Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 191: Occasions of Sin

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Show 191: Occasions of Sin · The Uncensored Catholic

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Speaker 1: The f A.
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Speaker 2: Hey, y'all, welcome to today's shop. You're having a great
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week so far. Today we will get into Poo Spirago's
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explanation of the occasions of sin. But first of all,
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as usual, we'll start with a couple of questions and
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answers from radio replies. The question asked, why do not
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Catholics have Bibles in their houses? And they answer the priest.
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The two priests of foes, Rumbo and Carti, reply, Catholics
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are quite free to possess and read approved versions of
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the Bible. As you cannot have searched every Catholic home
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in the country, I can but wonder at your credibility
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and thinking Catholics not have Bibles in their homes. A
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person says, I have known Catholics to admit they have
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never read the Bible. Why does not the Catholic Church
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teach it to them? And they answer, the doctrines of
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the Bible are taught to her people by the Catholic
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Church more faithfully than by any other church. The Gospel
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has read to them and explained every Sunday morning at Mass,
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and far more people are there to hear it. Then
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you will find in Protestant churches.
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Speaker 1: That's true.
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Speaker 2: There's still far more Catholics than there are Protestants. I
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mean exponentially more. We're like a billion, and they're you know,
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I have not more than that actually. But anyway, some
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Catholics who not read the Bible privately very much, but
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they know the doctrines taught by the Bible more clearly
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than other people on earth. Non Catholic Bible readers may
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know many texts of Scripture, but they know very little doctrine.
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A Catholic may be at a loss when you quote
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some particular text, but he knows clearly what it must
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be done to save one's soul. The true conditions required
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for this being simply are the true conditions required for
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this being simply unknown to hosts of non Catholic Bible readers.
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Person says, in any case, you have to admit that
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Protestants have more love for Scripture than Catholics. We owe
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the rediscovery of the Bible chiefly to early Protestants, and
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that's a Protestant myth that has no foundation in truth.
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Speaker 1: Answer.
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Speaker 2: I deny absolutely the Protestants love Scripture more than Catholics,
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Nor was the Bible ever rediscovered through all centuries that
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had been carefully transcribed and preserved in Catholic monasteries, and
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was already there for Luther and others to broadcast. Person
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asked to whom am I indebted for my English Bible?
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Let me answer, you are indebted to many collaborators. Between
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fifteen twenty five and fifteen thirty six, William Tindale translated
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into English various Greek and Latin copies of the Bible
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which had been made by Catholic monks, copies which could
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be traced back to the original scriptures. Cromwell was not
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satisfied with Tyendale's translation, so he commissioned Miles Coverdale to
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make a new one. Coverdale used and perfected, to some
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extent Tindale's version, and published the Great Bible in fifteen
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thirty nine. Not satisfied with this, the Committee of Anglican
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Bishops revised it in fifteen sixty eight published what is
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known as the Bishop's Bible. This was also faulty. King
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James the First of England, order a new revision, taking
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as their basis the Bishop's Bible. A committee of forty
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seven revisers whose names are not known, produce what is
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known as the Authorized version in sixteen eleven. In eighteen
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eighty I'm sorry. Eighteen eighty one, a new revised version
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was published, correcting some five thousand mistakes in the Authorized version.
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That's right, the King James version is full of mistakes,
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and it's also a counterfeit Bible, having changed the words
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of Christ just to fit Protestant doctrine and cutting out
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the books that don't fit their doctrine. Further revisions of
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this revised version is being demanded. Thus you owe your
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English Bible to many unknown revisers, the Bishops of fifteen
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sixty eight and Miles Coverdell in fifteen thirty nine, ten
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down fifteen twenty five, monastic copyists throughout the ages, and
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thence the original and the person has have Catholics a
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true copy of the Bible as used by proper and
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I mean Protestants just can't seem to get it through
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their head that they don't have a real Bible. It's
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not a true copy of the Bible. It's a counterfeit,
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false Bible. They answer, Protestants have not a true copy.
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Their copy contains many mistranslations and amidst complete books. The
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Catholic Church provides a substantially true copy or version in
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English for her own subjects. Person says, you speak of mistranslations.
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Do you accuse Protestant translators of grossly infamous conduct in
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tampering with the text? They say, I do. Dixon, in
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his Introduction to Scripture says that the early Protestant translators
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were full of gross errors no unprejudiced Protestant would now deny,
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and that those errors were wilful Ward and his erata
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satisfactory as war his erata satisfactory proofs. Bishop Elliott and
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his book Consider Considerations on the Revision of the English Version,
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says that the translation yields erroneous doctrinal inn for inferences
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not to be drawn from the original. A. Blunt, in
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his Key to Knowledge and Use of the Bible says,
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the characters of the translators were not such as to
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command the respective men. Now these are all Protestant writers,
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by the way, Anglicans at that. Robert Gail, Chaplain to
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the Archbishop Abbott, one of the revising committee, wrote of
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the discursion of the discussions, truth was often outvoted, Dogmatic
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interests were in some cases allowed to bias the translation,
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the calvinism of one party and the Parlatic views of
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another were both represented at the expense of accuracy. And
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of course, the person asked what books are omitted from
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the Protestant version, they answer to Bias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiastses
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bark and two Books of Maccabees, and the various other
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sections of other books. And finally, the person says, is
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not the dewey Rheims version a poorer rendering into English
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than the Protestant version? Apart from its Romish viewpoints, the
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dewey Rheims version has not a Romish viewpoint in the
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sense of having been deliberately accommodating to the Catholic teaching.
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It is substantially a true version, which, because true, necessarily
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indicates the Catholic Church as the true Church, for that
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is the truth of scripture. From a literary viewpoint, it
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is a less beautiful translation than that of the authorized
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version or the King James. But why merely because it
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is a more exact translation. When a foreign language, classical
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or modern, is translated into English, the more one clings
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to the tech, the less purely literary beauty one attains
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the new language to obtain a more beautiful rendering, one
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must translate more freely, thus more or less forfeiting the
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exact sense of the original. But in the matter of
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God's word, we want not so much literary beauty, but
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just what God intended. And for that the dewey rems
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far surpasses the authorized version, despite its rather awkward literary
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structure at times. And we'll leave off on that one there,
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And now let's get into Father Spirago on the topic
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of the occasions of sin. And he states in the
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Exhaustive Catechism of the Catholic Church Exhaustive Explanation of the
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Catechism of the Catholic Church, I should say by occasions of
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sin are meant such places, persons, or things, which, as
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a rule are the means of leading us into sin
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if we go in quest of them. For instance, the
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society of the dissolute, the perusal of anti religious books
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are an occasion to sin for everyone. So is the
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drinking saloon to the drunkard. Occasions of sin may be
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compared to a plague stricken person who gives the contagion
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to all who approach, or to fire which burns all
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that it touches, or to a stone in the way,
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which causes many to stumble occasions of sin. Occasions of
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sin may be voluntary or involuntary. The drinking saloon is
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a voluntary occasion of sin to the inebriate, because nothing
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obliges him to frequent it. But to the landlord himself
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it is an involuntary one. To expose one'sself heedlessly to
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an occasion of sin is in itself a sin. It
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entails the loss of divine grace and leads to mortal sin.
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Everyone knows that is ron to carry a burning torch
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into a place where hay straw and other flammable materials
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or inflammable materials are stored, to delight in occasions of
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evil and to fall into sin. Saint Augustine declares to
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be one and the same thing. Saint Peter sought the
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company of the enemies of Christ in the High Priest's palace,
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and he fell for God withdrew his grace. He that
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loveth danger shall perish in it. And I think this
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is syrac which is also called ecclesiasticus. As I've said,
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I have very hard time telling his abbreviations for ecclesiastes,
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Apart from Ecclesiasticus, But I'm thinking this is syrac three
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twenty seven. He that touched pith, he that touches pitch
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p I t h my tungusen tied, shall be defiled
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with it. That's also from the same book, chapter thirteen one.
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He who finds himself in circumstances which are an occasion
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of sin to him, and does not instantly leave him them,
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although it is in his power to do so, commits
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a sin. He would be deprived of the assistance of
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divine grace and will fall at immortal sin in paradise.
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Adam sin not by going away from the tree. Saint
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Augustine says, our first parents ought not to have so
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much as touched the forbidden fruit. Cleo Mini's I guess,
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King of Sparta, was once urged by a foreign prince
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to betray his country for a large sum of money.
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The King's little daughter, hearing what was proposed, exclaimed, Father,
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go go quite away, or the stranger will corrupt thee.
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The king instantly left the room and would not suffer
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the stranger to enter his presence again. Let us be
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equally prompt and forsake the occasions of sin. He who
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refuses to give up to him what is an occasion
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of sin. Cannot expect to obtain pardon of sin here
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or eternal salvation hereafter. One who so acts has no contrition,
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that determinant turning away from creatures and turning to God,
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which is an indispensable condition for the forgiveness of sin. Hence,
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one who might give up an occasion of sin without
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great difficulty, and does not do so, must not expect
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absolution from the priest. It is otherwise if giving up
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the occasion of sin involves loss of reputation or property,
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or of the means of livelihood, but even then he
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must promise either to abstain from the sin or to
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avoid occasion of it. We know from our Lord's words
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that hell awaits those whose will who will not forsake
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the occasion of sin. If thy hand or thy foot
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scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee,
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it is better for thee to go into life maimed
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or lamed, than having two hands or two feet to
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be cast into everlasting fire Matthew eight eight. That is
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to say, although any object be as dear to you
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as your hand or your foot, you must separate yourself
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from it. If it is occasion of sin to you,
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or hell will be your portion. What sacrifices men make,
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says Saint Augustine, to preserve their mortal life, they shrink
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from no expense, no humiliation. Yet they will make no
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sacrifice for life immortal. As a man consents to the
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amputation of his hand or foot if it is a
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question of saving his life. So the sinner must detach
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himself from what he loves best in order to save
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his soul. Traders will cast all their merchandise into sea
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to save the ship and their own lives from destruction.
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So we must part with all to which our heart
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clings most fondly, rather than imperil our eternal salvation. Hence,
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even the greatest saints did not venture lightly to expose
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themselves to the danger of sin. Their watch word was
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safety is in flight. It is said that Saint Peter,
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on the outbreak of a persecution, fled from Rome, fearing
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lest he should again be tempted to deny Christ. Not
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until our Lord appeared to him outside the city gates
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did he venture to expose himself to the danger. And
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shall those who are slaves of their senses consider vigilance
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to be superfluous. Will one who cannot swim dare to
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plunge into the water. Those, however, who by reason of
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their calling or any other necessity, are compelled to expose
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themselves to occasions of sin, must put their trust in
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the protection of the most high officials. Priests, doctors, and
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many others are often compelled by the duties of their
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office to encourage to incur many dangers. If they do
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not tempt God, by presumption, they may count upon the
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assistance of his grace. But not so those who, in
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an uncalled for manner and without just cause, expose himself
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to the risk of sin. The most common and most
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dangerous occasions of sin are liquor, saloons, dancing saloons, bad
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the bad periodicals, and bad novels. Now, this is one
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in which I have a huge disagreement with many people
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on the conservative in the conservative movement, many well meaning
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conservative Catholics, et cetera, who say they're free speech absolutists.
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I am not a free speech absolutist. Christ gave to
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his church the authority to say what's right and wrong.
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If the Church says, you know, a book let's say
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Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto would be a good example. Adolf
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Hitler's mind Kemp would be an excellent example. These are
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evil books written by evil men that lead people astray
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when they read them. And bans that book.
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Speaker 1: I say, the church has the perfect right to do so.
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Speaker 2: Now they always say that, you know, if you're an
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academic and you need to read it for purposes of study,
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they'll make it available. But for the average person, why,
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I mean, that's like saying we should sell arsenals rick
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nine right beside milk and orange juice, because you know,
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we're a free market society, And why would you not
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sell dangerous poisons right alongside helpful foods. Well, anybody with
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a little bit of common sense would say, well, because
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they're dangerous and someone may pick one up by mistake,
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or someone who can't read English might get the labels wrong.
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So we're going to take these dangerous chemicals and put
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them in a controlled, you know, chemical distribution company, as
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opposed to on a grocery store shelf. That makes sense, right,
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So why do we allow free access to pornography, to
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satanic books, to books about witchcraft, to books about communism,
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and you know, I could go down the list. Why
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do we put these right on the shelf in the
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in the library at a bookstore if you can still
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find a bookstore for everybody to read. I am not
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a free speech absolutist, not, I mean, not whatsoever.
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Speaker 1: I believe the Catholic Church has the.
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Speaker 2: Full right and duty to say, you know what, Catholics,
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you shouldn't be viewing pornography, and we should do everything
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we can to make it illegal. That's my opinion.
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Speaker 1: And you know, I would debate.
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Speaker 2: Anybody on that topic because to say that we would
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propagate evil. And you know, pornography is actually very evil.
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I mean, it's a lot of human trafficking going on there,
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a lot of abuse and really bad stuff. Okay, but
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you know right now, I mean so many so called
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Catholic charities are complicit in human trafficking. We've lost the
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moral authority to speak out and say, hey, wait a minute.
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You know, these girls and boys shouldn't be drugged up
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and addicted to drugs and beaten and forced to perform
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sexual acts that they may not want to perform. You know,
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we've lost that authority because many in our church are
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actively participating in it, and far too many. I mean,
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I may say that the numbers are like seventy percent
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of men and about fifty percent of women are addicted
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to pornography. You know, if it's if you're what's another example,
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If it's a film showing the murder of a person
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that's evil, and those films are made and people watch
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them and it encourages them to commit violence themselves, those
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should be illegal, and those actually are. But you know,
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it's just a matter of degree. In all honesty, it's
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just a matter of degree. I mean, you have no
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idea what happens to that person after the cameras turned off? Well, anyway,
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Augustine answers this question.
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Speaker 1: Let's see.
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Speaker 2: Some perhaps ask is one expected to live like a
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recluse or a misanthropist? Saint Augustin Gustin answers this question.
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Better and holier people than thou have forsworn these amusements?
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Can'st not thou do the same. And remember he's talking
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about theaters, he's talking about dancing. I mean what we
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might call, you know, a nightclub. Now, you know, maybe
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there are some places we ought not go. I'm a musician,
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I played many stages in bars playing country music and
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blues and jazz and punk rocking and roots rock and bluegrass.
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I mean, you know, for the most part, it's a
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fairly wholesome environment.
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Speaker 1: Believe it or not.
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Speaker 2: Some of the roughest nightclubs that you can think of
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actually had some really good music and just a bunch
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of people having a good time. But then there are also,
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you know, fights that break out, and there are also
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people cheating on their spouse, and there are people that
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get way too drunk or take a lot of drugs,
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and you know, if you know what you're going into,
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encourages that. And there are actually, you know, some nightclubs
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and such encourage a lot of drug use.
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Speaker 1: And heavy drinking and et cetera.
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Speaker 2: Maybe you don't want to play that place. Maybe you
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ought not to watch movies that are you know, not
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in align.
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Speaker 1: With your Catholic moral values.
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Speaker 2: And definitely books and magazines and now we have websites.
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Of course, a lot of them should not be visited
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or viewed by Catholics, by anybody really, but especially by Catholics. Anyway,
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he says, better and holier people than thou have forsworn
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those amusements can't can'st thou'll not do the same. The
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Christian's pleasures are not taken from him, they are changed
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and ennobled again. He says, how sweet it is to
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renounce the vain enjoyments of this world. I shrink from
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the obligation to forego them, and now I rejoice in
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having lost them. The worldlings the person, the worldly person,
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says Saint Bernard sees our afflictions, but he knows not
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our consolations. Those are no true joys which are not
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in God. And he starts with He'll go through these numerically.
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The liquor saloon is principally dangerous for those who go
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thither every day and spend a long time there. You know,
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in Catholic teaching, there's nothing wrong with having a drink
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or two, there is. It is a sin to purposefully
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get drunk. You know, everybody has a little too much
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every now and then. That's you know, venial. But to
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purposefully go somewhere and with the intention of getting drunk,
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and that's where what people would do in the liquor saloons.
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He says, there is nothing sinful in frequenting a saloon
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as a recreation after the day's work. In fact, taverns
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are necessary for the entertainment of travelers. You gotta remember
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back then they didn't have a lot of restaurants and hotels.
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You went to a tavern, you got a meal, you
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had a couple of beers, and they would have a
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room you can rent upstairs. In early America, it was
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actually mandated in Puritan New England of all places, that
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every town have a tavern because people had to have
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somewhere to go get warm during the winter. That's where
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they would discuss politics and society and everything that was
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important to forming our nation, and a place for someone
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who didn't have a hearth of his own to get
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a warm meal. And again, as I say, so often
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the water was often bad. You know, we didn't have sanitation,
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and you know underground sewers and such and all. The
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water was often bad. And without beer, and rum was
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you know, very popular back then, and brandy and everything,
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but especially beer, our nation would not have survived. England
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would not have survived. In the time of medieval England,
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the water was very bad and people basically drank nothing
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but beer from morning till night. There's nothing wrong with
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alcohol whatsoever. In fact, the Bible says alcohol that wine
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gives joy to the heart. Well, it's just important that
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we stay in the you know, if you know two
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three glasses gives joy to your heart, but four or
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five makes you angry and sullen and ill tempered, well
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then you need to be responsible and figure out when
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to when to say when to say when, as they
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used to say. And that's different for every person. I'm
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a big guy. I'm six four, I'm two hundred and
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twenty pounds. When I'm lean, I have the constitution of
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an elephant. I mean I could easily, you know, sit
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there in the course of an evening and chatting with
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someone and drink half a bottle of bourbon and not
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be in slightest way intoxicated. I mean you may think
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it's extreme. That is extreme. I don't normally do that,
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but I could. I have in the past. You know,
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I try to do better now. And I can have
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a nice strong cigar with it. And you know, I'm
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a big guy. If you're small or frame man, if
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you're a woman, you know, you might want to call
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it quits two or three, or you know, stick with
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wine and not liquor, or you know, just know your limits,
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because when we get beyond those limits that we make
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all kinds of mistakes. I mean, how many people who
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have caused horrible car accidents thought they were still in
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their limits, but they had one too many and then
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got behind the wheel of car. You know, obviously we
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don't always see ourselves as we are, especially when we've
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had a few drinks. So air on the side of caution.
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But there's no reason to be a teetotaler. That's not
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part of Catholic doctrine, unless, of course, you are an alcoholic,
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or maybe you have a family history of alcoholism, or
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another reason why you need to say very sober. Let's
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say you're a surgeon and you you know, you may
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have to be called in, you know, maybe you're on call,
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or maybe you have to fill in for something someone.
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Speaker 1: You need to be sober.
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Speaker 2: I mean, I can definitely say that a great uncle
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of mine went in for a routine prostate surgery and
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the intoxicated surgeon sliced his artery and he bled out
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on the table. Then the hospital covered it up, and
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you know that's how things go. I had sincerely doubt
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that surgeon had the intention of having too much to
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drink that afternoon. I think it was an evening surgery.
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I think he was filling in for someone. I think
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he'd had a few drinks. But he had had no
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business wielding a surgeon's knife, did he. So it depends
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a lot. It depends a lot on your job and
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your station in life, and your individual nature. But anyway,
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he says, but one ought to be careful as to
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the character of the house one frequent, so as not
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to associate with hard drinkers or men whose conversation is unseemly. Unfortunately,
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those who spend much of their time in the saloon
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are apt to acquire the habit of drinking and gambling,
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to be in quarrels, and to neglect the duties that
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they're calling to. The dancing saloon is chiefly a source
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of danger to those who carry dancing to an excess,
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who have already been led into sin by it. Now,
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Catholic Church is not forbid dancing, of course. You know,
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when I was at a certain Baptist university, dancing was forbidden,
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And I quoted from the Bible. You know where King
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David danced before the ark of the Covenant. I said, So,
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you're telling me that was sinful, and they're you know,
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our doctrine says this, you have to believe it, okay.
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So your doctrine disagrees with the Bible. When he danced
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for joy, our doctrine says this, you have to believe it, okay.
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But of course, there are various kinds of dance, and
25:40
some of them are quite lacidious, quite sexual in nature.
25:45
You know, a waltz or a ballet is certainly not well,
25:48
it can be. Actually, some of these modern ballets are
25:50
actually pretty h really gay. Actually, I've seen a few,
25:55
like you know, when I was in college, I had
25:58
to attend certain culture le events, so to speak. But
26:01
I've also seen plenty on like you know, A and
26:03
E and PBS and such, and those boys are a
26:06
little light in the loafers and they're just beyond getting
26:09
pretty obscene on that stage. So maybe you want to
26:12
watch out for some of that too. But he says,
26:17
in the art of dancing, there is nothing evil or
26:19
reprehensible tap dance. You could certainly say there's nothing sexual
26:23
about tap dancing. That's a fun little hobby that I
26:26
picked up just in the past couple of years, just
26:28
because I was looking for an enjoyable form of light exercise.
26:32
And I love old jazz and put on a little
26:36
you know, old jazz music, and put my taps on,
26:39
and well that's a lot of fun.
26:40
Speaker 1: Actually.
26:41
Speaker 2: Anyway, the art of dancing there is nothing evil or reprehensible.
26:45
It is in itself nothing more or less than an
26:47
innocent means of enjoyment and relaxation, and of promoting good
26:51
feeling and friendly intercourse among men. Among the Jews, the
26:55
dance was often made a part of divine worship. We'd
26:58
read when the arc of the Covenant was removed, David
27:00
danced with all his might before the Lord, second King
27:03
six fourteen. And that's one of those verses they didn't
27:06
like to believe was actually in the Bible. At a
27:08
certain Baptist university, the Hebrew maidens perform round or professional
27:13
professional dances on many religious festivals. Reference to Judges Exodus, etc.
27:21
And Basil and Saint Gregory the Great State as their
27:24
opinion that the angels move in solemn measures of the
27:28
dance before the throne of God. In other words, angels dance. However,
27:32
the room must be strictly observed of not dancing at
27:35
prohibited times in advent or lent usenating not supposed to
27:38
dance during advent or Lent. Yeah, they don't really tell
27:41
you that anymore, but it's true. Nor would the persons
27:44
an improper character, as is often in the case at
27:47
public balls, and if not taking part in dances which
27:50
outrage modesty and decorum, as do some in the present day.
27:54
Young people must however, be warned against indulging in this
27:58
amusement inordinately, as it has a tendency to arouse sensuality,
28:02
to excite the passions, and lessen the sense of Christian
28:05
modesty living as they did in Keathen times. The fathers
28:08
of the Church denounces dancing in no measured terms, and
28:11
that is true. I think Saint Clement of Alexandria was
28:16
very much against dancing on the occasions of weddings, entertainments
28:22
or family gatherings. When dancing is proposed as the evening's amusement,
28:26
it would be unfriendly to refuse to take part. But
28:29
those for whom dancing has often proved an occasion of sin, must,
28:33
if possible, is show it for the future. They may
28:35
allege as an excuse that it is injurious to them now
28:39
the theater. This one's very still very appable to us,
28:42
because of course we basically replace the theater with the
28:45
movie theater or the home DVD player or internet videos.
28:49
The theater is a source of danger to those who
28:52
frequent it because some theaters are a school of vice
28:55
rather than virtue. When dramas of an elevating and edifying
28:59
namesture are put upon stage, plays in which virtue and
29:02
innocence triumphs and heroic devotion to religion, the love of
29:06
one's country, the love of neighbor are held up in admiration,
29:10
and the misery and shame attendant upon crime depict in
29:13
its true colors, the theater becomes a school of morals.
29:17
You know, there's so many means. The outlaw Josie Wells,
29:21
the man who shot Liberty, Valance through some of my
29:23
favorite movies of all time definitely have a good moral
29:27
character to them. But plays are rare. They ill suit
29:31
the taste of the present day. But good plays are rare,
29:34
as way you said, they ill suit the taste of
29:36
the present day, and often they would be acted in
29:39
an empty house. The majority of plays, especially in the
29:42
continent of Europe, are of a questionable tendency. In France
29:46
and Italy vice. Some illicit affection is often represented upon
29:50
the stage as attractive and delightful, while virtue is uninteresting
29:54
and despicable. Even the freethinker of Rousseau says that in
29:58
our theater our evil propensities are too often fostered and encouraged,
30:02
our power to resist the force of our passions as diminished.
30:06
We learn to regard work as irksome, and useful employment
30:09
as distasteful. Moreover, it cannot be denied that the heated
30:13
atmosphere of a crowded house in the late hours are
30:17
prejudicial to the health of the habitual playgoer. Bad periodicals
30:22
are dangerous to all who read them. Their effect is
30:24
to gradually undermine the faith and awaken discontent in the
30:28
minds of those who read them regularly, And whoever takes
30:31
such journals declares themselves an enemy to religion. The society
30:35
papers of the day pander to the popular taste, scandals
30:38
and high life political feuds. Animadversion, that's a hard one, say,
30:45
animadversions on the conduct of prominent persons, sneers at religious ordinances.
30:52
The defense of wrongdoers, such as the problem too often
30:55
provided to the reader. The writers of such papers are
30:59
frequently those who have fallen low in social scale. And
31:03
here's going to be a very controversial statement. You have
31:05
to read this in the context of eighteen ninety and
31:08
the editors in many cases are Jews. Now, in the
31:11
eighteen nineties, many people thought Jews were trying to undermine
31:14
Christian morals through periodicals and such. And now a lot
31:20
of people say that is about television and such. I
31:23
think Jewish people are individuals, some good, some bad, so
31:27
you know, I don't go in for that. But that
31:30
was very commonly thought in the eighteen nineties. The Holy
31:34
Father said that a large proportion of the countless evils
31:39
of the day and the unhappy condition of society are
31:42
to be ascribed to the journals that issue from the press,
31:45
and he exhorts the faithful to endeavor to counteract their
31:49
corrupting influence by upholding those that are of an opposite tendency.
31:54
Not only may this be done by subscribing to some
31:57
Christian periodicals, lending it to others asking for it at
32:00
reading rooms and hotels, but by contributing letters and sending
32:03
advertisements to journals of principles. We approve. I used to
32:08
own a newspaper. Boy, I wish a lot more people
32:11
had put advertisements in my newspaper to support Christian conservative newspaper.
32:19
It went out of business because they didn't. You know,
32:24
you can look at well, let's look at the effects
32:26
of say, Playboy magazine on America normalizing pornography. Right, plenty
32:31
of people are willing to subscribe and advertise in there.
32:35
I took my newspaper with a very hard investigative journalism.
32:41
It was really unique. I really dug into a lot,
32:46
uncovered a lot of really bad political scandals and all that.
32:49
It was actually quite dangerous. I risked my life doing it,
32:53
but I did it with the same you know, lighthearted
32:55
attitude as I'm doing this podcast. I'm always making jokes.
32:58
I always had, you know, it was entertaining to read.
33:02
And then the writers that worked for me were cream
33:04
of the crop, some of the best. Wow, you know,
33:08
Father Provone, Frank Pravone contributed to articles, so so did
33:12
Charlie Daniels. I mean, it was just ran the spectrum
33:16
of everything you might think of conservative Christian hard political
33:23
newspaper would be. And yeah, anyway, people would much rather
33:29
I mean, what our subscriptions were about the cost of
33:32
a pizza from Papa John's, and it was impossible to
33:36
sell subscriptions. And as far as advertising, it was all
33:41
political advertising. And when I found crooks both in the
33:44
Democrat and Republican party, it all dried up. And so
33:49
that's how it goes. He underrates the importance of the press,
33:53
displays little knowledge of the time in which he lives.
33:56
The press is a gigantic power, especially since it is
34:00
and the telegraph and telephone into its service, remember this
34:02
is eighteen nineties, and can thus supply the reader with
34:06
the latest intelligence from all parts of the world. The
34:08
daily papers are therefore taken in eagerly and read by
34:11
all classes of society, same as the Internet now. And
34:15
we had a.
34:15
Speaker 1: Really great website.
34:16
Speaker 2: By the way, people keept saying what happened to your newspaper?
34:19
Why'd you quit doing it? And I'm like, what did
34:22
you subscribe?
34:22
Speaker 1: No?
34:23
Speaker 2: I never got around to it. Did you advertise your
34:25
business with us? No, we couldn't justify the expense.
34:30
Speaker 1: There you have it.
34:32
Speaker 2: The daily papers are therefore taken in and eagerly read
34:34
by all classes of society, and since in addition to
34:37
the latest news. They pronounce a verdict upon all questions
34:40
of the day concerning religion's politics, science, aren't, commerce, etc.
34:45
The press is a great educator of the masses.
34:47
Speaker 1: That was once very true. It's no longer.
34:52
Speaker 2: The source of the source wins the people derive their
34:55
information and form their opinions. The press may well be
35:00
said to be an organ of public opinion. Again, that
35:02
was once true.
35:04
Speaker 1: Now that.
35:06
Speaker 2: All the news channels and websites are so far left
35:10
that they don't even understand why people voted for Trump.
35:14
They're all like so far into the whole woke thing.
35:17
No longer is it an organ of public opinion. It's
35:19
an organ of the elite trying to form opinion. Even
35:23
as early as the commencement of the present century, when
35:26
the press first began to develop, the Emperor Napoleon spoke
35:29
of it as a sixth great European power. In America,
35:32
we call it the fourth estate. He is the three
35:35
branches of government. The press is an unofficial fourth used
35:39
to be no more. They are As President Trump was saying,
35:43
enemies of the people. He expressed himself thus because he
35:46
was sensible of the influence exercised by the rhyin Mercury,
35:50
which had just been started by Golray. I guess hence
35:54
we learned how important a duty it is to support
35:57
and encourage the Catholic press still is. You know what,
36:02
my little podcast me and my daily Gospel reflections are
36:05
a very small part of the Catholic press at large,
36:08
but if you'd please share them with your friend's family,
36:10
loved ones, grow the audience. Encourage people to subscribe, especially
36:14
as paid subscribers. But you know, I do give everything
36:17
away for free. If you pay for a subscription. It's
36:21
really just saying, hey, I support what you're doing, and
36:23
I appreciate it quite a bit. I also send you
36:26
free books when you do that. So bad novels are
36:30
dangerous to all. For the novel reader requires a false
36:34
and exaggerated view of life. Very interesting. You can consider
36:38
that before around eighteen twenty, there were very, very, very
36:45
few fictional novels ever written. I mean, we can go
36:48
back and look at the old you know, mythological books
36:51
and you know, stuff like the gilgameshions.
36:54
Speaker 1: Such as that.
36:54
Speaker 2: No like your modern fiction novel A Graham Poe was
36:59
one of the first. You know, now ninety percent of
37:03
books on the market are fictional novels. Why is that
37:07
what changed? I mean, there were there were millions of
37:10
books printed before you know that time, say early eighteen hundreds.
37:15
Almost all of them were nonfiction, many of the greatest
37:17
works of philosophy, doctrine, and theology, science, And now everything's
37:22
some fantasy. We have to think about that, we I
37:27
think about it. Sure there's a place for Tolkien and
37:29
you know all that, but you know what dime store
37:32
romance novels as they used to call them, or you know,
37:35
grizzly true crime, murder.
37:38
Speaker 1: There's very little truth.
37:39
Speaker 2: And I'm usually I mean, that's what people consume now
37:42
when they think of buying a book, it's always a
37:44
work of fiction. What's happened in our culture and our
37:47
society that's made its turn to fiction as opposed to truth.
37:51
I think that that had Actually there's a subject that
37:53
we should really think about a lot, a lot. But anyway,
37:58
indiscriminate novel reading must be avoided. For a large proportion
38:02
of the works of fiction present a poison in a
38:05
golden goblet. Crime and vice, sins of immorality are not
38:09
only justified, they are rayed in the most fascinating garb
38:12
depicted in the most charming colors. Thus they rouse and
38:16
inflame the dormant passions of the human heart. A novelist, once,
38:20
while being shown over a prison, was addressed by two
38:23
young fellows. They said to him, you ought to be
38:26
wary of these handcuffs instead of us, for it was
38:28
through you that we got here. Many works of fiction are,
38:32
it is true, of a perfectly harmless character. But even
38:35
at the best, the habitual reader of romances is transported
38:39
into an unreal world and is rendered incapable of judging
38:44
justly of the world of actuality. Books of general interests,
38:48
such as the Wives of the Saints and of distinguished personages,
38:51
are far more preferable to romances for the fact that
38:54
they contain, for the facts they contain bear the stamp
38:58
of truth, and are much more improving to the mind
39:01
than fiction. Is I really think we need to think
39:05
about this. Why have we become a culture addicted to fiction,
39:11
to falsehoods?
39:13
Speaker 1: Why is that our escape?
39:15
Speaker 2: Wouldn't you be more enlightened? Wouldn't you find more peace
39:20
in reading about truth? Good truth or bad truth, as
39:24
long as it's true?
39:25
Speaker 1: Right? I mean?
39:28
Speaker 2: I collect a lot of books. I have fast bookshelves.
39:32
Of course, a lot of my books are herbal books
39:34
because of an rbalists by trade. A lot of them
39:37
are on wood carving or building things because it's a hobby.
39:40
A lot of them are on music. A lot of
39:42
them are, of course, on religion. A lot of them
39:44
are on cookbooks.
39:46
Speaker 1: I found.
39:49
Speaker 2: I guess I'm going to say fifteen years ago I
39:52
really stopped reading fiction. Maybe ten, I'll say ten years ago.
39:56
And that was after working through my favorite series of
39:58
mystery novels, the neuro Will series, and I looked at
40:02
other It was by Rex Stout. They're fantastic, by the way,
40:05
but anyway i'd look at other mystery authors, I thought, yeah, yeah,
40:08
this really isn't up the standard. So I stopped reading mysteries.
40:11
And after that, I just lost my taste for fiction.
40:17
And if I told you I was twice as smart
40:20
now as I was ten years ago, I'd probably be
40:24
telling you the truth. Actually, I've learned so much, so
40:28
much that I never would have learned reading merely entertaining
40:35
fictional books.
40:36
Speaker 1: Now.
40:36
Speaker 2: I mean, growing up as a kid man, I love
40:38
Jack Kerouac. I thought Kerouac, you know, on the road
40:41
and the Dharma Bombs and all that. Loved Hemingway, loved JD. Salinger,
40:48
Hermann Hesse was an absolute favorite. So I read mostly
40:52
fiction from I'll say the age of fifteen to thirty
40:56
five and then stopped, really because I finished that series
41:01
of mystery novels and started reading nonfiction books. And I'm
41:07
telling you, my brain sharper, my memory is better, I
41:10
have more information at my fingertips. I've learned so much.
41:14
Why why are we so obsessed with fiction? Really? I
41:20
think there's a there's a deeper There's there's a deep
41:23
route to this problem, and I do think it is
41:25
a problem. Well, anyway, y'all, I hope you enjoyed the show.
41:28
I remember the words of Saint Padre Pio, pray, hope
41:32
and don't worry, and I will talk to you next time.