Most of the people I know insist that I'm "highly opinionated." Well, I disagree. I might talk a lot about various things, but I'm not terribly "opinionated." Well, maybe I am to some small extent, but I'm not enough of an original thinker to be truly worthy of the moniker, really. I'm more of a synthesizer of facts, more of a Stentorian Trumpet of the (what should be) Obvious. In a world hell-bent - literally! - on self-delusion and the jettisoning of even the slightest particle of common sense, the little common sense I have managed to hide from the world's auto-detect apparatus yearns to break forth.
And so, this blog enters the Blogosphere. In my 55 years sojourning through life, I have seen a lot and learned a little. Much of what I have seen would make any reasonable person shake his head in bewilderment and amazement, and runs counter to what I have learned are objective and eternal Truths: Truths which are exterior to, and blissfully unaided by, my poor, ersatz, homegrown stabs at truth. Truths that are sublime, yet easily understood in their essences by even the humblest among us who are open to them. Anyone can form and inform his or her conscience by them. They guarantee a safe and secure navigation through life, for they come from Christ Himself and His holy Church.
Our culture is in tatters today because the bulk of humanity, including - and especially - people in erstwhile Christian lands, consciously avoid those Truths; and many who profess to embrace the Truth are often so unctuous and cloying in their presentation of it that they are just ignored by "them" and robbed of any real power for change in "us." I hope this blog can avoid that trap, or, failing that, at least keep it to a minimum!
There is a palpable sense throughout the Western world, among Christians and unbelievers alike, that the world is in real trouble. From the hysteria over the Mayan Calendar nonsense, to the gleeful shoutings from fundamentalist Christians about the Doom That Awaits, to the quiet despair that many share over the unravelling of the economy and social order, it is clear that many people, from a vast array of backgrounds, feel that we have collectively lost our way. Even many of us who "have read the end of the Book" and don't despair of the final outcome, can nevertheless be so wearied by the seeming futility of pushing against the self-imposed spirit of doom and gloom of the world, that we can scarcely lift up our arms in the effort. I count myself as chief among those who have let the oppressive weight of our troubles let their arms grow heavy. Spiritual Sloth has its seed planted in all of us. Some of us have just made a point of watering and manuring it!
But enough of that! The gentle whisperings to "get on with it" have gone unheeded for too long. I already have to answer for too much as it is; I don't need to add another day to the 35 years of my adult life spent in silence, while the modicum of common sense and discernment God has given me remain unused against the War on religion, culture, the rule of just law and even life itself that rages on all around us.
Here in the USA, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans can claim a monopoly on the solutions to our problems. The former are almost simply beyond hope, motivated - almost to a man, it seems - by a self-absorbed allegiance to Evil. The latter often aren't much better these days, and their leaders are motivated to cynically dangle the carrot of Truth, Justice and the American Way on a stick before the well-intentioned sheeple, who give them a pass time after time, hoping for a return to right order that never comes. They promise the re-establishment of God, Mom and Apple Pie for the public consumption of the masses, even as they cut deals with their more palpably evil (but less hypocritical!) Democratic confreres while smoking together in the back recesses of that den of iniquity known as the U.S. Capitol! It has been decades since there was a dime's worth of real difference between them. We have all been well-played! Our church leaders and prominent "conservatives" have, for the most part, been equally well-played. Christians and others of good will elsewhere have been similarly well-played by their own political and religious cooperators in evil.
Well, I refuse to go along with this any more! This little blog is my first step on a journey I should have begun long ago. There will be no sacred cows here. It's a target-rich environment we live in, and I have plenty of ammo! There is definitely no shortage on topic matter, either. I may not have an abundance of wisdom or great depths of understanding (I am, after all, a product of the times I live in, too), but I believe that I still haven't managed to lose all of the common sense and discernment God has given me, and I intend to employ them through this blog in the exposition of the rot and misdirection in our culture, and their root causes. I will never claim to have all of the answers; I feel that my job here will be to ask a lot of the right questions, in the hope that they can plant a seed in those better equipped to formulate those answers.
If it is true that, as Saint Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:27, "God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong," then my path, through God's grace, should be clear enough before me! I'm just a little row boat on a stormy, foaming sea. But I'm throwing a line in order to be towed along by the Barque of Peter, and that Barque is always on-course! Throw a line onto the Barque with me, and let's go on a little adventure together! If you agree with, or are persuaded by, what is written here, let your friends know about this blog. If my blog succeeds in its goals, we might have so many rowboats in the water that no power can fail to be changed for the better by us!
Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam!
