Today is the feast day of the passion of St. John the Baptist.
As a rule the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of saints on the day they die. John the Baptist is the only saint where this is not the case, like Mary and Christ himself both his birth day and the day of his death (or in Mary’s case the Feast of the Assumption) are feast days of the Church. We celebrate St. John the Baptist’s birth in June and his death today.
It’s very fitting to ponder the feast of the beheading of John the Baptist because he was slaughtered for the same crime that many in America are now being punished for: Telling the truth.
You see John called out Herod for marrying his brother’s wife while he was still alive. This was a pretty good deal for Herodias as it gave her power and position and she never forgave John for publicly calling Herod out. Meanwhile even though Herod imprisoned John he not only didn’t kill him, but would go to the dungeons and listen to him. He didn’t have the courage to release him, nor did he have the courage to repent and give up his elicit marriage but he understood John was right.
So when Herod in front of his entire court made a injudicious promise to give Herodias’ daughter anything she the daughter at her mother’s prompting demanded on a platter the head of John the Baptist and Herod knowing it was wrong but not having the wisdom of Abe Lincoln who said: “Bad promises are better broken than kept.”, promptly had him executed and the head delivered to the girl who gave it to her mother.
Put simply John was executed for publicly saying aloud the truth that threatened the power of Herodias and Herod went along because he feared for his public reputation more than he honored truth.
This is America today.
We have not reach the “promptly executed” point in the US but if things don’t change it’s only a matter of time.
You see when we say basic truths like:
- No amount of surgery can make a man a woman
- A child is not competent to make life altering decisions about themselves
- It’s a good idea to jail people who rob and loot and support police when they enforce the law
- People should enter the country legally and the federal government should enforce the law
- Children should not be sexualized
- If you make it easier to cheat in elections they can’t be trusted
- The government should not be used to jail their political enemies
- If you’re going to give billions of dollars to someone they should be accountable
- Drugs that have already been approved for people are safe to use vs COVID
We find an army of woke Herodias’ outraged not because those statements are false but because those statements challenge their delusions or their profits or their power bases and that army of woke Herodians put pressure on an army of Herod who they have granted their political, financial or even in some cases sexual favors to in their quest to get what they want.
Thus many institutions or pols, or business knowing that those making those statements are right but fearful of the wrath of the army of woke Herodians buckle. but not all.
There are still some who either because they still retain some backbone or fear the masses of the people more than the army of woke Herodians (who are actually much smaller then they appear) decide to reject them and side with the people and each time they it strikes fear in the hearts of the woke Herodians because they know their power is dependent on the fear of their Herods and the indifference of the masses.
There are John the Baptists out there. Tucker Carlson who faced the wrath of the woke Herodians but thrived despite it, Riley Gaines who refuses to bend the knee to Transgender Inc. Joe Rogan who talked openly about ivermectin to be used in Covid cases, Ron DeSantis who didn’t give in to either the COVID hysteria or the Disney/woke crowd on sexualizing children and yes Donald Trump as well who refused to bend the knee even as he is treated like an enemy of the state for being an enemy of dishonest elections.
I’m sure when the tyranny falls as all eventually do, first slowly and then all at once, millions will suddenly declare that they were with us just as many Frenchmen declared they were with the resistance as soon as the Germans were gone but till then who do you wish emulate? John the Baptist who spoke truth aloud and is remembered by two feasts of the church or Herodians who would with Herod would eventually die in exile?
Choose wisely.
Update: Tucker Carlson nails it:
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