WIN Over? Or Win OVER?

The current culture war is certainly getting grim. We have a growing part of the population going along with the Orwellian notion of thougtcrime, believing that those people holding views which run afoul of the views of the current elite can be punished for having these views, if there is any evidence that you hold them.

In this cultural war, this elite is not satisfied with having vice tolerated. No, now it is expected that these vices are to be held as true. Those who refuse to accept these views can expect to suffer consequences, with the persecutors justifying their behavior by saying in essence: "Free Speech just means we can't jail you. We can do pretty much anything else."

This is the battle of WIN over (defeat) vs. Win OVER (convert).

WIN Over

On the side of the current elite, we have the position of WIN over. Either their opponents accept the preferences of the elite, be silent or be sorry. The existence of opposition is a threat which cannot be tolerated... which is ironic, given the fact that they began by championing "tolerance."

The results of such thinking is obvious in America today. The Contraception Mandate. The lawsuits against people who will not let their business participate in a so-called "gay marriage." Anyone who challenges the views favored by the elites will regret it. There will be no refuge under the law. The law will be used to enshrine the preferences of the elite.

Win OVER

In light of this hostility, it's natural to want revenge. Why doesn't God punish these people? Why doesn't Pope Francis just issue a scathing condemnation of these miscreants who favor these evils?

I believe that is because the Pope wants to Win OVER (convert) the people who hate us. Peter Kreeft once said (I'm paraphrasing here) that our enemies are demons. The people out there, even those who hate and harm us, are our patients.

The condemnation of sinners is not what God wants, but that doesn't mean our only choice is accepting the evil done. As God says in Ezekiel 33:11, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live."

This means that even when we must oppose the evil that they do, we must show our love for them, showing them that we do not act out of hatred but out of love.

They may refuse to accept us and may attack us when we take a stand in public. While we cannot be blamed for their obstinacy (which is out of our control), we will be judged for making the Christian message odious.

As hard as it may seem, our task is not to WIN over (defeat), but to win OVER (convert) the abortionists, the people with same sex attraction disorder and the rest. Since God wants the salvation of the sinner, and not his damnation, and since He has tasked us to bring His message, let us remember our obligation before God.

WIN Over? Or Win OVER?

The current culture war is certainly getting grim. We have a growing part of the population going along with the Orwellian notion of thougtcrime, believing that those people holding views which run afoul of the views of the current elite can be punished for having these views, if there is any evidence that you hold them.

In this cultural war, this elite is not satisfied with having vice tolerated. No, now it is expected that these vices are to be held as true. Those who refuse to accept these views can expect to suffer consequences, with the persecutors justifying their behavior by saying in essence: "Free Speech just means we can't jail you. We can do pretty much anything else."

This is the battle of WIN over (defeat) vs. Win OVER (convert).

WIN Over

On the side of the current elite, we have the position of WIN over. Either their opponents accept the preferences of the elite, be silent or be sorry. The existence of opposition is a threat which cannot be tolerated... which is ironic, given the fact that they began by championing "tolerance."

The results of such thinking is obvious in America today. The Contraception Mandate. The lawsuits against people who will not let their business participate in a so-called "gay marriage." Anyone who challenges the views favored by the elites will regret it. There will be no refuge under the law. The law will be used to enshrine the preferences of the elite.

Win OVER

In light of this hostility, it's natural to want revenge. Why doesn't God punish these people? Why doesn't Pope Francis just issue a scathing condemnation of these miscreants who favor these evils?

I believe that is because the Pope wants to Win OVER (convert) the people who hate us. Peter Kreeft once said (I'm paraphrasing here) that our enemies are demons. The people out there, even those who hate and harm us, are our patients.

The condemnation of sinners is not what God wants, but that doesn't mean our only choice is accepting the evil done. As God says in Ezekiel 33:11, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live."

This means that even when we must oppose the evil that they do, we must show our love for them, showing them that we do not act out of hatred but out of love.

They may refuse to accept us and may attack us when we take a stand in public. While we cannot be blamed for their obstinacy (which is out of our control), we will be judged for making the Christian message odious.

As hard as it may seem, our task is not to WIN over (defeat), but to win OVER (convert) the abortionists, the people with same sex attraction disorder and the rest. Since God wants the salvation of the sinner, and not his damnation, and since He has tasked us to bring His message, let us remember our obligation before God.

The Obligation of Truth

The social media being what it is, I tend to see a lot of political emails, Facebook posts etc go by. A lot of them make claims that certain politicians or groups do or say horrific things that every decent person should be disgusted by.

I don't pass them on without investigating them first. I may, for example, find Obama's policies reprehensible while seeking to live in accordance with what I believe.  However that does not allow me to pass on false information as a means of opposing those things he does that I must call evil.

There are some issues that we must be aware of:
■ We may never knowingly choose to do an evil act so good may come of it.
■ To pass on statements without investigating whether or not it is true is negligence.
■ We must understand the context of words and actions that seem so shocking before using them to judge.

These are things that I wish people would apply to the information passed on about the Catholic Church. There is a lot of outright lies being passed on concerning what the Church has allegedly taught or done that horrify people.   There is also a lot of stories going on about individuals who are Catholic and did terrible things... and these things are portrayed as if they were part of Church teaching instead of as the aberrations they are.

Here's the problem. To pass on statements you know are false is to be guilty of slander/libel. To pass on false statements you could investigate but don't makes you guilty of libel/slander through negligence.  The same applies to knowing or negligent passing on of out of context information.

This is not something theoretical. It's not relegated to the crude and cartoonish libel of Jack Chick. Today, we have people who make false statements about what we believe and our motivation for holding our beliefs. We're homophobic in our teaching about marriage, we're anti-woman about our beliefs on contraception and abortion.  False history and out of context examples are given as "proof."

It's funny how people will immediately look to Snopes.com when a politician they favor is maligned but can't be bothered to try and find out the truth behind anti-Catholic statements. Or, if they "research," they look at sites they ideologically agree with -- which is like asking the Tea Party for objective information on Obamacare or NARAL about Operation Rescue.

Regardless of who is the target, whether or not we like them, the obligation is to learn what is true, and only pass on what is true.

Think about it...

The Obligation of Truth

The social media being what it is, I tend to see a lot of political emails, Facebook posts etc go by. A lot of them make claims that certain politicians or groups do or say horrific things that every decent person should be disgusted by.

I don't pass them on without investigating them first. I may, for example, find Obama's policies reprehensible while seeking to live in accordance with what I believe.  However that does not allow me to pass on false information as a means of opposing those things he does that I must call evil.

There are some issues that we must be aware of:
■ We may never knowingly choose to do an evil act so good may come of it.
■ To pass on statements without investigating whether or not it is true is negligence.
■ We must understand the context of words and actions that seem so shocking before using them to judge.

These are things that I wish people would apply to the information passed on about the Catholic Church. There is a lot of outright lies being passed on concerning what the Church has allegedly taught or done that horrify people.   There is also a lot of stories going on about individuals who are Catholic and did terrible things... and these things are portrayed as if they were part of Church teaching instead of as the aberrations they are.

Here's the problem. To pass on statements you know are false is to be guilty of slander/libel. To pass on false statements you could investigate but don't makes you guilty of libel/slander through negligence.  The same applies to knowing or negligent passing on of out of context information.

This is not something theoretical. It's not relegated to the crude and cartoonish libel of Jack Chick. Today, we have people who make false statements about what we believe and our motivation for holding our beliefs. We're homophobic in our teaching about marriage, we're anti-woman about our beliefs on contraception and abortion.  False history and out of context examples are given as "proof."

It's funny how people will immediately look to Snopes.com when a politician they favor is maligned but can't be bothered to try and find out the truth behind anti-Catholic statements. Or, if they "research," they look at sites they ideologically agree with -- which is like asking the Tea Party for objective information on Obamacare or NARAL about Operation Rescue.

Regardless of who is the target, whether or not we like them, the obligation is to learn what is true, and only pass on what is true.

Think about it...

Thoughts on the Latest Papal Media Tempest

If you haven't already heard, there's some media coverage on the Pope allegedly saying in a private phone call that a woman married to a divorced man could receive the Eucharist. Given the hearsay nature of who reported things, I'm operating under the assumption that as a faithful son of the Church, whatever the Pope said, it didn't involve violations of Church teaching... Hell, if the Pope wanted to make sure that the woman received the Eucharist, I'm sure that he would have contacted the Pastor.

One thing I see from the Catholic blogging is a number of people claiming that the Pope needs to be more careful in what he says.

Personally, I think everyone should remember that every person is obligated to find out what was meant by a speaker before judging him or her. The media fails to do their research, whether through negligence or choice. We should be aware of this failure. Every time the Pope made headlines from something he said, the final result was the discovery that the media got it wrong.

When the media presents the Pope as radically changing Church teaching, we need to recognize their deficiency and their consistency in getting it wrong.

Otherwise, we're guilty of rash judgment.

Thoughts on the Latest Papal Media Tempest

If you haven't already heard, there's some media coverage on the Pope allegedly saying in a private phone call that a woman married to a divorced man could receive the Eucharist. Given the hearsay nature of who reported things, I'm operating under the assumption that as a faithful son of the Church, whatever the Pope said, it didn't involve violations of Church teaching... Hell, if the Pope wanted to make sure that the woman received the Eucharist, I'm sure that he would have contacted the Pastor.

One thing I see from the Catholic blogging is a number of people claiming that the Pope needs to be more careful in what he says.

Personally, I think everyone should remember that every person is obligated to find out what was meant by a speaker before judging him or her. The media fails to do their research, whether through negligence or choice. We should be aware of this failure. Every time the Pope made headlines from something he said, the final result was the discovery that the media got it wrong.

When the media presents the Pope as radically changing Church teaching, we need to recognize their deficiency and their consistency in getting it wrong.

Otherwise, we're guilty of rash judgment.

Loving Christ Requires Change

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “It's ok to go on living as you did before. Just be nice to people and don't make judgments on whether behavior is right or wrong." Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are being victimized by your intolerance."

As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Matthew went back to collecting taxes. Peter and Andrew went back to fishing. The woman caught in adultery went back to her lover, telling the Pharisees not to push their morality on her. The Samaritan woman moved back in with the guy she was living with, working on making him husband number six. It was all okay because all that Jesus wanted was for us to be nice to each other and not judge.

--The Gospel according to... absolutely NOBODY.

The above passage is of course a perversion of Matthew 28, John 20 and Luke 24. It runs entirely against what Jesus actually said. But this is the Jesus the modern world seems to think exists. The world takes two passages from the Bible: Matthew 7:1-5 ("Judge not") and 1 John 4:8 ("God is love") and uses them to justify their own behavior, rejecting the concept that they are sinners who need to respond to God's love and gift of grace.

Thus, when the Church speaks about the moral obligations that come from God's love, like John 14:15 ("If you love me, you will keep my commandments"), the response is to condemn the Church for being judgmental, homophobic, anti-woman... basically to accuse the Church of being in opposition to Christ.

That's a mindset that puts souls at risk of eternal damnation. Jesus didn't come to tell people "be nice to each other." He came to save us from our sins.

But that action tells us a couple of things:
■ There are actions we do that are sins.
■ We are to respond to this by amending our lives, turning from evil and seeking to live as God commands (both with the seeking and depending on His grace).

Indeed, the modern world makes a mockery of His actions when they reduce His teaching to the Wiccan  'An it harm none, do what ye will.' It presumes other people are the problem because WE don't harm anybody (at least not anyone that matters), but THEY are trying to keep us from doing what we want.

But Jesus wasn't a "nice guy." He spoke very clearly about sin and Hell and the need to repent. Salvation comes to the penitent who knows his sin and is sorry for it. Not to the arrogant who believe they have nothing to be sorry for (Luke 18:9-14).

The arrogant aren't only the Pharisees. They can be found wherever the person refuses to consider his or her own behavior as being in conflict with God.

Think about it...