A prof pal sent this in, and here at the Compound we think it's worth sharing.
Cheers,
LSP
Sources are reporting that Trump has dealt a killer blow in his ongoing war against his sworn enemy, the U.S. Post Office. In a move of sheer, mind-blowing brilliance, Trump directed the Post Office to put his face on every single stamp, forcing the Democrats to reverse course and abolish the institution once and for all.
The new stamp, dubbed "The Trump-Stamp," to be used on all pieces of mail features a smiling Donald Trump, with the caption "GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER."
It’s endemic to the human condition to ‘other’ those ‘not like me’. Those ‘not like me’ aren’t human, they’re things. It may have originally started as family and tribal but the nation-state did no more than expand the classification a little.
I spent thirty odd years being involved with every conflict The UK was (officially and unofficially) involved in, and … I’ve seen just how common acts like this, and worse (you really don’t want my nightmares), really are. (Out of western first world countries this would probably be seen as ‘just another of those terrible, regrettable, but oh so common events’ …. even now. Don’t believe me? Go to any country in Asia, Africa or South America, get away from the city centres/tourist areas and see just what atrocities constitute ‘normal daily life’ there. We’re still living in tiny island of civilisation amidst seas of barbarity even now).
Why is it that western nations aren’t still this way? One word… Christianity. ‘Only’ Christianity demands that those ‘not like us’ be treated exactly as ‘like us’ (Oh, there are other faiths that suggest others not of the faith be treated reasonably, but … only as prospective members, and they’re still not really seen as equal. Yes, Christianity was interpreted otherwise for a period, whilst under brutal attack, but, even now, try being of a different faith in a majority Hindu, Buddhist or, worst of all, Islamic area).
The past is mirrored in the current ’political’ behaviour. Christians view those of other faiths as, at worst, uninformed/misinformed but genuine and worthy of respectful treatment. Islam, as the most blatant example, views those of other faiths as evil to be converted at the point of a sword, or wiped out. Marxism (and its current incarnation of socialism/progressivism) follows islams model.
Our societies, and the mores and laws which govern them are based, exclusively, on Judeo-Christian values. Which is why I despair – the very people who demand more and more rights (without all those icky responsibilities of course) are the very people attacking, tearing down, banning the fundamental, foundational basis for those very rights. I still can’t decide whether it is ignorance, malicious intent, blind wishful thinking, or a self-destructive mindset on their part to deliberately destroy that which protects, specifically them, from destruction (witness ‘defund the police’, ‘BLM’, Feminists and gays for islam, etc.).
The average person has little idea just how much they owe to the Anglosphere hegemony (Britain now The US) 'forcing' its values on the world. Imagine a world with where it was Belgian (think their behaviour in the Congo), Russian, Chinese or (Lord forbid) Islamic values were the norm. We, in our relatively safe, civilised nations look at this atrocity as just that. Others, elsewhere, see it as the same 'because' we insist they do. If China becomes Hegemon?
What are the cries of the Canaanite woman if not a prayer to the Lord? What is her pursuit of Him if not a pivotal point in her life where she turns to His word? Her humility, her acceptance of the fact that, yes, she was an unworthy dog who was asking only for a few crumbs as a blessing, only what was left over from the table of the masters, what is that if not repentance and confession? And the final answer of the Lord is nothing other than His open embrace, God’s acquiescence in the face of unshakeable faith.
Today’s Gospel doesn’t merely tell us about a miracle performed by the Lord. It presents us with the way to approach the Lord, the only way by which we avoid the traps of the idols of this world and are able to cast ourselves, in tears, into the embrace of our Father. It presents us with how the Father operates in order to open to us the path of return to Him, without doing away with our freedom. It presents us with the face of our Saviour. It presents us with the way in which we must open our souls to His miraculous Grace. In other words, it presents us with the feast of our salvation... (Archbishop Christodoulos (Paraskevaïdis) of Athens (1998-2008, †)
Today the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Theotocos and Christotocos, is taken into heaven to that court where the King of kings sits upon his starry throne. While angels and saints rejoice together with Christ, it is fitting that we too celebrate and rejoice with them today. Our true Solomon, the King of Peace, seats his Mother, the true Bathsheba, at his right hand today in the heavenly Jerusalem above all the choirs of angels. Today the ark of the covenant of the Lord is brought into the temple and placed in the Holy of Holies. This is the same ark that John saw in the Book of Revelation. Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of the covenant could be seen in the temple. After writing this at the close of Chapter 11, as if to clarify the vision, he follows it immediately with the opening verse of Chapter 12:
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Without doubt this woman is the Virgin Mary, for John adds that she gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all nations... Her child was caught up to God and his throne. (St. Laurence Brindisi)