Imagine - Not John Lennon

Well, we can dream, can't we?

Reading Signs of the Times

Good advice and discernment regarding recent current events here, here, and here.

Scimitar Burns Bible, and ...

To understand this, gentle reader, one needs to engage in studying the model/rival relationship in mimetic theory; what René Girard calls the "problem of the doubles." The rival - in this case, the Scimitar - can barely get the model - in this case, the Christian faith in general and Catholics in particular - even to notice their slight. This in itself it infuriating to the rival. Alas.

Christians don't always follow the high road, but the Holy Spirit makes it an inchoate part of our awareness. What, do you ask, is that? For that, go here.

By their fruits

Enough said.

Prayer Fodder - Chivalry

Keep these words of Russian President Medvedev in mind. The locked mind of the Scimitar is, as Girard describes, firmly located in the culture of the primitive sacred.

This volatile situation in the cultural fabric of our global community should afford us plenty of fodder for prayer, vigilance, practice of the theological virtues, and, of course, chivalry.

UPDATE: Jesuit and Egyptian-born Father Samir Khalil sees hope in the revolutions taking place here.

Rumbling Toward the Caliphate

With such illuminating rhetoric as the following, imams in Afghanistan promulgate the goals of the Scimitar:

Under the weathered blue dome of Kabul's largest mosque, a distinguished preacher, Enayatullah Balegh, pledged support for "any plan that can defeat" foreign military forces in Afghanistan, denouncing what he called "the political power of these children of Jews."

Across town, a firebrand imam named Habibullah was even more blunt.

"Let these jackals leave this country," the preacher, who uses only one name, declared of foreign troops. "Let these brothers of monkeys, gorillas and pigs leave this country."

It should be manifestly clear that while the blinders of secularism make such organs of the MSM as the WaPo see the "unrest" in the nations of the Middle East solely in terms of politics, there is a vast sea of persons of the Scimitar who see it as the beginnings of the Caliphate.

It would be a messy, sloppy, chaotic thing to be sure; a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption of power-driven maniacs. But so long as the Scimitar clings to its scapegoats par excellence - the Jews and downstream cousins the Christians - it will find for a while a unifying factor.

But who will notice the outlines of such a unifying goal, I wonder?

UPDATES: Gee, what a surprise.

* Raymond Ibrahim's analysis here.

Understanding Egypt

I have heard some remarkable blather about the protests in Egypt and Tunis from a priest who should know better than to equate what is going on there with the work of our Lord in the days of His flesh.

This article is an important one. So is this. And for further reference, there is Canetti's Crowds and Power. But ultimately pull down your Things Hidden From the Foundation of the World if you would really understand the protests.

A Waste of Time?

It seems an inevitable question: Since the Scimitar was born in doubling rivalry to the biblical faiths of Judaism and Catholicism, is "dialogue" even a possibility?

The model/rival dynamic is part and parcel of Girard's "primitive sacred" and, indeed, with a fallen humanity. While street rabble continue to receive front page coverage by the NYT, the taxonomy of the mob provided by Girard's mimetic theory lies largely undisturbed, ignored, or misunderstood. (It should be noted well that the Holy Father did not see Fr Cantalamessa's use of Girard as either scandalous or wrong-headed at all.)

The Scimitar poses as an alt-monotheism. In reality, it is a form of paganism, a "primitive sacred," which demands victims for sacrifice. Only when the Holy Paraklete begins to inform, convert, and redeem its members will there be a true opportunity for "dialogue".

Back to the Swamp

Why, do you suppose, this happened? From a mimetic theory viewpoint, it points to the expulsion of a designated and acceptable sacrificial victim - in this case the Christian faith in general and the Catholic Church in particular. Oddly, the latter alone comprises over a billion human beings, and yet the Gnostic EU overlords (so accurately depicted in C. S. Lewis's prescient book, That Hideous Strength) curiously believe that they can will out of existence belief in Jesus Christ - or, at least out of public discourse - by their hubris-filled chicanery.

It points again not only to human folly and pride; but to the deeply embedded roots of the primitive sacred in our fallen human condition.

Those EU ministers should listen, in my opinion, to a different sort of minister: Rene Girard, an Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister who also happens to be a member of the L'Académie française. His work in mimetic theory not only brings broad understanding to the cultural conflagration upon which the EU is throwing kindling, but is in full submission to the Magisterium of Mother Church.

The more "modern progressives" (sic.) try to out-distance Christian truth, the more their actions show a recrudescence and regression into the pagan swamp that our Lord and His Church succeeded in pulling us out of ... for a time.

In the Name of the Prophet

The bomb that killed at least 21 Egyptian Christians on New Year’s morning was packed with sharpened metal, iron balls and razor wire.

Many of those that the device didn't rip to death will never see, walk or function properly ever again. With terrorist bombs, euphemisms such as "wounded" and "traumatized" are hideously misplaced. These are not, however, the only banalities being tossed around when this latest attack is discussed. Words like "rare," "surprise," and "extremist" seem similarly absurd to those who know anything about the plight of Christians in large chunks of the Muslim world. Remember, more than 50 Iraqi Catholics were murdered in November; on Christmas Day in the southern Philippines on a Muslim-dominated island a church was bombed and parishioners hurt; and in Pakistan just weeks ago a 45year-old Christian mother of five, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death for "defaming the Prophet." Not bad for a little over a month! Keep reading here.

Raising the Shield, Showing the Sword

Father Raymund J. de Souza raises the option of legitimate defense concerning attacks on Christians by the Scimitar.

Curvatis in se - Mary & the Scimitar

Monsignor Charles Pope strikes the ball out of the proverbial playing ground, in my opinion, with this and this. See what you think.

From Tripe to Truth

Why adherents to the Scimitar convert to the Christian faith here.

Scimitar and Christmas

Let's get this straight: this is offensive, but this isn't. Everybody understand? Pathetic, isn't it (look closely at the descriptors on the Scimitar poster - bile, pure bile).

Incomprehensible blather? Not at all. Understand this: the Scimitar was born in the cauldron of scandal and what René Girard calls the "problem of the doubles" or the reciprocity of the model/rival (model/obstacle, model/mediator). It has continued this mimetic relationship with the faiths of the Bible from its inception to this day.

I do not see a solution to the problem - and recent (unofficial) Catholic prophecies see it growing worse - because the Scimitar, by definition, is dependent on the Judaeo-Christian ethos for its very existence and will, therefore, always feel a deep resentment and humiliation by the existence of the truth of the biblical faiths. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will cause a break-thru of contrition in the hearts of its adherents someday. Or, perhaps our Lady will continue to appear and bring members of the Scimitar to Her.

Let us pray for peace as this Advent draws to a close, and we welcome again the birth of the Prince of Peace and Savior of the sin-filled world.

Calling a Spade a Spade

I like this fellow; there is no mythological veil thrown over his head, that is for certain. Bully.

Gil Bailie, I now see, comments on it here.

Waiting to Happen

It can be, and frequently is, argued that this kind of near-miss (in this case) is perpetrated by the lunatic fringe; that it can happen among the lunatics of any religion, including the Christian faith; that it is unfair to stereotype all members of the Scimitar on the basis of a lone lunatic's actions.

All of which is true, except for the fact that the Scimitar seems invariably to produce more "lone lunatics" than other religious communities that seem far more capable of being assimilated into their dominant cultures. Result? More potential catastrophes like this.

Solution to the problem? Good question.

Until those who are charged with the protection of the innocent and safeguarding of nations take into full account the anthropological realities explicated by René Girard's mimetic theory in general and the bloodlust of the "primitive sacred" (read: pagan), regardless of the Scimitar's ostensible claims of monotheism, all attempts to claim that the Scimitar is "just another of the world's religions" will ring hollow.

And dangerous.

But No Longer a Monopoly

Penn State and Baylor professor, Phillip Jenkins, says that the Christian faith is alive and well in Europe, and will be even more alive a century from now.

Clueless

He just doesn't get it, does he? If he spent one-half his time trying to reach the American public with the same fervor, he might just make some friends.

Meanwhile, he and most of the MSM ignores this. Sigh.

Realities of Holy War

In light of recent events, far away (and yet not so very) and close to home, it becomes necessary to examine why the Scimitar lends itself in our present-day to extreme violence.

Father James V. Schall, S. J. writes on what is slow to dawn on the non-Scimitar mentality in A Jihadist Conquest.

From a mimetic theory vantage point, it must be noted that the Scimitar carries all the attributes of what René Girard calls "the primitive sacred" - a deity who "on the record" has no problem with the slaughter of the unfaithful, such values that cannot be reformed by anything resembling progressive revelation or newer prophets who speak for a loving, universal Providence like that of the Judeo-Christian God, and promises of paradise to those who do the sacrificing of the unfaithful.

These are the realities of the Scimitar's notion of holy war. As opposed, say, to those of Christian notions of legitimate defense and chivalry.

Anyone for Tea?

I've got to say, the Tea Party folks are reminiscent of my parents' generation at their prime - roughly the 1955-68 time frame. They are nothing if not generically American, conservative in morals and values, suspicious of centralized governance, and fiscally responsible at home and expecting the same from legislators - an expectation sorely and ridiculously exploited the last two years.

The Tea Party will look vvery carefully at the Republicans they successfully vote into office on Tuesday, and then decide whether or not to become the first and true viable third political party in American politics EVER.

Catholics may or may not want to become part of the Tea Party; time will tell because, as is always the case, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, as Lord Acton observed. Nothing is forever, particularly party politics (Dante immortalized this in The Divine Comedy).

Meanwhile, blithering theological idiots like this fellow make the Tea Party a pleasure to watch and cheer for the time being.