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Reblog of the Day

Mundabor's Blog

Another excellent blog post from the “man with no uncertain trumpet”, Monsignor Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington.

This time, Monsignor Pope’s attention is focused on the image of Jesus that was smuggled around in the Seventies, and that still influences the Sixty-Eighters and other pot-smokers today. In those years – and whilst I was a child, I got my share of those years – Jesus was generally portrayed as a kind of a whimp, a girly boy unable to exert or project any form of manliness, a mixture of hare “krishna” follower and Gandhi with, later, the addition of a dollop of Nelson Mandela. Victimised, but as meek as a sheep; bullied, but always answering with a smile, and unable to threat or harm, this is the Jesus we had brought to us as an example. “Peeaace” and “luuuuv” were everywhere, and not a whip in sight.

Well…

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Blogging To The Converted? Why I Waste So Much Time On This Blog.

No, seriously... I look MUCH better....

 

I sometimes – nay, rather often – wonder what is the use of a layman’s Catholic blog. I mean this not in the figurative sense, but in the literal one: what contribution can the blog of a layman give?

Take, for example, my little effort.

At the beginning, I though a blog could win new Catholics. I didn’t think this was the main aim, but I though it would be a somewhat interesting weapon. I saw it as an outlet where people more or less vaguely seeking would stumble, be intrigued at what they read, and bring home with them one or two seeds of, perhaps, one day, a future conversion.They would, I though, be shocked or even angry at first, but if they are moved by a sincere search they would gather the nerve to continue reading and bring home more and more contributions to a better perception of the hard, but beautiful Catholic Truth.

Twenty months later, I wonder.

This blog has grown very slowly but very steadily over the twenty or so months of its existence. When I started, the pageviews were counted in dozens. Nowadays, one  thousand pageviews a day aren’t news anymore, and are rather an almost daily occurrence when I have time to care for the blog. At first sight, it would look like the contribution given by this blog would grow; that it would, as the saying goes, “make a difference”. But does it? Let us look at things with a bit of realism.

1) The blogosphere grows. Soon every child will be able to go on the internet from everywhere using his iPhone. Growing pageviews do not necessarily mean a growing interest, rather a growing pool of people clicking your blog by mistake. Every blog grows its pageviews. It must be so. If it didn’t grow, it would mean it is going backwards. Very simply, the tide of clicks lifts all blogs, and the tide of the blogosphere is growing fast.

2) Many – I do not know how many, but many – of my clicks probably come from people searching for images. Not very flattering I know, but I think the reality of most blogs who use photos. I like a photo in my blog post, I just do not flatter myself there won’t be people visiting not my blog, but the photo.

3) Some other clicks come, I suppose, from people who are curious in a very superficial way.They care for religion as much as I care for feng shui. Still, it goes in the statistics.

4) Lastly, a majority of the clicks – I dare to think this, at least – come from sincere Catholics, who already think as I do. 

So: many readers don’t care at all; others aren’t really interested; the majority do not need to be persuaded. As to the sincere seekers who are slowly approaching Catholicism, I am more and more persuaded they would rather go to blogs written by religious, of which there are many excellent ones. I think it is a reasonable assumption and it is what I would personally do, instead of clicking Mundabor. With all due respect for Mundabor, of course. Capital fellow.

Why, then, a layman’s blog? I’d say for the following reasons:

1) My “about the author” page states as follows:

This blog’s aim is to allow true, traditional, unadulterated, strictly orthodox Catholic doctrine to be made available in a world suffocating more and more in political correctness and “feel-good”, “everything goes”, “let us not upset anyone” so-called Catholicism.

I allow myself to think this is important, or at least useful, even if I were to exclusively “blog to the converted”. It gives ammunition, some adrenaline here and there, a sense of urgency in the battle, that might otherwise not be so keenly felt. The trumpeter in the midst of the battlefield might not be decisive, but he is certainly not superfluous, and he might not manage to give courage to the pavid, but he will give some encouragement and spirit to the brave. This blog is particularly aimed at the brave, and tepid Catholics will soon feel encouraged to click somewhere else. I see myself as an anonymous smuggler of politically incorrect Catholic weaponry for the Catholic warriors out there.

2) A blog like mine gives one the confirmation that one is not alone. A blog written by Joe Bloggs gives the reader clear evidence that normal, fully common people, like your baker or butcher or the person sitting near you on the bus have had enough of this, big time. I’d find it reassuring, even if I were already “converted”. There’s strenght in number, and security in counting one’s own side’s numbers before the battle.

3) As the ways of the Lords are infinite, you never know whether a layman’s blog might still be one of them. An idea, a sentence which remains impressed, one or two arguments the readers ruminates about after he has left the blog, are always within the realm of the possible. With growing visitor numbers, they become rather inevitable.A small effect I know, but with the time it adds up…

4) The echo effect. Reader A might be already perfectly persuaded, but reader B who reads his retweet perhaps not, and reader C who talks about it with B at the pub might become curious. He will look for blogs of religious of course, but a seed is valuable even if very tiny.

5) Peace of mind. Perhaps is the advancing age but no, I think it is that I now write a blog. When something makes my blood boil, in the past my blood would happily boil away with all the consequences, sleepless nights not excluded. Nowadays, I simply think “I will write a blog post about this” and (almost always) feel already better. When you know you’ve done all you can, the sense of raging impotence is much lessened.

6) (shameless plug). I blog, my dear reader, also for your prayers, of which I am in need. Do not think for a second that just because I write a blog I am less of a sinner than most others are, or less in need of prayers than everyone else is. My being a sinner is, in fact, a main motivation for me to write. If I were to be surprised by death tomorrow, knocked down by the new (and very beautiful) London bus, the around 1060 blog post already written would, I hope, be of some help, and so would the prayers you have hopefully said for me.

Please, dear reader, if you like this blog do not deny me a short Hail Mary every now and then.

Mundabor

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cardinal Martini Favours Sodomite Unions

Martini 666. The new Vatican summer drink.

First of all, my dear reader, ensure that you are calm and relaxed. Then consider going in the kitchen and preparing a good camomile. Valerian drops will also do, I think.

When you are in such way prepared for what I am going to point out to, you may want to say a Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. After that, if you really feel ready, click here, where you will be able to see with your eyes that the smoke of Satan, far from merely finding a way true a fissure of the Church, has been smoking out many an important room within the place for some considerable time.

I will not repeat the arguments against the latest blasphemous and heathenish monstrosity of the old Cardinal. I do not think that having Parkinson’s disease can be an extenuating circumstance. Whilst Parkinson’s disease can go together with dementia, a demented former Cardinal does not get his books published. Although in this case “demented” might seem appropriate, as the Cardinal talks like one who has, literally, lost his mind.Only he hasn’t. Soul, more likely.

You will read in the brilliant blog post the well-exposed considerations, about which I have written several times, based on which the Cardinal can be said firmly in the hands of Satan. I think of the times when one could have landed on the stake for doctrines like that, and wonder whether our society is really so civilised as we think, or merely weak and stupid. Very weak, and very stupid.

You can read the considerations of the case over there. here, I would like to make a couple of ancillary considerations:

1) This man is rumoured to have been papabile. I do not think he ever was, firstly because the Holy Ghost does not allow such catastrophes and secondly because after the tragedy of Paul VI the Popes have all been clearly more conservative than Martini by any conceivable standard. Still, if it is true that the man managed to coagulate around him the support of the liberal wing, it tells you everything you need to know about how serious the situation within the Vatican is.

2) I keep reading around readers – good souls in perfect good faith, I imagine – whose only approach to the SSPX-Vatican controversy is that the SSPX must “submit” to the Vatican or, even, to “Vatican II”. It is  basically like saying that if her mother moves in a brothel, an obedient daughter will follow her over there because this gives plenty of opportunities for conversions, whereas the daughter who stays out and keeps saying her mother to be reasonable and get out of the place is the disobedient, rebellious one.

3) This is rather strong tobacco, as Martini  was in his day more influential than our Archbishop Vincent “Quisling” Nichols will ever be, and his book will most certainly get the echo it does not deserve. One would think the Pope would immediately intervene and force him to immediate abiura; isn’t it? I mean, this will certainly happen, right? Right?

Truly, the Church has no need whatever of external enemies.Those inside are already doing an excellent job.

Mundabor