ROE V. WADE OVERTURNED - JUNE 24, 2022

Blessed Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus

by

Silver S. Parnell

(c) Copyright 2021

All rights reserved.

Today's events have overshadowed everything else for the moment, and I have some comments.

First of all, if this had been the last instead of the only action in a series of real efforts to improve America's pro-family and pro-life efforts, we would have something to celebrate.

If overturning Roe was the last, instead of the only action, we would have a nationwide living wage that was more than adequate to support grownups and kids.

If it was the last, instead of the only action, families would not be forced to bankrupt themselves caring for a sick child or other family member because every family would have guaranteed health care.

If it was the last, instead of the only action, mothers and fathers would each have paid maternity/paternity leave for at least the first six months of the baby's life.

If it was the last, instead of the only action, education from Pre-K through college would be free at point of service. 

If it was the last, instead of the only action, the "pro-life" Republican Party would have proven that it actually cares about families and children with all those other actions, but the opposite is true. It has proven that it is hostile to families, hostile to children, hostile to the poor, the elderly, the disabled. It fights against all those actions I have listed.

The other industrialized nations take much better care of their citizens than we do, despite having far less wealth and natural resources than our country holds.  Our citizens struggle to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, while a handful of greedy corporate overlords is so bored and sated with life that they take vacations in outer space. The people who created the wealth with their work do not get their fair share of the wealth that they worked for. They are wage slaves.

It is no wonder that most women cite financial hardship as a reason for their abortion. We live in a culture that is hostile to children and families.

Forget for a moment the financial impossibility of raising a child on a food service workers salary. Women's bodies have always been under attack.  Every war involves the rape and unwilling impregnation of women. From their own households where countless children are raped by family members, to the rape by coercion during a date, to the workplace where employers make it clear that the woman will be fired if she does not give the boss sex, I have experienced all of these myself and I know how very common it all is, how dirty and hopeless it makes you feel, and how impossible it is to keep one's sanity while at the same time being forced to carry a growing thing within yourself that is put there by force. For the woman in this position, it is not a baby. It is a hostile invader, a parasite, a daily reminder of the humiliation, shame and trauma. But do these "pro life warriors" who go to war against these women give a damn about any of that? No. Women remain the spoils of war.

The big lie underneath all this is that the party that claims to be "pro-life" is nothing more than an agency that works on behalf of the wealthy overlord class. In a deliberate, cynical ploy to get voters to agree to remain poor and to work as wage slaves so that the rich can get richer, it lies and says it cares about babies and families. It lies and says it is "pro life."

Lying is how it routinely does business. Each of Trump's Supreme Court appointees lied in their confirmation hearing testimony. They claimed adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis and that Roe was established law, so they would respect that and Roe wasn't in their sites. But the first thing we heard from them thereafter was a leaked document that the doctrine of stare decisis would be trashed and Roe would be overturned, and today we get the final draft. Instead of respecting stare decisis, they have thrown out the principle of adhering to precedent. Because they have a political agenda, everything that has gone before is now up for grabs, despite their assurances that this would not happen.

Whoever would love life and see good days

must keep their tongue from evil and their lips

from deceitful speech."

1 Peter 3:10

I used to vote across both parties. I used to believe that both parties consisted of people of good will that were trying to better the country and that I could vote either Republican or Democrat, based upon the issue under discussion at the moment, but I can no longer do that. I have lost all respect for the politicians in the Republican Party, with the exception of a very small number of men and women who have distinguished themselves recently with their honesty, ethics, and (frankly) bravery in calling out their fellow Republican politicians.

When I watched the interviews with weepy but jubilant "pro-life" demonstrators, crowing about their "victory" using a variety of triumphal language, the journalists would often ask them how they feel about the people whose lives have been upended by this action by a radical right wing political set of jurists. Not one of them had a shred of understanding or compassion for the girls and women against whom they had just effected a hostile takeover.

One woman blithely talked about adoption and I wondered how SHE would like to spend 9 months carrying the offspring of a violent rapist? Besides which, who is going to pay the medical bills for the women and babies? Who will support them when they can no longer work?

The biggest lie of all is that overturning Roe will save those "dear precious babies." What it will do is push women into back alley abortions (again) and into amateur self-surgery with knitting needles or crochet hooks. Those who have the money and the connections and resources to travel hundreds of miles to another state where it remains legal (for now) will avail themselves of it. My point is that abortions have always been available and always will be. "Pro-life" activists are kidding themselves if they think they are saving the babies.

As before mentioned, if the GOP really cared about children and families, it would not have pushed so hard against the social programs that could have helped them. It would not have worked to keep wages low. It would not have worked so hard to give tax breaks to the rich. They did not want to pay for pro-family measures and they continue to try to rip social security out from under the elderly who paid into it for DECADES which, if they succeed, will leave people like me on the streets. The underlying, consistent theme is NOT "pro-life," it is pro-rich guy. The "pro life" aspect is a hook to catch gullible voters.

I predict that the number of children that are born through forced compliance will be smaller than the number of women and babies that die as a result of either back-alley abortions, suicide, or self-surgery misadventure.

Anyone reading this may (incorrectly) assume that I am pro-abortion. I am not. I am simply able to have compassion and empathy for people other than myself who live in ways other than the way in which I live and who have a point of view that I do not share. I respect, also, that the USA is a country that was founded on freedom of religion. It is one of the main reasons why the original settlers came from Europe. They were living under a repressive religious autocracy.

My personal philosophy around sex life is formed by my life experiences which have taught me that women are always the losers when they have sex outside of marriage, and that unwanted pregnancies are only one of the many problems that arise when people treat sex as if it was an entertainment. My solution for the huge number of abortions performed in America would be partially ameliorated by a return to the custom of waiting to have sex until one is married. But I realize that you cannot force people to live in a way they do not agree with, nor should we WANT to do that in a country supposedly founded on freedom of religion.

Obviously, this issue is complex, and a lot of different people have opinions about this. The philosophical differences are huge - and neither side seems positioned to even begin to try and understand the other, which brings up my final point:

Whatever happened to evangelization?

Jesus never advocated for a takeover of the government. In fact, the opposite is true. Neither did he recommend that his followers use force to make people comply with his commandments. He told them to kick the sand from their feet and move on. That is all. These "pro life warriors" have done the exact opposite of what Jesus commanded. They work against the social programs that sound a LOT like Jesus's commandment to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, etc., and instead of evangelizing the culture, they go to war against it.

None of this looks like anything Jesus would recognize. It is hypocritical - something which non-Christians have noticed. If they disliked Christians before this era, they despise them now - because of the lying, manipulation, hate-filled bullying, and general hypocrisy. The manner in which one does things is important, and it is not ok to commit the evil of lying and manipulation in order to get something done that you consider to be "good." Catholics know this. It is in the catechism. Apparently, other types of Christians do not care about it.

If our culture is the opposite of something Jesus would like to see, the blame for that does not lay with the  "lefties." We failed to evangelize. We failed to demonstrate the glory of Jesus Christ. We consistently behave in unholy ways and we are responsible for this culture becoming more and more pagan.

Instead of crowing about how we "won" this culture war and overturned Roe, we should be on our knees, with apologies on our lips, for how poorly we have evangelized this nation and how badly we have treated one another, in direct disobedience to Jesus commands. We have forced a standard of behavior onto non-Christians using lies and manipulation instead of evangelizing.

In the end, few, if any, lives will be saved. The conditions in which the poor live will be far worse, and the rich guys at the top of the pyramid will continue to take vacations in outer space. It is mind boggling. With all the resentment that has built up against hypocritical Christians, is evangelization even POSSIBLE now?

The solution? Each of us need to do better, be better, follow Him better, and be better examples than we have been. No one will listen to us otherwise, if they will listen to us at all after this.

May we all be blessed!

Silver Rose
Sannyasini Kaliprana

Silver Cottage Hermitage

P.S. All of the blog posts I write are independently researched and written by me and all of them are protected by legal copyright and may not be copied for any purpose by any person for any reason, so please just enjoy them here and leave them here where you found them.

(c) Copyright 2022, Silver S. Parnell

All rights reserved.

No copying for any purpose by anyone is allowed.

Contemplating Ananias and Saphira in the light of Epiphany

The Adoration of the Magi

by

Sir Edward Burne-Jones

I am writing this on Epiphany,which celebrates the revelation of Jesus as "the" Christ and the visit of the Magi (the three kings from foreign lands) who came to worship the Christ Child. There are various stories and traditions about the observance of this day, but it has to do with the announcement of Christ to the world, including to the gentiles (which the kings represent, since they are not Jewish.)

So, here I am, a gentile, an adopted daughter of Christ, the Jewish Messiah, looking back upon that time when Jesus was first "announced" to me. I was a nun in a Hindu convent and happened to read works by and about numerous Catholic and Orthodox mystics. At that time, I imagined that Catholics would naturally aspire to the love embodied in Jesus, but in the ensuing years, I have learned that, instead of being holy reminders of Him, some very public Catholics are unholy reminders of what happens when people allow wealthy political animals to manipulate their beliefs and values.

While I have met and do know many beautiful Christians; Catholic, Orthodox, and every other sort, the public persona of the typical Christian is vile because a large segment misrepresent our faith on the national stage and in social media. If we were to believe their version of Christianity, then their Jesus was a mean dude who wanted us to take food away from hungry people and lock up migrant children as a means of disincentivizing the stranger from finding safe harbor among us.

Their Jesus is a liar who spouts constant falsehoods, misrepresentations and misleading comments as a means to an end because he teaches that the ends justify the means.

Their Jesus values money and wealth above all else. Rich people are the good people, in his scenario, and they are the ones that are entitled to all the help - lots of lovely tax breaks and the removal of every obstacle that stands between them and their greed, because greed is a good thing for this jesus.

"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

Since every end justifies every means, it is perfectly acceptable to this jesus that the planet, its flora and its fauna, and even other people should suffer and die so that a few people with gold plated toilets can have control of all the money and enslave the rest of us.  Those few wealthy men at the top of the heap are the chosen ones of the god of that disgraceful jesus.

Jesus and the Wealthy Young Man

"One thing is wanting unto thee: Go, sell whatever thou hast,

and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven;

and come, follow me."
Mark 10

Their jesus mocks and despises people of color, disabled people, unattractive women, and old people.  Their jesus only cares about the American economy. The rest of the world sucks.

An odd feature of this counterfeit "Jesus", is a stiff-necked obsession about abortion. The cult that worships this fabricated jesus decided that the only solution to the vast number of abortions being performed was to make it illegal, while at the same time refusing to give assistance to poor mothers and babies, putting poor women and their babies in an impossible bind: kill the babies slowly, through poverty, hunger and disease or kill them quickly in abortion and save everyone the agony.

Bogus Jesus believes that bending people to his will by painful coercion is preferable to any other method of conversion because this sham Jesus enjoys tormenting people who are already suffering. Their Jesus would not consider supporting poor moms and babies as a deterrent to abortion because he wants to punish poor people who have sex outside of marriage.

Jesus at the door of the heart

Fake Jesus doesn't want good, comfortable white Americans to have to sacrifice their hard earned dough for stupid women who don't keep their legs closed or the brats that are born from her. Their Jesus believes that poor women will stop having sex and won't get pregnant to begin with if they just hold the line and make everything as painful as possible.

I don't recognize their Jesus because he sounds an awful lot like Satan to me.

Donald Trump

The fake Christian

Worshipers of Bogus Jesus have gotten behind a contemptible, appalling "political" figure whose personal values and public positions are right in line with their Jesus, and it is horrifying to the rest of us who do not adore the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to

the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he

speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father

of lies."

John 8:44

I have been in an agony of disappointment, fear, rage and apprehension since becoming exposed to the bogus jesus and his lovers.  I've been wringing my hands and my heart daily, in fear that "Christian" supporters of the deceitful, autocratic dictator-wanna-be will aid him and cheer him on, as he throws America into some war or that the turmoil in our culture will reach some tipping point that tumbles us headlong into an even more fascist government than we currently have.

But today, while reflecting on the latest horror from that freak show called the Trump Administration and the public "Christians" that support him, I was suddenly reminded of the story of Ananias and Saphira.

Ananias dies after lying about the money

Among the apostles and their followers, Christians held all things in common. They sold their land and possessions and gave the money over to the community. Funds were distributed according to the need of each person. Ananias and Saphira decided they would hold back some for themselves. They lied about the money and each was struck dead on the spot.

This stark, cautionary tale from the earliest Christian era gives me much comfort because, although an antichrist is currently being worshiped in the public square, our God is not oblivious. While He may not strike down the evildoers on the spot, there WILL be a reckoning of some sort. I am sure of it.

Jesus and the Money Changers

I received a telephone call, in the midst of these ruminations about this faux jesus and his cult. The manager of the grocery store where an employee had claimed I am not disabled because Trump doesn't think I am, called to bring me up to date on the disciplinary action they took. He has been suspended without pay. If there is another problem with him, he will be fired. It seemed a good omen, though on a very small scale. I felt encouraged to relax a little, nonetheless.

While I will not stop protesting and objecting to the harm being done by this spurious Jesus and his mesmerized devotees, my confidence in the oversight of our Good Lord has been restored. We can't get complacent, though. Much prayer and sacrifice are needed. It is necessary to fight evil with Good.

Bless us all.

Silver Rose

THE LADDER TO HEAVEN

LADDER BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

Sometimes, when I hear a pro-Trump mob shouting approval for his xenophobic, racist and nationalistic comments, it really frightens me. It sounds very much like the recordings I have heard of Hitler inflaming the German people, urging them to hate the Jews and blaming Jews for everything that has gone wrong in their lives.

White Germans went on to kill Jews, Armenians, artists, homosexuals, and anyone who violated the cultural norms of middle class whites or disagreed with the Nazi methods. What is next for Americans if the far right wing of the GOP stays in power?

While Hitler was a true believer of his own toxic political philosophy, I think that Trump is simply using the presidency to fill his empty coffers. I believe that Trump is leading his followers into a cruel future, not because he wants to help us reach some kind of ideal, but because he needs the money. He is using his power to fill the government with people who are dedicated to making the rich even richer, removing all obstacles to the wealthy being able to amass even more money than they already have. Along the way, his businesses and the businesses of his relatives, are being flooded with foreign cash.

I suspect that Trump refused to publish his tax returns because he was broke - at least his version of being broke. He gave government positions and offices in the White House to his relatives who manage his business interests. Since becoming president, money from foreign governments especially, has come pouring even harder into the Trump businesses, including his daughter Ivanka's business, which, just this week, received another 7 special trademarks with China - within days of Trump's announcement that he intended to save China's ZTE Corporation, a sudden reversal of his "policy" that no new foreign contracts would be allowed during his presidency.

Ignoring my suspicions about this venal motive of his, which can only be inferred at this point, I am concerned that a large percentage of Americans are being manipulated with tried and true techniques used by authoritarian figures throughout history. They are being turned and formed on the lathe of hate and ignorance. They have given themselves over to it willingly because Trump, a typical authoritarian figure,  either promises them relief from responsibility for the bleak condition of their lives or gives them reassurance that their country will not be overrun with brown people. The authoritarian figure capitalizes upon the mob's fears. He sacrifices the immigrant, the poor person, the black person, in a social lynching.

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me,

you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil

and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no

food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger

and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me

no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me."

Matthew 25

Many of Trump's supporters are white evangelicals, according to recent news articles and statistics. These supporters of the far right ignore the continual and insistent message of the Bible to love one's neighbor as much as oneself.  The Bible is full of references to helping the poor and the stranger. Trump supporters imagine that it is acceptable to support the destruction of all our vulnerable populations and to turn away the refugee under a supposedly "pro life" and "pro family" banner. It boggles the mind.

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and

her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless

ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they 

were haughty and committed abominations before me.

Therefore, I removed them when I saw it."

Zek. 16:49

I wonder what kind of family they have in mind, when I listen to trump brag about grabbing women "by the p...y" and then, later, denying he had actually done it when 19 women complain about being assaulted by him. He called them liars and impugned their character, as if being groped by Donald Trump was something anyone would want known about them. There is no advantage in it. It is nothing but humiliation.

"Stormy Daniels"

The affair with the porn star, how he tried to cover it up, lied about it, lied about the payment, got caught lying, then had to fess up, does not sound like family values to me. His attorney, Rudy Giuliani, paints a picture of a man who regularly needs his affairs to be cleaned up in this manner and who feeds money into a slush fund for this purpose. Trump's wife, Melania, was pregnant and then had just given birth to their child when Trump was having sex with the porn star, risking the health of wife and baby. What kind of family values is that?

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has

faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and no food

for the day, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace,

keep warm, and eat well,' but you do not give them the

necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith

of itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

James 2:14-17

I am not being obtuse. I am well aware that the only criteria for "pro family" in the minds of evangelicals is often nothing more than making abortion illegal while at the same time starving the hungry. Abortion is not going to become illegal in America until America experiences severe trauma as a result of not having enough young people working to support the society.

Trump has made some movements in the direction of making abortions more difficult to get, but they are not permanent. As soon as he leaves office, all of that will be overturned. People will have to stop killing their babies of their own accord. Men like Donald Trump would have to stop having affairs that need to be hidden, for one thing.

It is a mystery to me why evangelicals have sold themselves so cheaply, with so little to gain, and so much to lose. Associating Donald Trump with the topic of abortion automatically denigrates the position of the pro-life movement with the majority of the voting public.

Donald Trump - the choice of white evangelicals

It isn't just the evangelicals. Just yesterday, a priest blabbed some far right propaganda onto Facebook that supposedly most of our refugees are Muslim and that he believes they should not be "given welfare," (i.e., helped to survive) because they come from Muslim countries and they're old enough to be in the Army. This convoluted, logic-strained rationalization based on a false narrative is what passes for compassion in his world, apparently. He is sucking up all the admiration of his flock, enjoying the status of being a priest, and gut-punching Jesus at the same time. Hypocrites like this make me want to scream and tear my hair out.

Jesus told us that going to heaven when we die is not a sure thing. He said that many people would come to him, in the end, and beseech him, saying, "Lord! Lord!" and He would tell them to get away from him and that he does not know them. Getting baptised, donating to the church and appearing now and then are not going to get us through the pearly gates.

This topic reminds me of an icon that I look at quite frequently. It is the ladder to heaven. All along the ladder, people are falling off and falling into the pit of hell, where Satan's demons await them.

God help me, but the address of Jared Kushner's beleaguered property on 5th street is 666. I'm just saying.

The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed

robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have

oppressed the sojourner without justice...Thus, I have poured out

My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of 

My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,: declares the

Lord GOD.

Ezek. 22:29,31

Silver Rose Parnell

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?

GOD BRINGS ALL THINGS TO THE GOOD FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE

About halfway through the month, I typically run low on food. There are things to eat in the cupboard, but I have to be creative sometimes, and I often have to eat things I'm not particularly keen to have at that moment. I liken it to a type of perpetual fasting and, in that light, it becomes a blessing. Fasting as a method of sacrificing the ego, its will, and its constant need to be fed, enables one to grow closer to God. It has been continually advocated in the Judeo Christian world, as well as in other religions, for thousands of years. God brings all things to the good for those that believe - even when something looks bad at the outset  - even when something is uncomfortable or downright painful.

Tonight I was pondering dinner, when I noticed that I have a lot of half-and-half leftover, as I have reduced my consumption of tea over the last few months. Calculating that the half-and-half was going to go bad before I could use it all if I only used it for tea, I realized that I also had the other items necessary to make alfredo sauce with chopped walnuts. Sunday dinner was delicious. Another thing brought to the good that, on the outset, appeared to be somewhat sad.

If I stop to complain about whatever is going wrong, I may miss the good that the Lord wants to bring out of it and into my life. If I look at the deceptively empty refrigerator and become focused on THAT, it may never occur to me to become creative and make a masterpiece.

The last five years or so have been rough and getting rougher. Someone had me written out of my father's will after he got Alzheimer's. My father died, my uncle died, my son died, my dog died, my cat died. My relationship to the church I loved was destroyed by a callow young priest who ridiculed my weight in front of a group of people, pantomiming how funny it would be if he couldn't pull me out of a chair because my bottom is so big. He disparaged my disability status. He went on to harass me every time he got me alone, and I had to leave the church - the only Byzantine Church in New Mexico. My health has gotten worse and my illnesses have multiplied. Among other things, I am going blind, very slowly, from macular degeneration. My inability to find an appropriate place to live has been documented in other blog posts.

When I became disabled, friends of many years dropped me immediately. The few family who had the resources to help me picked a fight or found some bogus "reason" to be angry with me, giving themselves an excuse not to behave like the Christians they claim to be. They say that family is all one can count on, but but some families are not good. Some families hate God and goodness, living only for their own comfort.

It may never become apparent to me exactly what sort of good the Lord plans to bring out of all this pain. The good may not be realized during my lifetime. It may never make sense to me. It may never make sense to you, but sometime before my story comes to a close, I need to send out a reassuring message, and that is simply this: The Lord is bringing all these things to the good - for me and for others.

This is the blessing of living the Catholic faith, being a member of the church founded by Jesus - even if some of the priests are horridly broken and cruel people - even though I cannot get anyone from the bishop's office to return my phone calls about my vocation - even though our dear Papa is sometimes hard to understand - even though family and friends have left me twisting, by myself, at the end of a short rope - even though I have been suffering continuous pain FOR YEARS. I am being blessed.

Some people mistakenly believe that if we live the Christian faith well, Jesus will reward us with a comfortable life. That is not what he promised. This is what He said:

"Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth:

I came not to send peace, but the sword.

For I came to set a man at variance against his father,

and the daughter against her mother,

and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

And a man's enemies are they of his own household.

He that loveth father or mother more than me, 

is not worthy of me;

and he that loveth son or daughter more than me,

is not worthy of me.

And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth

me, is not worthy of me."

Matthew 10: 34-38

Christianity is the hardest gig you will ever do. It isn't rainbows, lollipops and unicorns, as some people believe. It isn't warm and cuddly. It isn't about prosperity. It is the sword and the cross, just as Jesus promised.

May we all be blessed.

Silver Rose Parnell

Copyright (c) 2017

All rights reserved.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A CONSERVATIVE CATHOLIC

Lying has always been considered horribly sinful, in Old Testament and in New. We are not supposed to give false witness against our neighbor, but fellow Catholics do this all the time, while defending this vehemently. They're very confused.

It is very disturbing that the man elected to the highest office in the land is an inveterate, continual and bald-faced liar and many  Catholics defend his lies, without even bothering to try and ascertain the Truth. I find it shocking, especially since most Catholics that I know who voted for him only did so because there is a chance he will reverse Roe v. Wade with his choices for Supreme Court Justices. I doubt that will happen, but I certainly understand why some would take a chance on him, hoping that he WOULD follow through.

My problem is that I am a convert and I learned my religion at the knee of the desert fathers and mothers, the mystics and saints of the church. I read myself into the church, while the flesh-and-blood church bears little resemblance to the early church, or even to the present-day convents. The mother superior of a Carmelite convent warned me that I would have a hard time adjusting to parish life, having spent a lot of time in a Hindu convent and being accustomed to the mystical contemplative life.

Oh, how I wish I could hide in some out-of-the-way skete, but I'm physically not able. I NEED the world and its medicines, wheelchairs and scooters, but coming into contact with the sickness of our church has made me want to cry for IT much more than I would ever cry for myself.

WHERE is the Catholic faith I read about in the Hindu convent? Where is the faith for which I left my monastic life behind?

Another thing I see, almost daily, is that many Catholics are confused about politics. They imagine that there is such a thing as a "liberal" Catholic or a "conservative" Catholic when, in fact, there is no such thing. "Liberal" and "Conservative" are POLITICAL terms that have nothing whatsoever to do with Catholicism, which is not a political party. Why don't people know this? It is confusing to me.

Someone actually wrote me today and told me (on Facebook) that being a liberal is sinful! The fact of the matter is that there are aspects of each political orientation that are sinful and neither one is better than the other. It shocked me, though, that someone actually thinks such a confused thought, conflating religion with politics.

If politics was the solution to the world's ills, Jesus would have come as an earthly king, instead of a poor dirty kid, born in a stable and held in the animal's feeding trough. His whole life, he worked with his adopted father, Joseph, in hands-on physical labor.

The liberal ideology wants to allow mothers to kill their babies with abortion. Conservative ideology kills the poor, the sick and the old by removing government programs that help them. Liberals kill them fast and young. Conservatives kill them old and slow. Each is bad.  In fact, the liberals don't FORCE anyone to have an abortion, whereas the conservatives DO force economic policies that kill vulnerable populations, so perhaps it is the conservatives that are the sinful ones. What about THAT? 

Conservative economic policies benefit the rich and squash the poor, creating the perfect environment for lots of abortions because babies are expensive. Conservatives don't like to pay for other people's babies. They don't want to pay to abort them, and they don't want to pay to raise them. Conservatives do not like babies unless their parents are wealthy and never need help. This is why the conservatives don't follow through with promises to make abortion illegal again. They don't want to pay for other people's babies.

Catholics who identify primarily as Republicans and/or conservative dislike paying for other people's babies so much that they sometimes forget the church's longstanding proscription against contraception and end up "disagreeing with the church" about it. They want the poor people to have access to contraception so they don't have to pay for the babies of the poor. Artificial contraception is not pro-life and cannot be condoned in a faithful Catholic life. It is "inherently evil," according to Holy Mother Church.

According to the Catechism, a man having a vasectomy is as sinful as a woman having an abortion. Having a vasectomy is "intrinsically evil" and must never be done, "no matter how good the reason." How many people KNOW this?  How many Catholics are using vasectomies and other forms of artificial contraception, on the one hand, and loudly decrying abortion on the other?  A man cannot serve two masters. You are either pro-life or you are not. You can't cut it in half and say it is alright to frustrate God's generative power on the one hand, but not on the other. Are you open to life or not?

Every single time a program comes on the air, whether the television of the radio, and it's about "pro life," the only thing discussed is abortion. What a sad state of affairs. It seems that only the unborn are alive, in the minds of some people.

Republicans, in fact, do not want the government to help ANYONE who is vulnerable: the sick, the disabled, the poor. They do not want any social programs. They talk about "free markets" and "choices," but the poor, disabled and elderly do not HAVE any choices. They don't have enough money to have choices, especially if Social Security and Medicare are turned into voucher programs that we have to use to purchase needed services from for-profit businesses instead of not-for-profit Medicare? How is that going to work, exactly?

So - back to the man who called me sinful because he imagined that I am one of them damn lubruls. The arrogance of certain conservatives who impugn the character of people whose economic policies run more toward the liberal side, is a terrible sin in itself. Arrogance is pride, and pride goeth before a fall.

In matter of fact, I am neither liberal nor conservative. I am CATHOLIC. I am pro-life. I am against abortion. I am in favor of social programs. You cannot pin me down to any political orientation because I am not a political animal. I am CATHOLIC. Neither Democrat nor Republican will satisfy my yearning for a world in which life is honored, celebrated, supported and held up to God with a grateful HUZZAH!

I pray that all my Catholic brothers and sisters will actually study their faith and stop reading the twisted opinions of priests and others who've become obsessed with abortion and Republican trickle-down economics that has NEVER worked. There is more than one way to kill a person, and abortion is just one. It's a terrible thing. I wish it was illegal, but being pro-life requires more of me than simply being against abortion. LIFE is an enormous topic.

Being PRO-LIFE means being PRO-PLANET and environmentally savvy and caring. It means taking care of animals properly. It means caring about my neighbor to the extent that I want him to live as well as I do. Being PRO-LIFE means being PRO-CREATION, and using the creative gifts that God has showered upon me, especially in a spirit of worship of Him. PRO-LIFE is making chaplets for my friends who pray in front of the abortion clinics. PRO-LIFE is making hats for the homeless who refuse to shelter under a roof, even during the coldest nigiht. PRO-LIFE is feeding a hungry guy - even one who reeks of alcohol. PRO-LIFE is guarding our food supply from dangerous chemicals and crazy DNA experiments (like putting fish genes into tomatoes so they don't freeze). Being PRO-LIFE means protecting the water supply for all peoples and demonstrating against the fracking pipeline that risks the safety of the water of the indigenous peoples. Being PRO-LIFE means being AGAINST CAPITAL PUNISHMENT unless there is absolutely no other way to protect society against a violent predator. Being PRO-LIFE means treating domestic and wild animals with kindness AND RESPECT . 

I'd also like to see the wages increased so that families can afford to have as many children as they want, and mothers can afford to stay home and raise them. THIS is pro-life also. Wages have been kept artificially low for more than 40 years now. When I was working, I saw my income go DOWN over the years, while my responsibilities and my bills increased. Now, wage reform, in addition to being a LIBERAL economic idea is ALSO a PRO-LIFE idea. Am I sinful for being in favor of this liberal idea that I believe will result in fewer abortions and more big families? Nope. HUGE topic.  HUGE.

Poor medical care kills the poor, who die at least 10 years sooner than wealthy people. Why is no one up in arms about that?  I will answer that. Because some Catholics have conflated Catholicism with Republicanism. Republicans hate social programs and, especially these days, want to privatize everything so that everyone has to fight for every ounce of life. Survival of the fittest, is what it boils down to.

In an economic system in which only the strongest survive, the old, the sick and the disabled are naturally the losers and die off. Jesus would never approve of this.

Every time we get into a dialog about social programs, the know-nothings pipe up and equate social programs with socialism and claim that the liberals, and therefore the Democrats, are socialists. It's another LIE. Social programs have the SAME relation to socialism as Social programs has to ice cream socials. Socialism is characterized by the OWNERSHIP OF ALL BUSINESS BY THE GOVERNMENT.  Social programs are common to MANY different types of government that have nothing to do with socialism. (If you didn't learn this in High School, folks, Google is your friend. Hell...break out the dictionary,, for cryin' out loud.)

The real problem we have is that our social programs come nowhere near supplying the needs of the poor, 97% of which are not able bodied and cannot work. All of Donald Trumps blabber about jobs is not going to help the 47 million people in our country who are poverty stricken and living on entitlement programs. Notice...they are STILL poor, even though they've put money into the program their whole lives.

The reason why the social programs do not supply all our needs is that the rich do not pay their fair share. The normal wage earner pays up to 17% of their salaries into the Social Security fund, whereas the rich people pay less than a fraction of 1% because of the CAP on contributions into the fund. Social Security contributions stops for every cent a person earns over $116,000.00 a year! This robs the fund of MILLIONS of dollars of income and is THE reason why we are running a little shy of funds...in addition to the fact that both Democrats and Republicans have stolen money from the fund every year.

If the social programs were run in the same way as they are run in other countries, there would be no problem. America is the only civilized country that doesn't take care of its poor. Now isn't that revolting? The reason why is that the Republicans put up a fuss every time the democrats try to take care of the poor, every time they try to raise the minimum wage, every time they try to pass a bill that helps the sick, the disabled and the elderly.

Isn't it more Christian to take care of the population of a country, to clothe the naked, feed the hungry and visit the prisoner? How can Catholics ally themselves with a party or an ideology that doesn't believe in doing what Jesus asked of us.

It is a cop-out to claim that "Jesus never said you had to force someone to help the poor."  Well, He also didn't say we should force people to pay taxes.  Oh, wait...never mind. He DID say to pay to Cesar what is Cesar's.

The Republican party is the enemy of the poor, the sick, the elderly and the disabled, but that Catholic man called me "sinful" because I have liberal economic ideas? Isn't that backwards and upside down?

The happiest countries in the world, self reported, are places like Denmark, where the taxes are high, and the social programs are adequate to care for the population. It would seem that we do not care about our people at all, in comparison to these countries. CLEARLY, having social programs WORKS for these countries, whereas trickle-down theories have never worked in any ANY countries. The money doesn't trickle down. It stays on the top, with the fat cats. Trickle-down theory is what dictators use.

So, our social programs do not work very well, due to the selfishness of the wealthy and those people who identify as conservatives, above and beyond whatever devotion they claim for Christianity, but there are some conservatives who are sincerely Catholic who recognize the defects in our current system and who step forward to fill in the gaps to the best of their abillities.

I know several of these saintly people, and it is because of them that I am alive.  They identify as conservatives, including the economic orientations, for the most part, but they step in and help the poor who have fallen through the cracks...like me.

They buy me organic food because I'm allergic to pesticides and pesticides give me asthma attacks. They've bought me computers, such as the laptop I am currently using, and even my service dog owes his life to one such earth-bound angel. These are Catholics who walk the talk and who come forward with kindness and generosity in the face of social programs that do not provide life-supporting funds. Not everyone is as lucky as I have been. 

These are the only conditions under which Republican economic ideas can begin to work, and that is if every Republican were to take on one person such as myself who has fallen through the cracks. There are 47 million of us. Can we depend upon the Republicans to come forward and take care of all of us? 97% of us are elderly, disabled, children, or the working poor.

In my mind, allowing for social programs is far more reliable when dealing with the number of poor people we currently have in this country, Trickle down economics has never worked. It is a theory that HAS FAILED but to which many are devoted. 

Does this mean I am "sinful" because I do not believe in this conservative theory? Obvious not.

I would like to ask my Christian brothers and sister to STOP identifying as liberals or conservatives, democrats or republicans, and begin to really identify as CATHOLIC people...because you cannot identify as both. You cannot serve two masters. Either you are Catholic, and you support all Catholic theology, or you are a liberal or a conservative and you only support SOME of the Catholic faith.

Secondly, you need to stop identifying OTHER people as either liberals or conservatives because it's a lie for many of us.

Silver Rose

THE SUN RISES EVERY DAY

One of the primary reasons the Jews didn't accept Jesus as the Messiah is that Jesus came as a poor person with no power, whereas they were expecting him to be an earthly king. They would say , "what good can come from Nazareth?"

Jesus emphasized, over and over again, that the meek will inherit the earth (meaning "everything"), not the powerful. The meek and tender of heart will inherit the true riches of human life, which is eternal relationship with him.

Political power and position were never held as the goal of Christians, which is why i am so surprised to see so many Christians become hysterical, getting angry, and generally expressing a doom and gloom vision of the future. While it is important to participate in the political story, it is not our story, and we need to remember that. We do the best we can, leaving the result to God.

If your candidate does not win, it isn't the end of the world. I promise. Jesus promised. Whatever the result, accept it and move on.

Yesterday, I awoke to hot air balloons in the sky with the sound of migrating sand hill cranes in the background. God is good. Life is good. Take heart.

Silver Rose

MILKING THE SYSTEM

Chart showing distribution of entitlement benefits from data obtained

from:

the Office of Management and Budget,

The U.S. Department of Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

The U.S. Department of Labor

and

The U.S. Census Bureau

It seems like every time we approach a new election period, unscrupulous politicians start belittling the poor and claiming that there is "massive fraud in the Welfare system" and that the poor are "milking the system." They actually have the nerve to blame the poor for the awful economy and perpetuate the myth that we are all living the life of luxury. Social Security payments, for those who worked enough to qualify, average $1,000 a month. Supplemental Security is a maximum of $560 a month.

The first thing I point out to anyone who will listen is that less than 3% of all entitlement monies that are paid out are given to able-bodied people who choose not to work, yet the entire demographic of poor people is painted with the idea that there are massive numbers of criminals who have managed to scam their way into "the system" and are getting rich. There is absolutely no proof of this, of course, but who needs proof when people are so ready to buy this rotten lie? Selfish people want to believe this because it justifies their reluctance to help the poor that they deem undeserving.

This readiness to believe these wild claims against the poor and to use them as justification for reducing or eliminating assistance is the antithesis of the Christian message.

Jesus says: "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your coat as well."

Matthew 5:40

Notice that he DOESN'T say to fight like the Devil to keep him from getting your coat, nor does he say that you should make sure that the person is deserving of your shirt or your coat. This particular quote is about one's enemy.  How much more giving does Jesus expect us to be when it comes to His beloved poor?  The Bible is full of references to our expected generosity toward the poor:

In Deuteronomy 15, it says, "Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

In Mark 10, when the rich man asks Jesus what he must do to follow Him, Jesus says, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

In Luke 6, He says, "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."

Again, in Mark 10, He says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Notice that, in our sinful world, it is the rich person who is given great credit and adulation, who is served and fawned upon. The rich feel superior because of this and look down upon the poor, making them squirm and cry for every pittance. The rich are loathe to give any of their riches to the poor, but instead take the money from the labors of the poor.

In Proverbs 19, we read, "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed."  The Lord is watching how we treat the poor and will treat us with the same generosity we exhibit toward them.

In Matthew 25, we are told, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  When we defame the poor, we defame Jesus.  When we help to supply the needs of the poor, we are supplying Jesus with what He needs.

In Luke 3, He says, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise."

In Luke 12, He admonishes his followers to "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions," telling them once more that the Christian life is not about how much riches one can retain.

In Proverbs 21, we learn that, "He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered."  Enlightened self-interest would be enough to encourage us to respond to the poor with compassionate kindness and to supply their need, what to speak of Christian charity and love!

Instead of listening to politicians who have their own agendas, we need to look to the Bible and to the Catholic faith for guidance in this matter of how we treat the poor.

As far as the rumors of "massive fraud" by the poor, that has not been proved.  There are, however, criminals in every walk of life. The only difference between the rich criminals and the poor ones is that the rich steal MORE from us than the poor ever could. .It is ludicrous to punish 97% of the poor people because some of the remaining 3% might be dishonest!

Catholics, take note:  Here is the official position of the Catholic Church with regard to the government's care for the poor:

"The function of the rulers of the state,

moreover, is to watch over the community 

and its parts; but in protecting private

individuals in their rights, chief considera-

tion ought to be given to the weak and 

the poor.  "For the nation, as it were, of

the rich is guarded by its own defenses

and is in less need of governmental protection,

whereas the suffering multitude, without the

means to protect itself, relies especially on the

protection of the State.  Wherefore, since

wageworkers are numbered among the great mass

of the needy, the State must include them under

its special care and foresight."

Quadragesimo anno Encyclical on

Reconstruction of the Social Order

His Holiness Pope Pius XI

May 15, 1931

Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about the poor:

2446 "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal

from them and deprive them of life.  The goods we possess are

not ours, but theirs.  The demands of justice must be satisfied

first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered

as a gift of charity." ... "When we attend to the needs of those in

want, we give them what is theirs, not ours.  More than performing

works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice."

Note: "The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." We do not have the right to make these poor people jump through hoops and perform some dog-and-pony show to prove that they are worthy of receiving what is already theirs to begin with!

If you decide to spread the gospel of the greedy politician and help him to spread scandal and lies about the poor, then you are free to do so.  This is America.  But know, when you do that, you are stepping away from the Christian faith and into another world.

Silver Rose Parnell

(c) 2015
All rights reserved.