I have noticed that many folks in my part of the country will ask things like “are you Christian or Catholic”? *Faithpalm*. This is a false dichotomy. Catholics ARE Christian. For many of them, I think it is because in their theology, they believe that someone is a Christian when they got saved. Oddly, I don’t hear them ask Methodists and Lutherans whether or not they are “Methodist/Lutheran or Christian”. First, let’s define terms.
Strictly speaking, a Christian is someone that believes and follows the teachings and dictates of the Christian religion, as founded by Jesus Christ. Of course, not all Christians are the same, their theologies differ widely, and they often attack each other for not being “true Christians. So this is a bit of a vague argument. Okay, fine. Then who is Christian? Well…
From a Catholic perspective, I think it would depend on whether or not they are validly baptized. Mormons use the Trinitarian formula and water, but have a misunderstanding (from a traditional Christian perspective) of the Trinity. Baptists insist on full bodily immersion, but don’t believe it actually does anything, however, from a Catholic perspective, those baptisms are valid.
So, to put it bluntly, a Christian is someone who has been validly baptized. So why do many folks not consider Catholics to be Christian? I think it goes back to the reformation, ultimately, though getting “saved” as we know it did not exist at the time. This idea (as I understand it) came to America with John Wesley. Wesley was an Anglican clergyman that believed (to some extent) that you could be saved and knows you’re saved. Oddly, he also believed you could lose your salvation. This is not dissimilar to the Catholic view on salvation (what we might refer to as “relative assurance”).
Anyway, Wesley made a big impact in this part of the country. Methodists and Methodism can be found in almost every town, only outnumbered by Baptists here. The “Once saved, always saved” actually came later. It is true that Calvinists believed your destiny was sealed when you were created, and I think that’s where this idea of “he was never really saved to begin with” came from.
Though, the “once saved, always saved” didn’t come from Wesley (He’d probably be horrified by the idea), I think many took Wesley’s message to the logical extreme. “You’re saved, you can’t be unsaved”. The problem with this, (besides contradicting common sense) is of course, that it contradicts both the Bible, (Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 24:13) and historical Christianity.
Now that I’ve defined terms, I hope when someone asks you (if you are a Catholic) “Are you a Catholic or a Christian”, do what I do and answer “I am a Catholic Christian”. If you are an Evangelical Protestant, great, I love doing pro-life work with y’all, but please understand, Catholics see themselves as having more fullness of Christianity than you do. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re not Christian, and most Catholics would never say you aren’t, but asking someone if they’re “Catholic or Christian” is like asking someone if they’re “Black or American”, one does not negate the other.
-Adam Charles Hovey
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Monday, February 13, 2017
Why atheism will not last
“Hear, O Israel, the LORD Our God is one”-Deuteronomy 6:4.
I was doing a little bit of poking around the internet (since, you know, that’s what I do) ,and I was reading about different religious groups in the Middle East and whatnot. I am not sure how I go to it, but I came across some information about a book call “The Satanic Verses”.
Apparently, said book ruffled more than a few feathers in the Islamic world. I believe Mohammed to be a false prophet anyway, so I don’t see the purpose of me getting worked up over it. Anyway, turns out the author belongs to some society or another that is trying to make my country (the United States) more secular. I find this odd, given that our Declaration of Independence mentions a creator God. Whatever.
What I find most interesting though, is how self serving this guy is. He’s also on some committee to help underprivileged folks. What is the point? Does that not go against the Darwinian view of survival of the fittest?
Nietzsche was an atheist that understood atheism. He understood that the strong must be strong and not help the weak. This is why he hated Christianity and Judaism. Because they cared for the weak. This is ultimately where atheistic societies lead to. Those that live off of the rich will be considered parasites.
So why do I say atheism won’t last? The same reason Islam is growing; there’s no divine command for atheists to make other atheists, there’s no set guide to morality. Atheists should have no problem aborting their children or contracepting. Atheism is, by definition, immoral.
Christians, especially Catholics, will outlast atheists. Practicing Catholics, ones that actually follow the Church’s teaching on contraceptives, tend to have many more kids than the atheists have. And because countries with large atheist populations have shrinking populations, not growing ones, atheism, will eventually die out. Islam will start shrinking too, as there is not a single, standard teaching in Islam on human sexuality. Atheism will die out, because there will be no one left to teach atheism. Christianity will continue to grow, beause the Christians that believe the divine command to spread the gospel, will spread it.
I was doing a little bit of poking around the internet (since, you know, that’s what I do) ,and I was reading about different religious groups in the Middle East and whatnot. I am not sure how I go to it, but I came across some information about a book call “The Satanic Verses”.
Apparently, said book ruffled more than a few feathers in the Islamic world. I believe Mohammed to be a false prophet anyway, so I don’t see the purpose of me getting worked up over it. Anyway, turns out the author belongs to some society or another that is trying to make my country (the United States) more secular. I find this odd, given that our Declaration of Independence mentions a creator God. Whatever.
What I find most interesting though, is how self serving this guy is. He’s also on some committee to help underprivileged folks. What is the point? Does that not go against the Darwinian view of survival of the fittest?
Nietzsche was an atheist that understood atheism. He understood that the strong must be strong and not help the weak. This is why he hated Christianity and Judaism. Because they cared for the weak. This is ultimately where atheistic societies lead to. Those that live off of the rich will be considered parasites.
So why do I say atheism won’t last? The same reason Islam is growing; there’s no divine command for atheists to make other atheists, there’s no set guide to morality. Atheists should have no problem aborting their children or contracepting. Atheism is, by definition, immoral.
Christians, especially Catholics, will outlast atheists. Practicing Catholics, ones that actually follow the Church’s teaching on contraceptives, tend to have many more kids than the atheists have. And because countries with large atheist populations have shrinking populations, not growing ones, atheism, will eventually die out. Islam will start shrinking too, as there is not a single, standard teaching in Islam on human sexuality. Atheism will die out, because there will be no one left to teach atheism. Christianity will continue to grow, beause the Christians that believe the divine command to spread the gospel, will spread it.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
50 Shades mentality and the decline of Western Civilisation Part II
A few years ago, I made a post called “50 Shades of Grey mentality and the decline of Western Civilisation. I felt (and indeed, still feel) that it was an utmost appropriate title. In it, I called for Christians to fast and pray. Whilst the movie was a financial success (largely based on the popularity of the book, I’m sure), it was a critical failure. Phrases such as the “Worst movie ever made” were not uncommon to it. Now, I made the comment about it coming out on 13 February which on that year, happened to be on a Friday. Generally, in the United States, those of a more superstitious lot believe Friday the 13th to be unlucky, and I made a comment about that. I also pointed out how the novel made light of abuse and turned said abuse into romance. Well, the time has come again. Come 10 February 2017, I am calling on all Christians, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Church of the East or otherwise, to fast and pray. As Matt Fradd once said “Fasting without prayer…is dieting”. We must reject ourselves if we want to rid ourselves of this pornographic blight on our culture. We, as Christians, we know the answer, and we know that in the end, Christ himself, the light of the world, is the answer. We know, the battle has already been won on the cross. We know we have been sanctified by his blood. (1 Corinthians 6:11) But not everyone knows this (John 10:16). We need to drive the demons out of ourselves and out of our culture. (Mark 9:29)
The problem, at least in America and Europe, is we are gluttons. We love food, and we want it fast, especially in America. In parts of Europe, characters talk about buying condoms on children’s show and there’s not anything wrong with it, according to many of the parents of said children. In America, some of the public elementary (primary) schools give out condoms, and we’re not supposed to think about it.
What is the root of this? Gluttony is not always about food. There is such a thing as sexual gluttony. I can attest, that when I was sexually active, I as not interested in doing the things that were for procreation, I was more worried about gratification. I was a glutton for sex, and not natural sex either. My girlfriend put up with it because I told her that I loved her. Even if I did love her, that’s not how you show love. I had a university class where Obamacare was part of the discussion (and to be sure, it has its pros and cons), and a girl there, she was talking about how it was great how she didn’t have to pay for her birth control pills anymore.
How did we get to this point? How did we get to this spiritual sloth? I was raised in a family that only occasionally went to church, but I was still taught basic morals. There were some things I was never taught. I wasn’t told it was a sin to (and here it gets graphic) to masturbate or watch pornography. I was never told sex is for procreation (oddly, my 13 and 14 year old sisters DO know this because of how lax my mother was with teaching us morals). I think there’s a deeper problem. I think the spiritual sloth is caused by people never wanting to admit we’re wrong.
In America, at least, we want everything in excess. We want all the cable channels, we want to be able to watch abusive pornography and claim it is covered by free speech, we have to own the most cars, we have the highest paying jobs. Having “just enough” isn’t enough for us. When I was a lad, I was very poor, but I was happy. I have a smart phone, a few computers, a beat-up car, and a myriad of books, some of which I’ll never read. There is nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves. But do you really NEED a $600 US smartphone that is just going to be obsolete next year anyway? Do you really need a $1,000 US Laptop when you have a wife and two kids to feed?
Let’s get back to the matter at hand. The reason we accept this 50 Shades of Grey mentality has less to do with it being a “romance” and more with it being gluttony. I still have issues with pornography. I still have flashbacks about the way I treated my ex girlfriend (and to be fair, neither of us were innocent, but I will go ahead and take most of the blame). I think it’s high-time we started treated our fellow human beings like people, not like objects. They (including the pornographers) (Genesis 1:27) are made in the image and likeness of God. Fast for them, pray for them, especially on 10 February 2017.
The problem, at least in America and Europe, is we are gluttons. We love food, and we want it fast, especially in America. In parts of Europe, characters talk about buying condoms on children’s show and there’s not anything wrong with it, according to many of the parents of said children. In America, some of the public elementary (primary) schools give out condoms, and we’re not supposed to think about it.
What is the root of this? Gluttony is not always about food. There is such a thing as sexual gluttony. I can attest, that when I was sexually active, I as not interested in doing the things that were for procreation, I was more worried about gratification. I was a glutton for sex, and not natural sex either. My girlfriend put up with it because I told her that I loved her. Even if I did love her, that’s not how you show love. I had a university class where Obamacare was part of the discussion (and to be sure, it has its pros and cons), and a girl there, she was talking about how it was great how she didn’t have to pay for her birth control pills anymore.
How did we get to this point? How did we get to this spiritual sloth? I was raised in a family that only occasionally went to church, but I was still taught basic morals. There were some things I was never taught. I wasn’t told it was a sin to (and here it gets graphic) to masturbate or watch pornography. I was never told sex is for procreation (oddly, my 13 and 14 year old sisters DO know this because of how lax my mother was with teaching us morals). I think there’s a deeper problem. I think the spiritual sloth is caused by people never wanting to admit we’re wrong.
In America, at least, we want everything in excess. We want all the cable channels, we want to be able to watch abusive pornography and claim it is covered by free speech, we have to own the most cars, we have the highest paying jobs. Having “just enough” isn’t enough for us. When I was a lad, I was very poor, but I was happy. I have a smart phone, a few computers, a beat-up car, and a myriad of books, some of which I’ll never read. There is nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves. But do you really NEED a $600 US smartphone that is just going to be obsolete next year anyway? Do you really need a $1,000 US Laptop when you have a wife and two kids to feed?
Let’s get back to the matter at hand. The reason we accept this 50 Shades of Grey mentality has less to do with it being a “romance” and more with it being gluttony. I still have issues with pornography. I still have flashbacks about the way I treated my ex girlfriend (and to be fair, neither of us were innocent, but I will go ahead and take most of the blame). I think it’s high-time we started treated our fellow human beings like people, not like objects. They (including the pornographers) (Genesis 1:27) are made in the image and likeness of God. Fast for them, pray for them, especially on 10 February 2017.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
"Then the
Pharisees went and took counsel how to entangle him in his talk. And they sent their disciples to him, along
with the Hero′di-ans, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach
the way of God truthfully, and care for no man; for you do not regard the
position of men. Tell us, then, what you
think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why
put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show
me the money for the tax.” And they brought him a coin. And Jesus said to them,
“Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar
the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they
heard it, they marveled; and they left him and went away.
Matthew 22:15-22
What is our duty to
God? What is our duty to Caesar? We know that we must never support that which
is immoral, such as pornography, abortion, and gay "marriage". We live
in a time, when we're told that gender isn't a biological reality, and even the
absurd notion that the Bible doesn't support the idea of gender (Genesis 1:27,
Genesis 5:2, Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6), where we have politicians that are
ignoring God's warning to those that mistreat foreigners, widows, and orphans
(Zechariah 7:10) and a time where the average of the first time viewing
pornography is often before the start of puberty (though not always), people
are getting mistaken ideas about what sex (much pornography DOES violate
obscenity laws, but the government rarely ever enforces it). So why in the world should we "Render,
therefore to Caesar"? Well, we are
Christians. We can argue that government
programs often do help the poor (though, one could argue, private charity does
a better job of it), we use public libraries, we send our children to public
schools (though, an argument can be made that sending a child to a private
school would cost about the same amount if it were paid by taxes), we use
public parks, public roads, and the like.
These are not a necessary evil, they are a necessity. That said, paying for abortion is immoral,
paying for it by force is evil. Not
protecting the youth from the dangers of pornography is an evil that we can not
and should not tolerate. And gay
"marriage" (which was forced on us by our Supreme Court Legislature)
should not be tolerated. Christians (ALL
Christians, not just Catholics), if they want their religious liberties
protected, they need to speak out against these unjust laws. The need to run for office. They need to seek to change our Godless
culture. So should we still pay
taxes? Yes, but at the same time we
needn't accept the immorality they support.
The taxes the Jews were paying in Jesus's day supported government
corruption and immorality on par with the things we deal with. (Contrary to how
it seems, things have not always been great). You want to make a change? Bring your Christianity to the public sphere,
and if you get ill-treated, push through harder.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
What to do when your pastor is wrong.
With Halloween tomorrow, all kinds of rumours are going around. One of the most prominent is that Halloween's origins are rooted in "Celtic Paganism". Read: Druidism. Now, much ink has been spilled on this, and I'll let you read up on it on yourself. https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/InFocus/Article/TabId/721/ArtMID/13629/ArticleID/16247/The-long-twisted-story-of-All-Hallows-Eve.aspx
This morning at Mass, my priest (who is Polish) repeated that myth. Now, to be sure, he does have reason to be worried, and he did warn against Tarot Cards and Ouija boards, which is fine. He also told us to "have fun" but "be careful". And when someone told him "Happy Halloween", he didn't seem too upset. But why are these myths repeated? Why do we even have the "Halloween is Pagan" myth still going around? This belief stems, not from Catholic orthodoxy, but from Fundamentalist Protestantism. Yet, even Catholics (including priests!) are suckered into it. I wanted to tell him "Fr., you are wrong! Have you been reading Chick tracts"?! To be fair, I don't think they celebrate Halloween in Poland, and he may actually have learned about its "origins" from people who really don't know. So what did I do after Mass? I went to the Chapel, and prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Which is what I suggest you do, when your pastor is wrong.
This morning at Mass, my priest (who is Polish) repeated that myth. Now, to be sure, he does have reason to be worried, and he did warn against Tarot Cards and Ouija boards, which is fine. He also told us to "have fun" but "be careful". And when someone told him "Happy Halloween", he didn't seem too upset. But why are these myths repeated? Why do we even have the "Halloween is Pagan" myth still going around? This belief stems, not from Catholic orthodoxy, but from Fundamentalist Protestantism. Yet, even Catholics (including priests!) are suckered into it. I wanted to tell him "Fr., you are wrong! Have you been reading Chick tracts"?! To be fair, I don't think they celebrate Halloween in Poland, and he may actually have learned about its "origins" from people who really don't know. So what did I do after Mass? I went to the Chapel, and prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Which is what I suggest you do, when your pastor is wrong.
Friday, August 12, 2016
What should the Catholic response to racism be?
My own ancestry is a complex mix, but heavily American Indian. In the United States, tribes are divided into two major groups, State Recognized tribes (which is what much of my family is, apparently) and federally recognized tribes. So why is this important? Well, because Indian country is full of racism against state recognized tribes. Take for instance, any state recognized tribe. There will always be a federally recognized tribe accusing them of ancestor stealing. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has a "fraudulent Indian task force", which would be fine, if it's purpose was to identify fraudulent Indians. But it's not. It's to enforce discrimination against aboriginal people that, according to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, are American Indian. So, the Cherokee Nation believes that there are only three Cherokee tribes, even though some state recognized tribes are much larger and have not asked for federal recognition. So why do I bring this up? Well, I live in an area of the country that is no stranger to racism. I love where I live, but it is not perfect by any means, and it does have a tradition of racism. Recently, we've been seeing a lot of the "black lives matter" on the News and what not, and that's true, all lives matter, including the lives of the unborn. But how do we solve the issues with racism from the Christian perspective? Well, a Baptist friend of man who has since married a black male, was told by her sister that the Bible was against racial mixing (mind you, in Biblical times, when the OT translates the word race it is closer to ethnicity), and I said if that were true, why did Ruth (who was not an ethnic Jew) marry into the Jewish people? Not only that, I mean, scientists are pretty sure the biological concept of race doesn't exist, and I tend to agree. Pope Pius XI even wrote that there is only one race "the human race". Maybe the issue is (and I am not saying you shouldn't have a modest amount of pride in your ancestry) that we do still judge by the colour of skin and not by the content of character. Maybe, one day, when we all decide to live as brothers, this racism will end, and I hope for that day, and I hope you do too.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Misplacing the blame (On the Orlando shooting)
On 12 June 2016, an attacker killed 50 and wounded about 53 others. This man has admitted an allegiance to the Islamic State. Now, I am not saying all Muslims are terrorist, that's actually quite false. But I've noticed that many in our political leadership are blaming Christians for an attack a Muslim man committed (including some chapters of the ACLU). Some folks are blaming gun owners. It seems we're blaming everyone but the person that committed this atrocity. In the wake of this, we seem to be missing the point that people (Genesis 1:27), that is, human beings that are created in the image and likeness of God, were killed. We take down a confederate flag after a mass shooting in a church (which I feel like people blamed on a flag), but we put up rainbow ones and express our sympathies, not with a flag of the City of Orlando or the State of Florida, but a symbol that many (not all) homosexuals co-opted from Christianity, the sign of the covenant God made with Noah. (Genesis 9:17). So we blame gun-owners. We blame flags. We blame Christians. The only people we don't blame it seems, are the ones that did it. I don't know what would have stopped that. But I can tell you that calling for more gun control after a tragedy seems to disregard the humanity of the people that were killed. Saying Christians caused it is a failure to look at what actually happened. And saying these people were targeted because they were homosexuals, isn't quite accurate either. They were killed because someone wanted to kill them. Feel free to have your opinions, but just be sure to know the facts first. May they all rest in peace.
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