I mean, I get it. I do. There is certainly a case to be made that being Christian and conservative are not synonymous. Indeed, in this hour, there is a strong case to be made that they are opposites. But I deeply resist the idea that the purpose of Christianity is to provide a justification for being Progressive--and for the same reason I oppose it as the justification for being Conservative.

Go to paypal.me/MercyForLifeCorp and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.

In Flanders Fields By John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,    That mark our place; and in the sky    The larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

The Cult, only capable of learning--if at all--from excruciating self-inflicted pain, is starting to feel the pinch. Stupid as ever, most of them will parrot whatever lie they are fed about how "the media" is cooking the books to make the Fuehrer look bad. Then they will lie more and more desperately that it's Biden's fault, or the Dems fault, or the gays, trans, illegals or some other scapegoat.

The Christian tradition teaches us that every attempt at virtue, including half-assed and dumb ones, is to be encouraged. So the child on her best behavior, trying to say the kindest thing she can think of, who tells the guest, "Gosh, mister! For a fat guy, you sure don't sweat much!" is to be commended for the attempt, not measured by the success or failure, of her charity.

A reader asks: Help me out buddy with some theology. Can a non believer's suffering be redemptive???? I'm struggling to know what to do with the sheer level of real horrific suffering in some family members' lives, who will not or cannot open their mind to spirituality. The best I can come up with - they are Simon, forced to carry a cross they understand not.

Here the reality about living in a democracy: If you did not vote for Harris, you voted for... all this. Don't give me any bellyaching about God not magically rescuing a free people from the consequences of our choices. America, as a people, asked for this asshole, asked for the Party that enables this asshole to run both houses of Congress, …

So Calvinist Puritanism in New England, obsessed with the Glory of God, mutated into a Unitarianism that is indifferent to his very existence. Breakaway conservative sects in the 19th Century who thought Vatican I was too far out and liberal are now groups at the far left end of the theological spectrum. And the "pro-life" movement now backs whackjob Eugenics:

Simcha Fisher on the self-absorbed self-pity of the Cult capable of empathy only for the Self and those rare people who are extensions of the Self. The cosplay martyrdom of the Cult and its ruthless contempt for all others is a nauseating testimony to the utter failure of MAGA Christianity and of its vile war on the Kingdom of God.

What attitude do we take as faithful Catholics when the headlines periodically swell with tales of credulity and incredulity over such matters as demons and exorcists? The first thing to remember is Paul’s counsel “that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.” (Ephesians 4:14).

As you may already be aware, I am somebody who a) takes the reality of the demonic seriously (since Jesus and the apostles do), b) thinks exorcists are a legit ministry in the Church and c) thinks celebrity exorcists are a huge bane and plague on the Church who need to be silenced by their superiors as the quacks and grifters they are.

Here's a little bit from book THE CHURCH'S BEST-KEPT SECRET: A PRIMER ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING: *** Structures of Sin The mention of the “dark side” of Solidarity brings us to another idea that we must touch on: Structures of Sin. The Compendium (119) describes them this way: These are rooted in personal sin and, therefore, are always connected to concrete acts of the individuals who commit them, consolidate them and make it difficult to remove them…

“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of 'Admin.' The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid 'dens of crime' that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.

...that it feels like I should share. The psalm responsorial was something to the effect of "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether" and the gospel reading from John was: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Jesus tells us not to cast our pearls before swine, nor to give what is sacred to dogs. It's long past time to face the fact that dedicated Gun Cultists whose first, last, and only response to the slaughter that is American common life is to call for more guns are liars and enemies and not partners in debate. The one and only time they should be argued with is for the purpose of exposing them as malignant liars to innocents who are looking on as third parties.

The MAGA Cult constantly cosplays as persecuted Christians when they are themselves the biggest persecutors on US soil--and their targets are brother and sister Christians, especially Catholics, guilty of Christianing while brown and/or Spanish-speaking. But the Church is resisting this antichrist cult: Cardinal Robert McElroy wasted no time pointing out that this year's World Day for Migrants and Refugees…

Just a reminder for MAGA Catholics who like to cosplay as martyrs because harried Target clerks say "Happy Holidays" to you and coffee cups are not to your liking and sometimes the liturgy committee uses banners in the sanctuary. Out in the real world, your orange messiah has just put a target on the backs of every Catholic who takes the Church's teaching seriously.

Previously, on Stumbling Toward Heaven, I offered this observation: One of the defining psychological features of the Cult is a capacity for empathy that extends solely to the Self and those perceived as an extension of the Self. All other human suffering is non-existent, contemptible, funny, and/or guilt-manipulation. This pattern has been constant for years: Trump’s rape of Carroll?

I studied the group’s positioning on race, religion, and culture. It seemed to me that every group wanted the same thing—in the name of protecting Whites, the submission or annihilation of any person, group, or race who wasn’t White. "Recruiters don’t come at young minds promoting hatred of the other races—that comes later. What they always start with is love for the White race.

Welcome to the Resistance! Glad to have you aboard! One of the things the Christian tradition urges us to do is called an "examination of conscience". Think of it as the second thing you do after doing the first good act, which was facing the fact that you have sustained a really terrible wound through your sin of Trump support and need treatment.