'BOXER DAY'

posted by: wljewell
December 26, 2007
6:32 am

God loves you .

Or, as some might put it: 'Emmanuel is with us - stone Stephen and kill the babies!'

Clearly, I am in a grim frame of mind. No wonder I wound up in the Politics forum.

‘Tis a small irony that I indulge in an ‘opiate’ of a quarter of the American masses – the nicotine from tobacco – my choice, the cigarette – while I observe here in print the single greatest ‘opiate’ of a number of masses – of greatest historical irony – that of socialistic government. Marx, who gave the secularists the fallacy that “religion is the opiate of the masses”, was a leading founder of the greatest and worst ‘opiate’ of all time.

Now I do believe that socialism, and even a form of communism, is possible in the up-front, fully voluntary ways of monasteries and convents, which they have proven for centuries; even if not in less contemplative and cloistered communes, which any still extant have not had a century of function. That such communism, or communalism, requires a religious foundation makes it obvious – but, frankly is a thing tied more to obedience to rule and observance of religious fellowship than to conviction from bleeding-heart charity.

From my experience, those who squeal that ‘someone oughta do something about it’ rarely include themselves among the necessary operatives to get ‘it’ ‘done’; that’s for that ‘someone’ even more elusive than the ‘they’ of so many aphoristic expressions. Additionally, that the ‘do something’ needs must ‘cost something’ – well, that ought to come out of someone else’s pocket, as much as possible. Hence, we can couple a subversively coercive and comprehensively taxing envy of the productive with formative bureaucracy of ‘someones’ to ‘do’ the ‘something’. You might say that we the public are ‘socialistees’ in search of ‘socialisters’.

And, please, do forgive my proliferation of ‘air quotes’ here. Such as what ‘socialistees’ seek and ‘socialisters’ offer require suspension of the usual ways of searching for truth. And, I would not want you to believe that I endorse any of the ‘opiate addictions’ involved.

To reflect a similarity about nicotine, which has some smoking and some chewing and some ‘dipping’ snuff, socialistees tend to have pet ‘somethings’ to ‘do’ in their own ‘addictions’. Hence, the recent tv ad for a politician has the politician effecting to satisfy every version of socialistee ‘addiction’, and by Christmas gifts, no less. This politician previously and one might say imperiously proved once before not to have suitable ‘dope’ to ‘addict’ enough socialistee ‘dopes’ about a burdensome, ineffective, grossly more expensive, undermining of innovation, generally ‘bad’ ‘nationalized’ health care system; said politician having learned: not enough ‘addictive’ ideas (out of purported ‘million’ such ideas) to gather all socialistees under ‘the big tent’; “Halleluiah, and notice the large, deep collection plates!”.

The Canadian 'nationalized health care' system works better than most. Why? Because many Canadians who can afford to bypass Canadian ‘health care’ use American health care instead. Hence, our non-‘national' health care helps keep Canada’s ‘nationalized’ – did I mention burdensome, ineffective, grossly more expensive, undermining of innovation, generally ‘bad’ (as in to attenuate, debilitate, enfeeble, undo, weaken, damage, destroy, and/or subvert)? – health care system. We go 'national', and Canada loses its 'supplemental' health care just over the border.

Before going on to what Christ and His Church call for, of social good, let us look at ‘tax’ as found defined. That we are talking about ‘subversively coercive and comprehensive taxing envy’ becomes even more compellingly obvious to begin with ‘tax’ defined first as “A contribution for the support of a government required of persons, groups, or businesses within the domain of that government”; moving on to “A fee or dues levied on the members of an organization to meet its expenses”; and thence to “A burdensome or excessive demand; a strain”. And, of ‘taxing’ we find “Requiring great or extreme bodily, mental, or spiritual strength: arduous, backbreaking, burdensome, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, exigent, formidable, hard, heavy, laborious, onerous, oppressive, rigorous, rough, severe, tough, trying, weighty”. One might wonder why there are no cross-references thence to the ‘House Ways and Means Committee’ and the ‘federal Internal and various state Revenue Services’.

And, relatedly, one might say, by the way, that withholding has become the ‘opiate of the bureaucratic masses’.

Jesus Christ knows that we must render to Caesar only in Spirit guided and wise ways, not ways envious and coercive. For instance, He did not follow up His declaration with something like “. . . and the more to Caesar, the merrier!” He wants us to realize, in harmony with ”what you do for the least among you, you do for Me” that it is EACH our responsibility to bleed like the Sacred Heart in doing for others. None of us can expect to slice open another’s heart except by persuasion and exhortation. Jesus (not to mention the apostles themselves) must have some frustration that the way we ‘socialistees’ (as most of us are) seek ‘socialisters’ to ‘do something’ in big-government ways takes "robbing Peter to pay Paul".

Do I think that government has anything responsible and effective it can do about charity? Hmmm – my problem is thinking of government in the same statement with ‘responsible and effective’. I am a Boomer – as is that – uh – ummm – "&*%@#+-" comes to mind – politician noted above. Being a Boomer who actually reads and all, that, at least, means coming into history, recent vintage, when, where and how Marxian-finest, secularist-motivated, socialist-opiated governments cost just uncounted trillions of cash nuggets as well as uncounted millions of lives.

And, after all, some ‘socialisters’ have convinced some ‘socialistees’ to personally participate in continuing the slaughter of innocents.

Newman might give me a thought here, where “just this one latter difficulty makes for a thousand doubts”. The other thought that comes to mind is “be careful what it is you ask (pray) for”.

Remember, I love you, too .

In our delighted glory in our Infant King,

Pristinus Sapienter

(wljewell @catholicexchange.com or ... yahoo.com)