I count April 1, 1973 as my Sobriety Date. In the five years leading up to that day, my early adulthood, I was afflicted with Liberalism. Not political liberalism (I always have and always will lean left), nor classic economic (free market, low tax-regulation) liberalism (which I have never endorsed), but specifically the post-Vatican II Catholic spiritual liberalism by which I mean a weakened Catholic faith and sanctification of a leftist political vision.
The symptoms:
- Persistent, debilitating, low-grade guilt about suffering, inequality and injustice; a joyless sense of moral burden.
- Diminished sense of the supernatural, especially a weak connection with Jesus Christ as eventful, personal savior, and lowered sense of sacredness of sacraments.
- Above all, transference of religious energies to the political, relocating the origin of evil from sin-world-flesh-devil to social systems of power and injustice and the sanctification of specific policies as sacred. And so, ideological opponents were demonized: those who favor low capital gain tax are greedy, others in favor of strong border security are racists, and so forth. Society fit neatly into three classes: the powerful who oppress, the powerless victims, and the righteous who fight the bad guys.
On April 1, 1973 I finished my Cursillo at which I encountered Jesus in a clear, intimate, powerful manner as my personal Lord and Savior. Shortly after that, I joined the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and received an overflow of the Holy Spirit as a powerful, deep, tender and directive Companion to my soul.
My life changed entirely:
- Along with my wife, I embraced Church teaching on sexuality and marriage (Humanae Vitae); we discontinued contraception; and went on to conceive seven beautiful children.
- I was relieved of that burden of guilt and inadequacy as I felt the constant protection, guidance and strengthening of the Holy Spirit.
- I continued to encounter Christ in the sacraments, the Word of God, fellowship, and personal prayer.
- My focus and energy returned to Christ and his Church. I maintained an interest in national politics, but in a light, relaxed mode; less righteous, zealous, judgmental.
- Under the direction of a holy, erudite Jesuit theologian (Fr. Joseph Whelan S.J.) I had encountered the "kneeling theology" of Hans Urs Von Balthasar and its sense that theology can only spring from holiness of life. So I was well positioned to receive, just a few years later, the splendid teaching of St. John Paul II (especially his catechesis on sexuality and gender) and that of his collaborator, Pope Benedict.
And so, I remain joyful and thankful for being rescued from the guilt, the burden, the judgmentalism and the dreariness of Catholic Liberalism! I prayed and labored to protect my children from this plight, that still pervades Catholic education, and can report happily that they are free from this pathology, that they are rooted in strong Catholic belief and practice even as they lean left politically with me and my family tradition. May my grandchildren and following generations carry on our faith!
Monday, November 18, 2019
Sunday, November 17, 2019
The Anguish of the Traditional Catholic in the Age of Pope Fracis
The catastrophic summer of 2018 (death penalty change to Catechism, McCarrick, Pennsylvania Report, Vigano, China agreement) confirmed what had become obvious: the Catholic Church is in the grip of a severely dysfunctional papacy. We are like a family where the mother or father is addicted...to drugs, anger, gambling, sex or whatever. Three paths emerge: to collude with and enable the compulsion; to intervene forcefully; or to distance oneself and pursue one's own sobriety and peace in an alanon-type program. The first is itself a co-addiction; the last two can fruitfully complement each other.
1. In his customarily brilliant Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell narrates how a high accident picture for Korean pilots, who compare in all ways with other nationalities, was finally linked to their deferential "cockpit culture." Even when facing imminent danger and obvious pilot error, subordinate staff were resistant to confronting the pilot because of a deep-seated Korean subservience to authority. Something similar inheres in Roman Catholicism: we have so much respect for our hierarchy that sometimes we fail to confront them and thus enable abuse. Priest sex scandal! This applies to pastor, bishop and yes even the pope. And so, the pious, sentimental propensity to repress any criticism of pope (or bishop or priest) is contradictory of the deeper Catholic intellectual traditions as well as dismissive of the profound sense of human sinfulness that effects even our popes, beginning with Peter.
2. The anti-Francis resistance has opted to intervene and assert long-standing beliefs that are being undermined by this Pope and his allies. In the hierarchy itself this is a very small, but strong and lucid group: notably Cardinals Burke, Sarah and Mueller. Each is extraordinary in theological depth, loyalty to the Church, and lucidity in articulation. It is unlikely they will impact this papacy, but they are a source of light and hope for so many of us who are troubled by the reigning confusitoi From where I sit, the resistance is strongest from the laity: Reno and the First Things crowd, Rober Royal and The Catholic Thing, Raymond Arroyo and EWTN, Philip Gleason and others. The laity enjoy a greater freedom to engage critically and I for one am greatly heartened by their clarity and condor.
3. The predominant response may be exemplified by Pope-Emeritus Benedict himself. he has not engaged the papacy in its foibles! Rather, he... quietly, peacefully, prayerfully and confidently...goes about his own now-retired life, no doubt praying, resting and waiting on the Lord. Even as the Francis regime undermines his work (consider the destruction of the John Paul II Institute in Rome) the retired Pope rests serene in God's providence and the marvelous legacy he has left the Church. It is my impression that most of the loyal laity, clergy, episcopacy and college of cardinals pursue a similar path: not overtly resisting, but persevering in the Gospel truth as we have received it. The lay leaders I most respect..including charismatic Ralph Martin, Kiko Arguello of the Neocathecumenal Way, The Schindlers and others at the John Paul II...have not directly criticized or contradicted the Pope (to my knowledge), but they continue to develop and articulate the legacy of John Paul and Benedict with energy, brilliance and conviction. The American bishops are exemplary also. Archbishop Chaput, perhaps the strongest American hierarchical resistance to this papacy, is muted and flawlessly respectful. The the recent American bishops conference, proteges of Francis (Cupich, McElroy) attempted to dilute the episcopal pro-life stance, in the name of Pope Francis, by removing the word "preeminent" in regard to abortion among other social issues (immigration, global warming, etc.) Bishop McElroy went so far as to say that this emphasis contradicted the teaching of Francis. Chaput forcefully insisted that the American bishops were indeed in union with the chair of Peter as they resisted the horror of abortion. His strong but respectful words were greeted with applause. His position was validated in a vote of 2-1. The American bishops remain faithful, at this point in time, to the legacy of the dual pontificate, but in a reverent, peace-making manner.
To conclude: filial loyalty to the papacy, like love for one's own dysfunctional father, does not preclude but requires calm, deliberate correction when required. There is a certain Catholic genius for balancing loyalty and confrontation, for preserving unity while unveiling error. Thank God for the resistance, and also for the loyalists who work in a more peaceful, quiet manner!
1. In his customarily brilliant Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell narrates how a high accident picture for Korean pilots, who compare in all ways with other nationalities, was finally linked to their deferential "cockpit culture." Even when facing imminent danger and obvious pilot error, subordinate staff were resistant to confronting the pilot because of a deep-seated Korean subservience to authority. Something similar inheres in Roman Catholicism: we have so much respect for our hierarchy that sometimes we fail to confront them and thus enable abuse. Priest sex scandal! This applies to pastor, bishop and yes even the pope. And so, the pious, sentimental propensity to repress any criticism of pope (or bishop or priest) is contradictory of the deeper Catholic intellectual traditions as well as dismissive of the profound sense of human sinfulness that effects even our popes, beginning with Peter.
2. The anti-Francis resistance has opted to intervene and assert long-standing beliefs that are being undermined by this Pope and his allies. In the hierarchy itself this is a very small, but strong and lucid group: notably Cardinals Burke, Sarah and Mueller. Each is extraordinary in theological depth, loyalty to the Church, and lucidity in articulation. It is unlikely they will impact this papacy, but they are a source of light and hope for so many of us who are troubled by the reigning confusitoi From where I sit, the resistance is strongest from the laity: Reno and the First Things crowd, Rober Royal and The Catholic Thing, Raymond Arroyo and EWTN, Philip Gleason and others. The laity enjoy a greater freedom to engage critically and I for one am greatly heartened by their clarity and condor.
3. The predominant response may be exemplified by Pope-Emeritus Benedict himself. he has not engaged the papacy in its foibles! Rather, he... quietly, peacefully, prayerfully and confidently...goes about his own now-retired life, no doubt praying, resting and waiting on the Lord. Even as the Francis regime undermines his work (consider the destruction of the John Paul II Institute in Rome) the retired Pope rests serene in God's providence and the marvelous legacy he has left the Church. It is my impression that most of the loyal laity, clergy, episcopacy and college of cardinals pursue a similar path: not overtly resisting, but persevering in the Gospel truth as we have received it. The lay leaders I most respect..including charismatic Ralph Martin, Kiko Arguello of the Neocathecumenal Way, The Schindlers and others at the John Paul II...have not directly criticized or contradicted the Pope (to my knowledge), but they continue to develop and articulate the legacy of John Paul and Benedict with energy, brilliance and conviction. The American bishops are exemplary also. Archbishop Chaput, perhaps the strongest American hierarchical resistance to this papacy, is muted and flawlessly respectful. The the recent American bishops conference, proteges of Francis (Cupich, McElroy) attempted to dilute the episcopal pro-life stance, in the name of Pope Francis, by removing the word "preeminent" in regard to abortion among other social issues (immigration, global warming, etc.) Bishop McElroy went so far as to say that this emphasis contradicted the teaching of Francis. Chaput forcefully insisted that the American bishops were indeed in union with the chair of Peter as they resisted the horror of abortion. His strong but respectful words were greeted with applause. His position was validated in a vote of 2-1. The American bishops remain faithful, at this point in time, to the legacy of the dual pontificate, but in a reverent, peace-making manner.
To conclude: filial loyalty to the papacy, like love for one's own dysfunctional father, does not preclude but requires calm, deliberate correction when required. There is a certain Catholic genius for balancing loyalty and confrontation, for preserving unity while unveiling error. Thank God for the resistance, and also for the loyalists who work in a more peaceful, quiet manner!
Who's to Blame for Donald Trump?
The liberals are to blame: the Democrats and the cultural elites in media, academia, and entertainment. For a number of interrelated reasons:
1. Bill Clinton, and his collaborator Hillary. Trump as a public figure, in the nauseatingly vile way he speaks of and treats women, is unthinkable in a America prior to the Clinton-Lewinski event-from-hell. Trump, along with Clinton, Epstein, Weinstein and a litany of others are all children of the sexual revolution. Society's full acceptance and approval of Clinton after his abuse of a young woman the age of his own daughter was the tipping point: the precise moment when the Revolution prevailed in America and the West. In a satanic game plan, the Democrat prepared for the Republican in a culture progressively degraded by unrestrained lust. Hillary, by enabling her husband and discreding his victims, herself played a key role in preparing for the Donald. Is there a chance she has a clue about this? None!
2. Breakdown of family, community and identity. Along with cooperating historical forces, cultural liberalism has destroyed the foundation of life in marriage, fidelity, family, and community. Strangely, this negative effect has been much less on the affluent class that advocates it; and worst on the lower economic classes who have been devastated by a double blast of economic change and moral-spiritual decline. The Trump victory was not about an ideological vision for society; it was certainly not about racism (many voted for Obama and then Trump!). It was the anguished, enraged cry of a class and a culture that had lost its economic as well as its cultural-religious roots.
3. Contempt of elites for the "deplorables." This flows from the previous point: the elites, even as they have destroyed the basis for decent family life have evident contempt for the lower class, those who they see as stupid, who "cling to guns and religion" and who lack the pedigree of a liberal education. We are in the midst of a class war, but it is not about money (although the materialistic left can think in only those terms): it is about respect, honor, status, identity. It is about religion: what is important and worthy and sacred!
4. Militant secularism. By an inconceivable irony, Donald Trump, who embodies in preternatural exaggeration the materialistic greed, narcissism and sexual excess of the USA at its very worst, became president because he rallied the support of moral conservatives, Evangelicals and Catholics. As bad as he is personally, politically he is resistant to the hegemonic regime of the liberals: genocide of the unborn and "useless", oppression of religious liberty, totalitarian and diabolic tearing of sexuality from its roots and purpose in spousal fruitfulness, and the deconstruction of paternity/maternity in their sacredness.
The hysteria intrinsic to liberal "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is rooted in an unconscious guilt and dread that they have created a world...fatherless and motherless, sexually liberated, destructive of the most powerless...where a moral monster, a moron, a helpless incompetent...is preferred electorally to their own barren, deathly, hopeless ideology.
1. Bill Clinton, and his collaborator Hillary. Trump as a public figure, in the nauseatingly vile way he speaks of and treats women, is unthinkable in a America prior to the Clinton-Lewinski event-from-hell. Trump, along with Clinton, Epstein, Weinstein and a litany of others are all children of the sexual revolution. Society's full acceptance and approval of Clinton after his abuse of a young woman the age of his own daughter was the tipping point: the precise moment when the Revolution prevailed in America and the West. In a satanic game plan, the Democrat prepared for the Republican in a culture progressively degraded by unrestrained lust. Hillary, by enabling her husband and discreding his victims, herself played a key role in preparing for the Donald. Is there a chance she has a clue about this? None!
2. Breakdown of family, community and identity. Along with cooperating historical forces, cultural liberalism has destroyed the foundation of life in marriage, fidelity, family, and community. Strangely, this negative effect has been much less on the affluent class that advocates it; and worst on the lower economic classes who have been devastated by a double blast of economic change and moral-spiritual decline. The Trump victory was not about an ideological vision for society; it was certainly not about racism (many voted for Obama and then Trump!). It was the anguished, enraged cry of a class and a culture that had lost its economic as well as its cultural-religious roots.
3. Contempt of elites for the "deplorables." This flows from the previous point: the elites, even as they have destroyed the basis for decent family life have evident contempt for the lower class, those who they see as stupid, who "cling to guns and religion" and who lack the pedigree of a liberal education. We are in the midst of a class war, but it is not about money (although the materialistic left can think in only those terms): it is about respect, honor, status, identity. It is about religion: what is important and worthy and sacred!
4. Militant secularism. By an inconceivable irony, Donald Trump, who embodies in preternatural exaggeration the materialistic greed, narcissism and sexual excess of the USA at its very worst, became president because he rallied the support of moral conservatives, Evangelicals and Catholics. As bad as he is personally, politically he is resistant to the hegemonic regime of the liberals: genocide of the unborn and "useless", oppression of religious liberty, totalitarian and diabolic tearing of sexuality from its roots and purpose in spousal fruitfulness, and the deconstruction of paternity/maternity in their sacredness.
The hysteria intrinsic to liberal "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is rooted in an unconscious guilt and dread that they have created a world...fatherless and motherless, sexually liberated, destructive of the most powerless...where a moral monster, a moron, a helpless incompetent...is preferred electorally to their own barren, deathly, hopeless ideology.
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Five Movements of the Symphony that is Catholic Life
I like to see our Catholic life as an interaction of five eventful loves, which are distinct yet co-inhere in each other in a rich flowering and flourishing: Wonder at Being in all its Truth, Beauty, Goodness; the evangelical love for the crucified, risen-ascended, Spirit-sending person of Jesus Christ; compassion and love for those who suffer physical and spiritual desolation; devotion to Truth, in all forms of human knowing including the dogmatic splendor radiating from God's revelation; and the life of prayer and worship in its personal-intimate, communal and public-liturgical dimensions.
The sense of wonder at existence in all its glory, common to all people, manifests itself especially in the artist, the poet, the philosopher. We see it in people of all types of belief and unbelief, even as its interior logic moves towards the source of all the Good, the True and the Beautiful, the very Creator!
The specific Christian genius is the personal encounter with the Jesus Christ, the absolutely unique divine-human person, as Lord, Savior, and Friend. It includes a sense of his distinctive holiness, his self-described intimacy with his Father in the Holy Spirit, his horrendous suffering for us, his victory over death-guilt-evil in all forms, and his specific love for each of us precisely in our sins. The entire Catholic life...traditions, prayers, dogmas, morality, liturgy...flow lucidly, passionately, fruitfully from this primal personal encounter.
Empathy for the poor and suffering, like the initial sense of wonder, characterizes human life in all its forms, but is given immense depth and focus in the following of Jesus who himself took on ALL the suffering and pain of the world. Additionally, the Catholic pathos is for physical, emotional and also spiritual suffering: only in the Church do we speak of "hunger for souls" by which we mean the yearning to satisfy the deepest cravings of the human heart, the desire for eternal life in unbounded, endless Beauty, Truth and Goodness.
Truth unveils itself to the inquiring human subject analogically at all levels of existence: mathematical, scientific, historical, journalistic, philosophical and more. The Church, however, is uniquely entrusted with the splendid Revelation of God in Jesus Christ in all its dogmatic consequences. Not all of us are equally equipped to ponder, grasp and articulate this reality (just as few of us grasp the deepest truths of physics or neurology), the the hierarchy is specially guided in this task.
Lastly, is the cultivation of our communion with God in personal prayer, small group wrorship, and public liturgy. Particularly in the Eucharist, this is the heart and soul of the Church; the inner form and essence of Catholicism. We experience this in the quiet solitude of our personal prayer; in the intimacy of shared prayer with family and friends; and in the exquisite, magisterial liturgy of the ancient Church. It is here that the Bridegroom makes live to his ecclesial Bride. Out of this communion flow all the social energies and cultural fruitfulness of Catholic life in its overflowing abundance.
Individuals, communities and entire historical epochs vary in the degree to which they express the five movements. But Catholic life, on earth and in heaven, is an unbounded effervescence, an overflowing eventfulness, a symphonic masterpiece of continuity/stability and serendipitous surpise!
The sense of wonder at existence in all its glory, common to all people, manifests itself especially in the artist, the poet, the philosopher. We see it in people of all types of belief and unbelief, even as its interior logic moves towards the source of all the Good, the True and the Beautiful, the very Creator!
The specific Christian genius is the personal encounter with the Jesus Christ, the absolutely unique divine-human person, as Lord, Savior, and Friend. It includes a sense of his distinctive holiness, his self-described intimacy with his Father in the Holy Spirit, his horrendous suffering for us, his victory over death-guilt-evil in all forms, and his specific love for each of us precisely in our sins. The entire Catholic life...traditions, prayers, dogmas, morality, liturgy...flow lucidly, passionately, fruitfully from this primal personal encounter.
Empathy for the poor and suffering, like the initial sense of wonder, characterizes human life in all its forms, but is given immense depth and focus in the following of Jesus who himself took on ALL the suffering and pain of the world. Additionally, the Catholic pathos is for physical, emotional and also spiritual suffering: only in the Church do we speak of "hunger for souls" by which we mean the yearning to satisfy the deepest cravings of the human heart, the desire for eternal life in unbounded, endless Beauty, Truth and Goodness.
Truth unveils itself to the inquiring human subject analogically at all levels of existence: mathematical, scientific, historical, journalistic, philosophical and more. The Church, however, is uniquely entrusted with the splendid Revelation of God in Jesus Christ in all its dogmatic consequences. Not all of us are equally equipped to ponder, grasp and articulate this reality (just as few of us grasp the deepest truths of physics or neurology), the the hierarchy is specially guided in this task.
Lastly, is the cultivation of our communion with God in personal prayer, small group wrorship, and public liturgy. Particularly in the Eucharist, this is the heart and soul of the Church; the inner form and essence of Catholicism. We experience this in the quiet solitude of our personal prayer; in the intimacy of shared prayer with family and friends; and in the exquisite, magisterial liturgy of the ancient Church. It is here that the Bridegroom makes live to his ecclesial Bride. Out of this communion flow all the social energies and cultural fruitfulness of Catholic life in its overflowing abundance.
Individuals, communities and entire historical epochs vary in the degree to which they express the five movements. But Catholic life, on earth and in heaven, is an unbounded effervescence, an overflowing eventfulness, a symphonic masterpiece of continuity/stability and serendipitous surpise!
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Loving the Democrat; Hating the Democratic National Party
I hate the DNC; but most of my family, friends and almost everyone with whom I work are Democrats! What a dilemma! How do I handle this?
When I say I hate the Democratic Party, I mean I loathe, despise, abhor, renounce, scorn, detest it! This is not just a feeling or emotion; with my intellect, will, passions, spirit, all my energies and powers I hate it. This disgust is personal, passionate, perpetual. I was raised to respect and trust this party; so the betrayal that occurred around 1970 with the sexual revolution and abortion is very particular for me. Imagine how women feel about bedbugs! How Jews feel about Nazis or Afro-Americans about the KKK! How we all feel about sexual abuse of children! How the embryo feels towards her abortionist! That is what I am talking about! For me, just about 1970 the Democratic Party became, essentially and structurally, an embodiment of hell on earth! It is as if my very best friend seduced my wife and raped my daughters.
And so, I see that otherwise intelligent, decent, well-meaning people...admirable in almost every way...are overcome by a (virtually) invincible ignorance as they collaborate with the genocide of the unborn and other types of "unworthy" human life. How does this happen?
I am aided by the words of Jesus from the cross: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." "...they know not what they do." St. Paul reflected about the disbelief of the Jews, which grieved him greatly, and wondered that God in his Providence had allowed a darkness, a cloud of unknowing and disbelief, to descend upon them, in order to carry out his greater plan of saving the gentiles and eventually the Jews and all the nations.
With regard to evil in its many forms, there seems oftentimes to be more ignorance than ill-will. Those who vote habitually, faithfully for the DNC are not subjectively conscious of participation in the massacre of the innocent and unborn; they feel righteous as they support gun control or a stronger safety net or medicare for all. Indeed, they probably view me as deficient in my moral judgement. We mirror each other in our mutual moral disapproval!
I have another, lesser problem: a contrasting, smaller group of family and friends support and vote for Donald Trump, a lesser evil (in my view) but morally repulsive for a host of reasons. So, in 2019 I feel like a German in the 1930s: almost half the community are Nazis, almost as many Communistes!
It is discouraging and disheartening! The world truly appears to be in the hands of the Evil One! I can only cling, all the more fiercely and gratefully, to my Savior and his Church!
When I say I hate the Democratic Party, I mean I loathe, despise, abhor, renounce, scorn, detest it! This is not just a feeling or emotion; with my intellect, will, passions, spirit, all my energies and powers I hate it. This disgust is personal, passionate, perpetual. I was raised to respect and trust this party; so the betrayal that occurred around 1970 with the sexual revolution and abortion is very particular for me. Imagine how women feel about bedbugs! How Jews feel about Nazis or Afro-Americans about the KKK! How we all feel about sexual abuse of children! How the embryo feels towards her abortionist! That is what I am talking about! For me, just about 1970 the Democratic Party became, essentially and structurally, an embodiment of hell on earth! It is as if my very best friend seduced my wife and raped my daughters.
And so, I see that otherwise intelligent, decent, well-meaning people...admirable in almost every way...are overcome by a (virtually) invincible ignorance as they collaborate with the genocide of the unborn and other types of "unworthy" human life. How does this happen?
I am aided by the words of Jesus from the cross: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." "...they know not what they do." St. Paul reflected about the disbelief of the Jews, which grieved him greatly, and wondered that God in his Providence had allowed a darkness, a cloud of unknowing and disbelief, to descend upon them, in order to carry out his greater plan of saving the gentiles and eventually the Jews and all the nations.
With regard to evil in its many forms, there seems oftentimes to be more ignorance than ill-will. Those who vote habitually, faithfully for the DNC are not subjectively conscious of participation in the massacre of the innocent and unborn; they feel righteous as they support gun control or a stronger safety net or medicare for all. Indeed, they probably view me as deficient in my moral judgement. We mirror each other in our mutual moral disapproval!
I have another, lesser problem: a contrasting, smaller group of family and friends support and vote for Donald Trump, a lesser evil (in my view) but morally repulsive for a host of reasons. So, in 2019 I feel like a German in the 1930s: almost half the community are Nazis, almost as many Communistes!
It is discouraging and disheartening! The world truly appears to be in the hands of the Evil One! I can only cling, all the more fiercely and gratefully, to my Savior and his Church!
Saturday, November 9, 2019
The Right Not to Vote and the (Sometime) Obligation Not to Vote
I did not vote this past election day. I usually don't vote. I have never voted in a school board election and probably never will, as I have always been committed to Catholic schools. The right to vote is highly regarded...for good reason! It is the foundation of democracy; without it we are under some tyranny. But the right not to vote is underrated! And the obligation not to vote, in many situations, is entirely ignored.
It is an error to proclaim some general duty to vote. It is senseless to vote if one is not informed about the candidates and the issues. Most of us, most of the time lack the time, energy and interest to study the situation: most of us should probably not vote most of the time.
Most important social functions are performed by a select group: not all of us need do surgery, repair roofs, pray and fast daily, or even marry and beget children! Not every must pay taxes! And so, the vote is the right and privilege of those who give time, energy and effort to studying the issues. Many are called but few are chosen.
One of the deepest dysfunctions in a democracy like ours is the habit of always voting for the party of one's family or tradition. In a place like Hudson County, NJ, where I live, this makes for deep political corruption. Or consider the Afro-American vote which goes over 90% of the time for the party that coordinates the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of about 65% of conceived babies of that race in New York City! Is that a moral...an intelligent decision?
In the context of our current national politics, the obligation not to vote asserts itself with unusual force. In a hypothetical face-off between a Hitler and a Stalin, a crude calculation of the "lesser evil" would be morally unthinkable! I see our current situation as similar, if less extreme. As a never-Trumper, I am deeply troubled that those I love and respect could vote for a man who blatantly enacts vile, despicable values. But, as a never-forever-fanatical-passionate-zealous anti-Democrat, I am more horrified that others I love and respect could vote for the Party of Death!
It is an error to proclaim some general duty to vote. It is senseless to vote if one is not informed about the candidates and the issues. Most of us, most of the time lack the time, energy and interest to study the situation: most of us should probably not vote most of the time.
Most important social functions are performed by a select group: not all of us need do surgery, repair roofs, pray and fast daily, or even marry and beget children! Not every must pay taxes! And so, the vote is the right and privilege of those who give time, energy and effort to studying the issues. Many are called but few are chosen.
One of the deepest dysfunctions in a democracy like ours is the habit of always voting for the party of one's family or tradition. In a place like Hudson County, NJ, where I live, this makes for deep political corruption. Or consider the Afro-American vote which goes over 90% of the time for the party that coordinates the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of about 65% of conceived babies of that race in New York City! Is that a moral...an intelligent decision?
In the context of our current national politics, the obligation not to vote asserts itself with unusual force. In a hypothetical face-off between a Hitler and a Stalin, a crude calculation of the "lesser evil" would be morally unthinkable! I see our current situation as similar, if less extreme. As a never-Trumper, I am deeply troubled that those I love and respect could vote for a man who blatantly enacts vile, despicable values. But, as a never-forever-fanatical-passionate-zealous anti-Democrat, I am more horrified that others I love and respect could vote for the Party of Death!
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