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America Turned Upside Down
Despite Bevy of Omissions and Errors
By Jim Fritz
To those of us born during the depression or World War ll when the country enjoyed unusual patriotism and faith in God as evidenced by high church attendance and frequent public prayer, the America of today has been turned upside down.If we had been told then what America would be like today, we would have thought our source of informationhad a severe mental problem. We have seen the “Greatest Generation” disappear and the “MeGeneration” anoint itself the Greatest Generation. Secularism rules the American Culture, and Modernism has taken over the CatholicChurch. It is probably one of the worst crises the Church has ever met and definitely the worst crisis America has ever seen.
How did this happen?
In short, it happened because Church leaders went along with every theological aberration that came down the pike. And Church members followed their leaders. Catholics lost their identity and their faith.
It was easy to do. A lack of courage on the part of both Catholic and political leaders combined with a lack of knowledge of the faith spelled the Church’s doom in Western Europe and now is on its way to America.
What is so amazing is the apparent total ignorance of history of those tearing down America.They repeat the strategies tried over and over in the past which have failed miserably. They have invented the most mind-bending rationalizations of aberrant behavior, using them until these rationalizations have become institutionalized. Let me cite some examples.
Socialism
The seductive notion of economic equality has appealed to many people. The pilgrims started out with the idea of equal sharing. The colony of Georgia began with very similar ideas. In the Midwest, Britain's Robert Owen– who coined the term "socialism"– set up colonies based on communal living and economic equality.
What these idealistic experiments all had in common was they all failed. They learned the hard way that people would not work as hard for the common good as they would for their own good. The pilgrims nearly starved learning that lesson. But they learned it. Land that had been common property was turned into private property, which produced far more food.
Similar experiments were tried on a larger scale in other countries around the world. In the most massive of these experiments– the Soviet Union under Stalin and Communist China under Mao– people literally starved to death by the millions even though both countries had an abundance of fertile ground. Before the end of the 20th century, both socialist and communist governments around the world began abandoning central planning. The same experiment with the same inevitable outcome has been repeated in India and other countries.
Now in Washington DC with each passing year we are becoming more socialistic. Our government, while promoting the choice to kill your unborn child, removes even more choices in every aspect of daily life,from buying light bulbs and toilets to medical care. This movement in the direction of central planning is in fact going back to a system that has failed in countries around the world. Our politicians have no sense of history.America has been turned upside down.
Education
Colleges
The downfall of Catholic Universities began in 1967 at Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin with a meeting of a group of Catholic educators led by the University of Notre Dame administrator-in-chief, Fr. Theodore Hesburgh. Fr. Hesburgh was the rebels’ alpha male who ceremoniously announced the teaching and research functions of Catholic colleges and universities should be independent of and no longer submissive to the teaching authority of the Catholic Church if they wanted to be “effective.” And what the Hell does that mean? Has anyone seen any improvement in Catholic education since 1967?
The latest example is “Catholic” Boston College. Even though Irish Prime Minister EndaKenny is openly pushing to legalize abortion, he was invited by Boston College to receive honors on May 20, 2013.
This is similar to the Notre Dame 2009 commencement scandal when Barack Obama, the most pro-abortion American president in history, was the key speaker at the commencement ceremony and was awarded an honorary law degree by Notre Dame president, Father Jenkins. At the same time Notre Dame illegally arrested 88 Christians, including several priests and ministers, for peacefully praying and protesting on their facilities. Of course they have never arrested any demonstrating homosexuals for trespassing.
Another recent example is Georgetown University, which last year hosted the architect of the HHS mandate who also is anabortion advocate, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, as a graduation speaker.
There are currently Pro-Homosexual (Pride) Clubs at 107 Catholic Colleges.
At present there are only a handful of really true Catholic Colleges in America. Thank God for the Newman Society that keeps track of Catholic Schools. One interesting bit of information they have provided is the enormous imbalance of liberal to conservative professors – as much as 98 percent liberals in some universities.
Secondary Schools
In the “good old days” schools could not give an aspirinto a student without a parent’s approval. They still can’t, yet the law allows them to send your child to an abortion clinic without your knowledge.
The school day used to start with a prayer, now it is illegal to pray out loud and you will be sent home if you dare to wear a tee shirt with a prayer on it.A teacher in a school in Moore, Oklahoma during the recent tornado reported one of the boys asked her to hold him tight because he didn’t want to die. She told the boy they were not going to die. Showing how brainwashed teachers have become, she then said, “I know I am not supposed to pray, but I prayed.” Imagine apologizing to the public for praying.America has been turned upside down.
Catechesis
How many times have you heard Catholics attempting to explain away an error in word or deed by saying they had been “poorly catechized?”Noted producer and writer, John C. Hathaway,wrote it was not “poor catechesis” but “bad catechesis;” that is to say; consciences have been very well-formed in a false conception of Catholicism. Basically, he states:1) few people actually read the required documents; 2) few seem to get anything out of them when they read them; 3)there are a lot of people who just need to be informed; 4)there are plenty of people who know what the Church teaches and simply reject it; and
5) there are well-read people who know what the Church teaches but insist that’s not what the Church really teaches, or insist that it’s wrong.
Hathaway believes the latest problem is more prevalent in America because immigrants came to America in rejection of the authorities in Europe, and often those authorities included the Church. This led to a brand of Catholicism traditionally defiant and suspicious of the Vatican’s authority.It is not unusual for one who does not want to believe something to rationalize his disbelief by citing a problem, real or imagined, in the institution or the person defending it. It is very easy to bring up an errant priest, bishop, cardinal or pope in the last 2,000 years. Even Jesus had one out of 12. If one racist, homosexual or contraception-endorsing Catholic bishop can be found, then the Church is racist, homosexual or in support of contraception.
Hathaway states, “American Catholics have gradually adopted beliefs that are more Masonic than they are Catholic. It comes from their easy adoption of secular thought and the falsely Catholic ideologies they have encountered among their religion teachers.”America has been turned upside down.
Lukewarm Clergy
The Church needs conversion in every age, in every soul, every day. That isn’t happening– too many Catholic leaders are content to watch Rome burn rather than offend and be thought judgmental or uncharitable.
The leadership of the Church today is too unwilling, afraid and intimidated to simply speak this simple truth. They say,”It will drive people away….It’s not ecumenical… It is too divisive... It is too judgmental...”
These comments are heard throughout parish chanceries and in houses of religious formation; from pulpits and in seminaries. All have become great cooperators with the current culture while watching the Church shrink into oblivion.
Humanae Vitae
In July 1968 Pope Paul VI not only produced a new Encyclical called “Humanae Vitae” clarifying Catholic teaching on contraception, but he also "prophesied" marriages and society would suffer if the use of contraception became widespread. His teaching was rejected by almost everyone including a number of the clergy. The encyclical clearly presented this teaching of the Catholic Church, but few clergy promulgate it and few Catholics obey it.
The Church teaches that to practice contraception is to reject God and his life-giving blessings. The Church teaches not only that using contraception is wrong, but because contraception is wrong, it will have unacceptable consequences. Pope Paul VI made four rather general "prophecies" about what would happen if the Church's teaching on contraception were ignored. He predicted 1) widespread use of contraception would lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of standards of morality; 2) "the man" will lose respect for "the woman" and "no longer (care) for her physical and psychological equilibrium" and will come to "the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer as his respected and beloved companion;" 3) the widespread acceptance of contraception would place a "dangerous weapon in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies;" 4) and finally, that contraception would lead man to believe he had unlimited dominion over his own body.
Interestingly, Protestants beginning with Martin Luther were even more critical of the use of contraceptives than the Pope’s encyclical. John Calvin called it an “Unforgivable Crime.” The Lambeth Conference in 1908 confirmed the Protestant opposition to the use of contraceptives. This all turned around in 1930 when Anglicans voted to allow married couples to use birth control in some circumstances.
Methodists and others soon followed. The Anglican Church has been in free-fall ever since, especially since they voted to accept homosexuality as a normal condition. America has been turned upside down.
The U,S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
After decades of the bishops’ support of liberal social policies, they must now realize who the real enemy is. During the last election, 54 percent of Catholics voted for Obama. The bishops promoted this by (1) their support of the health care law which is now resulting in mandates requiring religious employers to pay insurance coverage of birth control and abortifacients; (2) ignoring canon 915; and, (3) issuing a ridiculous, inaccurate, and totally useless document titled, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”In addition to all of this, bankruptcies have been declared in eight dioceses due to the sexual abuse scandal. And the list goes on and on and on.
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) was an offshoot of the Marxism “Social Justice” group, as people in the pew willingly (and unknowingly) gave to “help the poor” get abortions, contraceptives, increase sodomy and other abominations and break down the family. The USCCB has promised reform for 40 years with no results. During the 40 years of annual collection for the social justice crowd,there has been, and is still, no annual collection taken up for crisis pregnancy centers or any other pro-life effort.
In 1972 Pope Paul VI said, "Satan's smoke has made its way into the temple of God through some crack." It is not hard to determine what is meant by the “crack.” The following are some examples.
The story of Cardinal Bernardin and his ”Seamless Garment” is especially sad. Cardinal Bernardin promoted an endeavor entitled, "Catholic Common Ground Project" for the purpose of hosting a series of conferences designed to stimulate "a new kind of dialogue" to help define the future course of the Catholic Church in America.This would have driven a wedge between America and Rome. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston distanced himself from the Bernardin initiative. He reminded the faithful that during the time of King Henry VIII, all but one of the bishops of England had broken away from Rome.
The name Archbishop Rembert Weakland only needs to be mentioned to invoke horrible abuses by a Catholic bishop during his time.
The number of bishops and cardinals who ignore Canon 915 is mind-boggling. Canon 915 forbids administering Holy Communion to those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin. This applies to the giving of Holy Communion to legislators who persistently support abortion. This is the view expressed by the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in a letter sent in early June 2004 to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Cardinal McCarrickrefused to disclose this letter… even to his parishioners.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has declared his view, which he attributes also to the great majority of bishops in the United States and elsewhere, that Canon 915 "was never intended to be used this way."Examples of cardinals ignoring Canon 915 have been numerous. Cardinals, bishops and priests who have allowed the desecration of the Holy Eucharist have set a terrible example for faithful Catholics.
Thank God we have some priests and bishops, such as Cardinal Burke, who refuse to make a sacrilege of the Eucharist.
Recent news broke that Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York, is actually paying for some employees’ birth control, abortions and sterilizations through a union-negotiated health insurance contract signed years ago. Is he clueless? How is he going to fight the illegal HHS Mandate when he himself is voluntarily doing what he objects to in the US Government mandate?
What is Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit doing about the Catholic hospitals under his guidance to stop them from prescribing contraception and abortifacient drugs?
Detroit, along with New York, is not the only place with serious problems. Problems are rampant throughout the Church in America.The bishops go on and on about the need for greater catechesis and a New Evangelization – the new buzzword in chanceries – yet they leave in place liberal dissenters in their own classrooms and parishes who teach the opposite of what the Church teaches.The Church in America has been turned upside down.
Pray for the bishops.Pray they see the light and the massive destruction they are causing. Pray they will have the common sense to correct their errors.
Feminism
Noted author, Dennis Prager, wrote an excellent article explaining why there is a “Hookup Culture.” He attributed it mostly to feminism. The feminist movement’s central message is that women are not different from men. The “Playboy Culture” encourages men to have as much sex as they can. Feminism encouraged women to do the same. Women were taught to forget finding a husband and concentrate on a career. This was even more reason for women to engage in non-emotional, commitment-free sex.
One result of feminism and the “Hookup Culture” has been the increase of out-of- wedlock births from around five percent in the 1950s to over forty percent today. Single motherhood is a disaster for both the mother and the child.
Likewise sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), abortions, breast cancer and other health issues caused by the use of “the Pill” have taken a significant increase.
Feminism has been a complete disaster for women! Only the wrong kind of men have benefited from it. America has been turned upside down.
Abortion
Margaret Sanger, founder of what is now Planned Parenthood,introduced black Americans to contraception and was extremely successful in promoting it through black church leaders. Since her time abortion has become a widely-practiced method of contraception among blacks. Now blacks themselves kill more Negroes in one day,in one city,than the Ku Klux Klan killed in the last century. In New York City, nearly 50 percent of black children are killed by abortion.
Legalized abortion is widely touted as beneficial to women, and the public in general has not questioned this; however, many studies prove otherwise. Women face numerous risks with abortion, yet our government is using tax dollars to support abortion at the expense of women’s lives and health. Abortion is by its very nature a violent and damaging procedure. Documented complications include hemorrhage, infection, cervical damage, uterine perforation, pelvic disease and retained fetal or placental tissue with the subsequent risk of life-threatening infection. Legalizing abortion caused maternal mortality rates to rise significantly in comparison to rates based solely on death during or after childbirth.
Long-term risks of abortion including subsequent preterm birth, infertility, cancer, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and placenta previa can substantially impede future reproductive success. In addition, abortion is associated with increased risk of negative psycho-social consequences. A recent study found an 81 percent increased risk of mental health problems. Some of these are anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug use and suicidal behaviors along with damage to relationships.
Legalization does not improve outcomes, but only increases the number of women subjected to the risks of abortion. Abortion has become so much a “sacrament” of the left that women’s lives (as well as their children’s) may be sacrificed to protect it . America has been turned upside down.
Relativism
Speaker and author, Chris Stefanick,states “Relativism is the philosophy that denies objective reality, but believes truth is relative to the individual. Each person is free to define God as he sees fit and to follow his own perception of how one’s life is to be lived. We’ve all encountered relativism in statements like, “You have your truth, and I have mine.”
This “agree never to disagree” philosophy is considered necessary to guarantee peace, tolerance and equality in a pluralistic world. But relativism is not the answer to world peace or even personal peace of mind. It is a disease that is destroying our culture and our lives.
Homosexuality
In recent years public acceptance of homosexuality has made enormous gains. Homosexuals use the rationale that you must accept them or be labeled homophobic. They are using the same approach as blacks used to achieve racial equality, although race cannot be changed. Homosexuality can be changed or at least self-controlled or abated.
Homosexuals have made great advances in the legalization of same-sex marriage. A dozen states have legalized it. Homosexuals demand the right to equality and cite examples of objections to mixed-race marriages in the past. Catholics have bought into this secular rationalization even though simple logic tells one that it is wrong.
We do not have to rely only on logic to conclude that a father and a mother can more ably and consistently rear well-balanced children. Or do we believe it was only happenstance that God (or Nature, if you prefer) ordained that children may be born only from a male-female couple? Parents are responsible not only for the nurture of their young but in much more complex ways perform as their children’s principal guides and teachers through instruction and example.
A study published in the journal Social Science Research found “When compared with outcomes for children raised by an “intact biological family” (with a married, biological mother and father), the children of homosexuals fared worse (or, in the case of their own sexual orientation, were more likely to deviate from the societal norm) on 77 out of 80 outcome measures.”
America has been turned upside down.
Cardinal Raymond Burke while archbishop of St. Louis wrote the following, “Given the strong public rhetoric favoring the acceptance of same-sex attraction and homosexual activity as an alternative form of human sexuality, the very presentation of the Catholic Church's perennial teaching on the matter is considered, at best, failing in pastoral sensitivity; at worst, hateful toward persons who struggle with same-sex attraction. The theological truth is seen to be somehow antithetical to the pastoral or loving response required. For that reason, Catholic faithful, including the clergy, can become hesitant to present and clearly uphold the Church's teaching on homosexual inclinations and activity. At the same time, the persistent public message about homosexuality – in the absence of a consistent presentation of the Church's teaching – can easily lead the Catholic faithful into confused and even erroneous thinking on the matter.”
“As at no other time, our society and culture need to hear the voice of the Church teaching the divine natural moral law which safeguards the common good and therefore, the good of each individual. There can be no pastorally sensitive or loving approach which is not fully informed by and consistent with the teaching of the Church. What is needed is the conviction that the truth communicated with love is the fullest expression of our love and compassion toward every brother and sister.”
Gutless Politicians
Many of us have witnessed “pro-life” politicians from our states who upon achieving the federal level completely reverse their pro-life views. Many of these are “so-called Catholics” and use the tired cliché “I am personally opposed to abortion, but,” then declare they must support “a woman’s choice.” They never complete the sentence:“a woman’s choice to kill her child.”
Sadly, these so-called Catholics support the funding of the abortion industry using taxpayer money and support even the elimination of our constitutional right to freedom of religion. Religious organizations as well as any other business of a certain size must purchase insurance that provides free contraceptives and abortion to their employees. These politicians call these benefits (?) “Healthcare” when they are just the opposite. America has been turned upside down.
Where do we go from here?
This leads us to ask what do we do now if even those who are supposed to lead us in Truth do not do so? Thank God for the few bishops who are faithful to the teachings of the Church and to the Magisterium.
The Church, both laity and clergy throughout the western world is in the throes of a crisis. Nonetheless, it is the job of the faithful to rebuild, to restore, and to shore it up when it fails.
Will the bishops wake up? The politicians during the past few years have taken the bishops for a ride; however, a few of the bishops finally appear to be awakening to the fact they have been lied to. If the Supreme Court does not abolish the unconstitutional Affordable Care Act, the bishops will soon have no choice but to close Catholic hospitals and schools. Evangelical Christians, by joining us in suing the government may be the ones to save us from our own bishops.
The bishops should hang their heads in shame knowing that by their actions they helped to elect the most pro-abortion president in history. They should hang their heads in shame realizing they were duped, and most of them behaved as gullible, naive men lacking basic common sense.
We must pray to God the bishops realize the harm their lack of decisive actions have caused and will assume the leadership demanded by their position in the Church.
We cannot blame everything on our clergy and politicians. Will the American Catholics wake up? We cannot have 54 percent of Catholics voting for their grandfather’s party against their own Catholic teaching. How many of us vote according to our Catholic principles? How many of us stand up for our faith when talking to others? How many of us propagate the faith? How many of us are active in writing letters to our bishops and to our politicians? How many of us stand up for our principles and demonstrate in front of abortion clinics and Catholic schools that invite pro-abortion and heretical commencement speakers and support “gay pride” and other heretical events?How many of us support Pregnancy Centers? How many of us support Catholic Radio? How many of us support our good priests and bishops?
Here is an example of Catholic action from Father Richard Perozich, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in the Diocese of San Diego,addressing the recent Boy Scout debacle: “I would not allow a child under my care to be near either another child or an adult who identifies with, encourages acceptance of, or practices homosexuality. Our parish gave material support to the Scouts in our region until yesterday. We have withdrawn financial aid but will support them with prayer so that the adults [will] retreat from their cowardice before the evil of homosexuality and its perpetrators, and be about protecting and forming young men according to classic Scout values in accord with Catholic teaching.” I applaud Father for his action. We all need to act on our principles.
I remember hearing Kate Smith sing Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on the radio in 1940 when we were just beginning to emerge from a long depression. We need to pray for America more than ever. We need to have faith and we need to demonstrate it now.