Karl Keating's E-Letter of September 19, 2006

**Forum Admin** · #1 Sep 19, '06, 1:56 pm

Karl's E-Letter of September 19, 2006

Topics:

Hacker 1, Catholic Answers Forums 0
Joan Chittister Whistles In The Dark
Thomas Droleskey Turns Right And Just Keeps On Going
Good Riddance To The Aztecs

==========
http://www.catholic.com/newsletters/kke_060919.asp

Caesar · #2 Sep 19, '06, 2:28 pm

Just want to ask an honest question here.

Is it wrong for me to like the the Latin Mass? I enjoy going to the monthly FSSP Tridentine Mass here, and I am seriously considering a vocation as a traditional priest (there are still many who are in communion with the Holy See). I am not Sedevacantist, nor do I support such schismatic groups as the SSPX. I support the validity of the Pauline Mass. I support the validity of the Second Vatican Council (I think it was needed and brought in needed reforms, but there is a differance between the reforms of the Vatican II and the reforms of the "Spirit of Vatican II". I support the validity of the Papacy and all Church documents post-dating Vatican II. But I believe that the Tridentine Mass is far more reverant and, to be blunt, Catholic, than the Pauline. Is it wrong of me to think so?

I also dont think it is right to group all traditional Catholics (I hate being labeled as such because I consider myself just a plain Catholic) into Sedevacantists or schismatics.

**Karl Keating** · #3 Sep 19, '06, 4:21 pm

I agree that it's wrong to "group all traditional Catholics . . . into sedevacantists or schismatics," which is why I never do that.

As for your preferences, there's nothing in the least wrong with preferring the old Mass or considering a vocation in a traditional religious institute. Quite the contrary.

StephanieC · #4 Sep 19, '06, 6:21 pm

Here's the line that caught me off guard (in the section about Drolesky):

Quote:

His having taught at a college shows that he has intellectual skills.

Sorry, maybe it's just me, but that just really tickled my funny bone tonight!

Caesar · #5 Sep 19, '06, 6:26 pm

I regards to the part about the Aztecs, I agree that many of history's losers have been romanticized and made to be heroes. I cannot help but wonder if in a generation or two Adolf Hitler and the Nazis will be seen in such a light.

St.AnneLine · #6 Sep 19, '06, 9:06 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl Keating

THE GREAT CRASH OF '06

One Wednesday evening I noticed that the Catholic Answers forums were down. Not to worry, I said to myself. This has happened before. The forums will be up and running sometime later tonight.

It was not to be. This turned out to be no ordinary glitch. It was a full-scale crash brought about by a hacker. We found the smoking gun in the form of a software "tool" imbedded deep in the main hard drive, evidence that the hacker had breached our security and had figured out a way to wipe out everything on the computer (which is located at a facility in Texas).

The forums had to be reconstructed, and that took a while because in the process we upgraded the software and added many new features to the site.

This was not the first time CA has been the victim of a hacker, though! Ironically, the way I first found out about CA was through a college roomate I had for a brief period of time, who hacked CA's new website 10 years ago. It wasn't too malicious, as I recall-he changed CA's homepage to CATHOLIC DANCERS, and included some crudely drawn stick figures of Catholics dancing! He said he left some easy instructions for CA to be able to change it back, along with a stern warning to them that their passwords were too easy, etc.
Anyways, he was a pretty wierd guy and I moved out shortly after. I THINK he may have even gotten busted for hacking by the authorities a couple of years before that.

Well, the good news was that's how I was introduced to CA!

Computer nerds. . . I'll never understand 'em

mommyjo2 · #7 Sep 20, '06, 5:39 am

I studied PreColumbian Mesoamerica in college. The Aztecs were known as the 'dog people' - and the reason Tenochtitlan was in the middle of a lake was because they were so bad, no one else would have them!
Because enemy soldiers made the best sacrifices, they actually invented "Flower Wars" during peacetime - fake battles so they could capture sacrificial soldiers. It was interesting how they would do it. They would count out, say, 100 men; the opposing side would count out 100 men. They'd fight for a while, then take a head count. If one side had 57 men left, the other side would only send 57 men into battle.
Oh, and guess what happened to the losers of the games played on the famous ball courts? Yeah, it wasn't pretty.
The winners would be showered with jewelry, clothing, etc. from fans. Women would take all their clothes off to throw at the victors of the games (the first groupies?)
Just a little FYI
Oh, and Caesar, it's not wrong to love Orthodox teaching. I go to the Trindentine Mass too - the devotions seem more devout; the Mass actually calls me think of Heaven and higher things; we get all of the beautiful music passed down for hundreds of years, which is still in Latin. And the FSSP is a recognized order, and the one I went to was Diocesan.

lumengentleman · #8 Sep 20, '06, 5:52 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forum Admin

It's hard for me to say, not knowing Droleskey and having read only a sampling of his essays. In them there may be clues, perhaps even a well-hidden full explanation--though I doubt it.

Don't doubt it. It's in the subject matter of his essays, not at all hidden, but in plain view. The man has been addicted to scandal for years now, and everything he writes is saturated in pessimism; those two factors - love of scandal and total pessimism - are an easy, two-ingredient recipe for sedevacantism. I've watched that same one-two combo take out many others as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karls E-Letter

Two weeks ago, for example, he uploaded six articles totaling 66,000 words--enough text to flesh out a book of 240 pages.

Don't give him too much credit, Karl; usually a good 60% of his articles consists of nothing more than cut-n-pasted quotes from other writers. For example, in his essay "A New Theology for a New Religion," he quotes some three whole pages of an article by James Larson that appeared in Christian Order - three pages, that is, without any kind of break. He does the same thing with papal encyclicals, quoting thousands of words at a time, only stopping once in a while to make his usual canned remarks about the social kingship of Christ and the conversion of Russia.

Here are a couple of my own recent interactions with Droleskey:

The Hunt for Heresy: Dr. Droleskey vs. Cardinal Ratzinger

The Heresy Hunter Strikes Back: Droleskey vs. Ratzinger (Again)

solitarypilgrim · #9 Sep 20, '06, 6:44 am

Your comments about the Aztecs struck a chord. I did archaological fieldwork in Peru 40 years ago, and some of the "religious" art depictions in statuary and pottery gave me the creeps. At the time, I was not a Christian, but my immediate response to these depictions was that some of them seemed demonic. Taking trophy heads was also a long term cultural theme. These were pre-Inca cultures - the Inca seemed much more civilized.

Yulejule · #10 Sep 20, '06, 7:03 am

[quote=Forum Admin;1506182]Karl's E-Letter of September 19, 2006

Topics:

Hacker 1, Catholic Answers Forums 0
Joan Chittister Whistles In The Dark
Thomas Droleskey Turns Right And Just Keeps On Going
Good Riddance To The Aztecs

Re: Your comments about Joan Chittister make me realize this is not a forum I want to participate in. She would never make the kind of accusatory, hateful comment about you that you made about her and her stance on imparting the truths of our Catholic faith. She is too kind and generous to bash individuals - she does bash ideas, but to my knowledge has never bashed an individual as you did her. Thanks but no thanks to continue participating in this forum - just do not trust the truth of what you may expound when you have to bash other people to get a point across.

In peace and justice,

Julett M. Broadnax

kepha444 · #11 Sep 20, '06, 7:38 am

No Caesar you "feel" what you"feel"and dont ever apologize to someone for that...thats part of what the church calls "insperation"...as far as Joan goes i saw her a few years back and well i cant' write what i felt at the time cause you probubly
would not want to read it!!!!

contemplative · #12 Sep 20, '06, 8:05 am

[quote=Yulejule;1508197]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forum Admin

She is too kind and generous to bash individuals - she does bash ideas, but to my knowledge has never bashed an individual as you did her.
In peace and justice,

Julett M. Broadnax

Woaaa Julett.......think again.....your little own Joan-y has her own style of bashing individuals as well as supporting her own ideals.

Quote:

If journalists are denied the right to investigate those who do not investigate themselves, how is this country to have any hope of stopping corruption in its tracks, of really being the country we have always thought ourselves to be?

Quote by Joan Chittister

Karl Keating is doing nothing more than investigating and writing about those who do not investigate themselves.

qmvsimp · #13 Sep 20, '06, 9:12 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by StephanieC

Here's the line that caught me off guard (in the section about Drolesky):
Sorry, maybe it's just me, but that just really tickled my funny bone tonight!

Good point. It used to be so (those who taught at college have intellectual skills). No more. It's about free speech and academic freedom and to hell with proof and logic. Several colleges have professors teaching that the US government orchestrated the attacks of 9/11. An interesting theory, but without any proof to back it up, it lacks any academic standard. Too bad the colleges are unwilling to have any academic standards anymore (at least any that they'll enforce.)

qmvsimp · #14 Sep 20, '06, 9:14 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caesar

I regards to the part about the Aztecs, I agree that many of history's losers have been romanticized and made to be heroes. I cannot help but wonder if in a generation or two Adolf Hitler and the Nazis will be seen in such a light.

Many currently do. Aside from Aryan supremicists, Louis Farrahkan has preached that "Hilter was a great man," also, many in the Jihadist community feel the same. Scary, isn't it?

miguel · #15 Sep 20, '06, 9:16 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl's E-Letter of September 19, 2006

...When we look at our own society, with its manifest evils, sometimes it's difficult to keep things in perspective. We can find ourselves stuck on a downward emotional spiral, thinking that ours must be the worst of all times. But it isn't, not by a long shot.

Yes, there have been better times (even within our own memory), but there have been worse times too, much worse. An acknowledgement of this does not absolve us from the duty of trying to remedy the evils around us, but it does help us maintain mental clarity.

I know we're not being fed to wild animals by Romans, we're not being sacrificed by Aztec priests, we're not being exterminated in Nazi death camps or Communist gulags, but the babies are...by the millions. If you go by the death toll, by the innocence of the victims, I don't think anything compares to post-Christian America.