June-July 1999
Issue 43

It never ceases to amaze me how we Americans can be so shallow. Most people, led along by the predominantly liberal media, rarely question the `facts' presented to them. This mentality is also prevalent in the Church. Most folks, as long as they have a measure of peace, personal security, and maintenance of their lifestyle are rarely interested in serious matters. If we consider these matters at all, it is far easier to accept the version of events laid before us by the media, the government, or liberal churchmen than to think about them in a critical fashion. Yet God calls us to `test all things' (1 Thess.5.2 I). The Christian's goal in life is to follow the will of God-i.e. To be like Christ, the same Christ who questioned the `status quo' and was a `sign of contradiction `(Luke 1.34).

In the last 40 years, American culture has been turned on its head. The pagans who were doing drugs and copulating in the mud at Woodstock are now firmly entrenched in our government and our media. Our bishops have primarily sought compromise with these neo-pagans, rather than their conversion. Under the pretense of 'dialogue' (a term found nowhere in Holy Scripture) they have become pragmatists, rather than prophets. Amchurch leaders tolerate and coddle these evil men and engage them cordially, rather than call them to repentance and belief. And average Americans, entranced and preoccupied, graze without question on the fare presented to them by a pagan government and media.

Henry Ford said "Thinking is hard work and most people want no part of it". People don't analyze what they hear in part due to laziness, but also because they may be forced to take a stand. And why bother anyway? If anyone dares challenge the establishment, whether religious or secular, they are pummeled with assaults on their character and motives. They are labeled intolerant, narrow-minded, or bigoted. So indifference to evil takes root in our desire to avoid conflict and willingness to compromise.

After the recent high school shootings, Bill Clinton said, "We need to teach our children not to use violence to solve their problems". At that moment he was dropping bombs on peoples' heads. Janet Nero (Reno) said, "We need to educate our children about violent behavior". This from her a woman who gassed and burned alive nearly 100 women and children. Yet these statements went unchallenged.

One sees the same thing in religious matters. Bishop Houck of Jackson, Mississippi laments the vocations shortage, yet refuses to ordain deacons because he can't ordain women. He has even composed a prayer for vocations to be delivered in the parishes! Yet no one (except me) challenges the absurdity of his position. Our U.S. bishops take up collections for 'Catholic' universities and people drop money in the bucket without stopping to ask exactly where the money goes. Do they even know that Bill Clinton is a product of a supposedly 'Catholic' education? Do they know that Georgetown, run by the once loyal, now traitorous Jesuits recently allowed pornographer Larry Flynt to speak on its campus? Do they know that their money may be buying peaceful co-existence with evil in the name of dialogue?

The recent war in Yugoslavia is another example of the public being fed propaganda by the government and the media. The Kosovar Muslims, armed and funded by radical Islamic groups in the Middle East, are engaged in a violent civil war with their Serbian government. The Serbs have, also with violence, tried to suppress the rebellion. Atrocities, as in all wars, have been committed on both sides. * But Bill Clinton, in need of a distraction from his administration's treason with the communist Chinese, decided to 'deliver' the Kosovars by bombing Kosovo and Serbia to smithereens, killing civilians and displacing a million people while destroying their homes. Clinton bombed Iraq on the eve of the impeachment vote (careful though not to interrupt Ramadan) yet had no similar compunction against blowing up Serbians (Orthodox) on Easter. Curious also how he had managed up to that point to overlook the genocide and 'human rights violations' in Rwanda and the Sudan (2,000,000 Christians killed in the last fifteen years by the Islamic government), and most obviously, China.

Bill Cohen said that our precision bombs were effective and that there were less than 20 instances of collateral damage. Which means, I guess, that all the hospitals, buses, churches, and monasteries were intentionally bombed. NATO bombed 19 Orthodox monasteries, and 17 churches, including the Bishop's residence at Belgrade. (A complete list is available upon request). And while the Pope was calling for a cessation of hostilities, the Judas-Jesuits in their publications supported the bombing. Fr. Richard McBrien in his syndicated column even mocked Catholics who had prayed for peace to prevail. And all the while most folks just stared at the TV and never questioned or raised a peep.

The rallying cry of the sixties was to reject the establishment. Now that the establishment seems to be comprised of the very pagans who invented the line, I suggest we take their advice. We must question the decisions of our government. We must question the version of events laid out for us. We must look for the motives behind the actions of those who have control over our lives and the information we receive. We must measure all things against Holy Scripture and look to the Holy Father and the Church for guidance.

Joan Andrews Bell, champion of the unborn, adopted as her motto in the face of the establishment, "You reject them-you reject me". Unfortunately, our bishops could adopt for their motto, "You reject them-let's play golf". Many of our priests haven't a clue as to the seriousness of the situation in America. Half the marriages end in divorce -there are 4000 abortions a day (Catholic participation in divorce and abortion is rampant)- yet one could hardly gather anything is wrong from the pleasant little homilies we hear. At my Church recently this statement was made from the pulpit, "we need to learn to love ourselves so we can love the significant others in our lives". That, my friend, is not Christianity. (See: St. Luke 10.39)

I think the inordinate amount of greed, selfishness, and apathy in our culture is an indicator of the fact we have the 'loving self' thing down pretty good. 'Loving self' is what causes divorce and abortion. At another mass in Madison, Mississippi, I heard this comment: "The Holy Spirit is there to comfort you in all the difficulties of life... even when you are having a bad hair day". Wow, we do have it rough, don't we?

Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing". Edmund Burke was mistaken. Good men don't 'do nothing'! In Matthew 25 Jesus speaks of the sheep and the goats. The goats that were cast into hell were damned precisely because they did nothing, a sin not of commission - but omission. A former President of the United States once said, "The only thing that can bring about spiritual renewal is economic collapse, because in the final analysis all most Americans give a damn about is money, and their own security".

After all, it's mean spirited to object to divorce, abortion, modernist psychobabble in the pulpit, sycophantic bishops, greed, and blowing up Orthodox monasteries, churches, and shrines. I guess that would make one an intolerant, right wing fanatic. My prayer is that more Catholics will begin to obey the admonition of 1 Thess.5.21. Just think of the progress that could be made if Americans were to use their brains as much as their genitals. When one questions the 'establishment' -secular or religious- one may be disliked. But they didn't like Jesus either.

May the prayers of our dear Blessed Mother Mary and the peace of our God the Lord Jesus Christ be with you always,

Jack Keene

* Serbian `atrocities', the supposed reason for this war, were almost all committed after and in response to the NATO bombing. And now that the Serbs have capitulated, the Albanians are murdering and looting the Serbs. Now it's the Serbs who are being ethnically cleansed!

Southern Papist Perspective is intended to be published monthly, but due to my work schedule, some issues may arrive closer together than others. If you have comments or questions, or would like to add someone to our mailing list, please address your correspondence to: Southern Papist Perspective. 334 Lakeshore Drive, Madison, Mississippi 39110 or Email:  misspap@iolms.com There is no charge for the newsletter.

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