In light of the Church-endorsed sacrilege that was the Kennedy funeral (with the tacit blessing of the Holy Father and the express blessing of Cardinal O'Malley), when do you expect we'll see the orthodox Catholic intelligentsia writing books on how The Catholic Church is destroying religion and culture in America?

As far as I'm concerned, our church deserves her anti-Catholicism, every last cent of it.

Here is a topic on which Mr. Donohue and I agree.

Having been deeply involved in the political far left for a number of years, I know that his claims are absolutely true. The Marxist party that I belonged to identified the Church as the total antithesis of everything it stood for.

One might think that would be capitalism, Wall Street, or Washington D.C., but not really. Those things are all to be praised insofar as they represent the triumph of the bourgeoisie over feudalism and the Church. It is the one time a Marxist has something nice to say about capitalism.

I've written extensively on this, in fact this very night.

http://tinyurl.com/lclj8a

Deal, so what do we do? As Eric G stated above, even the Catholic Church has been taken over by this message... as demonstrated over the weekend at Ted Kennedy's funeral and burial services, allowing President Obama give the Eulogy? Oh my Lord Jesus Christ, how blasphemous was that....

I am sure that because of our desire to leave open God's merciful love for Ted Kennedy, we allowed ourselves as a Church to be showcased as what? My heart feels like it hs been caught up in the rip tide off the Coast of Cape Cod...it will take me some time to recover from the sand wounds... I am, with all of my Catholicness,left stunned and confused!

If we are going to hold back the crash and burn that is coming we have to organize, link arms, get a plan of action and it needs to be across denominational lines! Tell me Deal that there is already an organization we can join.... and it can't be the GOP! Truth does not persuade, repetition does!

I agree with Mr. Donahue, but I'm not sure why we should expect differently. In some way, I feel comforted in knowing how Christianity, and Catholicism especially, are attacked. It is what Christ told us to expect, to be treated as he was. It helps me in moments of doubt to be reassured that it must be true, otherwise it would not be attacked so vehemently.

As we watch our television sets and listen to the radio or read our newspapers and computer screens we can’t help but be deeply saddened to realize our faith and values as Catholic Americans is being attacked and grievously wounded by the evil which seems to have suddenly and viciously consumed our nation and the world.

It’s almost as if we have been awakened from a terrible dream only to find that is true and we are unable or helpless to escape the eventual outcome. Senior citizens such as I are particularly disheartened by the events following the recent election and the blitzkrieg of anti-Christian edicts and legislation pouring out of Washington.

We were witness to an age of triumph over the evil forces of tyranny and oppression. We saw the world rejoice the flag of freedom and liberty as God fearing and God trusting “capitalists” was hailed victoriously in towns and villages around the world crushing the forces of Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito. Our values as Judo-Christians allowed us to rebuild the ravages of a war we never chose to fight in the lands we saved and give hope and assistance to the people, unlike the Communists leaders of Russia and China who used their new power to politically enslave their subjects.

Now today we are faced with another war we never thought would have to be fought. This fight is on our own soil, within our own government, and over the values we hold as Christians. The enemy, defeated and left smoldering sixty years ago, has risen and found life again through the cunning voice of socialism within the same remnants of Marxist tactics revived and flourishing in Russia and China today.

Do we now yet wonder why Our Lady was so insistent upon having Russia consecrated to Her? It was never fully accomplished! And do we dare yet to underestimate the power and depth of evil within the hearts of leaders who seek to ‘control the lives of the people they govern”? A new generation of Americans, unaware of the past, didn’t recognize an old enemy until it began to show the fruits of their own folly.

Here we have the two forces at play in the world today. On the one hand Our Lady seeking to guide us to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the purity of our lives which must respect all life at all times and humble prayer for the souls of all God’s children.
On the other I dare say we have an administration resembling Pilate wishing to impose the will of communist Caesar’s on a nation it thinks is arrogant, no longer Christian, and never been proud of until it’s prince of politics appeared with false promises so well concealed in rambling rhetoric that even much of our Catholic brethren were deceived and hailed their holy heretic into the most powerful position in the nation. God help us!

Surely our hope to change the course of current history is to fearlessly lift our voices in solidarity with Holy Mother Church but only when we are assured our voices are true to the Heart of Jesus and Our Blessed Mother Mary. Let’s pray the Pope and the Shepherds of all Christianity will be guided by the Holy Spirit to raise their voices against the forces of Evil within our civil authorities attempting to deliberately destroy our faith.

Deal:

While in agreement with Mr Donohue on the problem that we face from the Secularist Left, let's not forget that these people have also secured a postition through the Novelle Theologie and Ostpolitik within the Church itself.

The warnings of St. Pius X and Pius XII (via Humanae Generis) were essentially disregarded and we had our own "October Revolution" in the mid 1960's!

Traditionists have been stating this for decades and have received little more than condescending scorn from complacent Neo-Catholics. Now the latter is waking up, but they were negligently complicit due to a false sense of obedience to the mess we now face, as all too many of the Church's clerical leadership and intellectual circles are, in effect, leading the Secularist pack!

This, of course, is exactly why things have become so bad: Christians in the West had too much faith in their governments and their fellow citizens, and are reaping the consequences.

The American Church has been laying the groundwork for its present predicament for decades, in full view of the country and the world. As our bishops refused to teach the fulness of the faith for fear of being partisan or, what's worse, for fear that their favored statist political package might not pass if they spoke out for the teachings of the Church, they raised generations of Catholics who could neither see the problems of cooperating with evil by voting for pro-choice candidates ("Catholics" among them) nor the manifold anti-Catholic policies that anyone with eyes and ears ought to have expected from Obama (and some of which he even promised as a candidate). We've been fighting this battle for half a century now, and only those who were blind to what went on these past 50 years should see the current problems as unexpected.

Aaron:

Your observations compliment my own!

Let's face it, Pogo's statement "We have met the enemy and his is us" nails the situation.

The Church must return, "kicking and screaming" if necessary to the fold of the Faith!

Dealing with the "Enlightenment" on its terms has produced a half century of disaster.

All efforts should be made to eliminate the Secularist Fifth Column within and then take on Satan's forces without!

Wow. I am amazed by what appears to be a lot of victimhood and seeming whining about what is happening.

I can certainly agree that there are people in our country and our world that do not appreciate, even repudiate the Christian message. There are. So what?

Live love, and be the presence of love every day.

All this talk of molotov cocktails, beachheads, battle...I dont know, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey for a reason, he skipped the warhorse imagery. He did not whine as he became a sacrifice, not a victim.

People "on the left" are people, first. If they need forgiveness, so be it, we all do for many things. I recall Jesus said forgive them for "they know not what they do."

Indignation and war language seem out of place for followers of the Jesus of the gospels as I encounter him.

I have not read this book, nor will I as I just don't see much worthwhile in it. I hope others skip it too.

If one wants to analyze the de-Spiritualization of the American Catholic Church, one only has to look at the thousands of bogus annulments that have been granted by liberal and conservative priests and bishops for years.

The enemy is not "out there," but rather "in here."

Rich,

Respectfully, I disagree with your take on "violent language" in the NT:



A cryptic saying from Our Lord, comparing the Kingdom to a city in siege and us, those who really REALLY want it, as its bisiegers.

I congratulate Bill Donohue on his book and Mr. Hudson on his review. We lack enthusiasm to take the Kingdom by assault, and grown too complacent lately to really struggle to attain it. Let's get off our couches and draw a bright, shining line against those who presume to deny us our rights and liberties.

-Theo

I will purchase this book. I have subscribed to his website for 2 years now,initially somewhat sceptically wondering if his agenda was the almighty buck, fortune or fame. It's not! His work is important, informative, verifiable, and educational. You will not get the information from any of the standard media; it simply isn't covered. Becoming better informed is critical to any disagreement. You must understand your opponents beliefs thoroughly before you can defend your own.

I find Bill Donohue very interesting and I look forward to reading the book. I do have another reason why I believe that socialism and political liberality don't work.

Every liberal leaning tendancy in me was extinguished when I worked for a state-funded non-profit agency after working for Catholic Charities.

I was disheartened by the entitlement of the employees and their laziness and I missed Catholic Charities, the spirit of the employees and their selflessness (trust me, they are not perfect, but they are more selfless). I now work for a private organization and I am no longer in social services and I am proud of the selflessness of the management team and the employees I serve. The atmosphere is a 180 degree departure from those selfish state workers whose actual job was to serve others - although it seemed that their job was to "advocate" for themselves. I work in HR so I hear all of the complaints every place I work.

I do not doubt that the money that goes to the state for social services would be better served in the pockets of the people who could then give of their own free will to charities who would spend the money they receive more selflessly to help more people in need. The liberal agenda wants to take away money from churches to put it into their inefficient and ineffective plans, which give them more prestige and more money.

Socialism is not the way and without Jesus (check your history and the state of other religions and their charities, as well as the track records of socialist states and their employee welfare) we cannot help others as effecitvely, because our nature is to want for ourselves. Christ gives us the Spirit to transend this nature.

It is exactly this selfish nature that puts liberals at odds with Christians. They have nothing to stop them from acting within the scopes of their fallen nature.

"All this talk of molotov cocktails, beachheads, battle...I dont know, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey for a reason, he skipped the warhorse imagery."

Not really. It isn't talked about nearly as much, but Jesus does instruct his Apostles to buy a couple of swords.

There's been much written about that event, and some believe it is symbolic - the swords, along with a number of other items, represent things the Apostles will need to have as they go out in the world after his death; in this case, a martial mindset, even if they never physically fight with anyone.

I think this, and other passages, actually conflict with "pacifist Jesus".

has been written here by others...especially the Walt Kelly line about seeing the enemy.

We have had a soft, affectively-laden, and weak 'Church militant' since Vatican II. It is time for us to appeal to Michael the Archangel to defend us in battle.

A sure sign of the inner corruption of the Church is the priest sexual abuse scandal and its cover-up by the bishops.
I often wondered why the fathers and other men of the Church have never risen up in outrage against these predators? Where are the men of the Church who are expected to defend the Church? Where have we men been in the defense of the most vulnerable - the unborn? Instead we have the likes of St. Edward of Boston paraded in front of us as the paragon of Catholic fatherhood...he who helped advance the cause of abortion and the slaughter of the innocents.

Time to clean house.

I remember one of the pop tunes of the 60's which characterizes some peoples approach to serious problems they don't want to face or feel that as Christians their only response is to make the sign of the cross and pray for the oppressors and ignore the chaos at hand.

Do any of you remember the main line in that song "Oh, make the world go away"??

Gee, let's not antagonize our oppressors with harsh words that make us resemble soldiers, as in "Onward Christian soldiers marching on to war with the cross of Jesus going on before." That would be mean and God might be angry with us.

No one is suggesting we revive the “Crusades” today but Christian who can’t see the Bloody slaughter of the innocents in abortion, the nationalization Napalming of banks and auto companies, the political Carpet Bombing of our energy independence, or the latest attempt to Sabotage social security and healthcare in the name of “economic stability” due to Marxist driven deficits need to get out of the way so those who “have ears to hear and eyes to see” have an opportunity to stand between Evil and the Church
and nation they have chosen to defend with the truth first and our lives if necessary.

As in “Forward into battle, see our banner flow”.

The current liberal agenda against Christians in general and Catholics in particular has been strengthened by the general lack of moral conviction exemplified by the bishops and priests of the church. Ted Kennedy is honored in the church with the eulogy delivered by Pres Obama? Didn't the Church bother to look at BOTH of their records? This is the President and the "Liberal Lion" who are the champions of abortion on demand and the establishment of a Socialist state.
The Church and America would do well to look at the teaching of Marx, the rhetoric of Lenin, and the history of the Christian Church in Russia to see where we are heading. Das vadayna.

Sort of OT, but I couldn't help but respond to the comments about Kennedy's funeral as an example of how our church has strayed.

As far as the Senator's funeral this weekend, yes, it was painful to watch knowing his record.

However, the bigger point is that MOST funeral masses have lost their focus, whether you are a famous man or not. We are supposed to praying for the souls of the dead, asking for God's mercy on their souls. No matter who they are, saint or sinner.

Funeral masses are not the time for eulogies or waxing poetic about how great the dead person was. A funeral mass is not even the time or the place to be comforting the family. There is a time and a place for that (the wake, the funeral luncheon). Not the Mass.

In other words, I saw Kennedy's funeral as just another Catholic funeral that lost its focus.

While some bad things (sack of Constantinople, anyone?)
happened during the Crusades, they were originally about
defending fellow Christians and pilgrims. Don't be ashamed
of charity towards the Church. And ignore anyone who
demands that unchaste widows be included in the rolls.

Our church should have a strong voice, like the Catholic League, in every parish. Liberal secularists are NOT anti-war they are in fact physical cowards. They have never and never will treat Muslims or Jews as they do Catholics because their are consequences to doing so. They may be violent, economic or outraged protest. But as sure as the sun will come up their will be some kind of push back by the Muslim or Jewish community. Bill seems to be the only individual who actually does something. Where are the Church authorities? The Catholic political leaders? The everyday people? When you respond weakly you get treated as a weakling. Keep getting sand kicked in your face and taking it and they will continue kicking. The Church shows no backbone when dealing with pro abortion Catholic politicians. The bishops should bar them all from using the cover of the Church for their ongoing hypocrisy. But they are too cosy with the political structure. They have not rendered to Ceaser---- they have joined him lock stock and barrel. Maybe we are getting what we deserve since we have become a pedophile infested, politically correct, docile institution. How can we claim to be the "Body of Christ" when no one stands up to protect this sacred institution from perverts and vile attacks by secular liberals?

Johnny G:


While fully agreeing with your sentiments, I'd like to point out a fact which everyone seems to be overlooking.

Most of the pro-abortion pols, eg. Ted Kennedy, Mario Cuomo, Daniel P. Moynihan took their stands with the connivance of their prelates and influential Jesuit "scholars"

The first gambit, "I'm personally opposed but..." was cooked up by Marquettes' Dan McGuire and the complete cover used by our local pro-abort Catholic legislators to the hilt, was the Bernadin "seamless garment" ploy. The Diocesan liasion to our state legislature played that tune like a harp when confronted by RTL Catholic activists!

Don't get me wrong, I'm extemely thankful that the Notre Dame episode has wakened the Faithful. But frankly where were they when "Land O'The Lakes" was being hammered out in 1967 and the Jesuit Universities conducted their "nights of the long knives"
at the expense of clerical and lay orthodox faculty?

"If one wants to analyze the de-Spiritualization of the American Catholic Church, one only has to look at the thousands of bogus annulments that have been granted by liberal and conservative priests and bishops for years."

This is a MOST unfair comment. After 40-50 years of non-catechesis going on in our pulpits and Catholic schools, many Catholics, dare I say most, do not have a clue about the requirements necessary for a valid, sacramental Catholic marriage. I am the annulment counselor for our parish and both my husband and I have been through the process. I know how ignorant Catholics are. There are a plethora of reasons for granting an annulment and the process is long and difficult. In addition, the decision, whatever it is, must be ratified by a second diocesan Tribunal. And, then still, there is an appeal process to Rome (ala Sheila Rausch Kennedy).

As a Catholic senior, wife, mother and grandmother I have to say that I am sickened and disheartened by what is going in in this country and especially what is going on in the Catholic Church in America. We don't have to look at the secular sabotage of Christianity alone. We should look at the Catholic Church itself and it's take over by liberals. First many Bishops, Priests, Nuns, etc. defied the guidance of Pope Paul VI when they ignored, and ridiculed Humanae Vitae. They thought we needed to "get with the times". Unfortunately everything that Pope Paul predicted and even worse has come true thanks to these liberal "Catholics". Now we have Catholics who can help vote in a radical pro-abortion president and think that's ok. We have "Catholic" Politicians who vote for and promote abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia and homosexual marriage and suffer no consequences. They are committing a sacrilege by receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist and very few of our Bishops/Priests will do or say anything. Until the Catholic Church really becomes orthodox and instructs the faithful on authentic moral teachings, we will never see the end to these abominations!

It could not have been said it better or more bluntly than that.
The whole truth in as few words as possible. A little like the Gettysburg Address.
And with the same type of invocation: We are involved in a struggle testing whether our Church and Faithful “so conceived and so dedicated” can endure the loss of so many soul to spiritual suicide while many of our shepherds are asleep at watch or attempting to "barter" with the wolves.
From a senior, husband, father, and grandfather.
God Bless

"The faithful, I think, are disposed to give their critics the benefit of the doubt, not wanting to see in them the kind of hatred toward their beliefs that Donohue reveals in his book. Similarly, Christians often offer benign interpretations of the secularists' agenda, exercising their capacity for tolerance in ways that allow the secularists to establish their beachhead and gain credibility."

I think there is another reason for the passivity of so many Christians. The Political Correctness that Donohue describes is itself a political religion. And it is the real religion of many Christians, clergy included.

There is an easy test to determine an individual's true religious faith. Imagine what would upset the person in question the worst: suspecting that you are an atheist or a segregationist. If this person would be more upset by the latter, they have a religion, it's just not Christianity. For the Christian God is a jealous God who allows no other gods before Him--especially political religions like Political Correctness.

Like its predecessors, fascism and communism, Political Correctness is proof of Chesterton's dictum that those who stop believing in God don't believe in nothing; they'll believe in anything.

Political Correctness is also a religion that is as jealously intolerant as the Christian God, though without the element of mercy. Disagree with them on even the most minor of points, and you're not just "wrong", you're the embodiment of evil. The Politically Correct are enough to make even the most sadistic Medieval inquisitor blush.

Christians need to put God first and not tolerate PC in their personal lives, their professional lives, nor in their faith.

I have been a fan of Bills' for many years and have followed his battles via Catholic League Newsletters and his appearances.

I most certainly will be buying this book and encourging my family and friends as well.

In my 63 years of age, and I really do not consider myself OLD but none-the-less I make mention of it to just show by example what I have seen happen in my lifetime thus far. Our country is just a vague picture fading in an old frame, taking crinkled EYES so pinched to view WHAT THE PICTURE WAS...So sad it makes one weep if we pray or ponder on what has been allowed to be done in our country to the institution that started the hospital system, universitys, grade schools and secondary, places of food, shelter, monies, aid of every kind POSSIBLE. Now we are spit upon as some form of garbage and the reason being??? In my humble opine its because we have rules and guidelines that are given to us by GOD and in the NATURAL ORDER of events. This cannot be ALLOWED for the progressive mind is one that is based on NO GOD...NO LAWS...NO NATURAL RESPECT...ALL is what you wish it to be and if anyone or anything gets in the progressives view, well all hell is to pay. So we have seen and continue to watch in horror at OUR GOD and OUR LADY along with OUR CHURCH be persecuted. Time to a call to arms, in a non violent manner, and take back our country from the evil people who wish NO GOD AT ALL IN THE PUBLIC FORUM...It truly is a very serious war and I thank BIll for being the major DEFENDER of all that is happening to offend the church and GOD.

The hate and wishing to DESTROY the catholic church, and I may add even by some of its very own LEADERS, BISHOPS, PRIESTS, NUNS, all types of laity has been a stunningly sick pathetic movie to behold. Its not enough we have to deal with the HATERS of other faiths or none at all, but coming from within is staggering. We see it daily in the so called Catholic POLS!

The war for our faith and our GOD is reaching an epoch in my belief.

Good job Bill and looking forward to reading your book.

Many good comments pretty much cover the issues, so now what is the course of action? I would suggest prayer, education and challenge. Our major weapon is the rosary. We need to educate ourselves in our faith and how to apply it to the political and spiritual issues of the day. We also need to challenge our repreentatives in congress and in our parish. Join or start parish groups to address faith, the Pope's encyclicals and how to apply the Church's teachings. Our venerable institutions depend upon government funding which has compromised them. Are we ready to contribute so that the schools, hospitals, charities can operate without the chains/strings of government influence and funding? What is our course of action? As a man I once worked for used to say: Hope is not a course of action.

I thank Mr. Donahue for his courage in fighting so many battles over all these years. He is engaged and I am happy he is our watchdog. I hope his book will open some eyes and cause good people to rethink their mission as Catholics.

I read all these comments with interest and I have to say that we Catholics are paying attention. Bravo to all of you who are reading and posting your comments. This is how we fight in this battle. I too write letters to the editors of various periodicals whenever I feel it necessary.

Also, we have to live the Catholic teachings each and every day. It is imperative to the strategy we need to employ in this battle. Let us be faithful, live the sacramental life, and trust in Our Lord. We have to remember who wins in the end. Despair or discouragement is a tool of Satan's. Don't give him any more leeway. WE must never give up!

Yes, the Kennedy legacy is one tragedy after another. Only God knows how it all began. The liberal mindset is destructive. Our current foundation is built on the bodies of millions of babies murdered in the wombs of their own mothers, who should have been allowed to live.

But we have to follow Christ no matter how bad things look to us. He is Our Light. Keep looking up and following the Light. Maybe this is the time for the Catholic laity to lead our Catholic priests and bishops. Maybe through our faithful and courageous lives, we will influence them.

There is great hope.

One last mention. Many thousands of people are coming into or back to the Church through the wonderful commercials being aired on television about our beautiful Catholic Church. They will make you cry when you see them. We have much to be proud of, and much more to do.

To Rich:

It is a misreading of Donuhue to say he's declaring victimhood and to dismiss his work.

Jesus warned us: "I send you out as a sheep among wolves. Therefor, be ye Wise as a Serpent yet Gentle as a Dove."

Jesus is telling us that we need to take stock of the reality that we're up against...and while we must act with Love, we must realize what's going on around us. Love, without wisdom, is insufficient. And Wisdom takes stock of reality.

Donohue is helping us to see reality.

In Christus Veritas

First, it is true that anti-Christianity is alive and well in the United States. I see it everywhere, though there are green shoots here and there.

Second, if we follow Jesus, we should expect to be hated as He was hated. And we should be thankful for it.

It's not clear how forceful our response should be. Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, to be gentle as doves and wise as foxes. But He also overturned the moneychanger tables at the temple, and had some choice words for the Pharasees. I guess we should pray for guidance, and our response may depend on circumstances.

[quote=Krystyna Wise]If one wants to analyze the de-Spiritualization of the American Catholic Church, one only has to look at the thousands of bogus annulments that have been granted by liberal and conservative priests and bishops for years.

How does one determine if an annulment is bogus?

The place to start is to look at what the Church considers a marriage. The four "F"s is how I remember it: A marriage must be forever, faithful, fruitful, and freely entered into by both parties). These things are as essential to a marriage as water is to baptism. For example, if a couple decides (together or as individuals) before they get married that they don't want children, then that is not a valid marriage. How can it be? If *one* of them secretly makes that decision, then it is not a marriage because *both* of them need to enter into the covenant--of course, it is a heartache for the poor sucker who was lied to, but the Church has to tell the truth, not knuckle under some perception that just because a couple said their vows in a church that automatically guarentees that they are entering into a sacramental covenant.

The problem isn't that annulments are given too freely. The problem is that young Catholics (and old ones) don't know what marriage really is when they try to enter into it. And our culture certainly doesn't help.

I am a non-Catholic, secularist liberal, a family man, a scientist, with decades of experience as a fighter against political correctness, and against the nastiness of the far left and the far right in many areas of politics.

For some writers on this thread I am the enemy, Satan's helper, a destroyer of civilization, etc. The record, were we to evaluate it would probably show I have contributed more to society than most Catholic priests.

A core element of the "secular agenda" is to defend ourselves, our families and our neighbors from religionists who have been slow to learn the lessons of history and who do not accept the principle of church-state separation. Our agenda, contrary to repeated lies from religionists, is not to make atheism the official philosophy of the state. It is to make religionists, Catholic or otherwise, to leave us alone and to stop asking for special treatment by the state.

In predominantly Catholic countries in the West the Church continues to be quite happy with the various degrees of church-state fusion it has established and always supported.

As an example, in Argentina, only Catholic candidates are allowed to run for president. Non-Catholics are in effect second class citizens. When the Church fights to change that law, it will merit a little respect from non-Catholics. We all know we shouldn't hold our breath on that one....

In other parts of the world - the Middle East and Asia - for example, the Church is the first to cry "bloody murder" when its members are discriminated against. But what's good for the goose should be good for the gander, no?

Much of the commentary on this thread is similar in tone to what one can find on many islamic websites - Allah is Great, Kill All Infidels, the source of all evil, of all our problems.

If we just change some of the nouns in your diatribes against us secularists, we could put those same diatribes on many islamic blogs to much islamic acclaim! Just have to replace every use of "secularist," "liberal," or "leftist" with "Catholic" and thank you notes from the ayatollahs would come rolling in.

Good luck on cleaning up your internal problems. Bad luck in all further attempts to impose your religious doctrines on others!

Re: Retreat and Meditate

Folks,
Before we retreat to meditate and pluck the arrows from our respective "Religionists" bodies be sure to say a special Rosary for Secular Sam. He sorely needs to be "recognized" by Our Lady and her merciful Son as a voice crying out in the desert of delusion. Do it tonight while he is still in your thoughts and the vision of Christ on the cross bleeding for him
comes to mind.
Believe me, he will be "eternal grateful" for your use of compassion, the core element of your “Christian agenda”.
God Bless.

With all due respect to many valid perspectives, please be careful with the tone of your solutions. Our early church survived and flourished, not by waging war on those who would be rid of them, but by being true Christians and paying attention to their own souls. We must try to have the bravery and conviction of these early followere. Jesus' message was something new and radical in his time - do not war with your enemies, but sit down with them and treat them as brothers. Pray for your enemies, as we should be praying for the Taliban, and al Queda(sp?), and the Socialists, and all others that would be our antagonists. As Jesus directly said "Turn the other cheek".
As Christians, we are not bound by the Old Testament any more which would demand a war with our enemies.
Those who would refer to the Crusades refer to a time of wasted battles and ineffectual victories, for the opposing forces simply closed in after them.
Our Church is an infinite church and she will be victorious the same way she always has, by us truly trying to follow the ways of Christ. Pray that each of us will have the strength of spirit of the original followers of Jesus, and show no fear of our enemies. They cannot prevail against us as long as we keep God on our side.

It's too bad that some Bishop didn't stand up and say "nuts" to Ted Kennedy when he sought his annulment, on the grounds that he "didn't really intend on being faithful."

The fact of the matter is, many of the annulments granted in recent years, in the U.S., have been for people married 20+ years with a bunch of grown children -- and grandchildren.

Ted and Joan Kennedy were married by Cardinal Spellman. Are you saying that Cardinal Spellman was conned by Kennedy? Or perhaps you are saying that Cardinal Spellman didn't prepare them properly before taking their vows.

Let's be HONEST. When one spouse decides to fight an annulment and defend the marriage, that usually means the end of it, because the corrupt Americans don't want to deal with Rome.