All posts by Damian Goddard

The Demise of Quebec – Unabated, Unabashed – December 11th, 2012 5:44pm

There was a time when Quebec sat as a jewel amongst provincial jewels in Canada.

It is evident that not only has that image been tarnished beyond recognition, all signs are pointing towards the utter destruction of that once proud culture.

This isn’t melodrama, folks.  This is fact.  Hordes of businesses continue to make their exodus to more promising prairie lands.  Individuals and families have long seen the writing on the wall.  Fact – according to a 2011 census, for the first time in our country’s history, more people are living west of Ontario than east of the Ottawa River.

Many will point to a Quiet Revolution that has morphed into a roaring secularized lion as the reason for Quebec’s demise.  Some will wag a chastising finger at the burgeoning cultural snobbery that has become the hallmark of said ‘revolution’; an attitude that ran rough-shot on the last vestiges of a humble people rooted in Catholic traditions.

Ah, yes.  Catholicism.  The bane of the left… and of the homosexual Michel Foucault and his post-structuralist leanings, bent on helping transform the Quebecois into a modernistic monolith, even while draped in the hair-shirt called Confederation.

That damn Canadian “identity”.  That damn Catholic Church.  Quebec, come hell or high water, was gonna see this thing through.

And as history would have it, the degradation of a culture is seemingly in its final stages.

I’d say the not-s0-‘belle Province’ has become a laughing-stock, if not for the fact that its course took another sad and twisted turn yesterday.  Once again, the dunce cap was fitted, this time courtesy of a Court of Appeal decision that stomped all over religious liberty.  At the heart of the matter, is a state-imposed Ethics and Religious Culture course that is extra-light on the ‘religious’, and hammer-heavy on the ‘state’.  All the private school in question wants is to teach the course from a Catholic perspective.  The nerve of those Jesuits.  Honest-to-goodness Jesuits, too.  The education minister wants teaching neutrality.  What that means, essentially, is that Catholic teaching must be sacrificed at the altar of the secular humanist.  There is no back seat on this bus.  It’s all, or nothing.  And this is the conundrum all those who hold to faith, face.

Remember that Quebec government-funded “Registry of Homophobic Acts” from this past summer?  Remember how it was lauded as a “world first”?  This is the road that Quebec is travelling.  Decide to raise a sign on a street corner proclaiming  “Marriage = one man, one woman”, and you run the risk of being deemed “homophobic”.  Even though people are finally waking up to the fact that the term “homophobia” makes no sense whatsoever.

But in Quebec, fighting “homophobia” is hard work.  Expensive, too.  To the tune of $7 million a year.  I wonder if that price -tag has been adjusted somewhat now that there is a particular Jesuit boys school on tenterhooks, faced with the dilemma of either taking the fight to Canada’s Supreme Court or standing down against the schoolyard bully.

As it is, Quebec has almost cleared all those Catholic stones from its passway.  Almost.

No longer a jewel, it stands as a type of  faux diamond, thanks to the false teachings of so-called progressives birthed from revolution.

One of its off-spring had this to say about the future of Canada in relation to Quebec – “I always say that if, some time, I believed that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper, and it was going against abortion, and it was going against same-sex marriage, and that it was moving backwards in 10,000 different ways, maybe I would think about making Quebec a country.”

Promises, promises, Justin Trudeau.

Promises, promises.

Liars, Idiots, Thieves and Incompetents – December 9th, 2012 5:16pm

Weeks after I used the term “idiot” to describe the antics of Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe (by the way, the rolling tide of hate has subsided while the YouTube views has ebbed to a modest 8,000 hits), Bill Whittle drops an “idiot” bomb, or three, in his latest instalment of Afterburner.  Don’t be fooled by the caption.  Bill was just being “nice”, when he entitled his piece “Unserious People”.

Friends, this is called “righteous indignation”.  And it is what is desperately needed in this desperate age of money-grubbing politicians and family-squashing social progressives.

Obama.  Reid.  Pelosi.  Cameron.  Kluwe.

Idiots.

All of them, doing Walter Duranty proud since 1932.

Gay “Marriage”; coming to a church near you? – December 8th, 2012 1:57am

It’s a question worth asking someone from the other side of the marriage debate.  A fair question, actually.

And it goes something like this – “If you truly believe so-called same-sex marriage is a “right”, then why aren’t you lobbying for it in all facets of society”?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked that question on social media, only to be met with silence or scorn.  I mean… really.  It is incredible how vocal SSM proponents can get about re-defining marriage and then, at times, completely back away from the whole church idea.  And I’ve heard it all.  “You Catholics can have your (expletive deleted) church wedding!”  “I wouldn’t step foot in your (expletive deleted) church if you paid for our reception!”  And so on, and so forth.

These people simply can’t handle the gravity of the question, because it opens up a whole, whoppin’ can of “religious liberty” speak.  And they don’t want to tread there.

Not yet, anyway.

It is my opinion that infiltrating the church has always been a part of the agenda.  Why?  Well, even while it is completely fallacious to compare today’s gay marriage “rights” to yesteryear’s black civil rights, let’s understand this one thing when analyzing the whole “we don’t need your churches” rebuttal – no black person lobbying for equal rights was saying, “hey, it’s okay if I have to sit in the back of the bus in North Carolina, just as long as I don’t have to in California.”

When it comes to “rights”, it’s an all or nothing situation.  That’s why the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to take up the challenge of deciding the constitutionality of marriage is so massive.  The Union cannot go on accepting gay marriage in some states and completely banning it in others.  If gay marriage proponents think it can, they are either being disingenuous, or are tethered to their living room banister, having never ventured out of state.

Something’s gotta give.

Oh.  And as for nobody in the movement is trying to change religious institutions (I got that on Twitter last week), you might want to read how British PM David Cameron views gays being excluded from religious ceremonies.

For those who hold fast to one man/one woman, do not fear.  But be aware… be bold… and be immersed in a healthy prayer life.

Because it looks like gay “marriage” is getting ready to darken church doors.

A Mother’s Brain, Her Children’s Cells, and Chinese Food – December 5th, 2012 1:34am

Don’t like where I’m going with this one?  Think it’s something out of some sick Sci-Fi thriller starring Donald Sutherland alongside alien pods… with extra soy sauce?

Well, my little Food Network freak, you’re way off base.

Only Pro-Lifers need apply on this little nugget of bullion from Scientific American.

It just so happens that the little cluster of cells growing inside a mommy’s tummy isn’t just some inanimate nuisance that might get in the way of that long-desired promotion down at the plant.

Here.  Let me quote the article.  “The link between a mother and child is profound, and new research suggests a physical connection even deeper than anyone thought.”

Yup.  Apparently scientists have discovered children’s cells inhabiting mothers’ brains.  Body-snatching?  Nah.  Just natural science.  Just the mystery and beauty of life and creation, as only the Creator could design.

Awe-flippin’-some.

And it doesn’t stop there.  The folks in the ultra-white lab coats also believe that cellular transference through nursing may be occurring every time a babe takes to teat.  As if life-sustaining nutrients weren’t enough.

Like I said.  Un-freakin’-believable.  Or, something like that.

Crazy stuff… crazy…

Oh yeah!  The Chinese food reference.  Almost forgot.

So, I finish reading the article and immediately Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” pops into my brain.  For yours truly, it’s always been one of those songs in which I expected to find some profound, hidden message extolling the relational beauty between mother and pre-born babe.  I mean, heck, one should expect to glean such depth from the lyrical majesty that is one half of arguably the greatest folk music duos of all-time.  Right?  Right?

EEEEHHHHH! (game-show buzzer sound)  Wrong.

Upon research, it was revealed to me that the germination of said ditty came from an experience at a Chinese restaurant.  Mr. Simon was digging on a chicken and eggs dish called “Mother and Child Reunion”.  He told Rolling Stone in 1972, “Oh, I love that title. I gotta use that one.”

That’s it.  I’m not kidding.  No underlying theme connecting mommies to their burgeoning bumps, with a reggae back-beat.

“And the course of a lifetime runs… over and over again.”

Lyrical gold… wasted, on a bed of fried rice.

The liberal sports media – “It’s guns, stupid” – December 4, 2012 3:05 pm

One does not have to be an historian to understand that liberalism and feminism go hand-in-hand.

The social construct in the liberal mind is to devalue men and to raise women to an “equality” that defies logic and reason.  Look at what is happening in the US military.  And don’t even get me started on the whole “equality” thing regarding so-called same-sex marriage.

To the liberal, the words “equality” and “freedom” have no weight.  None, whatsoever.  It is because those words have been bastardized to fit a narrative they are constructing, on-the-fly.  To, uh… as they say, “fit the times”.

And this skewed mind-set has long infiltrated the sports arena.  To the point where organized sports leagues for kids don’t keep score.  To the point where purse money is distributed equally to male and female athletes at Grand Slam tennis events.  To the point where NHL teams rise in collective defiance against the one thing plaguing the game  – violence against gays.  To the point where a murder-suicide in the NFL is attributed not to the war that was being waged within the soul of Jovan Belcher, but on the war on… guns.

A 25-year old starting linebacker for the KC Chiefs and his 22-year old girlfriend are no longer alive, and guns and gun ownership are to blame.

Let me borrow from sports writer Jason Whitlock, who entered the fray before Bob Costas’ ridiculous comments during Sunday’s halftime show.

Said Mr. Whitlock, “What I believe is, if he didn’t possess/own a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”

This is utter madness.  Whitlock goes off half-cocked on guns, their owners, and for the decision to play Sunday’s game following Saturday morning’s tragic circumstances.

Whitlock goes off on the “god” of football.  He unloads on young people dying senselessly, even calling the 25-year old man a “kid”.  He links the violence of the game, to the violence that tragically happens within the home.  Violence, that has marred the NFL in recent memory.

Jason Whitlock laments “how numb we are in this society to gun violence and murder.”  No, Jason.  What ails society is not guns, laws, or any perceived lack thereof.  The problem is not guns.  The problem is the degeneration of the soul.

But Mr. Whitlock doesn’t see that, and the same can be said of  NBC Sports anchor Costas who, as poetically apt as he is, pied-pipered to millions of viewers the entire tragedy at the feet of owning a firearm.

The canard of the left, lives.  Guns kill people.  And that is not only a lie, it further underlines just how effeminized our culture has become.

I mean, look at how Whitlock paints the term “violence”.  It is the sports world’s answer to the term “discrimination”.  A conservative understands that “discrimination” and “violence” are not only legitimate terms, but – in and of themselves – should be upheld.  It is the “unjust” discrimination… the “unjust” violence that must be scrutinized and clipped off at the knees.  Whitlock’s broad stroke on “violence” is a failure to understand the basic, rudimentary definition of the term within the context of sport.  Body-checking is permissible in hockey.  An open-ice hit on a player caught with his head down is a violent act.  But what the man who metes out discipline in the New York head office has to decide is whether said open-ice hit merits the title “unjust violence”.  I’ve always lobbied hard against the mindset that a hockey player must inflict injury.  No.  The hockey player must remove the puck from the player, not the head.  Like it or not, a hit can be devastatingly violent.  But there is a large liberal faction out there who wants to completely remove the violent aspect out of sports, demanding that all violence on the playing field is “unjust” and, hence, must not be… well… tolerated.

Does that sound familiar?

Unjust violence is what Jovan Belcher inflicted upon his innocent girlfriend.  Just violence would have been a RESPONSIBLY armed neighbour meting out justice in the hope, IN THE HOPE, that that little 3-month old child would have both of her parents around to one day reminisce about daddy’s football-playing days, and how he was able to overcome his trauma of the soul.

But that’s not going to happen, now.  There is absolutely no chance Jovan Belcher will serve to be a TRUE role-model for kids, athletes, business CEOs.  He’ll never be that poster-child on how to overcome the demons that inflict the soul.

Nope.  The misguided liberal would rather you stop talking incessantly about all that “soul stuff”.  It’s guns, stupid.  The inanimate piece of steel with wooden grip, hammer, and a trigger.  That’s the problem.

Jason Whitlock finished his piece with this nugget.  “Handguns do not enhance our safety.  They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it.”

For the record, I agree.  Except, he forgot to add these words to the beginning of that diatribe – “To the wounded soul…”

More laws don’t make us morally accountable.  But that’s a notion highly intolerable for a liberal.
 

U.S. Supreme Court under the Marriage Microscope – December 3, 2012 5:14pm

To some who hold to the traditional and TRUE meaning of marriage, there has to be somewhat of an uneasiness surrounding the latest legislative developments regarding marriage.

To others, it’s just another chapter in what has become a long, drawn-out battle that’s been waged for the better part of a decade.

But even those folk should have the tenterhooks on stand-by come Friday.  That’s when the 9 members of the U.S. Supreme court will convene for another private conference to discuss the possibility of reviewing Proposition 8 – California’s gay marriage ban that was deemed unconstitutional and overturned this past February.

Now, I say “possibility” because what could very well happen is that the Justices decide to put off the decision on Prop 8 for next Monday.  Or for next year.

But keep in mind, that is just one of 10 cases up for review.  Yes, the Supreme Court members have lots on their plate where the issue of marriage is concerned.  They face 10 cases which challenge the Defense of Marriage Act which was written into law back in 1996.

Of course, it’s a law Barack Obama is completely ignoring, ordering the DOJ last year to stop defending DOMA in court.

It is obvious where the Obama Administration stands on the issue.  What’s not so crystal clear is how the 9-member high court will stand on it, let alone which cases they decide to take on next June.

Or, next fall, according to some reports.

Listen.  The bottom line is, neither side is letting up in this battle to decide the future of marriage in the United States.

And if pro-marriage supporters thought the heartache of November 6th was a tough pill to swallow, what provides a sobering thought is the fact that things could get a whole lot worse.

And that’s where we come in.

We’ve gotta have faith in what we believe.  We’ve truly got to wear our love of “one man, one woman” on our sleeve.  We’ve got to live it.  Breathe it.  Discuss it.  Drink it all in, during this most festive time of the year.  The lawmakers and justices of the peace will get their say on the contentious topic.  But until then, we MUST be brave in vocalizing our support for the bedrock of civilization – the nuclear family.

My feathers used to get ruffled when someone would commend me for speaking up in defense of marriage.  My response would be “how sad that I’m being back-slapped for supporting one of the oldest institutions known to mankind!”  Well, I don’t think that way anymore.  And why?  Because… well… it’s nasty “out there”.

No longer do we live within a “live and let live” parameter.  It is now, “if you don’t agree, you are worthy of being labelled loathsome.”

This age calls for courage.  And it also calls for standing up and being counted.

As my friend Brian Brown puts it, “marriage is worth fighting for”.

Speaking of Brian, please check out his recent blog post on what awaits marriage in the United States.  It’s a good read.  And it’s a clarion call for all those who understand what’s at stake to rise up as a galvanizing force to turn the tide.  We must support those who are engaged in this crucial battle to save the family.

We can’t wait for next Monday.  The time to act, is now.

 

 

What About Olivia? – November 29th, 2012 4:34pm

Olivia Pratten is only 29 years old. If things work out for her, she’ll live a long and fruitful life.

Which makes it, also, a little more painful to bear.

The “it” I’m referring to is the fact Olivia has no recourse at her disposal to find out who her natural father is.

The story is another agonizing example of just how lost our culture has become on matters of family, sexuality, health and happiness.

Here’s the deal. Olivia was the product of selfish parents. I know. Harsh, huh? I mean, who am I to call those parents “selfish” when I don’t even know them?

Well, then let me spin it another way. Pratten was NOT the product of a woman and man who married and longed to love each other to the point of creating a tiny baby girl they would name “Olivia”.

Is that better?

Well, as dumb-luck would have it, Olivia’s parents frequented a sperm bank, her mom got pregnant, and the rest is history, as they say. A history which also includes Olivia’s biological history. Which does not include the chromosomal make-up of her biological father.

Olivia Pratten has only half of the story of her own flesh and bones. I couldn’t imagine what that would be like. I simply cannot fathom how it must feel knowing that I’m being denied the right… the absolute RIGHT!… to know my own father.

But how have we come to this? How is it that a British Columbia Court of Appeal can unconscionably and callously look into the eyes of this woman in her prime, Olivia Pratten, and tell her she has no right to know her medical history via lineage?

How have we come to this? Well, the answer is obvious. Isn’t it? Look around. How does our culture treat marriage? How does it view sexuality? And family? And health matters? And… God?

The door to this nonsense was opened up some 40-years ago. The door is wide open, now. And it’s going to take an act of God to close it again.

And let’s be clear; the door needs to be slammed shut. So while we ruminate on how wayward we’ve gone on conception, the crisis that has befallen the family, the removal of God from society, I ask you to first ponder this: there’s a 29-year old girl who was robbed blind by people who claim to love her, and this criminal act of stealing someone’s right to know her dad was just perpetuated by a court system that claims to fight for justice.

And now, I ask you this: what about Olivia Pratten?

I’m hated. Good. I’m doing my job. – November 28th, 2012 12:28pm

Now, let me be clear.

My goal is not to be hated.  My goal is to walk-lockstep in Gospel Truths.

The hate is just an indicator that I’m doing what is right.  Just refer to the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 15, verses 17-19.

That’s right.  I included verse 17.

It reads, according to my Douay-Rheims, “These things that I command you, that you love one another.”

Jesus commands that we love one another.  Did you read that?  HE COMMANDS IT!!!

Don’t ever, ever gloss over the inestimable importance of that directive.  The 1-A, if you will, of everything… EVERY… THING that encapsulates the mandate of the Chrisitan.

Just 10 simple words – “These things that I command you, that you love one another.”

Jesus COMMANDS it!

My.  Goodness.  Do we truly understand the weight of those words?  I don’t.  I’m trying.  Hard.  But I don’t.  And Lord have mercy on me as I try to fully grasp the beauty of those words from the Word Made Flesh.

I am commanded, COMMANDED!, to LOVE each and every one of those pitiable souls on Twitter who are wishing evil to fall upon me.

And I do.  I do love them.  I do not like how they have chosen to conduct themselves, but I love them.  Oh Crucified Christ, give me your Sacred Heart that I may know TRUE love.

So.  Where does that leave me?

It leaves me with the task that I am joyfully taking up.  To live my life in accordance with God’s will.  And God does not want me to “win friends and influence people” AT THE EXPENSE of his Commandments.  I will continue to champion the beauty of marriage… and life.  Come hell, high-water, or even silence from friends and family members.

If the world hates us, remember that He was hated before us.

We are commanded to love.  And we are commanded to pick up our cross, DAILY.

Step… step… lock-step…

Sword of Damo-cles #7 – Discipline – November 27th, 2012 7:34pm

Hey.  I’ll jump at any chance to include a clip from Kindergarten Cop into one of my S.O.D. instalments.

After all, I am a product of the pop culture generation.

But more important than a culture of pop, as wayward as it’s gone, is the culture of life.

And what will mark the success of the pro-life movement is how disciplined we’ll choose to be in this fight of our collective lives.

Discipline.  And Argonauts defense in  their Grey Cup win over Calgary.

I think it comes together pretty nicely.

But I’m more interested in what you think.

Pax Christi!