Tuesday, March 19, AD 2024 6:33am

Business as Usual for the Left

You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.
Rahm Emanuel, current Chicago Mayor and former Chief of Staff for Barack Obama

Carl Olson at Catholic World Report notes that in the aftermath of Charlottesville it is business as usual for the left:

 

“Whoever exalts race, or the people, or the State, or a particular form of State, or the depositories of power, or any other fundamental value of the human community – however necessary and honorable be their function in worldly things – whoever raises these notions above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God; he is far from the true faith in God and from the concept of life which that faith upholds.” — Pope Pius XI, Mit brennender Sorge (March 14, 1937)

“Their conflict is not one of ideologies, for Communism and Naziism are both destructive of human freedom.” — Abp. Fulton Sheen, Philosophies at War (1943)

There are many aspects to the violent, ugly, and shameful actions that have taken place in Charlottesville, Virginia, these past few days but I focus here on just a couple of them, seeking to make a couple of connections to ongoing troubles in the Church.

First, at risk of being misunderstood or misrepresented, I am a bit bemused at the flood of statements, remarks, exhortations, demands, tweets, posts, and declarations that certain groups must—must!—renounce, condemn, and otherwise harshly decry the words and deeds of the white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and related haters. It’s as if we GenXers and the Millennials nipping at our heels have never, in all of our many years in public schools and in various public settings, really heard or learned that racism is an evil, as it surely is. But, in fact, if there are any evils that approach the status of objective certainty in the eyes of the ordinary, younger American today, they are surely racism, sexism, and homophobia (and perhaps Islamophobia as well).

A couple of nights ago, as matters turned deadly in Charlottesville, I saw that a well-known Catholic commentator was excoriating “conservatives” and “Trump supporters” and other apparently dubious deplorables for failing to step up and offer endless condemnations. Silence or even a low level of social media shouting was taken, it appears, as a tacit admission of  support of said racists. It was a ploy both clever and crude: “Do this, or I’ll have to conclude that you aren’t upholding my lacking, emotive, and ideological assumptions!”

Some study of history, both American and otherwise, as well as nearly thirty years of following politics closely has taught me a handful of near certain things. One of them is that the Left, from its extreme fringes to even its more moderate and mainstream forms, will use anything and everything to smear, deride, shame, and even destroy those deemed politically conservative and orthodox Christian. (I don’t have time, unfortunately, to explain why I’ve never believed Donald Trump is conservative. Another time.) For such folks, many of them quite active in Charlottesville, history exists to be re-written or destroyed, reason is ignored or attacked, and order—social, political, religious, etc.—is to be broken and discarded.

Those considered enemies by the Left are called “bigots” and “racists” and worse, and they told to shut up, grovel, and bow to the angry hordes—whether in the streets or on social media. David Harsanyi sums it well over at The Federalist:

The left doesn’t take responsibility for the violence on its fringes, for the murder of five cops in Dallas, or the assassination attempt on Republican leadership, or the serial vandalism, or the mobs of free-speech antagonists on campuses, or the rioters at WTO, or those who desire to massacre social conservatives in Washington, because it’s inconvenient to the left’s preferred narrative. They don’t see these people as their responsibility. But you, my conservative voter, do you condemn in the harshest terms those Nazis in Charlottesville that you spawned by supporting tax cuts and judicial restraint and Donald Trump? And even then, condemnation is not enough. You may not mention anyone else or any other factor or you risk being smeared as a Nazi-apologist.

Put another way, the Left always seeks to claim and re-name the moral high ground—and has been doing so since the French Revolution (although dated in some ways, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn’s Leftism, published in 1974, is very instructive regarding the Left’s history, foundations, and tactics). And while not all on the Left are overtly communist or Marxist, they share in the general belief that agitation and the undermining of social order are not just helpful, but necessary, in remaking America. “Communism,” as Fulton Sheen observed eight decades ago, “believes that the only way it can establish itself is by inciting revolution, class struggle, and violence.” Naziism, in both its 20th century and 21st century forms, also relies on similar actions, but often seek to appeal to a perverted form of religion in doing so, while focusing on race rather than class. (Of course, “identity politics” are just another form of racism, and one used very effectively by the Left.)

Violence, hatred, and disorder are essential to both; they are not so much directly opposed to one another as they are demented twins separated at birth, pursuing forms of atheism that cut the bonds between God and man, moral law and social order, objective truth and human nature. Thus, Sheen also said: “There are two kinds of ‘atheism’: the atheism of the right, which professes to love God and ignores neighbor; and the atheism of the left, which professes to love neighbor and ignores God.” The two were responsible, in the past century, for the deaths of tens of millions; the two are now, in various forms and under many (and often misleading) names, battling and brawling on American soil. Both ideologies are diabolical and both rely heavily on youth who are unmoored, unrooted, historically illiterate, philosophically clueless, angry, preening, and morally confused.

The incoherence of the Leftist mobs can be seen in the now escalating destruction of statues and the demand that others be destroyed. Personally, I think each community (as locally as possible) should decide, after coherent and careful discussion and debate, what should be done with particular statues. But, of course, the morally superior among us have taken it upon themselves to make final judgments. Democracy? Who cares! Rational discussion? Hell, no! Respect for fellow citizens? Never! For these philistines, it’s very simple: they have judged these monuments to be racist, bigoted, and hateful, and so they must be destroyed. Those who object must be shamed and silenced. Period.

 

Go here to read the rest.  Contemporary leftism isn’t about debate and an appeal to reason, but about the application of sufficient force to crush their adversaries.  The action of a neo-Nazi lunatic was a god send to them because it is an excuse to for them to attempt to drive their adversaries from the public square.  Don’t let them succeed.

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Nate Winchester
Nate Winchester
Monday, August 21, AD 2017 7:40pm
Arminius
Monday, August 21, AD 2017 9:02pm

While being correct as the Modern Leftists find their foundation in the proto-marxist French Revolution (remember the Vendee), I would also gently remind of both the Christeros in Mexico and their fight against a Marxist government in the 1920s and of the communist actions during the Spainish Civil War.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Monday, August 21, AD 2017 9:07pm

Am I the only one who finds it rather peculiar that Mr. Olson didn’t say who that “Catholic commentator” was? Why the refusal to call these people out by name?

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 1:35am

This morning I was flipping around the (available online) radio. Hit a Catholic station which had a long spiel about how they’d promised to be fair to Trump and praise him when he did well and how they’d prayed about what to do this show about. Changed the channel, went through the rest of the list. Came back. Caught them pontificating about how “if there were actually violent antifa” at the Charleston “event.”

Turned off the radio.

I don’t need to hear our faith weaponized in support of ignorance that borders on deliberate choice to remain that way.

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 2:51am

Let’s have a discussion about the historical roots of the Democrat Party—the slave holding party. And a discussion on what Lyndon Johnson to destroy black families with his ‘Great Society’ program.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 3:54am

I assumed it was Shea as well. But why not call him out by name? He has no trouble calling out Fr. Martin Es Jay by name. Like I said, peculiar !

Jim Webb
Jim Webb
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 4:47am

Indeed President Trump is not what is defined as a true conservative nor is he a leftist. I do believe God has put him in place as a pragmatist to break the back of the elitist class rulers in both party’s that are secularists at heart where they abhor any religious thought or influence in which they become the determiners of morality.
It all comes down to this where Christianity is a philosophy of a “COMMUNALISM”, in which each of HIS creation has spiritual gifts of the spirit by free will in what they are meant to do in their lives, which includes the medically challenged, hinged on free will who govern their lives by understanding and practicing God’s LOVE. It is governance of sharing and compassion.
Those of the Communist philosophy deny any concept of God where they have come under the influence of “satan” in which they determine how society shall be run on a caste system.

Nate Winchester
Nate Winchester
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 5:35am

I assume that Olson didn’t wish to give whoever it was, and I assumed it was Shea, any publicity.

Normally I’d wonder that to but unless it was on facebook, the most Shea has posted was:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2017/08/malignant-creeps-alt-right.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2017/08/recognition-not-donalds-treasonous-nazi-sympathizers.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2017/08/charlottesville-virtue-signalling-defenders-trump.html

And that 3rd one just popped up yesterday.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 6:47am

Eleanor Roosevelt once said ‘no one can make you feel inferior without your consent’. Well, tell Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and Orrin Hatch to quit giving their consent.

The sort of cretins who run PBS and CNN and NPR do not compose their reports and interviews asking their pet subjects to ‘denounce’ the murder of police officers. The assumptions incorporated into the interviews would be that well, of course you do not support the random murder of public officials. That’s for the normies among the viewers and listeners. Not asking also allows their interview subjects to avoid embarrassing themselves. If you make excuses for those who kill cops, you alienate the normies (which may not bother you, but it does bother Judy Woodruff). If you don’t, you bother your own clientele. All of the reporting and interviewing done by these outlets is collusive.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 7:56am

Art Deco.
Your assessment of botched journalism due to extreme bias is a bull’s-eye.
Why would you rock your own boat?
Instead, just perpetuate the lies and tell them over and over again.

Saint Paul exclaimed; “We have not here a lasting city but we are in search of the one to come.” That letter to the Hebrew’s is addressed to us as well. The foreigners in a strange land…the believers of righteousness. The recipients of the deposit of grace and faith.

Leftists are just that…left out. Called..but not chosen.

Hardened hearted.

c matt
c matt
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 4:43pm

The Donald’s mistake was thinking left wanted the truth. When has the left ever wanted the truth?

Nate Winchester
Nate Winchester
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 5:27pm

If you really want your blood to chill, just go visit one of Dave G’s posts and see how many are clamoring for the end of rights. (or Shea’s, but Dave is at least readable and not an echo chamber)

Nate Winchester
Nate Winchester
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 7:03pm

If I didn’t know better I’d say Dave G. is angling for a sainthood. 😉

(all love to ya, Dave)

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Tuesday, August 22, AD 2017 10:23pm

“but the ignorance of most leftist patheos dwellers is truly invincible”

Invincible, but I think culpable because I think many of these know that much of what they say is not true.

William P. Walsh
William P. Walsh
Wednesday, August 23, AD 2017 10:23am

Here is a link to story revealing substantial background to current leftist iconoclasm.
https://catholicozarks.blogspot.com/2017/08/neomarxists-begin-their-war-on-catholic.html
Note the well-selected first name of the woman who helped pull down the statue.

Dave Griffey
Dave Griffey
Wednesday, August 23, AD 2017 3:12pm

Thanks Nate! 🙂
There are days.

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