On Fatherhood

Dedicated to my father,

My first and truest example

Of what it means to be a man.

There is a crisis in our world. It does not have the theatrical force of a hurricane or the publicity of acts of violence. Rather, this threat is slowly growing like the rising waters of a flood which go unnoticed until the levy breaks. And then it is too late.

We have a dearth of manliness in our culture, but more importantly of fatherhood. You can't have the latter without the former. There are a lot of examples of fake manliness. Of men who treat women like objects for their own gratification. Of men who use their God-given strength not in defense of the innocent, but who have "overturned the way of the poor and oppressed together the meek of the earth" (Job 24:5).

We have had too many men who take the easy way instead of the "narrow gate" (Matthew 7:13). I have read story after story about men who pressure their girlfriends, wives, and daughters into having abortions because of their own fears and convenience. That is why pro-choice is not pro-women. Abortion is a way for men to oppress women. To exploit them.

More and more men are rejecting the Truth and perverting their sexuality, be it for premarital relations or homosexuality. In the height of folly, men are even going so far as to reject the biological and spiritual reality of their manhood claiming they "identify" as something else.

Men are falling away from the Church and even from the belief in God altogether. They claim to be advanced or evolved, but atheism and humanism are the most barbaric creeds of all. Without God man becomes nothing but meat and is treated as such.

A crisis of manliness means a crisis of fatherhood. Fathers should be an example to their sons, a beacon of strength and virtue. They should not enable the sins of their children for the sake of moral relativism or let them "experiment," go through a "phase." Fathers cannot allow their children to pick their gender. They ought to be an example of holiness, not of vice.

Too many families do not have fathers at all. Single-parent households are the natural consequence of promiscuity. The fathers are there for the good times, but leave as soon as commitment or responsibility looms. And study after study points to the significantly higher rates of crime and delinquency of children raised in a single-mother home. The prevalence of single-parent homes in the African American community almost completely accounts for its higher crime rate.

As goes the father, so go his children.

But not all men are bad. Far from it. For every Mordred there is a King Arthur. For every Goliath, a David. For every dragon, a knight in shining armor.

We have good men in our world today. They just tend not to be where the spotlight is.

There are hosts of men who refuse to follow the norm and instead follow their God, no matter the consequences. St. Joseph trusted in the message of Archangel Gabriel even though he knew taking the Virgin Mary into his home might have been scandalous. St. Stephen testified to the Truth even as his body was broken by stones. St. Augustine had the humility to seek forgiveness after his life of sinful wordiness and became a bold defender of the Truth. St. Maximilian Kolbe gave his life for another man without fanfare or hesitation.

Two of my favorite Biblical examples of manliness are Mattathias and his son, Judas Maccabeus. Mattathias was the father of five sons in the day of the oppression of Israel by King Antiochus. Though he was offered gold, silver, and influence, Mattathias refused to forsake the Lord and the law saying "Although all nations obey King Antiochus... I and my sons, and my brethren will obey the law of our fathers. God be merciful unto us: it is not profitable for us to forsake the law and the justices of God" (1 Maccabees 2:19-21). Faced with the pressures of the world, tempted with its riches, and threatened with its sword, Mattathias did not abandon his faith. Furthermore, he did not allow his sons to abandon their faith. On his deathbed, Mattathias said to his gathered sons: "You, therefore, my sons, take courage, and behave manfully in the law: for by it you shall be glorious" (1 Maccabees 2:64).

His son, Judas Maccabeus, having such an example for a father, grew up to be a great man who "in his acts he was like a lion" (1 Maccabees 3:4). Like his father, "he pursued the wicked and sought them out" (1 Maccabees 3:5) and fought "for our lives and our laws" (1 Maccabees 3:21). He did not use the strength of his arm for self-aggrandizement but rather for justice. His last words are very telling of the sacrificial way he lived his life: "God forbid we should do this thing, and flee away from them: but if our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our glory" (1 Maccabees 9:10).

 There are men who sacrifice everything for their families. Men who work late hours to put food on the table and get their kids through college. Men who put off their ambitions to raise a child. Men who refuse to cave to what the world says. Men who stand up for the innocent and defenseless, especially the unborn. Men who put God first in their lives, then their family, and at last themselves.

My father is such a man. As I have grown, I have learned just how blessed I am. Few enough fathers go to Mass. Even less lead their children to God as my father has. Growing up Catholic in a public school is hard. Again and again, my father pushed me, not just to get by and keep my head down, but to thrive. He's the hardest working man I have ever known, but he always has time for his children. Throughout my childhood, I cannot remember a single selfish act of his.

At the same time, my father did not allow his children to grow up without a sense of responsibility and virtue. There was never any room for relativistic nonsense in our household.

My father is a rock. No matter the tumult in my life, he is always there. He has always been there for his children.

His love for my mother is an example of the sacred and sacramental nature of marriage. By word and most importantly by deed, he taught me about the dignity of woman and the importance of men of virtue.

So on this father's day, I would like to thank my dad. I would not be who I am today without him. I pray that we might have more fathers like him in this age. I firmly believe that with a revival of manliness and true fatherhood in our world, a whole lot of problems would quickly disappear.

Rise up Men of God.

Deus Vult!

A World Without God

"God is dead." That resounding diagnosis was put into words by the German nihilist Nietzsche whom I've already written about. It was rephrased on the cover of the April 8, 1966 issue of Time magazine as "Is God Dead?" Both echo the same sentiment, the idea of a world without God.

This devastating idea has not been around for very long. Up until the era of the Enlightenment, belief in some sort of divinity was pretty much universal. It was unthinkable for any intellectuals or political leaders to say with any amount of public support that there was nothing, no God. That is until the so-called "age of Reason," in reality the death of reason, which was brought about by the dissent encouraged by the Protestant Reformation. If the Catholic Church could be questioned, then why not question belief in God as well?

Some of the most famous Enlightenment thinkers were either explicit atheists or at least toed that line: Spinoza, Hume, and Kant just to name a few. It should come as no surprise then that the greatest expression of Enlightenment thought, the French Revolution, was so profoundly atheistic. Voltaire, who laid the foundations for the Revolution with his writings, was militantly anti-Christian. Indeed, the persecution of priests and other clergy was characteristic of the Revolution. The French Revolution replaced God with the State.

This trend, the aggrandizement of personal power through the "elimination" of God, continued. We cannot forget the godlessness nature of the Nazis, Bolshevik Russia, and Pol Pot's Cambodia, all responsible for horrific crimes against humanity. This is especially evident in modern China where churches are bulldozed and their pastors mysteriously disappear.

And indeed, the war on God is not limited to totalitarian regimes. Today, in America, there is a decided "bloodless" and "polite" persecution as Archbishop Lori so aptly called it. Christian values are under attack. Think about it. Roe v. Wade and the legalization of abortion on demand, the normalization of homosexuality, the de-stigmatization of promiscuity, and a culture of divorce have led to the breakdown of the family. Atheist groups with their litanies of "freedom of religion" and "separation of Church and State" attack that very freedom by silencing any mention of God and attempting to erect an atheistic government. Say the name of God in the public sphere and they might just try to arrest you. Proclaim the absence of God and you will be applauded.

Now beyond the existence of this war on God, which is undeniable, I want to look at the effects this has on our way of life. What does a world without God look like? It is not very hard to imagine because we are at its threshold! Look at how Planned Parenthood and its murderous ilk have convinced us that life only begins when we want it to. Look at how the media loses its mind when a gorilla is shot to save a child, but not when children are shot without cause. Look at how armchair philosophers sit in their penthouses and decry the existence of poverty and proceed to do nothing to stop it. Look at how homosexuality and transgenderism is applauded, encouraged, while traditional marriage is belittled. Virtue has become vice and vice, virtue.

For a hellish glimpse into the future of a world without God, we need only read the works of "ethicist" Peter Singer. Not that I am recommending so much as picking up anything that he has written. In fact, quite the opposite. His ideas are incredibly dangerous. In his seminal work, Practical Ethics, Singer begins innocently enough, with the topic of equality. It's hard to disagree with his conclusions, all he seems to want is for everyone to be treated fairly. At first. Then he takes it too far. Applying his godless utilitarian philosophy, Singer makes the argument that we ought to treat animal interests as having the same weight as human interests in the sphere of ethics. To do so, he frequently uses the example of newborns and the mentally disabled as human beings who are closer to the level of animals. "Killing a snail or a day-old infant does not thwart any desires [for the future], because snails and newborn infants are incapable of having such desires." (Practical Ethics p.90) You can't make this stuff up!

Singer goes on to argue that, because of his principle of considering only the interests involved, not only is abortion justified, but so is infanticide - "on purely ethical grounds, the killing of a newborn infant is not comparable with the killing of an older child or adult" - and euthanasia. He goes so far as to walk up to the precipice of justifying involuntary euthanasia, but falters.

These are dangerous ideas. And if you reject God, they are hard to argue against. That is because without God human life immediately begins to lose its value. If we were not created by a loving, all-powerful God (as we were indeed created!) then we are no longer men but beasts. Despite Singer's assertions to the contrary, this means that we are lowered to the level of animals, not that animals are raised to our level. And just like animals, we can be put down when it is convenient. Dostoevsky was all too accurate when he wrote that "If God does not exist, everything is permitted." I do not think that it is too outlandish to envision Singer's fantasies becoming reality in a world without God, and even involuntary euthanasia becoming accepted for the sake of the collective "good."

When I imagine a world without God, I see a world where human life is meaningless, where love is reduced to sexual sensation found as easily in the Internet as in human interactions, where the very terms "men" and "women" have become offensive, and where people of faith are persecuted.

This is not the kind of world that I want to live in!

Brothers and sisters, we must bring back a Godly culture of Truth! Where life and true love are valued!

How can we do this? It might seem that a monumental effort is necessary, something that will shock the world back into reality. In truth, it is the little things that will change the world and overthrow the very foundations of our godless culture of death.

First, we must love. It is easy to be angry with the way the world is headed. It is even more easy to hate those that are pushing it along the road to hell. It requires courage, however, to love them. Remember that as St. Theresa of Avila says, "Christ has no body now on earth but yours." Jesus did not condemn sinners, he lovingly rebuked them. Christ did not say to Matthew the tax-collector "Do what makes you happy." But he also didn't say "You're going to hell Matt." He said "Follow me"  (Matthew 9:9). Jesus, the only one who was without sin and could therefore throw a stone at the adulterous woman, didn't. Instead, he said "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin any more" (John 8:11).

To turn back this culture of death, I firmly believe that we must fully commit ourselves to the pro-life cause. I'm the president of my high-school's Students for Life of America club (a most excellent organization) and I also run its blog. Now it would be excellent if everyone could start or become active in local pro-life groups, but you don't even need to do that much. I have already written a list of ways you can be a Pro-Life Warrior. In short, the war on abortion is largely a war of information. Simply spread the word about the ugly realities of abortion. Lies told often enough often become half-truths. Planned Parenthood has convinced people that developing babies are just "clumps of cells" and that abortion has no psychological effects on women, both of which are patently false!

Very simply, you can help to create a culture of God by being men and women of God. Pray as often as you breath. Attend Mass whenever possible. Venerate the Blessed Mother. Pray the Rosary, our primary weapon. Stand up for your beliefs. Be an example to the world, your friends, your family. Raise your children in the faith.

The future of a world without God may be bleak. The future with God, however, is filled with hope and grace. Rise up and join the Crusade for Truth!

DEUS VULT!

The Dangers of Small Worlds

We all know the song: "It's a Small World After All." It gets stuck in our heads every time we go on that ride in Disneyland. Chances are, the moment you step off the float, you'll be humming that song. It's a cute little song. Reminds us that we are all connected, regardless of our culture or geographical location.

But there are two versions of the "Small World." The first is that represented by the Disney ride, a world without borders where physical distance is meaningless. And that is all well and good. God made each and everyone of us. In our shared humanity, we have far more in common than we have differences, despite various languages and customs. The first meaning is quite Catholic in fact, "universal."

I worry about the second meaning of a "Small World." It is one I see far too often today. These small worlds are characterized, not by their openness, but by their walls. They are small worlds because there is not much in them. This is the "me, myself, and I" attitude that is so popular in our culture. This small world thinking reduces your interactions and love into a microcosm, whatever is within your reach and nothing more. Only showing kindness to those who think exactly like you do, who look exactly like you do, who act exactly like you do.

In a certain sense, this thinking reduces humanity to those that you "like." Anyone else is dangerous, even less human than those within your walls. And I am not just talking about physical borders. Within our own country, we see this in conflicts of controversy. For militant feminists, pro-choice radicals, and groups like Black Lives Matter, you are either with them or against them. Anything less than a full pledge of loyalty results in your ridicule, not in person, more often than not, but over the veiled channels of social media, for most of them are too cowardly to attack you face-to-face. You see this whenever anyone tries to say that there are differences between men and women which mean they ought to be treated differently in some respects (bigot!) or that all lives matter (racist!).

Small worlds tend to be kind of boring. You'll only hear the same things over and over and over. They consist in a silencing of all "offensive speech" or what I would call free discussion. Try to tell a denizen of these small worlds that the unborn have a right to live, that there is no difference between sex and gender, or that supporting the death-penalty is inconsistent with pro-life beliefs, and you will instantly be silenced, and probably insulted too.

That is because small worlds are the houses built upon the sand (Matthew 7:26). They lack a firm foundation. Any challenge to the creed of a small world is therefore existential. Any change to the status quo could be deadly.

Small worlds are cowardly. They are inhabited by people who are too scared to look beyond their own walls. We saw this the other day at a rally for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in San Diego. Crowds of his opponents hurled eggs and bottles, harassed, and assaulted his supporters as they left the rally. Now, I am not saying that I support or even like Donald Trump. His flip-flopping on abortion is unacceptable. But no one deserves to be attacked like his supporters were. Those protesters reacted so violently because they were confronted by a group of people living outside of their own small worlds. They discovered that someone held opinions that were not their own, and they could not deal with this reality.

And I am not saying that Catholics are immune to this kind of thinking. I see a somewhat dangerous trend of small worlds in our American parishes. We are the universal Church. Therefore, though we might only go to Mass at one parish, we cannot limit our outreach or efforts to that parish. It is not a competition. We need a greater awareness of the ways in which parishes can cooperate and coordinate activities for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

God does not want us to live in small worlds. I think Pope Francis captured this quite succinctly. In response to Donald Trump's plan to build a barrier separating Mexico from the United States, Pope Francis said that "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel." Though this was in the context of Donald Trump, Pope Francis' statement was universal.

We cannot simply build up walls around ourselves. Those walls separate us from those whom we should show love.

Jesus did not live in a gated community. He walked with tax collectors, prostitutes, and Pharisees alike. The message of the Gospel would not have spread if Jesus had remain hidden in the gentrified suburbs.

Therefore, we must engage in the construction of bridges. Do not avoid the people who hold opinions that differ from yours, engage them. Get in the thick of it. "Launch out into the deep" (Luke 5:4). We will not change lives with the message of the Gospel if we only preach within our own walls, within our small worlds.

Do not live in a small world. Cast down your walls. Open up your hearts to those that live beyond your borders, physical and otherwise. Love your family, but also love your universal family.

There are those suffering beyond your walls. Go to them. Bring the light of Christ into the darkness of their own small worlds.

Deus Vult!