https://infogalactic.com/info/Michaelmas
His feast (29 September) in the Middle Ages was celebrated as a holy day of obligation, but along with several other feasts it was gradually abolished since the eighteenth century (see FEASTS). Michaelmas Day, in England and other countries, is one of the regular quarter-days for settling rents and accounts; but it is no longer remarkable for the hospitality with which it was formerly celebrated. Stubble-geese being esteemed in perfection about this time, most families had one dressed on Michaelmas Day. In some parishes (Isle of Skye) they had a procession on this day and baked a cake, called St. Michael's bannock.
via Catholic encyclopedia: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm
This is a response post to a top Reddit story that U.S. Christianity is Shrinking (2022):
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christianity-us-shrinking-pew-research/
So which is it? I see factors going back and forth, and I will define "Christianity" broadly as any of these groups that claim to be Christian for the sake of this discussion (although I personally hold it to be a more narrow definition of only being the Church I believe is exclusively the one Christian Church).
On the one hand, we have groups like the Amish or Mormons who reproduce more than the general nonreligious population. While I see lots of people defecting from religion, I also see a lot of people doubling down on trying to take religion seriously. Those who have defected from Christianity seem to still seek out some kind of substitute religion, whether it is in science, New Age, Buddhism, or what have you.
So what do you think? Is "Christianity" growing or declining?
New "home alone sedevacantist" site up: catholiceclipsed.com ("CE")
There seems to be an ongoing debate of us "home alone sedevacantists" versus the sedevacantists who currently believe Catholics have churches to go to, example response post: https://catholiceclipsed.com/2022/09/05/home-alone-hobbits-a-refutation-of-steve-sperays-problems-with-being-a-catholic-during-the-apocalypse/
I side with CE in some respects, I don't think Catholics have any (known) churches today ("home alone"), and don't have a pope ("sedevacantist" / sedes). Some other sedes have tried to set up churches and consecrate bishops and ordain priests, but they acknowledge this is not done in accordance with the rules (popes typically need to approve consecrations of bishops, meaning these operations are "illegal" or illicit).
In practice some people have had negative experiences with these operations so pairing that with the theological understanding of these operations being created by violating Canon law, some Catholics have therefore concluded there are no (known) churches for Catholics today.
The new site for me is a bit refreshing to see, it seems the "home alone" view is growing, although slowly.
The other main "home alone" site that comes to mind is betrayedcatholics.com ("BCC") - of course it is absurd for me to also mention that CE had a falling out with the author of that site, for now.
But I kind of side with CE, mostly because CE is just a regular guy. BCC is just of a different generation and has a different mindset. But I think BCC has a lot of interesting info, and both I and CE have learned a lot from that site I think.
Discuss "sedevacantist" and "home alone" related topics?
Seems like a lot of trust has been obliterated today, like I cringe reading people try to broadcast intimate opinions shared within a relationship post-breakup on to social media
So then either you have to find people you can test a lot to see if they're trustworthy, or you mostly have to "let it all burn" until trust completely breaks down in society forcing a reset of trust and punishment of breaches of trust
So what do you think about how high trust societies are created, how much trust exists in society today (USA), or what are your thoughts on this topic in general?
Pros: speaks positively of traditional gender roles, gives some practical success tips for men to be able to exercise / make an income / compete, speaks on becoming aware of the "system" and trying to beat it
Thoughts on Andrew Tate?
https://infogalactic.com/info/Geocentrism
https://galileowaswrong.blogspot.com/p/summary.html
Galileo Was Wrong is a detailed and comprehensive treatment of the scientific evidence supporting Geocentrism, the academic belief that the Earth is immobile in the center of the universe. Garnering scientific information from physics, astrophysics, astronomy and other sciences, Galileo Was Wrong shows that the debate between Galileo and the Catholic Church was much more than a difference of opinion about the interpretation of Scripture.
Scientific evidence available to us within the last 100 years that was not available during Galileo's confrontation shows that the Church's position on the immobility of the Earth is not only scientifically supportable, but it is the most stable model of the universe and the one which best answers all the evidence we see in the cosmos.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/batesville/name/father-david-bawden-obituary?pid=202502394
https://infogalactic.com/info/Conclavism
idk of what but he didn't seem super healthy
honestly to me had one of the most comprehensive understandings of the problems facing Catholicism today intellectually speaking (although many have no idea and just think he "weirdly tried to elect himself pope"), even though I disagreed with view
I can try to answer any questions about his views
a couple of his sites (I do not necessarily agree with some parts on them):
vaticaninexile.com
archive snapshots of his site have different content: https://web.archive.org/web/20070205075739/http://www.vaticaninexile.com/
there was a documentary about him but I don't think it really got in to the issues too much and wouldn't recommend it too much: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=b96WxyxPfOY
https://archive.org/details/MeditationsForEveryDayInTheYear/page/1/mode/2up
The following series of Meditations has been long in high repute in England. They were originally collected, a long time ago, from the best ascetical writers, which were then in existence, and there is hardly a meditation book of those days which our author has not ransacked in order to form his work.
p. 17 gives instructions on how to "meditate" or engage in "mental prayer" (a kind of Christian prayer):
How To Meditate Or Pray Mentally
St. Augustine is quoted as saying that "any one who knows how to pray rightly, knows how to live rightly." Many opinions could be cited of holy and learned writers who attach the greatest importance to mental prayer, and for some persons think it even necessary for salvation.
Distant Preparation.
- Avoid venial sins and be exact in all duties.
- Practise some self-denial; guard your eyes and tongue.
- Have a habit of recollection and union with God.
- Be patient and kind.
Near Preparation. 1.Read the subject attentively the evening before, and fix it in the memory. 2. Picture in your imagination some object or scene connected with the subject of meditation. 3. Take a respectful and not too easy posture in meditating. We should try to cometo prayer with a disengaged mind and a tranquil heart.
Begin your Mental Prayer by realizing the presence of God, and kiss your crucifix devoutly.
Preparatory Prayer: O my God, I offer myself entirely to Thee, and beg of Thee to direct all the powers of my soul to know, honor, love, and serve Thee. Grant, dearest Lord, that I may practise the virtue taught by this meditation. (Recall the picture formed in imagination.)
Then carry on a conversation, as it were, with Al- mighty God, while you exercise your memory, understanding, and will (either all together or separately), asking, I. What am I going to think of? (who ? where ? when ? why ?) II. What doctrine or practical truth is to be learned from this ? III. What reasons or motives for it from authority, reason, experience, or from the subject itself ? (Is it becoming ? is it profitable ? is it agreeable ? is it easy? is it necessary ?) IV. How have I done in the past ? (in thought, word, action; towards God, my neighbor, myself ?) V. What must I do in the future? (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly ?) VI. What obstacles are in my way ? (internal, external ?) VII. What means must I use ? (determine on one or two things, and no more.) Finish your meditation by a most fervent address to God the Father, to Jesus Christ, to God the Holy Ghost; also to the Blessed Virgin, the Angels and Saints. After Meditation, examine yourself as to the prepara- tion for your mental prayer; as to the manner in which you have made the meditation itself (posture, attention place, time). If it has succeeded, thank God; if it has not, find out the cause and resolve to do better next time.
Dormition / Assumption Fast (August 1-14, Eastern Catholic / Orthodox)
https://infogalactic.com/info/Dormition_of_the_Mother_of_God
The Feast of the Dormition is preceded by a two-week fast, referred to as the Dormition Fast. From August 1 to August 14 (inclusive) Orthodox and Eastern Catholics fast from red meat, poultry, meat products, dairy products (eggs and milk products), fish, oil, and wine. The Dormition Fast is a stricter fast than either the Nativity Fast (Advent) or the Apostles' Fast, with only wine and oil (but no fish) allowed on weekends.
Hans-Hermann Hoppe on his view of the importance of division of labor in capitalist-technological society:
A member of the human race who is completely incapable of understanding the higher productivity of labor performed under a division of labor based on private property is not properly speaking a person… but falls instead into the same moral category as an animal – of either the harmless sort (to be domesticated and employed as a producer or consumer good, or to be enjoyed as a “free good”) or the wild and dangerous one (to be fought as a pest). On the other hand, there are members of the human species who are capable of understanding the [value of the division of labor] but...who knowingly act wrongly… [B]esides having to be tamed or even physically defeated [they] must also be punished… to make them understand the nature of their wrongdoings and hopefully teach them a lesson for the future.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hans-Hermann_Hoppe
I think Hoppe is denying the humanity of such people perhaps incorrectly, but unironically some primitivists might agree and say yes, they are animals or like them, and that's a good thing, that's the point, they want to be "wild and free". The primitivist might in response argue that dependence on technology and specialists is not particularly "libertarian".
Case in point, when technology becomes so complicated that "superviruses" are unleashed that we are compelled to rely on mRNA technologies we may not understand and "specialist doctors" who we basically have to decide if we trust or not.
A lot of ancaps or people in general seem to be ignorant of the anarcho-primitivist or anti-civ(ilization) critique of technology's impact on freedom, so I'm not sure what Hoppe would think of such critiques. Perhaps I or someone could email him or some of the Mises Institute people to ask their opinion (note: one email sent). This quote sent me on a deep dive of economics topics like of the idea of "comparative advantage" that two people could separately produce only so much, but if they decided to divide labor and specialize they might be able to produce more that they could trade together. I accept this as being true in theory.
However, take an example of two people, one foraging for strawberries exclusively and the other producing meat. If they decide not to trade, the meat hunter gets scurvy from no vitamin C from the strawberries (accept this for the sake of argument), while the strawberry gatherer gets no protein. So the division of labor creates a kind of fragile depedence and removes their primitive liberty that they possessed previously, of self-sufficient freedom but with less productive output.
While growing up to enjoy the idea of "American freedom", this led me to consider anarchism as the full expression of freedom, but more specifically "individualist anarchism", which was kind of a mix of primitivism but open to a little technology and not necessarily capitalist or socialist: the ideal of a self-sufficient homesteader who could make some tools and produce much of what they needed, of someone living before or shortly after the Industrial Revolution. Personally I encountered problems with authorities or experts offering potentially bad advice which I was dependent on. The fragility of such a scenario did not seem particularly liberating.
However, of course having less productivity seems limiting as well. And the development of technology and free arrangement in a division of labor seems to be a genuine expression of liberty in the beginning. But it then seems to foster a kind of technological slavery, and slavery of dependence on capitalist division of labor.
If one cannot opt out of using certain technologies, or of joining teams as a specialist in a capitalist society, then is one "completely" free?
Does this imply that libertarianism requires primitivism on some level, or rejecting an unrestricted development of technology and the division of labor involved in capitalism?
https://infogalactic.com/info/Saint_John%27s_Eve
The Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:36, 56–57) states that John was born about six months before Jesus; therefore, the feast of John the Baptist was fixed on 24 June, six months before Christmas Eve.
https://infogalactic.com/info/Nativity_of_St_John_the_Baptist
All over Europe "Saint John's fires" are lighted on mountains and hilltops on the eve of his feast. As the first day of summer, Saint John's Day is considered in ancient folklore one of the great "charmed" festivals of the year.
In Scandinavia and in the Slavic countries it is an ancient superstition that on Saint John's Day witches and demons are allowed to roam the earth. As at Halloween, children go the rounds and demand "treats," straw figures are thrown into the flames, and much noise is made to drive the demons away.[5]
In the 7th century, Saint Eligius warned against midsummer activities and encouraged new converts to avoid them in favor of the celebration of St. John the Baptist’s birth.
via wiki:
"[It's] a seven-day event that advocates bicycling for transportation."
"Bike Week has been running in the UK since 1923."
"In the United States of America, May is recognized as Bike Month and Bike to Work Week is always either the first or second full week of May."
f***cars is trending on reddit, and with gas prices as they are, walking or biking can be nice alternatives if you live within a distance of wherever you're going - or can be good exercise and recreation
"Rogation Days" In Catholic Encyclopedia: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13110b.htm
Days of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the Church to appease God's anger at man's transgressions, to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest
https://infogalactic.com/info/Easter_Fire
Not sure which church this is associated with, I think multiple
Easter fires are typically bonfires lit before, during, or after Easter Sunday as part of secular and religious celebrations
https://infogalactic.com/info/Three_Hours%27_Agony
The Jesuit priest Alphonsus Messia (died 1732) is said to have devised this devotion in Lima, Peru. It was introduced to Rome around 1788 and spread around the world. In 1815, Pope Pius VII decreed a plenary indulgence to those who practise this devotion on Good Friday.[3]
It may include meditation on the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross,[1] and often occurs between the Stations of the Cross at noon and the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion at 3PM, or between 6PM and 9PM.[2]
https://www.protectkratom.org/
https://www.protectkratom.org/hawaii
https://www.protectkratom.org/mississippi
Kratom is an herb used for pain management and to keep people off harder painkillers like heroin or similar opiates. It has a mild to moderate pain reducing effect, and can be addictive, but with less overdose potential as compared with other drugs like heroin.
Given how harmful alcohol is while being legal, in comparison kratom seems to have a much more moderate capacity for causing harm, and thus in my view ought to remain legal. Certainly I do not encourage people to abuse the herb, but would like to see more research done on it and think it could be useful in moderation like alcohol can be.
What do you think of kratom and should it be kept legal?
This is from a protestant (non-Catholic, non-orthodox I believe anyway), full quote:
"The devil is not fighting religion. He's too smart for that. He is producing a counterfeit Christianity, so much like the real one that good Christians are afraid to speak out against it." -Vance Havner, who died in 1986
(Personal analysis of quote in comments)