Friday, August 6, 2010

NOM And The American Family Association Come Out Of The Closet On Judge Walker

Nothing like creating Law on the basis of the Leviticus purity codes.  Wait a minute...didn't those just apply to the priesthood?


A commenter to this blog wondered why Prop 8 supporters didn't bring up the issue of Judge Walker's orientation and have him recused from hearing the case.  I personally did not know that Judge Walker was supposed to be gay, until after his decision was handed down.  My personal question, as I followed the case, was why Prop 8 supporters put up such a lame defense.  It seemed to me most of their energy went into keeping cameras out of the courtroom, and at that they were successful--surprisingly so.

I responded to the commenter and then went to my email where I had a message from the Courage Campaign with the following:

"The American Family Association, part of the coalition of right-wing religious groups that spearheaded Proposition 8 in 2008, is asking its 2.3 million supporters to pressure Congress to impeach Judge Vaughn Walker.


Shockingly, AFA is using Judge Walker's sexual orientation to attack him as a "black-robed tyrant whose own lifestyle choices make it impossible to believe he could be impartial." Like the National Organization for Marriage, the AFA is rallying religious extremists to build a national backlash against Judge Walker's historic ruling striking down Prop 8."

This to me is a very dangerous strategy, one which can be used against right wing Catholic Supreme Court judges like Antonin Scalia.  This is especially dangerous in view of the fact Judge Walker made personal morality vs objective fact as the reason he completely rejected the arguments of the Prop 8 defenders.  What makes this even more dangerous is that Judge Walker was a Reagan appointee and sailed through his confirmation hearings held by Reagan conservatives.  If Walker's impartiality can now be called into question, where does this all stop? 

Would NOM make the same argument that celibate male Catholic bishops have an agenda about women's reproductive organs and should recuse themselves from input into the moral theology surrounding women's issues?  Would they call Pope Benedict a" 'white' robed tyrant whose own life style choices make it impossible to believe he could be impartial".  That argument could logically be extended to all the issues surrounding marriage and sex and be extended to the entire Catholic clergy.  But I suspect NOM's logic is strictly a one way street and only applies to authority figures who don't agree with their moral compass.

There are those who believe that the mobilization of the The American Family Association, NOM, the K of C, and other culture warrior groups has far less to do with Judge Walker and far more to do with sending a message to the Republican party.  It's about reasserting themselves as the driving force in Republican politics by reminding the party about the volume of their dollars and voting numbers.  The Tea Party maybe getting the media attention, but they don't have the same volume on their email lists.  I can buy this. 

I can also see an even more cynical strategy: Why insist on no cameras and then put up such a lame defense unless you didn't want the cameras recording the lame defense. Why maintain dead silence on Judge Walker's sexuality until you've lost the case?  In my cynical scenario,  losing was far better for these 'family values' groups long term survivability and cash flow than winning could ever be.  As a bonus they could continue to play the ever popular activist judge card.  There were plenty of solid political reasons the sexuality of Judge Walker should not come into play until the decision was rendered and Prop 8 overturned.

I really hope conservatives take a long hard look at these 'family values' groups.  They are being had.  For all their money and blood and sweat and activism, the people who support these cultural values PACS have received nothing of value in return.  The only way they can receive value for their energy is for a complete repudiation of core planks of Constitutional law. 

This reminds me of the argument between Thomas More and his son-in-law William Roper as written by Robert Bolt in a "Man For All Seasons".  Roper is incensed with More for not arresting a student who Roper suspects of sabotaging More at court.  Roper is a  more than a bit of a crusader.  More tells Roper he has no reason to arrest the student and that if the student was the 'devil' himself, he would let him go until he broke the law.

Roper retorts:  "So now you'd give the devil the benefit of law?"
And More answers:  "Yes and what would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the devil?"
Roper: "I'd cut down every law in England to do that!"
More gets just as emphatic: "Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you--where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?  This country is planted thick with laws from coast to coast--man's laws, not God's --and if you cut them down--and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds the would blow then?"
     "Yes, I'd give the devil the benefit of law, for my own safety's sake."

This is one time conservative Catholics should listen to the words of  St Thomas More.  They need to reject the games being played in their name by those who purport to lead them--before they turn around, the Constitution having been flattened, and they find themselves unable to stand in winds they created.

18 comments:

  1. I suspect the reason for the lame defense was they were testing God. They expected that God would see that the ruling came down the way they wanted it - forcefully on the side of traditional marriage, one man and one woman and all. And written in the words of Judge Walker.

    Imagine their chagrin to find God doesn't work that way...
    Veronica

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  2. 'Would they call Pope Benedict a" 'white' robed tyrant whose own life style choices make it impossible to believe he could be impartial".'

    ....I would:)

    The groups you cited are all linked to Opus Dei, in the final analysis.

    OD has one aim - which is cleverly disguised in duplicity: to destroy faith. Their more well known aim, which goes hand in hand is; to gain power at any/all cost. They already have the latter; they are working feverishly on the former.

    Try to see this in an over-arching context. The issue is not gay rights or even marriage: it is about creating strife. This destablilization is useful to destroy social fabric, and with it religious faith.

    Get ppl angry with each other - and they are distracted from other concurrent efforts.

    As to a possible SCOTUS case, no matter what the outcome, Opus Dei wins. They utterly rip the fabric of US society apart. Destroying whatever faith in conventional organized religion is left. This is key to their goals.

    Walker could simply be a useful idiot for them, who has (perhaps completely unwittingly)played into their hands. I consider this a very real possibility. Even if his personal/professional motives are pure. People get used.

    The Religious Right are doing the work of destroying religious faith by their fanaticism. All the OD needed was a few well placed facilitators to keep the ball rolling. The rest of society not under their spell views them as exemplary of "what Christians are like".

    A very clever strategy to turn souls away from God.

    So for these groups to howl about the judge's sexual orientation is.....to be expected. It is part of their 'script'.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  3. Mouse writes: OD has one aim.... to destroy faith.

    I ask: To what purpose?

    I'm always puzzled when something "hangs" there - without a context.

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  4. Good question TheraP. I'll be very curious to see if and how mouse answers you. By the way, in some native representations the mouse is the animal medicine which aids scrutiny and attention to detail. It helps one see the forest in all the details.

    If faith in some way equals truth, then one could make the case that OD is engaged in preventing people from getting to some important truths. Especially those truths that pertain to how reality really works.

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  5. "I ask: To what purpose?"

    Actually, I have answered this before. Though the answer is neither pleasant nor easy to comprehend. Let's go back to our Latin class:

    'Opus' = a body of work(s), a collection of works (in art, music, literature), a project, a construction, a constuct. Also: to build; the building or construction of an ongoing project.

    'Dei' = God. Here is is expressed in the Genitive, expressing ownership of possession, which is odd.

    If we interpreted this to mean 'God's Work' (which is incorrect), it is implicitly exclusive. That ONLY 'this' is 'God's Work'. Logically, this cannot be true. TO interpret as 'The Work of God' only furthers the confusing exclusivity.

    If we say 'The Project of God' it merely raise more questions. What is the 'project'? Does the project belong to God? Is is His only project? If it is an 'ongoing project' is it the Neverending Story?

    If it is a body of work(s)....what? How much? To what ends? It is is a 'Construction Project' this would make more sense on many levels? But then - what are they 'building'? We know they are amassing great wealth & power.....but to what end?

    Finally we come to 'Construct'. Usually something not concrete, but mental, psychological, philosophical, religious. Something, if not intangible, which is two dimensional.

    The Construct of God. The fabrication thereof. Of an idea thereof, a paradigm of, a posited reality of...'God'. To build God. To make God.

    The fabrication & manifestation of God. The False Christ, long prophecied. The 'how' is complex. But one thing is simple:

    To get ppl to accept/believe in this Construct, you must utterly dismantle ALL organized religion. You must destroy what ppl believe in; while at the same time inculcating in them the need to believe in SOMETHING.

    The orchestrated drama of the sex scandals has worked well, as planned......one of several concurrent plans.


    Anon Y.Mouse

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  6. Colleen -

    "Especially those truths that pertain to how reality really works."

    To effect this requires massive deception on many levels. The only entity with such overriding powers is the Devil. There is your master strategist.

    Those who are working/cooperating in the many interlocked agendas are in service to him. Many of them do not or may not even realize this. Due to spiritual Blindness. They 'think' what they are doing is right.

    Indeed, it can be correctly said that OD wants to perpetuate (and create) false trails to go on. Rather like some clever person who switches road or forest trail signs on ppl to get them lost. Or to keep them from the correct path.

    An easy example are the 'Liturgy Wars'. Does it REALLY matter which Rite of the mass is used? No (and there have been many, historically). If you intentionally cause confusion, strife & infighting on BOTH sides.....nobody finds truth. And it keeps them from trying to live the Gospel.

    ...clever, eh?

    The most evil cleric is not the one with observable fangs & a tail. It is the one who wears the mask of imperturbable calm. The false smile as a cover. Who knows, no matter what he does, nothing that you (the layman) say or do matters. He is untouchable, as long as he follows the marching orders given to him.

    Such have been sent into parishes to destroy them. Some in subtlety; some with abandon. All following orders. You cannot touch them. They are BOTH liberal AND conservative. Or pretending to be one or the other. Ditto for bishops.

    These types have hidden 'godfathers' who enable, protest& order them. They are serving Satan - which needs no formal induction ceremony. Only the ability to be duplicitous.

    Tell me....and think carefully.....of all the priests you have known, how many of them have been honest to you? How many of them do you think were telling the truth - are absolutely trustworthy?

    More clerics are at least 'friendly' to OD them most realize. As they know it = their career.

    'Obra' is an old Spanish word for a demon/the demonic. But you will search long to find this.

    Anon Y.Mouse

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  7. "These types have hidden 'godfathers' who enable, protest& order them. "

    Correction: the word should be 'protect'

    And this mouse just wants some cheese. Perhaps some nice wine too:)

    Anon Y.Mouse

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  8. "Finally we come to 'Construct'. Usually something not concrete, but mental, psychological, philosophical, religious. Something, if not intangible, which is two dimensional."

    Mouse, I do think you have hit on the real truth. The idea is to further intellectual abstracts as REAL. When people relate to intellectual constructs as if they were real they thoroughly disempower their ability to relate to reality in any meaningful way except to further the agendas of the people who espouse the constructs. This process further serves the purpose of keeping people locked in their own thinking and relating to the world as a self alienated individual rather than a member of a community.

    I suspect this latter reason is why OD type groups are so enamored of Eucharistic Adoration as a principle spiritual discipline. It's all about 'me and Jesus' which blinds them to the fact Jesus said He was to be found in the least of us, and that His followers were a community rather than a hodge podge of individual seekers.

    One important question is who benefits from furthering an individuals isolation from community, while at the same time promoting a community of isolated individuals?

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  9. I haven't been commenting much, more reading and listening. I just wanted you all to know that this discussion really bothers me, I think in a good way. I do think we are getting one hell of a sales pitch (all implications intended).

    However, Mouse, the chaos theory of faith destruction doesn't quite ring true. I see more people drawn to order, and when that order is supplied it becomes easy for a lot of people to follow. It seems that more would march straight into hell than get there helter skelter. But I'm still listening more than opining.

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  10. Colleen -

    Let's not in any way demean Eucharistic Adoration. Christ DID teach that we are to spend time alone with Him. To listen to Him & to enrich our companionship with Him as friend.

    BUT we are also supposed to go out & help our brethren. To reach out to others, if possible/where possible. Yes, there must be the balance which you hint at. First spiritually forming ourselves in & with Christ; then in action.

    Indeed OD is using traditional private devotions.....as bait. A fishing lure to 'reel'em in'.

    In a related matter (on Fr. Z's blog....which I find vile bu useful), several commenters have divulged a great truth:

    You will ONLY find the ready availability of Confession in a parish where the priest is a member of Opus Dei....or a coopertor with OD.

    Now ponder that. Of course you CAN go directly to God when no priest confessor is available. But most have been conditioned not to. Or are clueless of this. Excellent programming of minds......!

    So, if you with spiritual counsel, un-burdening, Canon Law-mandated frequenting of this Sacrament....and thus the "only proper way" to be admissable to reception of Holy Communion.....you must now expose you inner self to an Opus Dei priest.

    How diabolical!

    Or shall I include in the equation the nearly ubiquitous face-to-face 'Reconciliation Room'?

    And of course, they would NEVER have concealed recording devices, now would they?

    You do realize that Fr. Ngwabzvfio - the extern priest from the diocese of Zquifershufti......was trained by Opus Dei. And is often the priest who hears confessions in your parish. He is so helpful, full of smiles, & says such a prayerful mass.......that you assume he is a moron.

    He is not.

    (word verification: BRAIN)

    Anon Y.Mouse

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  11. mjc -

    "the chaos theory of faith destruction doesn't quite ring true. I see more people drawn to order, and when that order is supplied it becomes easy for a lot of people to follow."

    The problem with the word 'chaos' is similar to the word 'anarchy': they both denote disorganization & confusion. Nothing is further from the truth.

    Indeed ppl will desire the 'order' you cite. Good observation! But they will seek it as they have experienced (highly organized, yet seeming) chaos. Which will drive them toward whatever seems normal & orderly. Secure. Safe.

    Remember the words of FDR:

    "If something happens in politics, it was intended to happen..."

    This applies to these scenarios too.

    Colleen-

    "The idea is to further intellectual abstracts as REAL."

    True. The Anti-Gospel which Christ warned of IS a construct. An intellectual abstract as a complete, ready-made package. BUT which appears to be 'Christian'. Which 'hath the form & substance' of the real deal. It must be a complete deception....mental,emotional, psychological AND spiritual.

    It cannot be just bait on a hook. It must be a net which grabs the complete fish. Hence, a holistic construct. So it cannot just be an idea; it must be a system.

    Yet if we wish to call it 'bait' it cannot be just one kind of bait, or it only attracts one kind of fish. So many DIFFERENT (even seemingly conflicting) 'bait' will be used.

    Just think of the MANY new 'groups' of the OD/LC mode.

    Anon Y.Mouse

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  12. Mouse, you've answered "a" question - the meaning of the words Opus Dei (which of course could mean other things too). But still you have not explained to "what purpose" they are dismantling faith. I'm not asking a causal question, not asking "how" but a teleological question... what are the ends to which you believe they are involved in dismantling faith?

    Obviously they won't dismantle mine of course! But what's their purpose in doing so? To what ends?

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  13. TheraP -

    Actually, I thought I did answer the question. But maybe I should be more blunt:

    Their penultimate goal is to manifest the False Christ referenced in scriptural prophecy.

    But first conventional forms of faith (as we know them in any organized form) must be dismantled. They are doing this at a feverish pace. At the same time, the facade of retrograde conservaticism in the Vatican is being beefed up. QUickly. There is a reason for this:

    They have to present what is both a distraction & a focal point simultaneously.

    Currently, mainline Protestanism is dead. Due to intentional internal machinations. The same method was used on them as in the RCC: send in lunatics to destroy the parishes. Both of the extreme liberal AND conservative mold. The Prots are dead in the water, by design. Yet they cooperate with Opus Dei on the sly.

    As do the ballooning Evangelicals. They are Fundamentalists; so it Opus Dei's pet mode. The points of convergence are obvious.

    Why would OD allow much less promote the Charismatics in the Church? It breeds fanaticism, which they are manipulating.

    There is no place at the table for ANY Christian now who is not a fanatic. OD believes that most of this ilk are too small in number & have no voice to oppose them. Oddly, we have more in common with Agnostics & certain Atheists then OD. As the former sees through all the BS which OD spews forth.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  14. (cont.)

    What if you were in possession of very certain knowledge of near future events? Even very specific dates? Opus Dei is, by virtue of their now decades long infiltration & takeover of the Vatican. And then there are the vast archival libraries, with scores of ancient knowledge.

    Now if you do not want to believe this, I cannot help you further.

    But the Mother of God did give some very specific information which has long been in the hands of the Vatican.

    If you had access to this info, & were an entity to whom money & power were no object - and you existed on a global basis in secrecy, imagine what you could do?
    Remember: OD is like a submarine. Only a tiny part is visible above the surface. Pay no attention to their Numerary houses. Consider that as window dressing.

    They intend to ride the coattails of near future events. You could say they will be the successors to the Vatican.

    In order to present their 'Christ' to the word, you need chaos. Disasters. All predicted; all now taking form. Destroy the lives of billions, bringing many to utter despair. Take away (by one means or the other) whatever religious faith they had. Destroy it. So they are left defenseless.

    After all, what does truama based conditioning (MK-Ultra) yield? Need I remind anyone of the links between OD & the CIA...and ex Nazi scientists who laid the groundwork for that program?

    Mind control is of the Devil,not God.

    Those who do not want to or cannot accept this should read Matthew 24:23-25. Actually the entire 24th chapter.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  15. The prophecy of Daniel 12:11, that the 'daily sacrifice shall be taken away' is now a virtual reality.

    "...but we have mass every day". Do you really?

    Just because a priest says mass, does not in any way guarantee that Transubstantiation has occurred. It can fail, either due to incompetance (poor seminary teaching) OR it can be intentional.

    Answer this question: where are all those allegedly consecrated hosts coming from?

    At Papal Masses & road trips you have these thousands of hosts being distributed. Likewise in many crowded urban Cathedrals & the more populous parishes.

    The general rubric is that the hosts to be distributed at a mass should be consecrated at the mass. In case of logistic need, they could be reserved in the tabernacle, consecrated at some previous mass.

    ...what previous mass would that be?

    *sound of a pin dropping*

    No tabernacle can hold THAT many hosts. Logistical impossibility in many cases. And we know they did not multiply miraculously.

    OK - what if you claim they were ALL consecrated at this mass? Also impossible.

    Transubstantiation requires the projection of the correct sacramental intention, thus enabling the action of the Holy Spirit through the priest, as a vessel. It cannot be transmitted long distance.

    If the Ciboria are on a side table or even parked on the altar 4 to 6 feet away from the priest....it ain't happening. It must be projected upon that which is before him, over which his hands are imposed.

    You cannot pray Grace over a meal which is not on your dining table before you. While this is not the same thing - you get the idea.

    Let's just say that enough confirmation has come from enough sources to deduce that this is being knowingly allowed by the wolves in Rome.

    anon Y. Mouse

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  16. The thing is mouse you don't have to actually know anything specific about the future if you control the money, the media, the churches and can do this virtually undetected. That's enough cultural influence to make what ever future you might desire.

    I don't think OD leadership is quite as literalist as you make them out to be. I think they are more than sophisticated enough to understand just how powerful an archetypic concept like Armageddon can be in society.

    I see OD as part of a conglomerate that has access to other diminsions of reality and are both using and being used by those entities. One of the reality checks for this is the sudden advancement in computer technologies and composite materials.

    It took me a long long time to get my head around the fact Indigenous cultures give zero credence to the Genesis creation story because their own creation stories center around Star People. People who created them, protected them, and still communicate with them. Their view of reality is much much different from the view of reality shared by most of us in the West.

    I strongly suspect this is true about the world view of OD and other secretive powerful groups. There is a battle going on, but it's not an abstract spiritual battle. It's a battle over knowledge and the power that comes from that knowledge. Just like it's always been for ever and ever amen.

    Real faith in Jesus is a real threat because following the Way is how you access the same knowledge He accessed. That knowledge is all about God and how creation really works. It's very powerful knowledge but it comes with a huge price--it calls for ethics, integrity, the surrender of the abstract ego, and immersion in the energy of the unity of love.
    This reality can not be used to exploit but must be used in concert with the Will of God.

    As to the other kind, at best it's contractual, at worst it's a form of enslavement.

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  17. Colleen -

    My assessment of your comment is:

    You are very close...even 'hot'.

    They (OD) are playing a cosmic Chess game in multiple dimensions. Yes - controlling money, media, the churches DOES allow them to do much undetected. Using compartmentalization to conceal activities & links. And plausible deniability.

    The 'trick' to the (very real) Armageddon....as Jesus said...is massive, holistic deception. Ppl do not realize it is happening; so deep is the mental & spiritual Denial.

    You could easily picture some die-hard Catholics standing in front of a bombed out/nuked Vatican, shouting: "But the Church is holy!!!". So great is the level of Denial.

    "Real faith in Jesus is a real threat because following the Way is how you access the same knowledge He accessed. That knowledge is all about God and how creation really works."

    Yes - I could not have said it beter. That is why those who DO have faith are perceived by OD as a genuine threat. But there is a slight twist:

    To a degree, they know what the believer knows. At their highest organizational & initiation levels. But their source of such knowledge is different: it is from Satan.

    Aleister Crowley knew what the Mass was & believed in Transubstantiation. So do other high ranking Thelemic writers. They know that the laws mechanisms of the universe apply to all; and can be used by 'both sides'. This is the essense of Luciferianism; knowledge of God, yet rejection of Him.

    Enoch was allowed by God to learn of these 'inner workings', both from Angels & Fallen Angels (demons). Yet he knew, loved & served God. His story & Book shows that 'both sides' know how to work the machines. Both physical & spiritual. Thus the Devil can tempt Man because he know 'how he works' & is able to manipulate the physical to achieve the spiritual deception.

    One who is of Christ is given Grace & angelic help/protection, as God Wills. One who is of the Devil is given Inverse 'grace' and (fallen) angelic help.

    Part of the(demonic) help given to the conglomerate which is OD is precisely the uber technology. Why else would Mary refer to 'demons of the air'? The universe is based in frequencies.....as is all high-tech.

    There is a hint in there.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  18. This is a fun conversation Mouse. Although I am not implying the subject matter isn't serious. It's very serious.

    I'm just at a loss as to how to impart the knowledge I've been given and the importance of more people getting it. There are groups who are at odds with the 'angelic' realm who are both secular and 'satanic' and both groups use specific rituals and disassociative techniques in order to access knowledge and change reality.

    The biggy of course, is changing the probablities of future events. But changing the past to impact the present is also happening. In fact that's probably the mechanism in spontaneous healing. One of the hardest ideas I've had to accept is that other diminensional beings are entering our present from the future with similar ideas about changing their own present.

    So this spiritual battle is in reality being waged through time and on multiple dimensions and by a number of competing interests. It's so much the stuff of science fiction it's hard to believe, except it's real--or at least one reality anyway.

    Marcial Maciel is a very important case study. It is hardly surprising that the Vatican is sweeping him under the carpet as fast as they can.

    word verification: known

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