Whither Truth?

The priest officiating at the mass I attended this morning warned us that, according to Jesus, if we have anything against our brother, we are to leave our offering at the altar, and first go and reconcile with him.

What the gospel actually says is

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

Do you see the difference? He has inverted the meaning of the passage. 

This is characteristic of Satan’s work: he inverts the truth. And he seems to be in control of much of the modern church. As Pail VI said, the smoke of Satan has penetrated the Vatican itself. The modern church embraces sin, and condemns feelings of guilt. Hitler was right, by implication; the Jews were wrong.

A friend laments that we just can’t trust anyone any more. How do we know what we are doing is right? You can’t trust your parish priest; he might be a gay pedophile. You can’t trust the church hierarchy; she knows of McCarrick. The late Pope Francis was an apostate. If you can’t even trust the pope, what’s left?

I suggested the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

“How do we even know the Bible is reliable? The Ethiopian Bible has different books!”

Why do I think the Bible is reliable?

1. God’s existence is undeniable.

2. God is by his essential nature good.

3. A good God would not leave us without direction.

4. His “user manual” would be most obvious and in plain sight.

5. The Bible is the most universally recognized “user manual”—older and more widely endorsed than any other holy book or scripture. And by the best minds.

6. Therefore, it can be assumed to be the final authority on what is true.

By “The Bible” I mean, by the logic of the argument, the Catholic Bible, since it is the most generally accepted. But that is really neither here nor there, since the books contained in the Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, or Ethiopian bibles do not contradict one another. They can all be completely true. Other scriptures of other religions can be, and logically are, mostly true as well.

I hold the Catechism of the Catholic Church to be reliable in turn because, following the same train of logic, Jesus sets up the apostolic succession, and says “the gates of hell will not prevail against you.” So any doctrine the church universally and firmly holds must be true, secondarily to the Bible.

America Derangement Syndromw

 

Just as many Americans on the left seem to suffer from “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” I think Canadians almost all suffer from a similar malady, America Derangement Syndrome. It is not quite scapegoating—it is not that they see the USA as the source of all bad things that happen in Canada. But at the same time, they cannot, will not, see or say anything good about the US. Like Trump, America must always be treated with scorn.

In both cases it looks to me like a class thing. It is a looking down one’s nose. Leftists see Trump as boorish. Canadians see Americans the same way. In Canada, one establishes one’s own status by being particularly offended by their raucous behaviour.

Of course, the average Canadian is economically worse off than the average American. This makes the need to make a fuss over supposed breaches of good breeding that much greater—it is all one has to establish one’s own superiority. 

Canadians pay dearly for this social affectation, but I the end it holds the country together. Canada as a whole would be better off joining the US. Individual Canadians would be better off getting US citizenship. Canada exists only as a refusal to be American; it is treason, therefore, to say anything good about America.

Looked at squarely, it is absurd. Yet, on the other hand, I love the rules and the Canadian politeness. And I do find Trump unsettlingly boorish.

What Poilievre Should Say in the Next Election

Here’s my suggestion for how Poilievre should handle the Trump issue in the next election; a proposed speech.

“My friends and fellow Canadians; let us remember how lucky we are to be Canadians; to have this beautiful land as our inheritance. Just look around you. The Rocky Mountains; Niagara; the thundering Fraser; the vast prairies; the great white north; the bays and fishing grounds of the longest coastline in the world. Our ancestors handed down to us the second-largest piece of real estate in the world. A land rich in arable land, rich in minerals, rich in oil,  potash, natural gas, rich in fresh water and fish and hydro power. Our geography protects us on three sides from invasion by vast oceans. And on the fourth side--right next door to the largest and wealthiest market in the world. A pretty good place to set up shop.

 It would be hard to mess this up. But the Liberals are doing their best. We are beginning to feel the consequences. In rising costs of living, rising regional resentments, rising ethnic tensions, rising rates of violence, and economic stagnation. In the housing crisis and the health care crisis. In our weekly food bills and rent or mortgage payments, and in our rising taxes.

And their alibi is Donald Trump. It’s all Trump’s fault. A convenient scapegoat.

Trump’s an easy target. Canadians are painstakingly polite. Canadians always say sorry, and care about the feelings of others. Trump is rude. He has bad manners. He says hurtful things. This obviously rubs Canadians the wrong way.

Friends, this is simple to understand. Trump is from the boroughs of New York City, from Queens. Just as Canadians are polite, that is the way New Yorkers are. Let’s not be hoodwinked by prejudice. Trump is mostly bark, not bite. We should be sophisticated enough, with our multicultural heritage, to see this, and use it to our advantage.

We are lucky to have the United States as our neighbour. It is the key to our own prosperity. No other nation can replace the US as our chief market. And it is good to be on good terms with your customers.

And the US has been a good neighbour. Since 1815, despite the world’s longest border, they have not tried to annex us. They have not fired in anger. Compare the many wars of Europe. We have lived together in peace and prosperity, to great mutual benefit. Would you rather live in Africa or the Middle East?

Not only have they never attacked us; America has been the great protector of our own freedoms—and the liberty of the rest of the world. Along with the British parliamentary tradition, the American federal structure, their representative government, and their Bill of Rights, were largely the model for confederation, responsible government, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

They led and won the Cold War against Communism on behalf of the democracies. They were the critical factor in taking down Hitler and the Holocaust. They came to the rescue of the other democracies at the critical moment in the First World War. They have led the fight against Islamist terrorism. We have fought side by side with our American brothers many times; and do not suppose this was some favour to the Americans. Our interests, as free peoples, are the same. 

How can we even think of, say, cozying up to Beijing to spite America? A CCP guilty of genocide as we speak? A CCP that has held Canadians hostage, that tries to bully Canadian citizens here in Canada?

And a CCP that declares the right to annex Taiwan, simply because they are ethnically similar. On these grounds, the US could claim a right to annex Canada. Do we really want to ally with the annexationists and annexationism, against our friends and loyal neighbours?

The idea seems treasonous. Yet this is Carney’s clever idea.

And the Americans are just people like us. We are brothers and cousins—often literally. Many of use have spent winters in Florida or Arizona. Many have worked or studied there, most of use have visited. We all listen to Drake, and Celine Dion, and Neil Young. We all laugh to Jim Carrey, Catherine O’Hara, and Norm MacDonald. It is unnatural to be at odds with our family members and neighbours. And it is impolite. With good will, we can work out this little argument over the strength of a figurative fence.

Carney and the Liberals do not understand Trump. Or they are cynically pretending not to, to stir up panic. Don’t be fooled. Trump is using negotiating tactics. Our panic is to his advantage. We do understand him. Jamil Jivani knows JD Vance personally.

I propose we lower our elbows. That is not the Canadian way, has never been the Canadian way. We are a polite people. We are a nation that plays for the Lady Byng Trophy. What other sport but hockey has such a trophy, for gentlemanly conduct? Elbows down, my friends, elbows down. Free trade between our two nations is in the best interests of both, and so it should be easy, with good will, to come to a new agreement. We want freer trade.

Let us play to our strengths. Let us approach the United States in friendship, and seek sunny ways. Let us not be like Trump, but like Canadians."

No Left Turn

 

Rupert Lowe’s new Restore Britain Party may be bad news for the right in British politics—splitting the vote just when Reform looked poised to replace Labour in the next election. That would be the conventional assumption. But the enthusiastic response to his announcement shows how rapidly the pendulum is swinging. Farage suddenly looks moderate and mainstream. A large part of the electorate is tired of more of the same old same old and is craving real change. They feel betrayed after Brexit. They have trust issues.

We are in a revolutionary period; and the revolution devours its children.

I suspect the same dynamic lost the last Canadian election for Pierre Poilievre. Once Trump was elected to the south, Poilievre no longer seemed so transgressive. He needed to up the ante. Instead, he followed the convention of moving to the centre. That does not work in a revolutionary period. He echoed the Liberals on the Trump file, the dominant issue of the campaign. If he’s going to be just another Liberal, why not vote for the real Liberals? Why switch horses? After all, the existing cabinet have more experience, and Carney’s resume is stronger than Poilievre’s.

Trump is now the pace-setter. The key to success now on the right is to sound at least as transgressive of the established mainstream narratives as Trump. Lowe has seen that.

Poilievre no doubt fears being branded as “Maple MAGA,” given Trump’s unpopularity north of the 49th. But he will be branded this way by the Liberals and the legacy media no matter what. The only possible strategy is to embrace it. You cannot win an election being defensive. He should take a leaf from Trump’s playbook when accused of being too close to Putin. Why is it a bad thing to be able to get along with the enemy? He should play up Jamil Jivani’s friendship with JD Vance, and promise “sunny ways” to get a better deal with the Americans. 

Whether or Not It Is Clear to You ...

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On Settling Debts

 

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Jesus Is Not Just Lord

 

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