Rant: I firmly condemn BLM and its actions!

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How does this idea of a big of a society for all differ from your idea of god? Because you have to believe that god must be perfect by mere fact of it's existence? The big system of society can work to the big picture of getting the resources to the right places and then have more personal branches that can better assess the individuals in what their specific basic needs are, and can or should do it better than a family or nebulous local community that may have biases. Do you have any idea the amount of blind spots that can exist, the families that refuse to give help to their members that need it, even throw out people because they happen to be gay or something that they don't like? Not every local community is going to have the resources inside of it that are going to help all the people in that community, such as if a place had a lot of homeless.




There is the accounting term called "good will", which can generally be pretty difficult to calculate as it is created or lost, but the general purpose in usual terms is to find out the value of a business outside of what is physically owned but is a value none the less. It can be something like a good name that something has that is up to what general people see as valuable. Something maybe you can understand is tax deductable donations, that you would not be taxed on the money you would have made that you donated. There are many ways that these sorts of things can be used to encourage moral actions like being more clean to the environment for clean energy, or helping certain industries that are struggling. Putting an exact money value to a good deed is particularly finicky and open to certain corruptions, but certain economic policies can can help make the world better.




To me it just sounds like you would rather take personal responsibility for good deeds rather actually let them happen, which in itself is selfish. You are telling yourselves that you are just acting like Christ and thus why you are doing good deeds, but are you actually doing the good deeds because they are good, or because you want to be like him and thus be rewarded. Do you think that Jesus did the good deeds because someone told him he had to, or that he just did it without ever wanting recognition? If you really wanted to be like him, wouldn't you want there to be a way that everyone could get the basics that they need without expecting that there be a person able to and willing to give charity, especially to the causes that no one sees or don't play well to a bunch of church goers wishing to look as divine as possible.

Going back to the morality thing, it really feels that people like this actually want to own morality, rather than be a thing that is expressed and shared, it is something owned by a person who can then literally virtue signal it to others around you if not to the big guy upstairs. And wouldn't that be a sin? The sin of pride in being or appearing virtuous is more important than the virtue for wish good will upon every single human? Is the good feeling you get of helping those in your family or local community worth not helping those outside of your family, who may not even have one, or which are not visible within the community because someone thinks that the scruffy man who can't wash his clothes is gross and someone started a rumour that he is a drug addict or some other form of sinful?

You may see yourself as virtuous, but a lot of your just recounting holy figures and stuff as you say that society shouldn't be changed to help everyone in need, or that you don't like some people disliked a statue so much that they brought it down, just sounds like you are virtue signalling. That a statue of a person long gone is worth more than how that may make people feel now that feel it represents an oppression that they still experience the effects of.

It's always amusing watching someone who does not follow the tenets of a religion try to interpret that religion (and its beliefs) in ways that favor their views, in the process disagreeing with someone who actually does follow the tenets of the religion, and so is better placed to understand it.

I think that most people are that way with their own religion. How else do you have so many variances in denominations and off shoots of the same religion that contradict each other. I come from a family of Catholics on the Irish side of my family, and I just think the spirit is more important than following exact mandates from an ancient book that can be interpreted in so many different ways.

AND ... another one bites the dust!

Another Junípero Serra statue was destroyed at the California state capitol building on 2020-07-05 -- one man burned the face of the statue with an ignited spray from an aerosol can before it was pulled from its base using tow straps.  After the statue fell, members of the crowd struck the statue with a sledgehammer and other objects, dancing and jumping upon it.

Source: This CBS-13 Report with Video

The statue, which was erected in Capitol Park in 1965, was brought down amid a protest focusing on the rights and historical struggle of indigenous people.  Statues of Serra have been defaced in California for several years by people who said he destroyed tribes and their culture.  Last month protesters pulled down Serra statues in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I'll try to give this an answer when I have time to give it a thoughtful answer.

I'm confused about this question, can you clarify what exactly you're asking here?


When a local community has short-comings that's when a higher authority steps-in, but just because a higher authority exists to deal with things that the lower community can't, doesn't mean that that higher community should strip the local communities of their autonomy. Child protection services can and should step-in if a child's parents clearly show signs that in someway or another, they are incapable of providing care for said child. But child protection services should certainly not be dictating to every couple, how they should raise their child. In regards to resources, well the simple solution to that, is for the local community to work on gathering and producing the resources it has in abundance, and then selling them in return for the resources it needs. You see, my beliefs regarding economics hover somewhere between local capitalism and distributism, I don't believe in the current form of capitalism we've got, which I like to call "status-quo capitalism."


I sort of see that, there are a couple of things I question, but they're way too complex and controversial for me to go into on here. For now I'll just stick with the general critique/suggestion that this should be done on the local level where local government officials can have direct and easy access to the businesses and their customers.


The cold hard fact is, the only person you can really make moral, is yourself and no one else. You can tell other people to be moral, you can explain to them why something is right or wrong, but in the end, only they can decide whether or not to act moral, you can't. I can, have, and am explaining to people on here, what the Catholic Faith is, I can and have prayed for people on here, but only they can decide whether or not to except the Faith. I have included you in my 20 Decade Rosary this morning, and in a 5 Decade Rosary this afternoon, but only you can decide whether or not you will accept those graces Our Lady offers you, I can't, and She can't, only you can. The only soul I'm guaranteed of saving if I will it, is my own soul.


Okay, I wanted to show you a verse from Sacred Scripture in response to you asking if Christ did "good deeds because someone told [H]im [H]e had to[?]" But when I looked it up, I discovered that the chapter as a whole had some very relevant material to this paragraph, so I'll quote the two relevant sections:

"1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand. 5 When Jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to Philip: Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to try him; for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him: Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to him: 9 There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes; but what are these among so many? 10 Then Jesus said: Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves: and when he had given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down. In like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would. 12 And when they were filled, he said to his disciples: Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost. 13 They gathered up therefore, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten. 14 Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said: This is of a truth the prophet, that is to come into the world. 15 Jesus therefore, when he knew that they would come to take him by force, and make him king, fled again into the mountain himself alone." - St. John 6:1-15 DR Emphasis mine

Later on:
"25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him: Rabbi, when camest thou hither? 26 Jesus answered them, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you. For him hath God, the Father, sealed. 28 They said therefore unto him: What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered, and said to them: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent. 30 They said therefore to him: What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. 34 They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread. 35 And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, that you also have seen me, and you believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will not cast out. 38 Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 Now this is the will of the Father who sent me: that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day. 40 And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day. 41 The Jews therefore murmured at him, because he had said: I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then saith he, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered, and said to them: Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. 53 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 54 Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. 55 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. 56 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. 57 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. 58 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. 59 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever. 60 These things he said, teaching in the synagogue, in Capharnaum. 61 Many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: This saying is hard, and who can hear it? 62 But Jesus, knowing in himself, that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: Doth this scandalize you? 63 If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 64 [u]It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life.[/u] 65 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning, who they were that did not believe, and who he was, that would betray him.66 And he said: Therefore did I say to you, that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father. 67 After this many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him. 68 Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? 69 And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." -St. John 6:25-69 DR emphasis mine

You see, when Christ did the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, the people realized He was the one foretold in the prophesies of the Old Testament and sought to make Him their King. In other words, they wanted Christ to, not only liberate Israel from the Romans but also establish it as a paradisal kingdom on earth, in which everyone will have their fill. When they thought this, Christ fled and left them, until they found Him in the second passage of the chapter which I quoted.

In the second the passage, Christ tells the Jews, "Amen, amen I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled." that is, they are not seeking Him because the miracles have convinced Him that He is from Above, but rather, because they are hoping to be filled with the "bread" of the paradisal kingdom they want Him to establish on earth. Our Lord then tells them that the real bread they should be seeking, is the Eucharist, the bread that's transubstantiated into His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, by Him, His Apostles and their successors, the Catholic Clergy. It's interesting that you speak about how the Catholic understanding morality is us seeking a reward, that sounds a lot like the Protestant accusation of Catholics seeking to "earn their Salvation," and one thing that all Protestants have in common, is that they deny the Transubstantiation of the Eucharist. (The Lutherans believe in something we Catholics call "Consubstantiation," but that's another topic for another time.) Yet in the passage above, we see Our Lord repeating over and over again, that we really have to eat His flesh and that He truly is the Bread of Life. (again, a Lutheran could make a fairly convincing case for Consubstantiation in this passage, but that's another debate for another time.) Now Protestants will argue that when Our Lord said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life." He was clarifying that He was only speaking metaphorically, or of His presence in the Eucharist being spiritual; but the context, as we can see from these two passages, actually shows that what Our Lord is saying, is not a denial of Transubstantiation, but rather an emphasis that the Eucharist is for the nourishing of the spirit for Eternal Life in Heaven and in the World to come; not the feeding of one's fleshly desires on earth.

So in this passage, we can get a good idea of what Our Lord actually preached, and yes, He did do "good deeds because someone told [H]im [H]e had to[.]" He came to do the Father's Will, because God is a Trinity, this is one of the reasons why God is Love:


It's interesting that both the Eucharist and the Trinity are brought up here, because these two Dogmas require the Supernaturally infused virtue of grace in order to believe. Proving that God exists, that's easy, one can easily prove it with the use of reason. Proving that God is a Trinity, or that a matzah wafer can, by the words of a priest, be transubstantiated into God the Son incarnate, that's impossible, no one can prove that, only the grace of God enable someone to have Faith in that.


It's not pride, it's exactly the opposite, humility. It's recognizing that the only person you can truly control is yourself. We're not "owning" morality, we are conforming ourselves to Moral Goodness Himself Who is God. As for willing the good of others, yes that's good, that's the highest virtue called Charity or Love. But love is something one has to will, it cannot come from outside of a person's soul; yes certain social conditions can influence people to be more loving or virtuous, but at the end of the day, it has to come from the will.


No, but one has an obligation to his or her family, and to some degree, his loved ones first; before the strangers. If a mother has only a small scrap of food, and has to choose between giving it to her child and giving it to a stranger, surely you would agree that this mother is morally obligated to give it to her child.


First of all, I do want society to change, I just don't want it going in the direction it is going. Secondly, it's not just that they desecrated a statue of an Elder Brother in Christ, who is in the Church Triumphant, it's that that act was an act of cultural war. In San Buenaventura, California, they have decided to remove the statue of St. Junipero and will probably place it somewhere in the Mission. Now ask yourself, what's going to stop people from going into the Mission and smashing it? Just now, while I was typing this all I just received word that up here in Canada, Stations of the Cross Statues have been beheaded! And even without that incident, we know it's a slippery slope because the protesters have long-since moved from smashing the statues of Confederate Soldiers, to the Founding Fathers, even Abraham Lincoln has been threatened; (I assume it's because he's viewed as a "white saviour") and in St. Louis, Missouri, there's already been violence and threats of violence at the Rosary Rally there:


Thirdly, on a personal and interior level, my behaviour is more virtue growth than virtue signaling. As I've mentioned in one of my posts above, I attend secular post-secondary education, when I reverted to the Catholic Faith and attended classes at my secular college with a new understanding of the world, I suddenly realized just how deep-seated the agenda was at these institutes. These people really hate us, they think we are pure evil, that we re just a cancer on the West. On top of that, after the Trump victory and media stepping up it's campaign against anything conservative, I also had the difficulty speaking with my family about the Faith, especially my mother and to some degree, my brother. Another thing I had to deal with, was my anger issues, I knew I had intense anger inside, so I became concerned about the danger of losing it in a discussion or debate with someone about the Faith, and just letting them have it. I was concerned about anger, not just because that in and of itself is a turn-off, but also I had committed a lot of horrible sins in the past, and I owe it to God to show a lot of mercy towards others, just as He showed so much mercy to me. All of this caused me to keep my head down and hide my beliefs, it was hard enough to get up the courage to just say the Rosary in public, let alone off to the side somewhere at my college. When the statues came down, I knew it was time, I knew I had stop being nice, that now was time stand up and say, "No! This is wrong, I don't care what people think of me, I don't care if they call my racist, bigot or whatever, this is wrong! And I'm going to defy it, in anyway that I can!"

There's also Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium, both of which predate the Bible and helped determine what the Bible is. The number one reason why there are so many Protestant Denominations, is because they lack Sacred Tradition and an infallible Magisterium. (With the Orthodox, it's a bit more complicated.)


I'm curious, how much did your Irish family teach you about the Faith? My Chilean father taught me only a tiny handful of things about the Faith, like the fact that there is a God, that there was a person named Jesus, a few stories from the Bible, and the Our Father prayer; I never knew the Hail Mary prayer, let alone the Rosary. Much of what I know about the Faith now, I had to learn myself.

I was somewhat asking what the difference is between a large society that aims to help all and your idea of god. I know the idea is probably sacrilege and there is no fair comparison between an almighty creator and a system that is created by a bunch of imperfect humans that are filled with many of their own selfish desires. But you must understand that you idea of god is not the same idea that everyone else has an idea of, but I am going to guess that you think he judges everyone the same regardless of they have had the same opportunity to understand the dictates you consider important. I at least think that here on Earth we can have a society that meets everyone's needs by doing what we can consider objective good.




I honestly don't care that everyone is personally moral as much as I care about outcomes. Why leave things up to chance of personal charity when everyone can agree to share resources to at least meet those needs. It honestly just feels like self indulgence and self importance to prefer that you had the opportunity to give something to meet some one's need rather than as a society deciding those things should not be up to luck. Charity has so many holes in it anyway, like people doing a food drive that has people donating spoiled or unhealthy food for people already struggling, canned food is really high in salt and thus could hurt people that rely on it. Charity can be wonderful for extra things on top like Christmas presents, but I don't think it should be relied on so that a kid can eat properly or have what they need to go to school. Even religious charities have had a bit of a history including discrimination based on faith.

I won't make fun or belittle you for praying for me, you are welcome to do what you want, and I do appreciate that you have some good intentions in there. I have prayed before. But I do recall one phrase that always touched me which was "god helps those who help themselves", I think that phrase exists both in religious and non-religious context to not just sit there and expect some kind of divine intervention to make some good happen. Faith only takes you so far before you need to practice some decision making and action yourself, and while I think that things like prayers can help some people get things into perspective, I think that it can be a distraction for others.




I did some Sunday school I think up until it was decided that I would go into Scouting, the Scouting movement itself has a lot of such faith aspects into it that make a pledge to god when becoming weekend activities include something called a Scout's Own that has a lot of what one might expect at a church thing with prayers. And have had a bit of a history of a prominent father coming to certain family gatherings. There is some value, I just think that it is kind of pointless to stick to one interpretation to a higher being when there are so many, I am sure at least a couple of them god(s) would have smite me by now, and I have so much more little patience for it in how organised religion would have prevented me from becoming aware of who I always was, just so far in the closet by closed minded doctrine that I am finally becoming comfortable with myself.

Try to put yourselves in the shoes of others, and try to treat people how you want to be treated, that is my doctrine.

"Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium":

Buildings Fall; Trees Grow; Where Will We Go:

The Divine is No Joke; Science Has Terms for it even, Like
Holy Autotelic Flow And Frission As A Sacred And Divine Real Human
Feeling Sensing Experience that Leads to Greater Acts of Creativity and Productivity FoR ReaL NoW.

A Problem Comes Again And Again, When Folks Believe, Divine of Sacred Beauty In Truth of Holy
Wisdom Will Be Locked Away in Buildings of Edifice Statue, Where Only a Select Few Have the Keys
to the Gateway of Real Heaven oN EartH; oR A Promise NO Different than Suicide Bombers Are Given
iN Numbers of Virgins After Death; Heaven After Death Works as the Same Carrot, No Different than
Psychopathic Leaning Forever Fiery Torture Sticks of Humans With Eternal Lack of Forgiveness As Far
Away From
Love As Any
Cannibalistic
Psychopath
Will Fall; Yes,
in Disgusting
Fear and Hate
oF All That is Great
About Existence Breath
NOW; Yes, THE GIFT, the PReSENT WE BReATHE NoW
Here's A ReaL Problem With Tradition; Yes, It Bonds and
Binds As Religion; But No, It Can And Will Not Breathe in Statues of Edifice Stone;
IT Falls Away in Shuffles And Frowns; Particularly, Catholics; As They Rarely
ARe ALLoWeD to Freely Wave THeir Arms in the Air in Gospel Singing for
A CulTuRAllY ALLoWeD Privilege to Frigging do at Least Some Version
Of Moving Meditation (Free Dance) in Autotelic Flow Feeling Sensing
Bliss (Frission) in Concert With Others As Nirvana 'Blow-Out', Fresh Release;
No Different Now than What the Beat Of A 'Tom Sawyer' Dance And Song
By RUSH BRinGS Free By Way of YouTube Mass Services For ALL oF US NoW.

The 'Tom Sawyer', Literary Story Shows The Same Valleys and Mountains of
Human Nature That The 'Old Bible Provides'; After All We aRe The Same Classically Evolved Nature, Overall.

Some Folks Write Their Own Novel Life; Others Tend To Remain in the Stones of Shorter Stories oF OLD.

Buildings Fall; Trees Grow;
WHeRe Will We Go; In General
THeRe aRe Two
Paths:
Concrete Sidewalks, Mortar
Joined From the Past (Purgatory Thru
Hell); And Green Meadows With Wild Flower
Weeds Blooming Forever Now (Heaven) LoVinG LiFE Deeper

As A Song By 'Rush' Sings; Thanks
FoR ALLoWinG me to Get by, on the
Friction of Your Day Breathing With Loving Life Ease

FLoWeRS BReATHE NoW, Wild Free BLooMinG;
Concrete Tries, Tries, Tries.... And TrieS AGaiN
A Same Way, UsuAlly, Comfortably Numb at Best Eternally NoW.

"A modern-day warrior
Mean, mean stride
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean, mean pride
Though his mind is not for rent
Don't put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day's events
The river
What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the mist
Catch the myth
Catch the mystery
Catch the drift
The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his skies are wide
Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you
And the space he invades, he gets by on you
No, his mind is not for rent
To any god or government
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is
And what you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the witness
Catch the wit
Catch the spirit
Catch the spit
The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his eyes are wide
Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to
The friction of the day"

Prophets Still WRite
On Concert Hall FB Walls;
For No Profits of Dead Green At All;
Spirit of Radio Will Never Stop NoW
Breathing On Airways of Our Souls Who Fly Free
Blooming ForevernoW Fresh; Both THoRNS And
FLoWeRS oF RoSE RiSinG DanCinG SinGinG NoW HEaVeN Sees..

I condemn BLM too, but for different reasons.

Which reasons?

I see. The Catholic Church teaches that every human being on the planet does, at one point in their life get, a chance to receive the grace to believe in the Faith. Even people who live in times and places where it was impossible for a missionary to reach them had this chance, it's just that it's given to them in an extraordinary manner. You may not believe this (although you may have heard stories like these from elsewhere) but there are accounts of this happening. For example, two Huron men, Joseph Chihwatenhwa and Chief Eustace Ahahistari, both sensed and responded to promptings from God, before the Canadian Martyrs arrived to preach the Faith to them; Chihwatenhwa engaged in a monogamous relationship with his wife, and rejected polygamy, while Ahahistari felt a Spirit, foreign to Huron beliefs help him whenever he went into battle against the Iroquois. There's also the extraordinary story of the Flathead Natives:


In regards to having a just society that can meet everyone's needs, I'll discussion that in the next paragraph.


Okay, I think we should step back here, and look at the big picture. When it comes to views of human nature, there are two extremes, on one end you have the Calvinists and Jansenists who say humanity is totally depraved and evil, and we're all just total wretches upon the earth; on the other end you have Rousseau, who says that humans are totally good and born with a clean slate, and that it's only society that makes people do evil things. The Catholic position is that human beings are created by God to be good, but end up fallen due to original sin and very prone to evil. I don't think this position is in the exact centre between Calvinism and Rousseau, I think it leans closer to Calvinism; but nonetheless it rejects the Calvinist notion of total depravity and recognizes that human beings still have a significant amount of good in them; in fact one of the reason why we can be so bad and sinful, is because that good in us can and often does end up being used against the moral good when we sin.

So, getting to my response to this part of you post, I want ask you two questions:

1. Where do you stand on your view of human nature, and how good or bad it is?

2. How would you factor your position into your idea of a just society that requires its people to help the poor?


I see, so you value good works.


By the way, this morning I watched a video on Communism and thought "wow, this is gold!" It was critical of Communism but it wasn't like trying to debunk it or anything, it was merely narrating the early history of Communism, Socialism and other similar movements; movements the Popes called Rerum Novarum. ("The New Things") I'm going to re-watch it this evening, if you're up to it, I can share it with you here. Maybe you have a few interesting and challenging videos you could show me right now.

This is an overly-simple and inaccurate analogy but, Sacred Tradition is like a tree, it develops and unfolds overtime. However, just as a tree remains a tree as it grow, and never becomes a flower or a shrub, so too does Sacred Tradition never change or contradict itself.

Also, I'm curious, what is your view of death? What, in your opinion, happens to a soul when he or she dies? And what do you make of the fact that all people die, regardless of who they are and what they have done during their time on earth?

I know you are catholic but have you read the Buddhist "Book of the dead"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo_Thodol

I knew a buddhist girl (convert) who told me her entire life is dedicated to preparing for death.

"Buildings Fall; Trees Grow; Where Will We Go"

Smiles, This is also An Oversimplified Quote that Reflects the Difference
Between Tradition and Vision. First oF All, All Words in Form Are Metaphor for Essence.
There are Unlimited Human Views of the Story of Jesus; and Every other Word, Depending on the Perception
of the one Who does the Viewing; Processing the Information, into whatever Meaning and Purpose they come to see.

In this way; Truly, Buildings Of Form That Are Metaphor Continue to Bloom With Different Meaning and Purpose,
Depending on the 'Human Flower', Who Colors Those Words With Their Own Unique Co-Created Reality in
Terms of Relative Free Will.

Catholic Tradition Continues to Change as All Tradition And All Stuff existence Does;

As the Song By 'Rush' Clearly relates, the only 'Permanent Waves' Are 'Change' As Truly even
in the Ocean No Two Waves Are Ever Identical; No Different than a Snow Flake; No Different
than You and me; and the Rest Of Us continuing Now; As No Two Nows Are Identical That
We Experience; Although, We May Refuse to Believe that still; Yes, No Different as All is Different
Changing Eternally Now.

It's easy enough, for one Person to Suggest that Tradition, including Metaphors
of Words Do Not Change; Just Seen Through One Lens of Created Meaning and Purpose in Life;

Yet, All Humans are Unique Eyes of God As Truly Again the Essence of God is Change
And Imperfection as Perfection.

Why Imperfection as Perfection?

With Only Concrete, There are No Flowers;

God IS FLoWeR; And as Far As Born And Die Goes;
This is How God Loves All of Us As Equals; For Instance,
No Matter How Big The Trump in the White House thinks he is;
He Will Never Trump Death; But You See He has a 'Greater' 'Devil' Inside;
For Without Empathy and Love; He Leaves Nothing Real Behind that Breathes
of His Soul to go on to Love.

Unless, He offered
Someone, Real LoVE iN
His Family/Life, no Matter Flesh and Blood;
It doesn't seem like He offered anything at all.

Smiles, i don't believe i am so Important
That i Can and Will tell 'God' What to Do;

Faith, is Being Satisfied with the Eternal
Now; Love, is Simply Loving it All Dark
Thru Light Without Fear, With Least Harm to All Now.

Now is Eternity; Now Will Always Be the Only Eternity We Have.

True Death In Life is Waiting For Life After Death; Sadly, 'Psychopaths' Run
Religion the Same way, Trump Runs a Pandemic; Valuing Death Over Life to Subjugate And Control Others.

Smiles, my Friend, One Day if You close All the Books, And Look Within, You May Find Your Own Bible Brewing in You too; to Give And Share Free For All; On the Other Hand, Like the rest of the Folks i see at my Church; They Shuffle by
in a 'Twilight Zone', Mostly of someone else's MaKinG; A Very Passive Way of Life, Indeed; Where Otherwise
They Might Color God As FLoWeR instead of Concrete; A Corner Stone Without a Flower is still a Very
Dead Way of Life.

But Again;
Tradition,
Will Be
Coloring New Paint As well..

i've Been Attending Catholic Church, since
i was a very small Child; i've watched it move
through Latin, that no one could understand;
to Music that doesn't Put everyone to Sleep;
And Now to A Congregation That Sits
With Frowns With Barely
A Breathing Song
to Give and
Share; Shuffling Feet
out the Door or Leaving
As Fast As Possible After
Communion, Skipping the
Last Song; As Song Has Lost
its Meaning and Purpose;
And Dance is only
A Faint
Youthful
Memory.
So Many Ways to connect to God Now;
Yet, Some Still Hope for a Dirt Nap to Meet God.

Smiles, i accept this Gift of Life Now; It's Enough;
i've already faced Death before; i understand what that
Feels like; Death is Easy for someone who is Love who only
Cares to Give to Others Now From First to Last Breath of Life; Yes, Now,
Life Will Go On, Now; The Giver Gives; The Giver Gives; The Giver Just Gives;

IN this way
We Return Our Gift;
Sadly for some; It's
Not Enough to Love.

It's Enough to Love.

It's Enough to Love.

It's Enough to Love, Eternally Now

There is No Judgement but Love.

Or The Absence of Love, Come

What May Love Breathes Best When Breath.

What's Not Fair About Life, is someone Like
Trump Never Had Anything of Real Value, And i Have it All Eternally Now Love.

Smiles, My Friend, This is the Difference Between Breathing or Never Breathing At All Eternally Now.

Trump, Has No Clue Where He Really Is.

On this EartH, THere Are Folks Who LiVE iN
Real Black Abyss Hell Thru Purgatory SHades
of Grey through Colors of Heaven Beyond Most iMagination of Rainbows Now LoVE iNCaRNaTE.

Only Both An 'Angel And A Devil' And the Tween of Both Has A Fuller Vision of This.

Most People, Will See 'The TheMe SonG' as Sad Unless They've Feel the Victory of

Love Eternally Now GiVinG.

"Buildings Fall;
Trees Grow;
Where Will We Go"

SMiLes, Whenever i Meet someone; it's a Pleasure
to Love Them as Love Truly Is All In the Giving; The Greatest Gift is to Give Love; It's enough for me;

i'LL Let 'God' take care of 'the Rest'; God of All Gods Just ALL That Is Now; Love Is Enough for me Now

Interesting, I'll look into, although I want to purchase and read a well known Catholic book entitled The Four Last Things, first, I forget who the author is though.

It's interesting that you brought up, Buddhism, Pints with Aquinas did a video featuring a convert from Buddhism four days ago. Honestly, I think Matt Fradd's channel is the no. 1 Youtube channel I'd recommend to people.