Tuesday, September 29, 2020

The Okie Traditionalist Chimes in: Trump lost the First Debate, not a Good Omen

Just finished watching 10 minutes ago.  Trump lost in my opinion, in part because Wallace spun the debate to make Trump look like he was the unbridled jerk constantly interrupting Biden, even though Biden (and Wallace) also kept interrupting Trump.   In extra-mental reality, nobody won.  It was a lot of mud throwing both ways.  There was little or no demonstration of their positions in a coherent and logical way.  Trump was truthful, and Biden lying, but from my Okie armchair, that reality was not conveyed in this televised debate.  The media certainly will declare Biden the winner, and most will buy that.

It was sad to watch, because Trump could have been more in control of the debate, by letting Biden talk on and on making a fool of himself, but for this debate Biden came across more stately (even though he will be the first president of the Communist States of America).

I'm still praying and hoping, but not holding my breath.  As I said in two previous posts expressing my thoughts on the election.  I don't think this debate is a good omen for Trump, or for this country.

Monday, September 28, 2020

Saw this Bumper Sticker in Traffic: My Response

It said "I believe in a separation of Church and Hate."

I had to pause a moment, sitting there in my car, waiting for traffic to move.   I had never seen that slogan before.   It was obviously a play on the idea of a "separation of Church and state."  And the term "hate" on a bumper sticker immediately comes across leftist.  I half expected some other kind of bumper sticker like "keep your rosaries out of my ovaries."

The thing is your average driver here in Oklahoma, including your average Okie conservative, is probably just going to think "well yeah, duh, of course hate isn't a good thing, especially at church."   Some will pick up that it's a leftist slogan against religious moral conservatism, but I suspect most will just nod and let their subconscious mind absorb the highly politicized PC meaning of the slogan.  And that such propaganda from the secularist Left is very effective on the masses.

My Response.

That bumper sticker is hateful.  It is hateful to Christianity, and specifically Catholicism, in particular its traditional doctrines against the act of abortion and act of homosexuality.  What is is saying is "If you or your Church believes abortion or homosexuality [or transgenderism, etc] is a sin, then you are hateful, you are a social threat to contemporary society, and should be treated as such."

The Left is winning.  PC control of our thoughts, free speech, and religious rights is winning.  If you give even an inkling of a hint that you are an actual believing member of the Catholic Church, or an Evangelical church, you are an Enemy of the State, and an enemy to whatever group you belong.

With each passing day in this Chastisement, I think that Christians in general need to be more and more careful in the expression of their faith and moral values in public.  Even me writing this runs the risk someone will out me as a hate-monger simply because I identify as a traditional Catholic.  

How did the early Christians practice their Faith under the Romans when Christianity was illegal and persecuted?   Christianity today is not exactly outlawed yet, but it is persecuted everywhere in public life.  They worshiped in house churches, used secret symbols to identify themselves to each other.   But as a group they were still persecuted, with many martyrs.

Today we Christians are experiencing what some call a "soft martyrdom."  The tactics of the anti-Christian Left are systematic and extremely intense.  The Left has total control of the mainstream, and will continue to have that control 100 x more if Biden/Communism wins.

It will mean we have to be even more clever and secretive, much more than the times of the early Christians, when an age of social media-driven narcissism has literally engulfed every facet of contemporary society.   It will mean more retreat, for traditionalists, conservatives, Catholics, Evangelicals to unite in a common counter-revolution against the age of anti-christ.

Lord help us.


Saturday, September 19, 2020

Saturday Morning Musings: Fall Weather, the Presidential Election, Cultural Narcissism

Fall Weather

Praise God for this weather.  It's only three days until Fall officially begins, but Fall being my favorite season, I start to count this time already as "Fall."   As soon as the mind-numbing purgatorial heat-humidity of August in Oklahoma has past, I'm already into the spirit of the Fall season.

Which for me means being outside more in more tolerable temperatures, fishing, hiking, grilling, and backyard fires.   There is something primordial and life-affirming to gaze silently into the flames of a fire, with cool crispness in the air, contemplating the inner nature of things. My senses come back alive this time of year, as it were.  

The Presidential Election

As of late, with the presidential election, I've been contemplating more and more the future of our country.  Yes, I am praying quietly for a second miracle, that Trump is re-elected, but I'm not expecting him to, as I wouldn't expect any kind of miracle.  Maybe he will, God knows.  It will be interesting to see what goes down after November 3rd in terms of predicted contesting of the election from the losing side, potential civil war, etc.   And with the passing yesterday of Supreme Court Justice Injustice Ginsberg (may the Almighty God have mercy on her soul), pundits are suggesting a possible stalemate scenario, if a contested election goes to the Supreme Court that does not have the full nine justices.   

But if Biden wins, we have crossed the Rubicon.  There is no turning back.  Conservatives will have to concede that the federal government will certainly be from now on a One Party system of Communism.

I hope I'm wrong.  Who knows, what if some good patriot discovered/leaked that Biden frequented Epstein's island and women come out accusing him of raping them when they were sexually trafficked minors.    Or some new damning evidence comes to light that proves publicly beyond reasonable doubt that the Democrats (Washington D.C.), Obamas/Clintons/Bidens/etc, are ruled over by a blackmailing Cabal of cocaine-snorting, child molesting, occult devoted, orgy-arranging powerful elites.  It could happen.

Perhaps a more likely scenario is Biden makes an utter fool of himself in the debates, saying something so Biden-like that it goes viral, or Trump's lawyers make a strong enough case of election fraud if Trump loses for him to win.  Not over hanging chads, but this time over mass conspiracy by the Dems to manipulate absentee ballots.

But I'm not holding my breath this time around.  

Cultural Narcissism

Besides heading out for one last Blue Hole outing here in a minute (not planning to swim, too cool out), and plans for Sunday Mass, this weekend I'm nose deep in this excellent book, the authors resonating very well with my traditional Catholic world view.

https://www.amazon.com/Narcissism-Epidemic-Living-Age-Entitlement/dp/1416575995

I talked about this subject a couple posts back.  And I think its what we really need to understand going forward with our certain cultural decline, especially if Biden/Communism wins in a few weeks.

We conservative Christians can expect more and more "soft martyrdom," socially and economically.  Women can expect their faithful husbands to report more and more crazy behavior and personalities at work, pushing a radical leftist agenda, making the work environment more inhospitable.  Present issues about sexuality and gender will get worse, but I expect the conditions to exponentially shift in our disfavor.  

And this is all about entitlement.  People thinking they have special rights just because they say so, above and beyond the actual rights granted to them by God, nature, reality, not to mention the law.   Social media has turned almost all of us into junkies, and its ubiquitous power is growing.  There is no turning back for the mainstream from this, barring some dystopic fallout, except maybe for individuals, families, and conservative local communities. We must have our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tic Toc (for personal reasons, I especially hate this one), Amazon prime, yada yada.  That includes by the way the Catholic "Blogosphere" or trad blogs/websites/discussion fora.   We are addicted.  I even run that risk posting this.

Baby boomers, Gen-Xers, Millenials, Gen-Yers, whatever is next, we all have slid into this culture of narcissism.   Me, me, me.  The measure of a person being self-esteem, self-confidence, physical appearance, and financial status, combined with how tuned in said person is to our PC, social media culture.   What comes to mind writing this is the Netflix Black Mirror episode called "Nose Dive."   Narcissism has already destroyed our society.  Humanity, decency, morality, religion, Christianity, God Himself, all these on a practical level are gone.

All because we are precious, and good enough, and smart enough, and dog-gone it people like me (mocking reference to the SNL character Steward Smalley).    

Our grandparents and great-grandparents were not like this.  Their value system was the complete opposite.   They valued their neighbor, coworker, and fellow parishioner when he was honest, fair, polite, loyal to family and friends.  Status, in comparison to our view of it today, was proportional.  A doctor for example was valued more for the work they do for the sick, for the nobility of their education, training, and profession.  Today that is out the door.  A doctor's status is now based mainly on their income.  Being a "doctor" now means being a rich bad-ass, more than a healer.  Which is one of the main reasons I decided in my youth against this profession.


Thus ends my Saturday Musings, fellow Okie Trads and Beyond.  Enjoy the weather.


Tuesday, September 15, 2020

My Predictions for November 3rd

I've been following debate lately on a trad Catholic forum about whether or not people think Trump is going to win.   I sense there is wishful thinking.   Trump, it is argued, has been a great president, he remains resilient, this time four years ago he was predicted to lose but he miraculously won, and surely he will contest the election if he loses.  Such is the line of thinking.  Trump is predicted to win, because well we desperately need him to win.

This is because we are at a pivotal moment in American politics, it is argued.

As readers here may recall, I am very pro-Trump, not anywhere close to being a never-Trumper.  I wear my camouflage, re-elect Trump 2020 hat all over town, every chance I get, despite the rare positive comment or nod.   I think Trump was chosen by Divine Providence to fight the loss of whatever is left in the Christian West, despite his flaws.

But I do not think he is going to win, unfortunately.  This is a major tipping point from a two-party system of capitalism vs. socialism, to a one-party system of complete outright communism.  And I am of the mind that under Biden and his certain predecessors, we are looking dead-square at the Communist States of America.  I hope and pray I am wrong, but I am prepared for the worse post-November 3rd.  And here is why I am predicting Trump loses:

1.  Abortion, sodomy, transgenderism, whatever new perversion is coming down the pike, PC control of our thoughts and free speech, all these are still in full throttle.  Despite some inspiration from the Trump presidency, when I take the pulse of the nation circa September, 2020, the pulse is dim and irregular.   The American people just don't value enough anymore what Trump represents:  liberty, God, faith, family, and the sanctity of human life.  We are afraid, and addicted to our social media culture.

2. All of this explains what many trad Catholics describe as a Chastisement we are now entering into with the "Covid Pandemic" and economic crisis.

3.  The most independent polls keep predicting Biden to win.  

Bottom line I think is, we need to double down right now in prayer for the next 48 days, begging for God's mercy, but not to presume upon a miracle, but to prepare for more punishment for our sins.  Of course the election may be contested without resolution, and who knows civil war can break out, but I personally doubt this will happen.

Monday, September 7, 2020

Thoughts on Cultural Narcissism

If you would have asked me in the 90’s for one word to characterize the unraveling of contemporary society, I would have said materialism.  If you would have asked the same question to my conservative parents back in the 70’s they would have said liberalism.  Fifty years later, my own answer is different but similar: narcissism.

Here I’m not mainly referring to that overtly clinical and pathological condition called Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but instead to a new cultural paradigm that has infected most Americans today, in my daily observation.  An extremely disordered emphasis on:  status, physical appearance, mental fitness, to the marginalization of moral character, ethical and professional behavior, social decency, and often traditional religious faith.  

It would take a very wise exorcist or psychologist  to break down the complexities of how evil and all-reaching this cultural phenomenon has become.    

A cultural narcissism that reveres celebrities, pop cultural icons.  That grossly confuses rights with entitlement.  That is rights devoid of responsibility to others.  Therefore entitlement without real justice towards others.  Which by definition is what most would recognize as evil.  

The kind of narcissism that values a person for how much social media presence, online “friends,” views, and likes they get.  For how superficially nice and politically correct they sound.  For their mastery of the latest lexicon of positivistic social buzz words and phrases like “awesome,” “no worries,” or “amazing.”

And, bearing a cultural disposition that runs opposite to this current of cultural narcissism, no matter how well educated or authentically sociable you are, makes you look like an anti-social weirdo.  In a society that constantly equates Appearances with Reality, then that will invariably be the perceived reality.     

And perceived anti-social weirdos, even if in objective reality they are not but quite the opposite, will only suffer socially and economically.  Whereas a narcissist is fueled by narcissistic supply, where their self-esteem builds from being venerated as superior by their peers. the narcissist likewise needs to tear down the non-narcissists and non-enablers with narcissistic rage.  

Narcissistic rage plays out constantly in the most sophisticated and complex ways in contemporary social circles, especially the work place, with a meanness and harshness that makes high school bullying look minor in comparison.  

This narcissistic rage is usually cold and calm, calculated, and conniving.  It is insidious but deliberate.  It has learned the subtle yet surgically precise art of psychological manipulation to their advantage.  Gas-lighting being a prime example. And the non-materalistic, not-pathologically-self-centered simple individual, especially the religiously conservative Christian kind, is a sitting duck in this dynamic.  

You could take an alternative route.  Live and work in a rural area of a conservative state.  Homeschool or send your kids to a trad school, relocate to Clear Creek monastery or St. Mary’s in Kansas, etc, cancel Netflix, start your own Catholic family business, but you won’t escape this new paradigm.  

The new paradigm of secularist culture is the ever growing dominance of social media, hedonistic values, PC culture promoting entitlement, and an exponentially growing super-focus on superficial externals.   It is a kind of oppressive collectivist socialism where simple Average Joes and plain working class families are more and more treated like lepers.   

And with the unrolling of the next waves of new social media, technology, and PC culture, this is only going to get worse.

Ironically, most are not overt narcissists of the Hollywood variety.   Most are actually average Americans with average looks and intelligence, most of whom feel pressured to succumb to narcissism on a daily basis. And most do.  

I confess I have, at moments, as we all have.  

But it is the minority, not a tiny perecentage either, who have willingly promoted cultural narcissism by making gods out of career advancement, a six figure income, six pack abs, and superficial social acceptance.  These are the group leaders, managers, executives, politicians.  In the name of their own narcissistic path of conquest, they have created a national culture of narcissism through government support, gross commercialism, social media, etc.   

Yet it is the majority of us who go along with it, on some level still subscribe to it, refuse to speak out or go against the current, whether that be in our family, social, church, or work circles.  Especially the latter.  

Because according to the new paradigm the end is no longer God, or the State, or Society, or the Family, or Democracy, etc. 

Rather the new paradigm is the Self.

And that, readers, is diabolical.  Even if you don’t believe in the devil, a world that holds gratifying the Self as the ultimate end is pathological.  It is no less oppressive and socially destructive than communism under Russia or China.  And in the end, that deified Self only devolves into destructive behavior, inner discord, and despair.  

I’ve read recently a couple books about the current problem of narcissism, but a good place to start are insightful talks by Jordan Peterson on the subject.

In conclusion, in my observation, cultural narcissism is the new post-modern paradigm of bringing down what Christian culture did exist before the cultural revolution of the 60s.   Being more subtle but culturally lethal than the superficial, explicit materialism of the 90’s, this pandemic needs to be understood, and remedies given.   

For example, instead of focusing on developing self-esteem, treat that as secondary; instead focus on the development of your spiritual and moral character.   Instead of focusing on wealth, advancement, and how cool you look, focus instead on your responsibilities, especially those to God and your family.  

And the perennial remedy always remains: traditional Catholic Christianity.   To imitate the Saints, and the simple life of the Holy Family.