Explaining the word "Catholic" in Catholic American Thinker

How does the Catholic American Thinker retain distinctly Catholic identity and free thinking, from within mostly Protestant, increasingly secularized American culture?

Vic Biorseth, Wednesday, December 10, 2014
http://www.CatholicAmericanThinker.com/

America was founded by Biblical people, imperfectly guiding the living of their lives from within a clearly identifiable Biblical ethos.  That was their moral touchstone, how they determined right from wrong, and it was their guide to achieving everlasting life.  And it supplied a good basis for the establishment and maintenance of civil law. 

The original Pilgrims came here precisely to escape the state-forced Protestant denominational national religions of Britain and Continental Europe.  Our Pilgrims wanted the freedom to worship as they believed, not as any king or noble dictated.  That is how America came to be. 

Although Catholics played an important role in discovering America and in early explorations and contacts with native peoples, they only formed one official Catholic Colony:  Maryland.  Catholics have always been a minority among Christians in America, and not always trusted by broad Protestantism, imbued as it was by an almost rabid anti-clericalism, exaggerated and inflamed by the wars of the Reformation. 

Here are the original American Colonial religions:

Each new Colony established it's own religious preference in its foundational charter or constitution, making itself a "loose" theocracy of that denomination.  I say "loose" theocracy, because citizens were not to be forced to follow that denomination.  Nor were they prohibited from following another denomination.  State enforcement and prohibition of religion was what the Colonists came here to avoid.  The reason that their religion was set down in law was to prohibit any later legal legislators from establishing another or a new official government religion in the Colony, somewhere down the historical road, prohibiting the original denomination. 

We talked about this in the Separation of Church and State page.  In that page, we talked about how the 1947 Black Court purposely - and unconstitutionally - upset, or twisted and malformed, the founding principle of Separation of Church and State, set down in the First Amendment of the Constitution in the formation of the first national Constitutional Government of the United States.  The original intent was to insulate and protect Christian denominations from any interference by the government. 

The Black decision, established as legal precedent, was a deliberate malformation of law in Constitutional America.  It gave rise to the rapid advancement of the Secularism movement, which seeks to cleanse America of religion.  Secularism, whether merely of the public square or of any other human activity, is a new form of state forced religion, or state forced irreligion.  Almost exactly what all the Colonial Pilgrims came here to avoid. 

And now, besides Protestant anti-Catholicism, Catholic American thinkers have a second religious and sociopolitical opponent to contend with:  Secularism, or anti-religion.  The Black decision, as standing legal precedent, will continue to feed and grow the evil secularizing movement so long as good men stand aside and allow it to stand as unconstitutionally "adjudicated" new law.  Secularism works to destroy our common American Biblical ethos, and with it, our very ground of being. 

Americans are a Biblical people.  By that I mean, Jews, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.  That was the common cultural guiding ethos that produced our Declaration of Independence - our national founding document - and our Constitution and Bill of Rights - our supreme law. 

I specifically excluded Moslems from this group, because they are not Biblical.  Denial of the Divinity of Jesus, denial of His Resurrection, denial even of His crucifixion, mal-interpreting that the Virgin Mary and Moses were actually brother and sister, is not only not Biblical, but anti-Biblical.  Moslems have a radically different ethos and ground of being, based solely on submission, forcible conquest and domination.  Islamic insistence upon world domination by force renders it not only an un-American but an anti-American "religion".  It is also anti-Christian and anti-Jewish.  Islam directly opposes our natural, national guiding ethos.  See the Islam Pages. 

So how does Catholic culture work, from within a larger non-Catholic culture?  Unless we doggedly adhere to Catholic doctrine, it doesn't.  Holding fast to Catholic doctrine may be a difficult thing in contemporary American culture, but then, when in world history was it not difficult?  The Church has always been opposed.  Current opposition is mild compared to past persecutions.  The Church still stands, and the doctrine remains unchanged.  There is a reason for that.

Anti-clericalism, from inside the Church, is the one really dangerous enemy to Catholicism itself.  And the reason for the shrinkage of the devout Catholic population, anywhere, is that laymen don't know how to stand up to corrupt clerics.  American Catholic laymen are often trapped in a "Liberal" Catholic parish in which anything goes, including loose or wild liturgy and/or preaching watered down or even false doctrines of the faith.  When they cannot switch to a more conservative, old-time Parish, many simply leave the faith. 

America is experiencing a re-occurrence of obvious corruption among clerics, feeding a new wave of well deserved anti-clericalism within the Church.  This is not the first time. 

Anti-clericalism was a growing problem in the Catholic Church long before Luther posted all of his infamous Theses, in the lead-up to the Reformation.  In Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, many Catholic clerics were scandalously selling ordinations and plumb clerical assignments, for money, other property or rights.  The mortal sin of Simony was so glaringly obvious to laymen that many stopped tithing, and even stopped attending Mass. 

The clergy could not be trusted by the people.  If they couldn't be trusted to be, at least, more sin free than the laity if not beyond reproach, then how could they be trusted with the integrity of the original Church doctrines?  Scandalous sin and good doctrine do not go together. 

The wars of the Reformation fanned this anti-Catholic cleric animosity into a white hot flame.  After many decades of "Reformation" war, long after Europe finally settled into an exhausted state of stalemate, deadly anti-clerical hatred arose again in the French Revolution.  There, almost or possibly as many clerics and vowed religious were guillotined before the howling mobs of the new Democracy as were royals, nobles and aristocrats. 

Virulent anti-clericalism lives on to this day in much of Europe.  Anti-clericalism is a major part of Protestant anti-Catholicism, here and everywhere.  But when it becomes a real danger to the faith is when it smolders within the Church herself. 

And it is smoldering within the Church.  With good cause. 

Our Catholic Bishop Problem.  You don't have to look too far or too hard to find American Catholic Bishops not living up to the responsibilities of their offices.  The priest-shortage problem, the shrinking Catholic lay population problem, the shrinking Church participation problem, the Parish closing problem, the shrinking religious order problem, all, and more, may be laid on the heads of Bishops not feeding their sheep.  It is all their fault.  Every bit of it. 

We've been talking about this for years and years.  Look through the Refuting Perverted Catholicism pages, the Infiltration of Evil pages and the Treachery and Treason pages just for openers.  Lip Service Catholics in the pews are the result of poor to non-existent catechesis, and proper catholic catechesis is the sole responsibility of the Bishop of the Particular Church (diocese or archdiocese). 

Proper Catholic teaching is his responsibility, and his alone.  If he doesn't do it, it doesn't get done.  No one else can do it.  The blame for "Invincible Ignorance" and for the holding of erroneous or false Church doctrine among his flock rests on his shoulders alone. 

Bishops failing in their sole responsibility for the proper teaching of the faithful is destroying Catholic faith in America.  Rapidly. 

Protestantizing Catholic Parishes.  The two major errors in all of Protestantism are the Protestant dogma of Sola Scriptura (Sole Authority of Scripture) and the companion Protestant dogma of Sola Fide (Faith Alone).  These errors are the root cause of "denominationalism" - the continuous, never ending splitting off of new denominations of Protestantism, into thousands and thousands of "interpretations" of Scripture, and different manifestations or expressions of faith.  Protestantism has no single point of reference and no sole authority to turn to.  It has thus degenerated into an every-man-for-himself belief system. 

Note that nothing I'm saying here is meant to be universally applied everywhere; there are exceptions to every thing I'm saying here, both in Protestantism and in current Catholic Parishes. 

That being said, generally speaking, if a Protestant is unhappy with his current church, whatever denomination it is, or if he moves away from it out of some necessity of life, he looks about for a new church to attend, even of another denomination.  When Protestants look for a new church, they may study it's charter or unique declarations, or they may attend and listen to the sermons, before they make a decision. 

General Protestantism is religion of convenience.  It is church modified to fit man, not man modified to fit Church. 

They are looking to "Get Something Out Of It".  Not to put something into it.  Not to give God His due.  If a Protestant is satisfied that a new church's charter or declarations agree with his personal belief, or if the preaching agrees with him, that is where he will attend.  If not, he will keep looking.  While this cannot be said of all Protestants, it may be said as a general rule. 

This is "Feel Good Religion".  We are supposed to be different. 

But we are not.  Since the wild radicalizations of the Catholic Mass in the '70s, the trend is growing among Catholics to seek out either more conservative and traditional, or more liberal and all inclusive Parishes.  Parish to Parish, you can find major differences in individual Churches even within the same diocese or archdiocese.  Between dioceses, the differences are even more apparent. 

Where did these changes come from?  I don't know about you, but I was stunned to learn that almost none of the major changes in Liturgy that were so upsetting to most of us at the time originated with any Pope, or with any Church Council, or with any Council of any Bishops in communion with any Pope, or from Paul VI's new Novus Ordo Mass.  They originated from individual Bishops and Priests, acting on their own, or in groups not communicating with the Pope. 

Communion in the hand.  Removal of the Communion rail.  Lay Ministers of the Eucharist.  Lay Lectors.  Altar girls.  The elimination of Latin.  Inclusion of Protestant music.  Holding hands during the Pater Noster.  Lay adoption of the "Orans Position" during the Pater Noster.  The Gift of Peace.  Elimination of kneelers.  Building Churches like Theaters.  Liturgical dance. "Innovations" masses, like clown masses, cowboy masses, folk masses, pizza masses, etc., etc., etc. 

None of this - and none of a whole lot more - none of it was originated by any Pope, any Council in communion with any Pope, or even by Paul VI in his new Novus Ordo Mass. 

Is it any wonder Catholics go hunting for Parishes now, just like Protestants?  Is it any wonder that Catholic laymen, in ever increasing numbers, go to Mass to "Get Something Out Of It" rather than to give God His due, and to commune with Divinity in the Eucharist?  Is it any wonder that Catholic respect for and even recognition of Eucharist Himself is waning? 

Where is the Unity of the Catholic Church to be found? 

It gets worse.  We have active homosexual "Catholic" Parishes, and even what appears to be homosexual "Catholic" dioceses.  New York, for example.  We have Bishops, and even the whole USCCB supporting anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, anti-Jew, anti-American, Marxist, pro-abortion political candidates for high office in America, with funds from special Catholic Church collections. 

Most Bishops Anathematize Nothing.  In Anathematizing Anathema we talked about American Catholic Bishops becoming what Scripture warned us about: ravening wolves and false prophets among our own teachers.  We are now seeing their fruits. 

In failing to identify evil as evil, they pollute the whole faith. 

They fail in keeping their own brotherhood pure and clean in the faith.  They refuse to judge themselves, let alone each other.  At the very least, they stand aside and do not condemn the worst of abominations.  At worst, they participate in it.  Thus they violate the very trust they have been given. 

Being ambivalent or even welcoming to obstinate unrepentant sinners not only in the flock, but among themselves, out of some Freudian sense of social experiment, or political correctness, or even worldly politics, is precisely how the enemy gets in the gate and inside the walls. 

The only path to the eventual destruction of Constitutional America goes through the destruction of the mainstream Christian morality of the American People.  Marxism has been using its totally owned education system to increasingly dumb-down and de-moralize the American citizenry for untold generations now.  If the citizenry are not properly educated, and if they are not moral, Constitutional America will fall. 

Obamunism and the Marxocrat Party are growing, indoctrinating and propagandizing a Moron-Vote and a Totally Dependent Vote as a rapidly growing voter base in case any particular attempted revolution fails.  The next one will make more progress.  The Republicrat Party leadership is cooperating in that effort, by not resisting it.  They refuse to impeach anyone, and they refuse to stop any spending of anyone.  It is, therefore, not that they can't do much about it; it is that they absolutely refuse to stop it.  They are in on it. 

The way it looks to me, so are most of our Bishops. 

Why is it that you can count on your fingers the Bishops who speak openly in condemning false doctrines and poor catechesis?  Do our Bishops not number in the hundreds? 

Perhaps some among our Bishops, like our Republicrat Party leadership, hope to win for themselves some important spot in the new Ruling Class that will govern America after the Constitution falls.  But they are in for a rude awakening, for, eventually, their usefulness to the real future rulers will come to an end.  They are mere pawns, of temporary usefulness.  The ends justify the means. 

Mushy, weak, unmanly Catholicism.  These days it seems to me that the Love Thy Enemy, Turn The Other Cheek, and similar Scripture quotes are nearly always blown into universal applications for every imaginable situation, including even on the battlefield, or even restricting entering the battlefield altogether.  Which is nonsense.  Suicidal nonsense, not only for individuals, but for whole cultures. 

These verses were intended to be applied to opposition or enemies other than the rapacious and murderous barbarian outside the gates.  They properly applied to members of the culture, within the castle walls.  If not within the ethos, then at least within the existing lawful order of society, however imperfect it may be.  If I'm wrong about this, I'm sure someone will point that out fairly quickly. 

In Matthew 5, for instance, regarding being forced to go one mile, and voluntarily going two, was undoubtedly talking about a Roman soldier.  Different ethos, but part of the existing normal culture.  He is the only one who, at that time, could compel anyone around to carry some of his weaponry or armor or booty for him, for one mile only, by law.  A soldier with a lot to carry might compel two or more people at a time, but, only for one mile, without pay. 

Now, that Roman soldier might have been a very unpleasant fellow, and dangerous.  But he was part of the working community, and not a mortal enemy.  Not normally, anyway.  It was during the period known as the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome.  That soldier was the guy who kept the peace, such as it was.  The enforcer of the law.  The maintainer of order. 

And when it says "love your enemy" it is not talking about any mortal enemy of you and of your whole culture, but an enemy from within the walls of the community of which you are a part.  Meaning, a political enemy, or one who defrauds you or defames you or somehow sins against you, perhaps out of hate. 

The Sadducees and Pharisees were political and theological enemies, for instance. 

It is ludicrous to envision that our Lord meant, in saying turn the other cheek, that you should not resist the Jihadist who means to take your head, and everyone else's heads.  Or that when He said love your enemy, that you should love those who intend to drag all our wives and children off into slavery.  Or that what He meant by turn the other cheek was for you to meekly stand by and allow a rapacious horde to sack your nation, murder everyone and desecrate all the Churches. 

Let's get serious. 

If past Bishops believed that throughout history, the Crusade never would have launched.  Imagine what the world might look like now.  It is today's Bishops, not yesterday's, who have gone wimpy, weak kneed and effeminate. 

What Bishop(s) will champion Truth?  Who among them will profess the full Truth?  And when?  The Catholic Church contains the fulness of Truth.  If it is not passed on in its fulness, from our Bishops, from where else will the American citizenry get it? 

Where are the heroic Catholic Bishops who will stand up, step out, draw their swords and have at it? 

Let all who have eyes see; let all who have ears hear.  The enemy is inside the walls, and among us.  In our political Parties.  In our educational establishment.  In our news media.  In our entertainment industry.  In our Churches.  Even among our Bishops. 

God help us. 

Follow closely the Obamunist ridicule of us:  Cling to your guns and your Bible.  Cling also to your Catechism of the Catholic Church, as a sure, fixed, dependable guide to true Christian morality. 

Pray for peace; prepare for the worst. 

=====

Sarcastic Acronym Hover-Link Footnotes: For the convenience of those readers using devices that lack a mouse, these footnotes are provided for all webpages, in case any webpage contains any hover-links. (If you don't have a mouse, you can't "hover" it over a link without clicking just to see the simple acronym interpretation. Click any footnote link to see the acronym and a detailed explanation; "Hover" the mouse over it just to see the simple interpretation.)

SLIMC¹ Secularist Liberal Intellectual Media Complex
GESGOEAEOT² Gradually, Ever So Gradually, Over Eons And Eons Of Time
PEWAG³ Punctuated Equilibrium's Wild-Assed Guess
TTRSTF⁴ Them There Real Scientifical-Type Fellers
TTRSPTF⁵ Them There Real Smart Perfesser-Type Fellers
TTRSJTF⁶ Them There Real Smart Journalistical-Type Fellers
SNRTACBT⁷ Surely No Right Thinking Adult Could Believe Today
STNSEACPB⁸ Surely Today No Serious Educated Adult Could Possibly Believe
WDN⁹ We Don't Know
BMDFP¹⁰ Baboons, Mongrel Dogs, Filthy Pigs and ...
HBAACOTE¹¹ Human Beings Are A Cancer On The Earth
ACLU¹² Anti-Christian Litigation Union
FLORMPORIF¹³ Flagrant Liar, Or, Mindless Parrot, Or, Innocent Fool
MEJTML¹⁴ Marxist Ends-Justify-The-Means Liar
IEJTML¹⁵ Islamic Ends-Ends-Justify-The-Means Liar
MPAV¹⁶ Marxist Principles And Values
WBESSWG¹⁷ Wise, Benign, Elite, Super-Scientific World Governance
TRMITM¹⁸ The Reason Man's In This Mess
IYI¹⁹ Intellectual Yet Idiotic
TTRSCBTF²⁰ Them There Real Smart Catholic Bishop Type Fellers
IACMPVND²¹ Illegal-Alien-Criminal Marxocrat-Party-Voting Nation-Destroyers
PEJTML²² Palestinian Ends-Justify-The-Means Liar
PSYOP²³ "Psychological Operation" Mind Trick
CDC²⁴ Covid Developmentally Challenged
LGBTQ+ Every Letter Represents A Serious Psychotic sexual Identity Disorder
HEJTML²⁶ Hedonist Ends-Justify-The-Means Liar
SEJTML²⁷ Scientistic Ends-Justify-The-Means Liar

Reference Material

[All Web Pages listed in Site Map by date-of-publication;
oldest at the top, newest at the bottom of the list.]

Culture=Religion+Politics;  Who Are We?  Vic Biorseth

The Brilliantly Conceived Organization of the USA;  Vic Biorseth

Live Interviews

Return to the BLOG page

Return to the HOME PAGE

Subscribe to our Free E-Zine News Letter

---

Date:  Thu Dec 11 09:49:26 2014
From:  Andy E.
Email:   andrewetchen.ae@gmail.com
Location:  St. Clair Beach, Ontario
Comment: 

Well said and cutting!  You expertly pull back the curtain and shine the light, and you can just see those that deceive, run for the darkness.  Yes it is just that simple.  A massive betrayal from top down.

Why do pious men wither away silently, betrayed, and alone?  Fr. John A. Hardon (S.J. deceased-U.S.), Bishop Richard Williamson (formerly SSPX - U.K.), and those local parish priests, Fr. Peter Hrytsyk of Windsor (Ontario) Tridentine Mass Assoc. & Fr. David Lesniak of St. Alphonsus - Dearborn, MI.  God knows there are numerous other priests that have impeccable reputations.  Sadly they will only oversee the demise (unwillingly) of our Church. 

Our Bishops, are completely out of touch with the flock.  There is no connection.  Your local bishop and archbishops, past and present should be household names!

The whole system is broken. Rome is galaxies away!  The Bishops are supposed to bridge us together, but it seems that they have been quite busy and complicit in allowing the dismantling of those bridges. 

Where do we go from here?  I have no idea.  If possible seek out those living saints, and form long lines to kneel before them and ask for blessings and confess our sins.  I have read that people waited in line for days to confess sins to St. Padre Pio.

---

Date:  Thu Dec 11 2014
From:  Vic Biorseth
Comment:  

Andy: 

Right on.  Michael Voris' recent reports on the Synod on the family showed how the "experts" and many (most?) Bishops who wrote the infamous report for the Media before the Bishops even saw it, let alone approved it, highlights the essence of what you say. 

It is insidious.  They act as actual Combat Engineers blowing bridges between the true-to-Catholicism laity and the heterodox clergy, so that they can surreptitiously transform "The Church" into merely "Church".  Under the cover of darkness, one little compromise at a time, until it is all done.  While smiling. 

And most of the true-to-Catholicism Bishops stand mute.  If they exist.  Very few speak up.  Damned few. 

Regards,

Vic

---

Date:  Thu Dec 11 09:53:11 2014
From:  Lori
Email:   l.baxter@sbcglobal.net
Location:  Carmel, IN USA
Comment: 

I'm so happy I found your blog.  Thank you for your input.  God works with those who have faith and our founding fathers believed in Jesus Christ and His promise of ever lasting life.  That is why they put their lives on the line to create this country.  They recognized that every man is a sinner and so created a gov't with checks and balances.  Today the elite in the church and the state believe they know better and have watered down sin so moral relativism reigns.  The enemy is within the walls and too many are sheep to stand against the wolves in sheep clothing.  I pray for a few good leaders like Bishop Paprocki but he now answers to Cupich another social justice lukewarm about God's Truth bishop.

---

Date:  Thu Dec 11 2014
From:  Vic Biorseth
Comment:  

Lori:

There is a perceivable common thread that runs through all of it, and that common thread is Marxism, in all its wild variety.  My next page is going to address more of the "American" aspect, so politics and ideology will be treated more than religion; however, it doesn't take a microscope to find and trace a Marxist thread running through everything that is tearing down all of our social institutions, at the same time.  Including our national religions. 

Thank you; there is more to come. 

Regards,

Vic

---

Date:  Sat Dec 27 2014
From:  Vic Biorseth
Comment:  

The Faithful Cavalry may have arrived.  I have been following Michael Voris at ChurchMilitant.tv for some time now, and so should you.  His mission is expanding, thanks to some major recent donations, including a new building and a new "Mobile Studio" in the form of a big camper, or "Motor Home" vehicle, which he is outfitting for rapid response remote broadcasting. 

Click the images to play the videos.  Perhaps this militant Catholic Mobile Studio may one day roll up to a Lefty-Liberal, Homo-Friendly, Pro-Priestess, All-Inclusive, Anything-Goes "Catholic" Parish near you. 

Pray for it. 

Here are some more of the recent videos that should be of vital interest to all Catholic faithful. 

If you want to know what you can do about it that has an actual effect, here it is:  End the Money.

It is now time to call for a new Inquisition.

Mortal enemies have infiltrated all layers of society.  The barbarians are now inside the walls, and everywhere among us.  There exists more than one form of "Sleeper Cells" metastasizing in America and in Western Civilization, and, worst of all, in the Catholic Church. 

Contact the Cavalry.  Let's grow this opportunity. 

Regards,

Vic

---

This Form cannot be submitted until the missing fields (labelled below in red) have been filled in

ADD COMMENT

Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in.

Name / Pseudo-Name:*

E-mail Address:

City / State / Country:

Comment:*

Please enter the word that you see below.

Copyrighted Material