Living the Benedict Option in a Time of Chaos

From One Peter Five:

Twenty twenty has produced a grim news cycle in the United States. It started with COVID-19. Then it was the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks. Neil Gorsuch and the Supreme Court potentially eviscerated future First Amendment religious liberty rights cases with their decision in the Bostock case. “Social justice warriors” have also targeted statues of any historical figure that does not hold up to ever changing modern standards, including a canonized Catholic saint (Fr. Junipero Serra). Black Lives Matter proponent Shaun King and others are now calling for any depiction of a “white” or “European” Jesus to be taken down and destroyed. Despite all of these provocations, there is almost nary a word from the Catholic hierarchy. The California Conference of Catholic Bishops simply wrote a letter explaining that the tearing down of Fr. Serra’s statue “fails the test” of history. With all due respect to our bishops, this letter will do nothing to stop these vandals. It is about as effective as a father calmly telling his toddler throwing a tantrum to “stop it” over the telephone. (Read more.)

From The Catholic World Report:

Is the scar of slavery so deep that it can never be healed? Is there an element in the deep recesses that refuses to be healed? Is there some kind of self destruction that leads people to a feeling of victimization, no matter how well they do in life? Analogously, in my Jewish soul is there some element that whispers to me that the centuries of discrimination and humiliation have marked me with a self-doubting DNA, in spite of my achievements and successes? I know that had I lived in Germany in my youth, I would most likely not be alive today. That was systemic racism. I understand that it would be difficult to dialogue with Nazis! The difference today is that in the United States, 99.9% of Americans are horrified at the murder of George Floyd, want justice for him, and want bad police removed. We are all on the same page! 

Murder is never right. Nor is brutality. Looting and mayhem are never right. It is never right to redress a wrong by doing “the wrong thing”. 

I was raised in the tenements of the West Side. Seven people crowded into a railway flat with one bathroom. No car. Vacation was a day trip to Coney Island with the 5 cent subway fare and homemade sandwiches. The parish school was free, sponsored by the Paulist Fathers; high school tuition also paid by the priests, at $10 per month. College was CCNY and later a scholarship to St Francis in Brooklyn. I was a Duns Scotus Scholar. My father went gray overnight in the Depression. We ate sufficiently but sparsely and survived. 

We “made do.” We wore clothes until they fell apart. We laughed. We loved. We prayed. My sister became a college professor. I received a PhD from NYU. My maiden aunt earned a PhD from Columbia. We all made it and never felt victimized. It was never easy but obviously doable. There was no social security or supplemental funding. Those were challenging times. 

Being half Jewish and half Irish, I endured sneers and innuendos of being a “ Jew b- – – d”, an “Irish pig”, and ignorant and low class. I too was hurt and embarrassed by many in my formative years. Yet by God’s grace and with gratitude for opportunity, we kept healthy goals and got out of our ghetto. Almost anyone can if they are willing to pay the price of hard work and sacrifice. Clearly having a supportive and encouraging mother and father helps tremendously, but that is for another essay . The “poor me” cry is a cop-out and ultimately self sabotage. At the very least we can all make our tough situations a little bit better. (Read more.) 

 Meanwhile, schools are becoming more dangerous. From Return to Order:

A June 26, 2020 article in the professional publication Education Week carries the headline, “More School Districts Sever Ties with Police. Will Others Follow?” It told of several school districts (St. Paul, Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; and Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California) that voted to “suspend or dismantle school policing programs.” Another article from the same publication shows demonstrations against SROs in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles.

Police officers in any setting make the left cringe. There is an apparent contradiction in their thinking on the issue. On the one hand, they favor socialist programs that enhance the power and authority of government. At the same time, they view the embodiment of that power – the police officer – as a kind of “jack-booted thug” insistent on taking their freedom. (Read more.)

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