Tired and Worn Down by our ****** Social Life

[edwest2]

That is so sad to hear. I feel like they are insulting our faith.

A close friend of mine had a coworker who always talked about her husband. Then, one day, he found out they weren’t married. Ten years later, she tells my friend she moved out. He dryly asked her if she got a divorce.

So if people have no guide, no yardstick - no standards - almost anything goes, or they create fictional relationships. I am not dealing with or accepting any shack-up relationship where the man or the woman talk about “his side of the family.” They aren’t married! There is no “his side of the family.” It’s fictional. Either one could walk out on the other at any time.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

Good ol’ Fritz Perl! “I do my thing, and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped.”

I don’t know - do you think the Victorian era with all the hedonism behind closed doors (aka hypocrisy) was better? Then most of the innocent victims were born into the lower classes, so they didn’t matter.

And hypocrisy doesn’t exist today? Just because people are open about their hedonism, does that make it a good thing? NO! OF COURSE NOT! I am sick and tired in living in the rubble that used to be communities.

No self respect.

No respect for the opposite sex.

No role models.

Parents who just throw food and clothes in the general direction of their kids, and who let them eat what THEY want. WHO is the PARENT? Not their mom. It could be some friends, the TV or the internet, but parents don’t want to be parents. Hard enough to wash their clothes and go shopping for them. It takes away from the fun, fun, fun.

No respect for others in general. I mean, who cares who your neighbors are? They could be dope dealers, prostitutes, whatever. When people aren’t willing to CARE anymore, except - maybe - only for themselves, then true communities can’t exist.

And if you want to live your life - without drawing attention to yourself - as a PRACTICING Christian, you don’t watch the filth on TV or in the movies. You don’t go to bars or strip clubs or spend hours watching porn and/or smoking dope.

A better society starts with each one of us rejecting the current version, because the hedonists worked hard over the last 40 years to turn it into what it is today.

And some post here to defend it. No. There is right and wrong, life and death. Choose life so that you may do God’s will and be counted among His friends and those who do His will. Not to boast, but because the Living God sees all we do and loves us as we are.

Peace,
Ed

 

[manualman]

I love thinking about the roots of what ails modern culture and society. But it’s not healthy unless it’s accompanied by a healthy amount of time with an examination of conscience and some quiet time to figure out where I’M to blame in the mess.

Not accusing anybody, mind you. Just a friendly reminder and a lesson I’m trying to learn.

 

[7armyrugrats]

That is so sad to hear. I feel like they are insulting our faith.

I agree. My husband and I have seen it over and over. It’s not just the US either. In his town in Mexico it is customary for a couple to move in together, have as many kids as they are planning to have, and then get married, all the kids baptized, confirmed, first communion, at the same Mass so they only need to pay for one party. Thankfully his family doesn’t follow that, his dads side at least. His moms side does it like that though. My family here in the states isn’t any better lately either. We have told the kids repeatedly that we will NEVER support sinful behavior under any conditions. We will love them and pray for them but we will not support it at all. So far one of our kids is an adult and he is on the right path, so with his example I’m hopeful the rest will follow

 

[BlueEyedLady]

And hypocrisy doesn’t exist today? Just because people are open about their hedonism, does that make it a good thing? NO! OF COURSE NOT! I am sick and tired in living in the rubble that used to be communities.

No self respect.

No respect for the opposite sex.

No role models.

Parents who just throw food and clothes in the general direction of their kids, and who let them eat what THEY want. WHO is the PARENT? Not their mom. It could be some friends, the TV or the internet, but parents don’t want to be parents. Hard enough to wash their clothes and go shopping for them. It takes away from the fun, fun, fun.

No respect for others in general. I mean, who cares who your neighbors are? They could be dope dealers, prostitutes, whatever. When people aren’t willing to CARE anymore, except - maybe - only for themselves, then true communities can’t exist.

And if you want to live your life - without drawing attention to yourself - as a PRACTICING Christian, you don’t watch the filth on TV or in the movies. You don’t go to bars or strip clubs or spend hours watching porn and/or smoking dope.

A better society starts with each one of us rejecting the current version, because the hedonists worked hard over the last 40 years to turn it into what it is today.

And some post here to defend it. No. There is right and wrong, life and death. Choose life so that you may do God’s will and be counted among His friends and those who do His will. Not to boast, but because the Living God sees all we do and loves us as we are.

Peace,
Ed

Do you live in an apartment above a bar on the Las Vegas strip? Seriously, I lead just about the most secular life imaginable and I have no idea where you are getting your sweeping generalizations of society. I love and respect my family, I love and respect my husband, I know and help out the people who live near me just as they know me and help me out, despite the fact that I live in a tiny apartment in a major city. My friends are not prostitutes or drug dealers, nor would they want to associate with either. Yes, there are some unsavory things out there, but most of your posts revolve around how horrible the world is, and frankly my experience has been nothing like what you describe.

 

[manualman]

Do you live in an apartment above a bar on the Las Vegas strip? Seriously, I lead just about the most secular life imaginable and I have no idea where you are getting your sweeping generalizations of society. I love and respect my family, I love and respect my husband, I know and help out the people who live near me just as they know me and help me out, despite the fact that I live in a tiny apartment in a major city. My friends are not prostitutes or drug dealers, nor would they want to associate with either. Yes, there are some unsavory things out there, but most of your posts revolve around how horrible the world is, and frankly my experience has been nothing like what you describe.

Age gap. Ed’s a grizzled old veteran of the culture wars. You’re young and engaged and an optimist. I’m somewhere in between in age. Give it time. I’ve seen people die from drug and alcohol abuse, I’ve seen infidelity, divorce, abuse, abortion. And that’s just in my extended family. And I live in a quiet suburb. Life is messy, people are messy and sinful. It’s why we need a Savior. It’s not as easy to see when you’re young, but you’ve got a strong mind and actively observe the world.

Shakespeare nailed it. People really are good and lovable. But they also have tragic flaws that will destroy them if not addressed. Our society really has done what Ed has observed: declared more and more tragic flaws to be virtues rather than flaws at all. But reality doesn’t care what label people use. It is what it is.

 

[Bonnie]

Age gap. Ed’s a grizzled old veteran of the culture wars. You’re young and engaged and an optimist. I’m somewhere in between in age.

I don’t think it has much to do with age. I’m old, yet I don’t get bent out of shape by our culture - or lack of it. I do think the world would be a better place if we listened to more Bach and read more good books.

My husband has trouble accepting the world as it is and keeps insisting on political change.

So I believe it’s a matter of temperment, not age.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

Age gap. Ed’s a grizzled old veteran of the culture wars. You’re young and engaged and an optimist. I’m somewhere in between in age. Give it time. I’ve seen people die from drug and alcohol abuse, I’ve seen infidelity, divorce, abuse, abortion. And that’s just in my extended family. And I live in a quiet suburb. Life is messy, people are messy and sinful. It’s why we need a Savior. It’s not as easy to see when you’re young, but you’ve got a strong mind and actively observe the world.

Shakespeare nailed it. People really are good and lovable. But they also have tragic flaws that will destroy them if not addressed. Our society really has done what Ed has observed: declared more and more tragic flaws to be virtues rather than flaws at all. But reality doesn’t care what label people use. It is what it is.

You are the first person to refer to me as an optimist since I believed in Santa. A better description is young, married, and cynical.

Of course I have seen all of those things you have listed. What I don’t see is people marrying people that they don’t really know because of sex, I don’t see the majority of secular parents as people who aren’t devoted to their kids, I don’t see a society that celebrates infidelity and the tearing apart of families, I don’t see cruel people at every turn, I don’t see people being encouraged to walk out on their families and abandon their children, etc.

 

[Kelfa28]

Divorce is something that should be avoided at all costs…but, is unavoidable in certain situations.
For me…it’s not the divorce itself thats the problem. It’s the remarriages and subsequent divorces thereafter that are the biggest problems.

My poor husband was left seriously jaded about marriage thanks to everything his parents put him through and are still engaging in to this day.

They were both married and divorced with one child each. They married each other and had my husband. Just him…done purposely thanks to a quick procedure to assure no additional children.
Then they divorced and dragged my husband through the mud, for the majority of his childhood, with new live-in boyfriends and girlfriends every couple of years.
To this day…my MIL entertains the idea of getting married a third time. This horrifies and angers my husband.

It’s a topic that leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. My husband was lucky to come out of this mess as well as he did. But, it kills me to think that parents could care so little about the children they bring into this world.

Hey, sometimes divorce is necessary. Remarriage isn’t. I believe that remarriage shouldn’t even be entertained until children are grown and out of the house.

We need:

1. Dating without sexual intercourse, where you actually get to know each other BEFORE the ceremony. Sex means nothing if you don’t really care about each other and like each other as whole persons BEFORE the ceremony. You find out what she expects from marriage. You plan. You commit. And you learn good ways to work out problems BEFORE the ceremony. You are to be partners.
2. Put your time into doing clean, wholesome things. Teach your kids crafts and how to make things and you can do the same. (There are a lot of books that teach crafts.) Play board games with them. Do simple things as a family, like sledding in the winter and playing ball just for fun when the weather is warmer. It’s good exercise and fun. We need clean fun, not the filth pouring out of our TV. Pick up a hobby or take a painting class.
3. Buy a cross with the body of Christ and hang it up in your home.
4. Help start or join a Catholic social group at your Church. Meet some of those strangers that you see in Church and get to know them.
5. Do something to help the poor. It could be putting money in the poor box at Church or donating to the local soup kitchen.
6. I know some Churches have groups to evangelize the local community. This could be handing out pamphlets to people or setting up a sign and card table at a local public place, and inviting people to talk about and get to know Jesus Christ.

We cannot afford to be invisible.

Peace,
Ed

I agree with all of this.
Very well said!

 

[Blue_Horizon]

The odd thing is, it’s not just the non-Christians, but Christians. I recently read that Christians (don’t remember if it was Christians in general or just Protesants or just Catholics) divorce and remarry at the same rate as non-Christians.

Can’t really blame “society” because we are supposed to get our moral teaching from the Church.

Isn’t it strange that even a lifetime of being socialised/educated in the Church seems to make not one jot of difference . At least on the outside.

 

[edwest2]

You don’t watch much TV or go to movies? It is all documented. Regardless of your age, all the data points in one direction - down. Only those who follow Christ have the whole picture, and I believe there are those who have part of the picture but lack the fullness of the truth.

1. In the 1950s and 1960s, we did not lock our doors at night. The government and the media, along with most movies and all TV shows, reflected and respected Christian values. All the moms for miles and miles were stay at home moms. No, I’m not saying it was perfect, but it was definitely a lot better.

1968 The great assault begins. Anarchists and Hippies reject all authority, including the Church. “Don’t trust anyone over 30!” This was the opening phase of the Sex without love Revolution. And illegal drugs are cool, especially marijuana.

And then there was this little event that was “unprecedented in the history of the Church.” Everybody got that because it’s very important. Pope Paul VI issues Humanae Vitae, reaffirming constant Church teaching about artificial birth control, even after he was counseled to loosen the restrictions.

"Within 24 hours, in an event unprecedented in the history of the Church, more than 200 dissenting theologians signed a full-page ad in The New York Times in protest. Not only did they declare their disagreement with encyclical’s teaching; they went one step further, far beyond their authority as theologians, and actually encouraged dissent among the lay faithful.

"They asserted the following: “Therefore, as Roman Catholic theologians, conscious of our duty and our limitations, we conclude that spouses may responsibly decide according to their conscience that artificial contraception in some circumstances is permissible and indeed necessary to preserve and foster the values and sacredness of marriage.”

Source: Regnum Christi

Pope Paul VI warned that there would be an increase in promiscuity if his words weren’t heeded.

1969 Time to get people convinced that legalizing abortion was a good thing but enemy number one, the Catholic Church, had to be neutralized. Was the truth used? No.

catholicnewsagency.com/resources/abortion/articles-and-addresses/an-ex-abortionist-speaks/

1970s To help get people addicted to porn and get involved with adultery, porn bookstores, topless bars and strip clubs open everywhere. The worst product were the swingers magazines filled with pictures of mostly partly nude women who you could contact for anonymous, no strings attached sex. I mean the films and magazines were bad too, but here was a directory for private fornication and adultery with real people. And the planned addiction pattern to graphic porn began. What was meant to be private was now public. Oh Christians complained alright, but the pornographers had high-priced lawyers to keep us religious nuts at bay. “We have the First Amendment right!!!”

When I saw my first such store, I thought, “Who allowed this?” A few years earlier, the worst you could legally do was buy Playboy.

1973 After the millions who died in World War II, a new war was legalized against babies in the womb. Millions would die. Millions. Sex without love needed The Pill but when that failed, abortion was the ultimate form of contraception. And women were lied to: “It’s just a blob of tissue.” “It’s not a person.”

Then the movies gradually become more sexual along with TV. I thought the 70s were not that bad but when you hit the 80s it’s very clear where things are going. By the mid 80s it was half good / half bad. By the end of the 80s, George Michael is yelling “I Want Your Sex!” on the radio, which was banned in parts of the US and Canada.

1990s Into the abyss. The songs are getting less moral, shock jocks talking graphic sex, and interviewing prostitutes they called “porn stars.” Dysfunctional characters begin to dominate the movies and TV. The abnormal is presented as “realism.” I quit listening to FM radio in the 90s. I stop buying albums. Then rap, with gun violence, disrespecting women, profanity, and dope. And the music videos. Young women being exploited as nothing but meat. Then the internet.

And Catholics wonder: “How did it all get this way?” I watched it unfold, and it caused me pain as it did. Even cartoons began to feature the current character template: The Dysfunctionals. And let’s not forget our favorite serial killer, Dexter, and his foul-mouthed, fornicating step-sister. You can get a whole season at Target. I’m waiting for a show about those lovable cannibals next door. They’re just like us, they just eat different.

I’m OK, You’re OK was the title of a book. The title is a lie. “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” Satanist, Aleister Crowley.

Christians should not love the world, which went through a period of betterment but then went through a period of degradation which continues to this day.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Nimzovik]

Google Mens’ Rights Activists. There are men out there that are tired of getting jacked around by selfish women and the court system that supports them. Many of them have been given the royal flush and don’t want to have anything to do with it anymore. Many MRAs describe themselves as “Alpha Males”.

Yes** indeed.**

There is also the MGTOW group as well. (Men Go Their Own Way)

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

We got freedom, man. Do your own thing. Marriage don’t mean much anymore. It’s all good. And the kids. That’s life, ya know? You should embrace Accidental Living and Selfishness. And remember the words of those Hippies: “Hey man. If it feels good, do it.” Or just pick up a copy of One zillion things you can do to ruin your community.

And remember - all laws against pleasure are oppressive. Ya know what I’m sayin’ man? Radical Individualism means you get to do whatever you want, whenever you want with whoever you want. You’re not responsible for nuthin’ unless you get caught. Besides, women gotta be liberated from their maternity.

Face it. Right and wrong are up to you. Only your pleasure matters. Nuthin’ wrong with smokin’ dope if you wanna. Know what I’m sayin’? And if somebody tells you different, just tell 'em to shut up and mind their own business!

The above is Anarchy. It is not good for individuals or families but it was promoted in gradual steps over a 40 year period to get to this point.

“Modern individualism, which is divorced from the moral foundations of Christianity and surrounded by a hedonistic society, has produced a way of life that is neither beneficial to individuals nor productive to society at large. Individualism used to be expressed positively within the context of the family, the community, the church and the government. Personal rights were subjected to the overall good of society. But individualism today no longer observes such boundaries. The cry is, ‘I want what I want when I want it!’ Such selfish individualism weakens the very underpinnings of a nation built on strong moral foundations.” From the book, Holiness and the Spirit of the Age by Floyd McClung as quoted in Storm Warning by Billy Graham.

Peace,
Ed

Pardon the tangent, but that stuff you talked about re:government/anarchy, it reminded me of something that happened during my childhood.

My parents used to drop their change in the junk drawer in the kitchen. Now, they gave me an allowance, but my allowance “just wasn’t enough,” so I used to raid that drawer for coins so I could go buy some baseball cards at the store around the corner. I was always sneaky about it, taking just enough to avoid detection.

But one time, I got too greedy, taking nearly all of their change–many dollars worth. They put 2 and 2 together, and punished me for some time. They then stopped putting their change in the junk drawer and started hiding it somewhere else where I could not locate it. They had every right to stop storing their coins there, and truly, it was the sensible thing for them to do. For I had lost their trust.

Yet while they had stopped me from sinning further in that regard, I didn’t exactly grow much in virtue, either. I might have stopped committing that particular sin, but my mind was still dirty with it.

 

[m_crane]

Of course I have seen all of those things you have listed. What I don’t see is people **marrying people that they don’t really know because of sex, **I don’t see the majority of secular parents as people who aren’t devoted to their kids, I don’t see a society that celebrates infidelity and the tearing apart of families, I don’t see cruel people at every turn, I don’t see people being encouraged to walk out on their families and abandon their children, etc.

These acts are all the result of the same problem brought on by a lack of maturity in people who end up incapable of handling adult life. In our society we do not guide or encourage our children to mature morally. They are given little moral guidance and most serious moral matters, which should be the center of family attention, and are rarely, if ever discussed. Many parents just aren’t mature enough to guide a young person into adulthood. If you want stable social relationships, you have to start in the family with senior members, grandparents, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, all living a life of good example, giving sound moral instruction, and admonishing immoral behavior. Also, helping the youth to build character by teaching self control, self denial, charity and the like. The Church guides us to define the moral criterion that we need to live this mature moral life and what we should be teaching our young, so It is a good place for society to start.

 

[Angel_Gabriel]

Divorce is something that should be avoided at all costs…but, is unavoidable in certain situations.
For me…it’s not the divorce itself thats the problem. It’s the remarriages and subsequent divorces thereafter that are the biggest problems.

My poor husband was left seriously jaded about marriage thanks to everything his parents put him through and are still engaging in to this day.

They were both married and divorced with one child each. They married each other and had my husband. Just him…done purposely thanks to a quick procedure to assure no additional children.
Then they divorced and dragged my husband through the mud, for the majority of his childhood, with new live-in boyfriends and girlfriends every couple of years.
To this day…my MIL entertains the idea of getting married a third time. This horrifies and angers my husband.

It’s a topic that leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. My husband was lucky to come out of this mess as well as he did. But, it kills me to think that parents could care so little about the children they bring into this world.

Hey, sometimes divorce is necessary. Remarriage isn’t. I believe that remarriage shouldn’t even be entertained until children are grown and out of the house.

i agree…remarriage, while making people more financially secure causes more problems than it solves…and I do speak from experience. My mom pretty much forced my step dad on my brother and myself and I really didn’t like this man who was 17 years her junior and 13 my senior. Things are ok now but honestly I wish she had never remarried.

 

[VoiceofTruth]

You don’t watch much TV or go to movies? It is all documented. Regardless of your age, all the data points in one direction - down. Only those who follow Christ have the whole picture, and I believe there are those who have part of the picture but lack the fullness of the truth.

1. In the 1950s and 1960s, we did not lock our doors at night. The government and the media, along with most movies and all TV shows, reflected and respected Christian values. All the moms for miles and miles were stay at home moms. No, I’m not saying it was perfect, but it was definitely a lot better.

1968 The great assault begins. Anarchists and Hippies reject all authority, including the Church. “Don’t trust anyone over 30!” This was the opening phase of the Sex without love Revolution. And illegal drugs are cool, especially marijuana.

And then there was this little event that was “unprecedented in the history of the Church.” Everybody got that because it’s very important. Pope Paul VI issues Humanae Vitae, reaffirming constant Church teaching about artificial birth control, even after he was counseled to loosen the restrictions.

"Within 24 hours, in an event unprecedented in the history of the Church, more than 200 dissenting theologians signed a full-page ad in The New York Times in protest. Not only did they declare their disagreement with encyclical’s teaching; they went one step further, far beyond their authority as theologians, and actually encouraged dissent among the lay faithful.

"They asserted the following: “Therefore, as Roman Catholic theologians, conscious of our duty and our limitations, we conclude that spouses may responsibly decide according to their conscience that artificial contraception in some circumstances is permissible and indeed necessary to preserve and foster the values and sacredness of marriage.”

Source: Regnum Christi

Pope Paul VI warned that there would be an increase in promiscuity if his words weren’t heeded.

1969 Time to get people convinced that legalizing abortion was a good thing but enemy number one, the Catholic Church, had to be neutralized. Was the truth used? No.

catholicnewsagency.com/resources/abortion/articles-and-addresses/an-ex-abortionist-speaks/

1970s To help get people addicted to porn and get involved with adultery, porn bookstores, topless bars and strip clubs open everywhere. The worst product were the swingers magazines filled with pictures of mostly partly nude women who you could contact for anonymous, no strings attached sex. I mean the films and magazines were bad too, but here was a directory for private fornication and adultery with real people. And the planned addiction pattern to graphic porn began. What was meant to be private was now public. Oh Christians complained alright, but the pornographers had high-priced lawyers to keep us religious nuts at bay. “We have the First Amendment right!!!”

When I saw my first such store, I thought, “Who allowed this?” A few years earlier, the worst you could legally do was buy Playboy.

1973 After the millions who died in World War II, a new war was legalized against babies in the womb. Millions would die. Millions. Sex without love needed The Pill but when that failed, abortion was the ultimate form of contraception. And women were lied to: “It’s just a blob of tissue.” “It’s not a person.”

Then the movies gradually become more sexual along with TV. I thought the 70s were not that bad but when you hit the 80s it’s very clear where things are going. By the mid 80s it was half good / half bad. By the end of the 80s, George Michael is yelling “I Want Your Sex!” on the radio, which was banned in parts of the US and Canada.

1990s Into the abyss. The songs are getting less moral, shock jocks talking graphic sex, and interviewing prostitutes they called “porn stars.” Dysfunctional characters begin to dominate the movies and TV. The abnormal is presented as “realism.” I quit listening to FM radio in the 90s. I stop buying albums. Then rap, with gun violence, disrespecting women, profanity, and dope. And the music videos. Young women being exploited as nothing but meat. Then the internet.

And Catholics wonder: “How did it all get this way?” I watched it unfold, and it caused me pain as it did. Even cartoons began to feature the current character template: The Dysfunctionals. And let’s not forget our favorite serial killer, Dexter, and his foul-mouthed, fornicating step-sister. You can get a whole season at Target. I’m waiting for a show about those lovable cannibals next door. They’re just like us, they just eat different.

I’m OK, You’re OK was the title of a book. The title is a lie. “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” Satanist, Aleister Crowley.

Christians should not love the world, which went through a period of betterment but then went through a period of degradation which continues to this day.

Peace,
Ed

I must be about half your age, if not more, and I completely agree with everything you said. I applaud you for speaking the truth. People can call it negative all they want, but I say it’s looking at the facts (especially since you happen to be a first-hand witness of all these things).

 

[EasterJoy]

You don’t watch much TV or go to movies? It is all documented. Regardless of your age, all the data points in one direction - down. Only those who follow Christ have the whole picture, and I believe there are those who have part of the picture but lack the fullness of the truth…

Was it really better to have movies where married people had to be depicted as sleeping in twin beds, when almost none of them ever did that? My mother had a classmate who got pregnant before marriage who didn’t even know how one became pregnant before marriage, until it happened to her. Was it better when Catholic and Protestant kids coming home from school had to worry that other kids from their town might beat them up for belonging to the wrong Christian church? Was it an admirable thing when a girl getting pregnant outside of marriage was covered in shame, while her boyfriend suffered no ill consequences at all? How likely was it that a victim of incest or sexual abuse by someone he or she ought to be able to trust could come forward and be believed? How many times were they believed but the offender not exposed, in order to save* the family *from shame, as if the offender’s crime was some reflection on them? How many alcoholics kept their family on pins and needles, quietly enduring their sins against their families, while the community was lead to believe they were upright and dependable? How many crimes were covered up for the sake of propriety, to give an outside impression that was a total lie? I’m not arguing at all that things are not very bad now, but aren’t we forgetting some of the serious problems that took place during that “age of innocence”, too, but which were hidden under a rug in order to create a false impression? As an adult, I know many, from my own childhood…alcoholics, beaters of their children, sexual predators against their nieces, all in a community where “no one locked their doors”! Some things were far better, yes, but it wasn’t all perfection and roses. There was a lot of lying going on for the sake of that pretty picture that some of us claim to remember, and I will wager that accounts for some of the rebellion that everyone acted so surprised about in the 1960s. There was a lot of lying when those boys from the greatest generation came back from that war, “heroes” who couldn’t talk about the hell they had seen when they were barely more than boys, and maybe a lot of lying before that. Let’s not imagine that everything was as it seemed.

Were there not also many ingrained and accepted injustices in place back in those times, injustices that affected the women very deeply who were widowed or abandoned or or married to men who couldn’t or wouldn’t support them, or who had attempted invalid marriages, who were not paid fairly for work they needed to do because they didn’t have a faithful husband to help them raise their children? Were there not injustice before 1960 to which many of the faithful were asleep or accustomed?

We could have just as easily had the lament in the earlier part of the 20th century that in the old days non-combatants weren’t wiped out in wars without discrimination, and so on. Modernism was already doing its ugly work long before the 1950s and 1960s. This decay in civilization did not start in 1960. It started a long time before that. It was, on top of that, one of many attacks of the devil upon mankind, not something unique.

Do you realize that, ironically, the Pill was invented by a Catholic who believed the Church would consider it a natural form of birth control, since it employed hormones found in nature? We have to remember, too, that some of our actual medical advances have been used against us by the devil. For instance, since the advent of antibiotics and modern medicine, many people have totally lost their fear of an sudden and unprovided death. Even those who really believe that sin exists sometimes also really believe that they’ll have time to repent.

There is much deception in our time, but I think it is only the nature of the deceptions that have changed. There were always assaults, different evils that society was asleep to. Our time is no different; the Church Militant still has her battles to fight, and that will not change until the Lord comes back. We should not take up arms in the belief that we have it worse than previous generations had it, or failing to be thankful for the many ways in which justice flowers in our time as it never has flowered for others before us. We must not hope to be spared our battles. We have battles to fight, as they did. It is as it always had been, and we ought to take up arms knowing that we have the support of those who went before us in this struggle.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Was it really better to have movies where married people had to be depicted as sleeping in twin beds, when almost none of them ever did that? My mother had a classmate who got pregnant before marriage who didn’t even know how one became pregnant before marriage, until it happened to her. Was it better when Catholic and Protestant kids coming home from school had to worry that other kids from their town might beat them up for belonging to the wrong Christian church? Was it an admirable thing when a girl getting pregnant outside of marriage was covered in shame, while her boyfriend suffered no ill consequences at all? How likely was it that a victim of incest or sexual abuse by someone he or she ought to be able to trust could come forward and be believed? How many times were they believed but the offender not exposed, in order to save* the family *from shame, as if the offender’s crime was some reflection on them? How many alcoholics kept their family on pins and needles, quietly enduring their sins against their families, while the community was lead to believe they were upright and dependable? How many crimes were covered up for the sake of propriety, to give an outside impression that was a total lie? I’m not arguing at all that things are not very bad now, but aren’t we forgetting some of the serious problems that took place during that “age of innocence”, too, but which were hidden under a rug in order to create a false impression? As an adult, I know many, from my own childhood…alcoholics, beaters of their children, sexual predators against their nieces, all in a community where “no one locked their doors”! Some things were far better, yes, but it wasn’t all perfection and roses. There was a lot of lying going on for the sake of that pretty picture that some of us claim to remember, and I will wager that accounts for some of the rebellion that everyone acted so surprised about in the 1960s. There was a lot of lying when those boys from the greatest generation came back from that war, “heroes” who couldn’t talk about the hell they had seen when they were barely more than boys, and maybe a lot of lying before that. Let’s not imagine that everything was as it seemed.

Were there not also many ingrained and accepted injustices in place back in those times, injustices that affected the women very deeply who were widowed or abandoned or or married to men who couldn’t or wouldn’t support them, or who had attempted invalid marriages, who were not paid fairly for work they needed to do because they didn’t have a faithful husband to help them raise their children? Were there not injustice before 1960 to which many of the faithful were asleep or accustomed?

We could have just as easily had the lament in the earlier part of the 20th century that in the old days non-combatants weren’t wiped out in wars without discrimination, and so on. Modernism was already doing its ugly work long before the 1950s and 1960s. This decay in civilization did not start in 1960. It started a long time before that. It was, on top of that, one of many attacks of the devil upon mankind, not something unique.

Do you realize that, ironically, the Pill was invented by a Catholic who believed the Church would consider it a natural form of birth control, since it employed hormones found in nature? We have to remember, too, that some of our actual medical advances have been used against us by the devil. For instance, since the advent of antibiotics and modern medicine, many people have totally lost their fear of an sudden and unprovided death. Even those who really believe that sin exists sometimes also really believe that they’ll have time to repent.

There is much deception in our time, but I think it is only the nature of the deceptions that have changed. There were always assaults, different evils that society was asleep to. Our time is no different; the Church Militant still has her battles to fight, and that will not change until the Lord comes back. We should not take up arms in the belief that we have it worse than previous generations had it, or failing to be thankful for the many ways in which justice flowers in our time as it never has flowered for others before us. We must not hope to be spared our battles. We have battles to fight, as they did. It is as it always had been, and we ought to take up arms knowing that we have the support of those who went before us in this struggle.

^^^ All of that plus, since we’re presumably talking about the States… um… the elephant in the room: blacks.

 

[Nimzovik]

^^^ All of that plus, since we’re presumably talking about the States… um… the elephant in the room: blacks.

Actually, in view of the Zimmerman trial and the New Black Panther Party ‘contract’ out on Zimmerman, Methinks today it is* Caucasians*.

See here: theblaze.com/stories/2012/03/24/report-new-black-panther-party-issues-wanted-dead-or-alive-poster-for-george-zimmerman/

 

[EasterJoy]

^^^ All of that plus, since we’re presumably talking about the States… um… the elephant in the room: blacks.

Exactly…we can’t forget that it was no Golden Age when there was so much widely tolerated injustice. I don’t think minorities or women whose husbands have abandoned them (or any number of other people who just stop to think once or twice) want to run back and live in the 1950s!