The Department of Injustice

This past week’s daily scripture readings included the beautiful first three chapters of The Book of Ecclesiastes.    Chapter one starts with, “Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity,” which the author explains to mean that all man’s toil and effort amounts to nothing because it cannot satisfy us, nor compare to God’s creation and eternal life.  Chapter three contains the beautiful verse that was put to music by The Byrds in 1969:  “There is an appointed time for everything… A time to be born, a time to die… a time of war, a time of peace,” etc.  The weekly scripture leads up to Sunday’s first reading from Ezekiel which proclaims that those who turn away from virtue will surely die, and those who do what is right and just, will save their (eternal) lives.  This culminates in the gospel when Jesus tells the chief priests and elders that tax collectors and prostitutes will enter heaven before them because they turned away from their sinfulness and have chosen the path of righteousness.

The name of the Byrds’ song was “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which may well have referred to the notion of turning away from futile human plotting in favor of righteousness.  Here’s a link to the song if you’re up for a blast from the past: www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4  

The theme of scripture for the past week seems to be that we can use our free will to turn away from the things that are futile and will never truly satisfy us, and turn instead to virtue as epitomized by Jesus Christ.  The terms righteousness and justice may seem archaic, and are surely misunderstood in our modern age.  Doing what is right forms the basis of being righteous, but what exactly is the right thing to do?  Although each of us has a free will and the ability to choose our actions, doing what is right depends on understanding what contributes to the good, both our own good and the common good.  Certainly we all make bad decisions from time to time and end up hurting ourselves or those around us.  This is why we need guidance.  If a child is left undirected, they are bound to hurt themselves in one way or another.  If we fail to mature and learn to control our appetites and selfish desires, our lives will turn out to be a mess.  We all need guidance to learn right from wrong, and to stay on the path of righteousness.  When we err, justice demands that we suffer the consequences, and this serves as motivation to do right and avoid wrong in the future.  It also implies that justice be based on what is right in the first place. 

For Justice to be just, it must comport with the common good, and to guide us in the right direction, God gave us His Law, in the form of the Ten Commandments.  In recent years, numerous efforts have been made, often successful, to remove images of the Ten Commandments from court houses and public properties.  Not surprisingly, our Justice system has taken a turn for the worse.  In times past, adultery was understood as a violation of a sacred oath and an affront to the common good.  Now it is considered commonplace and simply a fact of everyday life in which people are simply pursuing their own happiness.   Murder, while still a capital crime, no longer includes protection of  the unborn.   Instead, our justice system ensures access to abortion, with federal law overriding state laws to the contrary.   Fortunately, a recent effort by Democrats to strike down virtually every state law putting any sort of restriction on abortions or abortion facilities (such as requiring basic medical safety regulations) failed to pass in the Senate.   Marriage between one man and one woman, which has been considered fundamental to the common good of humanity and the continuation of our species for almost all of human history, is now considered an attack on the civil rights of gay couples.

Last week Eric Holder resigned as head of the Department of Justice.  In his six years, he has done more to undermine the common good than any other Attorney General I can think of.   Early on, Holder pursued a church (Hosanna Tabor) all the way to the Supreme Court, trying to force them to hire a gay minister.  Fortunately, he lost that one 9-0.  He has fought persistently to overturn numerous laws passed by state legislatures if they were in conflict with the liberal, progressive agenda regarding marriage, voter ID requirements, or religious freedom.  Most recently, Holder and his Justice Department have continued to pursue the Little Sisters of the Poor who won a reprieve in lower court from the Obamacare mandate that they provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs to their hospice and nursing home employees.  Holder and his minions plan to pursue this all the way to the Supreme Court, despite knowing that if the Sisters lose, they will shut down all their hospices and nursing homes rather than violate their religious beliefs.  How would that outcome benefit anyone, or the common good?

During his ongoing farewell tour, Holder touts his accomplishments on civil rights, including the rights of the LGBT and black communities.  I guess he thinks intervening in the Trevon Martin trial, and showing up in Ferguson Missouri before the facts have been investigated, demonstrate his zeal at ensuring civil rights, despite trampling all over due process law.  His persistent efforts to thwart state laws requiring voter ID are viewed as protecting civil rights, despite the high percentage of voter fraud that ensues when anyone can vote without proof of identity, much less citizenship.   His attempts to abolish state laws regulating the abortion industry are viewed as ensuring the civil right to an abortion.  Can any of this be considered right?  Does it contribute to the common good that unborn babies be killed, or that people be allowed, even encouraged, to vote illegally and more than once?   Does any of this comport with the Good as revealed by God in nature and natural law?  If not, how can it be called Justice?

It seems that under Eric Holder we now have a Department of Injustice, one that defies the constitution rather than upholding it.  Holder’s legacy is one of progressive activism that has striven to reshape our country in ways that redefine the common good as the exercise of absolute freedom, rather than adherence to God’s Law as revealed in scripture and in nature.   When human law begins to run contrary to divine law, society is at risk of committing suicide.  If this seems extreme, consider the trajectory we’re on with declining birth rates, declining morality, and the deterioration of the Judeo-Christian principles that formed the basis of our constitution.  It’s time to TURN! TURN! TURN!  before it’s too late.  The upcoming elections would be a good place to start, if we can elect legislators with the guts to restore Justice based on what is Right, rather than what is appealing to our increasingly secular society in its vain efforts to find comfort in its own dissolution.

Can You Buy Happiness for $39 a Month?

This Sunday’s gospel contains Jesus’ parable about the wine grower who paid all the laborers the same daily wage, including those who only worked the last hour of the day.  Those who worked the entire day grumbled about the fairness of such generosity, but the message is clear:  God is more than fair, His generosity goes far beyond any human notion of fairness.  Thank God for that, because we are all sinners and need Divine Mercy, despite our unworthiness.  Of course, this is the good news of the gospel and it is surely it is a cause to be happy.  Happiness frequently eludes us, and for some, happiness seems all but impossible.   A couple weeks ago I heard about a survey called The World Happiness Report, which apparently has been done annually for 60 years by the The Earth Institute at Columbia University.  The surveys show that when American citizens were asked to rate their overall happiness and well-being on a scale of one to 10 (10 being very happy and one being very unhappy) the typical result in 1950 was between 7 and 7.5. Fast-forward 64 years and the typical results for self-reported happiness drops to between 5.5 and 6.  This 20% drop corresponds to a tripling of the US Gross National Product per capita, and all the amazing technological advances we’ve experienced over the last half century.  So what gives? 

Just yesterday I received an on-line ad offering a “Master Course in Happiness” for just $39/month.  The course was described as, “ … a monthly, in-depth program to help you actively, purposefully, and effectively live a happier, more fulfilling life. What you will learn in this course are the skills and principles that are the common denominator for self mastery across all circumstances and personalities.”  This seems to imply that happiness is associated with “self-mastery,” and can be both learned and attained by dint of personal effort.  Could happiness be as simple as disciplining ourselves to become more optimistic, or more content with our life?  Can we attain it on our own if we just follow the formula? 

The ancient Greeks were kind of obsessed with happiness and they were forever seeking the perfect human form and human life.  Their art depicts the ideal human form, and their literature alluded to life as exemplified by courage and overcoming any and all obstacles, including giants, sirens casting spells, sea monsters, and the forces of nature.  Socrates focused on the invisible reality beyond our perceptions, the purpose of life and the “examined life.  His student Aristotle studied and wrote about how to achieve happiness in this natural life, ostensibly by the pursuit of virtue.  Our founding fathers, who were avid readers of philosophy, even cited the pursuit of happiness as a right endowed by our creator when they penned the Declaration of Independence.  Their understanding of happiness probably corresponded more closely to Aristotle’s ideas than our modern view, which in too many cases is dependent on life’s pleasures.  For many 21^st century Americans, the pursuit of happiness means taking satisfaction in acquiring wealth, status, influence and/or power, so as to have within our means the accoutrements of pleasure and convenience that bring about happiness.

So which is it, pleasure or the virtuous life?   Or could it be something else altogether?   This summer I finished reading Pope Benedict’s trilogy on Jesus of Nazareth.  Two phrases he used caught my attention.  The first was, “the imprisonment of self-absorption,” used in connection with a discussion about Christ as a sign of contradiction.   Many regard God as putting limitations on human freedom, but this is because God’s Truth confronts the many lies humanity has bought into.  He goes on to explain that, “God is Love and as such He calls us to transcend ourselves, and free ourselves from the imprisonment of self-absorption.” 

The second phrase was, “freedom to be true children of God.”  Comparing the stories of Moses and Jesus, the pope highlighted the fact that even after being liberated from slavery in Egypt, the Jews fell back into their sinful ways and were enslaved once again by the Babylonians and others.  With Jesus however, our salvation is complete and enduring because Jesus has opened the gates of heaven and reconciled us with God Our Father.  If we profess this belief, we are free to transcend the many anxieties of this world, knowing that (as Socrates might have inferred), we have discovered the true meaning of our existence and our ultimate purpose in life: to prepare ourselves to live for all eternity in the Presence of God.  With this knowledge of our salvation, there is nothing in this world that can prevent us from attaining our destiny as true children of God.   This is certainly a reason to be happy.

With this in mind, it occurred to me that when I’m at my worst, I am imprisoned by self-absorption.   For example, although I generally sleep pretty well, the nights I cannot sleep are those when my mind is whirling away with thoughts about myself: how I might have been wronged, whether or not our finances are in order, what I could have or should have said or done, etc.  The nights I fall straight to sleep are those when I feel as though I am suspended in the love of God, both now and for all eternity. 

So I’ll pass on the $39/month course in happiness, and focus on simply being grateful for the Supernatural love of God who is forever calling me home to Himself.  And I think I’ll sleep just fine.

Faith and Reason vs. Islamic Extremism

This Sunday celebrates the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.  Over the centuries we have sanitized the cross and as we go about out busy lives, giving little thought to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation.   His gruesome torture and death were the price Jesus paid to redeem us from sin.  In doing so, Jesus fulfilled the many prophecies about God’s plan for our salvation.  When Moses fashioned the bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, he was prefiguring the Holy Cross.  Israelites who had been bitten by serpents were saved from death by looking upon the bronze pole.   This presents an allegory for all of us who have been bitten by the evil of sin, but are saved by the Cross of Jesus.  The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus save us from eternal death, if only we believe in Him and His saving act. 

Believing in God and the Trinity is an act of faith, but faith without reason can itself be perverted to evil.  St. John introduces his gospel with the words, “In the beginning was the Word (Logos)…”  The Greek word Logos, means “reason,” and God is reasonable.  Therefore it is contrary to reason to act contrary to God who created humanity with the ability to reason.  If we separate faith from reason, it leads to fundamentalism which can become so extreme that it acts contrary to God.  Islamic extremism is an example of faith without reason, acting contrary to the nature of God who is loving and forgiving.  Pope Benedict XVI pointed this out eight years ago, the day after the fifth anniversary of the September 11^th attacks.  For his efforts, the pope was severely criticized by the press and many Christians who were afraid of offending Moslems.  The pope was warning the world about the rising violence of Islamic extremism and urging Islamic leaders to condemn the spread of religion by means of violence.  Spreading faith by means of violence rather than persuasion and reason, is contrary to what we know about the nature of God who created us with free will, and who taught us to love and forgive one another as He loves us.

Pope Benedict’s comments included a quote from a late-14^th century emperor who was faced with imminent invasion from Muslims.  Byzantine Emperor Manuel II said, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword, the faith he preached.”  As it turns out Manuel II was the last Christian emperor of the Byzantine Empire which was overrun by the Ottoman Turks not long after the emperor’s remarks.   Pope Benedict, again quoting Emperor Manuel, made the following observation: “God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonable is contrary to God’s nature.  Faith is born of the soul.  Whoever would lead some to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats.  To convince a reasonable soul one does not need a strong arm or weapons of any kind or any other means of threatening a person with death.”   

Ironically, despite harsh criticism from Western Christians and the press, Islamic leaders welcomed the pope’s comments and subsequently agreed to interreligious dialogues to address Islamic extremism.  These dialogues continue today and provide a forum to discuss ways of discouraging Islamic extremism based on violence, torture, and the brutal execution of anyone who refuses to adopt their fundamentalist faith.  Even King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia visited the pope several times after the Regensburg speech, and hosted in interreligious conference that included Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Islamic leaders.  Ironically, that meeting had to be held in Spain because non-Muslims cannot practice their faith in Saudi Arabia.

Those who blame religion for all war, fail to recognized that it is not religion that precipitates wars, but extremism in its various forms, and many of the greatest atrocities against humanity were perpetrated by leaders trying to force atheism on the masses in the form of Communism.  There have certainly been many extremist Christians throughout history, and sinfulness has crept into every Church and every denomination at one time or another.   This further makes the case for the importance of combining faith and reason.  As we examine the life of Christ, we realize that His was a life devoted to revealing the nature and love of God, even to the point of sacrificing His life for all of us who are so unworthy of such love and forgiveness.  Jesus established His Church, not by means of violence, but rather with the message of God’s love and forgiveness.  Jesus was crucified by men so committed to protecting their status as religious leaders that they would kill the very Son of God for preaching the forgiveness of sin.  And yet, even in death, Jesus conquered the world, just as He conquered death and rose from the grave.  The good news of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life are more compelling than the threat of death, as evidenced by the many martyrs who sacrificed their own lives rather than reject their Christian belief. 

The persecution of Christians did not crush the fledgling Church despite more than 200 years of oppression, and neither will the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.  The real risk of losing our faith is our complacency and apathy towards the message of the cross.  This is why we must persist in our prayer and study of Holy Scripture.  Every Catholic reminds himself of the importance of the cross by beginning and ending every prayer by making the sign of the cross on his/her body.   Every Catholic Church prominently displays a crucifix with the tortured and dead body of Jesus, rather than merely the barren cross, to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.  We have been saved, not by the wood of the cross, but by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior who is Himself the flesh and blood Word of God, the Divine Logos.

Summer Movies

Last Sunday’s readings seemed to be about man’s sinfulness and the importance of forgiveness.    The first reading from Ezekiel describes the need to warn the wicked of their sins, and in the gospel Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.”  Then He follows up with: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  (Matthew 18:15,18)

The concept of sin is becoming passé.  In a world of moral relativism where there are no absolute truths, everyone is free to rationalize their actions and decide for themselves what is right and wrong.  Human nature being what it is, we all have a tendency to make excuses for ourselves.  In doing so, we suppress our conscience either by ignoring it, or failing to form it properly in the first place.  As society becomes more focused on the primacy of absolute individual freedom, we take for granted the commonly held belief that we’re all entitled to happiness as defined by pleasure, convenience, and freedom from consequences.  The notion that anything could be intrinsically evil is considered a vestige of archaic superstition.  Is it any wonder then that the entertainment world glorifies sex and violence, while downplaying and even ridiculing modesty, chastity, self-control, and meekness. 

Not surprisingly, in a world where we have become desensitized to the immorality of violence and promiscuity, the importance of marriage and family have also been demeaned.  Why marry and assume the “burden” of commitment and children if it interferes with the pursuit of pleasure and freedom?  Consequently, 50% of all adults in the USA are now single, compared to 34% just a few decades ago.  The rights of consenting adults now takes precedence over almost everything, including the right of children to be raised by both of their biological parents, or the responsibility to be faithful to sacred vows.  This seems to be the agenda of the entertainment industry.  When a wholesome program or movie manages to make it to TV or the big screen, it is demeaned by reviewers and ignored by those showering awards on programs that glorify violence or promote the GLBT agenda.  Case in point: Modern Family earned its 3^rd Emmy for comedy, despite The Middle having an audience twice the size.

On a positive note, this has been a pretty good summer for movies with a moral message.  The first of the year was Son of God which depicted the life and death of Jesus.   Heaven is for Real told of the struggle of a preacher whose son had a near death experience that shakes the faith of his family.  The Giver, portrays the bleak future where freewill has been removed, along with any awareness of the evil of euthanasia.  Although not overtly religious, Magic in the Moonlight is a quirky British piece about a narcissistic atheist and avowed skeptic who believes that love is nothing more than an illusion and there is no meaning to life.  Early in the film he quotes Thomas Hobbes describing humanity, saying: “And the life of man (is) solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”  His belief (or lack thereof) made him an absolute boor and snob, but in the end he is won over by the power of love that gives meaning to his life.  When the Game Stands Tall recounts the real life story of a high school football coach who turns down numerous lucrative offers because he believes his calling is to turn boys into men by teaching the virtues of self-discipline,  hard work, and teamwork.  Even the raucous Guardians of the Galaxy had a few scenes depicting the importance of self-sacrifice for the good of others.  Although I have not seen it yet, God is Not Dead portrays the debate between an atheistic philosophy professor and his defiant student who carries the day.  The Identical tells the story of twins separated at birth.  One becomes a famous musician, and the other is expected to follow his father into the ministry, despite his musical talent.  Later this year, Exodus will be released, telling the story of Moses and the Israelites.  Hopefully it will be more accurate than Noah which was far from biblical. 

There were other, more overtly religious movies that got little attention and poor reviews, but the point is that the public seems to want more wholesome movies.  It’s doubtful any of the movies cited above will get any attention at the Oscars, but there is a growing audience for movies with a moral message.  One thing these movies seem to have in common is the depiction of the bad things that ensue when morality is abandoned.  Rather than extolling the benefits of absolute freedom and the libertine lifestyle, they point to the consequences of sin and the abandonment of morality.

In many ways, whether we like it or not, media helps shape our culture.  Movies and TV set trends, depicting culture in ways that make certain characters and lifestyles appear to be attractive, if not unrealistic.  They have a way of subverting cultural norms by portraying the glamor and excitement of absolute freedom while diminishing the value of traditional virtues.  We see so much sex and violence in the media that we are led to believe it is the norm, and anyone who infers otherwise is portrayed as an idiot.  St. Pope John Paul II was himself an actor, and he warned us frequently about the influence of the media, even while he encouraged Christians to produce uplifting material to counter the culture of death that is taken for granted in so many movies and TV programs.  This is why Rick Santorum joined EchoLight Studios as CEO.  They produced The Christmas Candle last year, the Redemption of Henry Myers this year, and a half dozen movies before that. 

I guess the point of all this is that it’s easy to overlook sin when it’s represented so attractively.  We need to keep up our guard and seek entertainment that recognizes the fact that evil does exist and so does temptation.   Several of the blockbuster movies this past year upheld the notion that evil must be resisted and overcome.  The latest installments of Spiderman and Captain America for example, as well as Divergent, were examples of the good-guy hero fighting against evil.  But for every movie with a good message, there seem to be 10 that reek of Hollywood’s agenda.