I love that I belong to a faith that can have rapping bishops and at the same time bishops pushing for for more traditional elements in the Mass while all being orthodox. Beautiful- even if I’m not a fan of rap
The Church's issues with Liberalism I would argue are not nascent, but well documented (see Leo XIII "Libertas" for one example among many). We've just completely ignored these issues for the past 60 + years, whether we call ourselves "conservative" or "progressive." I do however agree that there appears to be a concerning turn towards authoritarianism by some who claim to be representing the Tradition.
So, I clicked on your "No, seriously" link to find out who is asking "why our sympathies and loyalties should reflexively lie with Ukraine in all of this instead of Russia," and was taken to a tweet with an eleven-second clip of Tucker Carlson asking "why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine?" I was curious about this statement and went to find context, and came across the transcript here: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-america-russia-ukraine
It turns out that his position is not that we should sympathize with Russia *instead of* Ukraine, but that the US doesn't owe either side any loyalty and should not get involved in a war between two countries whose affairs do not directly affect us. The rest of the transcript rails against defense contractors and speculates about Russia joining with China to harm the USA. I gather he's rather anti-war in general.
I point this out as a concern because this is terrible journalism, on your part. It's incredibly irritating to have a paragraph or two where you lament "a growing fascination, among some, with a more… robust form of government" and Russia as a "source of interest and hope or inspiration for people with traditional Christian values" - and your only source backing up these strawmen is an out-of-context, eleven-second clip, shared by a random Twitter account. Nothing in the quote's source material points to a "fascination" with Russia or a sense that Russia is a "hope or inspiration." If, in fact, Catholic "public intellectuals" commonly take these pro-Russia positions, it should be easy enough to find one to quote. But you chose the route of argument via Twitter distortion, which ought to be beneath you as a journalist.
It's worthwhile to remember that NATO was formed to counter the Soviet Union and following the breakup in 1991, there was an unwritten understanding not to expand NATO "one inch." Since then, NATO was expanded to Russia's doorstep. Apparently, reminding anyone that Russians are beloved children of God and that nuclear war threatens human existence makes all of us "Pro-Putin."
What I hear now sounds so much like what was said in the run up to the Iraq War in 2003, which we now know to have been based on faulty intelligence and outright lies. Opponents to that war were deemed sympathizers of Saddam Hussein. That was the juvenile debate then and nothing has changed. Remember that Pope John Paul II was vehemently against that war and the stakes are much much higher against Russia. War in Ukraine will be unfortunate, but it will never be in America's interest to interfere. Please pray for peace. Pray for both sides to deescalate and stop with the rhetoric.
As to corruption, Transparency International’s corruption perception list, in which the least corrupt countries are tied at 1, has the U.S. tied with Chile at 27, Ukraine at 122 and Russia at 136. So a pox on all their houses.
I love that I belong to a faith that can have rapping bishops and at the same time bishops pushing for for more traditional elements in the Mass while all being orthodox. Beautiful- even if I’m not a fan of rap
The Church's issues with Liberalism I would argue are not nascent, but well documented (see Leo XIII "Libertas" for one example among many). We've just completely ignored these issues for the past 60 + years, whether we call ourselves "conservative" or "progressive." I do however agree that there appears to be a concerning turn towards authoritarianism by some who claim to be representing the Tradition.
I love you guys. Thx.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but I only count one errant exclamation mark.
So, I clicked on your "No, seriously" link to find out who is asking "why our sympathies and loyalties should reflexively lie with Ukraine in all of this instead of Russia," and was taken to a tweet with an eleven-second clip of Tucker Carlson asking "why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine?" I was curious about this statement and went to find context, and came across the transcript here: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-america-russia-ukraine
It turns out that his position is not that we should sympathize with Russia *instead of* Ukraine, but that the US doesn't owe either side any loyalty and should not get involved in a war between two countries whose affairs do not directly affect us. The rest of the transcript rails against defense contractors and speculates about Russia joining with China to harm the USA. I gather he's rather anti-war in general.
I point this out as a concern because this is terrible journalism, on your part. It's incredibly irritating to have a paragraph or two where you lament "a growing fascination, among some, with a more… robust form of government" and Russia as a "source of interest and hope or inspiration for people with traditional Christian values" - and your only source backing up these strawmen is an out-of-context, eleven-second clip, shared by a random Twitter account. Nothing in the quote's source material points to a "fascination" with Russia or a sense that Russia is a "hope or inspiration." If, in fact, Catholic "public intellectuals" commonly take these pro-Russia positions, it should be easy enough to find one to quote. But you chose the route of argument via Twitter distortion, which ought to be beneath you as a journalist.
It's worthwhile to remember that NATO was formed to counter the Soviet Union and following the breakup in 1991, there was an unwritten understanding not to expand NATO "one inch." Since then, NATO was expanded to Russia's doorstep. Apparently, reminding anyone that Russians are beloved children of God and that nuclear war threatens human existence makes all of us "Pro-Putin."
What I hear now sounds so much like what was said in the run up to the Iraq War in 2003, which we now know to have been based on faulty intelligence and outright lies. Opponents to that war were deemed sympathizers of Saddam Hussein. That was the juvenile debate then and nothing has changed. Remember that Pope John Paul II was vehemently against that war and the stakes are much much higher against Russia. War in Ukraine will be unfortunate, but it will never be in America's interest to interfere. Please pray for peace. Pray for both sides to deescalate and stop with the rhetoric.
As to corruption, Transparency International’s corruption perception list, in which the least corrupt countries are tied at 1, has the U.S. tied with Chile at 27, Ukraine at 122 and Russia at 136. So a pox on all their houses.