Christianity Now Imploding - Islam To Conquer World By 2050

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The clash of civilizations is as good as over. The winner? ISLAM! Yes, that's right, as a practicing Roman Catholic, defender of the Church and Christendom, I must admit that Islam has won. It won before the clash of civilizations ever really started. It won long before 9/11/2001. It won not by making war, but simply by making babies. Christianity lost, not because of Christianity, but because Christians gave up their Christianity, and exchanged it for the seductive Secularism that swept Western Europe and North America after World War II. Christians in effect ceased to be Christians in the classic sense. They exchanged the Christian understanding of love and family for a secular one, and as a result embraced the culture of contraception and limited families. Christians ceased having babies at a sustainable rate, and Muslims did not. It's official now. Islam WILL ABSOLUTELY, and WITHOUT A DOUBT, completely conquer the whole western industrialized world by 2050. The children born today will not only live to see it, but they will be part of it, and there is a very good chance they themselves will be forced by popular culture to accept the religion of Islam as their own...


It's over people. Done. Finished. Kaput! Both history and demographics are now working against us. WESTERN CIVILIZATION CANNOT BE SAVED! The post World War II experiment in liberal Secular Humanism was a complete and total disaster, an utter failure, that has resulted in the complete loss of our entire civilization. There is no turning back now. We can no longer hope to change the tide of history. Within less than half a century Europe will be almost entirely Islamic, and there is a good chance that most of Europe's great cathedrals will become mosques. Perhaps someday even Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome will be converted into a mosque, much like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

So what to do now? How do we circle the wagons to save what little we have left, and hopefully rebuild for another time, another century, when Christians can begin reversing this trend?

Europe is lost. The only hope for Christians there is 100% Evangelism, and outside of that there is no hope. Secularists in Europe are going to have to finally wake up and smell the coffee for once. They're going to have awake from their long slumber and finally come to the startling realization that the only thing standing between them and Islamic Shariah Law is a healthy and robust Christianity. So they're going to have to start cutting Christians some slack, recognize the wonderful contributions they've made to European history, and do what they can to promote Christian Evangelism, whether they believe in it or not. The European Secularists must do this NOW, or they will soon find themselves living in subjection to the Muslim crescent moon. Personally, I'm not about to hold my breath for the European Secularists. They're just as blind as they are stupid. They'll be content to learn the hard way, long after it's too late to do anything about it. So Europe is lost for the long term future. Get your tourism in now, before it's too late. Maybe in a couple hundred years the continent will grow weary of prayer rugs and burkahs. Maybe by then they'll be willing to return to their Christian roots. Then again, maybe not. Who knows what the long term future holds for the once Christian continent. The short term future is certain though. Europe WILL BE Muslim.

The future of western civilization lies squarely in the Americas, with South America becoming the new West's incubator, and North America becoming the cultural battleground of the 21st century. Canada is quickly becoming Muslim, and may already be too late to salvage from it's suicide birthrate. Though Mexico has been heavily infected by liberal Secularism, it's rural culture remains strong in traditional Catholic Christian values. The United States is a divided land, filled with many different Protestant denominations and a growing Muslim population. In fact, the ONE AND ONLY thing keeping the USA from going completely Islamic (like Canada and Europe) is America's growing Catholic Hispanic population coming up from Mexico, some of them legal and some of them illegal. In a bizarre twist of fate, 'The Catholic Knight,' this conservative defender of the American southern border is forced to admit he was wrong, and the very people he once wanted to stop from getting into the United States illegally, may very well hold the keys to the survival of Christianity in the United States and North America. The USA is the new battleground in this clash of civilizations between the Islamic East and the Christian West. So in the interest of long term plans, 'The Catholic Knight' proposes the following strategy for stopping Islamic advance into North America, Central America and South America. This is in the hope of not only stopping it, but also creating an incubator for the New Christendom which might emerge in the early 22nd century if we play our cards right now. Here's the plan...

1. Open the southern border with Mexico completely. Allow free flow migration between the United States and Mexico, and create the necessary documentation for such migration to be done in a monitored fashion, intercepting possible terrorist threats and drug traffic. (This is because Hispanic immigration and birthrate is the only thing saving America from going the way of Canada and Europe right now!)
2. All Christian married couples should avoid artificial birth control at all cost, even if it means having to accept food stamps and health care from the government due to a large family. Christians must be willing to raise large families for the sake of our future and our freedom. Without Christian babies, Islam will take over. That is an established fact. Remember, prior to 1930, every Christian denomination taught that artificial contraception was a sin against nature and God. We must return to this ecumenical consensus.
3. Once we have established a thriving Christian culture in South America, Central America, and what remains of North America, along with laws that recognize and codify the Christian role in society (i.e. the New Christendom), we can begin our large scale evangelistic outreaches to Canada, Europe and the Middle East.

Obama Owns US Catholic Church

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Alleged President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court is a direct snub to the pope, Vatican, and US Catholic Church. It has become obvious now that Obama is nominating alleged Catholics, who oppose the teachings of the Church, to the highest offices in the land for the express purpose of rubbing the abysmal state of US Catholicism in the face of the pope and the Vatican. In other words, these appointments are Obama's way of telling the Holy Father "I own your Church here in America." The Catholic Knight opposes the nomination of this alleged Catholic from this alleged president.

On The Destruction Of Israel & America

(WND) - The 20th century could well be called the century of Holocaust. I think it had something to do with the powerful assertion of godless self-sufficiency that characterized its most deadly and infamous ideologies. The communists, the fascists, the Nazis all have this in common: that they fancy themselves creators of new worlds of human possibility, willing servants of a fantasy in which the future, wrought by human hands, will advance beyond God's limited vision of human nature to birth before the universe the superman, the everlasting Reich, the workers' paradise, the endlessly perfected revolution of hope, change and unimpeded progress. Obtusely brushing aside the intrinsic contradiction between unlimited being and the objective possibilities of existence, these fantasies of human pridefulness have ended, all of them, in murderous nightmares. They expanded the possibilities of humanity all right, but only to the extent of adding hitherto unimagined horrors.

As they are part of a people who, on account of their very existence as a people, experienced the full brunt of this murderous pride, it has always seemed incongruous to me that so many Jewish poets (using that word in its broadest sense to include all manner of creative artists) and intellectuals seem at ease with the utopian delusions of the left. According to the biblical account, the will to assimilate our own destruction is one of the principles of our nature, one of the reasons we are as we are. Just as Eve reached for the deadly fruit, so we are inclined to surrender to the siren song of future godhood that distracts us from the voice and presence of God within. Because, in a sense beyond our rational understanding, we are already what we seek to become; the urge to realize our freedom in action makes it harder for us to accept our freedom in fact. Though time and again we experience, or inflict upon others, the mortal consequences of our vain ambition, we will not let go of it.

In this sense, sincere Christian belief admonishes the pride of every non-Jewish people, for whom it represents the truth that they are not the people chosen by God to be the earthly forbears of the Son of Man. But just as it challenges their pride, so it challenges the humility of the Jews. In their different ways both Jews and non-Jews are forced to confront the responsibility it implies. But inasmuch as it is easier to accept a recognized boundary than to constitute and accept it, the Jewish responsibility may be an obligation harder to understand or to forgive. Why did God choose them to epitomize the sacrifice He makes of Himself for the sake of our existence? Why would it be for them to bear the wounds He takes upon Himself so that all may be made whole?...

read full story here

Vernacular Tridentine - Does The Vatican Fear It?

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: If one interprets Summorum Pontificum in the context of Vatican II, the Extraordinary (Tridentine) form of the mass could be celebrated in the vernacular language (English, Spanish, French, etc.)...

THE LEGITIMACY OF THE USE OF THE VERNACULAR (ENGLISH) LANGUAGE IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS ACCORDING TO THE MOTU PROPRIO SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
11/16/2007 Rene Henry Gracida, Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi

THE LEGITIMACY OF THE USE OF THE VERNACULAR (ENGLISH) LANGUAGE IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS ACCORDING TO THE MOTU PROPRIO SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM OF POPE BENEDICT XVI

The fundamental basis for the legitimacy of the use of English in the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is to be found in Article 6 of Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio:

Art. 6. In Masses celebrated in the presence of the people in accordance with the Missal of Blessed John XXIII, the readings may be given in the vernacular, using editions recognized by the Apostolic See.

To understand why Pope Benedict authorized the use of the vernacular language even though the Missal as originally promulgated by Blessed Pope John XIII in 1962 is entirely in Latin, one must return to the Decree Sacrosanctum Concilium issued on December 4, 1963 by the Second Vatican Council. In Article 36 (2) the Council stated:

But since the use of the vernacular, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or in other parts of the liturgy, may be of great advantage to the people, a wider use may be made of it, especially in the readings, directives and in some prayers and chants.

In Article 54 the Council further stated:

A suitable place may be allotted to the vernacular in Masses which are celebrated with the people, especially in the readings and "the common prayer," and also, as local conditions may warrant, in those parts which pertain to the people, according to the rules laid down in Article 36 of this Constitution.

Further, to understand the relationship of the Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII to the Council's Decree it is important to note that he died on June 3, 1963. Also, lest one exalt the Missal promulgated by Blessed Pope John XXIII to the equivalent of having been cast in stone as were the Ten Commandments, it is important to remember that is was but one of many revisions of the Missal. Saint Pope Pius X revised the Missal in 1910 and it was published in an Editio Typica by his successor, Pope Benedict XV. Pope Pius XII revised the Missal before he died in 1958 and it was published in an Editio Typica on June 23, 1962 by Blessed Pope John XXIII.

Following the promulgation of the Council's Decree Sacrosanctum Concilium on December 4, 1963, the bishops of the United States petitioned the Holy See on April 2, 1964 for the use of the vernacular in those parts of the Mass celebrated with the Missal of 1962 permitted by Articles 36 and 54 of the Decree. On May 1, 1964 the Holy See granted permission for the bishops of the United States to print the Missal of 1962 with the following parts of the Mass in English:

a) the Epistle and the Gospel

b) the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus-Benedictus and Agnus Dei

c) the Lord's Prayer with its introductory admonition

d) the formula Ecce Agnus Dei and Domine, non sum dignus before the communion of the faithful.

e) the Introit and the Gradual

f) the antiphons at the Offertory and Communion

g) the acclamations, salutations and formulas of dialogue in which the people participate.

Accordingly, the bishops of the United States published, on September 21, 1964 a new EDITION OF THE MISSAL OF BLESSED POPE JOHN XXIII ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 25, 1960 NOW KNOWN AS THE MISSAL OF 1962.

IT SHOULD BE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD BY ALL THAT THE EDITION OF THE 1962 MISSAL PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1964 IS IDENTICAL TO THE EDITIO TYPICA OF THE MISSAL PUBLISHED IN 1962 IN EVERY RESPECT EXCEPT THAT THE PARTS OF THE MASS ENUMERATED ABOVE a) THROUGH g) ARE IN ENGLISH INSTEAD OF LATIN. ALL RUBRICS, ALL PRAYERS, ALL OTHER TEXTS ARE IDENTICAL IN BOTH THE 1962 AND THE 1964 EDITIONS OF THE MISSAL OF BLESSED POPE JOHN XXIII.

The use of the vernacular (English) in the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is therefore legitimate and is clearly in keeping with the mind of the Second Vatican Council and Pope Benedict XVI.

+Rene Henry Gracida, Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi

source

During the years between Vatican II and the institution of the Novus Ordo Liturgy, there was a brief period of time when the Tridentine mass was translated into some vernacular languages. English was one such language. These vernacular translations virtually disappeared off the face of the earth after the institution of the Novus Ordo Liturgy in 1969/1970.

So now that the Tridentine liturgy has been revived in Latin by Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum," the question arises - what about a vernacular Tridentine?

Traditional clergy are skeptical about it. They've been conditioned to think of the Tridentine liturgy as the last bastion of traditional Catholicism, reserved only for the most devout Catholics. However, what traditional Catholics fail to realize is the implication of the very argument so many of them subscribe to. If indeed the Tridentine liturgy is superior to the Novus Ordo, and the Tridentine liturgy calls Catholics to a more vertical form of worship with God, if the Novus Ordo lessens the mass in some way, then it only stands to reason that a vernacular Tridentine liturgy would simply make that vertical worship more widely available to regular Catholics, and thus enrich the life of the Church. It only stands to reason that bringing the Tridentine liturgy to the people, in a language they can easily understand, would revive the Church and bring about a renewal of some sort.

"It's not about the language!" a Traditional Catholic once told me while introducing me to the Tridentine mass. "The language is important" she said, "because Latin is the heritage of the Church, but that's not what this is about." She insisted it's about the form of the liturgy more so than the language it's celebrated in. It wasn't long after becoming acquainted with the Tridentine mass that I came to agree with her. It isn't about the language. It's more about the form, the solemnity, the pure adoration of the most sacred Eucharist.

It has been the custom of Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox to bring the liturgy to the people in their vernacular languages so it can be easily understood and appreciated. The only difference is that in Eastern Catholicism (and Orthodoxy) the form of the liturgy never changes. It stays exactly the same. The only thing that changes is the language. Everything else remains untouched. As a Western Catholic I must admit that I more thoroughly enjoy the Eastern liturgy. I think part of it is because of it's ancient character, having been virtually untouched by centuries. While at the same time, I enjoy actually hearing it in my native language - English. As a convert to the Catholic Church, I have to admit that I am befuddled by Pope Paul VI's decision to completely change the form of the mass back in 1969/1970, when he could just as easily worked on approved translations of the Tridentine liturgy. But that was then, and this is now. So now that we have Summorum Pontificum, where are the vernacular translations?

The Vatican remains silent on this issue. Instead we've been assured that a new revision of the Novus Ordo is coming in the years ahead, which will bring the Novus Ordo more in line with the Tridentine. Still I must ask, where are the approved Tridentine vernacular translations? As far as I can tell, there is no sign of them ever coming back. So the next question is why? Perhaps one explanation is fear on the part of officials within the Vatican. Why fear? An approved vernacular translation of the Tridentine mass may quite simply put the Novus Ordo mass out of business. Stop and think about it for a minute. Suppose a translation of the Tridentine mass were approved in English for example. After the initial shock subsided, we would be faced with the prospect that virtually any English-speaking priest could celebrate this mass across the English-speaking world, with minimal training in the rubrics and Gregorian chant. Suddenly, English-speaking priests now have an option between the Novus Ordo or the Tridentine. If indeed the Tridentine liturgy does lead to a more enriching mass experience then it stands to reason that it wouldn't be long before more and more parishioners request it. In time the Tridentine would become serious competition for the Novus Ordo, and perhaps within a generation the Novus Ordo would fade into the history books as a failed liturgical experiment of the late 20th century.

So where are the approved vernacular translations of the Tridentine mass? They do exist. As there was a brief period of time when they were used. Where are they now? Can we use them? As of the moment it would appear the answer is "no," and the only explanation I can think of is to protect the Novus Ordo from extinction.

Are Tea Party Demonstrations Racist?

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: So the latest mantra of the Leftist Liberal Obamaniacs is that the recent tea party demonstrations popping up around the country are essentially racist. Their rational behind this conclusion is that tea party protesters complain about the national debt, but the national debt was run up under previous presidents, therefore the only reason why tea party protesters are really protesting is because this current president happens to be black.

Now I happen to be a tea party demonstrator. I go to every one that is near where I live. I go there to protest massive federal spending, and the massive growth of big government, as well as to support the Fair Tax model of tax reform. That's about it. I don't particularly care for President Obama, but he's not the reason why I show up. The truth is, if John McCain had been elected, and these stimulus plans were enacted under his administration, I would still be protesting at the tea parties. You see it's the POLICY I oppose, not the man who makes it, and Obama's policies are reckless. Take a look at this video to see the whole thing explained in simple terms that anyone (even a Leftist Liberal Obamaniac) can understand...


Oh and in case you still think it's all about racism. I supported Alan Keyes candidacy for president for as long as I could in 2008. Just an FYI, Alan Keyes is black. I hope he runs again in 2012 as an Independent, because if he does, I think he'll win, based on the chaotic political climate that will take us into the 2012 election. The American people are not going to tolerate the Republicans and Democrats much longer. I expect the possibility of a victory for a third-party candidate, and nobody can take on Barack Obama better than Alan Keyes. He's already done it before, and I'm sure he'll have no problem doing it again.

Oh and one last thing. Since I do attend Tea Parties, I have seen people of various ethnicity there, so it's not just an "all white" event as some Liberal Leftists would have you believe. One regular Tea Party devotee is a good buddy of mine who happens to be of Hispanic ethnicity. Now just for kicks and grins, here's a short video of a keynote speaker at the Sacramental Tea Party last April. Yep, I suppose this is the Liberal Leftist idea of an all white racist event...

Angels and Demons: Theology for Our Time

Herewith are two insightful articles discussing the latest Dan Brown movie adaptation “Angels and Demons”.The first is from NY Times columnist Ross Douthat: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/opinion/19douthat.html. (With thanks to Fr. Tony de Castro, SJ, for alerting us to this link.)"Having dismissed Catholicism’s truth claims and demonized its most sincere defenders, Brown pats believers on the

Angels, Demons, and Modern Fantasies about Catholicism

By Fr. Robert Barronwordonfire.orgAs I was coming to the end of Ron Howard’s latest movie, “Angels and Demons,” I felt like shouting out to the screen, “no, no, you’ve got it precisely backward!” The central theme of the film, based on Dan Brown’s thriller of the same name, is the battle between “science” and Catholicism. It appears as though an ancient rationalist society, the Illuminati,

Dan Brown's America

By ROSS DOUTHATPublished: May 18, 2009The New York TimesThe movie treatment of his novel, “Angels and Demons,” is cleaning up at the box office this week. The sequel to “The DaVinci Code,” due out in November, might buoy the publishing industry through the recession. And if you want to understand the state of American religion, you need to understand why so many people love Dan Brown. It isn’t

ALERT: The Coming GREAT DEPRESSION of 2009 - 2016

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The headlines flashed across the Drudge Report last Saturday afternoon on 5/16/2009, then within a few hours they were gone, off the front page, and buried in the archives. The headlines followed the usual Drudge Report theme, each one related to the other, with a large graphic for an attention getting visual enhancement. The president's speech at Notre Dame quickly upstaged the story. So I fished these headlines out of the Drudge archive for my readers to review here....

• US prices fall most since 1955
  
• Hong Kong suffers record contraction
  
• Europe in deepest recession since World War II
  

It's highly unusual for Matt Drudge to feature a theme of stories in the headlines of his news site, then archive them within hours, without leaving a single one on his main page. Why? The nature of the news was significant, indicating an early trend that will effect us for years to come. Was it just a tidbit Matt Drudge wanted his regular readers to see, but hide from the occasional readers? Was it his buddies on Wal Street telling him to can it? Was it some government agency telling him he's compromising national security by telling the world what's really happening? Your guess is as good as mine, because one thing is certain. The headlines he replaced them with may be the hot news of the day, but they were trivial compared to the implications of the original headlines.  It still doesn't explain why they were immediately archived, without moving down the page as usual.  

Here's the gist of it.  Based on the worldwide economic indicators, things are not bouncing back as everybody previously hoped.  The economy is contracting, not just in America, but around the world, and that's bad news, not just for Americans but for everybody.  Couple that with the increased reports of layoffs and cutbacks, and what we have here is the beginnings of a long term economic decline.  America is not in a recession. It's not even in a deep recession. The United States of America is in the precursor early days to the worst economic depression in our nation's history. We're talking worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s, worse than the post Civil War depression in the American South, worse than anything Americans have ever seen, and we're completely unprepared for it.

Why is this a depression?  Why are things only going to get worse?  Let me give you a little lesson in Economics 101.  The economy is overbuilt, the commercial infrastructure is overbuilt, and there are way too many loans out there. What does that mean? It means when people stop buying things the commercial sector collapses. Strip malls and shopping malls go vacant. Banks stop giving out business loans. Commercial landlords go bankrupt. People start losing their jobs left and right. That's the other shoe to drop. You see with all of these layoffs and cutbacks going on in the manufacturing sector, more and more people are losing their jobs, and that means more and more people have less money to spend. Give it about another three to six months, and what we could be looking at is a total loss of the entire commercial sector. Now let's compound that with what's going on with the government. The government just passed two economic stimulus packages, one under Bush, the other under Obama. Each one with an actual price tag greater than $1 trillion. The government doesn't have this money, so it has to print it, which means the world is about to be flooded with U.S. dollars. Usually when economies slow down, prices go down in conjunction, and we do see that happening right now. However, once these trillions of freshly printed U.S. dollars start to get circulated in the worldwide economy, their value is going to go down, which means consumer prices will start to go up again, putting more goods and services out of the reach of Americans having to tighten their belts due to cutbacks and layoffs. Then you have two other factors contributing to this. The first is the national debt, which now tops $11 trillion. That's more money than exists in the whole world. There is no way the United States can continue to finance this debt for a prolonged period of time. Finally, there is production. The United States is mainly a service oriented economy, which means we don't produce hardly anything anymore. The federal government is gambling that if it just prints a lot of money and spends it, we can spend our way out of this recession/depression. Not so. You can't print money based on nothing, and spend it, hoping to improve the economy. You don't spend your way out of a recession. You produce your way out of a recession, by making things and putting them out on the market. Americans don't do that anymore. Almost everything we buy now comes from China, Taiwan, Japan and Europe.

So the moral to the story here folks is that we're in BIG trouble, and there really is no quick fix. We're about to get hammered with some really bad economic news in the next three to six months (from today's date 5/18/2009), and Americans are completely unprepared for it. If you're wondering what you can do to prepare yourself, probably some of the best advice I can give you is as follows...

1. Don't spend a penny more than you have to over the next few years.
2. Make sure you have enough CA$H in your home to survive about a month should the banks close.
3. Get some non-perishable food items ready for disruption in the food distribution industry.
   
4. Start thinking about getting yourself involved in a job that people will always need no matter how bad the economy gets.
5. Pray, and get plugged into your local Church community.  You may end up needing them soon.
6. Start thinking about ways to save money and become more self sufficient.
7. If you have the means, perhaps consider making a vegetable garden on your property.
8. Take reasonable measures to protect yourself and your assets.
9. Buy precious medals - silver may be safer than gold, as governments often seize gold when they get into economic trouble.
10. DO NOT participate in any protest or demonstration that may possibly turn violent.

Notre Dame Is No Longer Catholic

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: This historic image was captured just as Notre Dame forfeited it's title as a Catholic university. Is it a sad day for Catholic higher education? Yes, but not a surprising one. This is the product of 30+ years of poor leadership in the U.S. Catholic Church. It is poor leadership at the diocean level, that leads to poor leadership at the level of Catholic organizatons and schools. This isn't the first time Notre Dame, and other Catholic universities, have engaged in activities that specifically attack the Catholic Christian faith. Notre Dame in particular has a long history of this. Today, Notre Dame lost it's title as a Catholic university. It may take some time for that to become official. It may never be official, but in the hearts and minds of faithful pro-life Catholics, it has already happened. When it comes time for my children to apply to Catholic colleges, they will not bother with the anti-Catholic university of Notre Dame. Why would I ever send my kids to a supposed "Catholic" university that does this to Catholic priests, merely for leading people in prayer of the Rosary on a supposedly "Catholic" campus? I dare say these priests would have received better treatment on the campus of a Secular university....

Some Good News For A Change - America Is Now Pro-Life

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Ironic isn't it? Just after America elects the most pro-abortion president in history, along with the most pro-abortion Congress in history, this poll comes out. I'm really not sure what to make of it, but if it's accurate, than its the first sign of really good news in over a decade.

Maybe it's because America's fate is sealed now. Maybe it's because the Greatest Depression is about to begin, and World War III looms on the horizon. Maybe it's because God is about to take away America's status as the world's last remaining superpower. Maybe, just maybe, God is preparing a pro-life generation to lead the former American Empire into a very dark and frightening 21st century. Or... maybe they just screwed up the poll. I don't know, but I think we will know in about a year.

The Culture War Is Over - Evangelical Icon Surrenders

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The culture war is over, and the Liberal Modernists won! America's moral majority, the Christian Right, has surrendered. Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus On The Family and probably the ONLY man who can speak for most Evangelicals, has admitted defeat and effectively surrendered to the tidal wave of Left-wing extremism coming out of Washington DC and the media establishment. Gay-Marriage is now legal, or will soon be legal, in most New England states. Euthanasia is now legal in the states of Washington and Oregon.  Abortion-on-demand is still the law of the land. Embryonic stem-cell research is codified into law across the nation, even in the more conservative states. Teen pregnancy is on the rise. Promiscuity is now considered "normal" and "expected" of high school and middle school students. Our entertainment continues to become more graphic and sexual in nature. Washington DC now threatens to squelch free-speech when it comes to criticizing homosexuality and pedophilia. Freedom of religion is now on the line in the United States. There is now no measurable victory on any front in our society of the Christian Right Moral Majority. It's as if it never existed. Dr. Dobson explains...

I want to tell you up front that we're not going to ask you to do anything, to make a phone call or to write a letter or anything.

There is nothing you can do at this time about what is taking place because there is simply no limit to what the left can do at this time. Anything they want, they get and so we can't stop them.

We tried with [Health and Human Services Secretary] Kathleen Sebelius and sent thousands of phone calls and emails to the Senate and they didn't pay any attention to it because they don't have to. And so what you can do is pray, pray for this great nation... As I see it, there is no other answer. There's no other answer, short term.

I've been on the air for 32 years and I've never seen a time quite like this. It just illustrates what happens when we don't have what the Founding Fathers referred to as checks and balances, where the excesses of one party or one branch of government limit the reach of power hungry and self-serving people and keeps them from doing things that are harmful to the country. That's the way the system was designed. We have 2 major political parties in this country, not one. And bipartisanship is a media creation that's designed to promote one point of view instead of the debate that should occur. And that's why media doesn't talk about bipartisanship when conservatives are in power...

...[today] the radical left controls the executive branch through the president, and the Congress... and the Judiciary through the courts... now they control it all, including every department of government. As a result, the legislation that should shock the nation, if people were paying attention, is being rushed into law.

-- Dr. James Dobson, 5/14/2009

Focus on the Family Daily Broadcast

This is significant because Evangelicals have led the charge in America's culture war since the 1980s. Where were the Catholics? Well, at least half of them were asleep at the switch. That's right, at least half of America's Roman Catholics were so wrapped up in the culture that either they didn't care, or else they were on the wrong side! The other half have been fighting at the Evangelicals' side for part of the culture war, and battling off internal struggles within the U.S. Catholic Church for the rest of the culture war. It is telling when some of the biggest villains fighting for the Left-wing modernist agenda in Washington DC are themselves supposed to be "Catholics." I'm speaking of the likes of Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi for example, just to name a few. The U.S. Catholic Church is now in total crisis and virtually paralysed, incapable of effecting any meaningful change at any level of government in the United States.

So with that ends the American Empire. We shall now see the beginning of the end - the inevitable collapse that must follow - as the cycle of history always goes. On September 11th, 2001, our peace was taken away from us, and we have found ourselves perpetually at war ever since, against an enemy we cannot see or fight effectively. Last September our prosperity was taken away from us in the biggest stock market drop and credit collapse in U.S. history. Sometime later this year, it is expected that our very way of life will come to an end, as America settles into it's greatest economic depression ever. Our jobs will be taken away. Our banks will be taken away. Our very money itself will be taken away by runaway inflation. On the heels of this our military might be taken away as well, for a nation cannot maintain an army when it can no longer afford to feed it. Chaos will erupt in the streets of our major cities, and before it's all over, who can tell if we will even have a single unified nation anymore. Such is the fate of those nations that were once decent and sober, those nations that once claimed the Lord God as their own. We turned our back on God, and now he is finished with us. He'll wipe his hands clean of our dirty mess, and walk away, leaving America in shambles - leaving us to our own devices. America will learn that it's not so special after all. Americans will learn that God only blessed us so long as we blessed him. He used our military might when it pleased him, to defeat the Nazis and the Communists, but when he was through with us, he left us alone to see what we would do. With our freedom and prosperity we chose only to destroy ourselves, and we shall all see the effects of that (the whole world shall see) over the next few years.

What shall we do? We do the only thing there is left to do. We pray. We confess our sins, both personal and national, begging for forgiveness. Then we ask God to spare our families from the calamity of America's demise. We go to mass regularly, and seek out parishes that take the liturgy seriously, giving proper honor and glory to God. We take the necessary precautions to prepare for the inevitable fall of our once great nation, while at the same time we reach out to our neighbors and offer to help them do the same. Then we await our persecution, because before this is all over, the federal government will take it out on Christians - particularly Catholics.

So that's all we can do. Perhaps in upcoming elections we might have the opportunity to vote in such a way that will soften our national demise, but at this point nothing can prevent it. America is now in full self-destruct mode. Nothing can stop that from happening now.

Vatican Official: Only Bad Catholics Could Have Voted For Obama

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It's really nice to know that folks at the Vatican are saying the same thing 'The Catholic Knight' has been saying for over a year now. Only a bad Catholic could vote for Obama. No good Catholic, acting in good conscience, could have possibly voted for Obama considering his purely anti-Catholic stand against human life and traditional marriage....

(CNA) - Returning to Rome after addressing the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Archbishop Raymond F. Burke said in an interview that a Catholic who knew Obama’s "clearly announced" agenda on life issues and marriage could not have voted for him "in clear conscience."

The archbishop’s comments came in response to questions from Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online during his flight from Washington, D.C. to Rome.

In her interview, Lopez remarked that Archbishop Burke had seemingly made very clear that Catholic voters "collaborated with evil" when they voted for Obama....

read full story here

The Task of the Next Generation of the Catholic Commentariat

Rev. Fr. Robert BarronPosted: 1/27/2009 9:21:48 PM by Word On Fire.......Here is a belated re-posting of an important observation on certain movements within the Catholic Church. Father Robert Barron calls attention to a changing of the guards among the so-called Catholic commentariat, himself one of today's leading commentators on things Catholic, deftly engaging pop culture with solid theology.

postscipt from the learning visit

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Prayer for Hya

As she turns 18, Father in heaven,gift her with the capacityto look at the world with clear eyes and wander,to find happiness in simple things,to stand by the goodness of her heart and the greatness of her spirit,to develop her sense of right and wrong,to value family and true friends, and love always even when her loved ones disappoint,to learn from her mistakes and rise from it a better person,

Portrait Of A Good Rabbi

(YNetNews.com) - The Chief Rabbinate recently released a statement against handing over holy sites to the Vatican and right-wing rabbis have called on Israel's chief rabbis to boycott a planned meeting with the pope, but shortly before Benedict XVI's arrival in Israel a Rabbinate official decided to come to the Christian leader's defense.

Rabbi David Rosen, an advisor and member of the Chief Rabbinate's inter-religious relations committee and chairman of International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations, stated that the claims made against the pope in the past few days were "unfounded" and slammed the rabbis who voiced them...

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Let me stress here, that as a Catholic knight with Jewish family members, I am keenly aware of the difference between good rabbis, and not-so-good rabbis. This man in the article above is part of the former group. Another example would be Rabbi David G. Dalin, who wrote the bestselling book "The Myth of Hitler's Pope," in which he debunks the KGB propaganda against the wartime Pope Pius XII in page after page. Here we have two examples of men who are faithful to their Jewish religion and heritage, and at the same time they are fair and honest in their approach with Christians. The New Testament speaks of men such as these, in reference to a rabbi of that time period, a rabbi named Gamaliel, who is famous in Jewish history as well. He spoke up for St. Peter and the apostles, advising the Jewish council to leave them alone and let God determine the success or failure of the early Christian movement. Throughout Christian history, the Church has always encountered three kinds of Jews.

The first kind accepts the Gospel of Jesus Christ and becomes Christian. The second kind outright rejects the gospel and works to persecute it's adherents in any way they can. The third kind may, or may not, hold any opinion on the gospel, but follows the heart of the Mosaic Law by treating Christians kindly, and dealing with them fairly, sometimes even coming to their defense when necessary. These men and women are the true children of the commandments, and they should be applauded. For even though they may refuse to make a decision about Jesus of Nazareth, they nevertheless follow the spirit of the Mosaic Law by treating their neighbors with fairness and kindness. This is the way God intended through Moses, and we praise our Jewish friends who follow this rule of life, giving credit where credit is due.

Want To Save America? The Catholic Church Has A Plan

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Do you want to save the United States of America from eminent collapse, tyranny or breakup? The Catholic Church not only has the answer, but also a plan, and you can find it right in the pages of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It's really very simple. A grassroots movement has already begun. Several U.S. states have already taken it upon themselves to start the process. Here is your opportunity to be part of the solution. It doesn't matter what you're political affiliation is, and you don't even have to be Catholic to jump on board, but if you are Catholic it helps, because the method and plan for saving America is part of our Roman Catholic faith. It's part of the Catholic Social Justice, and according to Church authorities on the matter, it is the hinge upon which all of Catholic Social teaching turns. Without it, Catholic Social Justice doesn't make any sense, and without it, we cannot hope to save our beloved country (The United States of America). That principle of Catholic Social Justice is called Subsidiarity.....

What is Subsidiarity?

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church...

1883 Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co- ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good."

1885 The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.

1894 In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and responsibility of individuals and intermediary bodies.

2209 The family must be helped and defended by appropriate social measures. Where families cannot fulfill their responsibilities, other social bodies have the duty of helping them and of supporting the institution of the family. Following the principle of subsidiarity, larger communities should take care not to usurp the family's prerogatives or interfere in its life.

Never underestimate a government's lust for power. That applies to any government, not just national governments, but state government's too. The key to restraining tyranny is to get the government to unleash this lust upon itself, rather than on the general population - namely us.

Over the last 40+ years, the Republicans and Democrats in Washington DC have worked together quietly, behind the scenes, making deals that would consolidate the power of federal government to a near absolute level. The Constitutional checks and balances between the three branches of the federal government have completely broken down. All three branches (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) now work together to consolidate the power of the federal government. In other words, there are no checks and balances on power anymore in Washington DC, neither between the political parties, nor between the three branches of government.

There is however one check and balance left, which has not been used for decades, and it is the missing link needed to restrain the federal government from runaway power grabbing. It's called State Sovereignty, and it is perfectly in line with the Catholic Social Justice principle of Subsidiarity.

From the United States Constitution, Bill of Rights...

Ninth Amendment – The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Tenth Amendment – The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

All across America we are seeing a movement take place. States are passing resolutions asserting their ninth and tenth amendment rights as outlined by the U.S. Constitution. It is the final "check and balance" our nations founders put on the federal government, and for the first time in most of our lifetimes, it is finally being used.

Essentially what this does is pit an individual state's lust for power against the federal government's lust for power, effectively putting the two governing bodies in competition with each other. Thus we have the ultimate check and balance. It serves not as a check and balance within the federal government, but rather a check and balance ON the federal government. Preventing it from getting too big and powerful, and allowing the states to take back whatever powers they don't want the federal government to have.

Do you want to stop tyranny from rising in the United States federal government? Do you want increase the level of personal and family freedom in America? Do you want your state to govern according to what is good for your state? Do you believe that one size does NOT fit all? Do you believe that what's good for California isn't necessarily good for South Carolina? Do you believe what's good for Maine isn't necessarily good for Missouri? Do you believe in the Catholic Social Justice principle of Subsidiarity (learn more here). Well, there is a simple solution to this, and it doesn't involve anything so elaborate as forming a new political party, or campaigning for some kind of new cause.

'The Catholic Knight' would like to encourage every Catholic reading this to support their local state's "sovereignty act," invoking the state's ninth and tenth amendment rights. Furthermore, 'The Catholic Knight' proposes that once passed, states use their sovereignty laws to audit all federal laws enforced in their state, to determine which ones fall under the powers outlined by the U.S. Constitution, and which federal laws do not. Those that fail the test should be made null and void by the State government immediately.

Whenever governments peacefully compete for power, the people win! The ninth and tenth amendments to the U.S. Bill of Rights essentially outline the Catholic Social Justice principle of Subsidiarity. You want to save America? Then this is what you do...

1. Support your state's sovereignty act, understanding that this is a secular expression of the Catholic Social Justice principle called Subsidiarity.  
2. Contact your elected STATE (not federal) representatives, and encourage them to support your state's sovereignty act.
3. Once your state's sovereignty act has passed, contact your elected STATE (not federal) representatives, and demand they use the state's sovereignty act to audit all federal laws currently enforced in the state, for the purpose of submitting a written report of them to the STATE congress, with the intention of nullifying all unconstitutional federal laws. 
4. Continue pushing for greater local state control of all federal programs and taxation.

BREAKING! Obama Appointee Advocates Sharia Law In America!!!

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Even though everybody knows Barack Obama is not a Muslim (see proof here), and he never actually bowed to an Arab Muslim king...


...and even though he never campaigned for the advance of Sharia Law in Africa (see proof here), he is nevertheless appointing men to Whitehouse positions that advocate the use of Sharia Law in the United States of America. I'm sure there's no connection...

(Human Events) - It is a case of happy timing. Barack Obama’s nominee as Legal Adviser of the State Department, Harold Koh, has said that he has no objection to Islamic Sharia law being applied “in an appropriate case” in the United States. And at the same time, the world is witness to a veritable laboratory experiment of what it means to apply Sharia in a place where it previously had not been in effect.

While Koh, of course, probably has in mind something like the voluntary Sharia arbitration courts that are currently operating in Britain, Sharia is a comprehensive system covering every aspect of life. It will not prove so easy to separate out its elements that do not conflict with Western laws from those that do....

read full story here

Gays Strike Back In California

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The Homo-Fascist movement is striking back against parents and children in California, once again trying to shove their gay-pride down the throat of anybody who doesn't want to be a part of it....

(WND) - A California committee passed a bill proclaiming that the state's public school children will take a break from learning every year to celebrate Harvey Milk – a homosexual icon considered by some to be "a martyr for gay rights."

The California State Senate Education Committee passed SB 572 today on a 7-2 vote. The bill encourages all California public schools to "conduct suitable commemorative exercises … remembering the life of Harvey Milk and recognizing his accomplishments as well as the contributions he made to this state."

It requires no parental consent for student participation.

SB 572 states, "Perhaps more than any other modern figure, Harvey Milk's life and political career embody the rise of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights movement in California, across the nation, and throughout the world."

"If signed into law, SB 572 will mean an official day commemorating homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality in California government schools, without parental permission," said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, which has been generating citizen phone calls and e-mails against SB 572.

"It's absurd that government schools teach children not to smoke or use drugs, yet would teach children as young as kindergarten that homosexuality is good and healthy and maybe even for them. That's just not true. Homosexual and bisexual behavior causes up to 82 percent of all HIV transmissions in California," Thomasson said.

As WND reported last year, the same bill (numbered AB 2567) passed the Democrat-controlled Legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger....

read full story here

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(ABC News) - Same-sex marriage backers in California, anticipating a loss in court, are preparing to make their case at the ballot box in 2010 rather than waiting until 2012.

"The right time is now," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told ABC News. "And if that means going back in 2010, I couldn't be more supportive."

"Wait almost always means never," he added, invoking Martin Luther King Jr.

California voters approved Proposition 8 in November, a change to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. Although a decision has not yet been rendered in the legal challenge to Proposition 8, many gay marriage proponents in California expect the state Supreme Court to uphold the voter-approved ban on new gay marriages while leaving intact the gay marriages performed in 2008 when a decision of the state's High Court had temporarily legalized the practice.

The inclination on the part of Newsom, who is running for governor next year, to push for gay marriage in 2010 is in step with the thinking of Rick Jacobs, the chairman of the Courage Campaign, a liberal grassroots organization that is at the center of deciding when gay marriage advocates will launch their next campaign.

"Do we wait? My gut tells me no," Jacobs told ABC News....

read full story here

Congressional Democrats Move To Protect Pedophiles Making Them A "Protected Class"

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Only a FASCIST organization like the Democratic Party could dream up such a thing...

(WND) - In its first day, hundreds of Americans have taken advantage of a unique campaign to sound off in opposition to new hate-crimes legislation on the fast track of the U.S. Senate by overnighting letters to individual senators at a significantly reduced price.

As WND first reported, the bill stirring opposition from coast to coast, opponents say, would, for the first time, make pedophiles a protected class of victim.

Janet Porter, WND columnist and president of Faith2Action, organized the effort to utilize reduced rates for individual letters delivered by Fed Ex to individual senators in bulk quantities. Overnight letters not only have more impact, but can be assured of delivery in time to impact pending legislation...

read full story here

CLICK HERE TO FEDEX YOUR SENATOR ABOUT THIS LEGISLATION

Democrats Prepare To End Free Speech On The Internet

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The very undemocratic Democrats, and intolerant ministers of tolerance in the U.S. Congress, after having prepared measures to silence conservative talk radio via the "Fairness Doctrine," now move to silence their opposition on the Internet under the guise of "cyberbullying." Basically, this is how it works. Suppose somebody on the Internet (like a blogger for example) writes something that causes a reader to feel "emotionally distressed," it could technically be characterized as "cyberbullying" and punishable by fines and/or imprisonment. Only the illiberal Liberals, and the undemocratic Democrats, acting as the intolerant ministers of tolerance, would come up with such a thing.   It's the stuff of FASCISM, and I'll call it for what it is - FASCISM! If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck - guess what? - It's a DUCK!   Yes, the U.S. Democratic Party has become a FASCIST organization, plain and simple. QUACK! QUACK!

(WND) - A new proposal in Congress is threatening fines and jail time for what it calls "cyberbullying" – communications that include e-mails and text messages that "cause substantial emotional distress."

The vague generalities are included in H.R. 1966 by California Democrat Linda Sanchez and about a dozen co-sponsors.

But it already is being condemned as unconstitutional, unrealistic and probably ineffectual.

At Wired.com, in a report labeled "Threat Level," writer David Kravets criticized the plan to demand "up to two years in prison for those whose electronic speech is meant to 'coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress.'"

"Instead of prison, perhaps we should say gulag," he wrote....

read full story here

Vatican's Highest Liturgical Authority Prepares Way For SIGNIFICANT Reform Of The New Mass

(NLM) - The Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has written a preface to the Spanish edition of a recent book by Fr. Nicola Bux, The Reform of Benedict XVI, which will be presented in Toledo this Thursday. In this outstanding preface, the Prefect of the dicastery charged with the sacred liturgy quite frankly recognizes that the liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council have often not been completely successful, that a false spirit of rupture was at work. While this may seem obvious to most NLM readers, it should be considered that until a rather short time ago, to express such a view was still anathema. Thus, to have it puclicly stated by the man given he highest authority in matters liturgical by the Holy Father is quite significant. What we see here, then, surely is the "setting of the tone", the "laying of the foundations" for an actual reform of the reform, in the cautious and gentle, yet determined manner which clearly is the modus operandi of our Holy Father....

read full story here

BREAKING! Embryonic Stem Cells Cause Cancer

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The information was leaked on Oprah (see the video here). Huge advancements in adult stem cell research are expected in less than ten years, that will probably provide significant treatment for Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. However, embryonic stem cell research has hit a brick wall, causing incurable cancer in test subjects.

God's "RESET" Button

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Here is a very interesting story of how God might "control, alt, delete" our modern civilization when he finally decides he's had enough of it...

(New Scientist) - IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.

A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun.

It sounds ridiculous. Surely the sun couldn't create so profound a disaster on Earth. Yet an extraordinary report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January this year claims it could do just that.

Over the last few decades, western civilisations have busily sown the seeds of their own destruction. Our modern way of life, with its reliance on technology, has unwittingly exposed us to an extraordinary danger: plasma balls spewed from the surface of the sun could wipe out our power grids, with catastrophic consequences.

The projections of just how catastrophic make chilling reading. "We're moving closer and closer to the edge of a possible disaster," says Daniel Baker, a space weather expert based at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and chair of the NAS committee responsible for the report.

It is hard to conceive of the sun wiping out a large amount of our hard-earned progress. Nevertheless, it is possible. The surface of the sun is a roiling mass of plasma - charged high-energy particles - some of which escape the surface and travel through space as the solar wind. From time to time, that wind carries a billion-tonne glob of plasma, a fireball known as a coronal mass ejection (see "When hell comes to Earth"). If one should hit the Earth's magnetic shield, the result could be truly devastating.

The incursion of the plasma into our atmosphere causes rapid changes in the configuration of Earth's magnetic field which, in turn, induce currents in the long wires of the power grids. The grids were not built to handle this sort of direct current electricity. The greatest danger is at the step-up and step-down transformers used to convert power from its transport voltage to domestically useful voltage. The increased DC current creates strong magnetic fields that saturate a transformer's magnetic core. The result is runaway current in the transformer's copper wiring, which rapidly heats up and melts. This is exactly what happened in the Canadian province of Quebec in March 1989, and six million people spent 9 hours without electricity. But things could get much, much worse than that....

read full story here

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) happen all the time, coinciding with the active portion of the sun's eleven year cycle.  However, every few centuries, with semi-regular certainty, the sun goes through a violent active stage, ejecting powerful CMEs with alternating polarities, that dwarf the size of normal CMEs.  The last time this was recorded was in 1859, when massive CMEs shorted out every telegraph line on the North American and European continent.  It was called the "Carrington Event," named after solar astronomer Richard Carrington. Though this event was massive by usual standards, it may have still been quite small by historical standards. Ice core samples from the North and South poles indicate much larger events happen with regularity ever 300 to 500 years. So a larger Carrington Event may be on the way soon. At the date of this blog entry, the sun has undergone a prolonged period of decreased sunspots, something never observed by solar astronomers before, and could be a sign of the calm before the storm.

The beauty of this perfectly natural phenomenon that happens every few centuries, is that it leaves primitive societies relatively untouched, and technologically advanced societies completely obliterated. It's the perfect solution to a world run amok with liberalism and technological pride. Basically this has already happened to earth millions of times, but without modern technology, hardly anybody noticed.  It's a subtle reminder of WHO is really in charge of things.  Indeed, mankind may be rushing headlong into global government and worldwide control, but with nothing more than a natural phenomenon, regularly occurring every few centuries, God can wipe out everything modern man has created within a matter of minutes, knocking the earth back to a technology level on par with the 1850's. Underdeveloped countries will be relatively untouched by this, unless they're receiving significant financial aid from developed countries.  Rural agrarian societies, such as the Amish and Mennonites, probably won't even notice anything has happened until one of their members asks to borrow somebody's cell phone. Monastic communities might also be better prepared for this as well. This would effectively put globalist plans into deep freeze for another fifty to seventy years at least. It would also shuffle the deck on the international scene, putting underdeveloped countries at an advantage over previously developed and industrialized nations. Survival would once again be dependent on hard work and self sufficiency. The new world resulting from this would not have time for such novelties as gay-marriage, abortion-on-demand, human cloning, etc.  Most hardened criminals would eventually be killed off, because you can only loot and pillage for so long before you eventually get shot yourself. Governments would be more concerned with trying to preserve themselves in a society that is quickly discovering how useless they really are, and just how little it really needs them. In other words, after the initial chaos of the event, and resulting holocaust which must follow, the meek would inherit the earth, and the first would be last, while the last would be first.  

It's not a question of "if" but "when." THIS WILL HAPPEN SOMEDAY! It has happened millions of times in the past, at semi-regular intervals every few centuries, and it will continue to happen indefinitely until the end of the world. It is harmless to biological life on this planet. The only thing that's different this time is that modern civilization has made itself utterly dependent on technology that is extremely vulnerable to this kind of natural phenomenon. It's the perfect scenario for divine justice.  When this natural event brings our modern civilization to a catastrophic halt, we will only have ourselves to blame.

America Prepares To Go Fascist

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: In the prelude to the coming economic meltdown of 2009 -2010, and the greatest depression in American history that is to follow, we now see the federal government clamp down on free speech and freedom of religion, while extreme Leftist power brokers buy up what remains of the failing mainstream media. The United States of America is steadily heading down the road once seen in the European fascism of the 1920s and 30s. The first sign of a fascist takeover in any nation is Leftist control of the media, aided by extensive government speech regulation.

The most disturbing in all of this is the first story from FoxNews wherein the U.S. federal government now threatens to intervene in the teaching of religion under the guise of "civil rights" and "hate crimes" legislation. While this is a gross violation of the first amendment, the federal courts may not see it that way, as the federal government has frequently used the fourteenth amendment to justify all sorts of civil rights legislation....

(FoxNews) - A Senate hate crimes bill that would extend federal protection to gay and transgender victims is rousing the ire of social conservatives who say their right to free speech will be jeopardized if it becomes law.

"In and of itself this law can be applied to speech. The nature of assault -- putting someone in fear of their safety -- what will that mean for someone preaching against homosexuality?" said Mathew Staver, founder of the Liberty Council, a law firm that works on religious freedom cases.

"It elevates homosexuality to the same protective category as race. It's all part of the radical homosexual anarchist agenda," Staver said....

read full story here

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(WorldNetDaily) - The Federal Communications Commission has announced the roster of a new advisory committee on "diversity" in communications, a move many critics have warned would mark the beginning of government regulation of talk radio and a reinstallation of the "Fairness Doctrine" by another name.

As WND reported, a think tank headed by John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's transition team, mapped out a strategy in 2007 for clamping down on conservative talk radio by requiring stations to be operated by female and minority owners, which the report showed were statistically more likely to carry liberal political talk shows.

Therefore, the report concluded, the best strategy for getting equal time for "progressives" on radio lies in mandating "diversity of ownership" without ever needing to mention the former FCC policy of requiring airtime for liberal viewpoints, known as the "Fairness Doctrine....

read full story here

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(WorldNetDaily) - With newspapers dropping dead like the flies they once swatted, a new non-profit riding to the rescue with free, ready-made "independent investigative reporting" is accepting money from a billionaire couple with a far-left agenda and dubbed "the king and queen of toxic mortgages."

Herb and Marion Sandler, who sold their Golden West Financial Corp. to Wachovia and nearly bankrupted the buyer with its portfolio of subprime loans, committed $10 million to Pro Publica Inc., the non-profit that promises underwritten hard-hitting investigative journalism that has a "moral force" to newspapers facing cutbacks in staff and elimination of editions.

But, according to a report by Capital Research Center, the Sandlers have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to MoveOn.org, George Soros' Democracy Alliance, David Brock's Media Matters, John Podesta's Center for American Progress, the William J. Clinton Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the Institute for Public Policy, the Natural Resources Defense Council and two affiliates of the voter-fraud tainted ACORN, the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now – and many other groups and causes with a portside tilt....

read full story here

By the time this is all done, the federal government will control most of the mainstream media through ownership and heavy regulation, while extreme Leftists, supporting the Obama administration, will own and control what little remains of the non-government owned media. Most frightening is the real prospect of the government also having a regulating hand within the churches, controlling what can (and cannot) be said from behind the pulpit. The United States of America is now charging at full speed down the road to fascism.

About Stephen King

May 3^rd 2009

One of the most famous living writers, possibly the one who sold the most books too, Stephen King is this chapter’s topic. But before I go any further into the matter, you have to know I haven’t read a lot of King’s writings, although the portion I read of his works far exceeds what I read of H.P. Lovecraft, and I read every single story the latter ever wrote.

My very first experience of Stephen King’s writings was a French translation of Firestarter, and it took me about 10 pages before I dropped the book. I thought it was awful. I remember feeling like it read really badly, and that’s probably due to the translation, although the plot wasn’t too interesting to me either (for the little of it I had discovered of it). For many years, this was all I knew personally of King’s writings, and judging by the movies based on his books, and what everyone seemed to say about them, I felt the underlying scorn was justified.

How wrong I was.

One day not too long ago I decided to give this author a more serious try. I picked up a copy of Different Seasons – made of four novellas – and started reading “Apt Pupil”, mostly because it had to do with Nazism, and because I had vaguely seen the movies years before, and it didn’t seem like a bad story.

I got hooked pretty quickly and read the whole thing in a few sessions. I wasn’t sure it was mind-blowingly awesome, but I damn sure knew I wanted to finish it, and that, in my humble opinion, means the story is good at least on some levels. That was my real serious first experience of King in the original text, and I had enjoyed it.

So then I thought I’d read the other novellas in that book. Having seen the Shawshank Redemption movie already, I skipped it (I would read it later) and began “The Body”. This one too has been turned into a movie – in the 80’s – but I had strictly no idea that it had at the time I read it. “The Body” is the story that made me think King was in truth a great author. There is nothing supernatural in it, but I wouldn’t say there is no horror, as a cold hard look at life can be the most horrific vision, and thus realism can be horror too. The story is about a group of friends going on an expedition to see a corpse that hasn’t yet been discovered by the authorities. The whole narrative is told by one of these kids, who since then has become a successful and famous writer. To this day, it is my favourite King’s longer piece (though I haven’t read even a quarter of his work). It’s well-written, it’s immersing, the characters have... character, without becoming stock, the narrative moves back and forth between a long since dead past (childhood) and a nostalgic present, etc. I have nothing but good things to say about this particular story. It deals with life, death, childhood, the past, writing as a job, friendship, and other important themes. It’s a very impressive story, and I can only recommend it.

After this, I read the rest of the novellas in that thick book. Good stuff too.

Then I decided to actually buy a book myself. Since I’m a huge fan of short stories (Poe, Lovecraft, Hemingway, Hawthorne, Buzzati, to name a few) and since King is something like the literary son of Lovecraft and grandson of Poe (although varying in style, they occupy a similar spot in literature, or something), I thought I’d get a book of short stories by King. That’s how I got to Night Shift. The first collection of stories by King, to my knowledge; it contains some really good ones, and some not so good ones. If you’re familiar with H.P. Lovecraft’s work, you’ll recognise the influence here and there, in some stories. That is not a bad thing at all, except when it feels like bad fanfiction, which I thought it did in “Jerusalem’s Lot”, not to be mistaken with the novel of almost the same name. I wrote an amazon review about this book, so I won’t rewrite it here, but I can’t not show you that King quote to be found in the foreword by the author:

"All my life as a writer I have been committed to the idea that in fiction the story value holds dominance over every other facet of the writer's craft; characterization, theme, mood, none of those things is anything if the story is dull. And if the story does hold you, all else can be forgiven."

My favourite story in this volume is without a doubt “The Last Rung on the Ladder”. I’d compare it to “The Body” in terms of goodness. That one, too, has no supernatural or strictly horror elements, but by God it’s a great story. To my knowledge, neither Stephen King nor J.D. Salinger appear in the Norton Anthology of American Literature, not even with a short story, and it’s a damned shame. King deserves to have at least a short in there, and I think “The Last Rung on the Ladder” is a likely candidate. I could write a whole chapter about the Norton Anthology and the general scholarly scorn of certain popular authors. I agree with King on the idea that skilled writing is nothing if the story is a bore. And now is the time when you decide whether I am a mere ignorant or an opinionated person with, perhaps, good taste. I enjoy King’s stories more than I enjoy Joyce’s. I read Dubliners, and I had to force myself to read for most of the book. I did like some of them, or parts of some of them, but on the whole, it’s not the sort of thing I’d want everyone in the world to read. It’s the sort of book that makes kids hate literature when they have to endure it as mandatory reading material for school. But enough on that issue.

After this volume, I saw that King had another collection of short stories, Skeleton Crew, and so I purchased that. At almost 800 pages, it’s one fat paperback. As of this writing, I read 440 pages. It contains “The Mist”, which has recently been turned into a movie (with a vastly different ending, from what I was told), and many others. My favourite so far is “The Jaunt”, one of the rare sci-fi stories written by King (I can only think of two, and that’s just me, I don’t know his entire body of works), and it reads like a Twilight Zone episode, which is probably no coincidence since, after inspection, that story was published in the Twilight Zone magazine. It basically deals with teleportation, and it will remind you of Portal, the Valve game that everyone thinks so much of (with reason, for all I know).

And that’s about it for my reading of King’s writings. As mentioned before, I haven’t read a whole lot, though it exceeds 1000 pages.

With this modest chapter, I wanted to say that one should not believe the general scorn towards King, because he is a good writer! Fair enough, I hear some books are really bad, and judging from the movies (which you shouldn’t do) it’s hard to be attracted to the books they’re based on (unless it’s the Shawshank Redemption). But yeah, King is worth at the very least a try. I have never read any of his novels so far, but you should try some of the short stories I recommended here; mostly “The Last Rung on the Ladder”, “The Jaunt”, and for a more classic King kind of story, “The Children of the Corn”, and for a longer piece, “The Body”, which is a classic to me now.

The Shepherd's Flute

For my homily this Sunday, 4th Sunday of Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday, I am including a story from Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopalian priest and theologian, from her sermon “The Shepherd’s Flute,” from her book Bread of Angels........“On the night before Christ died, all of His sheep fell asleep. They had had a big meal and with the sound of the shepherd’s flute in their ears,