Preparing the way ... to accept the Anti-Christ.

New Martyrs of Solovki

A message from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Churches that have deemed homosexuality morally acceptable have rejected Christianity and are preparing their followers to accept the Anti-Christ, according to one of the leading figures in the Russian Orthodox Church. 

His statement came as the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it is ending "formal contacts" with the United Protestant Church of France and the Church of Scotland over those churches' abandonment of traditional Christian sexual morality. In its statement, the church said ecumenical dialogue was pointless after France's United Protestant Church last month voted to allow pastors to officiate at same-sex "marriages" and the Church of Scotland approved ordaining clergy who are in same-sex civil unions. 

"The Russian Orthodox Church holds the firm position based on Holy Scriptures and has repeatedly declared that [homosexual 'marriage' is] inadmissible for moral teaching," the statement reads. Churches that offer to "marry" homosexuals "trample upon the principles of traditional Christian morality." 

The statement explains that over a period of years, the Orthodox Church has shared her concerns with these Christian bodies and warned of ecumenical consequences if they adopt same-sex "marriage." 

"Regrettably, the words of warning have not been heard," Orthodox officials concluded. 

Following the decision, the Very Rev. Fr. Dimitry Smirnov – the chair of the Russian Orthodox Church Commission for Family, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood – told one of the leading Russian television stations the new moral teachings place these liberal denominations beyond the pale of Christianity. 

"We separated ourselves from them as from the plague, as it's contagious,” he said. “The Russian Orthodox Church cannot support with its authority something that is just an iniquity from the Biblical point of view.” 

“These are not Christian communities anymore. This is another community with its own distinct name of 'LGBT.' Its future is simple and clear – the 'fire of Gehenna' – this is just what the Holy Scripture says,” Fr. Smirnov said. 

By rejecting the Christian faith's immemorial teaching on sexual morality, “the former Christian peoples are preparing themselves for the solemn reception of the Anti-Christ." - Finish reading here.

The contagion of the world's slow stain...

I'm becoming more and more convinced of this, as popular culture grows more decadent, politicians more candid in their anti-Christian views and calling for a change in religious attitudes, and so on.  Gender ideology is the outgrowth of rad-feminism and LGBTQ-ism.  Sounds crazy right?  Especially when all someone wants to do is be themselves?  How is that bad?

When men attempt to change and control their destiny, to manipulate existence, to re-order creation - that's the essence of witchcraft - it is paganism, idolatry.  We make ourselves God - that is what the New Age promotes.

Therefore God can be a she.  When God is called mother - when liturgical prayers are addressed to God as mother - that is anti-Christ.  It is regressive - leading back to Magna Mater - Great Mother, Goddess worship.  Jesus revealed the Father - he called God Father.  To go against that is anti-Christ.

To go against nature - to redefine gender, sexuality, and marriage - and ultimately God - is anti-Christ.

"Who fails to drink little or much from the golden chalice of the Babylonian woman of the Apocalypse [Rev. 17:4]?" - John of the Cross


We have seen it happen to other denominations.  Today it is infecting the Anglican church.  With the acceptance of women bishops, the new bishops seek to change liturgical prayers to address God as mother.  Thus corrupting worship, making God into their own likeness.

These are the things the Russian Orthodox are warning against.  These New Age 'theologies' - very much rooted in Theosophy, and not unlike the Conscious Evolution spirituality the LCWR and other Catholic groups have embraced, seem to me to be a final preparation "for the solemn reception of the Anti-Christ."


Just a thought...

Mother of God, Stand for Christ with the Martyr's Cross

+

In the end, promiscuous behavior and infidelity become so habituated, that it may seem to be an addiction. Never give up hope, nor compromise with the spirit of the age.  Pray to Our Lady for courage and the grace to do penance.  Repentance followed by frequent confession, with prayer and the Eucharist are the steps one must take in order to amend one's life and begin to repair the damage done to family and friends.

H/T Daniel Cassidy

Another interesting article on the 'cultural revolution' here.

Archbishop Codileone on Postmodern Paganism ...

And gender ideology and it's consequences.

"A reversion to the paganism of old, but with unique, postmodern variations on its themes, such as the practice of child sacrifice, the worship of feminine deities, or the cult of priestesses.”

In his talk in New York at the Sacra Liturgia conference, Cordileone made a point of highlighting what he saw as the unacceptable evolution in American views on sexuality.

He said that what Pope Francis has also criticized as “gender ideology” poses not only a threat to society, but also to the faith. That’s because Christianity is based on what Cordileone said is the biological reality of the God-given “complementarity” of the male-female relationship.

“This is because God has used marriage as the primary sacred sign of our relationship with him,” he said, citing an author who described God as “hetero” and male, and Israel as “hetero” and female — hence their attraction to each other.

“It’s all the story of a marriage. God’s marriage covenant with Israel is fulfilled in the blood of Christ on the cross, establishing the new and eternal covenant between him, the bridegroom, and his bride, the Church.

“When the culture can no longer apprehend those natural truths,” the archbishop continued, “then the very foundation of our teaching evaporates and nothing we have to offer will make sense.”

Cordileone said the inevitable result “is a reversion to the paganism of old, but with unique, postmodern variations on its themes, such as the practice of child sacrifice, the worship of feminine deities, or the cult of priestesses.” - Source

Hmmm.  I wrote something on that order just this past week. 

Criminal complaint filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis

"For sale" signs have gone up in front of several properties

owned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.*

As of yet, no individuals have been named in the complaint.

Weird.

From Minneapolis Star Tribune:

The Ramsey County Attorney’s office filed criminal charges Friday against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for “failing to protect children” from an abusive priest. 

The charges stem from the archdiocese’s oversight of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, who is now serving a prison term for abusing two boys while he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in St. Paul. 

“Today we are alleging a disturbing institutional and systemic pattern of behavior committed by the highest levels of leadership of the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over the course of decades,” said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. 

“By filing criminal charges and taking civil action, we are holding the archdiocese accountable for its failure to responsibly and meaningfully respond to numerous and repeated reports of troubling conduct by Curtis Wehmeyer.” - Read more here.

Oddly enough, as of this posting, the only response from the Archdiocese I could find was here.


*Ed. note: Proceeds from the sales would go to court to pay creditors, meaning the victims suing for sex abuse allegedly by priests. - That story here.


I'm reminded of this 'vision':

The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. 

She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes . . . she will lose many of her social privileges. . . As a small society, [the Church] will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members…. - Joseph Ratzinger

UPDATE:  The Archdiocese statement here. 

One more time: About Caitlyn Jenner

She looks fabulous - no doubt about it.

People who read too many blogs and watch too much news are sick and tired of the Caitlyn Jenner story, right?

Nevertheless - it's important to discuss the phenomenon.  Jenner has become the spokes-model for the transgender/transsexual 'community'.  There have been other high profile transgender personalities, Chaz Bono might be the most notable.  Bono's transition, female to male, was a sort of evolution from same sex attraction to sexual reassignment surgery.  He enjoyed some time in the spotlight but nothing like what Jenner is experiencing.

Jenner's case is most startling because he identified as a heterosexual male - a famous athlete, a 'family' man - 3 wives, with children from each marriage.  He claims to have struggled all of his life with gender dysphoria - but he is not attracted to men.  He has had psychiatric evaluation, counselling, and therapy over the decades, and finally committed to go through with the transgender identity.

That said, it's interesting that many non-professionals seem able to diagnose Jenner as suffering from mental illness - while his psychiatrists and counselors reassure him whenever he vocalized second thoughts - as he did when going through facial feminization surgery.  That's a very strange curiosity which should be investigated.  Especially considering the movement to ban any sort of reparative therapy for same-sex attracted, gender confused children. LGBTQ activists and many in the psychiatric profession are against any sort of intervention in these cases - going so far as to lobby for legislation against it.  As I said, Jenner is a sort of spokes-model for transgender/transsexual people now - which is why these things need to be discussed openly and honestly. Something is off in the psychiatric profession/industry.  And that is why the discussions about Jenner - positive or negative - are very important.

Deeper issues.

In the past few days, I've speculated on the connection between feminist ideology/spirituality and the effect of gender ideology and pagan metaphor which may influence contemporary attitudes regarding identity and sexuality, while others have discussed the phenomenon in terms of idolatry.  As one author pointed out: "Modern idolatry is our desperate self-veneration through things we have made ..."

Likely driven by serious mental illness and pushed by a manipulative media, Jenner, in attempting to change his face and thus his identity, has made his identity an idol, "a face which is not a face" but a mask of his own making. He sets himself at the center of reality, reducing reality to his desires. The false identity—the graven image—which Jenner has fashioned for himself is a lie: the false face he paid surgeons to craft for him, the false body he robes in the guise of femininity, the false name he has taken on—these works of Jenner's hands are the form of a false god.

And the relativistic culture, seeking a new idol, pays tribute at his feet. - Catholic World Report

 It is an excellent essay on the subject.  However, I'm not sure about the serious mental illness diagnosis made by non-professionals.  Especially when the professionals involved in transgender/transsexual care do not use the same terminology.  We may consider it insane - but the medical-psychiatric profession doesn't.  In fact - the medical treatment/surgical transition is supposed to be the cure.  It seems to me we are moving towards a point where there will be no diagnosable mental illness which can't be modified or controlled by some sort of medical intervention.  In other words, what seems to be happening is the attempt to accomplish the elimination of suffering through pharmaceutical and surgical intervention.   This sort of healthcare, joined to a non-religious spirituality, can act as a sort of neo-shaminism.  What is disordered can be declared ordered, transcended and spiritualized and integrated through an altered consciousness of self - in and through conscious evolution.  Conscious evolution towards a whole new planetary system.  The New Age connections are deeply embedded in gender ideology - whether or not its subjects are consciously aware of it or not.

Christians do need guidance on these issues... but.

Yet I object to those who want to silence personal opinion and observation stemming from the confusion which erupted over the Caitlyn Jenner reveal.  People need to be free to express themselves on the issue, even at the risk of condemning Jenner's actions.  He's a public personality, a well known athlete, a 'reality show' star, a superficial fashion/pop idol, as it were.  I discussed the weird spiritual goddess worship metaphor, I also did a post praising 'the look' - from a purely superficial, fashion-entertainer viewpoint.  Never condemned the person - simply labeling the outcome as a gender stereotype - but he/she looks good.  (I used to work in fashion display - so it is like critiquing a good mannequin.)

Of course we should have empathy and compassion for him in his sufferings - but his doctors and handlers tell him he's just fine - and, he seems to love the spotlight and is happy with his looks.  Not a lot to feel sorry about there.  If he's suffering - he doesn't know it.

To call everyone else out for not being more sensitive is pretty much a load of crap.  How should Christians really respond to Caitlyn Jenner?

For starters, religious leaders need to point out what's wrong with this picture - while being considerate of the person of course.  Unless you are a psychological professional, I'd resist any sort of medical/psychological diagnosis - unless you feel you can voice your personal opinion - despite the fact you may not want others to do so - especially if it is negative.

For all intents and purposes, it seems to me the affliction is a spiritual malady, a spiritual disconnect or disorder.

I don't think all that many people are actually condemning Jenner - I think they are condemning the procedure and the resulting caricature.  For some, scorn and laughter is a coping mechanism, a visceral reaction to what seems to be an absurdity.  For others, the very idea is repulsive and disgusting.  Others see it as an assault on human nature, a degradation of women, or manliness.

Being welcoming?  What would Jesus do?  I hate it when people talk like that.

This is serious, grave matter, which affects family life and human nature, therefore society.

Gender ideology is pushed in our face round the clock these days.  We are forced to watch: Jenner's new persona is staring out from newsstands, online, on television news, radio talk shows,  LGBTQ - Gender politics is everywhere.  Is Jenner asking to join your parish?  Welcome him there, then.  Does he want to be Catholic - good - come on in.

He/she's not asking that though.  Of course he wants to be accepted - and we've pretty much done that.  He's also coming out and wants our approval.  He wants our applause.  He wants our praise.  He wants our viewership.  We don't have to do that if we don't want to.

We may not demonize Jenner or transgender persons, but we certainly can demonize the process, the ideology which supports it.

“Let us be on guard against colonization by new ideologies. 

There are forms of ideological colonization 

which are out to destroy the family.”

- Pope Francis

This is something: Crescat has been awarded the Pewsitter seal of approval... sorta.

Congratulations Kat!

I believe Kat may be the only Patheos blogger ever given that honor.

Katrina Fernandez makes the sacrifices and pays the price to be united to the Church. She's no fool and sees the difference between black and white. You have to take the long view and see the ends of things to understand. - Frank Walker, Pewsitter.com

Caitlyn look-a-likes ...

... a closer look.

Jessica Lange, Caitlyn Jenner, Cindy Crawford

Jenner wins.

Caitlyn with stylist.  She actually resembles 

Cindy Crawford channeling Jackie O here.

A triumph!  Softness contrasted with a note of butch!

That leather jacket is an elegant touch!

I see it.


Song for this post here.

I was asked this question: Dear Catholic World: Why do YOU Remain a Catholic?

"I would lead you, bring you to my mother’s house ..."

Notre Dame, Montreal - where my conversion was initiated.

To whom else would I go?

Elizabeth Scalia sent an email saying "Would love to read your response, too!"

I'm a crackpot blogger - no doubt about it - so when someone like Elizabeth Scalia goes out of her way to invite me to respond to something, well shucks!  I'll do it.  (I did, but found out I was just in her email c.c. list. Here is my original response.)

Why do I remain Catholic?

Easy answer:  I fell in love with Jesus.

Who first loved me.

(I've pretty much told this story before - so I'll try my hand at being a bit more poetic in this narrative.)

I really, truly encountered him in the Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament.

I was led by the Holy Spirit - literally grasped by him - and swept up into the confessional, where I was absolved of all my sins - reconciled to the Father.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus pursued me, searched me out in every sinful situation and state - time after time.  He revealed himself to me.  He opened my mind to the Scriptures, he set my heart on fire with love for him... time after time.

I found him completely within the Catholic Church, as surely as he dwells in the tabernacles of all the churches in the world - as surely as his Sacred Heart beats in his Body.  I found him in the house of my Mother - the Church ... it is like this:


He brought me to the banquet hall

and his glance at me signaled love.

My lover speaks and says to me,

“Arise, my friend, my beautiful one,

and come!"

My lover belongs to me and I to him;

Would that you were a brother to me,

nursed at my mother’s breasts!

If I met you out of doors, I would kiss you ...

and none would despise me.

I would lead you, bring you to my mother’s house,

where you would teach me,

Where I would give you to drink

spiced wine, my pomegranate juice. 

His left hand is under my head,

and his right arm embraces me.

Who is this coming up from the desert,

leaning upon her lover?

Beneath the apple tree I awakened you;

there your mother conceived you; 

there she who bore you conceived. 

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm;

For Love is strong as Death ... 

(Sorry, it seems I can only express my 'mystery' in the words of the Song of Songs.)

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me... - John 6:37

That is why I remain a Catholic ... Because Christ is mine and I am his, inseparably united in time and in eternity, in his body, the Church, in Mary, in the bosom of the Holy Trinity.

The fullness of truth is contained within the Catholic Church...  Where the body is ... the eagles gather.  To whom else would I go?   

Beneath the apple tree I awakened you ...

Read Elizabeth's post here.

And the guy who started it all, Todd Worner here.

This is interesting: The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has appointed the Superior of the Society of St. Pius X, to be the first-instance trial judge in the case against an SSPX priest who is accused of a serious crime.

Bishop Fellay

Obviously, the Society of St. Pius X is not schismatic then.

Contrary to what some priests online, such as Fr. Paul Nicholson have said.

The SSPX is definitely Catholic - but irregular?  That's Canon-ese language I suppose.

Bishop Fellay announced it himself during the course of a sermon at Our Lady of the Angels church in Arcadia, California, on May 10, 2015: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has appointed the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), Bishop Bernard Fellay, as first-instance judge in a case involving a Lefebvrian priest. The former Holy Office is in charge of dealing with a number of “delicta graviora”. The one that pops up most frequently, is the one involving the sexual abuse of minors. Fellay presented this as an example of the “contradictions” in the Holy See’s approach to the Fraternity.

“We are labeled now as being irregular, at best. “Irregular” means you cannot do anything, and so for example they have prohibited us from saying Mass in the churches in Rome, for the Dominican sisters who had their pilgrimage in Rome in February. They say, “No, you cannot, because you are irregular”. And these people [who] say that, were people of [Pontifical Commission] Ecclesia Dei.” 

“Now, sometimes, unfortunately,” Bishop Fellay said, “also priests do silly things, and they need to be punished. And when it is very, very serious, we have to make recourse to Rome. So we do. And what does the Congregation of the Faith do? Well, they did appoint me as the judge for this case. So I was appointed by Rome, by the Congregation of the Faith, to make judgements, canonical Church judgements on some of our priests who belong to a non-existent Society for them (for Rome,Ed.). And so, once again, a beautiful contradiction indeed.” - ANDREA TORNIELLI

Sounds good to me.

Today, there's more good news on liturgical reform from Cardinal Sarah:

Pope Francis asked leading African Cardinal Robert Sarah “to continue the good work in the liturgy begun by Pope Benedict XVI” when he became Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments last November, he has revealed.

In his message to the Sara Liturgia USA Conference in New York, which began on Monday, the Guinean Cardinal said: “When the Holy Father, Pope Francis, asked me to accept the ministry of Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, I asked: ‘Your Holiness, how do you want me to exercise this ministry? What do you want me to do as Prefect of this Congregation?’ The Holy Father’s reply was clear. ‘I want you to continue to implement the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council,’ he said, ‘and I want you to continue the good work in the liturgy begun by Pope Benedict XVI.’” - Catholic Herald

Works for me.

Hopefully this news will quiet some of the critics of Pope Francis.

I would like to see the liturgy restored.

Bonus:  I love this photo of ordinations for The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest:

2014 Sts. Michaele and Gaetano in Florence, Italy.

A story about the Trans-abled.

This transgender person with "species dysphoria" transitioned into a cat,

only to discover he/she was also transabled, and is now confined to a wheelchair.

Body Integrity Identity Disorder

I know, I know.  All the bloggers at Patheos are gushing with admiration for Caitlyn Jenner and her courageous step toward sexual reassignment surgery after this week's debut as a voluptuous transgender woman, but there are other people who have extremely difficult issues with trans identities as well.  These folks do not always get the accolades a huge celebrity might get, and probably miss out on the all the compassion as well.

The Transabled.

They are persons who "feel like impostors in their fully working bodies."  Their story, their courage in 'coming out' is inspiring, to say the least.  Our society has made such strides to accept and make improvements for the disabled, while ignoring the needs, the feelings of the transabled.

OTTAWA — When he cut off his right arm with a “very sharp power tool,” a man who now calls himself One Hand Jason let everyone believe it was an accident.

But he had for months tried different means of cutting and crushing the limb that never quite felt like his own, training himself on first aid so he wouldn’t bleed to death, even practicing on animal parts sourced from a butcher.

“My goal was to get the job done with no hope of reconstruction or re-attachment, and I wanted some method that I could actually bring myself to do,” he told the body modification website ModBlog.

His goal was to become disabled.

People like Jason have been classified as ‘‘transabled’’ — feeling like imposters in their bodies, their arms and legs in full working order.

“We define transability as the desire or the need for a person identified as able-bodied by other people to transform his or her body to obtain a physical impairment,” says Alexandre Baril, a Quebec born academic who will present on “transability” at this week’s Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Ottawa.

“The person could want to become deaf, blind, amputee, paraplegic. It’s a really, really strong desire.”

Researchers in Canada are trying to better understand how transabled people think and feel. Clive Baldwin, a Canada Research Chair in Narrative Studies who teaches social work at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., has interviewed 37 people worldwide who identify as transabled. - Read more here.

Now what could be more wholesome or natural than that? 

Can we say these people are true heroes?  To be admired for the courage to mutilate oneself to become disabled.  To voluntarily share the disabilities of the truly disabled could possibly be a strange sort of heroic virtue, right?  I don't think so.

Highlighted in the article is a woman who wears  leg braces and is wheelchair bound - though her legs function perfectly.  Look at how happy she is, her smile beaming in the photograph below.

-photo credit-

“It’s a problem for individuals because it’s distressing. But lots of things are.” He suggests this is just another form of body diversity — like transgenderism — and amputation may help someone achieve similar goals as someone who, say, undergoes cosmetic surgery to look more like who they believe their ideal selves to be. - Reasearcher statement. ibid

Disclaimer.

I shouldn't make fun of this, I know.  I actually knew a girl who most likely had this problem.  She lived in my neighborhood and often would wear a cast as if she broke her arm.  She did break it once I think - which is how she got the cast.  Later she'd wear it out and about, without saying anything about it.  Once she plucked out all of her eyelashes and eyebrows.  She had mental illness - which is why these conditions are not funny.  That said - I think we need to call metal illness what it is - and these trans conditions seem to me to be mental illness.

The girl from my neighborhood ended up committing suicide.

H/T Ray

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions.

By Teresa Satola

Gay Catholics want patron saints?

You have them:  Martyrs who died rather than commit mortal sin.  As Fr. Z notes in his post, they were martyred by a sexually deviant King, a tribal Lord.  Fr. Z calls him a ritual pedophile.  I never considered it that way, and I think it is interesting in so far as we are reminded that the King and his pagan court believed in witchcraft - the ancient religion.  Interestingly, Black Africa continues to be plagued by witchcraft and superstition in some places.

A superstitious pagan, King Mwanga at first tolerated Christianity. Katikiro, a deputy in the court convinced the king that the Christians were dangerous, persuading him that if they refused to offer sacrifice, partake in the the activities the king desired, and if they would not massacre or make war, they would be no good for the kingdom, and if the kingdom became Catholic, it would destroy the country. - Source

"Charles Lwanga and companions died for their Faith and because they resisted the intrinsic evil of homosexual sex."

In 1879 the White Fathers were working successfully as missionaries in Uganda. They were, at first well received by King Mutesa.

Then there came a new pharaoh, as it were.

Mutesa died and his son, Mwanga, took over. He was a ritual pedophile.

Charles Lwanga, a 25 year old man who was a catechist, forcefully protected boys in his charge from the king’s sodomite advances.

The king had murdered an Anglican Bishop and tried to get his page, who was protected by Joseph Mukasa, later beheaded for his trouble. On the night of the martyrdom of Joseph Mukasa, Lwanga and other pages sought out the White Fathers for baptism. Some 100 catechumens were baptized.

A few months later, King Mwanga ordered all the pages to be questioned to find out if they were being catechized. 15 Christians 13 and 25 identified themselves. When the King asked them if they were willing to keep their faith, They answered in unison, “Until death!”

They were bound together and force marched for 2 days to Namugongo where they were to be burned at the stake. On the way, Matthias Kalemba, one of the eldest boys, exclaimed, “God will rescue me. But you will not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and leave you only my body.” He was cut to pieces and left him by the road. - Finish reading here.

Minneapolis Gaia Democratic School took students on a field trip to a sex shop...

 Smitten Kitten owner Jennifer Pritchett.*

And, and, and ...

Some parents weren't happy about it.

The story reminds me of Auntie Mame when she sent Patrick to Acacius Page's progressive school in the Village. Apparently Gaia Democratic School in Minneapolis may have a similar curriculum? I'm sure the parents understood that the quality of education at Gaia would be progressive and ultra liberal when they enrolled the kids, but I may be wrong.

I'll bet the students at Gaia understand the Bruce Jenner story better than their parents do, but I digress.

Mpls. private school takes students to adult novelty store for sex ed lesson ...

Some parents are outraged after the leader of a small Minneapolis private school took about a dozen middle- and high-school-aged students on a sex education field trip to an adult novelty store late last week. 

“It’s just a major breach of trust,” said Lynn Floyd, whose 11- and 13-year-old daughters were part of the outing to the Smitten Kitten. “You just can’t erase those images.” 

A leader of Gaia Democratic School and the host of the field trip defended the outing, saying the visit capped a months long sex education class. 

Director Starri Hedges, who also teaches the school’s sex education class, said she wanted to provide a safe and welcoming environment for students to learn about human sexual behavior. 

“What I saw happening on our trip, I thought it was beautiful because kids could talk to these sex educators without any shame, without any fear,” Hedges said Monday. - Finish reading here.

Well, what could be more wholesome and natural?


About Gaia.

From the website: Gaia is a private school that provides holistic educational services to students K-12 with emphasis on democratic process, individualized instruction, academic freedom, self-motivation, cooperative learning, youth empowerment, and environmental stewardship. We are part of an education movement that has a long, fascinating history and a vibrant, viable future.

At first it was ancient wisdom which stated that we are one with the universe, that everything is interconnected, that all is one.

Then later modern science caught up with this idea. Now quantum physicists say exactly the same thing – in a subatomic level everything is interconnected.

In the 1970s chemist James Lovelock formulated the famous Gaia hypothesis which proposes that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet.

Everyone is talking about the same idea, only from different perspectives. We add one more – a visual perspective.

This symbol is presented like a metaphor of us and our earth. It is a big organism and we, people, are parts of this organism; we are not separate. And the earth is also just a part of an even bigger organism. Our earth is like a tree with roots that extend to the vast cosmos. Everything is interconnected. - Read more here.

That's interesting, isn't it.


Gaia: The definition of Gaia is a figure from Greek mythology who was the goddess of the earth - Mother Goddess, or Magna Mater.  Today Gaianism is also a New Age religion - but many Gaians are not religious.


*The store’s owner, Jennifer Pritchett, said in an e-mail Monday that she considers Smitten Kitten to be “an educational resource about sex and sexuality. … We leave it up to the discretion of parents and guardians as to when, if, and in what capacity they seek resources from our educators.” -Star Tribune

Bruce-Caitlyn Jenner: Menstruation Myth and Metaphor in Neo-pagan Culture.

Frida Kahlo

Now that's a thesis someone should write.

Not me of course, paganism, neo or paleo, is not my forte - even though I dabbled in the occult in my hippie days, at the dawning of the Aquarian Age and all of that smokey stuff.  Now days many people do more than dabble - they plunge right in.  In our times the prophecy from the Book of Revelation appears to be realized: "All are made drunk from the cup of the whore of Babylon."

Yesterday, commenting on the Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair cover story, I said I was surprised that radical feminists weren't slashing themselves over Caitlyn's glamorous Hollywood debut.  I had in mind the Baal-priests and prophets of Jezebel in the time of Elijah [1 Kings 18].  I added the following analogy of why superficial transition based upon gender-stereotype may actually be more tolerant to feminist ideology than one might think.

The Beast

Trans-idolatry.

I wrote, if Jenner goes through with sexual reassignment surgery - genital surgery, it seems to me that might herald a sort of feminist victory over patriarchal dominance, thus rendering Jenner's chosen gender-stereotype more tolerable. I think cutting the male genitalia can be considered as a sort of homage to ancient, matriarchal, origin metaphors connected to menstruation; making the transition a sort of blood ritual, an emasculation ritual far more extreme than circumcision, which ancient pagan cults connected to Goddess worship.*  (Likewise, the gender-mutilation of female to male transition, hearkens back to various menstrual myth and metaphor in ancient cultures, such as the pregnant male myth and aspects of lycanthropy.  A deeper study of which would most likely link gender-theory to therianthropy.  Like I said - it is not my area of expertise.)

Caitlyn

I wanted to highlight my observation to connect with an article I discovered today, written by Bevil Bramwell, OMI, discussing The Return of the (Pagan) Gods.  I believe it ties into what I have been trying to express concerning post-Christian Western culture and the strange adaptations we are witnessing.

119th Division - Richard Lindner

False religion - apostasy - draws people away from the religion of the true God.

A modern historian would have to labor to get a grip on the soup of religious ideas and practices that existed in the first century at the very dawn of Christianity. Yet the modern world is reviving precisely that as it progressively detaches itself from Christianity. Those ideas and practices are inspired by evil spirits now, even as they were then. In the West today, many behaviors might not be called religious, but by their power over individuals and their fixed routines, and their centrality in the life of many individuals, that’s what in reality they are.

One obvious modern worship is the adoration of Priapus. That “god’s” attributes do not need to be detailed here. But a whole industry of medications is devoted to the worship of Priapus by men who do not have a medical condition requiring medication. You can’t escape it: Ads are plastered all over TV.

[...]

False religions draw people away from the religion of the true God. When we paid more attention to what the Bible actually says rather than what we want it to say, we read: “all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.”(Psalm 96:5-6)

Idols even distort the appearance of the true religion. They soak up time, energy, and moral commitment, leaving much less for the real thing. It is as if the denial of the true God redounds upon its idolaters in real time.

And there are even worse consequences: “reason itself is slow and hesitant in determining the course of action to be followed; it loses its sensitivity for what is truly human good and compromises with material interests. The will becomes pathologically self-seeking, absorbed in asserting the individual’s own rights and blind to the rights of others. Man’s sensual powers which should cooperate with and make more profoundly human the decisions of the virtuous man initiate a separatist movement and seek for autonomous satisfaction.” (Colman O’Neill O.P.) - The Catholic Thing

The Whore

*It strikes me as no small coincidence that the Church of England now appears to be tending toward a sort of Magna Mater cult in it's development of doctrine:

Support is growing within the Church of England to rewrite its official liturgy to refer to God as female following the selection of the first women bishops. - Read more here.

The Great Mother cult is the primal archetype of Goddess worship.

H/T Spirit Daily for Return of the Pagan Gods article.

Caitlyn Jenner - gender stereotype.

Photo credit/story here.

It's all about the look - and, I suppose feelings... but there's more to it than that.

I'm surprised feminists aren't slashing themselves over this one.*  Annie Liebowitz doing the shoot - or not - Jenner has become a mannequin for clothes, make-up, and hair; and worse, a gender stereotype.  The slang term is 'bimbo'.  After reading the article(s), watching the interview with Sawyer, I don't think there's a lot going on in that head.

“If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life. You never dealt with yourself,’ and I don’t want that to happen.” - Jenner's response to second thoughts on facial-feminization surgery.

An ironic statement to say the least.

As a woman of 65, Caitlyn looks pretty good.



*Although if Jenner goes through with genital surgery, that might herald a sort of feminist victory over patriarchal dominance, thus rendering the chosen gender stereotype more tolerable.  Cutting the male genitalia might be considered as a sort of homage to ancient, matriarchal origin metaphors connected to menstruation; making the transition a sort of blood ritual, an emasculation ritual far more extreme than circumcision, which ancient pagan cults connected to Goddess worship ...

For a better understanding of my analogy, read this article by Bevil Bramwell, The Return of the Pagan Gods.

Please read my follow-up post, Bruce-Caitlyn Jenner: Menstruation Myth and Metaphor in Neo-pagan Culture here.  


H/T Judy for the cover story.

Some thoughts.

Pierre Paul Rubens, "Le Miracle de Saint Just"

Today's Collect for St. Justin Martyr

Grant us that,

having rejected

deception and error,

we may become

steadfast in the faith ...

Reject deception and error ...

Justin sought the vision of God through philosophy - worldly science - until he was introduced to the Word of God - the testimony of the prophets, by a holy old man.  “But before anything else,” said the holy Elder, “pray diligently to God, so that He might open to you the doors of Light. No one is able to comprehend Truth, unless he is granted understanding from God Himself, Who reveals it to each one who seeks Him in prayer and in love.”

"The wicked have told me lies, but not so is your law: I spoke of your decrees before kings, and was not confounded." - Entrance Antiphon.

These days especially - we are being told lies.  Lies about love, marriage, gender, sexuality, and so on.  There are false seers, false teachers among us.

Faith.

St. Therese always said she preferred 'not to see' - not to have private revelations and visions - because faith is more meritorious.  She preferred to live by faith alone, even if that meant dining at the table of sinners - participating in their faithlessness, as it were, in her dark night of faith. In this manner, little Therese associated herself with the unbelievers and the skeptics, the lowly and afflicted. Nevertheless, in some mysterious sense, the heroic charity of Therese motivated her to 'bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things' - without seeing, devoid of consolation. How many of us can sometimes find ourselves at the same table? Struggling to believe all things, hope all things, endure all things?

"Having rejected deception and error ..."

Faith enables us to do that.

The deception and error so widespread today - so much promulgated by worldly authorities and scholars and media - entering into even the high places of religious debate through compromise and the development of doctrine ...

Deception and error.  Don't fall for it.

On the Most Blessed Trinity ... What makes us Catholic.

The Catechism is where Catholics go to learn about the "central mystery of Christian faith and life."

234 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith". The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin". - CCC

Many Christians do not accept this teaching, other faiths reject it entirely.

237 The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the "mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God". To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel's faith before the Incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit. - CCC

Islam rejects and condemns the doctrine entirely, which may explain why many Christians refuse to believe Muslims actually believe in the same God.  I don't know about that however.

They say: "(Allah) Most Gracious has begotten a son!" Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin, that they should invoke a son for (Allah) Most Gracious. For it is not consonant with the majesty of (Allah) Most Gracious that He should beget a son. Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to (Allah) Most Gracious as a servant. - Qur'an

Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses reject the Trinity, as do Seventh Day Adventists - these sects are popularly considered to be Christian, though they reject this fundamental teaching.

That's sad.

I like to think about the Blessed Trinity, to ponder the Indwelling - I like to wonder - in awe ...

266 "Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal" (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16). - CCC