What’s Going on in the USA? Roe Vs Wade: Leaks, Violence, Attacks on Catholic churches – What*?*!
Editor writes…
Clearly, overturning the Roe Vs Wade ruling won’t make abortion illegal in the USA. It just returns the power to legislate for it, to each individual State. So, given the stramash being caused by the Left right now, what on EARTH would it be like if overturning Roe Vs Wade actually did outlaw the killing of the unborn (and the almost born, those babies in the process of being born)… Can you imagine the rage, then? Straight from Hell. Demonic. Diabolical. These protesters are, as far as the eye can see, possessed.
That’s what I think – what do you think?
Comments (50)
I think there’s a short-term goal and a long-term goal here. The short-term goal is to intimidate the justices into backing away from outlawing Roe v. Wade. This intimidation tactic is straight out of the Communist/Fascist playbook (and Antifa is a redux of a 1930s Nazi thug group with the same emblem on its flag).
The long-term goal is to use this as justification for “packing the Court” with far-left justices such as the one recently confirmed, who refused to define a woman.
As for the screaming leftists themselves, it’s hard to tell how many of them are crisis actors who are paid to scream, moan and threaten, and how many are actually “triggered” by reality. Either way, I think this grand experiment known as the United States of America is just about toast. There is way too much money being poured into subversive groups, and zero effort on the part of so-called government agencies to stop it.
(Actually the government effort is in the other direction: the subversives and their “mostly peaceful protests” are justified because of “social justice.”)
RCA Victor,
That’s something I’ve been wondering about – whether those crackpot protesters are genuine protestors who believe the propaganda about race, white supremacy etc., and who know so little about science that they don’t realise that a baby who is killed in the process of being born is a real human being, or whether they are actors, paid by the likes of George Soros & Co. I’d love to know.
However, if it’s any consolation (and I don’t suppose it is) it’s not only the USA that is “just about toast” – I’ve resolved to re-kindle my baking skills, RIP, precisely because, after the SNP wins in our local elections here, Scotland (if not the entire UK) is “just about toast”…
Get it? Baking skills (cakes, scones) / “toast”?
Editor,
I’ve always admired your wry sense of humor. Get it? Toast/rye?
I know the intimidation is disgraceful, but at least abortion is an issue in the USA, whereas it’s hardly ever discussed here. It’s like everyone accepts it, even the pro-life groups.
Abortion in the UK enjoys wide establishment consensus. The 1967 Abortion Act began as a Private Member’s Bill introduced by one David Steel, a son of the manse, no less. When it was introduced into the House of Lords(19 July 1967), the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke as follows:
[Begins] My Lords, I am very glad to be following the noble Earl, Lord Dundee, because I think that he and I are on the same ground in our understanding of the principle on which this difficult matter should be judged, and on the same ground, also, concerning our view of the line between what is good and what is bad in this Bill. I think that the present law on abortion is shockingly bad, and that the state of affairs existing because of it is shockingly bad. I very much want to see reform of the law about abortion; but I hold that this Bill in its present form contains some very bad features, and unless it is amended in Committee I cannot support it.
Nearly two years ago there was published the Report by a group of Churchmen with the title Abortion—An Ethical Discussion, and I think that this Report has had a good deal of influence upon the consideration of ethical principles in connection with the subject of abortion. I am very glad that we now have the chairman of that group and a chief author of this Report with us in this House in the person of my namesake the Bishop of Durham. He will be speaking to your Lordships to-day for the first time, especially about the question of conscience, which comes under Clause 4 of the Bill.
I want now to speak about the principles involved in Clause 1 of the Bill. I start with a principle which often seems to be rejected or disregarded in these discussions; namely, the principle that the human foetus is sacred and has its right to live and develop. In pre-Christian Europe there was, the evidence suggests, almost no sense of the sacredness of the fœtus and very little repugnance about the practice of abortion. And I do not think we understand the story of our own civilisation unless we realise that it was an enhanced sense of the value of human life which came to condemn both infanticide and abortion.
Of course, infanticide and abortion were not and are not identical, and I cannot follow those who to-day would try to equate them, as we do not know at what stage a foetus becomes a human being or at what stage we should introduce a term like “person”. Yet, because the human foetus is an embryo of a life capable of being God’s child for all eternity, we believe it is right to reverence it and to think of it as having rights. But I should differ—and here I am on the same ground as the Report, Abortion—An Ethical Discussion, which I have mentioned—from the absolutist position in this. I believe that the right of the foetus to live has to be balanced on occasions against another right; namely, the right of the mother to live and not to have her physical or mental health wrecked by childbirth.
If those are our premises, it follows that we should regard as a sound Bill for reforming the law of abortion a Bill which made risk to the life or health of the mother the sole ground for a lawful abortion, and brought under this heading any considerations which can fairly be so brought. In a letter to The Times on May 24, 1967, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Durham joined with me in drawing the line at that point. Since then the Bill has been improved by Amendments in another place, but in the form in which it now comes before your Lordships’ House it contains two features which we feel to be wrong.
In Cause 1(1)(a)(i) there is the reference to the health of existing children of the family. We think this carries the matter of diagnosis into an area of speculation beyond what is reasonable. Presumably, the “existing children of the family” are included because it may be thought that on social or economic grounds an additional member of the family may be prejudicial to their interests. If this is argued on social grounds, are we not coming back dangerously near the argument which this House rejected on February 22, 1966, that abortion is justifiable if the mother is physically or mentally inadequate? The late Lord Brain said on that occasion:
“… these issues ought not to be left to doctors—or, at any rate, not to doctors alone.”[OFFICIAL REPORT, 22/2/66, col. 123.]
As to economic considerations, if society’s aid to a poor family is not adequate, it must be made adequate. It is not for doctors alone, as this Bill would provide, to take a line on these grounds. If we pass the clause with this phrase in it we shall be saying that, because of the existing children, another child should not be allowed to exist in the family.
Then, in Clause 1(1)(b) there is the provision that abortion is lawful when
“there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”.
This has been debated in this House several times before, and all of us share the feelings of compassion which terribly handicapped children arouse in us. But once again, my Lords, if we legislate on the calculation of risks, there is the risk of the destruction of as many, and perhaps more, potentially healthy lives. I agree wholeheartedly with the noble Earl, Lord Dundee, that we cannot forget the people who were born severely handicapped, and yet would honestly say that they were glad to be alive, and also that society has been glad of what they have been able to give to society, in spite of the handicaps with which they start. In drawing the line where we would draw it, we believe that we are taking into account justice as well as compassion, together with the principle of reverence for the foetus as a part of the reverence for human life.
There are, I think, other places in the Bill where improvements can be made, and no doubt other noble Lords will be speaking about these to-day. As to the two matters on which I have concentrated, it would be possible to amend the Bill in these ways. In Clause 1(1)(a) I see no alternative to scrapping altogether the words:
“any existing children of her family”.
I believe those words ought to go out. I feel them to be the social clause coming in again through the back door of a single phrase. As to Clause 1(1)(b), it would be possible to move the reference to the substantial risk of the birth of a handicapped child so as to make it a part of the provision about the mother’s total environment in Clause 1(1)(a). It would be possible, if the promoters of the Bill were so willing to make that change. With these changes, the Bill would make it clear that the mother’s life and health is going to be assessed in relation to total environment, but it would still make the mother’s life and health the sole matter for diagnosis by the doctor, and the sole ground for making abortion lawful.
I feel very strongly, my Lords, that the considerations of principle with which I began call for the amendment of the Bill in these ways. I cannot therefore vote for the Second Reading to-day. I do not want to vote against the Bill to-day, as it is still capable of being made a good Bill. I want, with many other noble Lords, to see the reform of the law on abortion. But if this Bill remains unamended in the matters of which I have spoken, it will in the last resort be a bad Bill, and a bad Bill, I fear, not to be accepted. [Ends]
I find two things interesting here. First, the idea that abortion could be limited to that very small number of cases in which pregnancy is a direct threat to the mother’s life. Second, The Archbishop’s remarks about pre-Christian Europe. We are indeed sliding back into paganism.
I should have added that this leftist anarchist activity is nothing more than the template of “color revolutions” that have been used for years. A color revolution is the destabilization of a state from sources without, providing funds, organization and support to citizens within. Here is an excellent article about this:
https://patelpatriot.substack.com/p/devolution-part-12?s=r
RCA Victor,
The opening paragraphs of that “patelpatriot” – excellent – article, linked by you, underline the difference in the world under Biden. To think how relatively peaceful life was for us all when Trump was in office. He, of course, suffered torment from his enemies but things were nothing like as bad as they are now, world-wide. It never ceases to amaze me that some commentators actually seem to believe that things are better (“calmer” !) under Biden. And one thing that never ceases to amaze me is that Trump’s so-called friends in the UK – notably Nigel Farage – get irritated by his claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Clearly, they’re blissfully unaware of Joe Biden’s very public admission that this is the case (and it was the case for Obama, too, if we are to believe Biden!) Here it is again – to refresh memories…
Editor,
Funny you should post that clip. I’ve just attended the excellent new Dinesh D’Souza movie “2000 Mules,” which proves the 2020 election fraud by exposing the methodology, via the use of state-operated surveillance videos of ballot drop boxes and cell phone locators. The movie began with Dementia Joe’s above admission (D’Souza borrowed the term “mule” from drug mules – i.e. a person who transports illegal drugs that are concealed.)
The showings were only 2 days, but if anyone is interested in purchasing it online, here is the link:
https://secure.2000mules.com/?q=5e67d334-202e-4729-8831-365de537eadb&p=8e396dd9-9591-4a54-9916-899681974a94&ts=1651883096&c=ticketsocket&e=2000mules1&rt=Safetynet&h=0c8abfa067dfd4c6e4322d0777916380
(I don’t know if a purchase can be made from outside the USA, however).
RCA Victor,
I’m very glad to know that someone in the media is using that clip – it never ceases to amaze me that none of the main commentators (LIKE Tucker Carlson) don’t use it. I’d be playing it over and over and OVER again, if I had their audience reach. The idea that the election was rigged is dismissed here as nothing more than Trumpian sour grapes and/or a conspiracy theory.
I notice that Sebastian Gorka is involved in the event you linked so maybe he will use the clip on his own show(s) and mention it more often now.
The promise of disruptive protests at Catholic churches around the country is real. I suspect they will target high-population areas – i.e., cities, which are easiest for the protestors to get to, and which typically have Democrat-controlled officials. The ushers at my chapel stand ready to help maintain order should troublemakers stir up trouble.
The reversal of “Roe v. Wade” and “Planned Parenthood v. Casey” would be a marvelous win – perhaps this would be a sign that our Lady was pleased by the recent consecration, even if it was not done by the book? That outcome is not certain, however: the justices have not issued their official ruling yet. Until they do, we should pray and watch matters closely. Good Lord willing, that will happen in June, after the justices have a chance to add their individual amendments and comments to Justice Alito’s draft.
There is a trick the Democrats are capable of that could alter the outcome. When Justice Stephen Breyer retires from the Supreme Court, his replacement is to be radical leftist Ketanji Brown Jackson. President Biden could swear Jackson in at any time, however – i.e., he does not need to wait until after Justice Breyer resigns. If Biden were to do that, then the Supreme Court would be split 5-5, and the reversal of Roe/Casey will have been thwarted. This would also set the stage for packing the court, which the country’s leftists have been caterwauling about for a while now.
The conservatives on the Court have an option to counter this scenario. The four remaining conservative Justices could sign on to Alito’s draft at any time; if they had any commentaries or qualifications, these could be published later. If the conservative Justices were to do this, then the reversal of Roe and Casey would be immediate.
WurdeSmythe,
Justice Breyer is already gone (retired), and the new justice (the Marxist, Jackson) already seated. Regarding the leaked Roe v Wade draft opinion , I thought it was an interesting coincidence that the leak happened not very long after Jackson was confirmed, and wondered if it was one of her staff that leaked the document. Far left justice….far left staff, no doubt….virulent baby-killers with zero ethics.
Not quite: Breyer has not retired yet, and Jackson has not yet been seated (though she has been confirmed). The Supreme Court web site still shows Breyer on board – https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx
Interestingly, the news of Breyer’s retirement was also leaked by White House chief of staff Ron Klain back in January. It seems that Democrats lobbied for his retirement (a more critical take on the matter is that the White House pressured him off the bench). In his announcement letter, Breyer said he would retire at the end of his term, which would be late June or early July – https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2022/01/Letter-to-President-January-27-2022.pdf
The idea of Jackson’s people leaking the Alito opinion is interesting. I’ll be curious to see if the culprits are ever identified.
Mass possession? I think not. More like a massive eclipse of conscience brought on over decades by many factors, among which the prevalence in the West of very poor quality Christianity (across the denominational spectrum); the decline of the family (divorce, one parent families, etc.), with all of the ensuing misery and its consequences for personal development; the dumbing down of education and the fragmentation of culture in general; the rise on the Left of identity politics; and, not least, the rise of an atheistic and tyrannical mass media which has renounced even a veneer of objectivity.
One could go on, but let me deal in particular with poor quality Christianity, by which I mean a Christianity in which the God question becomes secondary or even tertiary. Contemporary Christianity all too often shows little interest in God, the Holy Trinity, Christ, or personal salvation, instead using the Christian name to pursue a this-worldly agenda. (Who mentioned Pope Francis? Not me! Have mercy!) But, as CS Lewis succinctly put it: ‘[God] will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of Heaven as a short cut to the nearest chemist’s shop.’ Quite, but for ‘revive’, read ‘use’.
Christianity of this type is basically a retreat in the eternal war between good and evil which has allowed the Enemy to advance. (In the Catholic Church it is represented in iconic fashion by the once great Jesuit Order, now, sadly, a shadow of its former self and a vehicle for ugliness and misbelief, a veritable cancer in the ecclesial body awaiting extirpation by courageous shepherds.) At best it is a genuine mistake by those who thought that relevancy for the Church in the face of the world was to be sought in action over contemplation, when action should in fact always flow from contemplation. At worse, it is a gross abdication of responsibility at every level of the Church, the laity included. And it is destined to continue until we realise that we cannot subtract ourselves from this battle and that our choice is either to be victorious or to succumb.
Leitourgos
“Mass possession? I think not. More like a massive eclipse of conscience brought on over decades…”
You misunderstand my reference to “possession”. Here’s what I wrote – in my introductory remarks to this thread.
“These protesters are, as far as the eye can see, possessed.”
I was not referring to everyone in any way connected to the dire state of western society over decades; I was referring to those who are currently and immediately protesting the Supreme Court leaked opinion / judgement on Roe Vs Wade… Those for whom the barricades have been erected outside the court, to protect the judges; those who are publishing the addresses of the judges online; those who are threatening to (and have now carried out their threat) to protest at Catholic churches.
If they’re not diabolically possessed, at some level, then I am lost for words – bound to happen eventually!
Wurdesmythe,
Personally, I think Our Lady will be well past the point of being indulgent towards these endless inadequate consecrations, but you make an interesting point.
I saw the clip of Ketanji Brown Jackson where she refuses to define “woman” on the grounds that she isn’t a biologist – incredible. A very low bar for making judgements, so it will be interesting to see how her career in the Supreme Court develops.
I agree about the consecration – it’s time for the real thing. I think God must be beyond livid about these “endless inadequate consecrations”. The solution to the worrying state of the world is so simple and yet the popes and bishops just don’t see it.
My comment appeared under RCA Victor’s reply to WurdeSmythe, but I really meant it as in response to Editor’s opening remarks.
Joe Biden, who never misses a chance to flaunt his Catholic (lack of) Faith, is refusing to condemn the proposed attacks on churches and the homes of the Supreme Court justices. Lifesitenews reporting…
https://www.lifenews.com/2022/05/06/joe-biden-wont-condemn-abortion-activists-plan-to-attack-churches/
Joe Biden is a joke … humanly, politically, cognitively, religiously. To understand his baseness, we need look no further than St Thomas More who went to the scaffold rather than renounce Catholic teaching. Biden, on the other hand, would accept abortion up to the point of birth (i.e infanticide) just to keep the support of the Left of his party. Talk about retail politics … prostitution by another name.
To see the issue simply as Left v. Right is simplistic. It’s multi dimensional now. Gender and racial issues to name two. The damm is burst. Get the lifebelts on.
Rapport,
I agree, because there are banners at these protests which say “Catholics for Abortion” and we already know that there are, shockingly, Catholics who support abortion, and at least one who supports it up to birth – Joe Biden. So I think you are right, it’s about more than “left vs right”. It’s about a whole loss of any moral compass.
The good news about this today is that the Supreme Court is not going to buckle. One of the judges says they won’t be bullied, so that is fantastic news.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/thomas/2022/05/06/id/1068833/?ns_mail_uid=4b380e32-dcc0-4ab1-86cc-52291b2765dc&ns_mail_job=DM329983_05072022&s=acs&dkt_nbr=01050257gqb8
It’s terrible to think that those judges’ lives are at risk just for doing their job. I was amazed watching what happened to Brett Kavanaugh wondering why anyone would want to be nominated, but I’m even more amazed now, seeing this vengefulness. If judges can’t make judgements out of fear of the mob, how can there be a civil society? It’s disgraceful.
OFF TOPIC… SOMETHING VERY INTERESTING [ABOUT SCOTLAND!] FROM THE USA FOR US ALL TO ENJOY…
On 1 May, 2022, I received the following email from Wurdesmythe, who is one of our sometime/not often enough (!) American bloggers (see above!)
About 20 years ago, my friends from church in Atlanta, Joe and Eileen Sheppard, invited me to the birthday party for their five-year old daughter Teresa.
I have no idea what to buy a five-year-old girl.
So, I went to a toy store and bought something I thought I might have liked at that age. I settled on a lyrical harp for kids; you slide the sheet music under the strings and then follow the notes to know where to pluck. Here’s an example
My part was easy. Teresa did all the hard work for many years after that.
To say that Teresa took to the instrument is an understatement. From the lyrical harp she moved on to other instruments, until she learned to play the harp. Her mother told me that over the years, Teresa would rather play the harp that do schoolwork or just about anything else. Teresa has since taken a degree in music and won a number of awards for her playing. She’s toured Ireland and Scotland on a scholarship, and today in Charleston, South Carolina – for the second time – she won the Princess Margaret of the Isles harp competition from Clan MacDonald.
Teresa comes on stage at the 1:02:00, and she gets going in earnest at around 1:06:00. Her performance runs for about 25-30 minutes.2nd Annual Scottish Classic – Enjoy…
In an email today, 7 May, giving permission to publish the above email, Wurdesmythe adds…
Teresa also has her own web site when you can listen to more of her harping – see https://teresawiththeharp.wixsite.com/teresawiththeharp/about
End of Email(s)
Thanks for sharing this with us, Wurdesmythe – I enjoyed the video, the music, of course, and also listening to the Americans talking about Scottish musical tradition – lamenting that it’s not taught in Scottish schools and universities these days; neither, however, is any other Scottish tradition taught any more – e.g. Scottish history! And it was a little amusing to hear the man invited from the Scottish islands to judge the competition announce the winner in his posh English accent! Still, he was wearing a kilt 😀 Seriously, the Scottish islands seem to be populated largely by people from England – I’ve heard it said that few native Scots want to live away up there 😀
Again, thank you for this treat, Wurdesmythe – Teresa is a lovely, very talented young woman, and her performance is beyond enjoyable. Very. Beyond. Enjoyable… 😀
I haven’t watched the whole video but quite a bit of it and the music is superb! Teresa knows her stuff! She is a beautiful young woman, very graceful.
Wurdesmythe should be proud of having set her on the path, probably to fame and fortune in the world of music!
As long as that same world of fame and fortune doesn’t lead her away from her Catholic faith (I’m making assumptions based on Wurdesmythe’s email saying he knows her parents from church) then that is all to the good. She can be an influencer in Hollywood!
I enjoyed the music and seeing all the tartan. Made me feel quite at home, LOL!
Yes, Teresa remains a practicing Traditional Catholic.
I took a skim through Teresa’s video – what a lovely young lady! She is wonderfully talented. I love the harp, always have, but haven’t heard it played in years, so that was a treat. She took her two prizes so modestly, very graceful as Fidelis said. I felt sorry for the two girls who didn’t win anything but that’s the whole thing about competitions, not everyone can be a #1 winner.
I didn’t know they had Robert Burns’ societies over in the States, so that’s interesting, and it was very nice to see the tartan.
Just to lift the rock to see what cockroaches come crawling out, the groups who are planning these attacks are funded by what is known as “dark money” – a euphemism for wealthy leftists whose contributions fly under the financial accountability radar (such as with offshore accounts and tax shelters – not required to disclose their donations). This is the same dark money behind the current cardboard prop sitting in the White House, not to mention propping up various Deep State stooges.
I think it is this dark money – including cash flowing from the coffers of Zuckerberg, Soros and Gates – that is responsible for the dismantling of the USA, transforming a once-functional society into a banana republic. The most disturbing part of this transformation is that the institutions we once trusted to govern, protect and inform us have turned against us and are now our enemies….and we are their enemies (aka “domestic terrorists).
RCA Victor,
I have to say, I am just astounded at the speed with which America has gone to pieces since Trump was cheated out of his rightful return to the White House in 2020. Now that that has happened once, actually twice if we are to believe Biden himself in the video above where he says they cheated to get Obama into office as well, how can we trust the 2022 and 2024 elections? It’s unthinkable what has been going on.
RCA Victor,
I do not mean to give offence, but many of us who know the U.S. are often taken aback by just how ill-informed much of the population is in matters of politics (which is not to say that things are better elsewhere, and certainly not in Scotland where we are addicted to one party rule). What is your take on this? Is it just the sheer size of the place? Is it the fragmentary nature of the mass media and the emerging network society?
Leitourgos,
No offence taken….my guess is that the ill-informed largely fall into two groups: one, the denizens of the left who are unable to feed upon (or withstand) anything but their own propaganda. Two, the much larger group of those who come home from work, turn on the TV “news” and vegetate. An evening walk through most neighborhoods, even upper class areas, reveals the flickering lights of the ubiquitous boob tube shining through almost all living room windows.
In other words, the great silent middle, not ideologues at all, has been brainwashed for many years by their naïve assumption that what they are looking at is actual news, when it is the Party Line.
WurdeSymthe,
Thanks for the correction above, I was not aware of that. Found this:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/when-will-ketanji-brown-jackson-sworn-in-supreme-court
More speculation: regarding the frenzy to replace one leftist with another on the Court, I wonder if the D-RATS’ motive was to ensure a leftist seat, just in case a return of Trump would mean Breyer would be replaced by a “conservative.”
Just so. Breyer is more of a conventional, pro-abortion liberal (which is bad enough), while Jackson is a radical leftist who has been guilty of judicial activism – i.e., she’s had decisions reversed for judicial overreach. Presumably she will do more of the same when she is on the Supreme Court , deviating from the text of the Constitution to ensure the Left’s preferred policy outcomes.
The Democrats are mixed in their view of Justice Ginsburg (R.I.P). She was a progressive pro-abortion vote, and she refused to retire when she was old and unwell. When she died, Trump was able to appoint a more-or-less conservative justice to the Supreme Court, shifting the balance toward the conservative side.
Here is one of my all-time favourite presenters at GB News – Mark Steyn – always with his own dry, often hilarious, coverage of current affairs. His take on the Supreme Court leak is no exception…
When you think of the complaints there are here during Lent when the pro-lifers do their 40 Days for Life prayer vigils outside abortion clinics and hospitals where abortions are performed, it just shows that, whichever side of The Pond you are on, no dissent from the pro-abortion narrative is allowed. People just praying outside these abortion centres are harassed and even reported to the police by the jokingly named “pro-choicers”.
As we saw, though, “my body, my choice” didn’t apply to those of us who didn’t want the Covid injection. Suddenly, it was not the case the you could decide for yourself what to do with your body. The hypocrisy is blatant.
I just hope those Supreme Court judges stand firm and don’t buckle under this bullying pressure.
Mack,
Your second paragraph hits THE nail on the head. During all the talk about the [evil] unvaccinated, we asked that question here – whatever happened to “my body, my choice”.
I think the judges WILL stand firm – but God help Catholics in churches in the USA tomorrow; seems there are going to be protests all over America, as Catholics attend Mass. Won’t be pleasant.
Mack,
You are probably a virtuous soul, one that a) still notices hypocrisy, and b) recognizes it for what it is, a form of lying. And this brings me to my point: the Left has legitimated lying and turned it into a just routine device in the toolbox of politics. Let me say at once that I am fully aware that telling lies can also be of the Right. But it is surely one thing to tell lies. It is quite another to elevate lying to as an accepted part of the system, just a normal part of political discourse, in the erroneous belief that the ends justify the means, i.e. that it is morally acceptable do do evil that good may come of it (a principle not unrelated to the Left’s striving for abortion on demand until, or even after, the point of birth). This comes specifically from the Left, and in its contemporary form owes much to the Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, one time leader of the Italian Communist Party.
Now, in a functioning democracy, lying would be out of bounds because the Fourth Estate would hold the liar’s feet to the fire. But in our day, the Fourth estate is inhabited to a very great extent by political activists masquerading as journalists who are only too willing to hide and compound the lies of their political allies. Again, this is mostly a phenomenon of the Left, the Right having very few seats in the Fourth Estate in the first place.
Thus our politics is effectively being short circuited, although few seem to notice or want to notice. Truth is a basic human need. I will close with a poem — Hilaire Belloc’s ‘Matilsa’ — I remember from my primary schhol days (mid 1970s), read to us by that wonderful teacher Mrs Higgins whom I believe is still alive:
Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one’s Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,
Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,
Attempted to Believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killed her,
And would have done so, had not She
Discovered this Infirmity.
For once, towards the Close of Day,
Matilda, growing tired of play,
And finding she was left alone,
Went tiptoe to the Telephone
And summoned the Immediate Aid
Of London’s Noble Fire-Brigade.
Within an hour the Gallant Band
Were pouring in on every hand,
From Putney, Hackney Downs, and Bow
With Courage high and Hearts a-glow
They galloped, roaring through the Town
‘Matilda’s House is Burning Down!’
Inspired by British Cheers and Loud
Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,
They ran their ladders through a score
Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;
And took Peculiar Pains to Souse
The Pictures up and down the House,
Until Matilda’s Aunt succeeded
In showing them they were not needed;
And even then she had to pay
To get the Men to go away!
It happened that a few Weeks later
Her Aunt was off to the Theatre
To see that Interesting Play
The Second Mrs Tanqueray.
She had refused to take her Niece
To hear this Entertaining Piece:
A Deprivation Just and Wise
To Punish her for Telling Lies.
That Night a Fire did break out-
You should have heard Matilda Shout!
You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,
And throw the window up and call
To People passing in the Street-
(The rapidly increasing Heat
Encouraging her to obtain
Their confidence)-but all in vain!
For every time She shouted ‘Fire!’
They only answered ‘Little Liar’!
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were Burned.
‘My body, my choice.’
I suppose those in favour of abortion would say — and they would have a point, at least at first sight — that we are dealing here with two very different moral scenarios. If Person A has a abortion, they would argue, the effects are limited to Person A. Whereas if Person A refuses a vaccine, Person A might by his actions infect, perhaps lethally, numerous others. (Most of us here, of course, would add that the effects of an abortion are also felt by the foetus — most obviously, but not exclusively — as something distinct from Person A.)
Any way around or out of this? How would you counter-argue?
Editor,
My last post set me thinking about a possible topic for those lighter threads which occasionally appear in the blog and which I find very enjoyable. We all have a great debt towards our teachers. I certainly was extremely lucky, no blessed, with my primary school teachers who not only taught me to read, but to love reading and books. (God bless them all until we meet merrily in Paradise!) Why not a thread on our teachers and what they did for us humanly and as regards the faith? Just a suggestion.
Leitourgos,
Sure – that’s a good suggestion. Will try to post a “teachers” thread asap.
Dear friends
We are confronted with one of a group of symbiotic evils in our world today- the destruction of the innocents.
I find the entire matter deeply evil, insidious and designed to provoked such an intended backlash against pro life individuals and groups within the political system and further afield.
It shows how deeply the evil one has penetrated American and Global society. Fifty million innocent human beings murdered under the perverse argument of ‘ my body my choice and the right to choose’ since Roe vs Wade. It is nothing less than genocide.
I suspect that Biden and company will use this current situation to tighten the Abortion laws even further and may even attempt to make pro life beliefs a hate crime towards any who strongly opposes Abortion.
They deny the existence of the child in the womb to begin with then simultaneously contradict themselves by stating that it’s wrong for anyone to oppose Abortion or pro choice. It shows deep down they know exactly what is occurring within an Abortion and they pervert logic and language to justify this evil.
This innocent blood cries to Heaven for redress.
Michael 🙏
Michael
You’re right, it doesn’t come more insidiously evil than abortion. Targetting the innocents in the womb is absolutely straight from Hell.
Regardless of who or what motivates the pro-abortion brigade on a superficial level, we know that Lucifer is the spirit behind it. He’s raging right now at the thought of his child sacrifices being reduced and has therefore mobilised an army of darkness to combat the ensuing light.
Athanasius
Amen!
I completely concur it is the supernatural forces of Lucifer and the legions of hell who are ultimately behind this.
In addition, regarding his earthly minions they are merely following out the dictates of their father from Hell.
Christus Vincit Rex
Michael 🙏
A very excellent synthesis from Athanasius!
I’ve just seen this snippet from EWTN – their reporter quizzed the White House Press Secretary (Jen Psaki), asking her about the attack on a Catholic Church today, and also asking who, in the administration is ” looking out for the unborn child?”
Here’s a shocker – Justice Roberts caving…
https://jdrucker.substack.com/p/cowardly-chief-justice-john-roberts?s=r
Here’s an American Catholic TV presenter vs a medical student on when life begins.
Mack,
Many thanks for posting that. The medical student?!$%! Please God, she never becomes a doctor. Blind as a bat, morally speaking. Michael Knowles is terrific in that clip.
Nicola Sturgeon slapped down one of her MSPs for departing from the party line on abortion. She mentions the American context.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/nicola-sturgeon-slaps-down-snp-msp-john-mason-over-wrong-abortion-comments/ar-AAX40sT?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=fd4bf952e2c842509a777048a504e125
I’ve just received this from a pro-life group – Lord Alton on the Supreme Court & Roe Vs Wade leak…
https://thecritic.co.uk/american-judges-have-chosen-life-so-should-britain/