Historically, a town square was also a meeting place where both goods and ideas were exchanged.   It is the exchange of ideas that I am more interested in.

Until recently, the exchange of ideas in the town square was, for the most part, free and open.  This seems to no longer be the case.  In fact, there is not an open hostility towards the free expression of religion ideas particularly Christian and especially Catholic ideas.

For a couple of months now, I have exploring ideas for discussion groups on-line.  These have ranged from a narrow as a single topic like Distributism to more general like Catholic Moral and Social teaching.

It was my general disgust with the current state of the town square and my disenchantment with other “Catholic Forums” to explore a more general social/discussion group that would emphasize true Catholic teachings and ideas.   Essentially, an electronic Catholic Town Square.

I am starting to put my ideas down on “paper” and, hopefully, start the design of an actual site(s).  I have not finalized where the site(s) will be (although I have a couple prime ideas in mind).  The one will be very easy and will mainly be a “discussion group” and as exposure to the final site to be developed.  That will be more expansive and will include not only a discussion forum, but also a true social and informational site.

Saying that.  I do not expect or want this “town square” to remain in cyberspace.  I fully expect this to, eventually, blossom into actual town squares.  That is, to recapture actual town squares for evangelization of people to the Catholic faith.

The forces of evil are taking many forms today. Whether it be Relativism, Socialism, Liberalism, Materialism, or even Global Capitalism, all are aligned against the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church and are trying to drive us away from the Church. Their perversions have infested the world and we must be the defenders against them

We must completely reject all of these even if it means persecution. This means the complete opposition and refusal to comply with unjust man made “positive law”, rejection of excessive material cravings, and refusal to do business with or even associate with those who subscribe to the above perversions. This is the defensive part of the war.

The offensive part of the war is the Crusade of Evangelization we must all partake in to convert people over to our way of thinking. This crusade has a two-pronged attack.

The first is how we live our lives. You have heard of the quote: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words”. This means we must live our lives according to the teaching of Our Lord and his Church. If we do not live accordingly, we will lose the war at this point

The second is a very active evangelization. Yes, what I am talking about can be considered proselytism, and you know what, you are right because it is. We must take the truth to the enemy and get in their faces. Of course, there are some things that must not do.  Those things include:

• Forcing people to convert
• Providing physical benefits in hopes that recipients will be open to listening
• Providing physical benefits only to those willing to listen
• Providing physical benefits only who convert

What we must do is preach the Truth to all, both those who are willing to listen and to those who are hardened to the Word of God.  We must use the public square as our pulpit at every chance we get.

The battle will be long, but we must in it for the long run.  All of us are called to do battle in varying degrees.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

There is a rich history of writings that go unread due our hectic lives.  I recently picked up a book The Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan by the late Fr. John A Hardon S.J. to give me some additional Catholic writings (at least a couple hundred) and authors.

Even that source is only the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to the writings of the Catholic Church.  It does not even touch the official documents (like encyclicals) of the Catholic Church other than the Catechism and a few other documents.

To really know the Catholic Faith, we explore these writings.

As for myself, I am making a reading plan that will include both titles mentioned in Fr. Hardon’s book and the official documents of Catholic Church.  I am going to begin with the Social Teachings of the Church and work out from there.  Yes, it is a daunting task, but it will keep me out of trouble (or maybe get me in more trouble, who knows).

While on retreat this weekend, I started reading Catholic Controversy: St. Francis De Sales Defense of the Faith.and what I have read so far, I have found intriguing.

For those who do not know, St. Francis volunteered to re-evangelize the Chablais region of France that converted to mostly to Calvinism after the Protestant Revolt. In his first attempt he failed.  He then resorted to writing pamphlets (tracts) which he would distributed in various ways.  This was successful and within four years, almost the whole region came back to Catholicism.

The book is a collection of those pamphlets and I can see how they can directly be used today for the evangelization of non-Catholic Christians (our wayward brethren).

The murder of the unborn (as is any murder) the deliberate destruction of a human life. The burning of the effigy is the deliberate destruction of the likeness of the person.  Linking the two acts as similar is not that far of a reach.

Now consider the following:

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22: 35-40 RSV)

Abortion, (as would any type of murder, would fail both these commandments.  We would not want to be treated as the aborted baby and we sure would not be loving God by destroying his likeness.

For me, I have not decorated for Christmas in year and I usually finish my “Christmas Shopping” before Thanksgiving (This year it was November 3rd).  That way I can concentrate on Advent and Christmas.  One thing new this year is that I am going to at least match what I bought in gifts for family this year and give it to charity which is part of true giving of oneself.

The first is Capitalist Greed in terms of control and wealth.  Bigger is better.  By controlling a larger percentage of an industry or industries, the global capitalist controls a larger portion good and labor for that industry.  This means he has more control prices charged and labor costs.  Combined with economies of scale, this allows the bottom line (profit) to increase due to increased revenue and lower costs.

The second is Government Greed in the form of tax revenue.  In the United State, he corporate income tax is, for the most part, a progressive tax not on Revenue but on Net Earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT).  For them, one corporation having an EBIT of 50 million dollars will produce close to 500,000 dollars more tax revenue than 100 companies with a net income of 500,000 if everything is equal (i.e Revenue and costs).  In reality, there difference in Tax Revenue is probably much more due lower net income caused by price and labor pressures caused by competition.  This means it is in the government’s best interest to eliminate competition when it is possible.

In both cases there is greed.

Society has been caught up in the trappings of Materialism, Relativism, and Liberalism for too long and is paying for it now. In the past 150 years or so (over 200 if you include the “first” Industrial Revolution), society has been transformed (more like perverted) from a simpler time to a point where it is going too fast and is heading for a wreck.

Before this “revolution”, most people either worked for themselves or for “small business” to learn a trade. Commerce was more on the local level except for certain rare commodity that could only be found in certain parts of the word. Today, multi-national corporation has made so that nothing has to be local anymore and controls a large percentage not only commodities, but also people

Are we better off? I say no. We are now slaves (I include myself in this) to these corporations for not only our livelihood, but for most of he necessities needed for survival. We can no longer fend for ourselves and that makes us vulnerable. You can see this in the “panic” to the recent “crises”. People get worked up over the least little thing that could threaten their comfort.

Economic cycles (both up and down) are exaggerated due to the web of globalization that send shock waves through its threads to every place on the planet. This was not always the case. Yes, there were cycles, but they were more regional in nature and not as wild in either direction. Capitalism has wound the economy and society so tight that is could easily collapse.

What are the alternatives?

Socialism? Hardly. With socialism, you are just replacing the “corporation” with the “state” and, in the extreme case of Marxist Socialism, you make people property of the state. We have seen the ravages of Socialism with the collapse of the old Soviet Block and are seeing it in Cuba, North Korea, and the beginnings in Venezuela. No, central state control of Socialism is even worse that the oligarical control of the Corporate Capitalism.

What then? The answer may lie in what is called Distributism. Disributism is the ownership of the means of production should be spread as widely as possible among the general populace, rather than being centralized under the control of the state (socialism) or wealthy private individuals (capitalism). I have only begun to look into Distributism but, from what I have read so far, it was more like the economies before the “industrial revolution”

Now, you may be wondering how this translate into a “simpler life”. By going from a global scale back to a more local type of society, you are reducing complexities inherent in the “global society”. You are also enabling people to rely more on themselves and local businesses for necessities rather than someone half way around the globe. In addition, you are increasing, even on the local level, the sources for goods and services.

Yes, the drawback is that it would be harder to get rich and certain goods would not be obtainable. However, those are the trappings attributed to Materialism. In addition, local economies would be less affected by events in other parts of the world.

Will Capitalism and Globalism go away? Unless there is a complete collapse of society, which may happen, I would say no. However, we would be more prepared if it does happen since Globalization would be less of an influence.

The greed of Materialism, along with its cohorts Relativism and Liberalism, has all but destroyed today’s society. We must look long and hard on how we live our lives and make changes that will not only bring us closer to God, but also hopefully help mend society.

Although I have not been caught up as much as some in the cult of Materialism, I still am guilty of participating in it and I do not like it. In the next couple of months, I will personally be looking at how I live my life and make changes that will not only wean me further away from many of the trappings of Materialism but also, hopefully, bring me closer to God. Some of the things I am looking at:

1. Look at what I have and get rid of anything I absolutely do not need.
2. Not eating out as often and, when I do, stay away from the more expensive restaurants (which I only eat at once or twice a month as it is). This includes taking my lunch to work instead of eating at the Cafe that is in the building where I work.
3. Taking less expensive vacations and even not going anywhere or doing personal retreats when I take time off.
4. I was looking at buying a new car in the next year or so, but I will look at keeping my 7+ year old compact a little longer and, if I need to get a car, look at use cars first.
5. Instead of going to the mall, bookstore, etc., spend time in prayer (including Eucharistic Adoration), going to Mass, and/or spending time at home reading.

I know, some of this look like I am cutting back due to the economy. However, I have been debating a lot of his for quite awhile. In addition, the above list is not, by all means complete. There are some things I have probably forgotten and more things I will think of.

The goal is to make Materialism a thing of the past and God the most important thing in my life.

The failed experiment of social engineering of the secularists that stared around the French Revolution is finally showing it decayed fruits. Moral barriers are falling almost every day and show no sign of slowing any time soon due to God being replaced by the “self” as the “supreme being”.

The excessive greed of Materialism has finally gotten to the point where people are panicking because they no longer can afford their luxuries that make them feel self-important. An aspect of this is Globalization, bigger is better. However, this so-called philosophy has wound the world so tight that the slightest vibration is not only felt, but is amplified throughout the world.

We must to get back to a smaller, more simplified society where living by God’s Natural Law, not our man-made “Positive Law”, is the bases for how we conduct our lives. We cannot do that the way today’s society is structured. We need to put God and Family first

We need to make ourselves self-sufficient without having to rely on the rest of the world for our needs. By doing this, we are less susceptible to the amplified economic tides that are affecting the world.

Yes, it would be difficult, seemingly impossible, at first. But, with perseverance, it would be possible.

Saying that, we still must not cut ourselves completely off from society since we must still participate, even if it is at a reduced level. Voting and things like that must still be done but there is a more important reason not to completely cut oneself off from the rest of the world. That is we must evangelize society to turn away from the Relativism and Materialism that is so damaging the world through its perversions. A balance must be struck between the two.