Same As It Ever Was

SAME AS IT EVER WAS

How I Came to Recognize the Loyalistas

posted November 22, 2008

When I was a young man, a New Age group by the name of Talking Heads came out with a song entitled "Once In A Lifetime." The most memorable lyric of that song was "Same as it ever was." Perhaps that was because the lead singer, David Byrne, would repeat that phrase – "Same as it ever was" – seven or eight times while shaking his head or performing some other bizarre antics. (We would copy him by repeating the phrase while making a chopping motion with one hand.) Or, just perhaps, it was memorable because he stumbled on a truth that we are all getting to know has timeless application in America.

That’s because nothing really changes here. At least not for the better.

Same as it ever was.

That’s because the elections of earlier this month didn’t change anything despite Obama’s mantra of Change.

Same as it ever was.

That’s because the same leaders of the "family values", "traditional values", and, yes, the "pro-life" organizations keep prattling and, most importantly to them, keep their jobs, and positions as the loyal (but ineffective or co-opted) opposition.

Same as it ever was.

Obama’s victory, and the victory of what has been called the party of death, was overwhelming on November 4. As a result, we can expect swift reversals of the few (and I do mean few and far between) good things that George Bush II did in his eight years as President, and perhaps even more. The executive ban on embryonic stem cell research will be gone as well as a number of other executive orders limiting the spending of money for abortion. One, or two, more justices will be appointed to the Supreme Court, and hundreds of Federal Court judges will also be appointed, all of whom will be dedicated to keeping abortion, contraception, pornography and more legal and available. In fact, this election of 2008 could very well have been the end of any real efforts to achieve a reversal of Roe v. Wade in the next 30 to 50 years.

Same as it ever was.

For nearly 2900 days, George Bush II had the bully pulpit. He could have rallied the values voters (I confess I was one in 2000) who got him elected and then re-elected. He could have also worked to change the culture – after all, he said in October, 2003 that the culture was not ready for abortion to end. But he really wanted war and rapacious economics and bailouts for the financiers. And the "conservative" leaders gave him a pass all that time.

Same as it ever was.

The day after the election, we received reports of the Republicans in disarray, the conservatives looking for a way forward, and the pro-lifers, in particular, struggling to get back on their feet. In a telephone conference on November 5 – about 24 hours after disaster at the polls – a group of national pro-life leaders who spoke of the need to continue to work to protect human life. It was a nice conversation. There was no name calling, nor anger fits, nor calls for resignations. There should have been. Many of these leaders supported the Republicans in all of the elections while speaking nary a word on how the GOP failed to do little more than talk. Fr. Frank Pavone, who lead this discussion on November 5, comes to immediate mind. While he is a Catholic priest, priests have been in error in the past, and, quite respectfully, I strongly suggest Fr. Frank is, and has been for a long time, in error. Fr. Frank Pavone and most of the rest of the national pro-life leaders (they shall henceforth be known as Loyalistas) should resign their positions out of any sense of honor and dignity. But it appears they don’t have the honor and dignity to recognize they have failed, and so they will not resign in the face of this electoral disaster. These leaders know that their position and power and glory and income is based on being the loyal, and ineffective, opposition to those forces who kill the innocents. In a way, these leaders benefit from the killing of the unborn. If the rank and file pro-lifers would wake up, they would demand the resignation and removal of these failures who have lead millions down a path for nearly 40 years where all the followers could do is watch as more than 50 million innocents died. The bloodshed in America is worse than that which was ever perpetrated by Hitler, or Stalin, Ghenghis Kahn, or Tamerlane. But the Loyalistas and their sycophants have no intention of quitting, and less about accepting responsibility for their failed policies.

Same as it ever was.

There is one great exception to the above – Joe Scheidler. This man out of a love of the Faith and at great personal risk to himself and his family, has saved lives by conversion – the best and only real way. He has done so for nearly 40 years, and, God willing, he should do so for 40 more years. That is the power of the Roman Catholic Faith and the love of Joe Scheidler for the Faith.

Same as it ever was.

At the conference call on November 5, an agenda was laid out. It was called a Plan to End Abortion. No mind that euthanasia is the growing, silent killer du jour given the current demographic collapse and the economic collapse, both closely intertwined. And what was the plan you may ask? Why, it was the dynamic, new, bold sure to get results combination of education, finding alternatives to abortion, and, oh yes, getting ready for the 2010 elections!

Same as it ever was.

The "Plan to end abortion" has been the blue print for the last three decades and the past election showed that life is just not a determining issue for voters. It showed that people just don’t seem to be educated. It means that the leaders of the traditional family, etc. groups have just not convincingly made their case. And the present "Plan to end abortion" is further indication that they have no philosophical, moral, or otherwise, convincing rationale for a coherent approach to life and society. And, it does not look as though they ever will.

Same as it ever was.

There is a reason for that. Aside from their desire to stay in power as the loyal (and ineffective) opposition, the leaders, like many of their followers, are blinded by idolatry. It is an idolatry of America. First and foremost, all of these people are Americans – not Catholics, not Christians – but Americans. They cannot see that America is a break from tradition, from the past, from the Truth. They cannot see that legalized homosexual marriage, abortion, and, eventually, legalized pederasty and pedophilia, just like rapacious economics and pornography and a lot more barbarous horrors are the natural progeny, are along the natural trajectory, of America. But they love America, and so their movements are accommodations to America. The Family Research Council is not primarily concerned with keeping the family sacred – it is concerned primarily about keeping America. The pro-life movement is not about saving the innocent from horrible deaths – it is about saving America. America is kept and saved by directing dissent into harmless activities and sterile positions. And these things won’t change.

Same as it ever was.

The problem is that the Loyalistas have forgotten the warning of Leo XIII – that the root of all social ills is a theological error. But to heed that warning requires these worldly men to admit the battle is not one of education of the public and getting more votes for the Republicans, but rather, is one against the powers and principalities of darkness. It is a spiritual battle where faith, and self-sacrifice are called for if one is to succeed in saving lives, and most importantly, saving souls. This requires living the Faith first and foremost (once again, I salute Joe Scheidler for living the Roman Catholic Faith and serving as an example for all of us). To do that, you have to know and love the Faith, and you have to put first the will of God, not one’s petty and selfish desires and ambitions to stay a "leader" and be "important" or to make a good living from the contributions and savings of hard-working, honest, believing mothers, fathers, children, and widows who place their last mites in the coffers of the Loyalistas hoping for good, but getting only talk.

Same as it ever was.

The Loyalistas, also known as all of those who primarily see the political and social as the way to salvation or ending of certain problems in society, suffer from a grievous error. That error is a love of the primacy of the flesh, and of the material. It is along the lines of calling on God to do good things for us because we stand outside and pray for 40 days and fast for 40 days all in accordance with the Good Book’s magic formula (are you listening David Bereit?). God is not a soda machine. From great suffering and tribulation can come great good if one is properly disposed. But the Loyalistas are not so disposed.

Same as it ever was.

Where there is error, there is a lack of charity. It is this lack of charity that ultimately dooms the Loyalistas. First, they don’t really love themselves, except in a narcissistic, selfish way. If they loved themselves as Our Lord said to, they would reject the atomization philosophy of America that elevates the individual above the group to the point of isolation. They don’t love their group (Roman Catholics) because they accept without question what they are told -- that this group has been bad, has bad ideas, and is backwards or ignorant. They really don’t even love their own flesh and blood – they’ve been told even their race is guilty of great, unforgivable evils. So, when a pro-culture of death man, who happened to be black, ran for President, how could the Loyalistas, who bought into these hateful racist worldviews, offer any real alternative to stem the tide? But most importantly, while they say they love God, and His word, which is the Faith, they really don’t. "Lord, Lord," is on their lips, but their hearts are far from Him.

Same as it ever was.

The saints and the martyrs, too numerous to mention here, put God, and His will, first. They lived, fasted, worked, suffered, and died for Him. They did not go out and protest or demonstrate or vote or get involved in the politics of the day. They went out and lived exemplary lives of defending and spreading the Faith. They went out and converted men and women to the true Faith. And they let everyone know they were Roman Catholics, and that they held the true Faith, and that their people, and hence all people, are worth saving. They did not hide who they were, nor did the hide Who they loved, under a bushel basket. It is said that a reasonable man sees the world about him and conforms himself to the world. And, that an unreasonable man sees the world around him and conforms the world to him. Therefore, the logic goes, all progress is made by unreasonable men. Roman Catholics have a similar, but better saying: the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians. The Loyalistas are not willing to die for their beliefs. None of them have offered themselves to die in place of the little children who are aborted. And none of the Loyalistas have offered like St. Maximilian Kolbe to let themselves die in place of the sick, and elderly, and inconvenient who are silently, in ever growing numbers, being euthanised. And none of the Loyalistas are willing to say to America like St. Telemachus said to Rome – I would rather suffer and die for the Faith than let you visit your horrors on the world. That’s what the martyrs did – they lived, suffered, and died for the Faith. And they ended infanticide, and abortion, and hunger, and converted millions, and built the Kingdom of God. Calvary is the only way. It always has been.

Same as it ever was.

JMJ

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Same As It Ever Was SAME AS IT EVER WAS Or How I Came to Recognize the Loyalistas posted November 22, 2008 When I was a young man, a New Age group by the name of Talking Heads came out with a song entitled "Once In A Lifetime." The most memorable lyric of that song was "Same as it ever was." Perhaps that was because the lead singer, David Byrne, would repeat that phrase – "Same as it ever was" – seven or eight times while shaking his head or performing some other bizarre antics. (We would copy him by repeating the phrase while making a chopping motion with one hand.) Or, just perhaps, it was memorable because he stumbled on a truth that we are all getting to know has timeless application in America. That’s because nothing really changes here. At least not for the better. Same as it ever was. That’s because the elections of earlier this month didn’t change anything despite Obama’s mantra of Change. Same as it ever was. That’s because the same leaders of the "family values", "traditional values", and, yes, the "pro-life" organizations keep prattling and, most importantly to them, keep their jobs, and positions as the loyal (but ineffective or co-opted) opposition. Same as it ever was. Obama’s victory, and the victory of what has been called the party of death, was overwhelming on November 4. As a result, we can expect swift reversals of the few (and I do mean few and far between) good things that George Bush II did in his eight years as President, and perhaps even more. The executive ban on embryonic stem cell research will be gone as well as a number of other executive orders limiting the spending of money for abortion. One, or two, more justices will be appointed to the Supreme Court, and hundreds of Federal Court judges will also be appointed, all of whom will be dedicated to keeping abortion, contraception, pornography and more legal and available. In fact, this election of 2008 could very well have been the end of any real efforts to achieve a reversal of Roe v. Wade in the next 30 to 50 years. Same as it ever was. For nearly 2900 days, George Bush II had the bully pulpit. He could have rallied the values voters (I confess I was one in 2000) who got him elected and then re-elected. He could have also worked to change the culture – after all, he said in October, 2003 that the culture was not ready for abortion to end. But he really wanted war and rapacious economics and bailouts for the financiers. And the "conservative" leaders gave him a pass all that time. Same as it ever was. The day after the election, we received reports of the Republicans in disarray, the conservatives looking for a way forward, and the pro-lifers, in particular, struggling to get back on their feet. In a telephone conference on November 5 – about 24 hours after disaster at the polls – a group of national pro-life leaders who spoke of the need to continue to work to protect human life. It was a nice conversation. There was no name calling, nor anger fits, nor calls for resignations. There should have been. Many of these leaders supported the Republicans in all of the elections while speaking nary a word on how the GOP failed to do little more than talk. Fr. Frank Pavone, who lead this discussion on November 5, comes to immediate mind. While he is a Catholic priest, priests have been in error in the past, and, quite respectfully, I strongly suggest Fr. Frank is, and has been for a long time, in error. Fr. Frank Pavone and most of the rest of the national pro-life leaders (they shall henceforth be known as Loyalistas) should resign their positions out of any sense of honor and dignity. But it appears they don’t have the honor and dignity to recognize they have failed, and so they will not resign in the face of this electoral disaster. These leaders know that their position and power and glory and income is based on being the loyal, and ineffective, opposition to those forces who kill the innocents. In a way, these leaders benefit from the killing of the unborn. If the rank and file pro-lifers would wake up, they would demand the resignation and removal of these failures who have lead millions down a path for nearly 40 years where all the followers could do is watch as more than 50 million innocents died. The bloodshed in America is worse than that which was ever perpetrated by Hitler, or Stalin, Ghenghis Kahn, or Tamerlane. But the Loyalistas and their sycophants have no intention of quitting, and less about accepting responsibility for their failed policies. Same as it ever was. There is one great exception to the above – Joe Scheidler. This man out of a love of the Faith and at great personal risk to himself and his family, has saved lives by conversion – the best and only real way. He has done so for nearly 40 years, and, God willing, he should do so for 40 more years. That is the power of the Roman Catholic Faith and the love of Joe Scheidler for the Faith. Same as it ever was. At the conference call on November 5, an agenda was laid out. It was called a Plan to End Abortion. No mind that euthanasia is the growing, silent killer du jour given the current demographic collapse and the economic collapse, both closely intertwined. And what was the plan you may ask? Why, it was the dynamic, new, bold sure to get results combination of education, finding alternatives to abortion, and, oh yes, getting ready for the 2010 elections! Same as it ever was. The "Plan to end abortion" has been the blue print for the last three decades and the past election showed that life is just not a determining issue for voters. It showed that people just don’t seem to be educated. It means that the leaders of the traditional family, etc. groups have just not convincingly made their case. And the present "Plan to end abortion" is further indication that they have no philosophical, moral, or otherwise, convincing rationale for a coherent approach to life and society. And, it does not look as though they ever will. Same as it ever was. There is a reason for that. Aside from their desire to stay in power as the loyal (and ineffective) opposition, the leaders, like many of their followers, are blinded by idolatry. It is an idolatry of America. First and foremost, all of these people are Americans – not Catholics, not Christians – but Americans. They cannot see that America is a break from tradition, from the past, from the Truth. They cannot see that legalized homosexual marriage, abortion, and, eventually, legalized pederasty and pedophilia, just like rapacious economics and pornography and a lot more barbarous horrors are the natural progeny, are along the natural trajectory, of America. But they love America, and so their movements are accommodations to America. The Family Research Council is not primarily concerned with keeping the family sacred – it is concerned primarily about keeping America. The pro-life movement is not about saving the innocent from horrible deaths – it is about saving America. America is kept and saved by directing dissent into harmless activities and sterile positions. And these things won’t change. Same as it ever was. The problem is that the Loyalistas have forgotten the warning of Leo XIII – that the root of all social ills is a theological error. But to heed that warning requires these worldly men to admit the battle is not one of education of the public and getting more votes for the Republicans, but rather, is one against the powers and principalities of darkness. It is a spiritual battle where faith, and self-sacrifice are called for if one is to succeed in saving lives, and most importantly, saving souls. This requires living the Faith first and foremost (once again, I salute Joe Scheidler for living the Roman Catholic Faith and serving as an example for all of us). To do that, you have to know and love the Faith, and you have to put first the will of God, not one’s petty and selfish desires and ambitions to stay a "leader" and be "important" or to make a good living from the contributions and savings of hard-working, honest, believing mothers, fathers, children, and widows who place their last mites in the coffers of the Loyalistas hoping for good, but getting only talk. Same as it ever was. The Loyalistas, also known as all of those who primarily see the political and social as the way to salvation or ending of certain problems in society, suffer from a grievous error. That error is a love of the primacy of the flesh, and of the material. It is along the lines of calling on God to do good things for us because we stand outside and pray for 40 days and fast for 40 days all in accordance with the Good Book’s magic formula (are you listening David Bereit?). God is not a soda machine. From great suffering and tribulation can come great good if one is properly disposed. But the Loyalistas are not so disposed. Same as it ever was. Where there is error, there is a lack of charity. It is this lack of charity that ultimately dooms the Loyalistas. First, they don’t really love themselves, except in a narcissistic, selfish way. If they loved themselves as Our Lord said to, they would reject the atomization philosophy of America that elevates the individual above the group to the point of isolation. They don’t love their group (Roman Catholics) because they accept without question what they are told -- that this group has been bad, has bad ideas, and is backwards or ignorant. They really don’t even love their own flesh and blood – they’ve been told even their race is guilty of great, unforgivable evils. So, when a pro-culture of death man, who happened to be black, ran for President, how could the Loyalistas, who bought into these hateful racist worldviews, offer any real alternative to stem the tide? But most importantly, while they say they love God, and His word, which is the Faith, they really don’t. "Lord, Lord," is on their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. Same as it ever was. The saints and the martyrs, too numerous to mention here, put God, and His will, first. They lived, fasted, worked, suffered, and died for Him. They did not go out and protest or demonstrate or vote or get involved in the politics of the day. They went out and lived exemplary lives of defending and spreading the Faith. They went out and converted men and women to the true Faith. And they let everyone know they were Roman Catholics, and that they held the true Faith, and that their people, and hence all people, are worth saving. They did not hide who they were, nor did the hide Who they loved, under a bushel basket. It is said that a reasonable man sees the world about him and conforms himself to the world. And, that an unreasonable man sees the world around him and conforms the world to him. Therefore, the logic goes, all progress is made by unreasonable men. Roman Catholics have a similar, but better saying: the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians. The Loyalistas are not willing to die for their beliefs. None of them have offered themselves to die in place of the little children who are aborted. And none of the Loyalistas have offered like St. Maximilian Kolbe to let themselves die in place of the sick, and elderly, and inconvenient who are silently, in ever growing numbers, being euthanised. And none of the Loyalistas are willing to say to America like St. Telemachus said to Rome – I would rather suffer and die for the Faith than let you visit your horrors on the world. That’s what the martyrs did – they lived, suffered, and died for the Faith. And they ended infanticide, and abortion, and hunger, and converted millions, and built the Kingdom of God. Calvary is the only way. It always has been. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.