There’s an old expression… “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”  There is an addendum to that proverb: “Those who do know history are so few that all they can do is stand by and watch.”  

The first part is completely true.  The addendum is a half truth.  

History is quite cyclical.  Civilizations seem to repeat themselves, with all of their ups, downs, and follies.  Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.  Hey, there’s another famous old saw!

If you study enough history, and you see parallels in your age to previous civilizations, you start to make accurate predictions.  It’s nothing to celebrate, really.  In fact, many Historians find it quite burdensome, always knowing the good and bad that’s coming, and feeling like there is little that can be done about it.  

When Rome fell, there were criers inside the Colosseum yelling to the attendees that the Goths were inside the city gates.  The common retort went something like this, “Shut-up!  I want to see if Crixus or Maximus wins!”  The Super Bowl is coming up, by the way.

But while the inevitable is hard to watch, is it really fair to say that we can do nothing about it?  Are we really doomed to endure the hardships of today and tomorrow and just stand by and watch?


I Can’t Get No…

Two years ago, when the masks and vaccine pressure were finally wearing off, I heard a gentleman speak about myocarditis cases associated with the Covid vaccine.  It seemed like everyday there was a new case of someone either getting blood clots in the lungs, shaking uncontrollably, or simply dropping to the floor. 

While he lamented the misfortunes of those experiencing these ailments, he went on to say, “At least there is some vindication.”  

For those of us who predicted negative side effects from the jab, I suppose, by definition, there was “vindication”.  But, boy, was it hallow!  I’d rather have been totally wrong about the jab, and no one was hurt.  In fairness, I know this gentlemen would have agreed, but I couldn’t help but leave the conversation reflecting on this concept of “vindication.”  

It reminds me of when Barack Obama ran for president in 2008.  In the weeks leading up to the election, an infamous video surfaced where Obama had made a bold campaign promise.  A promise that rocked the Pro-life community.  

With a Planned Parenthood backdrop behind him, Barack Obama declared, “The first thing I’d do as president is pass the Freedom of Choice Act.”  For many, this was the first time we had heard of the “Freedom of Choice Act.”  It sounds pro-abortion by its title, but how bad could it be?

The Freedom of Choice Act was a proposed bill that never could get past a house committee, back in those days.  It was far too radical.  There were four main horrifying points in the “Freedom of Choice Act” that made even the most casually pro-life voter recoil:

1. Abortion for minors without parental consent.

2. Taxpayer funded abortion.

3. The eradication of conscience clauses for doctors and nurses. This would mean medical personnel could be compelled to participate in an abortion.

4. Abortion past fetal viability (abortion up to birth).

Fellow Catholic voters should have been trained well enough by Pope John Paul II (Evangelium Vitae), the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2322), and the Code of Canon Law, (Canon 1397) that voting for this man was not an option.  See also.

Yet, there were so many, next to us in the pews, caught up in Obamania!  “Seemless garment!”, they insisted.  Or “Give me a break, he won’t sign anything that radical.  He was just trying to steal support from radical feminists away from Hilary.” or “The kinds of things in this ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ are so radical that America will never accept them anyway.  Quit fear mongering!”

Well, not only did Obama indeed turn out to be a very pro-abortion president, but the clauses of the Freedom of Choice Act are all on the table now, just 16 years later.  But when abortion up to birth comes for your state’s constitution, is this the time to stand back and say, “I told you so?”.  Of course not.  

First of all, the people you could say, “I told you so!” to don’t care anymore.  That’s how the vindication cycle works.  The same people who also told me that Obama was not in favor of “gay marriage” in 2008, said, “Well it’s about time that society starting evolving. Love is love.” when Obama supported it in 2012.  As society perpetually slides left, when the moment for vindication comes, there is no satisfaction to be had; those who once disbelieved in your predictions now support the thing you once warned them about.

And of course there is no satisfaction to be had when your predictions are accurate about horrible things.  Laws that allow abortion up to birth and for minors to get abortion without parental consent are awful.  I have no satisfaction being right that Obama stood for radical pro-abortion laws that were to come, because it’s sad that these policies could now be enshrined in my state’s constitution.

But, unlike the maxim suggests, “Those who do know history are so few that all they can do is stand by and watch.”, there is more you can do than just stand by and watch.  A lot more!

Speaking directly on the abortion issue, let me just drop another Decline to Sign plug right here.  But even outside of the abortion issue and the Decline to Sign movement, there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of.  Opportunities for greatness!


Opportunity

I recently had a robust conversation about education with a homeschooling family in the valley.  The mother, who has done a fine job of homeschooling her kids for years, expressed a lot of concerns over the state of education in America.  She referenced low standardized test scores, an absurd amount of teenage illiteracy, and the myriad of problems that Marxist teachers and school boards continue to push upon our next generation of leaders.  

She asked, “What do you all think?  Is the American education system simply doomed?”  

My response: “Maybe.  But worrying about it won’t solve any problems.  And furthermore, I’m taking advantage of so many good things about my state’s current educational opportunities, that I can't get too upset about all of the downsides.”

My state has an immense amount of charter schools.  School choice is alive and well here.  For years we have had STO opportunities to help fund the tuition of kids attending private schools.   And now for those who opt out of public schools, there is universal Empowerment Scholarship money that follows the child.  Not only can it cover tutition for private school students, but it helps his parents purchase material for homeschooling, tutoring, textbooks, and a variety of educational resources.  We also have a number of tech schools and dual enrollment opportunities in the valley.  An ambitious high school student could reasonably graduate from high school with his Associates degree and a trade certificate in hand.  Imagine those credentials by age 18, with little to no debt?!

My point is not that doom isn’t on the horizon for American education or the programs referenced above.  Heck, Katie Hobbs has made it known that she would like to get rid of ESA.  If we give her the state House and Senate, she very well could! 

But if that happens, I won’t enjoy any vindication at that time.  But short of doing whatever political grassroots action I can to save ESA (it has successfully been defended by a Decline to Sign movement before!) and supporting good school board candidates, the best I can do is enjoy it and use it to the best I can now.  If the vindication happens later, I pray the advantages I take from the program now far outweigh the misfortune I will feel when doomsday comes.  And that’s up to me!

Eduction is just one example of where to find the silver lining.  There is opportunity for greatness in so many other places where we may be tempted to see only misfortune on the ahead….


Build anyway

You got something you want to do?  Have you been putting something off?  Do you have something that your conscience is pushing you toward, but you haven’t moved on yet?  If you have something to do, you better do it!

Don't be a bystander up until doomsday.  There will be no consolation when that day comes.  If you see some writing on the wall, or if you feel like the clock is ticking on something, you better do your duty now, while you can still get some consolation.

I heard a gentleman break down the places around the world that allow abortion with no term restrictions; China, North Korea, and Vietnam.  He proposed that the bumper stickers that read "Don't California my Arizona" should be replaced with “Don’t China my Arizona!”  But more important than making this astout observation, he’s doing something about the pro-abortion ballot initiative and working hard in the Decline to Sign movement. 

To his point, our nation is becoming more like China every day.  Are you confident that elections will continue to be rigged, free speech will be increasingly suppressed, and one day we will all be poor saps buying rice on our social credit scores?  Again, there’s no consolation in the vindication that will come that day, but there is plenty of consolation in exercising the fullness of our rights today, while we aren’t China. 

Send a thoughtful take to your local newspaper and drop some truth to goodness.  Engage with others in the public square.  St. Paul’s Street Evangelization will train you to teach the rosary to pagans on the street, if that’s your calling.   These are not luxaries that everyone in the world has.  Some would be immensely jealous that you can go out there and do such.  But if you really think we are doomed to lose these rights someday, then you better exercise them now!

And this isn’t just about street evangelization or Decline to Sign heroics, this is applicable for all sorts of projects you may want to get into this New Year.  Have you been contemplating hosting your own podcast, but you haven’t made the time?  Maybe the theme is something as simple as living the Catholic dad life and maximizing our influence on our children and the larger community.  Do it now.  Buy a nice camera and microphone and get on it.  Don’t waste another moment.  

Street evangelizition, Decline to Sign activism, or a new podcast aren’t going to erase the writing on the wall, at least not by themselves they won’t.  That’s okay.  That’s not the point.  The point is that you have the power to claim the consolation from these things now, while you can.  You can make that consolation far outweigh the grief you will feel when the darker days come.  

What kind of consolation?  

How about the comradarie and network building that comes with standing shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters in the breach?  When bleaker days arrive, you will be happy to have solid men and women of action to stand with.  

How about grace?  When the Nazis destroyed St. Maximillian Kolbe’s printing press, he spent all of his extra time saying the maximum amount of masses he could everyday.  When the day comes, that grace is much more plentiful than temporal means of resisting  evil, you better have developed your palate enough to savor every bit of the bountiful grace that will be present.  It may be the only thing in plenitude at that time.

How about the peace of mind that you did all you could?  Typically, Sorosian bad actors oppress us indirectly.  It’s hard to find opportunities to resist their schemes directly.  But when those opportunities do come, we want to set ourselves up for the satisfaction someday, knowing that we did all we could.  

Arm chair quarterbacks need not apply.  These contests cannot be won on the couch, television clicker in hand, as we brace ourselves to say, “I told you so” someday.  Heck maybe they can’t be won by putting out yard signs on the roadside for your favorite school board or city councilman candidate either (or maybe they can!), but at least someday we can say, instead, “We did the best we could.”  There will be much more consolation found in saying those words.

I would like to close again with some famous words of St. Mother Theresa.  They are from a poem she wrote called “Build Anyway”:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true
enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
 Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Let’s build.

God bless,

Gadfly