perhaps in the vain hope that the mob would have pity on him.

Open Letter to Msgr. Seamus Brennan about Faithful Catholic Teacher Patricia Jannuzzi

March 17, 2015

 

If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples.   St. Patrick

Dear Msgr. Brennan:

 

I write this letter with deep regret for the way you have treated religion teacher, Patricia Jannuzzi. She who should arouse in you pride and thanks for her fidelity to Church teaching has apparently become, instead, the parish pariah. Your persecution of this woman reflects a worldly attitude of political correctness and ear tickling and is certainly not your parish’s finest hour!