Blogs For Victory

And a timely warning, too:

Canadians packed St. Basil’s Church in Toronto on Monday evening to hear Archbishop Charles Chaput speak about how Catholics should live out their faith in the public square. He warned that in the U.S., Catholics need to act on their faith and be on guard against “a spirit of adulation bordering on servility” that exists towards the Obama administration.

The public lecture by Archbishop Chaput took place on the campus of the University of Toronto at St. Basil’s Church and was attended by an overflow crowd of more than 700 people.

After giving a sketch of the basic principles in his New York Times Bestseller “Render Unto Caesar,” the archbishop offered his insights on the need for an honest assessment of the situation of the Church in the public square.

“I like clarity, and there’s a reason why,” began the archbishop. “I think modern life, including life in the Church, suffers from a phony unwillingness to offend that poses as prudence and good manners, but too often turns out to be cowardice. Human beings owe each other respect and appropriate courtesy. But we also owe each other the truth — which means candor.”

The Denver prelate then provided his critique of President Obama.

“President Obama is a man of intelligence and some remarkable gifts. He has a great ability to inspire, as we saw from his very popular visit to Canada just this past week. But whatever his strengths, there’s no way to reinvent his record on abortion and related issues with rosy marketing about unity, hope and change. Of course, that can change. Some things really do change when a person reaches the White House. Power ennobles some men. It diminishes others. Bad policy ideas can be improved. Good policy ideas can find a way to flourish. But as Catholics, we at least need to be honest with ourselves and each other about the political facts we start with.”

The Archbishop is being a very good Christian when he says that the adulation of Obama is “bordering” on servility. My concern is that it has, at least for some, gone way beyond that. I never thought I’d see such miserable slaves in my life as I see in some of the people who nearly worship Obama, as if he were other than a snappily dressed, well spoken product of Chicago’s hopelessly corrupt Democratic machine. He’s just a man, and not that great a man, into the bargain. Morally he might be splendid (I cannot peer into his soul, of course), but in his public actions, he’s not done anything which warrants anything more than mild approval of the fact that he hasn’t screwed up royally at this point.

Today is Ash Wednesday, and Catholics will go to Mass and have an ashen cross traced on their foreheads – with the words, “Remember, man; dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return”. I urge the Obamaniacs, Catholic or not, to attend Mass today…you really need to get a grip on the reality of the situation.