IN 1966, Pope Paul VI urged all Catholics who had taken religious vows to “to examine and renew their way of life and towards that end to engage in wide-ranging experimentation.” The wide-ranging experimentation that ensued was a full-blown disaster.

Thousands of nuns picked up and left. Many more who might have taken vows, never did. Over the course of the next four decades, the total number of women religious dropped by more than two thirds. With the abandonment of the traditional habit, the mystical threads fell away. Shorn of their ceremonial dress, nuns became distinguishable by their manly haircuts and bustling efficiency. They became social workers and political activists. Lesbianism and feminism swept through convents. These led, after interminable delay, to recent disciplinary measures by the Vatican against the largest organization of women religious, as discussed in the previous post.

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were the leading proponents of “third force psychology” in the 60s. Maslow said in 1949, “I can report empirically the healthiest persons in our culture … are most (not least) pagan, most (not least) instinctive, most (not least ) accepting of their animal nature.” In his book Libido Dominandi: Sexual Liberation and Poltical Control, E. Michael Jones describes the role of the self-actualizing theories of Rogers, Maslow and others on women religious.

Jones writes:

In 1965, Carl Rogers began circulating a paper entitled “The Process of the Basic Encounter Group” to some religious orders in the Los Angeles area. One group which found his ideas intriguing was the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (more…)

I WAS TALKING with a friend yesterday about the likelihood that, in the not-too-distant future, we will be witnessing the almost total breakdown of our economy. And then, in a case of synchronicity, I came across this remarkable essay in The Remnant by John C. Médaille, who examines the economic and cultural causes for this imminent collapse, and advocates that we approach it not with horror but with hope. He writes:

[T]he fear right now is of a general economic and social collapse.

Are these fears justified? I believe they are. Indeed, I do not believe that constitutional government, or such of it that remains to us, will survive to the end of the decade, and that the Union, and the world with it, will not fracture into many pieces. And if that is the case, then the great question for the readers of this journal is, “What’s a Remnant to do?”

What I wish to do here is to examine the causes of the coming collapse and the shape it might take, and then to examine the resources the remnant can bring to the world. And most especially, I want to examine the one factor that makes this collapse unique in all of history, and that is the presence of the zombies, and I want to answer the question posed by popular culture, namely, “Will there be any zombies?”

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NATASSIA writes:

I am sure you will find the humor in this news article. I certainly did. This boy began playing for the girls’ varsity high school field hockey team when he was 11 or 12 years old. And now that he is dominating the team (probably thanks to the onset of puberty), he is being removed. So much for equality, eh? (more…)

IN A debate this week with the atheist Richard Dawkins, Cardinal George Pell of Australia stated that Adam and Eve are entirely mythical, homosexual unions are acceptable and atheists can go to heaven. At The Remnant, Michael J. Matt writes: (more…)

ARETE writes:

Thank you so much for your recommendation of Henry James’s novel The Bostonians (also discussed here, here, here and here.) I just finished it and I am reeling. I partly read it and partly listened to it through Librivox while I did my housework. I highly recommend Librivox to all my friends and you might pass that on to your readers and other “thinking housewives” whose hands are busy at their work.

It was these lines, referring to the wealthy suffragist Olive, that struck me the most from the first book, end of chapter 20:

[T]he very essence of the feminine lot was a monstrous artificial imposition, crying aloud for redress. She was willing to admit that women, too, could be bad; that there were many about the world who were false, immoral, vile. But their errors were as nothing to their sufferings; they had expiated, in advance, an eternity, if need be, of misconduct. …. Men must take their turn, men must pay!

For a long time now, I have thought that feminism has at its heart a rejection of the idea of virtue (and well that makes sense as virtue comes from the Latin for man.) For instance, humility is not something that a woman is supposed to have anymore — only men are supposed to be humble. Nor are women (according to feminism) supposed to be modest or kind or patient, but men are. In short, women have already been “virtuous enough” and they might sin heartily, egregiously, as they have already” expiated in advance an eternity of misconduct.” And to look around us I suppose we have entered into that brave new world now: into the “eternity of misconduct.” Now, thanks to feminism, women can behave badly without shame. (more…)

  AT Camera Lucida, Kidist Paulos Asrat has a long post on how to improve the visual environment. She advocates starting with one's own appearance: Avoid sneakers, sweatshirts and many other parts of the drab uniform of modern life. She writes: [T]he interesting thing about aesthetics is that it doesn’t require “equality” to function in any and all levels of life. The young shop girl can look beautiful (or at least aesthetically pleasing) and can borrow her ideas form the wealthy socialite to form her own pleasant look. Also, when beauty is around, even in limited quantities, everyone benefits. A beautiful statue in park is for everyone to appreciate. A beautiful lady glimpsed at in her car (in a store, a restaurant, etc.) makes people happy, including the lowly shop girl. Beauty does make the world a better place, I’m convinced.

DEAR Laura Wood,

I’m a little bit ashamed of myself because I often thought to write and say thank you for your website, your time, and your work. The young French man beat me to it. His letter greatly moved me.

My heart goes out to traditional women. I know that traditional women are under a lot of pressure to turn “liberated.” They are actually treated worse than the “horrible” white man is today, which is saying a lot. (more…)

IN AN interview about the introduction of women into combat positions in the Marines, Gen. James F. Amos told The New Tork Times this week that he plans to ask all Marines to fill out an anonymous online survey about the roles of women in the Corps. “I’m not one bit afraid of the results of this,” he said. “I’m very bullish on women.” Ahh, okay. But the survey isn’t about what he thinks, it’s about what other people think. I wonder how many men would be inclined to honesty, even in an anonymous format, when their commander has clearly expressed his views.

I would like to ask the commandant a question. Does he wish his mother had been trained in machine gun assault tactics? Does he think the world will be a better place if little girls see armed women in fatigues?

Here’s one more. Would he like to be married to a soldier? Or would he just as soon other men deal with that.

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THE Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that a “transgendered” person who claims to be discriminated against by an employer can seek compensation for sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Jesse McKinley of The New York Times reports:

In a decision hailed by advocates for transgender people, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that a California woman who was denied a job at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after revealing that she was transitioning from her former life as a man can seek legal redress under sex-discrimination regulations.

This is profoundly hypocritical. It makes no sense. The “transgendered” person says sexual identity is real and means everything. And then he seeks government help in maintaining that sexual identity means nothing. The Times continues:

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GLENN STANTON debunks the widely cited claim that Christians divorce more often than those with no religious affiliation. In fact, the opposite is true. Unfortunately, the numbers he mentions for divorce among those who “regularly attend church” are still high.

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GUILAIN writes:

I am writing from France which is my homeland so my English might be not very good. Reading your blog for nearly two months (with a dictionary) has helped me to improve it though.

I’m a young man who is 23 years old. I’ve been reading various blogs from the French blogosphere for two or three years now. I’ve first read a blog from the Anglosphere in early 2012. Since then I’ve spent quite much time exploring it. (more…)

THAT’S the bottom line of Ann Romney’s speech in Connecticut yesterday, in which she addressed criticism by Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, who complained that she had not worked for a living. As Politico reports: (more…)