January 2, 2020
MY CORNER BY Boyd
Cathey
From The Dissident
Mama – A Personal Appraisal and Interpretation
Friends,
Some
writers are fortunate enough to have essays written about them and their work
after they pass from the scene. A few receive an appreciation while still
living. Today I am truly honored to have been the recipient of two such encomia—praise
which I did not seek or solicit, and which I am not at all certain I deserve.
Nevertheless,
I want to offer them to you, not so much because they “talk highly” of me or my
writing, but rather because in so many ways they capture and convey what I have
been writing and saying for so many years about the Southland, about its
heritage, and about how that fits into a broader defense of Western Christian
tradition—a tradition and an inherited culture and civilization which is under
severe assault and extreme pressure in today’s world.
As 2020
commences it is perhaps appropriate that we take stock—that we take a look
globally at just where we are, politically, culturally, religiously.
All our
basic and fundamental social institutions are under tremendous stress, if not
outright attack, not just legally and politically, but far more insidiously, in
how they are defined and how they affect us. Our very language is altered to
reflect this radical transformation: words and phrases are banned, old words
are recast and redefined, implicit (and often explicit) speech codes have more
effect than anything that the older “less free” society of our grandfathers
experienced. And this linguistic terrorism—for that is what it is—is inculcated
into our young from the very beginning, in the primary grades, via television
and Hollywood, by unthinking parents, by friends.
And the
family? Has not our society redefined that also? Any two people who “love each
other” for a while and who cohabitate (shack up) for a time, with or without
children? No matter what sex, or any “intermediate” sexual orientation. No
permanency, and certainly nothing sacred or sacramental. Very little sense of
responsibility: if a fetus happens because the necessary birth control didn’t
work, very simply abort it. No problem; nothing must stand in the way of the
pleasure, the sexually stimulated moment. How many tens of millions of lives
has our society, in its lust for pleasure, snuffed out since 1972?
All the
nations of Western Europe protest proudly how “democratic” they are. In the
United States we never cease talking about how precious “our democracy” is (just
witness the ceaseless verbiage spewed forth during the recent impeachment
hearings). In the rest of the world no country ever boasts of being an
authoritarian state: when was the last time we heard a nation’s leaders waxing
eloquent about how totalitarian they were? Even the most autocratic Islamic
state now declares itself “democratic.”
Has not
that word lost its savor and meaning altogether?
Democracy—the
rule by the populace, as defined by the ancient philosophers—does not exist
anywhere, save perhaps still in a few Swiss cantons, or on the lowest levels of
governance in some faraway communities in Wyoming or Idaho. The rest is
fraudulent, bought and paid for by major financial interests and lobbies, and
on a supra-national level by the likes of globalists such as George Soros,
whose Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) now reach into nearly American city
and county of any size, handsomely funding candidates who will do his bidding.
Just ask the voters of Virginia.
The
established church—at least in America and Western Europe—seems to have
surrendered to the most diabolical and anti-Christian forces: the major
Protestant denominations have all joined in the mad rush to become more “woke” and
more revolutionary, adopting the slogans and platforms of the Progressivists
who seek nothing less than the abolition of historic Christianity and the
civilization which is based on it.
In large
part, the visible Catholic Church—once the stalwart opponent and beacon of
Christian counter-revolution against demonic Progressivism—has followed the
leftist course mapped out at the Second Vatican Council, with its present
supposed head acting as a cheer-leader for revolutionary change on every level.
Opposition to his lunacy is rising, but the formal elements of power are now in
the hands of Progressivists.
Perhaps
only in Eastern Europe and in Russia do we see a coherent resistance,
religiously and politically, to the madness that afflicts “the West.”
Ironically, it was the separation from America and from Western Europe—the Iron
Curtain—that in a way saved those
countries from the poisonous infections coming from our nation which had
already rejected in large part its
patrimony on the battlefields of 1861-1865, and had become the “Typhoid
Mary” of Progressivism. For nations like Hungary, Poland, and also Russia, the
Iron Curtain acted as a kind of prophylaxis, keeping out much of the contagion
that overwhelmed Western Europe after World War II and the resultant Marshall
Plan for “reconstructing Europe.”
Thus,
when the yoke of Communism was lifted, it was to national identity, to national
heritage, to pre-Communist religious faith, that many of these nations turned.
They had largely escaped the forty-five years of “Americanism”—in the worst
cultural sense—that Germany, France, and Italy had experienced.
Yet, it
is this same narrative, this same defecated and globalist “Americanism” that
today’s conservative movement—Neoconservatism—continues to push on the rest
of the world, just like their uncomfortable bedfellows a bit further to the
Left. Both the Establishment conservatives AND the open Left share the same
postulates and objectives, differing only in degree and expression.
The
lessons we glean, then, may come from Eastern Europe and from Russia, and they remind
us of who we were as a people, of the inheritance which in so many cases we
have discarded. Those former Eastern Bloc nations, in particular Russia and
Hungary, stand as “signs of contradiction,” and offer to us lessons, if we
would only examine them.
Despite the
Swamp and the Deep State—despite the future technological tyranny which stares
at us in the face—despite the assaults in every aspect of our lives—despite it
all there is Hope and the vague but very real awareness that we are human,
creatures made by God, and that our role is to stay the course, remain true to
the faith and to our God-created natures.
My
favorite Psalm is number 26, in particular these words (vs.3): “Si consistant adversum me castra, non
timebit cor meum. Si exurgat adversum me praelium, in hoc sperabo”: Even
if entrenched armies were to stand against me, my heart would not fear. If a
battle would rise against me, I would have hope….
Let me
wish you all the assurance of Hope and a very happy and blessed New Year!
And I
pass on The Dissident Mama’s latest columns.
**************
Pluck for 2020
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Happy New Year! We Christians are still celebrating
Nativity: the 12 Days of Christmas, which for the Orthodox, concludes
with Theophany. What an incredible way to ring in 2020, a new decade, and a
year that is sure to be one heckuva roller-coaster ride politically and
culturally. Our faith is the only thing that can truly undergird us during such
times.
The follow-up to my "The Land We Love book review speaks to this. It's a bit of a personal essay about Dr. Boyd Cathey's influence on me both as a Southern-tradition apologist and as a writer. Find out why it is his pluck and his pen that so inspire me.
But as I worked on the post, another article unfolded: a comparison between Russia and the South. It's something I've actually been wanting to write for a year now, but alas, time management is not my strong suit. Still, I think it's a pretty thought-provoking essay. I hope you agree.
In closing, I will leave you with the words of Russian Orthodox archpriest, St. John of Kronstadt. With a life of worldly conformity, "the flesh blooms but the soul withers; the flesh is abundant but the soul is starving; the flesh is dressed up but the soul is ugly; the flesh is fragrant but the soul smells; the flesh is joyful but the soul is in trouble; the flesh is in the light but the soul is in darkness."
With a little pluck and a lot of faith, we can bring the soul into the light in 2020. Christ is born. Glorify Him!
*****
Boyd Cathey: Christian
warrior & mentor
*****
WHEN WILL WE LEARN; WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!! THE ZIONIST ENTITY THAT RUNS ISRAEL AND THE US AND EU AND AND!! NOT JUST THE FOREIGN POLICY BUT THE EDUCATION FINANCIAL;SOCIAL;CONGRESSIONAL'; ADMINISTATION!IS OUT OF OUR HANDS AND HAS BEEN EVER SINCE MAY 10 1948 WHEN TRUMAN RECEIVED A SUIT CASE WITH MILLION IN IT. AND ONE MORE THING BUCHANNA 'S COLUMN WAS AS USUAL HAVE BAKED AND WEAK .I CALL HIM MR HEDGESTER!! R A FEIBEL
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