Mundabor knows his Fellini films. He blogged about a movie where the plot basically is that a whore prays at a shrine to the Virgin to leave that life, and repent… and then her life basically collapses. And like Joh, she continues. For the Church is not something that is ours. It belongs to God. And it calls all to repentance. Well the old catholics did, as did the old Prods. But the moderns preach damnation.

Today, a person can publicly severe his ties from the Church because his being at odds with the Church makes, in his logic, the Church obviously wrong. It pains me to say so, but I have the impression that this attitude puts one in a worse position before God than the one of the shameful prostitute. I do not doubt both will receive a terrible punishment. But who, pray, will God punish more severely: the miserable wretch unable to overcome her weakness or the willful, vocal rebel against Him?

There aren’t many Cabirias nowadays. Not even in Catholic Countries, such as they still exist. There are, however, a lot of Eltons, Elton’s helpers, and Elton’s Priests. Heck, we even have Elton’s Cardinals, and something very similar to Pope Elton. Which is why, by the way, the real Elton is such a fan of the Evil Clown. Similia similibus solvuntur.

No, the allegedly oh so oppressive Church of pre-Vatican II did not “exclude”, at all. Her arms were always ready to embrace. She called prostitutes to mix themselves among the faithful, to take part in the same pilgrimage of the good girl, to stay in prayer near the chaste wife. But it was an embrace calling to repentance, not to rebellion. It was an invitation to embrace Truth, not to deform it. It was a reminder of the infinite worth of every soul, not a celebration of a sordid life.

But the church is not something we can legislate away, no more than we can legislate Christ away. Today the texts we have take us to the very foundation of the church, It was founded on faith: the declaration of Simon (now Peter) is the place it starts. Simon was human, impulsive, and broke: the faith we have is given to us by the spirit of God, and the very gates of Hell cannot take it away.

For we were chosen for God before the beginning of time, and bought from our sins by Christ paying the full penalty for our crimes.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

(Revelation 19:11-16 ESV)

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

(Matthew 16:13-20 ESV)

Peter, as many know, was a pun: Petros is rock in Greek. The Apostles were to proclaim this. The Church has an awful responsibility: We can bind those our of the church, and we can invite them in. For there is no faith without a church.

Now this causes believers problems. Because many of our churches are broken and failing: and tell our whores (as Mundabor says) to keep on sinning: that salvation does not involve repentance. It is like telling an alcoholic that whiskey is good for them, or an overweight man to eat supersized meals exclusively.

This has truly corrupted the secular institutions in the USA. As the Knight notes, your feelings trump free speech.

So, if you feel offended by someone else’s free speech, the laws of the United States do not allow you to punish them. But university campuses are their own little fascist societies, run by secular leftist tyrants. They have ways of getting around the laws of the United States, even as they grow fat from taxpayer subsidies. It’s just disgusting. This is why we need to either scale back non-STEM departments in universities. Indoctrination programs will stop when we remove all the subsidies they get. When students have to pay for an education that is actually useful, then these left-wing re-education camps will disappear.

What do students learn in these left-wing seminaries? How to earn a living by creating value for others? Oh no – they hate capitalism. They learn that the first amendment (free speech) is morally evil.

This secular world is mad. It will fall. But the Church will remain.