The Natural Law: The Only Basis for International Order

By Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq.
9/30/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

We must recognize as central the 'dignity of the human person, beginning with the centrality of the right to life and to freedom of religion'.

It is only if the principles of the universality and indivisibility of human rights and a "juridical order solidly based upon the dignity and nature of humanity, in other words, upon the natural law" are recognized that international cooperation can occur. Out of the universal and indivisible rights arising out of man's nature, we must recognize as central the "dignity of the human person, beginning with the centrality of the right to life and to freedom of religion."

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - There was much chatter in the press about the speeches of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Barack Obama, but the press was sparse about the Statement of Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and Head of the Holy See's Delegation to the United Nations given on September 24, 2012.

In his intervention, Archbishop Mamberti stressed the importance of the rule of law, and called for its extension across the globe, since the rule of law is what protects human rights. There is, he noted, an "unbreakable link" between the rule of law and human rights.

The rule of law, of course, has both procedural and substantive components. Law is not only a verb, but also a noun. Not only must process be lawful and transparent, laws must also be substantively good, they must contain "substantial principles of justice" which cover "all spheres of social life."

The word "law" in the phrase "rule of law," "should be understood as 'justice'--what is just, what is a just thing, an element which is proper and inalienable to the nature of every human being and of fundamental social groups." For this reason, no person, no private or public institution, and, indeed, no state or international organization can be lawless or unjust, including--one must believe--religions, and so one and all "must be subject to law that is 'just, fair, and equitable.'"

Procedures alone, even democratic procedures, are not sufficient to assure the rule of law, since procedures or processes alone do not guaranty the substance of law. Democratic procedures can easily be manipulated to result in laws being "an expression of the will of a few," and hence result in injustice.

Moreover, without some substantive standard, we invariably confront "a proliferation of norms and procedures, susceptible in their turn to multiple applications and interpretations even to the point of contradicting each other and placing the certainty of law itself in jeopardy."

A cacophony of voices of what is good and right leads to disregard of law and, ultimately, to the weakening of the rule of law.

There is therefore need of "objective criteria as a basis and guide for legislative activity." Without such "objective criteria," the "rule of law is reduced to a sterile tautology, to a mere 'rule of rules,' and not the "rule of law."

In some cases, the failure to recognize objective criteria has lead to a "legalistic mentality," one based upon a philosophy of law called legal positivism, which results in a "formal and uncritical adherence to laws and rules." This can quickly result in the abuse of human dignity, as happened in the "totalitarian regimes of the 20th century."

Therefore, the "rule of law" requires a foundation. And that foundation must be, and can only be, "a unified and comprehensive vision of man." This vision of man must be one that appreciates "the complexity and richness [of] how people relate to each other." That is, it must be both personal and social in expanse.

Where, then, are individuals, social and political institutions, and indeed governing bodies, including the United Nations and its member states, to go to understand what is "just" or what is a "just thing" so that the rule of law can be furthered?

While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides some "points of reference," the human rights therein referenced "are not of themselves sufficient," particularly if we fail to understand them "in the spirit in which they were formulated and in their historical context." The Declaration notoriously prescinded from giving the basis of those rights.

But in fact, the underlying basis for the Universal Declaration of Human rights is the "result of a lengthy juridical and political process," one that found in the philosophy and theoretical thinking of the Greeks and the juridical and practical reasoning of the Romans. Added to this mix were "other elements, such as Judaeo-Christian wisdom, the laws of other European peoples, canon law," Scholastic and Enlightenment philosophies based in large part on Aristotle, and "the political developments" found in the French and American as well as other revolutions.

It is this uniquely Western contribution, this "complex, rich, and intricate edifice, which is simultaneously historical, juridical, and philosophical," upon which the "inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person can and must be appreciated as the essence of the law and to which the rules must refer."

To a certain degree, one must have "faith" in the rule of law, which means necessarily that one must have ...

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Tom McGuire
8 months ago
One of the most thoughtful articles I have read on Catholic Online. Thank you. As we move to a world no longer dominated by the West (Europe and United States) the basis of law becomes ever more important. As Catholics, we say the natural law is self evident to a reasonable people; for many reasonable people in the world the natural law derived from Greek and Christian principles is not self evident. People use Islam and Christianity to justify making the other the enemy. Pope Benedict XVI constantly calls for dialogue with people of other religions. The nature of law is one of the areas where dialogue can help all to come to agreement on the meaning and the basis of law. I pray someday we can get beyond building arguments to defeat the enemy, Islamists and secularists, and recognize that to be in communion with all requires dialogue.
Paul-Emile Leray
8 months ago
Excellent! (as usual) Thank you.
There are probably other places to place what I am about to write, but due to my technological challenges I will take the liberty of doing it here. Some may find it long, but my conscience compels me to do it anyhow. If I let perfectionism get in the way, then the result risks in putting forth nothing. Therefore, although the following 75 points that I scratched down over the week-end in jumbled up chicken scratches is certainly not a complete and exhaustive analysis or commentary of what I feel and think are components to some present problems; perhaps they will spark reflection and discernment in the hearts, spirits, minds, souls of people with power and control. In other words, I do this in the spirit of good will towards the greater good, in the hopes of influencing. I am not inside the Vatican, am not the leader of a country, and am not directly inside politics in the explicit form. There, all I can do is to try to influence.

Here is (for now) a 75 point itemized list for the good natured souls wishing to possibly assist towards the diminution of the following from happening: that is, the continuation of the fleecing of sheep and removal of hides from cattle; leaving many standing in 2 pastures staring at one another in herds, wondering what went wrong, while knee deep in a wet gopher hole, frustrated as nothing but a dried up salt block is left to order off the menu inside the restaurant called smorg culture. Fleecing sheep to the point of peeling off the hide right down to the muscle tissue, while the herd stands in sheep-dip after the sheep-dogs have been muzzled or largely ignored; thereby allowing the wolfmen holding the sheepshears to legally pass into laws sheepshearing festivals every now and again; must stop. After fleecings have taken place, next comes the peeling of hide off the charolais and buffalo in the 2nd pasture. The wolfmen have managed to run off in woolen sweaters topped off and covered up with some leather jackets on their backs to boot!
75 points to discern and consider, in prayer, to contemplate and meditate over, with a Christ centered heart, to see what can be done to prevent and/or minimize future fleecings on grand scales:
(in random order, but numbered nonetheless; let the moral authorities prioritize if necessary)

1. If men are to change they must first change their hearts. True. For fleecings to continue? Have a cold heart, if you wish to belong to the group of wolfmen.
2. How are we helping, collectively, terrorists be terrorists? For fleecings to continue? Be indifferent and don't try to understand or do anything about it.
3. How are we assisting in keeping so many poor? For further fleecings on a scale of what happened in 2008? Be indifferent.
4. Trails, horses, cowboys, guns; freeways, cars, modern man, guns, bullets, missiles, and bombs. For further fleecings of the hard working common man to continue? Fail to realize that the only true progress, in the larger context of our human existences, is spiritual progress properly defined and properly rooted and lived out with sincere attempts to do so. (with the realization that we all suffer from original sin and are all flawed and imperfect)
5. Be humble. For further fleecings to be guaranteed to happen in the future? Don't be humble and don't care about anyone but yourself. Be a complete narcissist.
6. Have the politicians tell the citizenry that their ignorance is the power and control of political leaders. The ignorance of the group is often responsible for wars. For further fleecings to be guaranteed by those in power? Don't tell them the truth. Don't tell them about problems present even in democracies.
7. To guarantee perpetual fleecings, insuring the sheep remain stuck not knee deep but that their bellies are now being eaten by the gophers popping their heads out of their holes and are now eating the sheep themselves? Do NOT tell the sheep and cattle in the pastures that democracies reflect the collective consciousness (or unconsciousness) of the herd at large and mirror this back to them. To insure the cattle are so slim and trim that the skin on their teeth has more meat on them than what exists inside the hides the wolves are now wearing; do NOT tell them that a democracy always has an inherent tendency to fall into what? Mobocracies. The rule of the mob elected by the mob.
8. NEVER tell them that when a democracy falls into a mobocracy, that a demagogue usually rises to power promising the two (and now three if we throw in the buffalo as well) herds that greener pastures are to be found and the only way through the narrow gate out of the slopply pastures filled with quick sand is to follow the demogogue like lemmings to be led right off a cliff! Fleecings and ripping the hide off cattle and buffalo are a delicate task. Revealing too much truth risks in the wolves necessitating another plan of attack as the herds wake up.
9. NEVER ever tell them, if you are in the business of considering the import/export industry of wool and leather for future opportunities, that IT IS THE NATURE OF TRUTH that it often (and usually, quite likely) separates itself from the crowd. I forget if it was Archbishop Luis M. Martinez (1881-1956) who wrote this or if it was Archbishop Alban Goodier (SJ) (1869-1939) who wrote it.
10. NEVER EVER tell people, if you are now in the process of purchasing colors for your future woolen sweaters and leather hides, that there is a logical contradiction present if it is the nature of truth that it often separates itself from the crowd and yet in a democracy majority rules!
11. The fleecing business is a delicate process. The wolves are forever scheming. NEVER tell the people, if you are doing advanced academic studies in a "how to" do something department at university, that those who lust to attain to, maintain, and grow power and control at all costs often do what? Terrorize, infantalize, control.
12. The professor emeritus experts on the art of fleecing and skinning and de-hiding might not often say that FEAR turns people into emotionally low level EQ children who then tremble and shake and out of desperation they are easier to control after they have been infantilized.
13. Do not tell the people that man should be taught how to be joyful if you wish to fleece.
14. Never make people feel good, rather make them feel like criminals from head to toe using all sorts of false guilt and tactics if you wish to paralyze their minds, if you are wishing to open a 5th business in the art of fleecing.
15. Food, shelter, clothing are important for most people since most people need to eat, have a roof over their heads, and preferably are dressed as they are out and about in society. An aspiring fleecing agent ought not to work to make sure the needs are taken care of. Why? After certain survival needs are taken care of, within reason, a human actually has time to pray more, discern, think, contemplate, reason, pursue artistic interests and so forth. Fleecing is mostly about keeping people ignorant.
16. Be sure to keep the patients feeling sick and their heads feeling as if all 26 or so teeth are completely cavity filled. Why? The hospital is empty and the dental chairs are too, if everyone is healthy. Therefore? The doctor and dentist go out of work. It is best to pass out candies and junk food regulary, instead of healthy food so as to be certain the patients continue filling the coffers.
17. An aspiring fleecer or cattle de-hider ought to NEVER EVER tell the herds that terrorism is inside our heart, spirit, soul, mind, body, thoughts, words, actions. In other words, terrorism exists inside who? You! Solution? Help people to keep the drain nice and clean, so that the artesian well deep down below naturally supplies all the water humans need.
18. The professor in the art of "how to fleece and keep fleecing" ought to NEVER suggest to his students and others that regular confessions help very much in keeping the drain neat and clean so that the artesian well deep inside the heart and soul can work effectively.
19. Those who would not only do PHDs but also post-docs in the art of "how to" fleece in this age of moral relativism and in this culture of death, ought to NEVER EVER truly teach what "poverty" means in the true sense. It means humility, first. In other words, those in the pastures; who are now being eaten by wolves, mosquitos, gophers, and now the farmer himself is so helpless that he has his entire herd in site from a distance, contemplating shooting them all; ought to NEVER be told that money is NOT dirty. It has no conscience. How one attains to it, maintains it, grows it, and distributes it; in this, there is morality. The money itself? Paper and coins!
20. Why do so many people on this planet still seem to like bloodshed? Senseless bloodbaths, in the words of our great leader Pope Benedict XVI. He is right. They are senseless bloodbaths. The aspiring fleecing student ought to never be told that peace, forgiveness, love, dialogue, reason and faith, are some points to consider, while done in a spirit of honest and sincere prayer, with sincerity of heart present; all this helps towards a better world and thus must be kept secret for those studying the art of fleecing and peeling hide and taking with it enough fat to bring to get processed at beauty product factories.
21. In the school of how to fleece and teach others how to fleece a sheep, ripping the hide off a cow so quickly that chunks of meat are left on the inside of the hide; the professor and his students ought to NEVER share the following: that faith to the exclusion of reason risks going too far into superstition. Reason to the exclusion of faith risks in being alive from the neck up. (the essence is present, paraphrased, thanks to Dominican and Jesuit writers)
22. He who wishes to open a secularized school filled with departments on "how to" fleece just about any animal with hair, fur, a hide, or feathers, ought to follow rule number 22 as well: ideologies are dangerous. Do not share this with anyone, if you wish to continue fleecing.
23. The master fleecer, one who now has 3 doctorates and has founded several schools in the art of fleecing; should NEVER share the FACT that there is no universally agreed upon definition of terrorism, if he wishes for the enrollments to rise.
24. And for goodness sake, the president of the university of FLEECERS ought to NEVER EVER mention that humans learn very poorly from lessons throughout history. General Clemenceau apparently stated that he did not know whether we were in moments of peace between moments of war, or in moments of war between moments of peace. PROOF that humans learn slowly from the LESSONS of HIS-STORY, an often subjective interpretation of events since the losers are either dead or have had their voices oppressed, is everywhere since history often seems to repeat itself with striking similarities! Furthermore, since the professors are humans themselves and live on planet earth and therefore within some national boundary, they are certainly quite likely to have subjective views as to who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. And if you happen to be an immigrant or moved around to live in various lands, at times you moved yourself from being on the losing side to the winning side or perhaps to the side still standing there frustrated they are still suffering most even when it wasn't them who started the entire frustrating peacockish display of feathers to begin with. But there you stand, unemployed and broke, with missiles flying over your head after the monkeys were fed bananas by various foreign policies to then turn into gorillas who then turn it all back on those who provided the funding! And modern man is modern? No. While his technology increases in degrees of sophistication, he simply learns more sophisticated and crafty means while marching towards his ideological ends.
25. A shareholder in the school of art providing only courses majoring in "how to" pragmatically FLEECE the living daylights off sheep and cattle ought to NEVER reveal the following, and this point #25 is truly important because it entails an explicit logical contraction that seems to baffle many, myself included since I too am a sheep and cow sitting on the open range, vulnerable to being FLEECED.

NEVER EVER reveal this information to anyone if you wish to continue studying at the school of "how to secularly pragmatically ruthlessly and cold heartedly FLEECE the living daylights off cattle with an automatic manufacturing facility attached right on the neck of the Herford designed to not only de-hide but also to make and package a baseball glove on the cow itself with a prepackaged FED-X stamped and paid for parcel on the tip of the tail of the cow self propelled right to the shelves of the address indicated. There is no time to bother with shortening the previous lengthy sentences, because dare not breath to pause for fear of the fleecing taking place that much faster. In one blink of an eye, the cow has lost the hide, sees a machine in operation and finds itself watching the wolves running off with leather jackets and baseball gloves wondering what happened as it sits there 4 legs stuck knee deep in mud. Dazzled. Dazed. Moaning. Cold. Shivering. Moaning some more.

This following point is important:
Never EVER consider why so many billionaires and some millionaires too, AFTER making FORTUNES on capital markets then vote for leftist policy making and throw much money at left leaning socialist and even communist type programs. Aha! Why? Because they seek NOT to liberate many, but to DOUBLE FLEECE and peel off a layer of meat as well since underneath the ball glove is another machine that packages meat slices while the cow in the pasture is still stuck dazed and dazzled in the pasture, alive.

26. NEVER, EVER, to those who aspire to become wizards and professor emeritus types in the art of fleecing sheep very fast while wearing a soft toned blue tie, share the following: Pope JPII said something to the effect that similar parallel realities existed at the back doors of extreme unbridled capitalism (corporatism) and communism. Not verbatum, but the essence is present. And now, refer back to point 25. Fleece, double fleece, and set up another plan of attack immediately after.

27. Next, while keeping points 25, 26, in mind; the student on the smorgasbord of tossed salad omelette styled secularized pragmatic moral relativism school, filled with sophists and liars and people needing to often justify their "how to fleece" programs, which is NOT what educare in the Latin sense was all about, but rather what instruction is often sadly about; ought to NEVER EVER tell people that ideologies are often (if not always) coercive and necessitate elimination of rivals.

Therefore, it interferes with God given FREE WILL in the properly understood Christian Roman Catholic understanding and interpretation of FREE WILL. There is no freedom of conscience when coercive ideologies are present. The result is that the herd of cattle and sheep are not only fleeced, with the wolves laughing while they wear designer labelled woolen sweaters and leather jackets. What is even worse is that the sheep and cows are now not only being BBQd and eaten alive while stuck. Their 4 legs are now so deep in the quick sand that bellies are at ground level and the head and tail are well suited for no longer a fleecing but a beheading and cutting! And no, let us not invite Henry VIII to the BBQ. He did enough damage as it was, including to the Catholic Church!

28. He or she, who wishes to do post doctoral studies after having attained 3 doctorates in the art of fleecing, ought to also keep the following secretive: Moral laws and legal positivism often do not equate. Also, power and control often does what it wants. And the leaders are all telling their followers that the bad guys are out there and the good ones are in here. A tribal mentality. The same thing happening in pro sports in the modern day Roman Coliseums can be seen across the lands. What is even more ironic is that political leaders not only campaign inside their monstrous infrastructures, they behave in the same ways as those playing the games do. Us versus them, and the group feels validated often after having convinced itself that the ideology justifies the means. When will all this craziness end?

Imagine the house standing on a set of wheels, sort of like a mobile home whereby the owner forgot to take the wheels off. Then? Then, when a typhoon comes along, he and his house end up on the other side of town with a new backyard to look at the following morning when he wakes up! Why, because Catholic natural law no longer existed as the foundation, the bedrock, with a nice solid foundation and basement underneath. Therefore? All the mobile homes in the trailer park risk ending up where? As sea containers on the lake! With human lives inside them wondering what went wrong, society asks itself why?

29. The bureaucrats and administrators at the university of "how to learn to FLEECE any living organisms or your money back guarantee refunds you somehow else" will rarely tell you the truth of the lethargic nature of excesslve bureaucracies and why? Because if they actually did get more streamlined and effective, they would effectively efficiently work themselves right OUT of a job! To be kept secretive.

30. Within the acorn lies the mighty oak: Aristotle. The tree is found inside the oak. What kind of an individual is he or she who can not understand that life begins at the moment of conception? Where else could it possibly begin? Those in courts who need to keep themselves nice and busy use verbicide, sophistry, WASTING tax money and lying to the public consistently and repeatedly in their efforts to follow a cynical way of thinking that says if you tell a lie often enough it becomes true. No, it does not. It results in your brains falling right out of your head from lying to your ownself for too long! The school of fleecing does not like the truth being revealed or exposed or shouted with trumpets.

31. Next, games, games, and more games. The Romans loved using their Coliseum. While these were filled, the governors were scheming how to further fleece those inside the coliseum watching games! Never ever mention, those who would wish to fleece, that a former president at the University of Chicago once allegedly said that the 3 F's were ruining the American college experience: fun, football, and fraternities. Games, more games, and stupid social clubs filled with opinions, more and more opining, and emoting.....a smorgasbord of feelings and emotings and personality pop psyche altitudinal platitudinal garbage rooted in the school of SOPHISTRY!

32. Democracies-mobocracies-demogogues-coercive oppression-implementation of a strongman or strongwoman-perhaps even violence and wars resulting from.....those in the left wing loon departments in the left wing departments of left wing universities and left wing governments in left wing societies in the schools of sophistry across the lands risk spinning the globe off its 23.5 degree rotational axis resulting into more environmental problems taking place and further global warmings or the ice age if further funding of certain policy makings in governments across the lands continue. The Sophistic Schools and their board members ought to NEVER mention this if they wish to continue teaching students how to fleece sheep, make sweaters of them, mittens too, and serve BBQ'd lamb right on the spot while the sheep is being roasted alive with hooves still firmly planted in the gopher holes.

33. Liberation theology. Did it get enough time or not? I don't know.

34. Why was Jesus so harsh with the Pharisees?

35. See the parallels present between the Pharisees and modern day political campaigns, politicians, judges, lawyers, marketers, advertisers, businessmen, businesswomen, those in commerce, those seeking to attain to then maintain then grow power and control. However, a warning! Those who are shareholders in the corporations and schools of the "how to pragmatically cold heartedly FLEECE a sheep even while it is being turned into a sweater on one side and roasted on the other" should not be mentionning this too loudly.

36. Next. Socialism, communism, coercive oppression, marxism, and more and more ideological magic thinking face enormous problems of trying to superimpose various ideologies on different cultures with different languages, beliefs, societies....and the risks of dropping these down on people is often to create a revolt for many reasons, including the fact that God given free will in the proper understanding and interpretation of the Catholic Church rooted in Christianity once again becomes more difficult due to logical consequences of having difficulties to exercise one's full freedom of conscience.

37. Aristotle: the center, the mean. Excess and deficiency. See how, centuries later, this ties nicely into the Dominican balance between faith and reason. Faith and reason co-exist in a spirit of truth seeking harmony and unity enhancing one another in a beautiful upward spiral aimed at truth flowing out of the artesian well of truth if given the proper soil, conditions, seeds, for all this to take place. For actualization of good potential to take place, proper conditions are best to serve these goals aiming at glorifying God.

38. God's will. Human will. All the human will power in the world is NOTHING when compared to God's will working through people. Have any of you ever seen anyone will power themselves into living to 500 years old? No. I least I have not.

39. If, after having discerned God's will to at least high degrees of probability with the direction of properly trained Catholic priests, monks, mystics, brothers, for example, then to be able to act on these good discernments requires political systems and policies and positive laws to NOT place garbage on top of the filter resulting in the water having more difficulty to spring forth. Don't put a secularized, sophistic smorg of moral relativism and half truths and nonsense ideologies on top of the artesian well if you wish for your societies to flourish!

40. The fleecing school of innocent sheep usually likes growing the bureaucracies and unions, since without fear, without groups, illusions of safety given by often self serving demagogues are more difficult to rationally argue if people truly understand the potential of beauty present in the proper understanding and exercising of free will rooted in the Catholic interpretation of this gift.

41. The 2008 crash. When all else fails on Wall Street, socialize the losses by not punishing severely the fleecers taking excessive bets and further fleecing and de-hiding the sheep and cattle by asking them to be patient as they socialize losses telling the fleeced to be patient.

42. Proof the system is not working so well, that political ideologies exist, that laws are not working that well either; is the disunity and fragmentation, the lack of harmony present in the societal orchestra. While the bandits playing the melody have opened up another show in another concert hall, those playing the harmonies are left weeping and the citizens in the auditorium are cattle watching the sheep on stage, essentially a building filled with 2 groups looking at one another like 2 herds separated by an electric fence, in 2 pastures, with wool burning on the fence and cow hides being tanned alongside the future sweaters. Meanwhile, the conductor has likely left town as well, and if he is still inside the auditorium, he is dusting off his tuxedo and sharpening his knife while gazing over the sheep on stage and the cattle in the seats to see which one he might eat himself, because after all, he too is starving and getting hungry....so now? Now, it risks breaking out into yet another political argument as to which herd is more useful to the orchestra than the other.

43. Human suffering. Good? Bad? Reality. Everyone suffers, to varying degrees, on this planet. However, while it depends on how we understand and grow through suffering, the fact still remains that suffering past a certain point makes discerning more difficult since if pushed too far one ends up being so tired and exhausted that he risks volunteering to jump on the fence before the wolves come around again to pick up their necklaces made of sheep and cattle teeth. But keep this quiet. The School of Sophistic Reasoning and "how to" FLEECE and roast a sheep or cow to then brag about it inside cocktail parties wishes to keep the truth silent and certainly not to shout it out loud with trumpets.

44. Terrorism? The systematic use of terror as a means of coercion, is my dictionary definition of this word. Coerce by threat or violence to control by insidious means; manipulation; where is the freedom in all this? Solution? AWARENESS. Also, the word "no". Also? "STOP". Also? Be not afraid. Those who would terrorize are more easily dismantled and silenced by awareness, understanding, and courage. The department at the school of "how to" strip the hide right off a Charolais and Herford, simulataneously, while putting together a leather jacket with one hand and BBQing the other half with the other hand; might not tell us this.

45. In some countries, scooters and motorcycles and small cars have more RIGHTS, in legalistic nonsense positive laws, than babies inside the womb! Why? The smaller the vehicle on the roads, the more right of passage they are given. The big trucks don't need to be protected, the most vulnerable do! What kind of sophist can not see this? The master pharisee sophists, more concerned with appearing wise than being wise, concerned with image before sincerity of heart and objective truth seeking, do NOT tell us anything that might go against their crazy ideologies!

46. Most people hope and seek for happiness on the ocean, while their ships are aligned with a compass aligned with the land of fruitless pleasures. The result? The mouth always feels dry, the feet are burning on the sand alongside the beach, the human has turned into a sort of lobster colored lizard, often so open minded that his brains have fallen right out of his head. Be careful of being too open minded, it has been said, or your brains might fall right out of your head! This goes quite nicely with the 3 F's mentionned earlier, along with Aristotle's deficiency, center/mean, and excess, once again further coupled with the Dominican school of thought, and again couple once more with the Jesuits and some of the annotations found inside the St. Ignatius Spiritual Exercises. But the schools of sophistry and euphemisms and politically correct rhetoric in the land of loons often dislikes it when fools like me do a little dancing on the keyboard!

47. Not all truth is to be found in the upper mind, according to a great Jesuit master, and therefore my interpretation is that psychology (the logos, the logy of, psyche) is a component of the puzzle. However, the schools of your attitude determines your altitude seem to think that attitude and platitudinal thinking is the answer. The better the attitude, the higher the altitude; well, on that premise if I get really really positively pumped up with caffeinated sugared colored carbonated drink filled with superficial joy and flap my arms while having a positive attitude then I must be able to positively fly into space to altitudes higher than a 747 so long as I keep my psychobabbling Hollywood dimwitted fake and perma prozac fueled smile on my plastic face! Are you people crazy? No wonder the pharmaceutical corporations are making fortunes! A little prozac for cloudy days. A little sunblock and mood pill for days too bright. Another mood pill for drizzly days and when there are more than 5 clouds in the sky...especially if they happen to be drifting in a direction opposite to what you had hoped for. Another mood pill for indigestion and yet another for digestion. A little X-lax in the morning, and something for emotional diarrhea in the evening. No wonder the pop psychobabbling book sections in bookstores are selling like hotcakes at a bazaar on the smorgasbord of moral relativism and pragmatic utilitarianism that often results in legal extortion unwittingly guarded by positive manmade laws and further backed by the judiciary!

48. How is just market value possible in a secularized society, with layers of utilitarianism and layers of "how to" materialize on something when too much manipulation becomes possible and thereby supply and demand risks not being reflected in the prices! If too much manipulation is possible, how can a businessman try looking for certain constants that he might be able to consider as somewhat reliable when making his plans? Perhaps a topic of further discussion is necessary, among those who know more about it than I do.

49. No two humans are equal in every way, even though we are loved equally by God. This having been said, if one takes a premise that everyone is equal in terms of gifts, interests, on some level one then must accept a dictatorship and remain enslaved. Without freedom, you can not rejoice to the degree you would desire to. The branches of the tree are often different in size and exist in various forms. The acorn, roots, trunk, branches, twigs, leaves; all are, THE TREE. And the roots are below ground. We know they exist. We know the oak tree grew out of the acorn. We also know that life exists at the moment of conception. And yet, why do many have a problem in admitting this? When else could life possibly start?

50. Aristotle: Out of nothing, nothing becomes. How can something or someone come from out of nothing? Impossible. We can somehow see atoms but some fail to recognize conception as being the starting point of human life?

51. Power and control does not like being told what to do. One reason is that power and control often enjoy keeping the status quo to remain in power and control. Look at what happened to Jesus and his apostles and many saints. One reason Jesus was crucified was political. This is the 2nd reason as to why he was crucified; it was political. Governors do not wish to be seen as weak infront of the herds they are often fleecing.

52. Mk 23

53. Lk 11

54. Mk 15:10

55. Mk 15:15

56. The term, geo-political manufacturing. I was once told that the best traits suited to manufacturing were also some of the worst traits geo-politically. Aspiring dictators, demogogues, power and control seeking fear mongers, enjoy having well disciplined, organized, structured, efficient, hard working, OBEDIENT non critical minded soldiers. It makes the ground much more fertile for them to rise to power and once there, to maintain it.

57. Some of the politicians, including in Canada, schooled by Jesuits, were horrible on some levels. Do not misinterpret. The Jesuits are not horrible. The politicians often drag the world into all sorts of troubles and problems, turning some of that intelligence against the very people who schooled them, and then? Then, the Church often gets blamed for it. It is politicians who are to be blamed, since they are in the business of getting elected, after campaigning, needing to play all sorts of games to attain to and maintain power and control, and so forth. Look at the long list of Catholic politicians, then look at the laws they put into place. It is very simple to analyze. Do these laws align with Catholic teachings or not? The answer is that many so called 'positive' laws are completely against true natural law.

This is another thing the Master Sophists at the school of deceit and lies will not shout out loud too often. And so, if you wish to continue your schooling in the art of how to skin a gopher sitting on top of the cow standing half BBQ'd with all 4 hooves stuck in gopher holes and by this time the mud has gotten so thick from the rain and snow, that the cow is getting pulled out by a tractor and now we have another problem. The legs have snapped. And therefore, there it goes, half BBQ'd being dragged around in the pasture on its belly with hunters taking aim at it. This is what often happens when we trust authorities too much. You risk losing your hide, getting fleeced, burned, roasted, then chained, and eaten! My goodness, I am beginning to see parallels with the Lives of the Saints!!!

58. Let us call a spade a spade and not pretend to call a dog a cat, or a cat a dog. Let us be honest. Over the past few decades, many young men have become effeminate to the point of barely being distinguishable from the girls! Especially, in the large urban areas. What did Plato write about this point, during one of the dialogues? It was something to the effect of boys being trained in the manlier pursuits such as hunting and sports (today, it would be sports) and the finer things such as art. Those who pursued only the manlier activities, to the exclusion of the more artistic pursuits later often grew to be quite brutish in nature. Translation? A brutal often rough and tough grunting savage with ill manners and behaviors everywhere he goes. Next, let us now go to the part on artistic pursuits such as music. A young boy, if only exposed to the finer arts, for example, to the exclusion of any of the manlier (traditionally called this) activities such as hunting (in those days) or sport might risk growing up later to become a little effeminate in nature. Now? Now, the boys are often wearing a little makeup while the girls are becoming stronger and stronger to the point I fear the boys will end up suffering from domestic violence more and more as time moves on. And because they were taught not to hit girls (which naturally is accurate), many will risk ending up walking down the street wearing makeup, with hats on backwards, pants 1/4 way down, with excessive bling blang jewelry, on their way to see the doctor to then explain why they have a black eye. Imagine the psychological pain of having to go through all that. Meanwhile, the girls laugh. We don't have to be producing and turning out Male Castrate either! The Coliseum doesn't need that many singers singing in falsetto or whatever it is they call it! Why not have them in pantyhose and high heels and slap a little lipstick on them while we are at it. Heck, send them shopping for a new outfit everytime there is a function whereby they have to see the same people twice. We don't need to have them breaking down into full fledged existential crisis everytime a cloud happens to turn a little gray. This is not an anti gay bash at all. On the contrary, I have many friends from all sorts of backgrounds and like them all very much. My point is observation based, simply stating facts that there does seem to be a rapid feminization of young men taking place to the point the heterosexuals might end up all living on the other sides of the tracks and 5 blocks further behind the industrial complexes if this keeps up. Why? The same sex civil couples will end up owning all the best property in town, quite possibly. Meanwhile, the family man risks fighting off gangs while trying to raise a family and the same sex union are throwing the scraps from 1st class, bypassing 2nd class, straight down into economy class every time we get on jets. And the married men are happy if there is more than marrow left on the bone! Heck, a little chicken on the chicken wings and the entire family practically feels as if they are in a 5 star restaurant! And to boot, the same sex union risks sneering and dusting themselves off with a little perfumed brush viewing the poor family man and his family as a nuisance to his peace and silence as they walk off the plane.

59. The 59th observation and potential future point to be highlighted in either yellow, green, or pink, and whatever other color your mood ring might suggest to you for the day: to be read while always aware that the quality of your prayers does affect many things.

Be prepared for many great joys and lots of happiness but don't forget to refer to Mt 23, Lk 11, Mk 15:10, Mk 15:15 regularly. Power and control do NOT enjoy being told what to do or criticized too heavily. After all this writing, I might end up with a bag of wet sand inside my mouth tomorrow morning after having been fleeced myself resembling the poor sheep and dirty cow now in full dialogue doing a comparative parallel analysis while trying to figure out what went wrong. The answer? See point 60.

60. Before trying to produce saints, at least let them know what they might be up against and get them enough fruit and water so that while they are crossing the desert, they don't end up roasted under the sun while being dehydrated and getting eaten alive by wild coyotes, wolves, tigers, and grizzles who lost their iceberg and somehow ended up in the desert alongside the foxes and tigers. Take the time to explain to the people that while the heart must be open, if the mind is too open the brain falls right out of the head and one risks getting coerced, manipulated, stuck in the pasture, perhaps caught on a fence with 2 feet in the gopher hole and the other two on the other side seeing the neighborhood foxes nibbling away at the hooves. Meanwhile, the farmer is contemplating shooting the cow after having been completely stripped from its hide as the wild bandits and wolves move closer with each passing moment.

The teachers in the schools of sophistry do not often teach educare these days, they teach instruction.

61. Be careful if exposing moral relativism on the secular smorg of the buffet of theological and philosophical omelette making....the sophists will present their arguments in a way that it ends up risking to look like a fully loaded pizza so mixed up that some think they are being fed a stew!

62. Perhaps the Ottaviani Intervention merits some consideration. However, shouting it too loud through trumpets might offend the politically correct.

63. On some levels, there is not enough focus on sacrifice and too much exaggerated time spent on community. Well, the community is often now so active that it takes longer to announce the upcoming events than it does to listen to certain homilies. With all the well meaning self styled philanthropists and charities, the people are often kept so busy BBQing, burning burgers before going to yet another meeting to raise money through a bingo gathering before attending the next meeting to blow up balloons celebrating one thing or another...is it any wonder the society is half insane!

64. Cell phones, twitter, and checking messages during Mass...annoying.

65. Since the priest is the priest, we ought to be listening to his views more and a little less to self styled interpretations suited to somehow squeeze onto the Hollywood smorg menu of secularization. After all, many on television shows have all sorts of pop psyche self styled gurus who somehow feel that attending 2 retreats and reading 2 books has turned them into an expert almost at the level of canon law scholars.

66. And with all this, the politicians have more ammunition to further drag people into the army of lemmings since not enough critical thinking exists anymore in generations under more or less the ages of 70, especially those under 65. The Beatles were the Beatles, but being famous does not presuppose one is an expert in all things. The world is often viewed as a nail by those good with a hammer. An American said this last sentence that I paraphrased.

67. Many suffer from a childlike image of Christianity that Jesus is sort of like a magician in the sky who is there to listen to our bucket wishlist and throw us whatever we ask of him. A book entitled What Jesus Saw from The Cross, by A.G. Sertillanges (1863-1948) might help many. It certainly helped me.

68. The differences between discursive and non discursive prayer. Why we have 2 ears and only 1 hole located below the two nostrils and slightly above the chin. Notice of alarm: a politician might have a little difficulty with this, in the beginning.

69: Being radical is o.k. Jesus was radical. He was radically good! Imagine breaking off, with authority, in the culture, geo-political climate he was in, and so forth, and making his claims and with authority to then tell the Pharisees what he did.

70. There was no set pattern of life, for a disciple of Jesus. Their ways of following were different. Notice: if the positive laws in any given culture, nation, are too rigid and legalistic it does practically make a crime out of many things that are not crimes. The heart of Jesus, his essence, is necessary to understand. The Pharisees were concerned with the letter of the law, with public image, while they had hearts of stone.

71. The prayers of the Pharisees were often prayers of pride. And yet, mentionning God when convenient and abandonning him in public discourse when also perceived as convenient, inserting his name here and omitting it there; is there not some Pharisee like parallel present with political campaigns and inside politics? Note: I am quite sure many are not too happy reading these words, but also am certain some are.
Beware: The School of Sophistry offering majors in how to FLEECE and BBQ innocent sheep, with a double minor in how to herd the cattle, strip them of their hides, plus BBQ them while still stuck in mud knee deep in a long forgotten pasture unknown but to the wolves; does not like to be criticized when inconvenient.

72. Trying to see a tree as a disunified, dissected organism, entity, or reality; with no consideration for what lies underneath the ground; is just as unwise as trying to see society through a lens whereby the leaves, twigs, branches, trunk will somehow stay in place with no discernment or consideration of what lies underneath in the premises and precepts, the roots, the acorn. It is like expecting to see mustard grow when the ground is not properly prepared, after having seeded canola. It makes no sense. It is all an interconnected whole, unified; the disharmony, a feeling of fragmentation in society, a general malaise at large, these are all signs of something having gone terribly wrong somewhere.

73. Politics and economics? Wrong. There was a time when it was called, in America, political economy. Just as theology and philosophy ought to not be seen as completely separate from each other, it is nonsense to not view politics and economics as being interrelated. And since political economy is influenced by political philosophy, which has been influenced by philosophy, rooted in theology (by either its acceptance or rejection), then how to expect the water to flow through the tree smoothly if having a disunified, non harmonized, disjunct paradigm and concept?
Warning: Beware to tell anyone their faults, to criticize, since humans are rarely objective with themselves even if they ask for criticisms.

74. Since terrorism is inside the individual, for it is humans who terrorize, how then to not fear? Naturally, we all have fears, but how to not fear in the sense that it stops us from wishing to continue the journey? Understanding the human condition? Yes, but more specifically what? Human nature? Nurture? Both?
Note: see St. Ignatius Spiritual Exercises and look at what he wrote vis-a-vis scruples and how we are attacked and how we are to observe. See also what he writes on scruples when we are in certain states and how this might lead to sins of commission in some instances and sins of omission in other cases. It has been said, after all, that all it takes for evil to prevail is for a few good men to do nothing. See how the evil spirit seeks to attack, including with highly sensitive and delicate souls already suffering. See how at times he is tempted to either remain silent or not act, when he ought to precisely NOT be silent and indeed swing into action in some cases. And do all this with a trained Jesuit spiritual director, because this is how they should be done. In this age of self styled gurus, be diligent to not pay too much attention to opinions and even more careful as to where you seek advice from and who you choose to discern with. Opinions are often wrong, if when well intentionned.
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75. It has been stated that the most difficult task any human can engage in at any point in time is to sincerely try discerning the will of God. With a proper director, a trained Catholic priest, why not try?

If we are to try to then implement our discernments, political systems and laws ought to assist towards what is necessary for a society to be deemed loving, peaceful, harmonious, forgiving, just; therefore, inevitably growing and flourishing with more joy. Isn't that a good thing for everyone, including when viewed with the perspective of a long timeline in mind?

Paul-Emile Leray
Stephen Volk
8 months ago
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