Cloward & Piven... Understand it. Recognize it.

Maybe you've heard of the Cloward-Piven Strategy... maybe you haven't.  But you should know what it is so you can recognize it. It is ongoing. Read the whole story here, from Discover the Networks...

"First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and his wife Frances Fox Piven (today Piven is an honorary chair for the Democratic Socialists of America), the "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse." 

The ultimate goal of Cloward-Piven is a new federal program for direct income redistribution. The idea is that the existing, and often local, welfare programs do not go far enough. They do not provide nearly enough. So the only thing to do is to draw more and more people into massive, unsustainable entitlement programs, so as to collapse the whole system... and then, in a crisis, blame free-market capitalism... and swoop in with a national, federally established, minimal income requirement for all... which, no doubt will carry limits, as well.

Oh, and a happy little useful byproduct while they implement their strategy... Political power...

"... public resources have always been the fuel for low-income urban political organization. If organizers can deliver millions of dollars in cash benefits to the ghetto masses, it seems reasonable to expect that the masses will deliver their loyalties to their benefactors. At least, they have always done so in the past." - Richard A. Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, The Weight of the Poor, A Strategy to End Poverty

I have included the text of the Cloward-Piven Strategy in my sidebar under Who Would Destroy America.  Also in my sidebar is the growing national debt counter. The Cloward-Piven Strategy depends on you being surprised.  Don't be.

"Crime Inc."... Redistribution of Wealth

Glenn Beck explores the powerful and sinister web of those who have been working to fundamentally transform America. Link here and watch the video from Glenn... and then read his list of All the President's Men. Join Glenn all this week, as he further reveals what he has found... Weeknights, 5pm on Fox News.

The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ

From our friends at Catholic Online...

Feast of the Ascension. A Key that Unlocks the Meaning of Life

'Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.' (St. Augustine)
Full Story

• The Ascension: A Reflection On Living Faith
• The 2nd Glorious Mystery: The Ascension of the Lord
• Saint Augustine on the Ascension

Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ: Let's get to Heaven

What if salt loses its flavor...

Check out this episode of Real Catholic TV's The Vortex... It dovetails nicely with my earlier post about Catholic social teaching. For more of Real Catholic TV, go to the link in my sidebar, under Faith. It's worth the look.

Novena of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit starts today...

     It's not too late... The Novena of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit starts today... and goes until the eve of Pentecost.  This particular novena focuses on the gifts of the Holy Spirit... wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
     For more information, click on over to the blog Conversion Diary.  For a printable version of the entire novena, click here.  For a great resource for devotions, see the link to EWTN Devotions in my sidebar. Simply wonderful.

The truth about Catholic social teaching...

     Many Catholics appear to lack a basic understanding of Catholic social teaching, which I believe has led to widespread support for the most progressive, radical political agenda America has ever seen.  Catholics seem to accept socialism in the name of "social justice."

     Maybe they should read up on true Catholic social teaching, which endorses subsidiarity, and absolutely condemns socialism. Subsidiarity says that a need should be fulfilled on the most local level, rather than some ineffective, far-away, centrally planned bureaucracy that cannot possibly understand the needs of the individuals it claims to serve.  Subsidiarity advocates personal freedom and limited government.  The right order is individual responsibility, then family, then neighborhood and church community, then city, then county, then state, then federal and then global...  Not the other way around.

     It is summed up quite well in an article I found from Mark Henry, over at Catholic Online...

"Pope John Paul II harshly criticized the welfare state in his 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus wherein he stated that the welfare state undermined this core principle of subsidiarity. This Catholic teaching states that when something can be done locally by a smaller simpler organization, this is better than central planning type action by a larger and more complex organization. This tenet safeguards the ideals of limited government and personal freedom and stands squarely opposed to the welfare state’s goals of centralization and bureaucracy.        

John Paul II warned us that the welfare state discourages human initiative and results in an excessive increase of public bureaucracies. This results in an enormous increase in spending by a government whose goal is to achieve its own statist agenda rather than to serve the public."

     This modern day social justice (aka redistribution of the wealth... aka Marxism) has become just a more palatable way to say... You have too much.  The State is now going to take what belongs to you... and give it to that guy... whether you like it or not.  There is nothing just about the Statist's plans for redistributive justice.  In fact, there seem to be a couple of broken commandments in there somewhere...  having to do with coveting your neighbor's goods, and stealing.  Charity, when given freely from the heart, is noble and moral...  forced charity is not.
     Jesus never said... If you see your brother in need... give your money to Rome... and they will best decide how to spend it.  The government is increasingly a Godless institution... insisting that we "spread the wealth around" in the name of social justice... focusing solely on material needs without regard for the spirit.  It is necessary to address both.  Christians should be very careful when they turn over their responsibilities to the State.  In the secular world of the Statist, one of them... either the Church or the State... becomes unnecessary.

Widdly Tinks... a very cool site...

If you've never heard of Widdly Tinks, you are in for a surprise. I discovered it on one of my new go-to blogs, Together for a Reason...

To explore Widdly Tinks click here.  This is my family...


My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

If a tree falls in the woods...

Morning after morning... amid sips of vanilla coffee and hugging my husband and kids as they head out the door... I log on to my blog, change the date at the top, and joyfully update my quotes for the day.  But sometimes I wonder... Am I the only one who ever looks at this thing? If I blog... will they come??

This reminds me of the age-old question: If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear it...  does it still make a sound??

I guess I have to ask myself... Does it really even matter?  I mean, after all, of all the qualities of a tree, noisemaking just doesn't spring to mind.  Trees don't really require a lot of feedback, if you know what I mean.  They don't exist to be recognized by passersby.

More importantly, however, they are created to help breathe life for the world... provide shelter for those in need... grow a little each day... bear abundant fruit... and stand tall and point to God.  Some are even transformed into something more lovely and useful.  Just like us.  Every day.  Even if nobody notices.

"Founder's Friday" continues on Glenn Beck...

Tonight, Glenn Beck continues his series about America's Founding Fathers.  Each Friday he features a different Founder. Tonight, learn all about George Washington.  Tune in to Glenn Beck, at 5pm on the Fox News Channel.

Declaration of Independence trumps all other laws...

Another great piece by Ronald R. Cherry from American Thinker...
"While our Constitution and Bill of Rights are the greatest secular laws ever written, it must be acknowledged that our secular Constitution has a sacred mandate -- the Declaration of Independence.  The American Revolution is first and foremost a revolution in sacred, unalienable human rights and their associated moral laws (Declaration), and secondarily a revolution in secular law (Constitution).  We must be aware that secular law, and particularly the "Living Constitution" (Orwellian Newspeak for Dead Constitution), can be perverted into tyranny when such law becomes destructive of the individual's human rights."
Read the article from American Thinker