Posts Tagged ‘christianity’

The 2nd Day of Christmas The Stark Reminder of St. Stephen’s Martyrdom

Posted: December 26, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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Christmas is of course a time of joy to celebrate the birth of the world redeemer, however December 26th the 2nd day of Christmas is a stark reminder that while the souls of uncounted millions will be delivered thanks to the events of the 25th, it is not without cost.

Because this is the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian Martyr.

Now for those immersed in propaganda of Hamas it might be a surprise that until Muslims started blowing themselves up in their quest to kill Jews a martyr was understood as someone who gave up their live for the cause of the faith without harming anyone else.

Before St. Maximilian Kolbe was killed by the Nazis, before St. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, before Sts. Thomas Moore and St. John Fisher were beheaded, before the first Christian was thrown to the lions and even before the Apostle James the greater was killed by Herod, there was St. Stephen.

St. Stephen was one of the first seven deacons of the Church singled out for mention in the list of the seven in scripture as: ”a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit “ I suspect, although scripture does not say some ancient authorities suggest that he might have been one of the 72 who were sent out to the various towns to prepare the way for Christ. This would explain his ability to confound the members of the Synagogue of Freedman in his arguments which led to their accusations of blasphemy before the San Hendren.

At his trial he re-iterated the history of Israel from Abraham to Solomon before closing with the words that set them off and led to his death:

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it.”

When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.

Unlike the execution of Jesus which was sanctioned by Rome, Stephen’s stoning was done by a mob in a fit of passion, ironically much like the mobs currently running amok in western cities over Gaza

But note how as they are stoning him what his final words are:

As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them“; and when he said this, he fell asleep.

emphasis mine

And by those two acts, the first dedicating himself to God and interceding for those who murdered him, he gave the example that the great Christian Saints have followed for two thousand years. The example of loving God and loving neighbor, even your enemies.

All of us are not called to martyrdom as Stephen was, but all of us are called to follow his example of the love of God and of neighbor, even our enemies.

May we learn this lesson well.

A Point Concerning Christianity, Truth and Culture (with an assist by Chesterton)

Posted: November 14, 2023 by datechguy in culture
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Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:13-14

One of the things we have noticed from the left in general and from both the Biden administration and the pro-terror folks in media, academia and among the mob is that they are not on speaking terms with the truth.

Part of this, at least for the Arab mobs is understandable as they would have been indoctrinated their entire lives and you might even suggest that this would be the case for those in academic setting except for the fact that this would be a tiny part of their lives.

For a Christian this should not be a surprise, because as we are taught the devil, the father of lives is in fact the prince of this world and once people move away from the Judeo-Christian standard of false witness being sinful and wrong then words simply become another means to an end.

One of the things about living in Western Civilization particularly during the golden age of American power at it’s height as a Christian Nation a lot of people were convinced that Judeo-Christian values were the norm. If however you look at both history and the current age and of course scripture the church’s warnings about “the world” one must conclude that the values of Judeo-Christianity are completely contrary to human nature and that while in the long run these values used as a standard to live by, even if people fail lead to the kind of culture worth living in.

The irony of course is that that so many in the west reject these values not realizing that they are the bedrock on which their free and prosperous society is built while in the world who rush to migrate to the west in order live reject the values that make that society they are fleeing to possible.

Chesterton absolutely nailed it:

In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.

Walking Before You Run Christianity , Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Rosalind Picard, Sc.D

Posted: November 13, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine
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Screwtape: Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours— and the more “religious” (on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here

C. S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters # VII

At Instapundit there were two different stories of promanent athiests becoming Christian. The first was Ayaan Hirsi Ali who said this:

But we can’t fight off these formidable forces unless we can answer the question: what is it that unites us? The response that “God is dead!” seems insufficient. So, too, does the attempt to find solace in “the rules-based liberal international order”. The only credible answer, I believe, lies in our desire to uphold the legacy of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

This is the first reason she give noting that all the secular freedoms that are enjoyed by Western Civilization come from Christianity but that’s not enough. She notes the unifying effect of a belief in God in her closing here:

The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue. And fortunately, there is no need to look for some new-age concoction of medication and mindfulness. Christianity has it all.

That is why I no longer consider myself a Muslim apostate, but a lapsed atheist. Of course, I still have a great deal to learn about Christianity. I discover a little more at church each Sunday. But I have recognised, in my own long journey through a wilderness of fear and self-doubt, that there is a better way to manage the challenges of existence than either Islam or unbelief had to offer.

The discovering a little more each Sunday is a start and people have to walk before they run but let me point out that as a Christian in general and a Catholic in particular let me unequally state the following:

There is only one reason to be a Christian, not for the history of civilization , not to defend the west, not to oppose radical Islam. None of these reasons are a reason to be a Christian.

The only reason to be a Christian in general and a Catholic in particular is Because it is True

If it is true we are obliged to do our best to combat our fallen human nature to follow Christ. To go to Mass and to spread the good news by deed, word and example.

If it is not true then on Sunday you’re basically going to an elk’s club meeting.

Now there is nothing wrong with an elks club but one should not base their worldview upon it.

As she notes she is learning, I find that the best thing to do is pray for people and let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting here. In the end I’m not going to devote my life to one.

Now note the contrast with Professor Picard as an engineer her journey was more about facts and evidence:

Note how she approached this on the evidence. She went from Athiest, to Agnostic, to Theist, to Christian. It’s as if she read Mere Christianity and applied Lewis’ argument.

Now for me it doesn’t matter in the end how someone finds Christ as long as they do so and even for screwtape notes that the primary goal is to get the person moving in the right (in his case the wrong) direction and different people move on that path at different speeds. But the big thing to remember is this: Never think for one moment that God can be used as an means to an end rather than an end itself.

That’s the danger. Remember it and avoid it.

Has Anyone Explained the Words “Streisand Effect” to Ohio Right to Life or Rep Max Miller?

Posted: August 19, 2023 by datechguy in abortion, politics
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One of the truths of life is that everyone makes occasionally makes mistakes, and when one does the best way to deal with it is to acknowledge it and move on.

Such was seemingly the case in Ohio when Rep Max Miller (R-OH) inexplicitly had a hissy fit when a woman with barely over 7000 X (twitter) followers tweeted out one of the most basic tenants of Christianity:

Congressman Miller treated this as an anti sematic remark rather than as a Christian professing Christianity and demanded she pull the tweet. As you might guess the national pushback was rather swift and so bad that even Illan Omar was dunking on him so he apologized leaving up the original tweet as it preserves the record.

That was seemingly it, one day story at best, stupid mistake quick correction down the memory hole it goes and a potential threat to his seat in congress gone.

Alas, it wasn’t that simple you see the lady in question above works for Ohio Right to Life and the congressman’s wife is on the board of that august body and while they were unable to create a victory in a critical referendum this month they were more than capable to getting vengeance for the unspeakable crime of causing him grief.

I can think of no thing that is more likely to encourage a GOP primary challenge to congressman Miller nor cause grief to the primary campaign of his wife’s father who happens to be running for Senate in the state than this.

Furthermore given Ohio right to life’s failure in their last campaign a move that divides and upsets their donor base is about as stupid as you can get.

Already the news stories have begun, the daily caller quoting the republic sentinel:

Marbach refused to delete the post from social media, noting in a response to Miller that Jesus said he is “the way, the truth, and the life” without whom one cannot come to the Father. “No one has hope outside of Jesus Christ and every knee will bow one day,” she added.

Right to life tried to get her to quit on their own she declined:

Marbach said in additional comments to The Sentinel that she trusts “God will continue to use this situation to bring glory and honor to his name.” She expressed hope that Ohio Right to Life would defend the lives of preborn babies in the state without political entanglements.

I suspect that God will take care of her, after all this is exactly what Christ predicted:

If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you,  ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me also hates my Father.

If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But in order that the word written in their law might be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without cause.’ “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.

John 15:18-16:2

As much as this will be a pain to congressman’s Miller whose damage control has been undone it’s going to be a whole lot worse for Ohio Right to Life which is apparently more interested in cheap political infighting and using cancel culture for their own ends than the lives of the unborn.

I’d not want to be part of their fundraising arm after today.

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