Madness!

by Shawn Van Deale

 

THERE is no other word to describe what is happening in our world today: madness. Sheer madness. Let us call a spade a spade, or as St. Paul says,

Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them… (Eph 5:11)

…or as St. John Paul II bluntly stated:

Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard, the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Is 5:20). —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Evangelium Vitae, “The Gospel of Life”, n. 58

 

INSIDE THE STORM OF MADNESS…

• Nearly every few weeks now, a news story appears warning that AI or “artificial intelligence” threatens the future of humanity. Scientists, such as the renowned Stephen Hawking, are warning that mankind is at risk of being destroyed by “autonomous” AI. ^[1]futureoflife.org But it’s not as if the “new machines” are sprouting up like weeds: man is creating them himself.

Madness!

• While unemployment rates are increasing around the globe and politicians promise “jobs, jobs, jobs”, robots are continuing to displace workers. Scientists predict that salesmen, chefs, models, delivery services and other supposed “repetitive” tasks will be replaced by robots in the very near future, amounting to what is being called the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.” ^[2]independent.co.uk

It may be hard to believe, but before the end of this century, 70 percent of today’s occupations will likewise be replaced by automation. —Kevin Kelly, Wired, December 24th, 2012

The Chinese are reportedly ‘laying the groundwork for a robot revolution by planning to automate the work currently done by millions of low-paid workers.’ ^[3]mashable.com It’s madness. A brave team of mathematicians, philosophers and scientists at Oxford University have warned:

There is a great race on between humanity’s technological powers and our wisdom to use those powers well. I’m worried that the former will pull too far ahead. —Nick Bostrom, Future of Humanity Institute, naturalnews.com

So does Emeritus Pope Benedict.

If God and moral values, the difference between good and evil, remain in darkness, then all other “lights” that put such incredible technical feats within our reach, are not only progress but also dangers that put us and the world at risk. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Easter Vigil Homily, April 7th, 2012

• British scientists have been granted permission by the nation’s fertility regulator to genetically modify “left over” human embryos ‘to see if it hinders development.’ ^[4]telegraph.co.uk “Embryos” are not clumps of cells, but tiny undeveloped babies. Researchers won’t test shampoo on rabbits, but destroying human life “in the name of science” is now “ethical.”

Madness!

• Across the ocean, the World Health Organization has issued a global public health emergency designating the Zika virus, and its suspected complications in newborns, as a ‘public health emergency of international concern.’ ^[5]washingtonpost.com Where did this virus come from that is now “exploding” across the Americas, allegedly causing brain damage to babies? Genetically modified mosquitoes, released in Brazil to fight Dengue Fever, are among the suspects. Whether that is the case or not, after thousands upon thousands of years of natural evolution within species, it seems man thinks he can suddenly tinker with them at will—and release them into the environment with crossed fingers.

It’s madness!

Perhaps Professor Hugo de Garis, an artificial brain designer, best summarizes the current zeitgeist of reckless scientific experimentation taking place on the human population:

The prospect of building godlike creatures fills me with a sense of religious awe that goes to the very depth of my soul and motivates me powerfully to continue, despite the possible horrible negative consequences. —Prof. Hugo de Garis, tomhuston.com

• In the province of Alberta, Canada—once considered one of the most conservative regions in the country—new guidelines issued by the new government (NDP) discourage teachers from using the terms “mother” and “father” and are instead told to use “parent,” “caregiver,” or “partner.” Primary school children as young as five and six-years-old are encouraged to “self-identify” as the opposite sex. How exactly? According to the new guidelines,

Some individuals may not feel included in the use of the pronouns “he” or “she” and may prefer alternate pronouns, such as “ze,” “zir,” “hir,” “they” or “them,” or might wish to express themselves or self-identify in other ways. —CitizenGo.com, February 1st, 2016

Moreover, the guidelines go on to allow children to join sports teams that ‘reflect their gender identity and expression,’ and even to go into washrooms, showers, and changing rooms of the opposite sex. If for example, as CitizenGo reports, a girl objects to having someone who is anatomically male changing with them, it’s the girl who has to leave. ‘A student who objects to sharing a washroom or change-room with a student who is trans or gender-diverse is offered an alternative facility.’ Astonishingly, the guidelines reportedly permit “adults… to change and shower with little children of the opposite sex.” ‘Family members are able to access washrooms that are congruent with their gender identity.’ And here’s the kicker: the NDP government has threatened to dissolve any school board that resists the new policy, making no exemptions for private, religious, or charter schools. One Alberta Bishop, Most Rev. Fred Henry, responded:

Two forms of deception impede the realization of any plan as a nation, i.e., the madness of relativism and the madness of power as a monolithic ideology. —Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, AB, January 13th, 2016; calgarydiocese.ca

• In the meantime, as governments like the aforementioned impose their politically correct agendas that virtually encourage sexual exploration at younger and younger ages, the correlation between pornography and sexual aggression is mounting. In 2015 alone, over 87 billion porn videos were watched on just one website alone—the equivalent of 12 videos for every person on the planet. ^[6]LifeSiteNews.com A new study published by the Journal of Communication concluded:

Meta-analyses of experimental studies have found effects on aggressive behavior and attitudes. That pornography consumption correlates with aggressive attitudes in naturalistic studies has also been found…. 22 studies from 7 different countries were analyzed. Consumption was associated with sexual aggression in the United States and internationally, among males and females, and in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Associations were stronger for verbal than physical sexual aggression, although both were significant. —“A Meta-Analysis of Pornography Consumption and Actual Acts of Sexual Aggression in General Population Studies”, December 29, 2015; LifeSiteNews.com

And yet, explicit “sex education” is on the rise. More madness.

• An under-cover video investigation in the United States found that Planned Parenthood was illegally selling the body parts of aborted babies. However, a Grand Jury in Harris County in Texas decided to not only not file charges against Planned Parenthood, but instead, indicted the investigators “for using false identification and attempting to purchase human body parts.” ^[7]LifeSiteNews.com This is not simply bizarre—it is madness.

• Perhaps the greatest madness at this hour is that while Western governments continue to eradicate freedoms in the name of a dubious “war on terror”, they are opening the back door to millions of Islamic migrants from the Middle East. ^[8]cf. The Crisis of the Refugee Crisis While one cannot ignore the humanitarian factor of genuine refugees, the  presence of some Muslims, who have openly admitted that they are riding the migrant wave in order to declare Jihad in the West, should set off alarm bells. While Western governments are falling all over themselves to embrace and accommodate Islam, they are at the same time—as we just read above—declaring war on Christian values. You know it’s madness when militant atheists like Richard Dawkins are propping up Christianity.

There are no Christians, as far as I know, blowing up buildings. I am not aware of any Christian suicide bombers. I am not aware of any major Christian denomination that believes the penalty for apostasy is death. I have mixed feelings about the decline of Christianity, in so far as Christianity might be a bulwark against something worse. —The Times (remarks from 2010); republished on Brietbart.com, January 12th, 2016

The words of Cardinal Ratzinger come to mind:

Abraham, the father of faith, is by his faith the rock that holds back chaos, the onrushing primordial flood of destruction, and thus sustains creation. Simon, the first to confess Jesus as the Christ… now becomes by virtue of his Abrahamic faith, which is renewed in Christ, the rock that stands against the impure tide of unbelief and its destruction of man. —POPE BENEDICT XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger), Called to Communion, Understanding the Church Today, Adrian Walker, Tr., p. 55-56

That is, the madness that is all around us is not so much God’s punishment as much as it is His permissive will to allow a near global rejection of Christianity to reap its consequences to the fullest. As St. Paul said, in Christ, “all things hold together.” ^[9]Col 1:17 If we remove Christ from our families, towns, and nations, all things begin to come apart. Thus, the madness unfolding exponentially at this hour is simply the fruit of a generation that seems to have embraced the lie that we are merely randomly evolved particles without a spirit; that to live and die is now mere choice; that our biological sex is distinct from gender; that religion is a stumbling block—a rock that must be removed. And hence, the impure tides of unbelief and the destruction of man would seem to be upon us. But not indefinitely. As Blessed Anna Maria Taigi once predicted:

God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions, and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. —Catholic Prophecy, P. 76

RISING ABOVE THE DEATH SPIRAL

Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty once wrote to Thomas Merton:

For some reason I think you are weary. I know I am frightened and weary too. For the face of the Prince of Darkness is becoming clearer and clearer to me. It seems he does not care any more to remain “the great anonymous one,” the “incognito,” the “everyone.” He seems to have come into his own and shows himself in all his tragic reality. So few believe in his existence that he does not need to hide himself anymore! —Compassionate Fire, The Letters of Thomas Merton and Catherine de Hueck Doherty, March 17th, 1962, Ave Maria Press, p. 60

But brothers and sisters, if we remain transfixed on the madness, if we fret and sweat about it, we risk being caught up in the whirlwind. I know Catherine Doherty’s answer to her fears was to enter into the solitude of prayer. It was to draw near to Jesus in the Sacraments, and to crawl beneath the mantle of Our Lady. For “perfect love drives out fear.” ^[10]1 John 4:18

I have been thinking often lately of a woman I mentioned in 2014 in Hell Unleashed. In hindsight, the insights she has been given are proving to be true. Her mother wrote me at that time saying:

My older daughter sees many beings, good and bad [angels], in battle. She has spoken many times about how its an all out war and its only getting bigger and the different kinds of beings. Our Lady appeared to her in a dream last year as our Lady of Guadalupe. She told her that the demon coming is larger and fiercer than all the others. That she is not to engage this demon nor listen to it. It was going to try to take over the world. This is a demon of fear. It was a fear that my daughter said was going to envelop everyone and everything. Staying close to the Sacraments and Jesus and Mary are of the utmost importance.

For my part, it has been very, very difficult to write you in the past year. The spiritual oppression I am encountering is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. My spiritual director often reminds me that the Lord permits these trials so that I may help others through them. If that is so, then by God’s grace, I will share with you the things that I too am learning.

 

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS…

In closing, the words of St. John spring to mind:

…the victory that conquers the world is our faith. (1 John 5:4)

The basis of going forward from this point on, going deeper into the Great Storm that is gaining strength, is faith. Faith that God loves you. Faith that you’re forgiven. Faith that He will never forget you. Faith that fretting and worrying are not the answer. Faith that when the blink of this life is over, you will be with Him in eternity. This is why Heaven has planned, for this very hour, the message of Divine Mercy that was entrusted to St. Faustina. It is encapsulated in five little words to carry you through this Storm: Jesus, I Trust in You. If nothing else, pray these words frequently, as often as you can, until this prayer becomes a continual sacrifice of trust and praise upon your lips.

Through him then, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. (Heb 13:15)

I am on a time of retreat for the next couple days. Pray for me, as I will for you. And thank you to everyone for the incredible and moving letters of support this past month, as well as your donations that enable me to dedicate myself to this apostolate.

You are helping me by your prayers. God love you.

 

Turn up the volume, and pray with me!

 

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