Reactionaries at The Remnant Do “Editorial” on Yours Truly

June 30, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

Chris Jackson, over at everyone’s favorite radical Catholic reactionary site, The Remnant, decided to “prove” that I’m an irrelevant “neo-Catholic” dinosaur (“Tonight I’m Gonna Blog It Like It’s 1999”). It was highly entertaining fun on a Saturday morning. Here’s the heart of it: Then I noticed a name I had not heard in quite some time. The verbose Neo-Catholic apologist “Cowboy” Dave Armstrong. Cowboy Dave is best known for the encyclopedic stream of consciousness rambling tomes he used to post... Read more

Why do Catholics Believe that Sacraments are Necessary?

June 29, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

[from my apologetics inserts in The Catholic Answer Bible (Our Sunday Visitor, 2002] The Incarnation, which made the redemption of mankind possible, “glorified” matter and raised it to previously unknown heights. God took on human flesh! All created matter was “good” in God’s opinion (Gen 1:25). Ritual and “physicality” were not abolished by the coming of Christ. The sacramental principle flows from the Incarnation itself. If matter had nothing to do with grace, then God wouldn‟t have had to become man.... Read more

Illegal Immigration Cannot be Rationally Discussed Anymore

June 29, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

My Own Views Have Been Grotesquely Distorted and Outrageously Misrepresented I already pretty much concluded that rational discussion on this topic is no longer possible (which is why I removed a recent meme concerning it: more heat than light was generated), but then the final straw was a piece of fiction and fantasy that ridiculously characterized my position as wanting illegal immigrants to “die.” The fairy tale went on to later claim that I would supposedly deny the right to medical treatment:... Read more

I Looked in the Mirror & Realized I Was a Distributist

June 28, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

This was after lengthy discussions with my good friend Rod Bennett, who is one himself. I probably could have figured this out long before now, given my love of Catholic social doctrine (I’ve written about it being a “third way”), frequent nonconformism, devotion to “simple living,” and severe criticisms of both libertarianism and the outrageous excesses that occur in corporate capitalism (not to mention also my love of Belloc and Chesterton), but better late than never! If there are more... Read more

On Homelessness & Soup Kitchens (by my Son Michael: 19)

June 28, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

[My Introductory Note] This is dedicated to all of you out there who think that political conservatives and Republicans raise their children to be heartless, callous, bigoted human beings, who care nothing about the less fortunate. This essay was for Michael’s English class, in his first semester of college. Now you can see why we’re so extremely proud of him: as we are, all four of our children. He’s a brilliant writer (already has written a book along the lines... Read more

Honoring Popes (Even Alleged “Bad” Ones) as Persons

June 27, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

King David honored King Saul even though he was a scoundrel, and seeking to kill him. St. Paul honored the high priest at his trial, citing Old Testament Scripture, “you shall not speak evil of your ruler” (Acts 23:5). St. Peter told (1 Pet 2:17) us to “honor the emperor” (who at the time was Nero: the guy who had both Peter and Paul killed). 2 Samuel 2:5-6 (RSV) David sent messengers to the men of Ja’besh-gil’ead, and said to... Read more

Folks Willing to Understand Pope Francis, Can; Unwilling Won’t

June 27, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

This is from Facebook post of mine, dated 1-18-14. The original proverb I defended was: “Those who are willing to understand Pope Francis, can and will do so. Those who aren’t willing, won’t, and possibly can’t as well.” I stand by this, now over five years later, and after now having defended Pope Francis literally 133 times. The original contained much back-and-forth, but for brevity’s sake, I have included only my own comments. The entire exchange can be read on... Read more

Proper Theological Application of the Term “Anti-Catholic”

June 26, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

This was a very in-depth debate with an anti-Catholic Reformed Baptist, Frank Turk, from 9-24-05. I have abridged it. The original two-part debate (for masochists and obsessed completists) can be read at Internet Archive (part I / part II). Frank’s words will be in green. My past words (cited in the original Part II from Part I) will be in purple; older words than that will be in blue. Frank’s past words will be in red. ***** It’s an essay that, to this day, Armstrong... Read more

Reply to Anthony Toohey Re: His Deconversion (Part II)

June 26, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

For (fairly) necessary background, see: Atheist Deconversion Story Series #1: Anthony Toohey [7-17-17] Atheist Anthony Toohey Defends His Deconversion (Pt. 1) [7-21-17] His deconversion is also discussed in this dialogue: Atheist Deconversion: Dialogue #2: Jonathan MS Pearce [7-20-17] Anthony has now responded (on 5-29-19) with his long-promised Part II. He didn’t make me aware of it. I ran across it in a search of materials having to do with me. It’s often the case that folks who respond to me don’t give me... Read more

No, Pope Francis Did Not Deny Transubstantiation

June 25, 2019 By Dave Armstrong

Phenomenological Language in Holy Scripture and in the Addresses of Pope Francis In an article hosted by Gloria.tv (6-24-19), it was stated: The Eucharist is “Jesus who becomes bread,” and contains the “entire reality of the Church,” Pope Francis claimed in his June 23 Corpus Christi homily. He went on alleging that we find in the Eucharist God himself “contained in a piece of bread.” These formulations are profoundly heretical. . . . The heretical concept pronounced by Francis is... Read more