Over on a local Boston metablog, they note the KnowThyNeighbors database of people who signed the Massachusetts marriage petition and one commenter shows the “tolerance” which the proponents of so-called gay rights claim to exhibit and which they accuse us Christians of failing to show:
I checked the database to find my close-minded mother the only person in my entire neighborhood to sign her name. I’m ashamed and have a strong urge to go beat the ‘catholic’ out of her.
Note that the proud and courageous anti-Catholic bigot who promises to beat his mother hides behind “anonymous.” Scumbag.
(The first link above is to a mirror of the KnowThyNeighbors database put up by the pro-gay MassEquality organization because the KnowThyNeighbors site is experiencing a bit of traffic overload. Interesting that they omit the street addresses and don’t allow searching by name. Recall the MassEquality originally rejected KnowthyNeighbors’ attempt at voter intimidation.)
Technorati Tags: anti-Catholic, homosexuality, marriage, Massachusetts
I’m just ripped that somehow my name got left off the petition although I did sign it at my parish.
Father,
How did you trace the name?
Colleen,
If the sheet on which you signed was disqualified in any way—and they can be disqualified for the slightest problem—then your name would not appear as a certified signature.
The link on the name “Anonymous” leads to a blog where <a >this post</a> resides.
The writer is apparently a divorcee who lives with her parents; a link at her parents’ pictures leads to a web site identifying the family by name.
Ah, not so much anonymous as just dumb.
Actually pretty dangerous. If you go to that webpage Dom you can find a picture of her mother and the name and location of her family’s business. The woman advocates beating the Catholic out of her, even if she said it in jest, another could take it more seriously. That is why I notified the police.
I wonder if this loving daughter who lives in her mother’s house is paying rent or is she sponging off the woman she holds in such contempt?
I wonder if this loving daughter who lives in her mother’s house is paying rent or is she sponging off the woman she holds in such contempt?
I wonder if this loving daughter who lives in her mother’s house is paying rent or is she sponging off the woman she holds in such contempt?
It would appear that “Rebe” is about to get a lump of coal in her Christmas stocking.
Can’t say she doesn’t deserve it.
It would appear that “Rebe” is about to get a lump of coal in her Christmas stocking.
Can’t say she doesn’t deserve it.
It would appear that “Rebe” is about to get a lump of coal in her Christmas stocking.
Can’t say she doesn’t deserve it.
Check out her website – she’s now changed her tune on “beating the catholic [sic] out of her.”
Looks like the police did their duty!
Rebe looks rather young. Hopefully, she’ll gain some sense as she gets older… She sounds like she’s still going thru that adolescent rebellion thing.
Ah, I see there is a little of Chesterton’s Father Brown in Father Carr. Well done, Father!
Thank You!
Hm? Nothing’s changed since last night.
Good for you, Father Carr!
The original post Dom referenced about her wanting to beat the ‘catholic’ out of her mother is still there. The person who posted, “Rebe” says the following about herself on her blog:
“I have no desire for children.”
“I’m not perfect. Some people even call me a _itch. I accept that as long as I’ve earned it.”
“I believe in a womans right to choose: abortion, birth control, religion, and her own position in the world.”
“I was sexually abused for ten years. It does not define who I am.”
“I know how to use many power tools, but the sound of a circular saw scares me. I want to own a pistol.”
I think she needs our prayers.
I would agree MaryJane, however, there is also something called enabling. The fact is she feels that it is acceptable to say she wants to “beat the Catholic” out of someone is quite disturbing. It also puts Catholics at risk of getting beaten if people see no one takes any action. Just ask the parishioners at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross about how much they have suffered with anti-Catholicism gone wild even to the point of a US Congressman (Delahunt D-MA) involved in these actions of hate.
Further, she makes her mother easily identifiable and she sees no problem with making this statement publically, that is extremely concerning and I see it as encouraging violence against her mother and Catholics. If she was talking about an underage girl, a call to DSS would be required. She therefore needs prayers, but she also needs more than prayers. For people to do nothing under those circumstance would be a sin of omission.
Meanwhile, a good question to her would be: Has she filed a police report against her abuser? Has the DA investigated her accusations? What actions have been taken?
Again, prayers are important, but she needs those and more.
Fr. Bob wrote: a good question to her would be: Has she filed a police report against her abuser? Has the DA investigated her accusations? What actions have been taken?
I don’t agree. You don’t have a personal right to answer her statement (that she was the victim of a crime) with a string of questions about whether she did anything to protect society.
Such an interrogation looks like an attempt at fault-finding, more than an effort to protect anyone. You don’t even know that the perpetrator is alive.
Prayers are definitely needed and NOW. It is too late when you read about it in the newspapers.
There is no excuse to making reference to doing harm to one’s mother. Nor is there an excuse for anyone to enter a blog and defend such evil.
Sorry R, I cannot agree with you at all on this.
First off, if she was underaged, I would be required by law to ask those question and take appropriate action provided it was not said in a confessional.
Second, even if it was said in a confessional, it would be important to ask those questions. When government is working correctly, which granted in MA it is not, however, when it is, those questions are also questions that may lead to healing. It is another way of saying, have you addressed the evil perpetrated against you appropriately.
Third, I would not be asking those questions to see if she was protecting society, I would be asking those questions to see if she used one of the appropriate avenues of healing for both her and the perpetrator.
Remember, a victim of any form of crime is a victim of evil and there are several levels on which this is addressed, the legal is one. (Cf Romans 13)
Have we learned nothing from the crisis?
May I also clarify my statement on prayer. We are called to be people of prayer and action:
Pray as if everything relied on God, act as if everything relies on you. (St. Augustine) What do you pray for by the way? Her conversion and healing.
This person needs prayer, as we all do but I’m more worried about her mother’s safety.
Hi…..I somehow ended up on the knowthyneighbor site back in October. I had the urge to tell them how I looked forward to being on their list. I took the opportunity to defend numerous Catholic Church teachings here with my actual name John Curran. And I did so rather mildly. You can see for your self here:
http://knowthyneighbor.blogs.com/home/2005/10/marriage_protec.html
Unsurprisingly I received threatening and vulgar emails from people who said they looked forward to knowing where I live. A few weeks later, after signing the petition my car was egged and the tires slashed right in my driveway in the middle of the night. Obviously I have no idea if there was any relationship between signing the petition and what happened to my car. It probably was coincidental. But, I really cannot fathom where else such vicious animosity toward me would have come from.
When I read writings from Pope Benedict and Archbishop O’Malley about homosexuals, I find it difficult to ignore the deep compassion they have for them. They constantly defend their dignity as a human person, the need to respect homosexuals, while emphasizing that any human being is a child of God and cannot be rigidly defined by mere sexuality. Yet despite the Church’s consistently humble and respectful approach toward the issue of homosexuality they are vilified.
I think things may get worse before they get better. Anti-clericalism and anti-Catholicism is gaining incredible steam. Numerous black legends such as that Pope Pius was a Nazi sympathizer are casually accepted as fact, even among so-called Catholics.
Despite the possibility of the hard times that lie ahead if anti-Catholic, libertinist, materialist death culture forces increasingly hold sway, there has never been a better time to be Catholic. Someone once said that even the dead get carried by the current. In other words, it is easy to be Catholic when everybody is. But, there is something inherently rewarding about being Catholic in a time of trial. It brings one closer to Christ. We should not forget to relish this fact in the dark hours that may lie ahead.
John, What an inspiring post. Thank you for writing it!
John, great post!
@ the same time, remember what former Josef Cardinal Ratzinger said in his homily just before the papal conclave this year. “We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” (Quoted in newest petition at http://www.cristifideles.net, so I cant take all the credit). Doesn’t a line need to be drawn somewhere?
For those concerned about the safety of the mother of “Rebe” beyond prayers, there’s an email address on their family business website: sproutes ‘at’ comcast.net
I’m not advising people to meddle in their private family matters, but if your worried about reading about some tragedy in the news, you can easily write to her parents.
John, I read what you posted at that site and their response. That is a whacked out group of people. Unfortunately, to try to discuss this topic with them is to make them angrier and angrier. I hope you (or any other rational person) don’t post there again…
Thanks for the gracious comments Lynn, Father Carr and Mary Jane.
Mary Jane,
Pope Benedict and John Paul’s clarion calls about the rise of relativism might prove to be the most profound insights of the century years from now. I happen to be about 2/3 through Benedict’s (then Ratzinger of course) “Introduction to Christianity.” Even 30 years ago at the time of writing, Ratzinger offered remarkable insights in this materialist dogma that was permeating the social fabric of the West. In the book he makes some really remarkable observations, particularly on the origins of relativism.
Let me stream-of-conscious some of the points I gleaned from this lofty book (don’t let the title fool you). He defends the belief in God as rational while properly noting that it is essentially an existential decision. He then expounds upon the idea that since man lacks omniscience, he always finds himself making existential judgments even when embracing atheistic materialism. Take Marx for example. He envisioned a world of material equality. His vision did not exist yet, but he was convinced that, through his own rational inquiry, his vision was true, despite the fact that such a world had never existed. So even though Marx was strictly materialist, his beliefs were existential. They required faith that the end-product of his philosophy would materialize. Of course this end-product morphed into hideous oppression and the destruction of societies that tried to adhere to this belief system. But the bottom line here is that all our hopes and visions for the world and for ourselves require a leap of faith. In that light, belief in Christ is a darn good existential decision, preferable to others that have no history to speak of in the very least.
As Marx’s dreamscape faded into nightmare, the illusions of many leftist materialists were shattered. Unfortunately, rather than turn to God, they turned to the nothingness of Nietzsche. In other words, because material equality has proved an impossible dream, they believe that nothing can be true. This sort of nihilism as a response to the horrific failure of Marx’s metaphysical materialism has given birth to modern relativism.
And if we thought communism was bad wait till we see how relativism rears its ugly head. In the recent miniseries about Pope John Paul II, he was purported to say that as horrible as communism was they at least tried to build a sense of society and brotherhood. However, the virus of libertinism and relativism seeks to completely undermine any sense of social cohesion and is marching us toward anarchy. Its agenda of radical individualism and totally subjective morality is giving rise to sexual addiction, a pornographic culture, infidelity, shattered families, out-of-wedlock births and conflict between endless grouplets whose values cannot possibly co-exist.
Given the posting limits this is continued in the next post.
Continued from above……
Any Christian who thinks these culture wars are something to stand on the sidelines of is dead wrong. Libertinism and relativism have won over the minds of many if not the majority of people. And these ideas are not in remission. In many cases, Christian ideals mingle side by side with libertinism and relativism. One of obvious example is Catholic Charities honoring of Mayor Menino. From what I have heard, Menino is a perfectly nice guy who regularly attends Mass at his West Roxbury Parish. Nonetheless, he and perhaps most Catholics tend to protestantize Catholicism, and feel perfectly free to flout the most basic Catholic doctrine under the banner of freedom of conscience. As this mindset continues to grow without significant challenge, you can properly expect an American Catholic schism at the least in a generation. This outcome, while not guaranteed, is certainly probable. And its epicenter of origination will most likely be Boston.
Laity and Archdiocese need to confront these tendencies intelligently, marshalling all her intellectual and spiritual resources to win over the Catholic laity. The simple reality is that not only are we in danger of losing the larger culture war, but that the majority of our own laity is already either on the fence or firmly in the other camp.
The Catholic Church, particularly the Boston Archdiocese, is now under assault by a new strain of metaphysical materialist philosophy. So the question begs to be asked: What can be done? I can’t say I know for sure yet. But I suspect a message ought reflect the fact that there are two existential visions in conflict today, and that the Christian existentialism is superior to the relativistic, libertinst existentialism that is now arising out of the ashes of socialism and communism.
Quick side note. I would caution against railing against relativism as pure evil. While it is currently taking extreme forms, we orthodox Catholics ought not to act like we alone have a complete and thorough understanding of God’s identity and truth. We most certainly do not. Our faith is rooted in mystery, which is the most compelling part of its appeal. We do need to embrace relativism to a certain degree as a product of the impossibility of human omniscience. Make no mistake; if we speak in absolutist terms, we are only deceiving our selves. And we will lose.
I recommend reading the following piece about respected Catholic Theologian Dario Antiseri who argues that the relativism does play an important role in our faith, safeguarding against absolutism that undermines our humility as mere humans and sinners.
http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=41533&eng=y
Unless I miss my guess, relativism and the breakdown of society in general is much farther along than the Vatican or pretty much anyone else in authority wants to admit.
We are about eyeball deep in the coming dark age. Hang onto your hats.
Unfortunately, that is quite true. Just talk to the college graduates and students here (Boston) who literally have no concept of objective truth.
You all seem so much more pessimistic than I do. Maybe you’re realistic because you’ve lived longer than I have…I am a college student. Orthodox Catholics my age make their faith a huge priority…I thought things were looking up.
Thanks Infanted, You give me great hope, especially since you are writing from BC. However, may I add that you are a college student now, I have talked to college students (not Catholic or non-practicing Catholic) who literally have no concept of objective truth. But they would have gone before you.
So do not let my words bring you down, for your words have brought me up.
Infanted,
No doubt. There are always reasons for hope. By no means in Catholicism doomed to whither and die. After all, she has endured as a religious institution for 2000 years. This is nothing short of extraordinary. Consider all the political, demographic, spiritual and philosophical forces in history that have challenged her in his time. The odds against her survival were staggering…yet she endured. There have been periods of harrowing despair before she rose again like Christ from the Dead.
I believe that as long as the Church stays true to herself, she will prevail as always. But, let’s not pretend for an instant that a very real challenge does not exist for her. If history tells us anything, it is that we can be expected to be pushed to the limits of faith. And like the Apostles, in the greatest times of trial few will stay true.
You know the stories. Apostle after Apostle betrayed Christ: Judas, Peter, Thomas, etc. And these men were in his physical presence. Thus many if not most of us will falter as well whenever the next challenge arises. God loves and forgives of course. Thank Almighty for that.
Pope Benedict once said that the Church should not assume that intense unpopularity and shrinking numbers will not plague the Church again some day. While there is no absolute danger of this in global terms at the moment, powerful forces are indeed at work in opposition to us. And even if these materialist forces fail they will likely only give rise to something else. So never claim victory or be too confident in this regard.
Benedict also commonly notes how God can be great in smallness. The obvious example is the tiny Christ Child. Another is that we began with a mere Twelve Apostles. Perhaps one day there will only be twelve of us again. We should toward Abrahamic-like faith in preparation toward such a prospect, no matter how distant.
Even if our numbers were reduced to twelve once again, God works wonders in the smallest of things. What differs us from the materialist is that we believe that the incalculable value of human love is a far greater power than even the burning core of the Sun. The materialist could never see this as they are reduced to a positivist world view. In other words, what they cannot verify conclusively and practically, they do not believe. That is their blinding weakness. Faith in love and God is our strength. And we know its power is real and awesome.
So we have every reason to be optimistic, even when our faith is but a mustard seed.
Father Carr,
Check out my website.
Donato, that’s so nice! If you can grow in faith at BC, you can do it anywhere!
I’ve bookmarked your website…
I noticed that you have Grassroot Films as one of your links. Did you view the trailer for “Fishers of Men”? It is fabulous!
Yes, I viewed the trailer. Can anyone confirm if that (pointing) priest is Father David Engo?
I don’t know. You could send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) They respond pretty quickly.