John Lennon and Bags Full of Dead Babies

It is no secret that many people in our culture today would like to create a new society without religion. Specifically, many would like to relegate Christianity to the trash-heap of historical memory, to be no more significant than the religions which came before it.

One of the most popular expressions of this worldview came in the famous John Lennon song, Imagine. The song begins by discouraging religious thinking:

People in China demonstrating a world without religion...

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

It proceeds with a rather utopian wish:

Imagine all the people
Living for today

Of course Lennon never thought about what a world without objective standards (and the possibility of spiritual justice) looked like.  It never  occurred to him that -- rather than creating a hippy utopia -- a world without ultimate consequences would eventually lead to moral anarchy.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
No greed or hunger
And no religion too

John never tells us how a world without coherent structures of government could feed billions of people. Nor could a state of political anarchy support healthcare, welfare for the poor, or education.  As to "greed," it is a real human tendency, and will persist with us until the end of time.  Finally, once he's done pulling out every structure we need to survive, John takes away our religion as well.

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

Yes -- clearly, a society with no governments to preserve the peace and provide for the economic structures necessary for human development -- along with a total lack of objective moral standards -- would lead to a peaceful utopian paradise.  It seems that our only problem would be finding enough flowers to plait into billions of shaggy heads of hair.

Clearly I have a great disdain for this song -- yet when you consider the colossal social damage it has caused, so should you! John Lennon wrote the anthem for the new irreligious culture, and it has echoed mindlessly through the unrefined intellects of millions.   This song should come free with every Hitchens or Davis atheism book sold; It could be a fitting background piece to the now famous atheist bus sign (picture, left.)

Yet it is no secret what such a pagan culture would look like, as there remain many parts of the world where Christianity has not become a dominant part of the cultural fabric. In recent world news, we hear of bags of dead babies being dumped into a river in China, or video games glorifying rape in Japan. It is not surprising that the majority of major human rights violations in our world take place in countries where the Christian ethos is not present.

With all of the major imperfections, hypocrisies, and potential troubles of organized religion, there remains the singular advantage of having an objective source of morality. These ideas -- observed in the Ten Commandments or the Beatitudes of Christ -- provide an immutable standard for morality while establishing the universal love of human dignity. This objective standard allowed for the creation of the United States of America. "In God we Trust" is not a political option, but rather the source of American freedom and success.

Before the Judeo-Christian worldview, there was no objective for human dignity.

So before you rush to embrace a secular view of the world, think of the grave injustices which have always followed on the heel of pagan regimes such as Nazism, or atheist regimes such as the Soviet Union. Think of the terrible world of ancient Rome, or the modern human rights travesties in China.

The pagan world was -- and remains -- a dark and terrible place. It is a place where goodness and common decency only exist until somebody stronger takes them away from you. Even those who choose not to follow a Judeo-Christian religion should be grateful that this worldview founded a new society where intellectual and religious freedom is tolerated. Your freedom not to believe is a property of the dominant belief -- if you lose the Christian culture, you will also eventually lose your freedom.

After all, do you think football is brutal?  You should read about what passed for typical weekend entertainment in the pagan superdome, otherwise known as the Roman Colosseum.

Yet another reason to show a healthy disdain for all the fruitful "thinking" that went on in the 1960's...

A solid defense of Pope Benedict XVI

It is relevant and necessary to briefly cover the recent media blitz surrounding Pope Benedict XVI.  I say "brief" because this is a shameful attempt by the New York Times which deserves little attention. The following article from the National Review aptly destroys the NYT's case:

National Review Article regarding Pope Benedict XVI

I can only ask why so many people remain unable to acknowledge the media (and deeper spiritual) war against Catholicism, especially in a decade where Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Pius XII, and Mother Teresa were all unjustly smeared in a coordinated media effort. As to why this war is taking place against Catholics -- as opposed to other religious groups -- one need not think too hard: the last things that relativists want is an objective standard of truth present at their international discussions of public policy and morality.

That sad sound you hear is the windblown tatters of the New York Times' credibility blowing away. Sadly, these accusations will affect many simple-minded people, only added further fuel to the unjustified stereotypes now being built around the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

God as the Practical Answer

Life with God is the easiest and most practical choice that man can make...

Thomas Paine wrote that "Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."  

Yet freedom, once earned, presents a quandary.  Is it possible that modern man has too many choices?  Furthermore, is it possible that he does not have the necessary spiritual formation to help him sort through the dizzying myriad of possibility before him?

Centuries after Paine, John Paul the Great said that "freedom consists in doing what we ought."  This is the quintessential truth about how to use our hard-earned freedom, and yet it is meaningless with an absolute reference point.  The freedom which Thomas Paine espoused -- and which John Paull II so perfectly defined -- needs God at its center.  To have any other reference point, be it a political ideal or a single man's will, can only lead to moral and aesthetic anarchy.  Our founding fathers understood this clearly when they used the phrase "we hold these truths to be self-evident."  Without God, nothing is self-evident.


Yet as elegant and clear as this idea is, so many modern men either ignore or outright reject their God.  I recently came across the blog of a former student, now blissfully wandering the world and glorifying hedonism.  Confusing old thoughts and values with recent hippy social disasters, he blissfully sums up his worldview with a quote from the American poet and author, Charles Bukowski:

“I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”

One would have to labor greatly to cram so much idiocy into such a short paragraph.  Little wonder that Bukowski led such a shallow and narcissistic life, exemplifying the utilitarian and anti-humanistic despair that his type of "un-religion" was designed to breed.  I say "designed" because the above quote from Bukowski -- and other world-views similar to his -- are not a modern invention.  They come from a far deeper malice and a far more clever deceiver than the average hippy could hope to contend with.  Notice that in Bukowski's own prose, "god" is spelled with a small 'g,' while "Death" becomes a capitalized personality.  Notice the appeal to un-education, as such a worldview requires a mind easily deceived.  Notice the appeal to anti-religion, as such a world-view needs an unformed soul to corrupt. These are not coincidences, considering the spiritual root of such a phrase, as well as the moribund destiny of anybody who would follow such a thought to its inevitable conclusion.

God, in the end, is the impractical practicality.  Belief in him is the only sensible answer.  It brings sense to our lives by giving us understanding of our world.  It explains suffering, giving us a way to use this inevitable pain in a redemptive fashion.  It puts history into an understandable perspective.  It gives us rules by which to live, while presenting an ideal by which no rules will be necessary.  It frees human love to be an infinite gesture.

In short, it provides freedom.  He who seeks to be free must seek to "do as he ought."  In asking what we "ought," there is only one sure place to gain an answer.  There is no alternative path but the role of the aimless wanderer, and he is sure to get nowhere...

Listening to the Infinite

I have become increasingly conscious of the deeper relationship between an artist as creator and the experience possible when one listens to the final product in a deep and uninterrupted sense.  Perhaps this is an experience only quantifiable as a composer, but I think it brings great hope to the dedicated listener.

I've been aware, at numerous times in my life, of establishing a near connection with the composer of a particular piece.  When I met Henryk Gorecki a few years back in his home, somehow very little about the composer's personality was surprising to me.  I felt a kinship with the man, and felt spiritually linked to him by several of his most contemplative works (which, incidentally, had become a permanent and intimate soundtrack in my life.)

Lest this sound all too strange and (unfortunately) hippy-ish to you, I think that there is a way to quantify the experience.  As a composer, our pieces grow out of specific places.  There is a seed of thought which births the initial feelings and intents behind a piece of music.  When the piece is particularly inspired, we feel particularly moved to be able to even begin to participate in the act of bringing it to life.  As a Catholic, I cannot help but feel that the Holy Spirit has a direct input on these matters, and that many such pieces spring from a place where the temporal and eternal worlds meet.

A thoughtful listener, therefore, can access this place.  Yet this is not an understanding that can be accessed through a technical or theoretical understanding of the music.  Neither a piercing harmonic analysis or an advanced biographical knowledge of the composer will lead you to the place of a work's genesis.  Quite contrary to what music education may imply, the deeper experience must come from a more humble experience of the music.  While technical knowledge is always helpful, it must eventually be left far behind when a person truly submits to a piece.  The journey to the genesis-point of a work is as unpretentious a spiritual experience we can have, because no intellectual discourse can describe or quantify the experience.  Yet when we arrive there, we meet the composer once again, hovering near the place of inspiration, gently awaiting a whisper of the infinite to issue forth...

The Simple Arguments Against Socialism

When I am feeling especially strong of heart, I will occasionally listen to liberal talk radio. Upon turning the dial to a local Chicago liberal station, I was immediately assaulted by a man outlining a strategy to further advance the cause of socialism in America, as well as how to continue our deep trend of spending with a turn towards more progressive ideals.

I say that I must be "strong of heart" to listen to such things, because it is always painful to listen to otherwise intelligent adults discuss political theories which history has shown us to be destructive paths. Progressivism and Socialism are linked at the hip, because the first (when followed directly) will inevitably lead to the other. Yet there are simple arguments to remember for the next time you encounter a utopian-eyed progressive:

1.) Where big government and socialism are concerned, it is imperative to remember that any government which is strong enough to give you everything that you need is also powerful enough to take it all away.

2.) Every socialist experiment of the past 100 years has either collapsed (the Soviet Union) or resulted in a deeply oppressive system (China.)

3.) While also not desirable, brutal Theocracies are actually more humane than Socialist Systems: the over 90 million dead victims of 20th century Socialism bear witness to this.

4.) Economically speaking, Socialism only works until you've run out of other people's money.

5.) Socialism inevitably leads to intellectual and artistic repression: when you study the legacy of eastern-European socialism, you see that it had a knack for squelching genius and promoting mediocrity. Those who truly believe in intellectual freedom must promote the conservative line.

6.) It is true that certain socialist constructs in American work. The Police, Military, and Fire Departments are admirable institutions. But more complex systems requiring intellectual fluidity quickly stagnate. Look at our inability to create a globally competitive education system. Or take NASA, which has moved at a snail's pace ever since her initial innovations. Finally look at DMV's, Toll Roads, Social Security, and the nightmare system of Medicare, and you have ample reason to not let the entire country "progress" in such a direction.

7.) Liberals are quick to point out that there are other quasi-socialist experiments which are working well, and they are right to do so. Yet they never give you the details: These countries tend to have smaller populations (like Canada), and generally depend on innovation and protection from larger and more economically conservative neighbors (like the USA.)

8.) Modern economies are groupings of hundreds of thousands of complex sub-categories, such as agriculture and education and industry. Taken alone, any one of these systems is far too complex to be regulated by a central authority. In socialist Europe, agricultural yield often rotted away or was distributed incorrectly. An example of this was veritable breadbasket of Poland, which -- forced to work under a Soviet system -- would become incapable of feeding her people during any crisis, this despite being an enviable agricultural population.

There are hundreds of more arguments, but these are a good start. How any person or group of people can promote such a ridiculous ideology -- in the face of contrary evidence and the bloody witness of history -- is only evidence of a talent for self-delusion. Capitalism is indeed a flawed system prone to greed and corruption. Yet when mixed with democracy and a healthy press, it is also the only system capable of rapid reform and self-policing.

There are times for progress.  Yet when the progress is towards an abyss, regress becomes the only sane option.

The Brother of Christopher Hitchens finds God.

Taken from a spiritual perspective, atheism is no more than a juvenile rebellion against your Father.  Sometimes prompted by real-life tragedy or betrayal, atheism nonetheless remains intellectually untenable and politically dangerous.  It is shocking that such a worldview could continue to hold water -- and attract believers -- after the bloody century of relativism we have just left behind.

This new atheism is truly a bigoted fundamentalism in disguise; as an anti-religion, it attempts to enshrine the very things which almost ended our society over the past 100 years.  When otherwise intellectually sharp people like Christopher Hitchens stubbornly insist on a doctrine that has led to nothing but heartache and tragedy, we can only wonder about their sanity.  


A fascinating article was recently penned by other Hitchens -- Peter -- about his tenuous journey back to the faith of his fathers.  Considering the strong climate of anti-religion in Europe, he writes:


   "Why is there such a fury against religion now? Because religion is the one reliable force that stands in the way of the power of the strong over the weak. The one reliable force that forms the foundation of the concept of the rule of law.  The one reliable force that restrains the hand of the man of power. In an age of powerworship, the Christian religion has become the principal obstacle to the desire of earthly utopians for absolute power."


And yet Hitchens give us hope in the fact that he is able to reconcile with his fundamentally atheist brother.  As far as the faith goes, history has taught us a lesson:  Either cultures and civilizations return to their faith, or they collapse tragically.   The faith, when chased away, always finds a new home and a willing ear.  Civilizations are mortal, the faith is imperishable.  In our overly anthropocentric age, it is important to realize that the faith is paramount, and that the faith will always survive, whether the rebellion be a single juvenile act or an entire society's folly.


Already, I feel, the tide is turning back towards the faith.  This latest attack, it seems, is fizzling away...


I highly encourage you to read what Peter Hitchens has to say:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255983/How-I-God-peace-atheist-brother-PETER-HITCHENS-traces-journey-Christianity.html

What the Olympics can Teach us about God

What can the Olympics teach us about God?


Everything we do -- every human institution, every tradition, every major event -- relates directly back to our status as spiritual beings.  As the children of an eternal God, we are creatures with a spiritual origin and the capacity for an eternal destiny.  As such, everything we do in life resonates from this spiritual fact.  The echoes of origin and destiny can be seen in every part of human experience.

The Olympics are a glowing example of this "echoes of origin and destiny."  We watch sports we would otherwise not be interested in -- some watch even though they are not interested in sports at all -- all because of our hope for victory.  While there are strong elements of national pride involved, it all boils down to our innate sense of victory.  As spiritual creatures, we are hard-wired to desire the ultimate victory, and therefore even those living hedonistic and atheistic lifestyles cannot avoid the reverberations of what God so certainly has fused within them.  When we revel in the possibility of human achievement -- when we embrace utter strangers in the stands while joyfully celebrating a championship victory -- we are acting on that key spiritual impulse.  And yet the joy of even the most hoped-for and improbable of victories is short-lived, and no more than a brief echo of what eternity can promise us.

The spiritual person will revel in an event like the Olympics, but also see the deeper meaning behind it.  They will take the lessons learned from such dedicated athletes, and "run the race to win."  There is no coincidence that holy scripture compares the life journey to a race, as life is an event with both winners and losers.

...and when the winners cross the finish line, the celebration will exceed our wildest dreams and fulfill our deepest hopes.  God is desperately rooting for you to "run the race to win," and is waiting to joyously welcome you home.

Gorecki Fourth Symphony Postponed

The London premiere of Henryk Gorecki's much-anticipated Fourth Symphony -- scheduled for April -- has been postponed. The website lists the reason as "prolonged illness.  The composer does indeed have a long history of illness, going back to health problems experienced as a small child.  This aside, private word reaches me that the composer was indeed quite ill, though in typical fashion he is not advertising his current state.

Having met Henryk Gorecki in his home almost three years ago, I fondly remember both his crochety nature and his buoyant personality.  It became immediately clear to me that he was a man who wrestled with the violent powers which surface in all true composers, yet he gave freely of his time and presence to the young admirer who had visited him.

The cancelation of the Fourth Symphony is a bitter disappointment to fans of Gorecki's work; it would have been truly fascinating to see his long overdue response to the iconic -- and dare I say eternal? -- reverberations of his magical Third Symphony.

Let's keep Henryk in our prayers.  For this who are unfamiliar with his Third Symphony, I'm providing a link to a video of the second movement, filmed for a DVD commemorating the victims of Auschwitz.

Be healthy, Mr. Gorecki, and give us more music!

Top 100 "Faith" Films

Arts & Faith has posted their list of the "Top 100 Faith Films" of all time. I'm guessing that all but the biggest film buffs will find ample temptation to upgrade (or reinstate, in my case) their netflix membership.

http://artsandfaith.com/t100/



Of the films I have seen on this list, I particularly recommend "The Decalogue," a ten part series of films by the luminous Krzysztof Kieslowski, centered loosely on the themes of the Ten Commandments.

The late Kieslowski is responsible for creating some of the most spiritually arresting films in history; yet his work would not have been possible without the great (and still living) composer, Zbigniew Priesner. Here is a great example of their work, from the film "The Double Life of Veronique."

The Answer to Everything

We live in a society where the answer to everything is only moments away. Whether it regards tweaking the visual settings on my blog, getting a new piece of software to integrate seamlessly into my studio setup, or finding the quickest route to Toledo, the internet answers any question I can throw at it.

So how is it acceptable to ask a question and not answer it?

What if this question can change the course of your entire life?

Such is the problem with many fallen-away Catholics in our culture. They'll come up with a few "objections" to the faith, and subsequently use them as an excuse to water-down or even stop practicing their religion.

These objections are usually far from legitimate concerns, and rather questions that people haven't taken the time to find an answer for yet. Some of the examples I hear most often:

"Why can't I just confess my sins to God? I don't think confession to a Priest is necessary."
"Why can't Priests marry? I don't think the Church is being fair."
"Why do I have to attend weekly Mass?"

Unfortunately the people who utter such questions tend to regard them as legitimate arguments, rather than intellectually lazy self-justification. Such questions are usually followed by a cynical or defiant facial expression, and the attempt to feel self-satisfied for being "modern" or "clever" enough to dupe the Church.

You haven't fooled anybody, friend. The beautiful Catholic answers -- spiritually full and intellectually satisfying -- are only a few clicks away. Just as easily as you can find the fastest route to Toledo, you can also find the fastest and fullest answer for your faith. It's all there, in unforgiving black and white.

Be it laziness or the fear of finding the right answer, you no longer have an excuse not to find the answer to your question.

Will God be willing to accept our lazy half-objections? In an age where the answer to everything is only a click away, will ignorance still be a tolerated excuse?