Disrupting the Narrative of the New Left, its allies in Academia, Hollywood and the Establishment Media, and examining with honesty the goals of cultural Marxism and the dangers of reactionary and abusive political correctness.
THE NARRATIVE AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen.”-George Orwell
Pope Francis delivers the traditional Christmas message and Apostolic Blessing Urbi et Orbi: to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square and to those listening to him around the world on radio and television (and YouTube).
When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,just as it had been told to them...
Is there a day of greater expectation for Christians than
Christmas Eve? Holy Saturday, perhaps, should be; but while the
Resurrection of Christ is a more remarkable act even than the
Incarnation of God as Man, the simple fact that the former depends on
the latter - God must become Man before He can die and rise again - has
ensured that Christmas captures our imagination more fully than Easter.
It is not just visions of sugar plums and glorious roast beast that set
our hearts afire on this day; it is the recognition - perhaps less
conscious than more so - that, in the words of one of my favorite
Christmas carols,
Long lay the world in sin and error pining, 'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
Even
as Christians, we may have reduced the Nativity of Our Lord in
practical terms to a holiday of family and friends, of home and hearth
and happiness. Yet our souls know more than our minds acknowledge, and
on this night of nights they cry out, "Come, Lord Jesus!" That is the
cry, too, of the Apostles and Fathers of the Church, of saints and
sinners down through the ages...
It is the cry of humanity broken
by sin, of men and women who too often rebel against the realization
that we cannot repair our lives, much less the world, on our own, yet
who recognize, deep within their souls, the scars that only Christ can
heal. Our pride threatens to stifle that cry, and perhaps for 364 days
of the year, it succeeds in doing so. We act as if our salvation lies in
our hands, as if we can heal ourselves through our own works.
Yet
on this day, and even more so this night, our souls may speak more
loudly, if we will let them. They may cry to the Lord Who will greet us
in the morning from His humble manger; they may admit that we need the
Child Who is also the Man Who died for our sins - not just the sins of
Adam and Eve, and the sins of our fellow man, but our sins, that we have
committed yesterday and today, and which we will commit tomorrow.
And
our souls may allow us, this night, to set aside our spiritual and
intellectual pride, and to hear the truth of the prophets, who likened
those souls to an arid desert, which no man can make bloom but God can
make fruitful.
To receive the gift of God, the gift that He gives
us starting this night, requires setting our pride aside and
acknowledging that we are broken, that we are barren, that on our own we
can only bring death rather than life.
This night, of all
nights, our hearts seem ready to hear these words, to admit the longing
in our souls for something that we cannot gain for ourselves, but can
only accept as a gift. Or rather, the longing for Someone, the only
begotten Son of the Father Who wants nothing more than for all of His
children to receive the ultimate gift in the spirit in which He gives
it: freely, without reservations.
Tomorrow, He comes: the greatest gift of all. Tonight, we watch, we wait, we hope...
Want to know why so many European countries have managed to keep their marginal income tax rates lower than ours while still collecting far more revenue to fund far bigger government than we have? Because they levy value-added taxes (VATs), which are national sales taxes that don't show up on a retail bill but are instead hidden from consumers in intermediate stages.
Both Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have aVAT-like mechanism as part of their tax-reform plans. Both are misguided, to say the least. Even if they were able to get their plans enacted intact in the short run, in the long run what we'd end up with is a new, costly federal sales tax plus a continuing, problematic income tax. In other words, we'd end up like much of Europe...
