Abortion, Feminism, and The Law

I was watching a forensic science/law show the other day. A man was convicted of beating his pregnant wife, which eventually led to the death of his unborn child. He was charged and convicted with not only the assault of his wife, but also the murder of his unborn child. This got me thinking.

In America, it is perfectly legal for a woman to murder her unborn child at any time during her pregnancy, even just before natural childbirth. If a man beats a woman and it leads to the death of that child (or in the case of Scott Peterson the murder of his wife and his unborn child) the man can be charged with the murder of that child. Should he be? Of course he should. Murder is murder. But what about the woman who “chooses” to end her pregnancy, should she be charged with murder? I think that she should, murder is murder, but not in this country. Could this double standard in the law be due to feminism in our culture? A different standard for men and women? I think that this just might be the case.

No More Pink Palaces

Tomorrow’s the big day. The Vatican is set to release its much anticipated document, approved by the Holy Father, barring all active gay men and those men who support the gay culture from entering the Church’s seminaries. These restrictions would not necessarily bar those men who have had same-sex attractions, but was during a time in their lives which is in the past and they have reformed and lived truly chaste lives for the past three years (at least according to all the reports that I’ve read in the blogosphere). Great news, huh? You might find yourself saying “It’s about time!”

Chew on this: these restrictions depend on the Church’s bishops to enforce. After all, many if not most seminaries in the Church are diocesan seminaries (correct me if I’m wrong on this one). Knowing the infamous job performance of American bishops, do you expect our bishops to enforce these restrictions? I’m not holding my breath. This document is a great first step, but the job won’t be done until our terrible bishops—some of whom I suspect either support the gay culture or are gay themselves—are dealt with. What this means is that those bishops who do not obey the Holy Father are severely reprimanded, up to and including removal from their sees and even the possible excommunication or two. We’ll just have to wait and see.

The Language of Gender

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. I've been really busy with school--I still am, so this one will be short.

This really bothers me, and I see it all the time. "The child lost their ball." What's wrong with this sentence? The child is singular, and their is plural. A singular subject does not match with a plural pronoun. Most people do this without thinking, but what's the real reason behind it? The feminist powers that be have taken out the traditional "he" from our language and replaced it with "them." The above sentence should read "The child lost his ball." Is the child really a boy? It doesn't matter. When speaking in the hypothetical, always refer to the hypothetical person as a he. Why? That's how our language works. Don't like it? Get over yourself.

Multiculturalism

Does multiculturalism bother you? You may not be the only one, and maybe it's not only just a minor annoyance. Perhaps it's far more insidious than we think. Check out this article written by a Catholic Monarchist and papal knight Charles A. Coulombe. I may not agree with it in its entirety, but it's a good read. http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4287

Our Holy Father

It's been a while since the election of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, but I thought that I should make a post on him. I was familiar with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger before he was elected to the Papacy, but looking back I wish I was more familiar with him. The only writing of his that I ever actually read was Dominus Iesus, but whenever I heard or read an excerpt from one of his writings I always thought "This man is a genius!! He knows exactly how I feel!"

When our late Holy Father Pope John Paul II died, my first pick for the new pope was Ratzinger. I always prefaced this when someone asked me who I was rooting for by saying that the Holy Ghost doesn't consult me when He raises up the man He has chosen to be the next pope--but nonetheless I was hoping Ratzinger would be elected Pope. When those great words rang out from the balcony of St. Peters "Habemus Papam!" and were followed with Ratzinger's name, it was all I could do to contain myself (I was in a public setting at the time).

I had great hopes at Benedict's accession to the papal throne, and I still do. He knows that the present state of the Novus Ordo Mass as it is commonly celebrated--especially in America and Europe--is a mess. He has celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass several times over the past 15 years, has relationship with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (albeit a superficial one, but supportive at that), it is reported that as of today he will issue a document banning gays from the priesthood. It is also rumored that he will lift the restrictions presently upon the Traditional Latin Mass, making it possible for any priest in the Latin Rite to say the Traditional Latin Mass without needing the permission of the local Ordinary. But of course there is always room for improvement.

I had hoped, as a monarchist, that Benedict would have had a traditional coronation Mass. What he got instead was a fairly simple "installation Mass." There was no papal tiara, no Sedia Gestatoria (the throne upon which the popes of yesteryear where carried around so the people could see them). He even took the papal tiara out of his coat of arms. We must remember that after being a spiritual monarch, the Pope is also the sovereign of the Holy See (aka Vatican City State). If he would have taken advantage of his royal status, he would have brought so much interest, respect, and love for monarchy in general. Bring back the papal tiara, the Sedia Gestatoria, the coronation of Catholic monarchs by the pope, bring it all back. If we as a civilization are to restore monarchy to its proper place in the world, it should most certainly start with the papacy.

I had great expectations with the election of Josef Cardinal Ratzinger as pope and I still do. I am proud of him and to call him Holy Father. May God protect him and grant unto him a long and glorious reign. Long live the Pope! Long live Benedict!

Wrath of God?

I'm kind of reaching out on a limb talking about this topic at this time, but what the heck. As Catholics we shouldn't be afraid of anything, right?? I'd like to talk about natural disasters, which of course at this time includes Hurricane Katrina. I of course offer my prayers for all the victims, both living and dead, of Katrina, but I think that this topic should be brought up.

I've often thought this year about all the natural disasters we've had. It seems like we've had one hurricane or tropical storm after another. In my area of the world, we've experienced a water shortage--albeit a rather minor league one--since early this spring. Has anyone ever thought that perhaps all the weather related problems we've been suffering just might be the actual--not allegorical--wrath of God? Now God is of course slow to anger and rich in mercy, but He only has so much patience. Let's face it people, America is a sinful, hedonistic, evil country. We abort or unborn by the millions each year (a sin which in my opinion is worse than the holocaust--at least the victims of the holocaust had voices to cry out with), we use contraceptives like they were multivitamins, we use our fetuses for scientific experimentation, we fornicate, co-habitate, and commit adultery left and right, and we've tolerated and accepted the homosexual lifestyle to the point that as we speak, the idiots in the California state government have voted to allow gay marriage (the "honorable" Governor Schwarzenegger has not committed one way or the other as far as approving or vetoing it). What would you say, are we the model of Christian moral living? No!

But what about all the innocent victims of Katrina? As is the case with all sin, the innocent often suffer just as much or more than the guilty--it all goes back to Adam and Eve. They sinned, and pain and suffering entered the world. So what's the solution? Embracing Christ and His Church. Will it end the pain and suffering? No, but it certainly makes it more than pointless.

College Days

Yet again, it's been quite a while since my last post. I'll try from now on to post on a more frequent basis. This post, I'd like to focus on something totally unrelated to either Catholicism or monarchy: college. I'm currently in a college level program (to keep a semblance of anonymity--in other words, to protect my own butt from any negative action relating to school because of my views-- I'll not say what kind or where) at a college in Washington state. Here's what I've got to say.

I cannot stand college. In America in the 21st century, it's hard to get a good-paying career without at least a bachelor's degree--but with the proliferation of students in college getting four year degrees a bachelor's degree doesn't amount to a whole lot these days. Because of this, many young people need (or feel the need) to go to college. So you spend four or more years getting a degree in a field you have no idea if you will ever--or can--use in the real world. Many students spend their first 2-3 years just trying to decide on a major. At the end of four or five years, you've racked up anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. For what? A degree that you can't use and make it hard to find a career-track job. So then what do you do? Go back to school for a graduate degree. More money and time for another degree. But what if you find out that you don't like that field either?

Then there's the issue of college textbooks. Call me a conspiracy-theorist, but I believe that college professors must have some sort of financial agreement with textbook publishers. Just about any given textbook has already gone through several editions by the time you buy it, and then at the end of the semester you try to sell it but find that none of the campus or online book sellers will buy it because the book will have a new edition for the next session. So now you're left with an $80 book that you have no use for and will only collect dust on your bookshelf. Might as well throw the book away, or better yet, burn it--it'll make you feel better.

Then there's the professors. Most are extremely liberal, if not outright Communists. They like to preach the modern religion of diversity and multiculturalism, but all that amounts to is a philosophy of "all things are relative" except traditional Christian (especially Catholic) values and beliefs. Multiculturalism means accept, celebrate, and value all cultures as long as they're not of European origin--to them European means white and white means bad. I'm definitely no white supremacist, but I'm not ashamed to be white. Far too many college professors--let's admit it, most professors are white--are ashamed to be white. From white man's burden to white man's guilt. Not much progress, huh? Then there's the arrogance factor: college professors are better than you. Why? Because they have three characters in front of their names: Dr. Why spending six or more years in college makes a person better than others I'll never know.

Sometimes I look at life in the past and envy those who are long dead. Sure, their lives were far less comfortable than ours today, but does comfort make a life better? I'd answer with an emphatic NO! Before the modern age, people entered their "profession" at an early age. Many required a lot of physical activity (lower rates of obesity and hear disease). They got to be outside a lot (I love the woods, mountains, rivers, lakes). The average man didn't have to go into debt up to his proverbial eyeballs (with scandalously high interest rates) for school, house, car, boat, lake-place, etc. Life was simpler, not easier, and perhaps more fulfilling and meaningful. The average man was concerned with saving his own soul and providing for his family. The modern man worries about the mortgage, insurance, children's college funds, his 401K plan, the cost of gas, the war in Iraq, his teenage daughter getting pregnant, his teenage son getting someone else pregnant, his other teenager using drugs or alcohol, school violence, etc., etc., und so weiter, und so weiter. Life in the distant past may not have been easier, but it was a whole lot simpler. Well, that's my vent for the day. Thank you for helping me keep my sanity!!

Greetings!!
I know it’s been a while since I posted last. Sorry for that. Today’s post I would like to focus on religion. As I mentioned, I attend a Latin Mass parish. Actually it’s a Latin Mass community within a parish—we share, or rather they share with us, the parish with the Novus Ordo crowd. Why do I prefer the Latin Mass? My reasons are many.

I am a convert to the Catholic faith. I entered the Church when I was 14 in a Novus Ordo parish. I stayed there for a few years, but was tired of the liberal trend growing in the parish. The last straw was when the priest had a layman come up during Mass and give the sermon. I then moved to another parish in town, where liturgically speaking it was more conservative—although the parish had a “pastoral associate”, a woman, who claimed that she personally felt to desire to become a priestess but did believe in the ordination of women. While I attended this parish, I went to the neighboring diocese about once a month to attend a Latin Mass—our bishop repeatedly refused to allow the Latin Mass in his diocese, for reasons that changed based upon to whom he was speaking. After about two years of this, I moved permanently to the Latin Mass parish.

Since I’m only 24, I don’t love the Latin Mass for its nostalgia—I was born decades after Vatican II. I chose the Latin Mass because I felt a greater sense of heaven when I attended it. The Mass was said reverently, uniformly from one priest to the next—not differing from one priest to the next—the people were dressed and acted more reverently than in the Novus Ordo Mass. Perhaps the most that drew me to the Latin Mass was that it was authentically Catholic. I was tired of the touchy-feely Catholic Masses I was accustomed to that appeared more Protestant than Catholic. Protestant services are okay for Protestants, but we’re not Protestants, we’re Catholics!! The music (guitars, pianos, drums), the vestments (drab, ugly, multicolored, even rainbow—does that mean the priest is gay?), even the altar (nothing more than a table brought close to the middle of the church to give the feeling of community) seemed to me to be nothing more than a Protestant service with authentic Sacraments thrown in to keep in Catholic.

Then there’s the emphasis on the Mass itself. Liberal Catholics will tell you that the Mass is a community meal. We in the “faith community” gather together for fellowship to praise the resurrected Lord. Sorry folks, but that’s not what the Mass is all about. The Mass is an un-bloody reenactment of our Lord’s crucifixion. We do not gather together for fellowship and community, but we gather to assist the priest as he offers up Jesus Christ, physically present on the altar, as an offering for our sins and the sins of the world. Oh yeah, liberal Catholics don’t like to talk about sin, if they even believe that sin exists.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a heretic or schismatic. I accept the Novus Ordo Mass as sacramentally valid and perfectly licit, but I do find that it can be quite irreverent, at least how it is said most places in America. Watch our new Holy Father say Mass in Rome—now that’s a reverent Novus Ordo Mass. But I still long for the day when the traditional Latin Mass is restored in all of its glory to the entire Latin Rite. I hope and pray that this day will not be long off.

I thought that I should go a little bit into my views. As I said in the previous post, I am a Guelph monarchist. I will always see the Supreme Pontiff, whoever that may be, as the ultimate source of temporal power. The pope is not only the leader of the Catholic Church, he is also the Sovereign of Vatican City State. He holds not only spiritual powers of leadership, but also temporal ones. All Catholic monarchs should subject themselves in a special way to the Pontiff. This is the definition of what it is to be a Guelph, to sumbit oneself to the pope above all else.

Now on to temporal powers. I am an American, and have known nothing but republican democracy. America once had a king--George III of England--but the Americans chose to revolt and form their own government based on Deist and Freemason principles. So why do I, as a born-and-raised American, prefer monarchy? It was a slow process; I came to the realization over time and cannot give any one point when I considered myself to be a monarchist. The last step in the process would probably be when I found the website of an American monarchist--I'll make a link on my blog to his site once I get the ok from him. I think his site made me feel that it was ok to feel the way I did about government, and that I wasn't alone in my beliefs.

So why do I oppose democracy? I find republicanism--the form of government we have, which is a democratic republic, because we elect representitives to our government to make the decisions for us in respect to law--as inefficient. Turn on C-SPAN or C-SPAN2 and you can get a glimpse at how our government works. Not a whole lot happens. Lots of roll calls, long speeches to "Mr. Speaker," and a vote every once in a while. Look at the nominees President Bush has made to federal bench courts, UN ambassador post, and upcoming the Supreme Court nominees. The Democrats stymie and frustrate the voting process by delaying it for as long as they can. Why? Because they dont' agree with--in the case of court nominees--the nominees opposition to abortion, or their general political conservatism. The minority turns out to do most of the decision making by preventing the decision making process from happening. This doesn't happen in a monarchy with strong royal powers. Now I'm not advocating an absolute monarchy--the monarch's powers can be checked by a constitution and a parliament of limited power--but a monarch with strong royal powers can make decisions without political parties frustrating the law-making process.

Look at abortion. I naturally oppose abortion at all times and under all circumstances. How can we outlaw abortion in America? Well, for starters, don't vote for Democrats. Second, about we can do is vote for pro-life Republicans in the House and Senate, and vote for a pro-life Republican president. Then we hope and pray that these Republicans will make moves at the federal level to outlaw abortion, and that there will be enough votes in the House and Senate to pass legistlation to outlaw abortion, and that the President will sign that legislation into law. Then we hope that those same Republicans were able to appoint enough conservatives to the judiciary. If not, liberal judges will be able to rule the pro-life laws as "unconstitutional." Sure does leave a whole lot to hoping and praying. Hoping and praying is good, but "the Lord helps those who help themselves." Perhaps it's time to leave behind out democratic system and form "a more perfect order." That more perfect order is a Catholic monarchy. Well, I think that's it for now. More to come!!

Greetings!!

This is my first post, indeed, it's my first attempt at blogging and web-publishing in general. I hope it proves worthwhile!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Nick. I'm 24 years old and live in Washington state. I am a traditional Catholic, faithful to Rome. I attend a Latin Mass parish, and thank God for having one within reasonable driving distance from my home. In addition to being a traditional Catholic, I am also a monarchist. This means that I prefer a Christian--preferably a Catholic monarchy--to all other forms of government. I am a Guelph, which means I support the Pope over the Emperor (the monarch, president, prime minister, government, throw in any term you want), but I have a particular interest and love for Imperial Germany. I will go in depth regarding many of my views in the future, so come back often!! Thanks for stopping by!!