On thought before conclusion.

The Triumph of Orthodoxy, a painting representing the triumph over iconoclasm in the East, a movement that truly smashed icons..

This is a follow-up item from one of our companion blogs.

Churches of the West: Churches of the West: On the morality of the Coronavirus: 

Churches of the West: On the morality of the Coronavirus Vaccines.

In what should put this matter to rest, the Vatican indicated that the vaccines are not morally objectionable.

Churches of the West: On the morality of the Coronavirus Vaccines.: This is something that you have to be pretty attuned, I think, to the Catholic world to pick up on, and to appreciate.  There's been som...

For most rank and file orthodox Catholics this will in fact be the end of this debate, but my prediction is that for some it will not for some Rad Trads who have headed off in the Dr. Taylor Marshall/Patrick Coffin direction.  

Indeed, while I'm not following either of them, I'm skeptical that they'll accord Pope Francis the respect and authority here which loyal Catholics should.

I don't post much on these topics here and they're really only of interest to those in the Catholic, and perhaps Orthodox, world, but there's a certain segment of Rad Trads that have become so dedicated in their opposition to Pope Francis that they ironically have started to resemble the most anti Catholic Protestants in some odd ways, without realizing it.

Fr. Charles Coughlin at an economic conference.  Coughlin went from a radio personality on moral and social issues to a diehard opponent of Franklin Roosevelt whose memory is now associated with a sympathy for fascism.  He was ultimately silenced by his Bishop.  While its to Coughlin's credit that he obeyed his superior's orders, his reputation continues to be a haunting spectre in some spheres that still taints the Church, unfairly.

They are also adopting, in some instances, political and scientific views that really ought to stop and give a person pause.  This sort of thing has happened before and usually ends up with Papal correction and then ultimately the movement being forgotten, or an unfortunate example that we wish we could all in fact forget.

Which gets to the interesting topic of analysis and nuance.

It's perfectly possible to be extremely orthodox and not a Pope Francis fan, without being disrespectful to him or his office or, moreover, assert that he must be wrong on whatever he's saying because he's Pope Francis.

UCLA Berkeley students at an America First rally in 1940.

Likewise, it's possible to be very conservative socially and politically without believing that the recent election was stolen or that any effort is worth it to retain the current sitting President.  By the same token, a person can believe that the President Elect is in fact the President Elect, support him as such, while not feel that he personally isn't in need of serious correction in some areas.

The world doesn't divide into all good and all evil, and very few people have actions that are universally one or the other. And endorsing something that we'd normally regard as wrong, because our opponent has endorsed it, should cause us serious pause.   So should leaping to conclusions about causes and origins, and motivations.

We all agree that the World War One was horrific.  Few, at any point, would have maintained that the 1918 Flu was a German plot, however.  Patrick Coffin likes to call SARS-CoV-2, or as most call it COVID 19, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Flu, or words to that effect.  There's no reason on earth that the Chinese would have unleashed this intentionally on anyone, let alone themselves, but some tend to insist upon that.

More extreme, Coffin's given voice to at least one person who has maintained, although he has stopped short of endorsing it himself, that the pandemic was unleashed in league with the Chinese by Bill Gates and his associates as part of an effort to achieve something, although what that would be is pretty unclear.  As I don't listen to Coffin, I might know the answer to that if I followed up on it.

Dr. Taylor Marshall, who has made a name for himself as a highly traditional Catholic, beyond that which most conventional orthodox Catholics would be regarded as, has spent some time post election on the various wild ways in which Donald Trump could still be elected President.  Never mind that Marshall is highly educated, holding a doctorate, and should have realized that these theories were absurd and that it was immediately clear that the focus for Catholics should be our moral views in regard to the upcoming administration.

I don't like Noam Chomsky's views.

That is, his political views.

But as whacky screwball as they are, and they're so far to the left they're in the Squirrel Nut Zipper category, he's notable for having supported his political enemies in academic positions as he thought they were good academics.  And that is what makes Chomsky a serious academic himself.

That sort of conduct is always somewhat rare.  But in the era we're now in its become absurdly rare. Indeed, it's becoming the culture of the country.

And countries with that culture fly apart.