THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

PAIN | 2008-06-21

One reason people pay any attention at all to the Media is that they still worship status, are suspicious of authority, and don't know the difference between the two. Once they realize that truth is more valuable to them than a glitzy broadcast, the revolution is already done.

--Pain

One thing that always puzzled Europeans about Americans was that we were very religious and at the same time we were anti-clerical all the way to the gut.

We think of Catholics as the most obedient to religious authority. Yet even American Catholics naturally react this way,

American Catholics are the mainstay of that church throughout the world. A priest once told me that American Catholics benefited from the fact that this is a very deeply religious country.

Unlike other countries, where most people are Catholic simply by default, Catholics here have an attendance record and pay for their churches on a scale that, while we bitch about it, leaves the rest of the world in awe.

Here there are a lot of bitches about the priest shortage. But other countries today produce almost no priests at all.

Practicing American Catholics are known to routinely ignore the Pope's more extreme pronouncements on birth control and the like.

But they don't do this for the European reason, Europeans simply don't take their faith seriously and that is the reason they ignore what the Pope says.

Practicing American Catholics ignore the Curia when it writes up a fashionable statement that capital punishment is evil. This is not an irreligious attitude. They simply don't think such social dictates are necessary to the Catholic RELIGION.

Ignoring the preacher when he doesn't make sense is traditional here. We are RELIGIOUS, not SLAVISH.

I think that, in order to follow Pain's advice, we need to get that back same natural American attitude toward the priest of our PRESNT established religion.

It is important to remember that that attitude is deep in our national consciousness.

I see it on the Internet all the time. That is why constant reference to "repeating what Mommy Professor says" is such a deadly effective tactic in online debate.

Look at the responses. Europeans and South American are always looking for a religious or Intellectual or Titled Authority to adhere to. This Mommy Professor stuff makes this habitual dependence so clear that it even bothers THEM.

But the "Mommy Professor" truth makes AMERICANS on the Net go ballistic.

COMMENTS (4)

#1 Simmons | 2008-06-21 10:58

PC is a religion, that means it places things off limits to debate behind an esoteric cloud of verbiage. In America that is its weakness leaving it open to a ceaseless barrage of never ending ridicule of its high handedness. But respectables being robe worshippers counter with esoteric nonsense themselves, they lose.

It really is that easy to defeat PC and liberalism there is nothing there but smoke and mirrors, even Dorothy had enough and wanted to ask questions of the witch directly. Dorothy was Mantra thinking before Bob was being Bob its right in front of us.

Enough of my high handedness I have to go back to destroying a Jew's arguments against Iran. I'm asking him directly what his religion's end times dictats are versus the crazies of Iran to see if we need to listen to either side in that spat.

#2 Dave | 2008-06-21 12:22

We all are on a bus the transit "authority" lobbies us to pay for a new and improved model.

The "authority" lobbying is "learned" for they have "thought it through" and "have a plan" and they explain to us "what is" and "where we should go".

But even the very intelligent and aware fail to realize that "the improved model" is never specified to manufacture, for the change that matters occurs spontaneously and out of sight. Especially out of sight of the "transit authority".

Europe is in a perpetual full court press to prevent this from occurring. That was why the European Union was cobbled together and organic currencies were banned. Spontaneous change that occurs out of sight is very hard on the authorities. It gets in the way of their Priesthood.

In America, the part of America that actually is America, not the "Europe" part of America, we have been more respectful of the real process on how the bus actually gets updated. We Americans have a better understanding that "authority" is always out of rhythm.

For example, I find it hilarious that today the celebrated market intellectuals are telling us that the world most definitely needs a "new monetary regime". The loudest proponents are the "anti-Establishment" types (they always seem to make special emphasis on painting themselves "anti-Establishment") who loudly proclaim the doom of America and the demise of its power.

But they fail to see that the new monetary regime occurred spontaneously in the last six months with the monetization of the commodity markets. The world "doesn't need a new monetary regime", it has "got one", TODAY in the HERE AND NOW.

The investment banks did it (out of greed) by way of a new long commodities products they fully hedge in the dealer Over the Counter markets, markets so large that for the past 15 years they have dwarfed all other markets combined. Trade accounts are now being settled in barrels of oil and sacks of grain in a new system (that the authorities cannot and will never be able to control) that is not going to go away, not now, not tomorrow, and very likely not for the rest of our lives.

The future happened while the intellectuals were talking about it, the usual arrangement. Worldwide the "authorities" are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off "trying to do something about it".

Standard operating procedure for INTELLECTUALS and PRIESTS.

The global banking system will adapt just fine to these new arrangements and the government bond markets will chug along without a hitch.

But the Intellectuals and the Priests will never notice. They are too busy "creating the future" for that.

#3 mderpelding | 2008-06-25 00:22

While European Catholicism has degenerated, American Catholicism has not.

Please consider the essential world view of the Mother Church.

The world as we know it is an imperfect world, fallen from Gods grace. All of us are sinners, and will need to sin to survive. No exceptions!

Christ's sacrifice provides a way out.

Through the Churches' Sacraments.

Making the world a better place and personal virtue aren't primary responsibilities of Catholicism.

Salvation is.

And salvation comes through the Sacraments.

Not saving the world.

Fighting poverty.

Saving the Environment.

Loving Humanity.

Doing what Jesus would do.

Self sacrifice.

Turning the other cheek.

Blessing the merciful.

Saving the poor.

Being anti-war.

Loving peace.

Hitler thought like a Catholic.

FDR thought like a protestant.

#4 backbaygrouch4 | 2008-06-25 08:28

Catholics believe the Pope is God's spokesman on earth, but only when he speaks ex cathedra, which is damned near never. A corollary of this is that everything else is merely the Pope's opinion. The diversity within the Roman Catholic Church would astound most Protestants. It is far greater than within their churches. As my Scots granny said on eating mincemeat pie on the Friday after Thanksgiving, there is not enough meat to count.