Is Christ the King a Liberal?
Conservatism, President Bush and the Iraq War

Michael J. Matt
Editor, The Remnant

www.RemnantNewspaper.com

(Due to the interesting letters, both pro and con, that came in immediately after we'd posted this article, as well as the extent to which this issue has divided traditional Catholics over the past few years, we thought perhaps a reader response forum might be constructive. If you would like to comment, please click here.)

 

Dear Mr. Matt,

It is with regret, after 30 years, that we will not renew our subscription to The Remnant. Although many of your articles are really excellent, I have noticed a trend towards liberal  politics; i.e., against President Bush and the war. Iraq did have WMDs (they were not loudly proclaimed in the press) and the President is trying only to protect the citizens of this country against further attacks from terrorists. In my opinion, he should do even more.

Several commentators have said the situation today is similar to 1939 when Hitler tried to take over Europe. It seems you are not well informed about politics, and that you should stick to the religious issues where you have the most expertise. I think your father would have done so.

Sincerely yours,

Martha von Guggenberg

Dear Mrs. von Guggenberg:

Many thanks for your letter and for your years of support.  I’m sorry that it has come to this, and would like to make one final attempt to explain our position.  That I do so should not be construed as an attempt to shout you down or insult you for daring to disagree with us.  This is a complex issue, but I honestly believe that a simple misunderstanding is needlessly dividing traditional Catholics. My response, therefore, is directed, not just to you, but to all our friends who support the war in Iraq and can’t understand why The Remnant does not.

First, to your concern that The Remnant is moving towards “liberal politics”. This, of course, is patently untrue. We have long contended that American politics has become so thoroughly inundated with liberalism that there is no mainstream conservative party at all — just right and left factions of the same fundamentally liberal establishment.

When even our most conservative politicians  tend to fall well to the ideological left of John F. Kennedy, for example, it becomes pretty obvious that today’s conservatives are yesterday’s liberals, and that “liberal” and “conservative” are terms that have lost their meaning.

This point was made just recently by Joe Sobran in a masterful article he titled “Hijacking the Conservative Movement” (Sobran’s, Vol. 13, No. 11):

In fact many of today’s so-called conservatives seem to me to be liberals without knowing it, no matter how much they say they detest liberalism.  Rush Limbaugh, to name only the most audible of them, seems to have no real philosophy, no awareness of conservative literature outside journalism. His premises are hard to distinguish from liberalism’s.  Apparently he equates favoring war with conservatism.  He likes big government just fine, as long as it’s shooting something.  He says the Republican Party will save Social Security and Medicare, huge liberal programs which a real conservative thinks shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

When it comes to the social and moral issues that matter most to faithful Catholics, a meeting of the minds seems to have taken place between the two dominant political parties. To varying degrees they are pro-choice, pro big government, pro public schools, pro safe-sex programs, pro contraception, pro divorce, pro homosexuality, etc.  A Republican may still venture mocking protests against wild-eyed “Femi Nazis”, for example, but you’ll be hard pressed to find one who’ll go on the record against feminism per se. 

So, too, with partial-birth abortion.  It is now quite possible for “conservative” politicians to wax indignant over one extreme type of abortion while observing a pregnant silence about abortion per se, other than to "magnanimously" defend it for victims of rape, incest or for the life of the mother.  At the end of the day, both sides concur that abortion should be kept legal.

The notion that The Remnant could actually have leanings towards Ted Kennedy’s side of the political aisle is repugnant beyond words, but equally baffling is how the likes of the thrice-divorced (and openly pro-gay marriage) Rudy Giuliani or the twice-divorced and remarried Rush Limbaugh or the pro-abort John McCain could be regarded as conservative while The Remnant exhibits a “trend towards liberal politics”. On contraception, sex education, divorce, the rock ‘n’ roll culture – these paragons of conservatism are anything but!  And this is to say nothing of how, when or why it became a conservative aspiration to export porn, MTV, condoms and rock ‘n’ roll to Muslim countries in the first place!

I wonder if you really believe that America’s most conservative Catholic commentators—men such as Patrick Buchanan, Joe Sobran or Thomas Fleming—seriously “trend towards liberal politics” merely for opposing the invasion of Iraq or withholding unconditional support for a President whose wife and prominent cabinet members are pro-choice, whose Secretary of State effectively endorsed gay marriage recently when she recognized the mother of Mark Dybul’s (Bush’s homosexual choice for global AIDS coordinator) male lover as his “mother-in-law”, and who sends America’s sons and daughters! to fight wars of eminently questionable justification? What is conservative about any of this?

With all due respect, Mrs. von Guggenberg,  it is perplexing that an utterly secular administration, which completely disregards Christ’s role in the governance of nations, could win your loyalty to such an extent that you’d cut yourself off from fellow Catholics whose only “crime” is the elevation of the teachings of the Church above secular politics. That a traditional Catholic could declare unwavering allegiance to pluralist, secularist, and semi pro-choice politicians at a time like this certainly seems to suggest that no one is immune from the diabolical disorientation that has become the bane of existence for post-modern, "enlightened" men. 

You readily admit that many of our articles are excellent, and yet our failure to support America’s disastrous warring in the Mideast is unforgivable?  Why?   Have we learned none of the hard lessons of the German people who were cajoled by the twin hammers of patriotism and nationalism into supporting Hitler’s fanatical military adventurism across Europe some seventy years ago? Supporting nationalist wars of aggression--even against legitimate enemies such as Russian Communism then or militant Islam now--is not always the conservative thing for a patriot to do, right?

One of the last truly conservative voices in Washington these days, that of Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, has already acknowledged that the highly controversial Military Commissions Act which President Bush signed into law on October 17, 2006, effectively “allows for citizen concentration camp facilities” in America:

Right now we don’t have concentration camps, but ... the authority has been given so that concentration camps can come without Habeas Corpus. If they can lock you up, what good is freedom of speech or what good is a gun?1

Is Congressman Paul’s public criticism of Bush’s agenda also indicative of a certain “trend towards liberal politics”? Please! 

And what happens when this administration mandates that all Americans must carry national ID cards (which is rumored to become the case by 2008); or when they enact a law making subcutaneous microchips for human identification mandatory (for our own “protection” against those nasty terrorists, of course!)—will The Remnant’s subsequent outrage still be perceived as a mere “trend towards liberal politics”? 

Ours is not a Catholic country, I realize, but must public support for all political and social initiatives that serve pluralist and secularist ends become the benchmark of conservatism, even for Catholic journalists?  After all, the propagation of freedom of the press, feminism, freedom of religion, separation of Church and State were never particularly Catholic initiatives in the first place.  In fact, most of these are papally condemned Masonic errors.  The fact that America and her dwindling number of allies are presently attempting to install them at gunpoint in the heart of the Muslim world doesn't change a thing. And you, Mrs. von Guggenberg, are under the impression that my late father would have supported this madness? 

The Muslim world’s rejection of the Masonic principle of separation of Church and State, by the way, is not some Islamofascist idiosyncrasy.  That rejection was pioneered by Catholics long ago, back before the Church went mad. In Vehementer Nos in 1906, Saint Pius X makes no bones about it:

That the State must be separated from the Church is a thesis absolutely false, a most pernicious error. Based, as it is, on the principle that the State must not recognize any religious cult, it is in the first place guilty of a great injustice to God…

Even though our own First Amendment includes the following words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” St. Pius X wasn’t afraid to lay out the Catholic position on this question to the whole world just one hundred years ago.  For this transgression against the great principle of modern democracy, is this supreme defender of the Faith against the errors of Modernism to be posthumously chided by patriotic American Catholics for a “trend towards liberal politics”?

The truth of the matter is that the great Popes were well aware that all these false tenets of the Enlightenment were taking a deadly toll on the Christian world.  It doesn’t take a pope to see that the same principles are now being exported to the Muslim world.  All roads to Utopia, you see, run through the Enlightenment.

There is no crusade in Iraq!  No war is being fought there under the sign of the Cross for the greater honor and glory of God. There is only attempted democratization, which by definition must embrace all false creeds… including Islam. Why anyone would be surprised, then, when Islam’s “religious freedom” begins to tear the heart out of “Catholic” Europe and make its way across the Atlantic is well beyond me.

The newly elected U.S. Congressman from Minnesota, Keith Ellison (a Democrat and the first Muslim elected to Congress), is refusing to use the Bible for his swearing in ceremony in Washington D.C. He’s demanding a Koran, instead.

Outrageous? Certainly, but there is no law stipulating that Christianity is America’s national religion; anyone who argues to the contrary is merely engaging in silly wishful thinking. Our Founding Fathers made certain that the United States could never become an overtly Christian state.  That was sort of the whole idea! Thus, Jesus Christ isn’t mentioned either in the Declaration of Independence or in the Constitution and the theology of our founding never quite gets beyond the Masonic-friendly “Grand Architect” or acknowledging a nameless, faceless “Creator”.  Our freshman congressman is merely exercising his religious freedom as a Muslim American.

The wild card that was evidently never anticipated is Islam—the fastest growing religion in the U.S., which has no intention of being “enlightened”.  As Muslims continue to pour into this country, how long before America comes under the influence of a powerful Islamic minority?  Think it’ll never happen?  Just ask a Frenchman if he ever imagined it in “Catholic” France thirty years ago!

While Islam rises in the West, liberals agitate for the banning of Christmas, Crosses, even the Ten Commandments, and “conservatives” fritter away their time solemnly sacrificing whatever principles they have left on the altar of Enlightenment.  A war of the worlds may be imminent but all sides of this conflict will happily trample the crucifix on their way to the battlefield. There will be no crusade because the Catholic Church—Islam’s only real enemy—has no crusaders, no armies, no countries, no statesmen, and only a rapidly declining faith! 

Mrs. von Guggenberg, I’m all for a crusade but the war that is raging in the cradle of Christianity at the moment is the farthest thing from one. A crusade by definition requires a Cross, and in America the sign of the Cross on government buildings and military uniforms is illegal!  Washington is not Rome and Americanism is not Catholicism.  This is not a crusade—it is the cultural, moral, and spiritual suicide of a nation.

And as many traditional Catholic journalists see it, our help is still in the Name of the Lord—not the Pentagon, the UN, England and certainly not Republican or Democratic politicians. The longer we labor under the false impression that we must work through such compromised channels, the longer we keep our backs to the real solution—a universal restoration of the Catholic Faith, the Latin Mass, the old Sacraments, the pre-conciliar priesthood and everything else that built Christendom, inspired Crusades, and kept hell contained for two thousand years.

A tall order?  Indeed!  But if the world doesn’t’ end first, it is the only order that matters.  And if the world does end, then at least Catholics will go out as soldiers of Christ should—fighting in His name against those who have warred against His Bride for half a millennium.  Not a bad way to go!

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it took several centuries for the early Christians to climb out of the catacombs and convert that mighty pagan empire into the Holy Roman Empire.  But they did it, and so must we…or at least die trying.

Don’t you see, Mrs. von Guggenberg, the fight for the restoration of the Catholic Church is all that matters. Our Protestant, pluralist politicians may not all be evil men but they certainly are pawns of the one who once said to Christ: I will give you all the nations of the world if you will but bow down and worship me. 

Catholic Americans have a duty before God to do all in their power to make certain that America does not bow down and worship.  It is our firm conviction also that she should leave the nations of the world (including Israel!) to their own devices and return home to lick her wounds, defend her borders and purify her soul. (Think of the defense system the U.S. could have in place by now if we’d spent all the treasure squandered in Iraq on the protection of our own homeland!)

Traditional Catholic Americans are not unpatriotic; we love our country enough to beg her to change course before it’s too late!  We were the ones, after all, who were warned again and again that this day was coming and that a war of the worlds would try to overthrow the entire Christian social order.  In Humanum Genus, Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical on Freemasonry, we find just one of many such warnings:

Their [Freemasons’] ultimate purpose forces itself into view – namely, the utter overthrow of that whole religious and political order of the world which Christian teaching has produced, and the substitution of a new state of things in accordance with their ideas, of which the foundations and laws shall be drawn from mere ‘Naturalism’(...).

What we face today is the fulfillment of Leo’s prophesy—a “new state of things” that has nothing to do with who and what we are as Catholics or as Americans is becoming the global reality.  The Remnant sees itself as one among many voices calling for the return of that “Christian teaching” which the popes credited with having built the greatest social and religious order the world has ever known.  As we see it, and even though America is not Catholic, that “Christian teaching” is the only hope of the world—including America!

Faith in Christ, faith in His kingship, faith in His Church—these are not mere medieval notions whose time has come and gone; as every one of the great  modern popes of the last two centuries taught—these represent the only way out for mankind, while ill-placed loyalties to Protestants, Freemasons, Secularists and Zionists will only serve to deceive the elect and prevent the Catholic resistance from ever materializing.

Perhaps this discussion should conclude with some small consideration of the differences in our states in life.  I don’t know what your state in life is, but this is one homeschooling father who kneels each night in candlelight with his five little ones before a small statue of Our Lady of Fatima and prays that an agency of the federal government will not force his babies into public schools or draft his daughters into combat.  I wonder if you know what that is like.  Our help is most certainly not in the name of the federal government. Perhaps we can pray together, in fact, that our good God blesses and keeps conservative and liberal politicians... as far away from large Catholic families as humanly possible. 

Mrs. von Guggenberg, if anything in my response seems uncharitable to you personally, please know that before God no offense was intended and I wish you all of His blessings during this holy season of Advent.

 

Reader Responses:

 

 

Editor, The Remnant: I want to applaud you for your independence in the face of so-called conservatism taking you to task for daring to oppose the Iraqi War.

 
My family helped settle North Carolina over 300 years ago. In 1985, I was president of the Guilford County Young Democrats but left the party because of the pro-life issue. For 22 years, I have voted a straight GOP ticket even though I opposed a lot of the GOP and their candidates, including the War on Iraq.
 
That changed this year. When the Bush Administration approved the so-called "plan B" pill, this GOP administration signed the death warrant of more innocent children than anything that Bill Clinton EVER approved. As Catholics, we are called to oppose ALL abortion, not just those particularly gruesome.
 
The truth of the matter is that most Catholics today are not forming their conscience from Catholic reading and prayer, but rather from weekly attendance at Mass accompanied by daily attendance in front of the FOX News Network! These people need to turn their TV's off and stop confusing the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Bill Kristol and Rush Limbaugh with Saints Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and all of the Doctors of the Church.
 
The GOP is no longer a conservative party but rather a WAR party. I have been convinced for some time that the Democratic party is against God and the GOP is against the people.
 
We need to stand with Christ, which means thinking with the Church in fidelity to Catholic tradition. Anything less than that is a betrayal of our calling as Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Christ. Sincerely in JMJ, AH

 

Editor, The Remnant: I know I've made what may seem picayune legal points before, but FYI, religious liberty as condemned by the Popes was not called for in our Constitution.  "Congress shall make no law" perhaps, but States were free to establish Churches and several did so.  Congress was just called upon to be impartial between them.  The 14th amendment, which upended the Constitution by restricting "States", is the real culprit.  As was Honest Abe. 

 
Forgive me if I've made this point before, but I don't recall off hand. I know Jefferson called for "separating" Church and State, but in a letter, not in legislation.  He appeared quite befuddled when it came to God and politics. FS
 

Editor, The Remnant: Three Cheers for the Remnant! You're right on the money.  DL

 

Editor, The Remnant: The really sad thing about Mrs. von Guggenberg is that she is merely doing what comes naturally to someone who has attentively studied their 5th grade American history books.  That is the tragedy, and that is why so many otherwise good, kindly people support anything that comes out of Washington.  I see it every day.
 
What you learn as a child pretty much sticks with you the rest of your life, therefore what they feed you in school gets well embedded in your mind.  It took me nearly twenty years, plus much international travel and reading of good Catholic authors, to see the deep-seated American problem.
 
With every good wish for Advent, and the coming Christmas season,  I am, Yours.....DG

Editor, The Remnant: Your article, "Is Christ the King a Liberal?", written in response to subscriber Martha von Guggenberg, confirms in my mind what I had suspected was the reason for your opposition to the invasion of Iraq. I, like your correspondent no doubt, share all the values that you quite rightly highlight as being trampled upon by the Secularist governments of both America and Britain. Where I suspect your correspondent is coming from, however, is the Catholic position that a person can only be judged in accordance with the genuine dictates of his own conscience. It is my belief, in spite of all the many reasons Prime Minister Blair has given me to oppose him, that both he and President Bush acted according to their respective consciences in deposing Saddam Hussein - even to the point of seeking to bring "peace" to Iraq through the export of the parliamentary system of government.

The fact that Liberal regimes such as Britain and America, or "Zionist" ones such as Israel, do not subordinate themselves to the Social Kingship of Christ does not mean that they cannot act morally. It is easier to appreciate this when one considers matters from the perspective of the young men and women who are fighting in the front line. Can we really deny the morality of their actions even if their definition of "peace" may not be truly Catholic?

Or, to use an analogy, do I not thank the (hypothetical) surgeon who operated on my heart because he also does or believes in other things with which I thoroughly disagree?

Even though I am entirely convinced of the authenticity of the Gospel message I am still somewhat reliant on the belief that God will not hold it against me if I act according to my conscience. If I did not have this standard against which to check the prudence of my actions how easy would it be for me to simply follow the "spirit of Vatican II" out of the "necessity" of (slavish) obedience to one's priest or bishop? For me this would be illogical given that the hierarchy's authority stems from the very God whose will I endeavour to perform in spite of all pressures to the contrary.

If I can cut myself this slack then I must have the good grace to allow others to be commended for their own moral actions - especially those others who are being shot at every day protecting me from people who would gladly put my faith to a fiery test. Yours sincerely, KO London

 

Editor, The Remnant: Martha von Guggenberg is typical of the sheep of this generation. Come Jesus, King of all Nations! GB

Editor, The Remnant: I read your response to Martha von Guggenberg and was very impressed.  As parents of seven from 16 to 6, my wife and I, like you, home school, while we struggle to build a safe harbor in our home for their young souls.  I do not have the time here at work to  detail all the points you made with which I  agree, but I wanted to be sure that making contact did not slip away.  You may have lost one subscriber but you picked up another.

We are involved in a war, Michael Matt, but it is the one you identify in the context of your response.  It is a war for the minds and hearts of the people of this country. Simply put, it pits Secular Humanism against the Sanctifying Grace of Christ.  Christ will win the war in this Country, but it is going to require many of us to standup for what we believe.  (We may even be surprised in whom the miracle of His Grace is working.)

I look forward to reading the Remnant and continuing a dialogue. God Bless, MMcM

 

Editor, The Remnant: Excellent response to Martha von Guggenberg.  She should be the one to learn the realities of our politicians and how twisted their minds have become.  Congratulations, Mr. Matt!  Have a peaceful and wonderful merry Christ-Mass. RW

 

Editor, The Remnant: Thank you for your succinct and accurate discussion about conservatism and liberalism.

Like Mrs.  Martha von Guggenberg, a lot of us have been hoodwinked into believing something  which is false just because it claims to be something it is not (Bush's conservatism, for example), because we have got a little lazy or trusted those who claimed to tell the truth whereas in fact they are not unlike a wolf in sheep's clothing...very dangerous.

 

I have been reading The Remnant for a little over a year and have become a subscriber so that I can pass the hard copy onto friends and associates. They will  inevitably become subscribers in the future if their comments are anything to go by. Thanks for keeping the world informed. Kind regards, Joseph MCKAY(Dr) Hamilton, Australia

 

 

Editor, The Remnant: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!!!  What an absolutely beautiful response. RAO

 

Editor, The Remnant: I've been a long time reader of the Remnant and I thank God for it.  As a child who attended Catholic schools, I too was indoctrinated in Americanism. But all along,  I felt something was not right, perhaps because I was a foreigner with much love for my own Catholic country.  The history books depicted other countries as wrong or inferior. Teachers would sometimes humiliate me in front of the whole class by pointing out that I should be grateful to be in the land-of-plenty! They implied that America was THE apple of God's eye.  Indeed, it carried the BIG stick, and other countries were to delight in that. 

The Monroe Doctrine never did make sense to me. The Remnant puts it all into perspective. As I've grown in the Faith, things have become so much clearer now.   In the course of homeschooling, I purchased old Catholic history books, some of the very same books which I had had as a child.  Looking them over, I decided against using them. This is choppy.  Sorry about that but I have to run.

In Christ Jesus,

Another Martha

 

Editor, The Remnant:  It is tragic that so many Catholics are being led astray by President Bush and I thank you for your excellent letter concerning this matter.  Is he really protecting the citizens of the United States or is he continuing the agenda of the former President Bush, Sr. who was working for a New World Order under the godless United Nations?  I believe the evidence supports a New World Order and a one world religion that is against Christ and his true church!

God bless you,
Cindy Piper

Editor, The Remnant: I agree with the Remnant's position as stated in "Is Christ the King a Liberal? Conservatism, President Bush and the Iraq War" but take departure on three points only.

1. I will take any opportunity to strike a marshal blow against the ancient and mortal enemy of Christendom, the scourge of the Earth, the blood thirsty assassins and infidels, known as Mohammedans, even if it means serving in a godless and secular military.

2. I believe a reasonable argument can be made to justify the war in Iraq as retribution for the attacks of 9/11 using Catholic Just War principals.  Briefly, the Mohammedans do not subscribe to the Western notion of nation states. They view the Muslim lands stretching from Morocco to Indonesia as forming one nation and the existing nation states as Western impositions.

Addressing them on their own terms, the United States is justified in responding militarily to the attacks of 11 September by striking punitively against the heart of the Mohammedan lands, Babylon, in order to punish them and seek just vengeance for the attacks she suffered at Mohammedan hands.  This was my motivation for serving and not some misguided attempt to spread democracy which would be unjust not to mention unwelcome and ultimately futile.

3. Finally, the Mohammedans mean to destroy us and they have amply demonstrated the will and the means to do so. Israel is a useful bulwark in our defense and should be supported if for no other reason than they provide a first line of forward defense. Additionally, what would the fate of the few remaining Christians in the Holy Land be if the territory were governed by the Arabs? What of the fate of pilgrims to the Holy Land if it were under Arab domination?

A. Todd Wilson,

Lt. Cmdr. USNR

Veteran Iraq Campaign

Pennsylvania, USA

Editor, The Remnant: I applaud your response to Martha von Guggenberg, and I would like to comment on a matter similar to this topic. Many Catholics tell me that you have to vote Republican since they are the lesser of two evils, and they pontificate about the need to work incrementally to increase the support for more conservative legislation. The problem is that we are getting worse and not gradually better. Catholics applaud Bush as a virtuous Christian leader, but they seem to overlook the fact that he supports abortion, contraception, big government & open borders. We hear all about the need for national security, but what about the security of our faith as God gets legislated out of our society. We can not smoke in or eat trans-fats in public restaurants, but every woman has the right to choose to end her baby’s life. We have borders so porous that any terrorist with a nuke could easily find his way through, but Bush constantly spouts the same old rhetoric about “staying the course”.  We must wake up and realize that the Republican Party is not a party with a moral backbone. They spout vague ideals and offer no concrete solutions to the issues our society faces.

After listening to John Vennari’s talk on the Social Kingship of Christ I am firmly convinced that Our Lord must rule the social and political order of society. The US is on the verge of collapse, and unless we restore our social order to Christ the Muslims will conquer the West as they did centuries ago.

In Jesu per Mariam,

Gregory Settducati

 

Editor, The Remnant: I am very reluctant to bring this up, but my sympathies for the current Administration and the War on Terror started to erode when I began reading some books and internet studies on the events of September 11, 2001.   There are so many suspicious coincidences and unexplained occurrences, that I no longer uncritically accept the official view of what happened that day.  Yet the events of that day are the material cause of our going to war in the Middle East.

I had considered writing a detailed letter to the Remnant about this, but did not pursue it because I am not "morally certain" that elements within the U.S. Intelligence/Military/Govt. were involved in some way in the events of 9/11. However, there is enough circumstantial evidence of some kind of complicity that I am very skeptical about our reasons for going to war in the first place.

Frank Rega

Editor, The Remnant: After reading your response to Mrs. von Guggenburg, I wish to inform you that I will gladly take her place as a subscriber to The Remnant effective immediately. Your response was clear, concise, and CATHOLIC!
 
We need more Catholic Americans and less American Catholics. The Remnant seems to be a strong force in strengthening the former and not the latter. I am looking forward to my first issue!

 

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Mark J. McGrath

 

Editor, The Remnant: These are all excellent comments, well-thought out and clear. My question: How can the average well-intentioned Catholic make sense of it all? So many voices abound. What are we supposed to do but our best by fulfilling our Religious obligations,raising our families and all that entails as well as  simply trying to make sense of it all. We all want to know the Truth and do the right thing but it would seem we are practically powerless to change anything. We are certainly praying and trying to stay alert to all the issues. We are involved in all the important CATHOLIC issues like pro-Life etc.  E.S. F.

Editor, The Remnant: People who defend the "War on Terror" need to wake up and smell the coffee. Who is the enemy in such a war? Today, the terrorist is defined as the typical Islamic fundamentalist. Tomorrow, the terrorist may be the constitutionalist, the homeschooler, or the traditional Catholic. Such a war is, by definition, a global war and people should see it for what it is - the declaration, by the US, of WWIII. SF

Editor, The Remnant: Thank you for your brilliant response to Mrs. Guggenberg's letter. A Blessed Christmas to you and yours, and a Happy healthy New Year. Sincerely, TBSimmons

Editor, The Remnant: Perhaps those who have “cancelled their subscriptions” because of the “liberalism” of the Remnant Editor will believe that the menace is real, and that the just-war is a chimera, when the Remnant itself is determined by the government to be “unpatriotic,” and its operations are shut down. In that total blackout all of our subscriptions will be “cancelled.” Pray God it does not happen to us, for we need each other desperately. Michael Matt, my heart goes out to you in tears and great solicitude, even in defiance of the great St. Paul who admonished us only Sunday, “Nihil solliciti sitis.” I have no children, but your anxiety for your little ones is tearing at my own breast. Truly, Adjutorium nostrum in Nomine Domini. God protect you and yours.  Suzanne Roman

Editor, The Remnant: Your response to Mrs. von Guggenberg’s letter was exceptionally well expressed. Too many conservatives have been duped by the GOP.  "Incrementalism" is merely abortion, contraception, homosexuality, etc., all wrapped up with the ribbons of false promise, and Catholics need to reject such "gifts".

The Iraq war was a neoconservative construct designed to serve an objective that had nothing to do with fighting terrorism and less to do with American security.

I'm glad to renew my subscription. Raymond D. Kelly, Lafayette, LA

Editor, The Remnant: In response to Martha von Guggenberg's comment, I think she and other souls like her would do well in meditating upon these words of the great Pius XII, whose memory is, as far as I know, universally cherished by the whole spectrum of traditional Catholics. In fact, these words are even more relevant for today's world than they were 50 years ago.

"...Today it [insincerity] amounts practically to a system. It has been raised to the distinction of a strategy, in which the lie, the garbled word or fact, and trickery have come to be an accepted weapon of offense, which some people wield with the skill of professionals, boasting even of their competence...

"We do not propose to describe here in detail the havoc wrought by this tournament of "insincerity" in public life. But We are in duty bound to open the eyes of Catholics all over the world - and of all others besides who share our faith in Christ and a transcendent God - to the dangers which this prevalence of falsehood presents for the Church and Christian civilization, for the entire religious and even merely human heritage which has supplied the peoples of the world with the substance of their spiritual life and of their real greatness for the past 2,000 years.

"When Herod of old was plotting anxiously to slay the Babe of Bethlehem he hid his plan under a pious mask, and tried his best to make the honest men into unwitting spies. Likewise today, his modern imitators move heaven and earth to conceal their real purpose from the masses, and make them the unconscious instruments of their designs."

Even if we cannot know the truth by simply listening to what the media tells us, fortunately, we have the likes of remnantnewspaper.com, fatima.org, and many other resources out there on the internet which supplies the public with the uncensored truth.

Sometimes I think that God has allowed the development of the internet so that we can have at least one source where we can find the truth. As Catholics we cannot simply think that it is OK to have our own "view" on things, when those things are of moral importance. We are OBLIGED to search for the truth.

With an honest and pure mind and heart, and praying for this intention, this is possible. Only the truth draws us nearer to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is Truth itself. Falsehood and lies only separate us from Our Redeemer, whether we realise it or not.

Sincerely in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Eduardo Alberch

 

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Footnotes

1 Military Commissions Act: A Precursor To Tyranny?,  Chuck Baldwin, December 5, 2006,  http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2006/cbarchive_20061205.html

2 Naturalism may be defined as the attitude of mind which denies the reality of the Divine Life of Grace and of our Fall therefrom by Original Sin. Any system of thought or organization that rejects the divine plan and tries to substitute anything other than His plan would be called naturalistic.