Dear Laura,
I applaud your decision to back away from on-again, off-again "flirtation" with Donald Trump.
"Trump Is The Nominee From Hell: The Early Numbers Are In And They Spell Disaster For The GOP"
This Fall, Democratic Candidates Will Link GOP Opponents To Trump's Rife Psychopathies
"Here's How It's Done" Video
"Like shooting fish in a barrel!"
Clinton Is "More Conservative Choice": Longtime Republican Crosses Party Lines (NPR)
Concerning your accurate complaint that The Donald is an unrepentant adulterer, I encourage you to post this same criticism of Ronald Reagan, the first divorced-and-remarried president, a mediocre man long venerated by the Party of Family Values which now champions The Yahoo. (You may recall that, in Gulliver's Travels, the yahoos were "a race of brutes who have the form -- and all the vices -- of humans." Merriam Webster)
Ronald Reagan And American Conservatism's Normalization Of Divorce In U.S. Politics
"What Would Reagan Really Do?"
Newsweek
Gospel Of Mark: Why Doesn't Kim Davis Deny Marriage Licenses To The Previously Divorced?
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/09/gospel-of-mark-why-doesnt-kim-davis.html
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/09/gospel-of-mark-why-doesnt-kim-davis.html
I disagree with your appraisal of Trump as "the lesser of two evils."
However, I am heartened that you no longer conceive moral absolutism as inviolable, and that people-of-good-will -- including many of your readers -- can, in conscience, aid and abet a boor of biblical proportions.
If pride is the cardinal sin -- the sin by which Lucifer himself fell -- no candidate in this election cycle rivals Donald Trump's near solipsism although many GOP candidates have done their level best.
As President Obama recently said to Rhience Priebus, head of the Republican National Committee:
The relentless determination of American conservatives to commit political suicide -- at least as their political sentiments relate to The Republican Party -- is one of "The Wonders of The Modern World."
This slo-mo self-destruction is attributable to conservatism's ferociously anti-democratic commitment to "uncompromising principles."
Indeed, in the conservative psyche, it often seems that The Unforgivable Sin is compromise itself.
The Nazarene, on the other hand, advises us to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" even though Caesar was "commander-in-chief" of an occupying army that would soon level The Temple, an act more devastating to the ancient Jewish psyche than toppling The Twin Towers has been to America's psychological well-being in the shattered ruins of post-9/11 lunacy
Indeed, in the conservative psyche, it often seems that The Unforgivable Sin is compromise itself.
The Nazarene, on the other hand, advises us to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" even though Caesar was "commander-in-chief" of an occupying army that would soon level The Temple, an act more devastating to the ancient Jewish psyche than toppling The Twin Towers has been to America's psychological well-being in the shattered ruins of post-9/11 lunacy
"American Theocracy," By Kevin Phillips
An epochal shift is taking place in conservative politics -- indeed in your own politics -- as traditionalists pretend Donald Trump is "the lesser of two evils" even though many good, insightful people consider The Churl a charlatan whose unplumbed depths of personal corruption have no redeeming social or political value.
I draw your attention to Thomas Merton's timely insight:
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.” (Emphasis mine.)
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton
More Merton Quotes
Chesterton advises us to "imagine our enemies."
Even if orthodoxy obliges you to skewer Merton on one of Hell's roasting spits, it is nevertheless useful to contemplate the Trappist's conclusion that "The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil."
Imagine: "The best... becomes evil."
From a certain angle, Merton's conclusion is "nothing more" than a restatement of the quotidian truth that "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
But the depth and breadth of his insight does not end there.
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.” (Emphasis mine.)
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton
More Merton Quotes
Chesterton advises us to "imagine our enemies."
Even if orthodoxy obliges you to skewer Merton on one of Hell's roasting spits, it is nevertheless useful to contemplate the Trappist's conclusion that "The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil."
Imagine: "The best... becomes evil."
From a certain angle, Merton's conclusion is "nothing more" than a restatement of the quotidian truth that "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
But the depth and breadth of his insight does not end there.
"You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image
when it turns out God hates all the same people you do."
Fr. Tom Weston S. J.
"You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image
when it turns out God hates all the same people you do."
Fr. Tom Weston S. J.
Fr. Tom Weston S. J.
"Any Religion That Needs Fear To Thrive Is Bad Religion"
"Bad Religion: A Compendium"
"Any Religion That Needs Fear To Thrive Is Bad Religion"
"Bad Religion: A Compendium"
Dorothy Day: “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”
"Charity is the soul of faith, it gives it life; without love, faith dies."
St. Anthony of Padua
"Charity is the soul of faith, it gives it life; without love, faith dies."
St. Anthony of Padua
"Love Your Enemies. Do Good To Those Who Hate You," Luke 6: 27-42
"Do You Know What You're Doing To Me?"
Jesus of Nazareth
http://paxonbothhouses.
Yeshua Excoriates Fellow Pharisees: "The Woe Passages"
"Love and do what you will."
St. Augustine
"Love and do what you will."
St. Augustine
St. Augustine
Pax tecum
Alan
Alan
First Lady?
Or, First Centerfold
Or, First Centerfold
Trump's Immigrant Slovenian Wife (And Nude GQ Model) Gives First Interview
Melania Trump On Her Rise, Her Family Secrets, and Her True Political Views: "Nobody Will Ever Know"
"Who Is Melania Trump?" The New Yorker
Melania Trump On Her Rise, Her Family Secrets, and Her True Political Views: "Nobody Will Ever Know"
"Who Is Melania Trump?" The New Yorker
Trump Is The Nominee From Hell: The Early Numbers Are In And They Spell Disaster For The GOP
Trump Is The Nominee From Hell: The Early Numbers Are In And They Spell Disaster For The GOP
This Fall, Democratic Candidates Will Link GOP Opponents To Trump's Rife Psychopathies
"Like shooting fish in a barrel!"
"Here's How It's Done" Video
Compendium Of Pax Posts About Donald Trump
Compendium Of Pax Posts About Donald Trump
Donald Trump: The Paranoid Style In American Politics And The Ongoing Festival Of Hatred
Donald Trump: The Paranoid Style In American Politics And The Ongoing Festival Of Hatred
Update On Ivana Trump's Revelations Concerning Donald's Fondness For Hitler's Speeches
"Mediocre Philosophy Sells. It Makes The Half-Literate Feel Smart"
http://paxonbothhouses.
Where Have We Seen Trump's Oratorical Style Before
Update On Ivana Trump's Revelations Concerning Donald's Fondness For Hitler's Speeches
"Mediocre Philosophy Sells. It Makes The Half-Literate Feel Smart"
http://paxonbothhouses.
Where Have We Seen Trump's Oratorical Style Before
Where Have We Seen Trump's Oratorical Style Before
Trump: For The Fearful, Random Decisiveness Is More Attractive Than Wisdom, Prudence, Truth
Spot-On Truth-Teller Donald Trump: The Most Important Thing Said At The Republican Debate
Moderate Republican For Trump: Only Trump Can Restore GOP Sanity... By A Landslide Loss
http://paxonbothhouses.
Moderate Republican For Trump: Only Trump Can Restore GOP Sanity... By A Landslide Loss
http://paxonbothhouses.
http://paxonbothhouses.
Video Of New Hampshire State Representative And Trump Supporter, Susan DeLemus, A Case Study In Madness
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