Attacks on the family

7 Comments

1. LeeGilbert says:

   20 February 2018 at 12:25 AM

   “Danny Kaye” and the Professor

   As thought provoking as this exchange was, I doubt very much that our basic problem is authoritarian liberals or the demons that inspire them, but rather our giving them access to our minds, primarily through TV. Through that medium there has indeed been a sustained, successful attack on the family and the Church.

   I have watched this satanic walkdown of our morals and our civilization for the past 60 or 65 yrs. Even if you listen to Jack Benny radio programs from the late forties, you will hear double-entendres that were off-color. I can remember TV programs from the so-called innocent fifties, for example, the Jack Paar Show, that had plenty of filth. One did not want to get up and turn off the TV, that would have seemed prudish. But the next night, there would be something a little bit worse, but only slightly. Our consciences were hardened little by little, and the process continues . . .and in our own homes.

   And the Christian response? Did we rise up as one man and throw the TV out in the street and mail the pieces to the networks and advertisers? No, we took it. And it continued. Even now Christians complain about “ the culture” even as they drive to Target to pick up an even bigger entertainment center. We have been piping “the culture” into our homes for the past half century and more and continue to do so even as we lament what is happening to our country and to our children.

   Every now and then I go into battle mode about this. The thing I keep running into is Christian mothers who would love to see the TV out of their homes, but, no, the fathers do not want “to go to extremes.” To stay in touch, to be one of the guys, they need televised sports and lots of it.

   Of course, it is not only TV, but that is the main vector. I can remember coming home “divinized” from Mass on a Sunday morning in the sixties only to sit down for a couple of hours with the Chicago Sunday Tribune and rise up secularized. It isn’t rocket science.

   In short, for my money practically the whole problem comes down to Christian fathers of every stripe (bishops, pastors, priests, heads of families) who have not stood up to the “culture” (and its vectors) but take it as a given and work within it.

   Always on the defensive, we argue against whatever the culture throws at us: premarital sex ( do we even argue against that any more?), abortion, “gay” marriage, and now transgenderism.

   The analogy I draw is, “What would you say to a college professor who has this complaint?: He has taken a student into his home as a boarder. This kid is very funny, a sort of Danny Kaye type. He can sing, he can dance, he does magic tricks. The kids are enthralled with him. He can walk on his hands, pull quarters out of their ears, etc. At the same time, he will make the occasional remark that makes this professor look stupid in front of his children.

   Also, practically since the student took up residence in their home, the children no longer want to go to church. And now they have questions they did not have before he arrived. They are no longer sure they believe in God. They want to know what is the matter with living with someone outside of marriage. They think now that abortion is justified in some cases. And on and on. So here is the professor’s question: Where can I find arguments to convince my children that Christianity is true, that marriage is holy, that homosexuality is wrong? How can I recover my standing in the eyes of my children?

   Suppose the professor posed these questions to his bible study group, or to a group of men that he hangs out with at a bar. What would they say to him? Even in the bible study group they may very well say, “Are you kidding me? You don’t need arguments! Throw the sonofabitch out!!!”

   Yet this very obvious step we will not take. We prefer to argue with the propaganda and to contend with our cultural enemies on their turf. . .and to give vectors evidently consecrated to satan a privileged place in our family life. This is a strategy that is simply insane and it is killing us.

   The problem, then, would seem to be self-indulgent and obtuse Christians rather than authoritarian liberals.
2. mike cliffson says:

   20 February 2018 at 1:57 AM

   Succinct. I would add a from parental and profamily pet peeve:Europe and Stateside THEY are agin’ homeschooling, for very bad reasons . I taught from 1968 to 3 yrs ago and I d abolish organized schooling altogether .
3. ejcmartin says:

   20 February 2018 at 4:04 AM

   Nationalization of the family, brilliant.
4. Grumpy Beggar says:

   20 February 2018 at 5:20 AM

   Several quotes:
   Tucker Carlson : “attacks on the nuclear family” “family is the final bulwark against the spread of government power”
   Mark Steyn : “they’re at war with all the intervening agencies between centralized power and the individual”

   I watched the entire video 4 times , and observed that while “family” was mentioned abundantly , they unfortunately never once mention “marriage.” Maybe it was just an oversight but the Church sees a bigger picture – namely that marriage and the family are in crisis. Pope Francis has mentioned this more than once .

   Marriage is where a main thrust of this war on the family is concentrated. Father John Hardon SJ calls this particular main thrust Sexual Suicide. Fr. Hardon, in identifying some of the instruments used in the war on marriage and the family working below the surface , insists that :”All of us– all of us–all of us have been in greater or lesser measure infected by this virus.”
   While it is good that we still have journalists willing to air these real problems and contradictions in the MSM , we also need to understand that any solution is going to necessarily begin with our own individual efforts at personal holiness. The greatest battle of the 3 main battles we face – against the world, the Devil and the self , has always been the battle against self ; against that which the CCC (2730) calls “the possessive and dominating self.”
   The sacrament of Confession is indispensable in this battle.

   – which can affect us on an individual level
5. Benedict Joseph says:

   20 February 2018 at 5:45 AM

   I was at once dumbstruck and consoled listening to this last evening. It was difficult to believe such common sense and profound depth was emerging from the television. These two men often provide substantial analysis but last evening was over the top. God reward them.
6. oledocfarmer says:

   20 February 2018 at 7:29 AM

   I saw this exchange and thought the same thing. It’s chilling,

7. Pingback: TVESDAY EXTRA – Big Pulpit

Comments are closed.