FATHER FRANK PAVONE AND HIS OBSESSION

I wish that American Catholics were as enthusiastic and one-pointed about evangelizing the culture with the beautiful faith of Christ as they are about pursuing political remedies for abortion. It looks very much as if one aspect of an enormous and hugely nuanced and modulated faith has been surgically excised and then soaked in a Republican bath, like a piece of lime floating in a gin and tonic - with plenty of ice.

For the sake of the unlikely possibility that America will return to the days when abortion was illegal, the "pro-life" movement is ignoring every other aspect of a truly pro-life philosophy and have put into office cruel and brutal despots who seem to care more about hurting vulnerable people, especially the poor, and in helping the handful of billionaires becoming more rich and powerful than in doing anything else.

Outlawing abortion is one proposed method of supposedly eliminating abortion. Someone, somewhere along the way decided that "pro-life" meant only and exclusively that one was devoted to making abortion illegal. People who advance this devotion to this particular method call themselves "the pro-life movement," but that is a misnomer.

Outlawing abortion is a piece of a fruit which is a piece of a tree, and it is not even the only fruit of that tree. It is one of many fruits produced by the tree. Without the tree, the fruits would not exist, and if you were to produce such a fruit out of thin air, in some magical fashion, it would not make sense if one did not know that there was such a thing as a tree that produced it.

Catholicism is pro-life, but not in this miserably truncated sense of "pro-life" being ONLY the pursuit of a law that outlaws abortion.

In the context of Catholic faith, a "pro-life" orientation encompasses an enormous number of factors. After all, the subject of "life" is not easily reduced, is it?

For instance, the health of people and the life of the planet, in general, are obviously factors in a global and cohesive "pro life" outlook, but these are issues to which the "pro-life leaders" are hostile. Since "pro-life" Trump has been in office, he has ripped away many safety regulations that affect all life on the planet - and not just the ones that directly speak to climate change.  I could write 12 blogs about those measures alone.

Everyone having enough food is another pro-life topic. One in six children in America don't have enough to eat.  Throughout the Bible, we are told that we should feed the hungry and clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, love our neighbor and enemy alike, befriend the alien and visit the prisoners - but the Republican platform does the opposite of all that, while at the same time claiming to be the party of life!

Modern Republicans CUT food stamps and seek to cut more - while children go hungry. In fact, they encourage their minions to look down on the hungry children of poor people, claiming that the poor are just lazy. We are back to the days of Ronald Reagan, who inveighed against "welfare queens" and their families, routinely criticizing women having more children which Republicans claim they are only doing for the purpose of getting a bump in their welfare checks. This is NOT pro-life! None of it! At this point in history, the only people who benefit from Republican governance are the very wealthy white men at the top of the pyramid, which is exactly why Republicans desperately need abortion to remain legal, because the campaign to outlaw it is the only tool they have in their arsenal. It is the only way they can get the poor and middle class to vote against their own best interests.

While I write this, a bill is being introduced to cut medicaid again - something Trump promised NOT to do when he campaigned. The only program available to help poor, disabled seniors who make between $1,000 and $2,000 a month, the Medicaid Waiver program for disabled people, will be one of the first programs cut, if Trump succeeds. Millions of grandmas and grandpas will suffer. Today, as one of those grandmas, I am going without one of my medications because it costs $450.00 a month and there is no substitute. I am praying that I get approved for this program, which is a long, complex process full of red tape which, even if I qualify, will have to be repeated in only a year because there is very little money available for these programs and Americans are obsessed with the idea that there are "millions" of grandmas "gaming the system." It isn't true, but Americans are being encouraged to compete against and vilify one another.

The first thing Trump did, out of the gate, was to ban certain types of people from coming here (Muslims), followed quickly on its heels with a "zero tolerance policy" that was deliberately calculated to discourage refugees from coming over our borders, resulting in thousands of brown children being ripped out of their families and incarcerated in cramped cages in hastily erected detention camps where other children are caring for babies, viruses are endemic and untreated, and children sleep on cement floors behind barbed wire. The government refuses to give flu shots to these kids who are living in cramped, crowded conditions. It reminds me of our treatment of Native Americans, when we gave them pox-infected blankets.

There are some fake memes being circulated that claim that President Obama did this "first," but it is as close to a lie as you can get. Obama did not treat every refugee as a criminal, but where criminals with previous known crimes DID step across our borders, he did incarcerate and eventually deport them. In fact, he was called the "Deporter in Chief." Obviously, the children of the incarcerated alien could not accompany him to jail, so there were a few children who had to be taken care of - but nowhere near the numbers we have now, and not under current unhealthful conditions.

[I would insert a note, here, that it isn't the idea that our borders should be safe and protected to which the more liberal population objects. NO. Everyone wants our borders protected. It is the manner in which it is done that is at issue. Trump is fond of spreading the lie that Democrats want "open borders" and a free-for-all. That claim is just stupid.]

Watch the Jeff Sessions video HERE

Jeff Sessions announced the new policy and plainly said that children would be removed from their families in an effort to deter refugees from coming here, and that, if families do not want their children taken from them, they should stay home - as if all these poor people, fleeing for their lives from gangs and corrupt governments, are sitting in their homes watching television and heeding his words!

Thanks to Trump's "zero tolerance policy," we have had something like 4,000 children in our custody. A judge has ordered them returned, and some have been, but the program was so poorly administered, we do not know where some of the parents are. Many children will never see their families again. This is an horrific "pro-life" cause that needs to be addressed but which the "pro life movement" is either ignoring or defending, saying that it is "the parents' fault" that we stuffed them into cages. Not true.

"Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer

stiff-necked. For the LORD, your God, is the God of

gods, the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and

awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;

who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,

and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.

So you too must befriend the alien, for you were 

once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt."

Deuteronomy 10

The pursuit of justice so that authoritarian regimes do not go hog wild and start killing the citizenry is another pro-life concern ignored by the self-named "pro-life movement." Even forgiveness and prayer for one's enemies slips into this category, since the escalation of hostilities, if allowed to progress in the heat of the moment, can (and sometimes does) become armed conflict that kills people. Even the restraint of the tongue has a place in this "pro-life" orientation because what one says is very important and can exacerbate a situation to the point where it endangers the lives of people.

"I tell you on the day of judgment, you will have to 

give an account for every careless word you utter." 

Matthew 12:36

"Pro life" Trump's vulgar tongue, his misogynistic, prejudiced taunts are often taken up by his followers and spat out upon everyone in their vicinity - online and in person. Disabled people are not immune to his filth, enduring taunts, jeering and mimicking. Even I have experienced discrimination at the hands of a Trump follower who told me, "I believe in Trump's law. If you don't have two arms cut off or two legs cut off, you aren't disabled." This man, an employee at the Smiths on Constitution and Carlyle in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ridiculed me for not being visibly disabled, told me there are "too many of you" (disabled people) and when I asked him how we disabled people were supposed to do our shopping if we couldn't park in handicap parking, he said to me, "I guess you won't." He was stone cold in his approach, and exceedingly arrogant, treating me as if I was a scam artist he was ferreting out. Trump nation.

Frank Pavone campaigns for Republicans and defends all of the above, in defiance of specific norms and rules against promoting political parties that have long been established by the curia. It makes him a "hero" to his followers, but his superiors have an entirely different perspective.

I could go on for a few pages with examples of different aspects of a pro-life philosophy that are being ignored by the "pro-life movement." Homelessness comes to mind.

"You shall give generously to [your poor brother] and

your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him,

because for this thing the LORD your God will bless

you in all your work and in all your undertakings."

† Deut. 15:10 †

The primary fallacy in the "logic" of the pro-life movement is this: In addition to ignoring all but one pro-life cause, they are completely ignoring the root cause of the one aspect of "life" they care about - the abortion crisis in America. Women do not have abortions because they are legal. They have them because, for some reason, they believe they need one. When abortion was illegal, there were still plenty of abortions being done. They were just being performed under cover of darkness; hidden, dangerous and expensive. Many times, both woman and child were killed. Often, the woman suffered damage to her reproductive organs and could never bear children again. None of that is "pro life."

If no one felt the need for an abortion, there could be an abortuary on every corner and they would all stand empty. There would be no "customers."

Clearly, the fact that abortion is legal is not the cause of abortion.

We could debate, at length, what exactly IS the cause, but that's not the purpose of this blog post. One cannot do the topic proper justice in a blog post. Research, canvassing, facts, studies and statistics that prove the causal relationships are what is required - and none of that is easy or quick or simple.

Evangelization isn't simple either. I am seeing a theme here.

Our elegant, thoughtful, faith-inspired, nuanced, complex, many-layered faith has been turned into a hammer with the hyper-focus, one could even say the obsession, surrounding a proposed political "solution" that isn't likely to be achieved and wouldn't accomplish the stated aim anyway. Why?

It seems fairly obvious to many of us that the Republican Party, in a cynical attempt to grab and keep power, has convinced a segment of the American population that if they vote Republican, then the Republicans will outlaw abortion and everyone can congratulate themselves that they've won a war for Jesus.

By enforcing the ideas that (1) the legal availability of abortion is the cause of abortions; (2) a "pro-life" orientation only pertains to whether or not abortion is illegal; (3) the Republicans are the only party that says it is "pro-life," and (4) you therefore HAVE to vote for them if you are Christian, the Republican Party has latched onto a huge segment of Americans.  If you take apart their faulty logic, which is excruciatingly easy to do, it is clear that their vise-like grip on Christians is based on a pack of self-serving lies. A 2008 article from "America - The Jesuit Review" discusses this in part, HERE in a piece titled "Voting One's Conscience."

Our popes have tried to get us back on track with this topic, discouraging priests and others from aligning themselves with political parties instead of The Church, but the propaganda arm of the GOP is far better than that of The Church, which is suffering a crisis of confidence in the wake of horrific child-abuse and sex scandals. The Republicans are the ones who are telling us that no good "Christian" can vote for anyone other than a Republican and still be in obedience to the faith. That isn't true, of course. Our popes tell us this isn't true, but the prospect of being a "pro-life" crusader for Christ is too tantalizing and, instead of heeding the teachings of The Church, many Catholics look to the Republicans to define their faith and morals for them.

"A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil,

and so unworthy to present himself for holy communion,

if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely

because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion

and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a

candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia,

but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is con-

sidered remote material cooperation, which can be

permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons."

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

As a result of trading in their faith for a political party, Catholics and Christians of every stripe have begun to treat political figures like demi-gods, giving them the same reverence and awe that they used to slaver onto priests, bishops and popes. Despite the fact that Donald Trump's actions and words are the antithesis of Christian teaching, he is being treated like the savior of the world. Rumors abound, to the effect that he is the leader who will set into motion the great "End Times" that includes the second coming of Christ.

Popes, bishops and priests who try to re-direct the attention of their flock and who point out the flaws in the words and actions of these political leaders are attacked by the "faithful," denigrated and slandered, while the few priests who cater to the so-called "pro-life" movement are turned into superstar "saints" who are, for all intents and purposes, given carte blanche by lay people to behave as they like, and who sometimes buy into the adulation of the masses.

This is what has happened to Frank Pavone, who, since 2011, has been in hot water with his superiors and became more and more an authority unto himself, culminating in an horrific sacrilege of incorporating the body of a dead aborted baby into a sacred mass in which he placed the dead body on the altar in November of 2016 as a political stunt calculated to steer Catholics toward voting for Donald Trump.




[This photograph, from the video, is CENSORED because it shows the corpse of a dead fetus that he had displayed on the altar, in an alarmingly sacrilegious manipulation designed to grip the emotions of Catholics.]

"We have to decide if we will allow this child killing

to continue in America or not. Hillary Clinton and 

the Democratic platform says yes, let the child-killing

continue (and you pay for it); Donald Trump and the

Republican platform says no, the child should be

protected." 

Fr. Frank Pavone

Pavone had been given the baby's body by a pathologist who had been routinely tasked with its disposition. Rather than have the child "disposed of" as medical waste, like an amputated arm or an unwanted cancer, he gave it to Father Pavone for the express purpose of burying the child, but Pavone did not do that. Instead, Pavone began a series of carnival-style mockeries of a sacred mass, even going so far as to live-stream and videotape and post it on Facebook. The photo, above, is a still picture from that video. The 44-minute long video also shows him elevating a poster that displays graphic abortion methods. (This video has been subsequently removed, I believe, from Facebook, though I have no doubt you can find a copy somewhere on the internet. Nothing is really erased from the internet.)

Priests are specifically enjoined from working on behalf of any political party or candidate, but Pavone went rogue, long ago, urged on by the fawning sycophancy of his followers. This is what happens when you isolate and remove one piece of a philosophy. It turns into a fetish.

To this day, it does not appear that the baby's body has been buried. Instead, it is apparent that Pavone is keeping it for possible further use in his propaganda campaigns. That poor baby has no rest, unless you think floating in a chemical solution in a glass jar  in some back room of a church constitutes being put "at rest.'

In response to an onslaught of complaints about the dead baby mass and its video, Pavone's diocese immediately began an investigation and issued a statement saying that "Priests for Life" is not a Catholic organization and not under their control and that the mass using the child and the posting of that video are "against the dignity of human life and is a desecration of the altar."

"The Diocese of Amarillon deeply regrets the offense

and outrage caused by the video for the faithful and

the community at large. The action and presentation

of Father Pavone in this video is not consistent with

the beliefs of the Catholic Church."

~ Bishop Patrick J. Zurek ~

As early as 2011, Pavone had already been recalled to his diocese and suspended from priestly functions outside the diocese to answer for his lack of transparency with regard to the finances of his pro-life organization and his refusal to cooperate with his superiors when asked.

"Whatever set this conflict off, it's unfolding has exposed, 

in my opinion, a deficient attitude from Fr. Pavone in regard 

to the clerical obedience he owes his bishop and even in his 

understanding of the purpose of priesthood."

~ Edward Peters, Canon Lawyer ~

Most recently, I see that his insubordination has grown in leaps and bounds. When asked the name of his current bishop, he refuses to give it but asks, instead, "you mean my slave master?"

I have listed some of my sources, below. If you read the post on Patheos by Mary Pezzulo, there is  good reason to believe that Pavone is in possession of two baby corpses that died in the late 1970s and that he is using them in his traveling horror show.

In the post from Keith Michael Estrada, Also on Patheos, there is a timeline of events that will be helpful in understanding what has happened, over time, with this renegade priest and his minions.

My position, if you haven't figured it out yet is that we should not be sacrificing every other part of our religion for the sake of pursuing the dream of making abortion illegal.  The ghoulish carnival barker in a priest collar who uses the bodies of dead babies to win converts to Trumpian Republicanism misrepresents the faith and shouldn't be followed by the laity under any circumstances. Lauding this misguided man will help to ruin him and the faithful should just stop doing it.

In addition, we need to wake up to the fact that our horrifying "pro life" trade-off in which we have traded our entire religion for the sake of making abortion illegal, has resulted in the installation of a fascist government that is hostile to life, in general, and, if not curtailed soon, may be responsible for the death of all life on our planet. It sounds extreme, but this is where we are. Climate change is altering the planet rapidly while, at the same time, American democracy is falling off the rails, thanks to an insane and brutally dangerous occupant of the Oval Office, who is being supported and encouraged by a Republican Party that has orchestrated a fetishized, cynical propaganda campaign, using a bastardized vision of faith as a tool.

By removing crucial regulations, backing out from the climate accord, denying science, and allowing big donors to pillage the earth, Trump is making the earth an unfit home. Topping this off with more tax cuts for the ultra rich coming down the pike, combined with more cuts to an already inadequate and failing social safety net, the effects will be catastrophic - and very soon.

It isn't just the types of policies that are dangerous, it is Trump's methods, redolent of the abuse of office and brutality most often found in third world banana republics with primitive dictators at the helm. Whoever dares to even utter a word of disapproval is walked out of the government offices under armed guard. Often their relatives are also made to suffer, such as the case of Lt. Col. Vindman, the highly decorated officer who obeyed a congressional subpoena and gave testimony during Trump's impeachment hearing in the House. His twin brother, who had nothing to do with any of this, was walked out with him, in a very public retaliation, calculated to put fear into the hearts of anyone on The Hill who might have thoughts of opening their mouths and speaking Truth or advocating for justice and the rule of law.

Fortunately, some members of the intelligence community, which is being aggressively hollowed out by Trump's retaliations and slander, are fighting back. But when the guy at the top of the pile is calling out their wives BY NAME and thereby threatening her and the children - publicly - it can give you pause.

All of this is right out of the authoritarian playbook. Hitler and others have used these methods. Lies, slander, fear, retaliation, brutality; all of these are common to the dictator.

Frank Pavone is enabling all of it, offering up his Catholic followers in the same way he offered up that dead baby on the altar. All of it is obscene and none of it is endorsed by the Catholic Church. As mentioned before, his supervisors and all the ecclesial authorities above them have tried, and failed to rein him in. His bishop has objected to Pavon's "incorrigible defiance of my legitimate authority as his bishop," but Pavone is emboldened by the adulation of the crowd and has not shown any sign that he has taken to heart the attempts of his superiors to guide him.

It won't matter, even if Pavone could somehow get a law passed, outlawing abortion. We are all going to be dead before long, anyway, if the natural results of the Trump Administrations removal of regulations and sanctions have their natural result. Scientists have said we have about ten years in which to turn this toxic boat around. After that, it goes over the waterfall. Human beings, animals, trees, plants, insects - even the cockroaches. We'll all be dead. Not very pro-lifey, if you ask me.

Silver Rose
Sannyasini Kaliprana
(c) Copyright 2020, All rights reserved.

TIMELINE OF SOURCES, IN ORDER OF PUBLICATION DATE

September 9, 2011
Letter to U.S. cardinals and bishops from Msgr. Harold Waldow, of Amarillo Diocese suspending Pavone from "public ministry outside of the Diocese of Amarillo" (online copy)
LINK HERE

September 13, 2011
Fr. Pavone appeals suspension by his bishop to Rome
Catholic News Agency
by Michelle Bauman
LINK HERE

September 29, 2011
Canon lawyer analyzes issues in Fr. Pavone case
Clerical Whispers
LINK HERE

January 19, 2012:
Amarillo bishop suspends Father Pavone's activities outside the diocese
Archdiocese of Baltimore article
LINK HERE

November 7, 2016
A Catholic priest put an aborted fetus on the altar in an appeal for Donald Trump
The Washington Post - Acts of Faith
by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, reporter
LINK HERE

November 8, 2016
Fr. Frank Pavone uses aborted fetus in message for Election Day
National Catholic Reporter
by Brian Roewe
LINK HERE

Nov 8, 2016
Breaking: Diocese of Amarillo opens investigation into Fr. Pavone's actions; Decries video as "against the dignity of human life and is a desecration of the altar."
Aleteia
LINK HERE

November 9, 2016
Bishop launches probe of priest who posed with fetus on the altar
Religion News Service - Beliefs column
by David Gibson
LINK HERE

November 15, 2016
A scary, confusing timeline: The child (ab/mis)used by Father Frank Pavone
Patheos
Proper Nomenclature by Keith Michael Estrada
LINK HERE

October 16, 2019:
Diocese of Amarillo: Pavone Not a Priest in Good Standing
Patheos
Steel Magnificat; Everything is Grace
by Mary Pezzulo
LINK HERE

"NOTHING PERSONAL," YOU SAY?

Mother Mary

in my little garden

When disagreements arise in modern life, I have noticed that some people are unable or refuse to put themselves into the place of the other guy, in their imagination. Because they cannot empathize, they cannot imagine why that person on the other side of the debate has an opinion so different from their own.

When engaging in a formal debate, definition of terms often forms a preliminary phase of the debate process so that everyone involved is "on the same page" and talking about the same thing, but modern Americans, set loose on the internet, are not taking advantage of this tool.

Refusing to attempt to understand the actual position of the other side, in a sympathetic light, and making assertions about what your opponents think, believe or want, has become common and is not productive of anything good. It just perpetuates the prejudices and discord.

"Nothing is sweeter than

to think well of others."

Saint Therese of Lisieux

It won't be news to you if I tell you that there is a lot of turmoil in our country right now. I believe that at least part of the cause of this is this disorganized approach to communication among us.

Most of my readers will remember that I am a Catholic convert with a Hindu (Vedantic) orientation. I was raised without any religion whatsoever and participated in many different faiths before converting to Catholicism about 14 years ago. While I believe in everything the Catholic Church believes and teaches, I have a tremendous amount of experience as a non-Christian American. I can easily speak to the point of view of non-Christians, as a result.

When having discussions with some of my Catholic brothers and sisters, I will often object to their characterizations of poor people, gay people, brown people, immigrants, disabled people, and other vulnerable groups. The reply I often get is, "oh, I am not talking about you." As a single, female, senior, divorced, disabled poor person, I fit into many categories of the most vulnerable groups and, having been raised in a non-Christian environment, I am intimately familiar with the lifestyle and beliefs of unchurched people.

But those good Catholic people ARE "talking about" me! They have erroneous, conspiracy-level beliefs about poor people, for instance. There is a huge amount of prejudice about the poor! Right wing people who identify as Christian will often immediately talk about drug addiction and criminality when discussing "the poor."

It isn't that I don't find drug addiction and criminality disturbing, because I DO. Since becoming disabled and poor, and after moving into low-income housing, I have been on the receiving end of quite a bit of the criminality of a segment of the poor. Several of my poor neighbors have stolen from me. The homeless who have encampments in the bosque next to the apartment complex have stolen things out of my garden and my patio, and have rifled through the drawers of the potting cabinet on the patio - looking for whatever might be useful, I suppose. My car has been broken into several times, with no more apparent motive than to scrabble around for change or valuables, leaving me with a broken side window and a creeping sensation of wonder that, although the car was parked right next to my apartment windows, I never heard a thing.

I've had neighbors aggressively try to "befriend" me just so they can get into my apartment and scope it out for possessions they might like to have. One woman spent months telling me I should just "give away" the bed I wasn't using instead of selling it, and then called me one morning and announced that her daughter-in-law had "cried with joy" at the news that SHE would be receiving this bed because she really needed one. I had not agreed to any such thing and was even FURTHER astonished when the neighbor told me she had arranged for a rental truck to come and get it and that it would be at my apartment within two hours! It dawned on me that the neighbor who had pursued my friendship had been "working me" for months, with the express purpose of divesting me of whatever possessions she liked, so I gave her the bed. I rightly guessed she would stop bugging me after she got what she wanted, and I was right. The woman came and took the bed and never spoke to me again.

Anyone who imagines I don't know what I'm talking about when discussing the criminality of the poor needs to take a step back and try another tack. The thing is, despite feeling really bad when someone steals from me or tries to manipulate me for profit, as in the case of the neighbor and the bed, I know that the thievery of the poor is just more obvious and personal than the thievery of the other classes. 

There is a percentage of people in all walks of life who will steal. I have an entirely middle-class sibling who, through a complex con that she worked on me over several months, managed to legally bar me from successfully fighting the theft of inheritance by my father's third wife - just so the sibling could take whatever scraps were available.

The wealthy classes steal from the poor and the middle class in a less direct and less personal way. I would make the case that theirs is the most reprehensible type of thievery because it relies upon the inability of the lower classes to protect themselves. I 

The thievery of poor people is more honorable, in one sense, because it is blatant and out in the open and in-your-face. I know what my neighbor stole from me when I hired her to clean my house. Likewise a second neighbor, the daughter of people I believed were my friends - she ALSO stole from me. I was able to speak to her directly about it.

But what can I do about the thievery of the rich who give one another tax breaks and talk about "trickle down economics" that no one believes is true because nothing has ever trickled down from these accomplished con artists? Millionaires and billionaires buy more luxury goods and properties for themselves while the rest of the people scrabble around for bread.

The fact is that there are no higher a percentage of criminals in the poor populations than there are in society in general. In fact, it may be quite a bit lower, because most poor people are poor because they're disabled or elderly. There is no more drug addiction among the poor than in society as a whole. It's just that people who are successful criminals have enough money to shield themselves from punishment. Drug addicts who are rich, famous, or have solid families have enough resources to support expensive rehab programs.

How many alcoholics do you think exist among the middle class and wealthy? Quite a lot. They can afford the booze. They can also afford to make it 'look' better. I have a relative who is an alcoholic. On the outside, it looks like she's a nice middle-class lady. She's got the trappings of respectability. But she is a terrible drunk. The packaging is just more attractive. She can afford to drink herself into oblivion inside an attractive home. She can also lie, cheat and steal under cover of apparent "respectability." You won't find HER in the gutter, slurring her words and vomiting her stomach contents onto the road. She does it behind closed doors.

This is why, when discussing the middle class or the wealthy, alcoholism is not the first thing that unkind people will talk about. It's the first thing mentioned when the topic of poor people arises, though. Why isn't it the first thing one hears when discussing the other socio-economic groups that have this problem? Americans are prejudiced against the poor in the same way the British in Dickens-era England were. Nothing has changed.

People want to justify their prejudice against the poor.

I am far from a perfect person, but I am not a drug addict. I don't drink. I'm not a criminal. Heck, I haven't had so much as a parking ticket in 44 years! I do not live on welfare. I have Social Security into which I paid for more than 30 years of constant work. I have no tattoos. I have lived as a celibate religious for almost two decades. I am nothing special because, aside from my formal religious vows of sannyas, I am very typical for a woman of my age. MOST poor people are like me. They've done the best they could with their lives, and they are struggling to make a go of it on very little income in their old age. 99.9% of us are NOT homeless people begging with big signs on the street corners, and shooting up drugs at night. They're the exception, not the rule. But even if ALL poor people were drug-addled, alcohol soaked n'er do wells, I ask you to remember that Jesus did not put any requirements upon poor people before they were entitled to the compassion of Christians.

"The poor man has one plea, his want and his standing

in need: do not require anything else from him; but even

if he is the most wicked of all men and is at a loss for

his necessary sustenance, let us free him from hunger."

St. John Chrysostom

Most of us have no help whatsoever. We receive "too much" income from Social Security, thanks to our work histories, but certainly not enough to pay for our needs. Some of us get help from our families, but an awful lot of us are not getting crucial needs met and are dying much sooner than necessary, as a result.

While it is common for most bloggers to avoid talking about themselves, I am taking the opposite stance, partly because my previous confessor taught me that my personal experiences can be used to advocate for others in my position.

"He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord,

and He will repay him for his good deed."

Proverbs 19:17

In my own way, I am fighting the prejudices and bigotry that are so endemic in the cruel America of today. I hope to be able to help that segment of American Christians who are mentioned, above, to be able to identify, even a little bit, with those who are less fortunate than they are, and with those who disagree with them politically.

Put yourselves in my shoes, my American brothers and sisters, then survey our land through my eyes and my experience. If you can do that, you may disabuse yourselves of some of your prejudices.

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose"
Sannyasini Kaliprana

AYN RAND: APOSTLE OF SELFISHNESS AND HERO OF THE ALT. RIGHT

Ayn Rand

Russian-American novelist, promoter of selfishness, 

hero of the alt. right

1905-1982

Russian educated atheist Ayn Rand believed that selfishness was a positive virtue. She hated Christianity, championed abortion and, in addition to writing a few toxic novels and a small volume about selfishness, she also started a club that was dedicated to the promotion of selfishness. That the right wing lauds her and follows her selfish prescriptions for American society is a jarring contradiction, ESPECIALLY since the majority self-identify as Christian, and Rand's philosophy is the antithesis of Christianity.

"Abortion is a moral right which should be left to 

the sole discretion of the woman involved; 

morally, nothing other than her wish in the

matter is to be considered."

~ Ayn Rand ~

Several of America's contemporary government leaders have been remarkably affected by the fantasies of this novelist whose world view, if widely enacted, would regress the civilizing influence of Christianity on mankind back to the beginning of time.

Rand wasn't an economist and, in fact, her imaginative pronouncements on this field are dismissed by professional economists who have studied the history of economic systems and who know that we are stronger together than we are individually. It is the positive glory of human beings that we aim to enable every one of our members to succeed, and we lift up one another because we know that, in doing so, the human species becomes more successful. The dog-eat-dog world of Ayn Rand produces the opposite result.

"Jesus said unto him, 'thou shalt love the Lord thy God

with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy

mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the

second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as 

thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law

and all the prophets.'"

~ Matthew 22:37-40 ~

Because selfishness, xenophobia, racism and misogyny that are promoted by the alt right are damaging to the human race, as a whole, the alt. right movement, as typified in its most virulent form in the ravings of Steve Bannon, has to discredit and discount the experts in crucial fields of knowledge, even Biblical scholards. This bizarre subculture lionizes opinion without foundation while deriding experts in favor of fiction writers.

Steve Bannon and Marie LePen - 2018

"Let them call you racists. Let them call you xenophobes. 

Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor."

~ Steve Bannon, 2018 ~

Ayn Rand was famously racist and nationalistic. She spoke against Native Americans, Arabs and indigenous people, in general. Her brand of politics is for white people only.

Followers of alt. right personalities resolutely ignore professional opinion in favor of people whom they perceive to be the common man, in whom they see themselves in some capacity. The pleasing mirage that the alt right personalities project, caters to the ordinary white guy, who then feels that maybe he too can rule the world without the bona fides typically required to do so. Slovenly Steve Bannon, with his baggy clothes and unkempt mop of hair, is their spokesman.

What is really going on here? At the heart of the modern alt right movement is the fight of the wealthy to grab even more wealth than they already have. The disparity of income in America is already the second worst in the world among all nations, but the wealthy are using hot button issues to coerce the white majority into helping them in the biggest smash-and-grab since before the French Revolution. The poor, disabled and elderly are hungry and poorly housed, yet the wealthy want to eliminate social programs that help alleviate their suffering. Ayn Rand disparages the charity that would help them.

"Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor, will

themselves call and not be heard."

~ Proverbs 21:13 ~

Ayn Rand is the figurehead upon which the right hangs its political hat because her philosophy is conveniently hostile to poor people and minorities. According to Rand, it is immoral to make a man contribute to the welfare of the poor, vis-a-vis taxes. This is contrary to the Christian ethos, but the followers of the alt right are so mesmerized by the smoke and mirrors of Paul Ryan and people like him that they fail to call this movement into account for its violation of the central tenets of Christianity.

"You shall give generously [to your poor brother] and your

heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because

for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your

work and in all your undertakings."

Deuteronomy 15:10

On Facebook and other social media, I have had too many conversations with supporters of the lies of the alt. right mouthpieces who blame everyone's troubles on lazy, criminal poor people, minorities, and the like.

When faced with hard facts that disprove the myth of "massive fraud in the disability system," for instance, supporters resolutely cling to the lies. The payoff for believing poor-hating propaganda is too great to give it up, since those lies serve to elevate the status of the common man without any effort - somewhat like the video games that allow us to be big winners by the flick of a finger on a button. To be a winner, without having to bend one's head to any authority, without having to accept inconvenient truths that emphasize our lack of status, and without exerting a lot of effort, is too heady a wine for people who have chaffed under the annoying limitation of being ordinary for such a long time. Why accept facts when the lies let us believe that the poor are to blame for all our difficulties?Having a scape goat that possesses less power than we do allows us to look down upon them and pretend to some superiority. It is also far easier to withdraw assistance from the poor than to reclaim the ill-gotten gains of the wealthy.

"For all those who exalt themselves shall be humbled,

and those who humble themselves shall be exalted."

~Luke 14:11~

The psychology of Christianity is brilliant. People of real religious faith and comprehension already know this, but it also stands the test of objective examination. We can reject selfishness, not just because Jesus said so, but because it doesn't produce good fruit for humanity as a whole. We can embrace modesty and humility, not just because Jesus said to do it, but because those virtues propel us in a positive direction that is healthy for the individual as well as the group. We can share our wealth with the poor, not just because it is emphasized continually throughout the Old AND the New Testaments, but because it makes sense for the survival of our species.

The authorities upon whom one bases one's world view and activities is a clue to one's heart, so I ask you: Who is your authority? Is it Jesus, or is it Ayn Rand?

VOTE THE GOP OUT OF OFFICE IN 2018

I will be brief, as I am writing this on an Amazon Kindle Fire. My computer is broken again.

The first thing I pray for this New Year is that the GOP be completely  eliminated from the House and the Senate. The GOP, in its current form, has proven itself to be hostile toward every vulnerable group in America. Women, children, the poor, the minority, have all experienced government actions against them during the last awful year since Trump rose to power.

Speaking of Trump: I pray daily for him to be impeached. He has proven himself to be completely disinterested in the welfare of anyone but himself and his rich white cronies, some of whom he installed in office for the express purpose of destroying all the agencies that exist to protect the vulnerable.

(How TELLING that Trump issued orders to the CDC that they were prohibited from using the word "vulnerable" in any report! Good bye, First Amendment!)

He doesn't believe in global warming or in the need for protecting the planet.  He has eliminated many crucial protections.

He has bragged about assaulting women and we have seen him disparage women continually, with vulgar, sexist language. He supported pedophile Roy Moore in Alabama. More than a dozen women have come forward against Trump for sexual assault, and he, the king of liars, just says they're lying. Some of the women he deemed too unattractive to be worthy of being assaulted by him.

He castigates the poor, throws paper towels at starving people whose entire island has been destroyed. He is sympathetic to Neo Nazis  and white supremacists, saying they are good people.

He lies continually and I find it remarkable that, even after he broke all his promises to his supporters, they don't care! He's thrown everyone under the bus, except for the rich, and his sycophants swoon and ask for more abuse! Still, they lionize him.

Please notice that Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land and NOTHING has been said about it. I mention this for all the people who mistakenly voted for him in the belief that Trump is pro life and would do something toward making abortion illegal. Nothing could be further from the truth! He is pro RICH BASTARDS. That's it! His supporters have been duped.

Why does a religious person write a blatantly political post? Because Jesus said to feed people. He did not say to take the food out of their mouths. He did not say we should pray for them and walk away. Jesus advocated for DOING things for the vulnerable. Trump and his rich cronies are invested in convincing everyone that the vulnerable are either faking it or are lazy. They think that they can convince everyone that we don't actually have any "legitimately" poor, disabled or elderly people.

Now that the GOP have passed a tax bill that permanently helps the rich Get richer, they're gunning for Social Security and Medicare. As someone who paid into Social Security and Medicare for more than 30 years, and who now lives on my benefits, I am frightened for the future, because I am disabled and senior: at the mercy of a rapacious government run entirely by rich bastards, almost all of whom inherited their wealth.

I've always known that there were selfish, greedy bastards in our country, but, until now, I had faith in the moral compass of our government, and the dignity of the office of the president, as well as the protections of the Constitution. Well, THAT'S all been blown to hell!

We must vote the GOP out of office, and impeach Trump because the aims of Trump and his cronies are satanic. God save us all.