This year has been a struggle, as I work things out relative to the shifts that have happened in Catholicism since I\u2019ve been Catholic. \u00a0The last vestiges of pre-progressive culture have been swept behind us, except for those sexual issues that would likely not impact celibate men. \u00a0Everything else is increasingly along the lines of modern, Western, progressive and even secular social and political theory. <\/p>\n
That is enough right there. \u00a0Add to it the slammed doors on any hope that I will be able to act in the capacity of a minister of the Gospel, and it\u2019s been tough. \u00a0What to give up? \u00a0What to sacrifice? \u00a0What to commit to?<\/p>\n
Well, I decided, a few weeks into Lent I admit, that my penance will be a daily visit to Catholic and Enjoying It. \u00a0That may sound strange. \u00a0But here is why.<\/p>\n
In my early days of looking at non-Protestant Christianity, I stumbled on CAEI largely by accident. \u00a0I was searching for some free downloadable articles by Scott Hahn, without success. \u00a0Then I found an article by someone named Mark Shea. \u00a0It dealt with the strange aversion many Protestants have regarding Mary. \u00a0It was direct, but nice. \u00a0Even respectful. \u00a0There were some clever zingers, making the point without offending. \u00a0But the point was solid, fair, and truthful. <\/p>\n
I went back, found his website, and gobbled up the articles. \u00a0They were almost all wonderful. \u00a0Here was a conservative American Catholic, not afraid to point out when Conservatism wasn\u2019t following the path of Christ. \u00a0He was also fair when liberalism was correct. \u00a0His blog was a little more raucous. \u00a0But those were usually the readers. \u00a0Mark himself was often the goalie, stepping in and stopping things before they went too far. \u00a0Even telling his friends to back off. \u00a0No personal attacks or accusations were allowed. \u00a0Those would get you the door. <\/p>\n
There you had it. \u00a0You could be conservative and Catholic. \u00a0The stereotype of Catholicism and Liberal Socialism voting Democrats as the sacramental calling of modern Catholicism was not universal. \u00a0You could love America, admit it sins, but not emphasize them (which Mark pointed out was often a very un-Christian thing to do). \u00a0You could respect the heritage of Western Civilization. You could evenly boldly declare \u201cWhy We Must Fight\u201d following 9\/11. \u00a0He even liked Tolkien, and the books I liked. \u00a0And his humor and mine were not too far off each other. <\/p>\n
Perhaps it was my own fault that I saw in Mark\u2019s rather balanced approach as what Catholicism was, rather than looking further. \u00a0But that was well over ten years ago. <\/p>\n
Today, the Church has changed in just the time since we came into it. \u00a0The generation that had welcomed Protestant Clergy Converts into the fold have passed to retirement. \u00a0With some exceptions in the priesthood, most now in charge (Boomer age) seem to want little to do with us, unless we can design webpages or raise money. \u00a0And it isn\u2019t hard to see that Oprah style liberalism and the growing pronouncements about reality from Church leaders sound increasingly the same. \u00a0The Bishops\u2019 willingness to almost in one voice support the Democrats in all things, as long as they don\u2019t screw the Church, and the shift toward accepting the Secular narrative are hard to miss. <\/p>\n
True, Pope Francis is a horse of a different color. \u00a0But those who have studied liberation theology and the Marxist influences in South American Christianity will recognize at least some influences there, even if what he is willing to take a stand against other forms of radical leftist morality (again, usually where sex is concerned).<\/p>\n
On CAEI, the change is even more pronounced. \u00a0It\u2019s almost an entirely different world. \u00a0An entirely different blogger. \u00a0Most regulars of old have long since moved on. \u00a0The readers are either post-modern non-conformists cheering on their own superiority over all those loser \u201ctribal Catholics\u201d, or clearly hard to the Left progressives, with varying degrees of anti-abortion and non-gay marriage support. \u00a0In fact, opposing gay \u201cmarriage\u201d is about the only thing that separates much modern talk about homosexuality in the Church from your average LGBT rally. And CAEI echoes this.<\/p>\n
CAEI is a strange mixture now of Jack Chick, Glenn Beck, Huffington Post progressive thought, and a reminder that Catholics are, whether we want to admit it or not, heirs of the Inquisition. \u00a0For a couple years, many regulars tried to warn that there was little to do with enjoying anything on CAEI, and a growing discrepancy between a man who claims to be conservative, and a man who increasingly seems to love liberalism but hate conservatism. \u00a0One by one, those readers have apparently given up and moved on. \u00a0Only a handful remain. \u00a0God love them.<\/p>\n
For me, who has been accused of horrible things by the stock readers and by Mark himself \u2013 including not caring about murdered children at Sandy Hook and desiring to increase human slaughter \u2013 there is little joy or happiness now. \u00a0The anti-Western, anti-American, anti-Traditional and anti-Conservative narrative fully embraced has made me more of an outcast there than I was at the Huffington Post. \u00a0And to be honest, I\u2019ve been called far worse on CAEI than I was at the Huffington Post. \u00a0And it was leaving HP (as well as being banned for not being liberal) that was one of the reasons I started my blog! \u00a0Which is always a possibility at CAEI, since the thing that gets you banned now is pretty much defending traditional and conservative viewpoints, with rare exception.<\/p>\n
So why keep going? \u00a0Because, as I\u2019ve said before, Mark stepped in and helped our family when we needed help. \u00a0He also helped us by sending us drafts of his Mary books when we were asking questions, before I even visited his blog. \u00a0And I do think that, deep down, Mark is a sensitive, thoughtful individual. \u00a0It\u2019s just that he seems to get his comfort from being entirely obedient to the Vatican, the Vatican now, as opposed to \u201cCafeteria Catholics\u201d who aren\u2019t. \u00a0And as the Church shifts to the Left, what can he do? \u00a0Openly disagree? Perhaps the tension between realizing the Church\u2019s embrace of modernity and his deep down preference for more Conservative ideals is the cause of the rancor. \u00a0Perhaps he was never really that conservative. \u00a0Maybe he did think Conservatives were equal to God, and had a meltdown when he realized the truth. \u00a0Who knows? \u00a0But he\u2019s become successful in this new incarnation, and it\u2019s unlikely now that he will change and go back. <\/p>\n
So I\u2019ve committed myself to one more round. \u00a0I will visit everyday, and try to post at least one post each day. \u00a0I will avoid anything that will bring the accusations and condescension from readers whose bizarre level of lunacy and leftist judgemental intolerance appears to be accepted, if not supported, by Mark. \u00a0If it happens, it happens. \u00a0Then, come the great celebration of Easter and the Resurrection, I too will rise from the dregs that have embraced the worst of our post-modern culture, and move on to where I can once again find joy and happiness in the historic Faith, not despite this or that blog, but because of this or that blog, if I decide to find another one at all. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This year has been a struggle, as I work things out relative to the shifts that have happened in Catholicism since I\u2019ve been Catholic. \u00a0The last vestiges of pre-progressive culture have been swept behind us, except for those sexual issues that would likely not impact celibate men. \u00a0Everything else is increasingly along the lines of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n