The Death of the Grown-Up

The Death of the Grown-Up

“WHERE HAVE ALL THE GROWN-UPS GONE?” That is the provocative question Washington Times syndicated columnist Diana West asks as she looks at America today. Sadly, here’s what she finds: It’s difficult to tell the grown-ups from the children in a landscape littered with Baby Britneys, Moms Who Mosh, and Dads too “young” to call themselves “mister.” Surveying this sorry scene, West makes a much larger statement about our place in the world: “No wonder we can’t stop Islamic terrorism. We haven’t put away our toys!” As far as West is concerned, grown-ups are extinct. The disease that killed them emerged in the fifties, was incubated in the sixties, and became an epidemic in the seventies, leaving behind a nation of eternal adolescents who can’t say "no," a politically correct population that doesn’t know right from wrong. The result of such indecisiveness is, ultimately, the end of Western civilization as we know it. This is because the inability to take on the grown-up role of gatekeeper influences more than whether a sixteen-year-old should attend a Marilyn Manson concert. It also fosters the dithering cultural relativism that arose from the “culture wars” in the eighties and which now undermines our efforts in the “real” culture war of the 21st century—the war on terror. With insightful wit, Diana West takes readers on an odyssey through culture and politics, from the rise of rock ‘n’ roll to the rise of multiculturalism, from the loss of identity to the discovery of “diversity,” from the emasculation of the heroic ideal to the “PC”-ing of “Mary Poppins,” all the while building a compelling case against the childishness that is subverting the struggle against jihadist Islam in a mixed-up, post-9/11 world. With a new foreword for the paperback edition, "The Death of the Grown-up," is a bracing read from one of the most original voices on the American cultural scene.

Gaming for Satan

by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

A long-time video gamer and devout Catholic is sounding the alarm about a new breed of satanically-themed video games that target God and the Catholic Church, invite players to make pacts with the devil, and elevate Satan to hero status.


“This has been going on for the last 10 years, but especially in the most recent games,” said Lance Christian, 32, of Alton, Illinois. “It wasn’t until last month when I said, ‘enough is enough!’ I’m a gamer, but I’m deep into my faith and I think God is showing me this so I can make other people aware of it.”

He has seen games gradually become more occult-based, promoting Satan and even the persecution of Christians. For instance, in one game, players kill the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael before going on to destroy God. Another game requires players to sell their soul to the devil and rewards them for “killing unbaptized infants.” One game has Muslims killing Christians in a holy war.

All these games seem to have one central theme - God is the enemy and the devil is the hero. One game guide blatantly states: “The Judeo-Christian God is portrayed as the prominent villain in the series . . .”

“This is just the tip of the iceberg in what I have discovered,” Mr. Christian said. “I feel that the devil has a new tool to work with in this age of technology, and the majority of adults in a position of responsibility are left in the dark.”

He provided us with the following list of the most egregious games:

1) Tecmo’s Deception: Invitation To Darkness (Playstation) – Players “make an unholy pact and sell their soul to Satan in exchange for power” with the object of the game being to ensure the resurrection of Satan and obtain his power. (This game is rated “T” for teen.)

2) Nocturne (Playstation 2) - A game in which the hero (a demon) destroys the three archangels St. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, then goes on to destroy God.

3) Devil Summoner (Playstation 2) – Involves communicating with and recruiting demons. One demon tells the player “That Catholic Church is such an eyesore” and in the end of the game, blows up the Church.

4) Shadow Hearts (Playstation 2) - The hero uses his power to intercept and destroy God and “save the world.” Some games in this series are rated “T”.

5) Assassin’s Creed (Playstation 3/Xbox 360) – Main character is a Muslim assassin assigned to kill Christians.

6) Dragon’s Age Origins (Playstation 3/Xbox 360) – Game revolves around the story of God going mad and cursing the world. A witch attacks believers and players can “have sex” with her in a pagan act called “blood magic” so she can “give birth to a god.” Another scenario allows player to have sex with a demon in exchange for a boy’s soul.

7) Dante’s Inferno (Playstation 3/Xbox 360) – Loosely based on the Divine Comedy, player travels through nine circles of Hell, fighting demons, “unbaptized babies” and other tormented souls. (This game is being considered for a movie by Universal Pictures.)

8) Guitar Hero (Playstation) – Players use guitars decorated with pentagrams. God is repeatedly mocked by the devil and in the end, the devil is the hero of the game. Women dressed as Catholic school girls are degraded. (Rated “T” for teen)

Other games with Satanic themes are Darksiders, Koudelka, Trapt, and Bayonetta.

Choosing Sides

This is real simple: Support for Obama is not consistent with Roman Catholicism, the two are at loggerheads, they are unresolvable, unmixable. Once you digest that you can begin to deal with people who hold different views than you do, you can engage people who reject your views.

The Crisis is Modernism

Vatican official says religious orders are in modern 'crisis'

By John Thavisatholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A top Vatican official said religious orders today are in a "crisis" caused in part by the adoption of a secularist mentality and the abandonment of traditional practices.

Cardinal Franc Rode, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said the problems go deeper than the drastic drop in the numbers of religious men and women.

"The crisis experienced by certain religious communities, especially in Western Europe and North America, reflects the more profound crisis of European and American society. All this has dried up the sources that for centuries have nourished consecrated and missionary life in the church," Cardinal Rode said in a talk delivered Feb. 3 in Naples, Italy.

"The secularized culture has penetrated into the minds and hearts of some consecrated persons and some communities, where it is seen as an opening to modernity and a way of approaching the contemporary world," he said.

Cardinal Rode said the decline in the numbers of men and women religious became precipitous after the Second Vatican Council, which he described as a period "rich in experimentation but poor in robust and convincing mission."

Vatican II is and was a disaster.  Time to scuttle it.

Haitians react to televangelist Pat Robertson's 'devil pact' remarks

My Diocese of Worcester, MA is partnered with one in Haiti. My condolences go out to that nation.

The Spirit of Massachusetts

Or, Reason 78, 221 why to send your kids to private school

TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday.
Chester Johnson told WBZ-TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday.

22, 000 in Kansas City Eucharistic Procession

Lloyd Blankfein's Apology for God's Work? Apology NOT Accepted!

I love it when stories straddle my blogs.

Basically, Goldman Sachs is evil and their stock should be $0.00 were it not for the public monies it extorts from us.

Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment

This just about says it all.