‘Post-Christian’

 

Dymphna, the pretty royal maiden,

Born of Christian queen and pagan king,

Forced to flee her native Ireland.

Mother dying, father grieving,

An unnatural lust for his daughter bore.

Carnal burning, Dymphna flying,

Unto Gheel in Belgium with a priest,

Gerebern, true father and protector

For the virgin princess, bride of Christ.

The raving king searched, and found them,

Commanded Father Gerebern be slain

For daring to rebuke him,

And severed his own daughter’s head

When she refused his incestuous advances. 

 

* * *

The life of these saints – an image of the West!

Pagan Europe was married to Christ

Near two thousand years ago,

But her faith grew weak and died,

And the West in her widowhood

Conceived again the desire for old, abandoned evils.

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.newenglishreview.org/articles/post-christian/.

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For further reading on Sts Dymphna and Gerebern:

https://oodegr.com/english/biographies/arxaioi/Dymphna_martyr.htm

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

‘Memorial Day Declares: The Folk Religion of the US Is Pleasure and Mammon’

 

This Memorial Day we will hear the high-sounding phrases we have heard in the past, that we are stopping the normal routine of life to honor all the US soldiers who have died fighting in wars.  However, when one looks at how the peoples of the States will actually be spending the Memorial Day holiday, the honoring of fallen soldiers is about the furthest thing from the minds of very many of them.  The news stories about Memorial Day reveal where their focus and interests lie:

First, hitting the road.  This is one of the most common stories one runs across, how many millions will be driving, flying, etc., to some faraway locale:

AAA projects 45.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Memorial Day holiday period* from Thursday, May 22 to Monday, May 26. This year’s domestic travel forecast is an increase of 1.4 million travelers compared to last year and sets a new Memorial Day weekend record. The previous record was set back in 2005 with 44 million people. Despite concerns over rising prices, many Americans say they’re taking advantage of the long holiday weekend to spend time with loved ones, even if the trips are closer to home.

 

“Memorial Day weekend getaways don’t have to be extravagant and costly,” said Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel. “While some travelers embark on dream vacations and fly hundreds of miles across the country, many families just pack up the car and drive to the beach or take a road trip to visit friends. Long holiday weekends are ideal for travel because many people have an extra day off work and students are off from school.”

Second, movies.  After travelling, the focus is often on the rollout of Hollywood’s summer blockbusters, and this year’s selections are bigger and more Trumptastic than ever:

The Memorial Day box office is on fire.

 

Disney’s live-action redo of Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise‘s final Mission: Impossible movie, from Paramount and Skydance, fueled the biggest start-of-summer holiday weekend of all time, based on Sunday estimates. Lilo & Stitch blew away all expectations with a record-smashing, four-day domestic debut of $183 million, and a jaw-dropping $341.7 million globally, while Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning opened to a series-best $77 million domestically and $190 million worldwide. The domestic numbers includes a three-day weekend tally of $145.5 million for Lilo, and $63 million for Final Reckoning.

Third, spending money.  Consumerism is the final piece that completes the Memorial Day celebrations:

While Memorial Day sales tend to be focused on big-ticket purchases like furniture and appliances, the top category consumers say they’ll shop is food/beverage, which correlates with hosting – and a high likelihood of shopping at grocery and big box stores. Eating at a restaurant or bar came in second, and clothing purchases in third, which tracks with Memorial Day serving as the gateway to summer (and a weekend for summer prep).

 

Top Memorial Day weekend purchases:

 

·         Food/beverages for a cookout, 34%

·         Eating out at a restaurant or bar, 19%

·         Clothing, including shoes and accessories, 17%

·         Home improvement and gardening, 17%

·         American flags or patriotic decorations, 15%

·         Home goods/décor (e.g., plates, pillows, art), 13%

·         Party decorations and serving ware, 10%

·         Electronics (e.g., laptop, smartphone, smart watch), 10%

·         Pool or beach gear (e.g., swimsuits, towels, floats), 10%

·         Tickets to an event or festival, 10%

 

Our survey also revealed that more shoppers are planning to shop Memorial Day weekend sales this year, with 36% (up 18% vs. 2024) of consumers planning to shop the sales and spend an average of $289 (-$8 vs 2024).

To sum up:  For the average person in the United States the meaning of Memorial Day is travelling to a strange new place to which he has no roots so he can watch a Mission: Impossible movie marathon on one screen while buying an IKEA couch on another and taking a bite out of a brontosaurus-sized burger smothered in bacon and sausage besides.

Voilà!  Holiday perfection!

With such misguided goals that are bereft of any meaningful spiritual aspects, it is no wonder that many in the States have mixed feelings about Memorial Day:

 . . .

The rest is at https://orthodoxreflections.com/memorial-day-declares-the-folk-religion-of-the-us-is-pleasure-and-mammon/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

‘Insights into Theopolitics from an Episode in New France’

 

Sometimes seemingly small and insignificant events contain within them things of much deeper importance.  Such is the case with a controversy that has been roiling one of the States of Dixie:  la Nouvelle France, Louisiana.

The Louisiana Senate once again appears to be doing its customary dirty work in this legislative session (i.e., protecting the entrenched interests of the powerful and wealthy in our State), by refusing to bring up some of the vehicle insurance reform bills passed by the House for a vote, and modifying others.

Many folks are rightly upset at the senators’ actions, which they decry as a violation of democracy, defined by them as an unquestioning obedience to the will of the voters.  If the Senate is standing in the way of good legislation, why not just get rid of it? – that question was the upshot of some of talk radio host Moon Griffon’s commentary of recent days.

We are wading into deeper waters now; critical issues are being touched upon.  Let’s begin grappling with them.

First, there is the misunderstanding of democracy.  People believe that this system empowers the individual, but, when implemented at the population scales at which it is used here in the US and in many other democracies/republics, it actually disempowers most people.  This is because money is needed for the candidates – who are unknown to the greater number of voters in their districts, cities, States, etc. – to advertise, to introduce themselves and their platforms to the voters.  Those who provide the candidates with the campaign cash needed to win an election obtain by far the most influence with individual candidates, not the voters.  Democratic elections in which there are thousands of voters (or more), as many political observers have pointed out, from G. K. Chesterton to Ron Paul, is merely a mask for oligarchy/plutocracy.  Such is the case with the Senate (where the wealthy personal injury lawyers hold a lot of sway) and most other elected offices in Louisiana and elsewhere.

On the other hand, elections in small towns and other little districts where all the voters and candidates know one another, are a different matter entirely.  No amount of advertising is able to propagandize about any of the candidates effectively.  In the small jurisdictions, it really is the voters who are empowered rather than the oligarchs with their money bags.

Second, the total identification of ‘the people’ with the government is not the definition of freedom but of totalitarianism.  Wilhelm Rӧpke makes this point in his book A Humane Economy (ISI Books, Wilmington, Del., 1998, pgs. 67-8).  That overly simplified form of government is the kind that was found in France, Russia, and others during their terrible Revolutions.  Just governments are naturally complex, just like the society that they reflect and rule over.  A good government will therefore have different offices, departments, branches, levels, etc., and will be accountable not simply to the whims of ‘the people’ of the current moment but to higher authorities:  God, the Bible, natural law, fidelity to ancestors, and so on.  This will sometimes exasperate us, as the different interests represented in the government sometimes frustrate plans that are favored by a majority of the voters, but it is no different than disagreements in a family that must be smoothed over.

This leads to a third point.  Time, as one writer whose name eludes us pointed out, is also a critical component of the government.  If a desired policy is good and just, support for it amongst the electorate will remain over many election cycles.  Eventually, enough officials will be elected to implement it.  Patience and endurance are therefore virtues that are needed in societies where elections are used to select most government officials.  We cannot dismantle and remake our governments because the issues, legislation, etc., we are supporting doesn’t immediately become law.  That, once again, was what the Revolutionaries practiced, to their great harm and disappointment.

This is not to say that the position in which Louisiana’s citizens and those of other countries find ourselves is not rather dire.  It is in some respects.  Things do need to change in our governments.  But the focus needs to be on the right things if beneficial reform is to come about.  Foremost amongst them is the Christianization of our politicians.  Most of them, as we have said before, are only Christians In Name Only (CINOs).  They are, to use the Lord Jesus Christ’s words, hirelings rather than real shepherds who are ready to lay down their lives for the sake of the people they represent (St John’s Gospel 10:11-13):  They are just in it for whatever material benefits (i.e., plunder) they can get for themselves and their cronies.

It is perhaps Providential that, as these discussions about our government officials are going on, the Feast Day in the Orthodox Church of St Constantine, a pagan Roman emperor who converted to Christianity, and his mother the Empress Helen was celebrated (21 May; reposed in the 4^th century).  St Constantine would be a good role model for our officials to emulate, as the hymns in his honor illustrate:

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.geopolitika.ru/en/article/insights-theopolitics-episode-new-france.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!