On my personal blog in recent days, I have been writing about a wave of anti-Christian bigotry that has crashed over public life in Canada. There have been vitriolic attacks against Cardinal Marc Ouellet for defending Catholic teaching on abortion; the leader of the third largest political party in Canada, the separatist Bloc Quebecois, in the House of Commons recently "outed" members of Opus Dei who work for the Conservative Party; and yesterday a New Democratic Party MP called Opus Dei members "creepy" and "fundamentalist" and said he could not understand why anyone would want to associate with them.
This all comes at the same time Knopf Random House has released a book which a blogging friend of mine has dubbed the 'Protocols of the Elders of Canada'. The Armageddon Factor: the Rise of Christian Nationalism by Marci McDonald purports to be a journalist's look at the rising infiltration of a scary Christian right that wants to turn Canada into a theocracy. She is making the media rounds now, especially on Canada's publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), where I worked for years as a television producer.
Here's the money quote from page 359 of her book:
Waving their bright flags on the lawns of the Parliament Building, extolling the country's Christian roots to a compelling soft-rock beat, they might seem to offer a refreshing recipe for morality and national pride, but their agenda—while outwardly inclusive and multi-racial–is ultimately exclusionary. In their idealized Christian nation, non-believers–aetheists [sic], non-Christians and even Christian secularists–have no place, and those in violation of biblical law, notably homosexuals and adulterers, would merit severe punishment and the sort of shunning that once characterized a society where suspected witches were burned. Theirs is a dark and dangerous vision, one that brooks no dissent and requires the dismantling of key democratic institutions.
Years ago, I worked briefly for an evangelical Christian who won the leadership of a political party. The Liberals raised the spectre of a scary hidden agenda and made Stockwell Day's religious beliefs the object of not only fear-mongering but also ridicule and derision. There are reports that Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe mockingly made the sign of the cross in the House of Commons this week when he made his rancid attack on Opus Dei.
The "scary hidden agenda" meme has recurred repeatedly as a way to try to undermine the Conservatives. During the same-sex marriage debate, the governing Liberals cast anyone who was against redefining marriage as anti-Canadian and anti-Charter (the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms)–which at the time was half the population. I experienced a great sense of sorrow and it was one of the reasons why I delayed becoming a Canadian citizen.
Though I am not a member of Opus Dei, I am well acquainted with it, having attended many of their recollections for women, and events such as their annual picnic where you actually get to see happy families with four and more children! I have interviewed the Opus Dei Vicar, Msgr. Fred Dolan, a number of times. He is a most gracious man and has been very kind to me as an Anglican Catholic journalist covering the Catholic Church for Roman Catholic newspapers. Here's a picture of Msgr. Dolan taken in December of 2008 at the Parliamentary restaurant after a luncheon with MPs and Hill staffers.
All of the Opus Dei members I know — working for the Church, in academia, in public life, in medicine, in the home — are gracious, highly intelligent, and deeply serious — not only about their faith but in having a well-formed Catholic faith that they put into practice in every area of their lives, seeking excellence and holiness. Everyone is called to be a saint, not just those who are ordained or religious life. What could possibly be threatening or evil about that? Against such there is no law, is there?
We as Traditional Anglicans also have known what it is like to face unjust criticism, demonization and marginalization because we take having an orthodox catholic faith seriously. What is sad is that often this comes from fellow Christians!
The NDP MP made a point of saying he too is Catholic. (A pro-abortion, pro-same-sex marriage Catholic, but hey! ) And Marci McDonald says she is a Christian, too.
I call people like this the "eat me last" Christians. You know, the ones who see the hungry crocodile and they try to feed others to his gaping maw, hoping the beast's appetite will be filled.
The problem is for those Christians who try to be "nice" and "progressive" and appeasing and like the crew at Notre Dame that welcomed President Obama's divide and conquer strategy of "you are nice Catholics over here, but those others who don't like my abortion policies or health care statism are bad Catholics" will soon find that the encroachment of Leviathan extends to their Catholic institutions and hospitals and other realms in ways that will soon violate their consciences as well.
And as our Ottawa priest Fr. Peter Jardine, who works with Voice of the Martyrs, reminds us: those who want to persecute Christians don't care what denomination you are, or whether you are a good Catholic or a bad Catholic or Pentecostal. When the pogroms come, your being Christian is enough for your house to be burned down.
Ottawa Citizen columnist David Warren, a former Anglican now Catholic convert, writes about all this in today's paper, and has this advice:
How should Christians respond to such attacks? To fellow Catholics, I would suggest, take the Rosary out of your pocket and wave it in their faces. To all other Christians, likewise: do not be cowed, do not retreat an inch. You have every right to maintain the beliefs that built Western Civilization against the beliefs that are taking it down and a duty in good conscience to affirm Christ, regardless of the consequences.
No related posts.
The Rosary and holding one's ground is a start, but if that's all that's going to happen, then you can be sure that the faithful will be strong to the end as the persecutions will still increase.
The key problem here is that two or three generations in North America have been poorly catechized, or worse, outright mislead by "the social justice gospel" or other experimental North American catholic Innovations. They don't know the faith beyond knowing going to Church and being a "good person" (by society's standards, since God's standards aren't impressed on them) is important. In the absence of good Catholic teachings, the Cafeteria Christianity that is pretty much required to be a modern Protestant (since how else can Luther, Wesley, and Calvin all be "right" if they disagree on so much?) has become the norm for Catholics too. So not only do some (sincere or not) Protestants mis-characterize the Catholic Church, Catholics do too.
As a result, the huge numbers of Catholics, who should be able to have a strong voice against the culture of death, are impotent or friends of the culture of death. As Pope Pius V states, "All the evil in the world is due to luke-warm Catholics".
As part of the way forward, we need to bring back the vast number of Catholics who act against the Catholic faith without knowing it and bring in our separated brethren who long for the true faith but stay outside the Catholic Church because of poor information.
If we can do that, there will be nothing that can stop the great army of Rosary carrying devoted Catholics.
J.M.J.
Anil wrote:
"…Pope Pius V states, “All the evil in the world is due to luke-warm Catholics”…"
That is a great quote – can you provide the context/citation?
Faithfully,
Sean W. Reed
I've tried to find the context, but other than a few dozen sites reprinting this quote, I can't.
But I have found a similar one from Pope St. Pius X:
"All the strength of Satan's reign is due to the easygoing weakness of Catholics."
In his first encyclical E Supremi Apostolatus on October 4, 1903: "Society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady…apostasy from God."
Thanks much!
SWR
http://www.olrl.org/books/altavendita.shtml
This is a BIG part of the problem!
The attitudes that Deborah is writing of are so close to the attitudes found in the Soviet Union or Communist China in regard to religion and the place of religionists in society.
Anil is also right in arguing that the absence of resolute Christian teaching has denuded our previously Christian culture. When I was a child in the 60's it was the norm for parents to send their children to church – Catholic, Anglican etc . Now that has long past, and the suburbs no longer wake to the sound of church bells calling the faithful to the 8am service.
The Christian witness has also been weakened hugely by the secularisation of the church. Priests need to wear clerical collars and black clergy suits or cassocks. Nuns need to wear proper habits with veils. Laity should wear crosses, carry rosaries and show their evangelical commitment to sharing the life-changing Gospel of salvation.
Parishes should again have Corpus Christi and Rogation processions, church bells should be rung, and everywhere there should be serious prayer to the Lord to help the Christian faithful deal with this secular agenda.
As long as the Church has leaders who prefer rapproachment with the secular world rather than challenging it with the Truth, the slide to irrelevance and marginalisation will continue.
Absolutely right, David, these are non other than the "errors of Russia" still making their march thru various cultures – though, by today, they may have little to do with Russia. What Deborah describes is sickening to read, even though, by historical standards, this particular situation appears to be in its adolescent stage. However, this type is adaptable, sophisticated, tenacious, and learns quickly from its mistakes and setbacks. Among other things, it continually lusts for temporal power. It de-laminates and devours – including its own, when they become less useful.
It was defeated in the past, and that fact should guard against any despair. These words come to my mind – pray, be not afraid, stand in solidarity.
If some secularist wants to "out" a Christian politician for practicing the teachings of his faith in the exercise of office, I can find no better response than that of Hilliare Belloc when he ran for office. That famous response is portrayed in an episode of Season III of the EWTN series "GK Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense".
There also exists a spurious sense of "charity" that many Christians believe, according to which they must exhibit passivity in the face of assaults upon our sensibilities. I appeal to our Savior's actions in the Temple (Jn. 2:14-17) to dispel this myth.
It is true that attacks against Christianity in Canada are almost state policy now. I live in B.C. (formerly in Ontario). About a third of the population is now officially pagan here. It will be close to half by 2020. Quebec, once so Catholic, is now virulently hateful of the Church. The Quebec legislature recently possed a resolution *unanimously* declaring that abortion is an inalienable right. It's up there with habeas corpus and the right of free speech: my house is my castle and my wife's womb is her own personal execution chamber. The Canadian press, in particularly, is violently anti-Christ.
Leaders of the Church and Catholics who are politicians need to refuse intimidation and rebuke these frauds directly to their saucy faces. His Eminence apologised if some of his comments 'were taken out of context'. That's a mistake, really. He should have repeated the comments that outraged the press the most and then amplified them. Any sign of weakness on our part is a mistake. Once they realise that we shall call a spade a spade and abortion murder, they will eventually stop screaming about it. A petulant brat will bawl until his throat hurts. Let him bawl until he's cried himself out. We can patiently wait. In the meantime, we teach Catholic children the truth and they lecture their views to the children they have contracepted and aborted out of existence.
P.K.T.P.
All of this reminds me of the saying, "If you were ever accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" I pray when (and I do mean "when") that time comes each one of us will have plenty of evidence to present.
"The NDP MP made a point of saying he too is Catholic. (A pro-abortion, pro-same-sex marriage Catholic, but hey! ) And Marci McDonald says she is a Christian, too."
(A) They are Catholic and Christian, albeit a bad Catholic and a bad Christian.
(B) They are not Catholic and Christian, they only say they are.
(C) They are not only not Catholic and not Christian, but they are ravenous wolves eating and destroying the flock while wearing sheep's clothing.
(D) If (A), then the Church needs to teach them better so that they change their minds and behavior to be more in alignment with biblical teaching.
(E) If (C), what do shepherds do when confronting wolves attacking sheep? If the shepherds don't do anything, is that okay?
(F) If (C) and there's no consequences administered to wolves by leaders in the Church, what message does this send to Catholics and Christians? Will this message subconsciously affect the thinking and behavior of laity?
(G) Is the Salt and Light gradually losing its flavor in Canada? Is there an element of lukewarmness that might be spit out? If so, and there's both lukewarm clergy and lukewarm laity, how to change that?