The last day...

"The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew" by Charles Le Brun

Of November.

November is the month of the Holy Souls - the souls in purgatory.  This year I did a month of daily prayers and works for the Holy Souls.  Using an old 'Purgatory Manual' I prayed the meditations offered.  It was rather instructive and very edifying.  The author often refers to the Holy Souls as penitents, and points out the purgation they undergo for various faults and attachments before the can see God.  It was very much like reading John of the Cross or other masters of the interior life, as regards the purgation the soul undergoes in preparation for union with God.

When I write about penance - I have such things in mind.  At every stage in our earthly pilgrimage most of us have need of purgation - penitence.  Even in the higher stages, particular saints have given example of this - Paul of the Cross, Therese of Lisieux, and more recently, Teresa of Calcutta - though already in a state of union, endured great interior trials.  As Garrigou-Lagrange notes:

The lives of some great servants of God especially dedicated to reparation, to immolation for the salvation of souls or to the apostolate by interior suffering, make one think, however, of a prolongation of the night of the spirit even after their entrance into the transforming union. In such cases, this trial would no longer be chiefly purificatory; it would be above all reparative. - The Three Ages of the Interior Life

The goal of the spiritual life is union with God.  And ...

It is through many trials and tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. - Acts 14:22

 I wonder if we Catholics have a good understanding of that now days?  As it is, many of us think everyone goes straight to heaven.  Many give no thought to the purgation necessary to see God.  In fact, I bet it may be safe to assume many of us hardly prepare to receive Holy Communion.  I bet many more are convinced the sufferings of purgatory - if they exist - aren't that bad.  Many of us resist the idea of inconveniencing ourselves, much less doing any penance.  I laughed yesterday when I came across a blog post headline reminding readers that American Catholics had an indult saying they could eat meat on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Like a day without meat would be so bad.  I have no problem with that - it's just funny.

Anyway.  I want to do some penance - maybe for Advent.  I actually need to.

You guys can do what you want.

Oh!  And happy feast day to all the Andrew poodles I know.

+ + +

 

"The soul, all immersed in pure love, without an image, in most pure and naked faith, suddenly finds itself, when it so pleases the Sovereign Good, plunged equally into the ocean of the Savior's sufferings" and sees "that the Passion is wholly a work of love." - St. Paul of the Cross

The Pope and Consecrated Life

Some interesting remarks were made by the Holy Father.

First, 2015 will be a year dedicated to the Consecrated Life.  That's nice.

The brief remarks I read at Vatican Information Service were more interesting however.

The first group of questions related to the identity and mission of consecrated life. A radical approach is required of all Christians, the Pope stated, but religious persons are called upon to follow the Lord in a special way: “They are men and woman who can awaken the world. Consecrated life is prophecy. God asks us to fly the nest and to be sent to the frontiers of the world, avoiding the temptation to 'domesticate' them. This is the most concrete way of imitating the Lord”.

Don't domesticate them.  I love that!   Don't box them in, don't limit them.  It is so Franciscan.

The Pope insisted upon the importance of formation, which he presented as founded upon four fundamental pillars: spiritual, intellectual, communitarian and apostolic. It is indispensable to avoid every form of hypocrisy and clericalism by means of a frank and open dialogue on all aspects of life: “formation is an artisanal craft, not a form of policing”, he commented; “its aim is to form religious persons with a tender heart, not acid, not like vinegar. We are all sinners, but not corrupt. Sinners are to be accepted, but not the corrupt”. - VIS

Not the corrupt.  Sinners are to be accepted - but not the corrupt.  See - one must repent, and 'lay aside every encumbrance of sin which clings to us'.  We must, come out from the midst of them, as St. Paul exhorted; leave our country, like Abraham.  So a conversion takes place.  When the Holy Father speaks of formation as an artist's craft, I think of St. Therese and how she cared for her novices, her sensibility to defective character, and so on.  Especially when he notes: “we must never act like managers when faced with a brother's conflict: conflict instead must be caressed”.

I've been thinking of the many people I've known in religious life - those who have persevered through many great changes and unbelievable challenges.  They persevered!  Most have had troubles, difficulties - some faltered - but they have persevered.  They never gave up.  That is what is most important, that is what fidelity is.

Even those who went 'out' from their religious orders, their enclosures, their monasteries.  Those who began new communities or embarked on a more contemplative, eremitical mission - they too have persevered.  Often with little support, under severe criticism.  But they persevere.  That is holiness. 

“They are men and woman who can awaken the world. Consecrated life is prophecy." - Pope Francis

 

How do we explain this away? St. Peter Damian and the Book of Gomorrah?

Don't say anything about the Book of Gomorrah...

I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it. 

Actually I referred to it a few times.  It's a good way to lose followers.  Even when I make references to the period when the work was published - in jest, such as burnings at the stake - I can get some pretty hostile comments from the GLBTQ crowd.  I'm against it of course - burning at the stake and sodomy, I can call it that, right?

Seriously, the treatise by St. Peter Damian is a classic and deserves scholarly attention.  Evidently some have tried that before.  A new look at an old book,  Book of Gomorrah: An Eleventh-Century Treatise Against Clerical Homosexual Practices.  By St. Peter Damian. Translated and edited by Pierre Payer. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 108 pages. $38.95: Getting another look and a new review by Anne Barbeau Gardiner at New Oxford Review.  I think New Oxford limits readers to subscription once articles are archived, so I'll reproduce some points which seem relevant to conditions in our day, and let the reader go to the original review for more. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

By the time he published the Book of Gomorrah around A.D. 1049, St. Peter Damian had been preaching for some time against homosexuality. He told Pope St. Leo IX, to whom he directed this work, that he needed his support against those who despised him for this preaching. While others in authority remained silent, he lamented, homosexuality kept spreading: “Vice against nature creeps in like a cancer and even touches the order of consecrated men.”

That homosexuality was indeed a problem at that time may be inferred from the fact that the vice was addressed at the Council of Rheims (A.D. 1049) in the canon de sodomitico vitio. Also, Damian received, in reply to his treatise, what he had requested from Leo IX, “a decretal writing as to which of those guilty of these vices ought to be deposed irrevocably from ecclesiastical orders; and to whom, truly taking the view of discretion, this office can be mercifully granted.”

Damian reports that he has endured persecution for preaching against this sin, and he begs the Pope to use his sacred authority to quiet “the complaint of perverse men” who reason that “a statement brought forward by one person…is rejected by others as prejudice.” At one point he addresses the dissenters as men “who are angry with me and who hate to listen to this writer.” He tells the Pope that some of them “accuse me of being a traitor and an informer on the crime of a brother,” while others think it “valid to attack me who am on the attack” and to “accuse me of presumptuous prattle.” They also denounce him for not being “afraid of picking on Christians.” 

In his reply, Leo IX gives Damian his full support and warns those who would dare to criticize or question his papal decree concerning sodomy that they will be putting themselves in danger of being deposed from their rank. He agrees with Damian that severity against this sin is needed, that he who does not attack it encourages it, and that silence about it is rightly thought to incur guilt. 

In this remarkable treatise, Damian condemns priests in authority who have been too indulgent with these sinners. As a result of their laxity, priests who have “fallen into this wickedness with eight or even ten other equally sordid men” have remained in their ranks. And so the sin has come “to be committed freely” without its practitioners fearing the loss of their priestly faculties.

Citing St. Paul’s condemnation not only of those who commit sodomy but also of those who “approve” it in others (Rom. 1:32), Damian observes that his adversaries’ silence can be interpreted as consent...

The Book of Gomorrah demonstrates that it was no easier a thousand years ago than it is today to speak out against this vice and to bring active homosexuals to repentance, to an acknowledgement of the natural law, and to the practice of purity. In his little treatise, St. Peter Damian warns us against keeping silence in the face of such a growing evil and thus becoming complicit. He offers us a needed model of how to speak out fearlessly against the corruptions of our age. - New Oxford  

What?

NB: For a contemporary example of what St. Peter Damian reports as 'persecution for preaching against this sin' go here: an Austin Ruse commentary on The Catholic Thing.

"You started it."

 

Oy! Stop being so meshuga! The first Thanksgiving was Jewish!

 Why can't you do anything like a normal person?

 

Georgie, don't listen to the Goys...

In fact, this year it's Thanksgivukkah.  Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincide this year - which is fairly unusual and won't happen again until 79811.  Thanksgiving is from the Jews.

Thanksgiving, as in giving thanks, is a very Jewish thing to do. According to tradition, Jews are to give thanks 100 times each day. We are to give thanks before we eat, for having food, and after we eat, for having been able to have food. Each morning the traditional liturgy includes thank-yous for such simple acts as standing up and having the strength to get through the day. One more Jewish link is found in our Scripture: The initial Thanksgiving feast was probably based upon our fall thanksgiving festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles)  

But I think there is more to the American Jewish observance of Thanksgiving than our predilection to thankfulness. I think it has a lot to do specifically with our appreciation for and celebration of being part of life in America. - Source

So, my little Gefiltephish, before there was a Thanksgiving, there was Hanukkah.

“In a fascinating way, the idea of Thanksgivukkah is not such a stretch, as both are thanksgiving festivals based on the Biblical festival. Both are related to the desire to heal from a devastating war and to express gratitude for having survived, to promote a vision of a future time when peace will reign once more. Both tell us that we should take the long view that good will triumph over evil. Both festivals express our faith that even a tiny flame can illuminate a place of darkness.” - Source

Bonus factoid:   Catholics commemorate Hanukkah too...

Yes.  Yes, we do.  The readings from Mass last week were taken from the Book of Maccabees ... commemorating the re-dedication of the Temple by Judas Maccabee and his brothers.  That's Hanukkah*.


Now.  If you're Catholic and feel guilty about not celebrating Thanksgiving ...

Don't feel bad.  It's not a holy day of obligation, and remember, it is just an ordinary Thursday in every other country in the world.  And don't forget, it's better to light a candle than curse/kill a turkey. 

Happy Thanksgivukkah.

'Hanukkah, Thanksgivukkah,

send out for Chinese.'

 

This is the best Festivus ever!

* While Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish holiday, as indicated by the lack of religious restrictions on work other than a few minutes after lighting the candles, in North America, Hanukkah in the 21st century has gained importance as a symbol of Jewish identity. Both the Israeli and North American versions of Hanukkah emphasize resistance, focusing on some combination of national liberation and religious freedom as the defining meaning of the holiday.

The Apostolic Exhortation, Rejoice in the Gospel: What the gays are saying...

Not too much.

Skimming the document myself, it appears the Holy Father didn't have much to say about sexuality or homosexuality.  Nothing at all in fact.  One writer noted:

The document does not discuss sexuality, gender, or LGBT issues.  In fact, in chapter two, he outlines many of today’s social ills, and unlike the previous two popes, he does not single out any sexuality issues for discussion here.  His only reference to these topics is a passing one, and noteworthy for NOT naming any hot-button issues such as same-gender marriage:

“The family is experiencing a profound cultural crisis, as are all communities and social bonds. In the case of the family, the weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children. Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. But the indispensible contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary needs of the couple. As the French bishops have taught, it is not born ‘of loving sentiment, ephemeral by definition, but from the depth of the obligation assumed by the spouses who accept to enter a total communion of life’.[60] ”  (chapter 2, section 66) - Source

Another LGBT writer expresses his enthusiasm over the document:

The title itself is of major importance: “The Joy of the Gospel – Evangelium Gaudium”. Along with the announcement of the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict introduced what he described as the “New Evangelisation”. Under his papacy, there was always a danger that this “evangelisation” of the West would be seen as an opportunity to bang on about Catholic doctrines (especially on sex and the sacraments), and to chastise those perceived to be out of line. For Francis, the need for evangelisation is continuing and permanent, but with a very different emphasis.

This “Good News” applies to all – and that most certainly include sexual and gender minorities, along with the poor and all other previously marginalised groups. Historically, we have so often been subjected to different forms of textual abuse, based on a mere handful of verses (appropriately described as “clobber texts”, or “texts of terror”) that many gay men and lesbians look with deep suspicion on any references to “Bible”, or even to religion in general. But we need to remember that none of these verses are found in the Gospels, which displays many elements reflective of queer values, rather the “traditional family values” claimed by the Christianist right.  And so, fully in keeping with the relative importance of sexual considerations in the Gospel, Francis says on the subject – absolutely nothing. In the entire text of some 50 000 words, there is  not a single one to “sex” (let alone homosexuality), and only one in the footnotes, referencing a 2006 document of the US bishops). - Source

 Of course, the Gospels do not mention homosexuality either. 

It's interesting to me that anyone with a website, or a blog, or a Twitter account, feels compelled to inform their readers they will study the Exhortation more closely and follow up asap with further analysis.  If only they had been given a press kit beforehand.  Now with the holiday and all!

The world waits.

 

It was the day before Thanksgiving ...

And I haven't been to the liquor store yet!

The turkey is still in the bath tub thawing and I need a haircut.  How many times have you heard that?  And you haven't even started to clean!

Holidays are nerve racking - there is never enough time to get everything done and it's got to be perfect. 

I think my sister goes to the Indian casino with her family now days.  They seem to enjoy all the Hmong families.  Asians love to gamble you know.  It's true.  There is nothing like the holidays at the casino. 

Since my parents died, the holidays have never been the same.  You never knew if you had been invited or not, but sometimes you'd take your chances and just show up.  I sometimes did that until my mother  came up with the very chichi idea of 'going out' for Thanksgiving.  There was an 'upscale' motor-inn type of place they liked to stay at which boasted a 1 or 2 star bar and restaurant.  Out of the blue I'd get a phone call saying, "Your father and I are going to a hotel for Thanksgiving, so don't bother coming over."  Before you could respond, she hung up.  What that meant was they weren't going to pay for dinner if you showed up.

I suppose my sister has the better idea, Thanksgiving at the casino is a good way to avoid conflicts, fights, and other drama - old people can't hear a thing with all that background noise.  Which is why I prefer an old fashioned Thanksgiving at home.  Later in the evening, if you're lonely, you can always call some one you haven't talked to in years and tell them off. 

I miss the fights.

If only the liquor stores were open on Thanksgiving.  At least Walmart and Target are open.  Call me sentimental, but I suppose there really is a lot to be thankful for.

PSA: A World-Wide Warning that will happen in the sky...like the collision of two ... comets ... that do not fall down...

I know!

It's the prophecy from Garabandal.  First, a World-Wide Warning that will happen in the sky...like the collision of two stars that do not fall down...*  I inserted comets instead of stars for the heading of course.  But the visionaries said the warning will be 'like' two stars colliding.  What if what they were seeing was two comets?

Signs in the heavens? Two comets racing towards Earth and Sun: ‘unprecedented’

Comet Encke and Comet ISON are converging for a photogenic close encounter. “No they’re not going to hit each other – in reality they are millions of miles apart – but as seen from the STEREO-A spacecraft, they are going to get very close!” - Source

General Absolution.  It could happen.

*To view the entire account of the events at Garabandal see the Garabandal Story. 

Run!

 

Evangelii Gaudium: Just when some of you thought you knew WDTPRS ...

What Did The Pope Really Say - that is.

The Holy Father's Apostolic Exhortation has been released. 

The Pope invites the reader to “recover the original freshness of the Gospel”,


The Pope indicates the “temptations which affect pastoral workers” (77): “individualism, a crisis of identity and a cooling of fervour” (78). The greatest threat of all is “the grey pragmatism of the daily life of the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, which in reality faith is wearing down” (83). He warns against “defeatism” (84), urging Christians to be signs of hope (86), bringing about a “revolution of tenderness” (88). It is necessary to seek refuge from the “spirituality of well-being … detached from responsibility for our brothers and sisters” (90) and to vanquish the “spiritual worldliness” that consists of “seeking not the Lord’s glory but human glory and well-being” (93). The Pope speaks of the many who “feel superior to others” because “they remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past” whereby “instead of evangelizing, one analyses and classifies others” (94). And those who have “an ostentatious preoccupation for the liturgy, for doctrine and for the Church’s prestige, but without any concern that the Gospel have a real impact” on the needs of the people (95). This is “a tremendous corruption disguised as a good … God save us from a worldly Church with superficial spiritual and pastoral trappings!” (97). -  Vatican Radio

Perhaps some people will be upset - maybe not.  I hope not.

Nearly every time I read something the Holy Father says, I recall the disciples responding to Christ "At last you are speaking plainly and not in parables... - John 16:29

I really think it is a mistake to try and figure out, “About whom is the Pope talking in this phrase?” and also, “What does that really mean?”

In short, the Pope is talking about the Church - you and me and the other guy.  What does that really mean?

882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful."⁴⁰² "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered."⁴⁰³ - CCC

Fr. James Martin, S. J. has an enthusiastic review here. And here.

So many people ask me, "Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?"

Yes.  Yes I do, actually.

Looking down on others and secret pride.

While pretending to be concerned about the faith of others...

Today, while skimming blogs I normally don't read, and com boxes, that thought occurred to me.   Thus, I'm reminded of this quote once again:

"In aridity and emptiness the soul becomes humble. Former pride disappears when a man no longer finds in himself anything that might cause him to look down on others." - Science of the Cross

Which is why it is better not to see, as Therese said.  Faith.

Will I never learn?  Will I never learn to mind my own backyard?  Will I always pick at others?

Do we pick at others and feign concern for what others may think because we are dissatisfied with something about ourselves?  Do we envy because we do not get what we want?  Do we imagine ourselves to be standing firm, stable in the faith and in our life?  Do we think we have anything that is not a gift?    

This morning's meditation from Magnificat was magnificent ...  

Detachment from spiritual gifts and privileges - spiritual directors know what these words mean!  People must be prepared to start over again at the beginning, without relying on anything but the pure love of the Father...

Otherwise...

Gifts can become a kind of security and lead to pride and a feeling of superiority. [...] Perhaps this is the most urgent kind of conversion for some of us to stop leveraging our past experiences, our charisms, and our service to a group ... and to start over at the beginning, with God alone as our treasure. - Fr. Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap.

Chinese lady say:

"No understand what I say,

not for you, Nina."

This is, again, HUGE news.

Pope Francis ... is ... Catholic!

Actually - the story goes like this:

In his letter to Card. Brandmüller, Pope Francis explicitly cites Pope Benedict XVI pontificate-defining address in 2005 to the Roman Curia in which he spoke about the “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” (e.g., the Karl Rahner crowd and their descendants, still active today) and the “hermeneutic of reform”, or “hermeneutic of continuity”. 

In this explicit reference Francis is aligning himself with Benedict and that key moment and concept underlying Benedict’s pontificate. - What?

"Francis is aligning himself with Benedict..."

What the ____?

Who would have ever thunk it?  Huh?

The Successor of Peter, the Successor of Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, is Catholic.

Really?

Feast of Christ the King and the closing of The Year of Faith

The most significant fruit of The Year of Faith - for me - has been the martyrs.

Otherwise, it seemed like any other year.

Today’s solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the crowning of the liturgical year, also marks the conclusion of the Year of Faith opened by Pope Benedict XVI, to whom our thoughts now turn with affection and gratitude. By this providential initiative, he gave us an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the journey of faith begun on the day of our Baptism, which made us children of God and brothers and sisters in the Church. A journey which has as its ultimate end our full encounter with God, and throughout which the Holy Spirit purifies us, lifts us up and sanctifies us, so that we may enter into the happiness for which our hearts long. - Pope Francis' homily

And the Solemnity, like any other Sunday.

Act of Faith

O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I believe that your divine Son became man, died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, Who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Amen.

The Caleb Laieski story and the age of consent... was it rape or love?

Laieski is in green.

Caleb Laieski, a high school student who was bullied, followed home and threatened for being gay...

Conservative blogs have made a very big deal out of the Caleb Laieski story.  President Obama honored the young gay activist just last week at a dinner in the White House.*  Conservative bloggers went nuts with the story because Laieski is accused of sex crimes involving a much younger boy.  It's a complicated, if not bizarre case - evidently ignored by the Administration intent upon promoting ant-bullying activism, and some would say, gay rights.  Confused?  Of course you are.

In the remote chance you haven't heard about this story in MSM (sarcasm intended) I will brief you on it.  For convenience I take it from LifeSiteNews - I know many of my readers hate that site - but I did my homework and checked and rechecked all the sources, and as is to be expected - LifeSite got it right.

PHOENIX, November 20, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An openly homosexual teenager, who was given a position as an “adviser” to Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and honored by President Barack Obama at a White House “gay pride” dinner, has been indicted on more than a dozen counts of sexual misconduct with a minor under the age of 15. 

Caleb Laieski, now 18, was 17 at the time of the alleged abuse. His alleged victim, a close friend he met on TrevorSpace (a social media site for children and young adults aged 13-24 who have an interest in homosexuality), was only 14 at the time. The younger boy said the sex was consensual, but that he felt “pressured” to participate. However, Arizona law says no one younger than 15 is capable of giving consent.

In an unusual twist, Laieski is also considered a victim in the case, since at least some of the charges stem from a three-way sexual encounter the boys had with 43-year-old Chris Wilson, an openly homosexual Phoenix police officer who was arrested more than a year ago and is now in jail awaiting trial for his role in the abuse of both children. Although Laieski was a minor at the time, his participation in sex acts with the younger boy violate state law, which says it is a crime for older minors to have sexual contact with children under the age of 15. - Finish reading here.

The reason this story interests me is because it involves - legally and technically - sexual abuse.  Homosexual abuse.  The youngest victim was 14 at the time.  The oldest perpetrator was 43 at the time.  The oldest perpetrator claims the 14 year old initiated it.  Anyone following this blog may recall Fr. Benedict Groeschel once said sometimes teen boys seduced the priests.  Bite your fingers now and don't jump on your keyboard to yell at me for reminding people of that.

What's my point?

The 14-year-old kid was the same age as Gabriel Blanchard when he was raped.  The 14-year-old  was the same age as I was when I was raped.  In Caleb and his 'boyfriend's' case, it was consensual - until it involved the 43 year old man.  Caleb and his boyfriend even had his mother's approval, until it involved the old guy.

Here's the deal.  The thing with homosexual/LGBTQ culture is that 'they' have strange rules, disappearing boundaries, and a very permissive moral compass.  When I've written on the subject of open relationships and open-marriages amongst gay men - friends get rather defensive and insist it is all about consent - mutual consent.  Evidently this consent issue applies here as well.  Caleb's boyfriend's mother gave her consent to her 14-year-old boy who gave his consent to have sex with a 17-year-old gay-anti-bullying activist who worked for the mayor of Phoenix.  Outside of the Ozarks and Muslim countries, whoever hears of child 'romantic hook-ups' like that?  Unless of course, it involved Michael Jackson and big money.

Where do you draw the line?  How do you tell who seduced who, or who was abused and who really wanted it?  How do you accuse a teen boy of rape when he had sex with a kid younger than himself?

See how screwed up this stuff gets? 

In the end - it becomes an issue of consent - especially for those who are convinced homosexual behavior is not sinful.  Since it is not unlawful - between consenting adults - many no longer consider it sinful.  Perhaps the last taboo then is sex with underage minors.  If so, the age of consent needs to be lowered.  And that is on the 'agenda'... so watch out.

What to do about claims of sexual abuse?

I, along with many others, have exposed the wounds, the scars of sexual abuse, and the devastating effect it has had on our lives.  Don't people understand that it is a great betrayal of children to lower the age of consent? 

I've written about this stuff before, but ...

The Caleb Laieski story demonstrates the adage, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Gay life doesn't change - the same old - same old stuff goes on - despite my Beaver Cleaver friends in the suburbs domestic exceptions.  Remember Chris and Don - the love story of Christopher Isherwood and his partner, artist Don Bachardy?  Don was still a kid when they got together.  Similarly, I only just turned 18 when I moved in with a man thirteen years my senior.  I thought I was in love.  We were drunk nearly every night we lived together - 3 years.  He was promiscuous - I thought I was in love.  He seemed rich to me - he was my boss, but I was only interested in love - not even sex.  My coworkers thought of me as a climber and an opportunist - I seriously thought I was in love.  I was thrown into a real 'gay-lifestyle' - scared to death in a world of adult gay men, designers, decorators, artists, and so on - in retrospect I see I was sort of a trophy for my 'lover', I in turn clung to him for 'protection'.  It was not a good relationship by any means.  Oddly enough, my crazy mother went to see him once and told him to 'take care of my son'.  Kind of like the mother in 'Doubt', and the Laieski boyfriend's mother.

I don't want to go into details about sexual abuse of minors right now, but I do want to say that although younger people may be less naïve today, the element of abuse and exploitation still remains - even with so-called consent.  It seems to me that parents themselves must be terribly immature, which may be one explanation why they assume their kids are mature enough to make romantic and sexual choices for themselves - before they 'come of age', before they understand the consequences - long term consequences.

Redefining same sex rape as love?

Having said all that, I think these situations betray a certain dishonesty amongst educators and gay activists who try to paint a picture of a gay lifestyle without sexual perverts.  How often have we heard that men having sex with boys is not a gay thing? 

I am in no way saying all homosexuals are pederasts, or that men who have been molested turn out to be gay or end up molesting boys or girls. That is not the case. What I think the Laieski story demonstrates is that sexual predators who direct their attentions toward adolescent boys are indeed gay, or at least bisexual - which happens to be the 'B' in LGBT. Therefore, what happened to me, and others, including Laieski and his boyfriend was a homosexual problem. Homosexual activists are misinformed - or rather, misinforming the public.  I don't care what law enforcement or the court system labels it, or what psychologists call it, or even what a politically correct diocesan council calls it. Male on male sex is homosexual behavior.

 

As I've already stated, the only way to get around that is to lower the age of consent.  Don't let that happen to your kids.  (Ed. note:  What I mean by that is we need to resist social and political efforts to lower the age of consent.  By lowering the age of consent, the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and adolescents would potentially be decriminalized.  For instance, a 14-year-old boy might no longer be considered a victim of abuse, but a willing participant, who consented to the abuse.  Likewise, pretending that it's pedophilia and not homosexual when it involves teens and older males and adult men is a bizarre form of whitewash.)

 

To be continued ...

 

NB: I've written extensively on this subject, go here for some of those posts.  Thanks.

 

*As far as Obama conferring an award on this young man or any other person, such as he did with the Medal of Freedom Awards, it isn't my concern.  These are the actions of a very liberal secular Administration promoting and awarding a liberal agenda.  I have no control over what Obama does.