Fascism

Doctor Zero over at Hot Air's Green room has an excellent article up about fascism.

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"Too many people recall the garish and horrifying trappings of Nazi Germany, and think “it couldn’t happen here.” It has happened here. It’s happening again now. We do ourselves no favors by refusing to see it, any more than we would be helping ourselves by throwing around baseless accusations of fascism where it does not exist." Dr. Zero

The one area these articles rarely wander into is the concept of original sin; we are all born with a fundamental weakness. Our time on earth is to be spent overcoming our desire to "walk on the wild side."

People seem to think if some form of religious thought enters into conversations about fascism, communism, or socialism, the secular arguments against these ideas are rendered void. We live in a country that is overwhelmingly Christian. Yet we are afraid to speak our minds for fear of being called "right-wing fundamentalist Christian wackos" - rendering anything we have to say as crazy.

A nation and a people that turns it's back on God, does so at it's own peril. To place our faith in other people, governments, or global control, is a pathway to that "walk on the wild side" we should be avoiding for the sake of our souls.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Hail, Full of Grace

Over the past few years, our Protestant brothers and sisters have been holding Mary in higher regard than in the past. For some, however, it is still a very sticky point of doctrine they just don’t want to wrap themselves around.

For Mary to be born without original sin is, in particular, difficult for them to understand, or for that matter, want to believe. Even many Catholics today do not understand this doctrine. Far too many Catholics think today’s celebration is about Jesus being conceived without sin. And, some even think it means Mary was conceived “by the power of the Holy Spirit”, which she was not.

For Mary to be immaculately conceived means that from the moment of conception Mary was preserved from the stain of Original Sin. Mary had the potential to be born with Original Sin, but God stepped in with the redeeming grace of Christ. He is God, after all, and is perfectly capable of doing this.

We hear this most plainly when the Angel Gabriel says to Mary; “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). Many of the recent translations say something wimpy along the lines of “highly favored one.” Yes, Mary was highly favored, but “full of grace” tells us so much more. For Gabriel to recognize her as “full of grace” lets us know that this indwelling of sanctifying grace had already happened.

One of the main objections to the Immaculate Conception is Rom. 3:23 where we are told, “all have sinned.” Furthermore, Mary said in Luke 1:47; “ My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” If she had no sin why would she need a Savior?

As to “all have sinned” we know a little baby cannot commit a sin. You have to have an awareness in order to sin, which a baby is incapable of having. St. Paul was most likely referring to Original Sin in this passage. So, we have come full circle. We are all subject to Original Sin, even Mary. At the moment of conception, however, Mary was kept spotless - a perfect vessel for Our Lord and Savior.

This woman who was cast in the role of Mother of God is also our Mother. She is someone you can turn to in times of need. She is someone who loves and understands you, and she is the one who teaches you the true meaning of obedience. When Mary said, “be it done unto me according to Thy will”, she gave us a vision for a way of life we all should be striving to live.

Daily Struggles

Why is it so often such a struggle for us to do what is right? We start each day with the very best of intentions, and then somewhere along the line we mess up.

For those of you old enough to have been raised on the Baltimore Catechism, you will recall the first question, “Who made me”. The answer was “God made me”. I chose to believe that as “a matter of faith”. If I believed in God, then it was an easy leap to believe He made me. Not only did He make me but also, He made me in “His image and likeness. That part took a bit more work on my part. The catechism of the Catholic Church says this about being made in the image and likeness of God:

Jesus himself is the answer. It means to be holy and loving, to give oneself for the sake of others even to the point of death, so we might share eternally in God's life, our souls united again with our risen bodies. (Catechism, 459, 460).

As I got older, my understanding of the story of creation in Genesis grew from a literal to a figurative and symbolic story. I no longer believed, for instance, that creation took seven days, as we experience seven days. The kind sisters at school helped me to reconcile science and faith and how beautifully they fit together when viewed through the lens of faith.

It is clear when reading Genesis that Adam and Eve were special from all the other creatures. Being made in God’s image, it was possible for them to be drawn toward truth and love, and all the other great attributes we apply to God. They also had what no other creature had and that was a soul. The tricky part was the free will.

When Adam chose to believe the tempter’s lie, “You will be like gods”, he earned for us a weakness in our abilities to always choose what is right and good. Are we completely corrupt, as some believe? Absolutely not! The majority of our hearts and minds are ordered for good, for the glory of God. But, we did inherit a weakness of spirit that tells us that we can be “as gods”, and worse, make it sound perfectly rational.

So, what are we to do, gentle reader? Awareness is the answer. We spend more time being aware of the dangers the world poses for our goods than we do to the dangers to our souls. We lock our houses, put alarms on our cars, and wear white at night. We need to remind ourselves every morning that we will be tested to choose good over evil. Every time we choose virtue, we will be strengthened and will be in conformity with the “image and likeness of God”.

Have a wonderful and temptation free day.