Slam-Dunk No-Brainer COVID Arguments: Why is More than 1/3 of America Refusing the Vaccine?

Background COVID Questions

Why is more than 1/3 of America refusing the COVID “vaccine?”

Why are half of health care workers in the US hesitant to get the shot?

Why have only 37.5% of  nursing home staff  been jabbed?

Why are Americans with Ph.D.s most reluctant to get the shot? 

Apparently, people who have never expressed vaccine hesitancy before are very hesitant when it comes to the COVID shot.

WHY are so many well educated pro-vax Americans so suspicious of the COVID vaccine and of all additional COVID “protection” mechanisms mandated by the government, such as masking and social distancing?

Below are 10 Slam-Dunk Answers to these COVID Questions. 
Each answer ALONE is sufficient to give a reasonable person pause in cooperating with the present governmental policies of forced vaccination, masking, and social distancing.  

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Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #1

Generated by the CDC’s own software, here is the graph of number of adverse vaccine events in the United States by year:

Summary:  In 100 years, the CDC has logged over 1 million adverse vaccine reaction reports.  Half of them, over half a million, occurred in 2021, and we are only in September now.  The explosion in adverse reactions is due entirely to the COVID “vaccine.”
Don’t believe it? 
Generate your own data selection report at the CDC:  CDC VAERS Data analysis 

Incidentally, in 1976, the U.S. government vaccinated 45 million people with a vaccine for the swine flu. Fifty-three people reportedly died after getting that shot. The U.S. government immediately halted the vaccination program. Authorities decided it was too risky, it wasn’t worth it. 
As of July, 2021, CDC has acknowledged over 12,000 deaths related to the COVID vaccine, and still all US citizens are being coerced into taking the vaccine under threat of losing their employment.  

Conclusion: The COVID “vaccines” are infinitely more dangerous that any other vaccine that has ever been offered to Americans in 100 years.

Swine flu vaccine was cancelled after 53 deaths. COVID vaccine is NOT cancelled despite over 12,000 deaths.  

          Note there is also evidence that VAERS UNDER-REPORTS the actual numbers by a
          factor  of 10 to 100.

Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #2

The probability of dying of COVID is negligible compared to standard general death expectancies in the US.

For example:

Reports on COVID death in different age categories vary from source to source, but According to a Washington Post article last week, COVID infections are lethal to 1 in 780 people age 40-64 (0.13 of 1%), 1 in 150 people aged 65 to 84 (0.67 of 1%), and 1 in 35 people aged 85 and over (2.8%). These probabilities of dying, all less than 1% under age 85, and only 2.8%  for people aged 85 and over, are much lower than our chances of dying from other causes. 

To see our probability of dying from other causes, we consult the IRS life expectancy tables (actuarial tables) .  The probability of dying by age 40 is 4%, probability of dying by age 65 is 18%, and dying by age 85 is 66%.

See the table.

So the above risks of death posed by COVID are very small compared to all other factors that could terminate the life of a human being. 

This data shows that the widespread fear-generating and panic-inducing control edicts used by our governments are completely unjustified.  

Conclusion: Getting COVID is less dangerous for a 70 year old than just living in general.  That is, you are far more likely to die from something else than from COVID.  

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Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #3

Medical experts, including a top Johnson & Johnson researcher, warned last week at an FDA hearing that “The vaccines kill more than they save.“

Over 860,000 infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists have objected to prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend alternative strategies to handle COVID.  See the Great Barrington Declaration.  

America’s Frontline Doctors have objected to the politicized science and biased information with which COVID-19 is being handled by our government.  They propose simpler, successful alternative treatments, and protect physician independence from government overreach.  

The Truth For Health Foundation warns of the dangers posed by COVID “vaccinations,” and proposes alternative COVID treatments.  

Numerous Doctors and health professionals across  the United States and the world warn against the dangers of COVID “vaccination” (technically gene therapy), and refuse to take the “vaccination” themselves. 

FDA panel: “The vaccines kill more than they save.” 

Despite these warnings from numerous medical experts, the FDA approved the first COVID vaccine last week.   

Researchers have reported in Toxicology Reports that the risk-benefit ratio of COVID vaccination, extremely conservatively, is about 5/1.

Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #4

The largest State in India, 3/4 the size of the United States (with a population of 241 million people), has been declared COVID-free after the government promoted preventative use of ivermectin against COVID. 

Ivermectin is a  medication which has been used on billions of people, whose discoverer received a Nobel Prize, and which American media try to label misleadingly as “horse medicine.”  Tactics such as this alone should give us the heads up that something is amiss.  
The use of antibiotics has never been forbidden in humans because antibiotics have also been used in our pets, so why should such a useful, successful, and inexpensive medication such at ivermectin be suppressed and ridiculed in the United States?

India State of 241 MILLION People Declared COVID-Free After Government Promotes Ivermectin

Ivermectin, not vaccines, is the most effective medicine for curing COVID.   

Yet Ivermectin use is being ridiculed and suppressed by media and by government. 

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Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #5

Dr. Kary Mullis, the inventor of the PCR test, which has been widely used in detecting COVID-19, previously slammed Dr. Anthony Fauci by calling him a liar. He also strongly criticized Fauci’s understanding of science, while revealing that the PCR test is not suitable as a diagnostic tool, in the way it is being used for COVID-19. Before his death in August of 2019, he spoke against PCR tests being used in the manner in which they came to be used, just months after his death.

Dr. Kary Mullis, inventor of the PCR test

Dr. Kary Mullis was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1993.  

The data sheet of a PCR kit for SARS-CoV-2 even  indicates specific warnings:

–>the test can suffer interference from a host of other common seasonal viruses

–>the test should not be used as a sole evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment

Conclusion: The PCR test was not meant to detect a virus, and the results are unreliable. 
People without symptoms have never previously in history been counted as sick, and they are false positives.  

Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #6

There is no noticeable uptick in US deaths that can be associated with COVID.

 As COVID deaths go up, influenza, heart disease and stroke deaths go down. 
This means that people who are dying in the normal course of age and other illness are now being categorized as COVID deaths, because they were tested with the above unreliable, high false-positive PCR test, and were found to be “positive” for COVID. 
People who are really dying of all the normal co-morbidities, age, diabetes, heart disease, respiratory diseases, etc., are now categorized as COVID deaths. 
These are not deaths from COVID, but are deaths with an asymptomatic positive PCR test result.   

See the data for yourself,  from Macrotrends and United Nations population data–

Notice that from 1950 to now, the number of deaths follows a smooth curve with no pandemic spikes. 
There is an uptick in deaths in recent years, but that uptick started in 2008, accelerated in 2013, and continues on a smooth line to the present 2021.  

According to Senator Scott Jensen, right now Medicare has determined that if you have a COVID-19 admission to the hospital, you’ll get paid $13,000. If that COVID-19 patient goes on a ventilator, you get $39,000, three times as much. This constitutes a tremendous financial incentive for hospitals, which are businesses, to classify deaths and hospitalizations as COVID related. 
There are reports by medical personnel of pressure from hospitals to categorize deaths as COVID deaths. 

Conclusion:  Reports fo COVID deaths seem to be politically exaggerated.  The true number cannot be known, but there is no noticeable evidence of excess death occurring in the United States.   

Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #7

Evidence of media and government misrepresentation of COVID data. 

According to the CDC, only 6% of “COVID deaths” are deaths from COVID alone.  94% of “COVID deaths” are from additional conditions or causes of death.  
The 688,000 deaths attributed to COVID over 1.75 years thus translate into 24,000 real COVID deaths per year.
The CDC estimates that an average of 36,000 people die of the flu each year over the past decade, more than the deaths attributed to COVID. 
By these calculations, COVID is less deadly than the seasonal flu.   

The ~600 child COVID deaths listed by the CDC for the US were all co-morbidity deaths, without a single exception.   

Dr. Lee Vliet, President of the Truth For Health Foundation, who researched the child records writes:  Why Are We Vaccinating Children Against COVID-19? 

Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #8

Inconsistencies and flip-flopping in government rules and messaging defy all medical logic and common sense.
The government seems to be almost random in it’s proclamations and edicts:

• COVID “vaccine” is not a vaccine at all.  It is the first time that genetic information is being injected into millions of humans, which may remain there forever and alter the permanent chemistry of the body.  This is gene therapy, and the gene being inserted is a toxic protein. The toxic protein has been shown to accumulate preferentially in very scary places like ovaries, and there have been many reports of infertility associated with this injection.   
• People who are vaccinated and supposedly immune must still wear masks
  
• These masks have been proven to be ineffective for viruses.  Even N95 masks are primarily designed to limit exposure to dust, not viruses.  COVID virus can go through masks as easily as an insect can fly through a chain link fence. 
• Masks do not have to be worn in a restaurant while seated at a table, but must be worn when standing up.  Does the virus know when you are standing up?
• Nations such as Sweden have daily COVID deaths hitting zero, with no strict lockdowns and not even a recommendation for wearing masks. 
• The US is forbidding medical treatments such as Ivermectin which have defeated COVID in other countries.  The effectiveness of Ivermectin is proven and published.    
• Children must be vaccinated, when children are not susceptible to COVID and have never infected anyone.  

Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #9

Our government has tried to impose rampant violations of our Constitutional liberties and of all previous medical protocols. 

• No religious objections have been permitted.
• Never in history have people without symptoms been isolated or masked — it was the vulnerable who were protected, isolated.
• Even the favorite progressive mantra of “my body, my choice” has been violated. 

How can we trust an administration with our health when they force irrational dictatorial policies on people which violate every code of ethics, moral, religious, and constitutional, that we have respected for centuries?

Slam-Dunk COVID Answer #10

Saved Most Important for Last:
The COVID vaccines were developed using cell lines obtained from aborted babies. 

The fetal cell lines being used to produce some of the potential COVID-19 vaccines come primarily from two sources:
● HEK-293: A kidney cell line that was isolated from a unborn baby in 1973 
● PER.C6: A retinal cell line that was isolated from an aborted baby in 1985

Cell lines are obtained from aborted babies by dissecting flesh from that baby while still alive and un- anesthetized. The torture suffered by that baby cannot be described.
 
HEK-293, for example, would be the cell line obtained by dissection from the 293rd baby that was attempted. 

The fact that this was done in 1973 or in 1985 does not change the facts of the origin, the torture, or of the morality. 

Abortion is simply evil and wrong.
It is not at all surprising that the fruits of abortion, the horrors now coming out of the vaccine agenda, are as disturbing as their source.    

CONCLUSION

There are nations such as Romania who have seen through this fraudulent COVID shot program, and have discontinued COVID shots completely. 
71% of the people of Romania have refused the jabs, and the government has shut down vaccination centers.  

Who are these wise and courageous people?
Primarily Orthodox Christians.  Between 80 and 85% of the population belongs to the Romanian Orthodox Church.  

All rational people should join them. 

What Happens Now?  

The question on many people’s minds, following the tumultuous and unexpected political events of recent weeks, is What Happens Now? 

Speaking for Conservatives    

I am only in a position to speak for conservatives, since any alternative mindset is alien to me at this point.
In a culture which pushes the dismemberment of our infants, alteration of human gender, and an abandonment of all modesty and justice, there is no longer any fixed ground on which a reasonable person can stand.  

We conservatives definitely feel now, that after suffering numerous years of unjust assault from the extreme left, and after an equal number of years on our part of diligent hard work, prayer and sacrifice, trying to steer our culture and our nation back in a healthier and more Godly direction, that an election has just been stolen by unscrupulous players who have been setting up the scam for decades, and who have thwarted the will of the majority of the American people. 

From Bad to Worse

To make matters worse, all discussion of the Grand Theft of the 2020 Election has been “cancelled.” Major news networks refuse to discuss the massive election fraud on their programs, and bulldoze their fear-of-litigation policies on any guest who dares to mention election fraud.  Recently even the very conservative NewsMax network tried to demolish Mike Lindell (the “Pillow Guy”), who was “cancelled” by Twitter, and who dared to mention election fraud on NewsMax Television.    

The election was stolen, and the left is emboldened and openly proud of their accomplishment.  

Most recently, TIME magazine has published an article in which the left actually brags about a “conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes” which was orchestrated secretly to steal the election.  Of course, TIME magazine portrays the leftist conspiracy very favorably, as a clever mechanism to save America from a Trump Presidency. 
In actual fact, they have documented very accurately how the an election was stolen from the people of the United States by a group of elitist leftists who felt they knew better what was good for the nation. The ends justify the means in the world of the left.  Conspiracy (their word) to manipulate an election is portrayed as a good thing for the people whose votes were eradicated. 

Glenn Beck voices many of our frustrations with the left– “This is one of the most incredibly frustrating things about the Left in America today. The Left insists there is no such thing as absolute truth, while simultaneously insisting there are certain approved truths that are undeniable.”     

Let’s Remember        

We should remind ourselves that as Americans, our political journey has been unpredictable and bumpy —  from our nation’s inception in 1776, through today. 
Righteous Americans have been determined, they have been courageous, and they have placed their trust in God while facing countless obstacles and fighting numerous battles against forces which have challenged democracy, decency, and justice.   

Today, as we face the political assaults of 2021, some of us are tempted to falter, to fear, and to despair. Confidence can waver,  courage can erode, and hope can wither.  
Some fear and even forecast apocalyptic events, forgetting that every generation has faced global challenges, that even successful wars have included defeats in battle, and that the present situation, whether quite routine in the perspective of global history, or whether in fact leading up to some climactic apocalypse, is ultimately in the hands of God.

Coincidental Reading? 

Not surprisingly, the first reading at Mass on the last Friday  of January elegantly addressed this perennial human dilemma which we frequently face when confronted with an evil against which we feel powerless.  Our young priest last Friday also gave an amazing sermon springing off this reading, which the Catholic Church assigns in a 3 year cycle of readings from the Bible during Mass.  Our priest helped put into perspective our never ending struggle and how we can face it with strength and with joy.  

The Reading:  Hebrews 10:32-39

In this reading, Hebrew Christians who were being subjected to much suffering are encouraged: 

What Does This Reading Say?

In this reading, the Hebrew Christians are reminded of their sufferings in the past.

Next, the remedy is outlined, which for those who are not Christian, is counter intuitive:

Associate yourselves with those who are publicly exposed to abuse and affliction.
Join in the sufferings of those in prison.
Joyfully accept the confiscation of your property. 
Know that you have a better and lasting possession. 
Do not throw away your confidence, it will have great recompense. 

Hebrews 10 also includes a promise, quoting the Psalms: 

For, after just a brief moment,
he who is to come shall come; he shall not delay.  

What Does This Have to Do With Today?

 The reading and the homily immediately brought to my mind our political moral struggles and frustrations today, which are very worrisome and threatening to all conservatives, and all religious people, as the emboldened left forces on all of us their immoral agenda.   

The reading provides some guidelines for us on how to act in alarming times, and with whom we should align ourselves. 

What Position Do We Take Regarding President Trump?
Should We Lay Low or Dash to His Defense?

 Those who have read my blog previously, particularly in the early days of President Trump’s election and during his first term, may remember that I was hesitant in my support of Donald Trump, due to his checkered past, particularly his previous support of abortion. 

I wondered whether his campaign promises were genuine, representing a Christian conversion, or whether he was simply lying like many politicians, trying to get my vote. 
My blog articles included graphics with Donald Trump wearing a halo, and/or horns. 
I asked whether Donald Trump could possibly be a courageous convert like St. Paul, a knight on a white horse arriving to the White House to lead us back passionately to Constitutional and Christian values?

The Conversion of “Saint” Donald

Did Donald Trump undergo a passionate conversion to Constitutional and Christian values before running for President?
Now, 5 years after Donald Trump campaigned for President, it has become clear that he most certainly does have a passionate  dedication to our American and religious values. 
 
President Trump proved over the course of  his Presidency that he was indeed a courageous convert like St. Paul, passionately devoted to Christian values and to the American Constitution which was based on those Christian values.   
President Trump fought for and risked as much for American Christian values as any of our founders, including George Washington. He has been the most pro-Life President in our history, his anti-human trafficking office had incredible impact. Incidentally, billionaire Trump lost  nearly half of his net worth during his Presidency, doing these things for America.  And he’s still not quitting on America.  

AMAC (Association of Mature American Citizens, a conservative alternative to AARP) has named President Donald J. Trump AMAC’s 2020 Man of the Year.  AMAC says:

“Not only has Trump succeeded in making America great again by bringing back jobs and restoring the economy, but he also secured peace in the Middle East and guided America through an unprecedented pandemic and turbulent times.  Despite being challenged by the media and the left who sought to destroy his reputation, the President did not waver.  Instead, he stood his ground, and in the face of many storms, proceeded to move forward to uphold principles of goodwill and justice.”

In return for his tireless courage and dedication, he was attacked, maligned and misrepresented by vicious opponents, and betrayed by many in his own party. We will never know whether  those numerous  betrayals were fueled by cowardice and fear of the far left, or whether our system of government is so infiltrated by treasonous agents that there seems to be no end of new betrayals, even now after four years.
   

Because of the sacrifices President Trump made, the Truth that he spoke, the unjust attacks that he suffered, and the betrayals he bore, President Trump is now in many minds not only a candidate for status among our greatest leaders in history, but also a candidate for sainthood for his defense of Christianity, justice, and defense of Life.  

Because of this I, together with as many as 80 million Americans, view President Trump as a valiant warrior fighting for the restoration of Constitutional and Christian values to America. 

The Contrast

In contrast, President Tump’s replacement in the White House today, Joe Biden, is clearly intent on eradicating Constitutional and Christian values.

35 Nations have declared that there is no international right to abortion, but now there are only 34 —  “Catholic”  Joe Biden has removed the United States from that list.   
 
The new administration is viciously and desperately doing their utmost to gag, incapacitate and destroy Christians and patriots and to impose on our nation by force the Machiavellian values they hold, under which the powerful elites are entitled to do anything they deem necessary to achieve their own goals, and are in no way limited by the Constitution of the United States or by Judeo-Christian accountability to God and their fellow man. 

To the Left, the only thing that matters is their experimental self-serving narrative, not whether it’s True or good for our nation.

Like the Christian Hebrews

Our situation is very parallel to the dilemma suffered by the Christian Hebrews. 
Today, like the Christian Hebrews, WE (primarily President Trump, and we 80 million Americans) are enduring a great contest of suffering. 
WE are publicly exposed to abuse and affliction for our Judeo Christian values. 
WE are in danger of imprisonment and or confiscation of our property. (Ask General Mike Flynn.  Ask Parler CEO John Matze. )
Above all, ask President Trump what he has personally been subjected to for the past 5 years.

The Left Is Not Finished

The left is clearly not finished with President Trump yet. 

Following his departure from the White House, contrary to the Constitution, contrary to the judgement of  the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who is refusing to show up, the left is still trying to impeach (remove from office) a President who is no longer in office. 

The left shows no signs of relenting in their persecution of President Trump (or of all conservatives). 
They are “canceling” him by every means available, starting with cutting him off social media like Twitter and Facebook.  Banks are shutting their doors on President Trump.  He is being treated unconstitutionally, being falsely accused, “convicted” without evidence or trial, discriminated against, marginalized, and spied upon. 
    

And What Do We Do? What Happens Now? 
What Happens Next?

What happens next?
As indicated in the Letter to the Hebrews:

We do not throw away our confidence.  
It will have a great reward.
We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.

How Do We Do This?

We do NOT do what the opposition, what Antifa and BLM do.
We do NOT routinely riot, cheat, or violate the rules of our Constitution or of our God on principle. (The brief Jan 6 riot was an exception, not the rule, and included at least two members of Antifa.)

Again, from Hebrews 10:32-39: 

We associate ourselves with those who are publicly exposed to abuse and affliction.
We join in the sufferings of those in prison.
We joyfully accept the confiscation of our property. 
We know that we have a better and lasting possession. 
We do not throw away our confidence, it will have great recompense

We Associate Ourselves with Those Who are Publicly Exposed to Abuse and Affliction

Yes, we have to associate ourselves with President Trump and defend him. 
And with General Flynn, and anyone else whom the browbeaters of the left have attacked. 
We publicly stand up for our Church, her teachings, and her guidelines.
We stand up for Truth.
We stand up for Life.

What Specifically, Can We Do?

To get ideas on what WE ought to do, let’s look at some great patriots and Christians who stood up for Truth and/or  for President Trump in recent weeks:

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 6, 2020.

• Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida set the record straight after the Capitol was stormed, pointing out that President Trump had explicitly asked protesters to be peaceful, and pointing out the hypocritical left-wing response to the Capitol incursion when contrasted with the left’s tacit approval of rioters at Black Lives Matter protests and property destruction throughout 2020.
• Rep. Matt Gaetz is so devoted to defending the President to whom we owe so much, that he is willing to resign his seat in the House of Representatives to go defend him on the floor of the Senate.
• Senator Rand stood up for gender truth and science, asking a progressive Education Secretary nominee who says boys have a right to compete in girls’ sports “What planet are you from?”  
• Florida Governor DeSantis has just unveiled a legilative plan to rein in Big Tech.  Many governors are expected to follow suit.  
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was the first to sue the Biden Administration over illegal Executive Orders.  The Court upheld Federal law, and halted Biden’s freeze on deportations of illegal aliens.  He also joined an 18 State Coalition to protect unborn babies from discriminatory abortion. 
• Poland has passed an anti-censorship law that will prohibit Big Tech from shadow banning people for their opinions. All nations should follow this example of free speech protection.  
•  Archbishop Gomez, President of the USCCB, challenged President Biden in his Statement on the inauguration:
  “I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender.”     USCCB-  US Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Archbishop Vigano warned President Trump about the “Great Reset” being planned by the extreme left in a letter to the President in October of 2020.  In this letter, the Archbishop warns President Trump ‘It is you, dear President, who are ‘the one who opposes’ the deep state, the final assault of the children of darkness,’ His Excellency wrote. ‘Place your trust in the Lord.’    Some view Archbishop Vigano’s views as extreme, but numerous, numerous very respected Catholic leaders  support what the Archbishop says: Archbishop Burke, Bishop Strickland, Bishop Morlino (who published a letter vouching for his character), Scott Hahn.
• The head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities Archbishop Naumann called President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion “religiously and ethically incoherent..”
  

  Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, WI

  During an interview on EWTN, Archbishop Naumann said that Joe Biden’s “soul is in jeopardy.” 
  More than a dozen other Bishops are supporting Archbishop Naumann and Archbishop Gomez in their challenge to President Biden for misrepresenting himself as a “Catholic.”

•  Bishop Hying of Madison, WI, tweeted that he’s praying for Biden’s conversion on abortion
  “Within eight days of taking office, President Biden has pledged to codify Roe v. Wade and has rescinded the Mexico City policy. We pray for a deep conversion within his heart to build a culture of life and respect the child in the womb.”  
  Bishop Hying also pushed back against the Governor of Wisconsin, and defended the right of Catholics to have Mass available as widely as possible during the pandemic.  
• Bishop Strickland of Texas tweeted:
  “As a bishop I beg Mr Biden to repent of his dissent from Catholic teaching on abortion & marriage for his own salvation & for the good of our nation. He aspires to the highest office in our land & must be guided by the truth God has revealed to us. I pray for him to find Truth.”
• Father Rick Heilman defends President Trump, and is not afraid to discuss the morality of our politics on his website Romand Catholic Man.    Fr. Rick co-authored  Let Freedom  Ring, a spiritual battle handbook pertinent to our times.
  

  LET FREEDOM RING – by Fr. James Altman, Fr. Rick Heilman, Fr. William Peckman

• Father James Altman of LaCrosse, WI, declared “You cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat” because Democrats are Pro-Abortion,  in a controversial You Tube which was viewed by over a million people and was endorsed by Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas.
  Father Altman has also come down publicly on the Biden Presidency– “We’re stuck with somebody who is dead set against the entirety of everything that our Catholic Faith professes.”
•  The US Bishops denounced Biden for rescinding Mexico City Policy, which bans US federal money going to organizations that promote abortion.   The Bishops released a statement decrying the move as “grievous.”
• The Georgia Republican State Senators Proposed Bills to End No-Excuse Mail Voting and Automatic Registration.  All Americans can pressure their legislatures to make similar moves.   
• Ohio Republicans proposed a state holiday honoring President Donald Trump.  If numerous states established such holidays, history would not be able to misrepresent President Trump, nor would legislators in Washington be able to ignore the 80 million plus Americans who support the Trump policies of the last 4 years.  We need to pressure our State legislators to be imaginative and active in supporting the priorities of their voters.  
• American Frontline Doctors have issued a warning that Experimental vaccines are not safer that COVID-19. The global Left’s handling of the entire COVID crisis has been suspect and needs serious reevaluation.  COVID is one area in which the Left cherry-picks, and even misrepresents science.  
   
• Candace Owens has produced a  5 minute video on FIGHTING BACK, which she encourages everyone to share.
• Ben Shapiro, the Editor Emeritus of Daily Wire, who is also a father, warned in a Facebook video that lying to children about gender confuses them and could do significant harm.  He is sure to be “cancelled,” censored, blocked, dropped, and attacked in any way the left can imagine for these very true but not “woke” statements.  But we all need to develop the courage to speak the truth about all these subjects, and to speak it frequently. 
• This list of patriots and Christians who have and will continue to fight for our values is not comprehensive, but will give all of us inspiration and ideas.   

Guidelines for Action

Drawing from the above examples of courageous action by others, we should all resolve to participate in the pushback that will bring us victory in the end. 

First of all , ABOVE ALL, pray!
PRAY, PRAY, and PRAY more.

Trustworthy Media

Now that much media has become completely untrustworthy, and some previously reliable sources of conservative viewpoint such as Fox News and News Max have been compromised, we can seek new places in the media where we can find our news.  
Below is list of possibilities to explore.  I cannot vouch for any of them blindly, and some even tend towards sensationalism, but with a prudent and cautious eye, we can get a great deal of useful information from the following: 

THE EPOCH TIMES 
BREITBART NEWS
LIFESITE NEWS
CNS NEWS
ONE AMERICA NEWS NETWORK
ASSOCIATION OF MATURE AMERICAN CITIZENS (AMAC) (to replace leftist AARP)
CONSERVATIVE BRIEF
JUST THE NEWS
BANNON’S WAR ROOM
POPULIST PRESS

Some Media, like FOX NEWS, may not longer be completely reliable.  FOX News Business recently cancelled  Lou Dobbs, an ardent Trump supporter, the day after they were sued by Smartmatic, which has been accused of participation in massive election fraud.  FOX News, as well as NEWSMAX, no longer broadcast anything to do with Election Fraud.  

Trustworthy Social Media

Instead of using Twitter, you can sign up on GAB, and you can follow President Donald Trump on GAB.  Get your news from the horse’s mouth.  Many conservatives purged by Twitter are flocking to GAB.  

President Trump is planning his own reemergence on social media— it is still not clear whether he will join an existing platform, or whether he will create his own platform.  When he decides, JOIN IT and stay informed.  

Use search engines such as SwissCows, rather than Google, which alters the search results that you are given to benefit the left.  Searches made with SwissCows often give different results than searches with Google.  

Examine Carefully All Issues Pushed Fervently by the Left

Keep an open mind about all the issues the left is presently pushing — that would include COVID restrictions and immunizations, climate change, globalism, unlimited and undocumented immigration and other issues. 

Many extremely reputable world leaders, political and religious, believe that serious issues like these are  being hijacked and misrepresented by the left in a way that frightens people and benefits the left politically. 

*see Bishop Morlino’s Open Letter on Protecting Marriage

We have recently all been quite surprised at the depth and extent of the “deep state” in our government, which is motivated not by the well-being of the American people, but by their own political and economic advancement.
 
Now serious religious leaders like Archbishop Vigano are openly stating that the Catholic Church is infiltrated by globalists.  We cannot dismiss a man who was the Apostolic Nuncio of Pope Benedict to the United States and who has been backed by numerous other respectable leaders (like Arch bishop Burke, Bishop Strickland, Bishop Morlino (who published a letter vouching for his character), Scott Hahn, and others) — we cannot dismiss the claims of such a respected religious leader without investigating his claims.  

We Have To Take Risks

The bottom line is that we must all, each and every one of us, be prepared to take some risks, to support President Trump, and the Constitutional and Christian agenda that he established in order to Make America Great Again. 

If we are not prepared to take risks, we are certain to lose the battle. 

If you wonder why the stealing of the 2020 election was even possible, the mistake many of us made in 2016 was  to think that one man can clean up Washington.  That man is just a figurehead, a representation of what we all want.  We are the army that backs him, and defends him when the enemy has temporarily prevailed against him. 
If we don’t get seriously involved now, we will not only get cancelled permanently ourselves, but our entire nation will get cancelled, democracy will get cancelled, and communism will be installed in its place. 

When people talk about conscience rights, and conscience rights extending beyond the Church parking lot, they usually mean that we are allowed to express our consciences not only in Church, but also in civic life and in politics.  Today, we have to go much further than that — now we have not only conscience rights beyond the Church parking lot, but conscience obligations past the Church parking lot. 

All that we do now, or that we fail to do now will determine the life of future generations, just as our freedoms were earned by patriots and Christians since the establishment of our nation. 

Support President Trump
PRAY
Risk speaking for, and fighting for the Truth  

SOTU Dems

Priorities

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It is moving to see a President shed tears over loss of Life, as President Obama did during the announcement of his Executive Action on gun control two days ago.

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But it is baffling to consider that the death of 26 innocent people at Newtown can move President Barack Obama to tears, while the death of over 57 MILLION innocent unborn babies does not appear to move him in the least.

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Just HOW Pro-Abortion is President Obama?

President Obama is the most radically pro-abortion President we have ever seen.

Ironically, this is a man who, as the black child of single mother,  would himself have faced a more than 54% probability of abortion, if abortion had been legal at the time of his birth.

• President Obama is so pro-abortion that he voted three times against Born Alive Infant Protection Acts that would require medical care for a baby who survives an abortion.
  President Obama supports the killing of a baby born accidentally in a botched full 9-month term partial-birth abortion.
• President Obama is so pro-abortion that he has voiced support for the abortion of his own grandchildren.
• President Obama is so pro-abortion that through ObamaCare, he has forced mandates on religious employers, forcing the employers to provide abortifacient drugs to their employees, against their own religious beliefs.  He has pursued this prioritization of abortion in health care after initially promising his pro-life Democrat colleagues (Stupak and his 11) that ObamaCare would not include abortion.
• President Obama even has a  “Science Czar,” John Holdren, who has advocated forced abortion and forced sterilization  in the United States to control population.

So we now have a President who has forced abortion onto America, against the wishes of 2/3 of the American population, by deception and through lies.

Do we plan to do something about this as voters in 2016?

Can the aggressive abortion agenda and the culture of deception in our government be changed?
Can we do something about this as voters in 2016?
-Stay tuned, for upcoming articles on the 2016 election, on candidates, and on America’s future options.

See also previous articles on related topics:

The Importance of Babies…

• The Baby – an article on the importance of the baby, written on my son’s birthday, 3 years ago today. Happy Birthday, Chris!
• Dear Baby – a letter written our first grandbaby before she was born
• Abortion – a Much Bigger Deal Than You Think – an article for those who think abortion is not a big deal.
• The Contrast – an article contrasting Madison’s Pro-Life community with Madison’s Pro-Choicers, and featuring the behavior of Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker, and the Freedom From Religion crowd at a Catholic Pro-Life event.
• Black Death in America – on the importance of showing concern for all black deaths.

Obama Administration Forcing Abortion…

• The Deceiver
• July 4th or Obama’s Independence Day Gift to America – a Trojan Horse
• Report Card Time: or Downgrading the United States
• August 1st, 2012 – Day of Infamy
• Political Puzzle Pieces Falling into Place

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Obama Administration Subverting Religious Freedom…

• A Tale of Two Presidents: Timothy & Barak
• A Tale of Two Presidents – the Drama Continues
• The No Religious Freedom Mandate and the President Can Issue Unilateral Mandates Mandate and the Let’s Sneak Abortion into ObamaCare While Nobody’s Looking Mandate

 Elections 2016:

• Elections 2016 or Taming the Black Swan or Selling Out vs Sticking to Principles
• Election 2014 – What Just Happened? or Battle for the Soul of America

Click Here: Abortion Killed 19 Times as Many Blacks as Murder

Click Here: 11% of US Black Population Has Been Killed By Abortion since 1990

Click Here: 25% of US Black Population Has Been Killed by Abortion Since 1973

See Also: Promiscuity Education?
And: There’s An Elephant in the Room

Setting the Record Straight II-
CNN Criticizes ‘Lavish’ Archbishop Residences

or

CNN Versus the Catholic Church

-dedicated to Saint John Paul II, whose first feast day as a Catholic Saint is celebrated today!

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Sociology 101

Status Symbols

Like it or not, status and the symbols associated with status play crucial roles in society.

• Wealth in the form of cars, houses and fine clothing  elicits respect in a commercial society.
• Battle scars, medals and rank elicit respect in a military society.
• Publications in erudite journals reflect status in an academic society.

Status and symbols of status stand for our achievements and testify to the credentials we have acquired.  They are often earned and are often very meaningful.

Symbols of Respect

Symbols of status are not only earned, but are also given as signs of respect to those whom we revere and to whom we are grateful.

• A gold watch might be given to a faithful employee upon retirement.
• A bouquet of roses is be given to a sweetheart or to a mother.
  

  Pope Benedict celebrated Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City

• Magnificent buildings are constructed for societal institutions–
  the World Trade Center was a symbol of America’s flourishing economy,
  the monuments of Washington, D.C. reflect our respect for government,
  European Cathedrals testify to Christian Europe’s devotion to God and to Faith,
  and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City reflects the reverence New York Catholics had for their Faith in 1858 when it was built.

So in effect, lavish symbols do not reflect decadence in the person holding the symbol, but often reflect the respect that society has awarded to the authority represented, or to the person representing that authority.

CNN Attacks Catholic Symbols of Respect

Archbishop’s Residence adjacent to St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Could Pope Benedict have stayed here?

This brings us to a recent CNN article which upbraided several Catholic Archbishops for the lavishness of their residences, implying that the Archbishops were decadent individuals because of where they lived.

First on the list to be criticized by CNN was the residence of the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Dolan, the previous President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)– the top authority of the Catholic Church in the United States.  This is the man who represented the Catholic Church in America as he challenged President Obama over the Contraceptive and Abortion Mandate that was added to ObamaCare in 2012.

Apparently CNN would like to see this Archbishop/Cardinal/President of the USCCB demoted to less impressive living quarters. CNN complains that Cardinal Dolan shares the rectory pictured above with 3 other priests.  This is the rectory that housed Archbishop Fulton Sheen in the 1950’s, New York’s Archishop who’s sermons routinely drew 6,000 people to St. Patrick’s and whose television appearances competed with Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra.  On Good Friday, his sermons were broadcast outdoors to the thousands standing outside St. Patrick’s.  Cardinal Dolan today has comparable national and international visibility, meets routinely with political figures and celebrities, and has to plan the visits of religious leaders, including Pope Francis.

CNN would like Cardinal Dolan to run these operations from residence humbler than the rectory pictured above.

Cardinal Dolan’s Living Quarters

CNN would like Cardinal Dolan demoted to less impressive living quarters

If we listened to CNN and tried to demote Cardinal Dolan from his residence adjacent to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, what should be done with that residence, which was built by Catholics for the Archbishop in 1858, and is now a national historic landmark?

Shall we demolish it and put up a tent?
That won’t work, the value of Manhattan real estate is so high that the value of the lone tent could be criticized as lavish!

Shall we make the Cardinal live in the suburbs in Queens, schlepping through the subways to get to his Cathedral each morning?
CNN might like that; less time for the Archbishop to celebrate Mass, teach morality and train/ordain priests!

If we did banish the Cardinal’s living quarters to humbler suburbs, what is to be done with the land that had housed his demolished rectory residence?
Open a soup kitchen? That won’t work- not many homeless on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, across the street from Rockefeller Center.

Perhaps we should adopt the ex-mayor of Madison, Wisconsin’s suggestion, who proposed replacing Madison’s Catholic Cathedral with a shopping mall and parking ramp when it was destroyed by arson.
A Saks Fifth Avenue branch might be the New York City equivalent?
CNN might like that!

Why is CNN Attacking the Catholic Church, Anyway?

Why is CNN attacking the Church?

Because Ted Turner is the founder and owner of CNN.
Ted Turner hates the Catholic Church, openly opposes the Ten Commandments (he makes particular mention of the commanment relating to adultery), makes a habit of mocking religious people, and has openly mocked Pope John Paul II, who is now a saint. Today, October 22, 2014,  the Catholic Church celebrates the first feast day of Saint John Paul II.

The following passage is from CNN’s tribute to Turner which was published on the occasion of his 75th birthday:

“He revised the Ten Commandments, which he considered outdated, coming up instead with his Eleven Voluntary Initiatives, which he printed on cards small enough to carry in a wallet. He tossed out the commandments that struck him as outdated — a host of the “thou shalt nots,” particularly the one banning adultery. “People have had a lot of fun breaking that one. I know I did.”

(Ted Turner is)… a man who has been married and divorced three times and keeps four girlfriends in a “loose” weekly rotation,  believes people are meant to find a lifetime soul mate. He thinks he still has time to find his.”

Aside from being passionately anti-Catholic, Ted Turner is also one of the world’s richest men, and one of the most overtly anti-Catholic promoters of eugenic population control.

So it comes as little surprise that Ted Turner likes to attack the Catholic Church.

So Where Does Ted Turner Live?

One might think, based on CNN’s criticism ofArchbishops’ residences, and based on Ted Turner’s self-description as “environmentalist and pioneer in sustainability,” that Ted Turner might occupy modest living quarters.
But no, he does not.

The man who attacks the residences of Catholic Archbishops as being “lavish” has more than 20 “major” residences himself. His residences are routinely featured in architectural magazines.

Ted Turner is the second largest individual landholder in North America, and brags on his website that he owns over 2 million acres of personal and ranch land.
Ted Turner is a billionaire worth more than 2 billion dollars.

Ted Turner is about as lavish as a human being can get.  Mr. Lavish personified, in fact.

Why Would Mr. Lavish Criticize Archbishops’ Residences Which Are So Much Humbler Than His Own?

So when it comes to CNN criticism of Archbishops and their residences, it becomes pretty clear that CNN is just making feeble attempts to demote the Catholic Church and to reduce the moral sway the Church holds in the world.

Despite the efforts of CNN and the liberal media, the Catholic Church and the Ten Commandments continue to command respect and are widely acknowledged for the moral authority they rightfully represent.

No matter how many plush residences Ted Turner  builds for himself, no matter how many millions of acres and billions of dollars he owns, and no matter how many times he suggest that Catholic Archbishops should move into hovels or tents, Ted Turner will never command the respect, nor be acknowledged as the moral authority that he so clearly envies in the Archbishops of the Catholic Church.

Ted Turner’s Revision of the Ten Commandments

Richard Branson, business magnate and friend of Ted Turner, describes Ted Turner’s philosophy like this:

“I wrote recently about staying with Ted Turner for a few days at his stunning estate in Florida. Was struck by his incredible wit and passion for life, and we got talking about his philosophy for living life to the full.

“The rules/commandments we live by were written some two thousand years ago. Rules shouldn’t be written in stone. They should be updated with time. Here are Ted Turners 11 voluntary initiatives:”

Summarizing Why CNN Criticizes the Residences of Catholic Archbishops

• Ted Turmer, founder and owner of CNN, hates the 10 Commandments and hates the Catholic Church.
• Ted Turner has even suggested replacing the 10 Commandments with 11 Initiatives of his own.
• Ted Turner clearly resents the teachings and the moral authority of the Catholic Church and of her Archbishops, and would like to replace religious authorities with the United Nations, where he himself has status.
• This is why Ted Turner routinely attacks the symbols of respect which the world awards to the Catholic Church.
• Ted would like to be less biased in his bellicose attacks toward religion, but Catholicism is his favorite target due to the size of it’s membership, high degree of organization ( hence attacking Archbishops) and global influence.

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Saint John Paul II, Pray for us!

The Rosary, Saint John Paul’s favorite prayer:

Free downloadable mobile PDF – How to Pray the Rosary.

A Visit to the Chazen…

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I visited the Chazen Museum of Art this afternoon.
And what did I see?

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ABORTION HURTS WOMEN

People who care help women avoid abortion.
WOMEN WHO WANT TO AVOID ABORTION IN MADISON, WI, CAN CONTACT THE WOMEN’S CARE CENTER
Outside of Madison, see Women’s Care Center.

Abortion and Homosexuality –So What Did the Pope Actually Say?

or

When Two Jesuits Talk

Today, October 4th, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of St. Francis of Assissi. Our Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit, made a bold gesture of love in adopting the name of St. Francis, patron of the Franciscans. St. Francis is commonly pictured with animals.  He was renowned for his love, not only of animals, but more importantly, of all human beings.  St. Francis lived his love to the extreme of adopting poverty himself.  This discussion of Pope Francis’ controversial America Magazine interview is dedicated to this unbelievable Pope on his feast day.

St Francis of Assisi (1181 – 1226) (from Universalis) Francis was the son of a prosperous cloth merchant in Assisi. When his father objected to having his goods sold without his consent to pay for the restoration of a church, the bishop commanded Francis to repay the money. He did. He also renounced his father and gave back everything he had ever been given, even his garments. He began a life of perfect evangelical poverty, living by begging and even then only accepting the worst food that people had to give. He preached to all the love of God and the love of the created world; because, having renounced everything, he celebrated everything he received, or saw, or heard, as a gift. A rich man sold everything and joined him in living next to a leper colony; a canon from a neighbouring church gave up his position and joined them also. They looked into the Gospel and saw the story of the rich young man whom Jesus told to sell everything; they saw Jesus telling his disciples to take nothing with them on their journey; they saw Jesus saying that his followers must also carry his cross. And on that basis they founded an order. Francis went to Rome himself and persuaded the Pope to sanction it, though it must have seemed at once impractical and subversive, to set

thousands of holy men wandering penniless round the towns and villages of Europe. Because Francis was wearing an old brown garment begged from a peasant, tied round the middle with string, that became the Franciscan habit. Ten years later 5,000 men were wearing it; a hundred years later Dante was buried in it because it was more glorious than cloth of gold. There is too much to say about Francis to fit here. He tried to convert the Muslims, or at least to attain martyrdom in doing so. He started the practice of setting up a crib in church to celebrate the Nativity. Francis died in 1226, having started a revolution. The Franciscans endure to this day.

Is the Pope Reversing the Catholic Church’s Ban on Abortion and Homosexual Marriage?

Recently there has been a media stir reflecting some confusion on Pope Francis’ position on abortion and on homosexuality, based on an interview he recently gave to America magazine.

Some in the media implied that the Pope is directing the Church not  to concern herself with the issues of abortion and homosexuality.
ABC went so far as to say that Pope Francis wants the Church to shake off “small-minded” rules on abortion and homosexuality.
Bloomberg claimed “Pope Says Church Should Stop Obsessing Over Gays, Abortion.”
Reuters reported somewhat more correctly that the Pope is asking for a change in tone.

Apparent Contradictions

And yet, the same Pope Francis, in the same America magazine interview in question, in the same paragraph, two sentences later, stated “The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church,” thus confirming his loyalty to Catholic Church teaching.

Also, the same Pope Francis just excommunicated a dissident priest in Australia the same month, who advocated gay marriage and female priests.

A Pope who just excommunicated someone for their stance on gay marriage is not likely to announce any changes in Church teaching on gay marriage, as liberal media seems to hope. Excommunication by the Vatican is very rare; there have only been 5 since the year 2000, and this is the first one under Pope Francis.

So, What’s the Story?

So is the Pope for abortion and gay marriage, or against?
Is the Church changing age-old teachings, is the Pope a radical progressive, or is the media botching their reporting?
Short answer: the media is botching  their reporting.
Longer answer? Keep reading.

Ignorance, Wishful Thinking or Deceitful Intent?

So the media is botching their reporting, yet again.
Out-of-context quotes from Pope Francis have gone viral a number of times already this year, and it’s hard to guess what the media is thinking by reporting so sloppily.

It’s difficult to determine whether the liberal media’s unprofessional reporting is due to ignorance of religion, to wishful progressive thinking, or to a deceitful intent to recruit more Catholics into the progressive political agenda, by leading them to think that the Pope approves progressive thought.

But far more interesting than speculating on media motivation is to ask what did the Pope actually say, and what is he trying to tell Catholics and the world?

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What did the Pope actually say?
or
When Two Jesuits Talk

The Pope is a Jesuit, America is a Jesuit magazine, and the interviewer, Antonio Spadaro, is a Jesuit with an impressive Jesuit resume.

Jesuits are not feebleminded.  In fact, Jesuits are renowned for their scholarly talent.
When two Jesuits talk, not everybody can follow.

When two Jesuits talk, the discussion is rarely short.
The conversation in question here, the interview between these two Jesuits  was 12,000 words long.
If we typed that up as a college paper, it would be 50 pages long.

In the age of tweets and texting, that’s TMI (too much information) for most people.
We need an interpreter, and the one-liner produced by the mainstream media might not be very representative of what the Pope was really trying to say.

When two Jesuits talk, the discussion is always quite intellectual.  In addition to using theological references, biblical references, Latin phrases and Italian phrases, Jesuits also use references to the classics, to music, to literature, to history, and to numerous other things that leave most of us in the dust.

Beethoven

Pope Francis’ 50-page interview included references to Puccini, Alessandro Manzoni, Caravaggio, Chagall, Mozart, Beethoven, Prometheus, Bach, Wagner, La Scala, Knappertsbusch, Fellini, Anna Mabnani, Aldo Fabrizi, Cervantes, and El Cid, in addition to his theological and biblical references, and references to saints.

I’ll be up front and admit that I had to do some googling on more than a couple of those!

Bottom Line, When Two Jesuits Talk

When two Jesuits talk,

i.e. when Antonio Spadaro (Editor of the influential Jesuit journal Civiltà Cattolica)  interviews Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis),

we are not on the View with Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, and Barbara Walters. Whoopi might give a brilliant performance in  Sister Act, but in real life, she’s no Jesuit.

When two Jesuits talk, the conversation will be deep, it will be significant, it might take the rest of us some ploughing to get through it, but what we unearth will be worth the effort.

Recommendation

So my recommendation would be to read Pope Francis’ interview in it’s entirety.  Pope Francis is inspired, and he’s delightful.  I enjoyed the experience.  The interview can be found at America Magazine.

Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison

Failing that, if you’re looking for some Cliff notes and an interpreter, where better to get that than from Jesuit #3, Madison’s Bishop Robert Morlino?

Bishop Morlino’s synopsis and observations on the Pope’s interview can be found at the Catholic Herald’s Bishop’s Column, September 26^th, 2013.  Bishop Morlino’s got it down to under 2,000 words, or about a 7 page term paper.  Bishop Morlino is always a good read. And he’s very good at bringing it to our level.

Finally, if you want the perspective of one in-the-pew-Catholic like me, read on at your own (spiritual) peril.  It will probably be way longer than Bishop Morlino’s version, and way less accurate.  But here we go… thoughts from the pew…

The Controversial Paragraph

The media had to dig through half of Pope Francis’ 12,000 word interview, or through about 25 pages, before they could find one sentence that could be morphed by media into being “controversial,” albeit out of context. Here is the relevant paragraph (highlighting mine):

We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.

Note that the first highlighted item is the primary one reported by the media, while the second one, asserting that Church teaching has not changed and that Pope Francis is faithful to that unchanged teaching, was ignored by the media.

Rather then focusing on this out-of-context media implication that Pope Francis may be open to changing fundamental Catholic Church teaching, which is clearly disproved by the second highlighted sentence and by the recent excommunication, I’d like to focus instead on the title of the Pope’s interview, and on three points that leaped out at me when I read the interview document.  These items illustrate very clearly and succinctly the message the Pope was trying to send us.

The Title

The title of the Interview, approved by Pope Francis, was A Big Heart Open to God.

O.K., the Pope is saying we must have a big heart.  A big heart means love, self-explanatory.  No small hearts in the Church, please. We do everything with love.

The Pope is also saying that we must be Open to God.  What does that mean, to be open to God?  Well, we should be listening and seeking what God wants of us, as opposed to demanding what we want from God.  We should not ordering God, not ranting against God. Open to God means obedience to Christ’s teachings, obedience to the Church.  Our hearts should be open, waiting to be filled.

A Big Heart Open To God.
In six words, the Pope has managed to teach lovingly to both extremes in his unruly Church.  Disciplinarian dogmatists are reminded to have a big heart.  No Pharisees, please.  And liberal progressives are reminded to listen to God, to obey God.  No rebellion against Christ’s Church.

Pope Francis, the good parent, has spoken kindly and gently to his unruly bickering children, calling for unity, and reminding us in six words what we have to do.

 The First Question

The first question asked of the Pope was “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?”

Of all possible answers, Pope Francis chose “I am a sinner.”

Not “I am the grand high exalted holy ruler of 1 billion people.”
Not “I am a holy man.”
Not “I am a priest.”
Not “I am a Jesuit.”
Not “I am an Argentinian.” or “I am an Argentinian-Italian.”
Not “I am the son of Mario and Regina Bergoglio.”

No, instead the Pope said “I am a sinner.”

This Jesuit was not faking humility.  His words were carefully chosen, not to be about him, but to teach us.
The good gentle shepherd is reminding us “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)    By calling himself a sinner, he is reminding us not to throw stones at each other.

Pope Francis is telling us to treat sinners with mercy, because we are all sinners.
He is teaching gently by example, by announcing that he too is a sinner.
We must all remember that we are sinners, if we want to attract anyone to the Truth.
There is no room in the Catholic Church for holier-than-thou condemnation.
We must start with compassion, and not with condemnation.

In the interview, Pope Francis identifies his own calling with the calling of St. Matthew, the tax collector.  Our Pope says “ I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”  Pope Francis wants to reach out lovingly to other sinners, and he wants us to do the same.

What Does It Mean for a Jesuit to be Bishop of Rome?

Early in the interview, Pope Francis was also asked “What does it mean for a Jesuit to be Bishop of Rome?”

Blessed Pope John XXIII

The Pope’s answer, quoting Pope John XXIII’s philosophy and motto, jumped out at me as illustrating his loving and nurturing approach to exercising authority, and as illustrating what he is asking of us:

The Pope said See everything; turn a blind eye to much; correct a little.

Again, our Pope, like a good shepherd, guides gently and slowly, rather than overwhelming us with condemnation and criticism.  He asks us to extend the same courtesy to each other.

The Pope also emphasized the importance of prioritizing discernment (discernment always done in the presence of the Lord).  This means that time and prayer are the most appropriate means for approaching problems, and we must be wary of impulses and hasty decisions.

This is how Pope Francis sees the role of a Jesuit in the Chair of Peter.

The Church as  a Field Hospital

The Pope gives us a third window into his philosophy in this interview, in his comparison of the Church with a field hospital:

I see clearly, that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds…. And you have to start from the ground up.

It’s pretty clear that the Pope is not advocating or approving high cholesterol, but he recognizes that wounds have to be prioritized over cholesterol concerns.  He’s telling us to examine what we prioritize when we look at each other.  Do we turn a blind eye to much, identify the biggest wounds, and tend to those, before launching into overwhelming criticism?

We are not likely to get our culture on board with giving up abortion and homosexual marriage by condemning them.  It is by offering the love and peace of Christ that we will attract them, and the rest will follow in due course.

Respect for others does dictate kindness and a gentle approach.  Which one of us would like to be approached first with recriminations about our sins?  Who are we to decide that the degree of evil in the sins of others (gay lifestyle, abortion) is greater than the degree of evil in our own sins (pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth?).

Take Home Message

We could go on, quoting from and discussing the Pope’s interview.  But then this article would become longer than the Pope’s interview, and you are much better served reading Pope Francis’ actual interview yourself.

The biggest take home message this Catholic found in reading the Pope’s interview was that when evangelizing, our Church needs to proceed with love, humility, and gentleness, and we need to prioritize humanity’s biggest wounds. We also need to work on obedience and on unity.

And what are humanity’s biggest wounds?
Our Pope, discerning carefully in the presence of the Lord, will help us to identify those.
He’s been remarkable so far, flooding the world with his love, and including all of humanity in his flock.
His outreach to atheists is symbolic of his profound love for all of humanity.

A Club of 1 Billion

The Catholic Church is a global club of of 1 billion people.

Like any other large group, including large nations, we have our  conservatives and we have our liberals.  Some liberals and conservatives make good points.  Others take a good thing too far.

The person in charge of 1 billion people, in this case the Pope, should be a unifier, an educator and a leader, not a divider.  He should not start with criticism, blame and attack.  A good leader observes, waits, and corrects a little at a time; he breaks up job assignments into small manageable parcels.
This is what Pope Francis is doing, and his approach should not be taken to mean that he approves sin or that he has changed Catholic Church teaching.

The Pope has given us our marching orders in the gentlest manner: time for authoritarians to tone it down and to lead with love, and time for rebels to prioritize the will of God over their own will.

What Jesuits Do

What do Jesuits Do?

Jesuits were founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, and are noted for their educational, missionary, and charitable works.

Then we should not be surprised when Pope Francis, a Jesuit, wants to teach, to teach the faith, and to teach the faith with love.

Pope Francis’s interview illustrates that he is a deep thinker, a compassionate shepherd, and a well-educated intellectual.
He’s made a great start in less than one year, with discernment, with humility, and with love.

The Best is Yet to Come

Few of us are qualified to judge a Pope.
Those of us who think we are probably have an issue with pride.
So when the Pope says something that surprises us, we need to examine what he said with an open heart, and have the humility to admit that his correction may be deserved.

In my judgement, this Pope is remarkable.  As were the previous ones in my lifetime.

Pope Francis’ Global Adoration effort and his day of prayer and fasting for Syria are among his first official actions.
With these actions, the Pope illustrated to us the importance of bringing faith into life, and into public life.
Pope Francis demonstrated the urgency of interconnection between Church and State.  Interconnection not from the top down, but from the bottom up.  The State does not dictate the faith of the citizens, but the citizens must use their faith and their God-given conscience and must stand up for what is right.

The results global prayer and fasting combined with interconnection between Church and State are just beginning to roll in.  The best is yet to come.

Not Just for Catholics

This is not just for Catholics.  Everyone should get on board.
This Pope is reaching out to all of humanity, including atheists.
He seems to be getting a very positive response to his call.

Summing Up

Pope Francis’ interview can be summed up pretty simply-

• Drop the finger-wagging, get out the smiles, treat people with respect, pray hard, pray globally, and correct just a little at a time.
• Remember, respect includes not calling people out publicly for their sins, at least not as the first resort.
• We attract more bees with honey than with vinegar.
• Sin is still sin, what’s wrong is still wrong, but let’s not forget the beam in our own eye when pointing out the splinter in someone else’s eye.

Does that mean that we give up the struggle to eliminate abortion or to preserve marriage?
No.
But those are not our opening efforts, before we break out mercy and love.
We don’t lead with those items while evangelizing.

Appendix:  More VIRAL QUOTES from Pope Francis:

From the Washington Post: Pope Francis’ Viral Quotes on Wealth, Abortion, Atheists, War and Gay Catholics. 

We can never serve God and money at the same time. It is not possible: either one or the other. This is not Communism. It is the true Gospel! Pope Francis poses for a photo after meeting with young people in downtown Cagliari, Italy, on Sept. 22, 2013. He spoke of the ‘idol’ of money during a trip to the region, one of the poorest areas in Italy.
Every unborn child, though unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of the Lord, who even before his birth, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world. . . . They must not be thrown away! Francis spoke about abortion on Sept. 20, the day after the publication of an interview in which he said that abortion, gay marriage and contraception should not become “obsessions” for faithful Catholics.
We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible, Pope Francis said in an interview that appeared in Jesuit publications around the world on Sept. 19, 2013. “I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear, and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.
If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge? Francis remarked to reporters aboard the papal flight on its way back from Brazil on July 29, 2013. Pope Francis reached out to gays during the news conference on the plane, saying he wouldn’t judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging conversation as he returned from his first foreign trip.
War is madness. It is the suicide of humanity. It is an act of faith in money, which for the powerful of the Earth is more important than the human being. Pope Francis celebrates a worldwide Eucharistic adoration ceremony after his comments on war at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on June 2, 2013.
Eternity “will not be boring,” Francis declared May 31, 2013. Later that day, nuns held up candles during a ceremony led by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square.
The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone. ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! Pope Francis said during Mass on May 22, 2013. In the photo, Pope Francis delivers a speech during a meeting with young people in September 2013 in Cagliari, Italy.
If the investments in the banks fall slightly . . . [it is] a tragedy . . . what can be done? But if people die of hunger, if they have nothing to eat, if they have poor health, it does not matter! This is our crisis today! Pope Francis speaks after meeting with the faithful of ecclesial movements on the occasion of a Pentecost vigil in St. Peter’s Square on May 18, 2013.

What in the World Happened to Us?

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TV star Phil Robertson is a successful businessman whose family owned company makes duck calls and other products for duck hunters. The Robertson men, Phil, his brother and his three sons, are known for their long beards.  They also star in the  reality TV show Duck Dynasty, the most-watched nonfiction cable telecast in history.

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Here’s what Phil has to say about abortion:

What in the World Happened to Us?

More on Abortion:
Abortion- A Much Bigger Deal Than You Think!

President Obama on Children- ‘Our First Task’

President Obama on protecting our children from violence:

“They had their entire lives ahead of them; birthdays, graduations, weddings (wipes away a tear), kids of their own…
This is our first task – caring for our children.  If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right.
That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.
And by that measure, can we honesty say that we are doing enough, to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?
I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is NO.”

See 2-minute video:

If protecting our children from violence is “Our First Task,” why is Obama not going after the primary causes of child death?

Some Child Death Statistics:

Annual child deaths, U.S.: 10,000
Leading causes of death: Accidents & unintentional injuries: 3,200

Deaths by Motor vehicle accident: 1418
Deaths from assault: 1,000
Deaths from accidental drowning: 726

Deaths from injury by firearms: 380
Deaths by suicide: 274
Deaths by firearms, intentional: 219

Is intentional death by firearms the best place for President Obama to focus if he wants to protect children?
Shouldn’t the focus be accidents, or motor vehicles, or drowning, or suicide?
Why is President Obama focusing on one of the smallest dangers and the least of possibilities?
See graph for comparison:

Now, let’s add a bit more data: children’s lives lost by abortion:

Annual child death by abortion: 1.2 million

See what the graph looks like now:

President Obama is actually promoting the leading cause of child death in the United States, abortion, which outnumbers the sum of all other child deaths by a factor of more than one hundred!

Abortion kills 120 times more children than all other causes of death combined, and abortion kills 5,500 times more children than intentional firearms do.

 

Obama Should Listen to the Children coming to Washington on January 25th, 2013, for the March for Life –

  -An event ignored annually by the mainstream media, despite attendance by 500,000 Americans who travel to Washington to protest Roe v. Wade each year.

Listen to the 500,000 opposing abortion, Mr. President!
Not your politically hand-picked four:

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Other tyrants who have used children as props(from Infowars.com) :