Sunday, September 15, 2013

Morton's Fork


I emerge from underneath my rock long enough to comment on the business of Barack Obama versus Vladimir Putin.

I must say, I am rather alarmed by the admiration a lot of people on my end of the political spectrum seem to have for Vladimir Putin, and their readiness to yield to the temptation to compare him favorably to Barack Obama.  There is no doubt that Barack Obama has utter contempt for the rule of law, the free market, the integrity of the family, Western Civilization in general and the Catholic Church in particular, and that he is making the United States a laughingstock on the world stage.  But let us not forget that the Soviet Union, Putin's old stomping ground, was a Machiavellian world of lies, intrigues, betrayals, and assassinations, and that persons did not flourish in such a world by being nice.  We should not be quick to embrace as "Leader of the Free World" a man who rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel in the KGB.  

We should also keep in mind that great evils frequently come in pairs, so that, seeking to oppose one, the undiscerning are driven into the arms of the other. We had a striking example of that during the last century.  Nazism and Communism were both atheistic, materialistic, religion-hating, tradition-hating, totalitarian ideologies; yet some people joined the Communist Party in order to oppose Nazism, and others became Nazis in order to fight the Communists.  All were wrong, and millions paid the price.

Today we live in equally confused times.  We are sure to pay the price for having deliberately unmoored ourselves from our Christian heritage.

3 comments:

  1. The other problem, as you know, is the cult of the leader. This means that people in leadership positions are practically worshiped. Obama is an inept Marxist in my opinion and Putin a very adept one.

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  2. Glad to see you posting again! It is disconcerting to see people rooting for a Lt. Colonel of the KGB as the "good" guy. It reminds me slightly of Fr. Hugh Benson's prophetic book "Lord of the World" which was written in the early 1900's.

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  3. That book has been coming up a lot. I just read it myself. I understand Ven. Fulton Sheen called it one of the three best fictionalized accounts of the Last Days (I don't know which are the other two; if anybody else knows, please fill us in). It is a very compelling read.

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