The Gnosticism of the Chattering Progressives

A homerun by Katherine Kersten. Minnesota is in fantasy land now and Katherine asks the logical question: what will they force upon us next? Your guess is as good as mine!

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One of the clearest things about Minnesota’s new gay-marriage law is that it requires Minnesotans to “play pretend” — to embrace obvious fictions as reality.

For example, the law states that citizens must view the union of two people of the same sex — who can’t produce a child — as identical to that of a man and woman, whose sexual complementarity is the only thing that can. The law also declares that, henceforth, “when necessary to implement the rights and responsibilities of spouses or parents in a civil marriage between persons of the same sex,” words like “mother” and “father” “must be construed in a neutral manner to refer to a person of either gender” under Minnesota law. But a woman can’t be a father, and a man can’t be a mother. It’s a biological fact Minnesota lawmakers can’t repeal, no matter how much they wish to.

Our lawmakers seem utterly untroubled by their vote to impose a regime of “let’s pretend.” What explains this?

The legislators and their supporters who celebrated the bill’s passage on the State Capitol lawn made clear that what they crave is to be in the vanguard of a brave new world. “By your political courage you join that pantheon of exceptional leaders who did something extraordinary,” Gov. Mark Dayton proclaimed as he signed the law. “You changed the course of history for our state and our nation.” President Obama received similar accolades when he announced his support for gay marriage. Apparently, for some folks, there’s nothing headier than to be on the Right Side of History.

But here’s a dirty little secret. No one has the remotest idea where our state officials’ decision to turn our fundamental social institution upside down will take our society in coming decades. We know the experiment is starting out badly, because it’s based on pretending that demonstrable falsehoods are true. We have no idea what ripple effects it will have, how its redefinition of parenthood will affect children, or whether we’ll next see a push for marriage as the union of three or more loving people: the logical next step.

You would expect our legislators to wrestle with weighty questions like these before deciding to end marriage as we — and all other people on Earth — have always known it. They did not. That’s because they (at least the true believers among them) were motivated by a quasi-religious faith that “marriage equality” will inevitably lead our state to the secular equivalent of the Promised Land.

Gay marriage is a crusade, and the driving force behind it is the secular religion of progressivism. This faith’s adherents put their hope, not in salvation after death, but in a hazy and glorious future here on Earth.

The journalist Christopher Caldwell has put it succinctly: “The argument for gay marriage is always made in the name of history — not the history we have lived, but the history we are yet to live.” Will that future turn out as planned? Progressive dogma leaves no doubt that it must. Those who dare to question this — like gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer or Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy — are branded heretics, and figuratively burned at the stake by the media, Hollywood and fervent wavers of the Rainbow Flag.

Social commentator George Weigel sees the roots of the progressive faith in an “intense revival” of an ancient religious movement called Gnosticism. This movement has taken many forms throughout history. But it is always an elite phenomenon, and always holds that the key to human flourishing is possession of a special knowledge that allows man to transcend the material world, so he can build paradise for himself on his own terms.

Modern man — at least many intellectuals — chafes under the constraints of reality. He longs to be “as a god,” to pretend that there are no givens, that “everything in the human condition is plastic and malleable.” In short, says Weigel, he craves to believe that “everything can … be bent to human willfulness, which is to say, human desire.”

Today, Gnosticism is most “powerfully embodied” in the Sexual Revolution and its ideology of gender, writes Weigel. That ideology holds that maleness and femaleness — two elements of the human condition that have always been understood as the essence of “givenness” — are now to be viewed as mere cultural constructs.

Weigel points to Spain’s Zapatero government, which passed a law in 2007 permitting men to change themselves into women, and vice versa, by a declaration at a government office — absent any surgery — after which a new national identity card, with the new gender, is issued. “It is hard to imagine a more explicit expression of personal willfulness overpowering natural givenness,” he concludes.

The gay marriage crusade is just the latest manifestation of the secular religion of America’s intellectual elites. Who knows what new game of “let’s pretend” our chattering classes will impose on us next?

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/209736121.html#.Uaz4NEmKjiE.google

Got Peace?

And the enemies of religion continue to use this argument over and over without ever addressing the murderous tyrannies mentioned, which is kind of annoying.

All of our lives... UPDATED

...we are told to "take a stand against the norm!" Be different! Think for yourself! Stand out from the crowd! Go against the grain! Be prophetic!

...except...

...except when it comes to the redefinition of marriage...

...if you are against members of the same-sex uniting themselves in so-called, "gay marriage" you are a bigot, hate-filled homophobe, knick-dragging imbecile, not worthy of life.

The silencing and shunning of anyone who is against the redefinition of marriage or simply "for" the actual definition of marriage, should seriously frighten all reasonable people on all sides of this issue. This reality is best described in an article by Brendan O'Neill.

I seem to post a lot about this subject lately, especially after not posting much for a long time. I will keep posting about this subject because I believe the outcome of the redefinition of marriage will have a chilling effect on not only the progressive culture of the West, but will lead to the out-law status of anyone who opposes same-sex marriage. The claim that religious exemptions exist in the current laws being passed is just a brief nod to the 1st Amendment.  If the claims that same-sex marriage is a civil right continue unhindered, there is only one outcome that can result from such claims: anyone opposed to basic civil rights will be considered a criminal.

So the question is: will the legal redefinition of marriage lead to a peaceful coexistence of all people on all sides of the issue, or will it lead to the followers of Jesus Christ heading to the catacombs and caves?

Maybe it's something in between. I hold out hope.

UPDATE: I was reminded in a Tweet I read today about why the Church and so many are against the redefinition of marriage. It is NOT because we will be persecuted. We welcome persecution for the sake of the truth. I need to make that clear both here and in my own mind.

We are against SSM because marriage is ultimately about the next generation. Marriage protects and guarantees the rights of children. The future of any society rests in the protection of the family unit and the unions that produce the future citizens. If the only thing marriage is about is the feelings one adult has for another, then the ship is already sunk. But we know that this is not why the government cares about marriage. It is all about the children. Children, as citizens and human beings have natural rights. One of those rights is to know their true biological mothers and fathers. No exception to the rule you can think of can remove that natural right.

Redefining marriage to mean that we will recognize the love aspect of two people OVER and ABOVE the rights of the children basically takes children out of the picture. This is a travesty and a severe cultural shift that will radically change the future of our country.

Is it about equality?

I posted this in a friends Facebook update where she was lamenting the fact that we humans are not evolved enough to grant equality for all. The hidden text is that she lives in Minnesota and is witnessing the debates around so-called same-sex marriage. 
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Hi Sue, as one who is profoundly against the redefinition of marriage, I want you to know that your idea that this is about equality is not the battle my side is fighting. In fact, I call it a ruse and a distraction that seeks to prevent the actual facts from getting out. All human beings are created in the image and likeness of God according to the tradition and faith that I profess. Gay, straight, black, white, whatever. However, the associations we enter into as free persons are of a different nature and the state has a vested interest in some and not in others. You can read about this in your own time, but what is not being said is the simple fact that the passing of these laws will radically change our culture and will force the government to enact new laws (see Belgium or Canada) that will imprison people like me for not performing a gay wedding. If you think I am kidding, just do a little research on your own. 

People of good will disagree about these issues, that is a simple fact. But don't be fooled by false claims about equality and that anybody who is against this radical societal shift is just full of hate. In fact, when you hear the word "hate" tossed about in this issue, be sure that the argument has devolved and honest open debate is impossible. 

I am aware that I am an oddity in a culture that professes the fulfillment of every whim and desire is necessary and good. But I stand firm. I will not and cannot approve of the private lives of every human association. I have my own litmus test. Since I am a Catholic Priest, people will know what that is without much thought. The question at the end of the day is will I be able to hold my principles and beliefs without the threat of law or violence? I hope so. But history tells me something more sinister is on the horizon. I hope I am wrong and I hope we will all live in peace no matter what laws are passed.
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On a related note: Cleveland sex slave house, Gosnell abortion murder trial, Benghazi whistleblowers, Egyptian persecution of Christians, Boston jihad bombings...

I just looked out the window to see if the Four Horseman have unhitched their steeds yet.

Truth and Debate in the Marriage Question

 “The most troubling aspect of the gay-marriage movement is that, more than any social movement in living memory, more than feminism at its bra-burning peak in the 1970s, it aims not to engage in lively debate but to shut it down.”

Read the rest of this article here.

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Why vocation programs don't work

It's discipleship!!!!!

This is my working document for my new ministry as Promoter of Vocations.

What we thirst for...