Editor’s note: This essay was posted originally at CWR on December 26, 2023.
In a recent BBC interview, Anthony Fauci reflects on his own “complicated” relationship with the Catholic Church. Fauci and the reporter are strolling the corridors of his new place of work, the Jesuit-run Georgetown University—where his wife studied, the two married, and their children were born.
Passing the chapel where they tied the knot, the reporter admires its beauty. Fauci agrees: “Yeah. It’s really nice.” Does he still go there? “No.” Does he practice the faith? Again, an immediate no. Why not, she wonders? He answers,
A number of complicated reasons. . . . First of all, I think my own personal ethics in life are I think enough to keep me going on the right path. And I think that there are enough negative aspects about the organizational Church, that you are very well aware of. I’m not against it. I identify myself as a Catholic. I was raised, I was baptized, I was confirmed, I was married in the Church. My children were baptized in the Church. But as far as practicing it, it seems almost like a pro forma thing that I don’t really need to do.
Fauci is divisive as a public health figure—and his merits in this area are not my concern here—but many, indeed most, baptized Catholics would find this to be a respectable take on religion. Almost half of those raised Catholic leave the Church and never return; yet many in that group are “cultural Catholics” who still identify as Catholic in some way, or “ex-Catholics” who still touch base with the institutional Church on occasion.
And of all those who identify as Catholic—including those who came back, or never left—sizable majorities disagree with or are doubtful of the Church’s moral or theological teachings. Fauci is just one voice in a veritable sea of souls who understand what it means to be Catholic in a similar way.
The problem with this worldview—one evident even to an impartial observer with no skin in the game—is not so much, as practicing Catholics often claim, that such Catholics cannot really be called or counted as “Catholic” in some fundamental sense. There is truth to the old saying: “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” In fact, the Code of Canon Law treats all baptized Catholics above the age of reason as bound by the Church’s ecclesiastical laws—that is, as Catholic. The Church remains, as ever, a patient mother, waiting with open arms to welcome her children back home.
No, the problem is that such Catholics, to borrow from Kierkegaard, fail to “become what they are.” They live in a state of what the existentialists called inauthenticity: play-acting as what they are not. This charade runs in both directions: they are Catholic, yet reduce religion to personal ethics and deny any need of the institutional Church; they become worldly, yet keep the Church at their disposal for academic degrees, special occasions, or times of crisis.
They are neither believers nor unbelievers, but passengers; neither wayward prodigal sons in a far country nor loyal elder brothers at home, but aimless middle brothers who come and go as they please. Churches are nice, they admit, but not that nice; they are not against attending them, they aver, but are too busy to do it themselves. They are, in fact, the true pro forma Catholics—too tepid to inhabit their own tradition but also too timid to leave it behind. They want to have their cake but still eat it.
From a spiritual vantage point, this lukewarm Catholicism is not only incoherent but also gravely dangerous. The message of Christ to the church in Laodicea in the book of Revelation stands as a perpetual word of warning to whoever falls into this trap: “
I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. (Rev. 3:15–18)
Reflecting on this passage, the sixth-century commentator Oecumenius associates the “hot” with those who are baptized and “fervent in the Spirit,” the “cold” with the unbaptized lacking the Spirit’s grace, and the lukewarm with those who “received the communion of the Holy Spirit” in Baptism but “quenched that grace through sloth and attention to temporal matters.” If Oecumenius is right, then being a lukewarm Catholic is even worse than being outside of the Church entirely. The cold at least still have the hope of being drunk by God unto eternal life; the former are “moribund and moving toward death.”
On Christmas and Easter, pews in churches across America are suddenly packed to the gills with Faucis and their families. The Christian response to their sudden appearance there—or at a Baptism, marriage, or funeral—is not the bitterness and resentment of the elder brother, but the loving embrace and warm welcome of the prodigal’s father. It would be a mistake to squander these encounters, so packed with the potential of reversion—or at least of pre-reversion—by turning one’s back and assuming the worst.
But it would also be a mistake to remain silent in the face of the rising tide of those who, like Fauci, have settled comfortably into the space between the distant country and Rome sweet home. Why do they claim the Catholic mantle but not put it on? Why do they throw it off only to show up again? Why these alternating charades?
The Christian also has a duty to speak the truth in love, and the truth is that such sons and daughters of the Church face a danger even greater than that faced by the starving prodigal of Jesus’ parable: the presumption of never having to return home when one is not really living there at all.
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The problem is that people like Fauci have a legitimate argument for their views of the Catholic Church.
And what would that be?
“Father” Rupnik (and his artwork)
Same-sex nativity scene in a parish in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Capocastello di Mercogliano outside Naples, Italy.
Fudiica Supplicans
Bishop McCarrick
Enforcing vaccine mandates on religious and staff, and in some cases on the laity
Parish closures during 2020 (or at least failure to resist)
BLM and LGBTQ-XYZ flags flown on the school flagpoles of various Catholic Schools
A good number of Catholic Universities
Failure to admonish pro-abortion Catholic politicians
Pachamama
I’m not fan of Fauci, but let’s not pretend in any way that the problems in the Church aren’t a real stumbling block for many, many people.
I totally agree. I can think of many more examples, too. I love the Church, but there are many problems with people like Fauci and McCarrick and McElroy….
Name the doctrines within the Deposit of Faith that endorse anything on your list.
While I agree with the destructiveness of things on your list there is an irony involved in your reasoning for though many would might go to other denominations that seem to suit them many would join the secular world which over the years has incubated ideas that are antithetical to a sacred understanding of existence. While sinfulness and apostacy has and always will be with us, to separate the sinful and wrongness of your list from the culture that has engulfed us seems to take the trees for the forest. A culture that accepts and proclaims abortion as a right is a culture far down the road to perdition.
Except those aren’t his “stumbling blocks”. When he said “I am the science”, and we were all being told “science is truth”, he essentially said “I am truth” and in doing so mocked Christ. He can claim to be an atheist, an agnostic, or a deist, but he’s really an autotheist.
In their comments, I wish people would stipulate “institutional” church or Holy Mother Church……. there are RINOs and there are CINOs Holy mother Church is the unsullied bride of Christ and having the priesthood, she alone has the Eucharist without which “…you have no life…” She is to be adhere to regardless of what the ‘institutional’ church does or doesn’t do
They don’t. They think they do because they avoid grasping the most fundamental corollary to the essentials of faith, that it is destroyed by the original sin of vanity. We do not create any truth at all. God is the source of all truth. Even in scientific discovery, we only discover physical properties, and we only discover what God already knows and has always known. Science says nothing about value judgments, yet God provides all that we need to know about how we ought to order our lives together. Only our vanities lie to us. I went from atheism to faith as a scientist when examining the order of structure in the physical universe. I knew faith is a gift given to me that I did not earn, so I pray for wayward Catholics.
🙏✝️💕🌹
“Even in scientific discovery, we only discover physical properties, and we only discover what God already knows and has always known. Science says nothing about value judgments, yet God provides all that we need to know about how we ought to order our lives together.”
And yet we can know through both Faith and reason, that God Placed The Sun and Moon in the perfect location in relation to The Earth to sustain Human Life, the purpose of which can only be what God intended, and that is most definitely something.
“Caritas In Veritate; Veritas In Caritate”, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost. Amen.
Not really.
Christ teachings promise eternal life. To preserve our soul, we must not “lean on our own understanding“ follow Christ teachings, which are flawless and without error. Because Christchurch and his teachings are often corrupted by shepherds, we must pray for those misrepresenting. Christ gave his life for our salvation.
Indeed. As a female raised and educated in parochial school I took note of the hypocracy of the Church -writ large- by the time I entered high school. Many of the clergy I grew up with were abusive in every way; emotionally, intellectually and ultimately sexually. Nevermind the unethical and destructive misogyny that continues to permeate the church. Until the Vatican recognizes its own cupability in the loss of the ‘faithful’, until it practices what it preaches, until it fully accepts responsibilty for allowing massive child abuse over many decades, evacuation from the church will continue.
“Child abuse over many decades” is, I think, a misnomer. It has always existed but it was not acknowledged as such until we joined the so-called modern world and said in essence ‘no more’. I recall being taught to ‘always obey your elders’ and that included family, priests and teachers. There was no other viable decision except “don’t talk to strangers”, as if strangers were the only ones who could harm children, women and men. There could be an underworld of secrets, and then if there was any spirit left, “Rise above and give it up to God”. There was always the genuine belief (but also an outward appearance) of attending church and its functions or rituals for faith and community. Perhaps there was also more of an inner spiritual dimension that endured regardless-as it should and still does for some of those who question the world and forget the divine.
the stories about seminarians being forced to do certain acts if they wanted to be a priest are extremely disturbing, as were all abuses of children and sisters
Hi Nicole.
Forky, you are paranoid and delusional if you think that was me.
An argument? Perhaps, but I hesitate to call it “legitimate.
As I see it, Fauci needs the Catholic Church NOW more than ever, after what he has done to people … The Church is for Your Soul saving, and being with Jesus at the altar It has nothing to do with others, Weeds will be removed On That Day … He needs a priest! … I’m certainly not a Fauci Fan but as a Luke warm Catholic, now he needs to decide so Jesus can work with him …
The problems with Fauci are:
1. He thinks he’s God.
2. He was educated by Jesuits.
3. He’s not a physician who’s spent much time treating actual patients.
De. Wait a minute. At Senator Rand Paul’s Committee meeting, the bombastic Sen. Bernie Moreno asked Dr. Fauci: “Do You Feel Like You’re In Deep Sh-t?” “Who The F-ck Did You Think You Were?” Bernie Moreno identifies as a Roman Catholic.
Can he be considered “lukewarm” or a “Catholic” rabblerouser? Paul did nothing to admonish him! How does he compare to Dr. Fauci? Could Moreno be a closet Catholic?
He also lies with ease, as clearly shown by his diaries so recently released. I watched the early (2020) hearings where Sen. Paul questioned Dr. Fauci about the gain-of-function testing the US funded. Sen. Paul showed the actual paperwork Dr. Fauci signed, and still Fauci demurred and deferred: It wasn’t what it seemed, and the virus couldn’t have arisen from a lab leak. Now we learn Dr. Fauci contemporaneously wrote in his diary the opposite and admitted the manipulating the original virus and its propagation was from a lab leak. Lying to a Senate committee tasked with learning the truth about the origin of the COVID-19 virus. Don’t just ask what kind of Catholic it makes one, ask what kind of human it makes one.
“He’s not a physician who’s spent much time treating actual patients.”
An observation that is too often missed. Fauci is a cautionary tale against credentialism. Holding a medical degree is only the cover charge to the practice of medicine. He’s an MD holder, but I wouldn’t want him treating me. There’s a reason they call it the “practice” of medicine and facilities still are called “medical arts” building.
I had a physician tell me years ago that while his academic education was important, one of the things that befuddled him was how often he had hospitalized patients who would “rant and rave” about their imminent death and end up being fine, whereas the person with nothing indicating a risk of death would look him “cold in the eye” and say “I’m going to die” and then pass away soon. What he learned from the experience was not to offer glob assurances of recovery, but to make more inquiries of such a patient. He speculated that if elephants know when they are going to die, perhaps people experience some internal chemical, electrical or emotional disturbance that they recognize as a harbinger of death.
Spirtual connections certain of us have. Maybe our guardian angels.
I think it was The Catholic Thing that recently carried an article saying that Fauci’s position isn’t one bit complicated – it’s apostasy.
Getreligion also has an article on the tricky position of those who have abandoned Christianity but still want to “celebrate” “Christmas”.
From Validating the Catholic Thing:
Rev. Jerry J. Pokorsky
Monday, December 11, 2023
Excerpt:
Just for fun, let’s imagine this scenario: Archeologists recently uncovered a scroll from the desert sands that reported an apostasy from the Jewish faith during the time of Christ. In an imaginary interview with the Talmudic Globe, Simon Bar Levi, a prominent doctor from the elegant suburbs of Caesarea, reveals that he no longer practices the Jewish faith. Although he was circumcised and had all (well, most of) his children circumcised, he said he no longer attends the Sabbath worship of local synagogues.
His objections to Jewish “organized religion,” he explains, “are known to everyone.” He said the Pharisees are hypocrites because “they do not practice what they preach.” He adds, “They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long and have become the center of attention in the synagogues.”
“You cannot be my disciple unless you abide in My Word.” Jesus The Christ.
Apostasy is what Apostasy does; one cannot remain in communion with Christ and deny The Word Of God Is The Word Of God, creating a god in one’s own image.
There Is Only One Word Of God Incarnate.
An autonomous Catholic is an oxymoron.
Lukewarm? Rather cold as ice. Eight years of Jesuit education, and now a lucrative lecturer at Georgetown.
That’s the picture.
Fauci always “follows the science”, as he has often told us, but I think he is very inclined to follow himself. He has a lot of company in that. He is very self-assured so what could he need the Church for?
When people talk about following the science a lot of it appears to be political science.
Anyone who believes science involves value judgments does not know science.
Edward: a question for you. Can science supply us with ABSOLUTE truth or simply RELATIVE truth?
It is difficult to see how Fauci’s “I think my own personal ethics in life are I think enough to keep me going on the right path” differs from the view of Adam and Eve right before the eating of the forbidden fruit.
Charles, really… a bit FRUITY!
Comparing Dr. Fauci to the A n E fictious story is ludicrous. I believe that an all knowing and omnicient God would ever condemn his entire human creation with “original sin” when he knows that the vast majority of civilizations would never see a baptismal font.
Believe it or not, the scriptures are truly the inspired Word of God. Do you call yourself a Catholic? You may consider Charles’ idea a bit fruity, but I’m willing to bet that your fruit overflows with nuts.
You may want to pay these resources more than a bit of a visit: CCC, Leo XIII’s Providentissimus Deus, Pius XII’s Divino Afflante Spiritu, Benedict XVI’s Verbum Domini, and VCII’s Dei Verbum (11).
If mankind does not suffer original sin, how do you account for the problems in the world?
Excerpt: If mankind does not suffer original sin, how do you account for the problems in the world? “all Mankind”? You may be wrong. Read…
INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION…
THE “HOPE” OF SALVATION FOR INFANTS
WHO DIE WITHOUT BEING BAPTISED…
“It is clear that the traditional teaching on this topic has concentrated on the theory of limbo, understood as a state which includes the souls of infants who die subject to original sin and without baptism, It remains therefore a possible theological hypothesis. there are reasons to “HOPE” that God will save these infants.”
From a non-fruty Catholic.
…for Heaven’s sake. Silly Old Church Theology. Shameful.
Think of Our Loving God, “What would He do?”
Would you cast out your own child? No Never.
Why would you think our Creator would do differently?
Our God of Love, who desires all of us to be with Him in Heaven / on our appointed day; holds my own unborn child who died in his mother’s womb 45 years ago. My unborn baby son is indeed in Heaven. My son will be my Heavenly Greeter. What a Beautiful and Absolute Joyful day that will be!
Yes, Mr Morgan we can *hope* but we just don’t know.
At the end of the day God’s in charge and we can trust Him to care for His little ones.
Clearly you know nothing about how the sin of pride affects everyone including the thought behind posted comments from someone avoiding an understanding of religion while simultaneously ridiculing it.
Pride is how he decided to he could marry a divorced woman.
It has always been the belief of the Church that “Baptism saves you”. It has also always been the belief of the Church that we all need to be saved.
Baptism is the ordinary means of salvation. You cannot knowingly reject it, persist in that until death, and be saved. But the Church always has acknowledged ways that God works outside the ordinary means, when those means are not available. There are the Old Testament people, who could be saved without Baptism (and some are accounted Saints). There are martyrs who were not baptized who are canonized. Catechumens who died before Baptism have always been accounted as having a sure hope of salvation, the same as any baptized Catholic. Some expect this to also apply to babies whose parents intend to baptize them.
Others are not left without any hope, but they cannot have this sure hope, because we (being unable to judge mens’ hearts) do not know if they have not made use of the ordinary means of salvation because they are unable, unwilling, or both unable AND unwilling. So we commend them to the mercy of God, and do not judge them either to be in heaven or in hell, because we don’t know – but we do know that they are subject to original sin, as is every other human being save Jesus and Mary.
I have heard (from a traditionalist and thomist) that there are 3 possible orthodox Catholic beliefs regarding infants (below the age of reason) who die without baptism: that they go to hell, that they go to limbo, or that God gives them the ability to chose. Personally, I’m in favor of the third. But because of original sin, that does not give a sure hope of salvation. Baptism does.
How, pray tell, would a three month old infant “choose” God, practically speaking? It’s probably best for us to admit that we don’t really know what happens in these cases.
Like many in his profession, Fauci has shown over the years that he is much more interested in expanding his wealth, prestige, and power, than treating the sick. Fauci began to show his true colors all the way back in 1987 when he crushed the researcher Peter Duesberg for daring to challenge Fauci on the AIDS theory of the time. Read RFKennedy’s book, The Real Anthony Fauci.
Charles E. Flynn above – Thanks for giving the reference for the article in The Catholic Thing. Dec. 11. I couldn’t find it.
Gilberta,
You are welcome.
I recalled having read the article recently at The Catholic Thing, and I was able to find the URL in my email, because I sent the article to my pastor.
Fauci has no need for the Church…hmmmm…… well….. that’s the best argument to take the Church seriously I have heard in a long time. I bet Fauci and McCarrick and a large handful of bishops/cardinals would enjoy very much playing bridge with one another.
Respectfully, “lukewarm” Catholicism is an oxymoron. There are lukewarm persons, who have been Baptized Catholic, who, because they no longer abide in The Word Of God Incarnate, have ipso facto separated themselves from The One Body Of Christ, just as there are couples, who individually have been Baptized Catholic, but whose relationship, can never be reconciled to Christ, for whom, because they continue to identify as being part of a relationship that can never be reconciled with Christ, a “Blessing”, would, in essence, be a curse, due to a denial of The Charitable Anathema, which has always served for the sake of Christ, His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church, all who will come to believe, and the multitude of prodigal sons and daughters, who, hopefully, will soon return to The One Body Of Christ, outside of which, there is no Salvation, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque).
Commenters pretty much size up Dr Fauci. A boy from Brooklyn like me, although drawn to academia much earlier in life likely, attracted by soft college style humanism compared to hardtack Brooklyn ethics.
Heard him in an interview describe himself as a humanist. Humanism as he described it meant accepting perceived realities as immanent to human nature, unlike Christian dogmas that tend to make pursuit of our dreams more difficult. Especially influential in academia, for Fauci medicine is critical scientific thinking which eventually overlaps everything, every evaluation. The dynamics of secular humanism adopted by many nominal Catholics including the lower level educated are very similar except for the venue within which it’s acquired. Experience as a priest has convinced me that a radical life or death challenge presentation of Christian truth is what draws nominals out of their secularist cocoons.
Your comments Father made me think about the ways professional people raised in an orthodox faith, or at least an observant family, assimilate into the secular culture. Whether by choice or by pressure .
Yes mrscracker. And the few Catholic professionals who remain faithful practicing Catholics are like welcoming lights in the darkness.
yet the 6 feet was basically pulled out of a hat – what gives?
Google search terms: how did the Covid pandemic social distancing rule of 6 feet come about
AI Overview begins (links to sources omitted):
The 6-foot social distancing rule originated from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was based on historical assumptions from 20th-century respiratory disease models—dating back to studies on influenza and large pathogen-carrying droplets—which presumed that heavy expelled droplets fall to the ground within a 6-foot radius.
Historical and Scientific Roots
Old Respiratory Models: Early 20th-century studies on bacteria and viral transmission assumed that coughs and sneezes expel heavy droplets that quickly drop to the floor within roughly six feet.
Precedent from Other Diseases: Similar 6-foot boundaries had been adopted previously in medical settings, such as infection control guidelines set by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 2003 to limit cross-contamination.
Lack of Clinical Trials: Public health officials later acknowledged that the rule was not established via randomized, controlled clinical trials comparing different distances, with officials noting it “sort of just appeared” from legacy respiratory guidance.
Evolution and Realization
Droplet vs. Aerosol: The initial rule assumed large, ballistic droplets were the main threat. As the pandemic progressed, scientists realized SARS-CoV-2 was predominantly airborne and spread via tiny aerosols that can drift and accumulate indoors over long distances, making an arbitrary 6-foot distance far less effective in closed spaces without proper ventilation.
Had Dr Fauci ever cracked open that bible of virology, Field’s Virology, 6th ed, 2013, he would have read that “transmission [of SARS-Coronaviruses] appeared to occur through .. droplets and probably aerosols in some instances.” When the covid pandemic began seven years later, he would have been better informed.
Federal financial disclosure records confirm that Fauci never profited financially from vaccine distributions or pandemic response policies.
As an advisor, Fauci did not possess the legal power to implement lockdown orders or close schools; those decisions legally remained with state and local elected officials.
When Whitmer finally allowed restaurants to open, you had to sign a form on the way in, with your phone number, in case they needed contact you to tell you that you may have been exposed to covid. Some of the comments recorded in place of digits were not what you would call charitable.
Mrs. Hess above – I don’t think these are the problems in the Church that Fauci is referring to (with the exception of clerical abuse, probably).
Undoubtedly, the only thing he truly cares about is the clergy abuse issue.
.
But other folks do care about the other items.
Mrs Hess – I’d say it’s committed Catholics who care about the issues you’ve listed. Lukewarm Catholics generally don’t care or are actually on board with them (with the exception of clerical abuse).
I was not just referring to Catholics. There are non-Catholics out there that do care about those things. And they are very put off by them, so they find non-Catholic worship communities to attend. They have no interest in converting to the One True Faith. In fact, some are proud ex-Catholcs or “recovering” Catholics.
I thought the discussion was about lukewarm Catholics.
Saint Fauci saved my wife’s life. Long before dawn one Sunday morning, he answered my random email – a question from someone he had never met – and he provided the information that saved the mother of five children. HE will always be OUR savior. If the great Dr. Fauci had been asleep or in mass, my wife would be dead now. We are eternally grateful to Dr. Tony Fauci.
how do you have or did have his email address?
A well written and researched and in-depth article on Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Lukewarm Catholicism. I would ask how lukewarm? If he is “guilty”, is his soul destined for Hell? How can he repent before he dies? We are observing a scientific giant with 4 decades of dedication to life.
US National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins, who has worked closely with Fauci over the years. “His contributions have saved countless lives from HIV/AIDS, Ebola and SARS-CoV-2, and will stand as profoundly significant gifts to humanity.”
I remember when Dr. Fauci along with Dr. Blix headed the Trump effort with the COVID-19 pandemic. My only issue with him and Dr. Blix is when they watched at a press conference where Trump said “Just take household cleaners and COVID will go away”. They remained silent.
Comment here trashing Dr. Fauci “he thinks he is God. He is not a physician”? Evidence? “He did not point to the Jewish faith. He said “There are precious few religions that actually say, you cannot” get vaccinated.
I just hope our efforts to return the now retired Dr. Fauci to the full faith and not further alienate him, nor his Catholic family.
“and his merits in this area are not my concern here”
In mu line of work, accountancy, we would call them “immaterial, that is insufficient in nature of quantity to affect the overall evaluation of the entity’s overall condition.
a going concern?
Going concern is different than materiality, as it refers to the proposition that unless conditions, facts and circumstances dictate otherwise, the business is presumed to in operation for the foreseeable future and will be able to meet its obligations.
A business could have materially misstated financial statements or specific elements of its financial statements and still be a gooing concern.
A person either takes the Faith seriously or he doesn’t – it’s really that simple. If you do take it seriously, and practice it seriously, and let it be part of your life and let it HELP you, you will be infinitely richer for having done so. On the other hand if you don’t – you don’t.
I speak from experience – I was away from the faith for about 20 years when I was a young man and my sister spent a large amount of time praying for me, as well as many others who didn’t know me were praying for me at her request, and I’m back and the older I get (don’t ask!) the more Catholic I get.
Please pray for my grand-nephew Spencer Ross and his wife Meghan and their 2 sons Damon and Declan.
I repeat – you either take the faith seriously or you don’t, which inevitably leads to this – you get out of it what you put into it.
Please pray for my 11 family members from Boston who are going to Rome for 2 weeks next month – ranging from 14 months to 58 years.
And let us all pray for Dr. Fauci.
🙏✝️💕🌹
Pray for his victims first.
Katherine Bennett over on Catholic Herald reminds us that Dante has the lukewarm stuck in the lobby of hell – not even hell wants them!
(Profile of Brenden Thompson, new UK director of Word on Fire).
We humans are so easily given to judgement though judgement belongs to God.
George Gerardi, you couldn’t be more wrong. God created us as rational beings and making judgments is an essential ingredient to use of that reason. God passes judgement about our individual souls when we die. That judgment is His and His alone. But to say that man does not make judgments is just liberal gas-passing.
“Do not judge by appearances, but judge justly.” – Jesus
Other than Fauci’s drop-out Catholicism, there’s the question of the substitute religion of professionalism and elite expertise-ism. A narrative is that white-coat Dr. Fauci was researching the possible risk of species-jumping viruses, with the intent of developing antidotes. Prohibited in the United States, he found a lab in China. There the globe-trotting virus jumped far beyond the lab…
Would a moderately-developed sense of risk aversion (as in the Catholic-taught moral principle of prudence and as under the Fifth Commandment) have counseled against venturing down a path complicated with such profound and magnified uncertainties? The consequence is a worldwide lockdown plus a death count of between 19 and 36 million. Was it Stalin who said that “one death is a tragedy, but a million is only a statistic”? Ho hum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_deaths
“Prohibited in the United States, he found a lab in China”, and yet he must have had approval to continue this gain of function research outside The United States that uses unnatural experimentation that creates “species jumping viruses” that most likely would not have evolved in nature, in order to come up with an antidote for man made viruses.
Imagine if we knew this truth from the beginning and we could have addressed COVID 19 knowing fully how the spike protein affected Iron regulation, by disrupting the proper balance of Furin and HEPCIDin in certain susceptible persons, and glutheione.
glutheion and the spike protein of Covid 19 – Google Search
Is the ability to counteract ferroptosis best addressed with targeted or systemic therapy would have been a good question to ask and research, before ruling out any targeted therapy that was not a vaccine and then accusing Doctors and Researches of spreading false information.
I am not a doctor or medical person, we have some family members with hemochromatosis susceptibility.
glutheion and the spike protein of Covid 19 – Google Search
“spike protein” a word/phrase I totally forgot about
“…and yet he must have had approval to continue this gain of function research outside The United States…”
A screenshot appeared once on the Internet and then disappeared, during the early 2020s. (Fake News: yes/no?). I failed to copy it. I think the letterhead was the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In the highlighted fine print Fauci was given federal funding to support only he administrative costs at the Chinese lab. But the point of the posting was that money is fungible and still made possible the work in the Chinese lab.
Fauci= Jesuit high school; jesuit college. Garbage in; garbage out.
Fauci=the consummate narcissist.
Fauci= liar & murderer
My expenience as an undergraduate (and later) with the Jesuits led me to this conclusion: they are very bright, very well-educated, and some whom I knew were almost the embodiment of human virtue and kindness. But those who were otherwise inclined were very dangerous indeed.
And Trump is not a narcissist?
All politicians have narcissistic tendencies. You just fixate on one.
B. Hussein Obama was pretty narcissistic but you voted for him. Your memory is selective.
My guess is William was in Grant Park on the night of the election in 2008, with all those mindless bots holding Bic lighters aloft and swaying in unison at the immaculation of the Omabassiah as he raised his arm to lower the seas and give us a $2500 saving on healthcare, advised by the great and powerful wizard, Jonathan Gruber who once said the quiet part out loud and noted you can’t underestimate the stupidity of the voter.
It’s also interesting how our resident VI’s whine incessantly about the uber-wealthy, but never seem to care about the people that exploit political office to acquire great wealth.
The best comment on Obama is his library. It’s hard to imagine that travesty being a mere pastiche of “Brutalist” architecture, but dog gone it, they accomplished it.
my son is 22 it went up to over 450 month, non tobacco
Obama was not a messiah, but neither is Trump. Both are politicians.
Sums Faux Fauci up to a T.
I wonder if it isn’t the law that material lying uttered before the limitation period expired, remains actionable after the limitation expiry and becomes actionable when the lying has come to light. If so, or, if they are going to try the issue, they should act on the newly exposed fact(s) and not default to a possible further expiry of a time limit.
I believe that in the common law that is the rule in both civil and criminal cases and public/administrative cases notwithstanding that the limitation period is provided by statute.
Even a pardon could be vitiated on account of lies and being won misled by lies.
Also, legally, a pardon could be void for want of specificity; or, a pardon might not relate to what new things come to light. Hence, Fauci still “pleading the 5th”.
There are some situations which irrefutably expose guilt, on the face. Looking for proofs and evidences at that point becomes an inversion of process.
Fauci’s pardon only covers a specified period of time 2014-2025.
In common law you can NOT grant a pardon unless there was first a conviction. Fauci was pardoned without being convicted -is this sound US law? Where does it say that a Presidential pardon preempts due process and rule of law?
Excellent question.
Google search terms: under the laws in the USA, can a pardon be given or granted when there has been no conviction, sometimes called a preemptive pardon
AI Overview begins (Italics and links to sources omitted):
Yes, under United States federal law, a pardon can be granted before a person has been charged, tried, or convicted. Often referred to as a preemptive pardon, this authority is rooted in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which grants the President the power to issue pardons for federal offenses.
Constitutional Basis and Precedent
Supreme Court Support: In the landmark case Ex parte Garland (1866), the U.S. Supreme Court noted that the federal pardon power is broad and “may be exercised at any time after its [the offense’s] commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction”.
Historical Examples: The most famous instance of a proactive pardon is President Gerald Ford’s 1974 pardon of former President Richard Nixon, which shielded Nixon from any potential federal crimes he might have committed while in office, before any charges were ever filed. Presidents have also repeatedly used pre-emptive amnesties and pardons for groups or individuals (such as Jimmy Carter’s pardon of Vietnam War draft evaders or modern end-of-term proactive pardons).
Key Legal Limitations
While proactive pardons can happen before a conviction, they are still bounded by strict rules:
Past Acts Only: A pardon can only cover crimes that have already been committed. A president cannot grant a license to break the law in the future or issue a pardon for a crime yet to take place.
Federal Crimes Only: The President’s power applies strictly to federal offenses (and military/D.C. superior court cases); it cannot preempt or forgive state-level criminal charges.
No Impeachment: Pardons cannot be used in cases of impeachment.
Would you like to explore how accepting a preemptive pardon affects a person’s Fifth Amendment rights, or look into state-level rules on pre-conviction clemency?
Yes, the US should comes to terms about it, it’s worth exploring in its extents. Amnesty is a forward-looking allowance for reintroducing the perpetrator actor or actors into service and is usually conditional in the sense that prosecution could ensue if there are repeat crimes.
At this time WIKIPEDIA on US Presidential pardons for non-conviction says it has never been tested.
The other instance cited is Ford pardoning Nixon. Now arguably this would be as between Presidents; there would have been nothing to stop Carter from prosecuting Nixon on whatever charge related.
And in more general argument, it could be reasonable that irrespective of office, any President who comes in after the a preceding President gave such a pardon, could prosecute irrespective of the pardon.
Otherwise you’d have it that there developed too much executive scope outside law. As we see in the matter with Fauci, for example. That Constitution sought to control.
See below, my Nuremberg comments.
There might be a convention of “respecting the leader” or “preserving the leader’s honour”. Might be. There was the debate at the time about what to do with Hitler and Mussolini. It was never resolved because they both ended up dead ahead of the legal determinations.
Such a convention MIGHT apply with Nixon. It does NOT with Fauci.
Elias,
Thank you for your additional comment. It is interesting to see how opinions vary on this topic, even among our senators, 47 out of 100 of whom are lawyers.
Anti-Fauci hate on a 3 year old post?! You all seriously need a hobby.
Anyone who has been paying attention to what Fauci wrote in his recently released notes/”diary” know that the man has much to be answer for. Personally, I’m convinced he’s a sociopath; his disregard for truth, facts, lives, relationships, and reality is truly mind-boggling. There needs to be a reckoning for the insanity shoved on so many of us by Fauci, Collins, and others.
Mengele 2.0
Carl is right about the need for a reckoning, which so far has not come. I can’t name a single politician, doctor, or scientist who was held accountable for the anti-social and very likely unconstitutional actions that were taken during 2020-2023. Until that reckoning comes, the odds that such actions will be repeated–possibly will even less justification– increases. Even Donald Trump– who set the so-called vaccine in motion, did nothing to stop state and local governments from trampling on the people’s rights, and did not fire Dr. Fauci early on– needs to answer for his actions. After a while, one gets the idea that they’re all in cahoots, no matter how much one side or the other claims to be better, more enlightened, or even opposed to the other side, or ready to “drain the swamp.” It’s the same sort of conspiracy of silence that keeps anyone from being held responsible for the rise of Theodore McCarrick, or the innumerable offenses of Jeffrey Epstein or Marco Rupnik. After a while, being shocked becomes difficult when the same script is repeated endlessly, any more than I can be surprised at what happens in a Star Trek rerun that I’ve seen a dozen times or how a song that I’ve heard a hundred times goes.
The idea that Fauci could be pardoned by Joe Biden and still claim Fifth Amendment protection is ludicrous, but it’s consistent with the conspiracy of silence.
I think they all were placed in their positions and directed by Trump in his first term. The fish usually rots from the head so maybe that’s where your investigation should start?
Gerard: you don’t miss an opportunity to vent your spleen. You are one disturbed puppy. You’re to be pitied.
It seems I live rent free in your head! I’m sorry it makes you mad that Trump was actually in charge of our failed COVID response including vaccine development (operation warp speed sound familiar?)
And who had ultimate authority during the first part of the pandemic? Why do you absolve Trump of any and all wrongdoing? How very MAGA.
By the way, you advocating Hydroxychloroquine (which Trump and nitwits like Kristi Noem pushed). It was quackery. No double blind clinical studies proved it effective in treatment of Covid. Indeed, the VA did a study where the veterans who received it died at a higher rate than the placebo group due to cardiovascular complications, a a major side effect.
Any claims of “cures” were anecdotal. You actually believed Trump.
You pretend to be an independent thinker, but you are just another MAGA apologist.
Well, you believed Fauci and Biden, so what does that make you? Just another leftist lemming.
How do you know what I believe? Your postings indicate a right wing echo chamber, with little original thought. Just another MAGA troll.
I am not a “leftist.” I am a classic, paleo conservative. MAGA is not conservative. It is right wing. Mussolini was not a conservative.
William: How many covid shots and boosters did you submit to?
I did receive the Covid shot and 2 boosters. To be fair, operation Warp Speed to develop, test and distribute the Covid vaccine was a major accomplishment. Trump deserves credit for this. Curiously, he does not seem to take credit,where credit is due. Perhaps due to the anti vaxxers among his so called MAGA base? Very odd.
Yet some of us didn’t want the mRNA shot for two main reasons 1)experimental 2) the cells to grow it came from two induced abortions. Catholic Lisa Domski got a big bucks settlement for getting canned from Blue Cross of MI for refusing the shot, as they denied her religious exemption.
My point is, anyone who questioned this technology was shut down, directly, and told by our leaders to follow the sheep – or else. Trump reinstated military personnel who were fired for refusing mRNA.
I wish there had been a placebo to thwart the fear mongering effect in the states run by lefties! Couples fully masked driving down a country road with the windows up, for example.
I still see people masked. There’s a young kid that works in the local grocery store wearing a mask, he drops it to drink the soda that normally accompanies him. There’s also a guy that comes to my gym and wears a mask while doing squats. Fortunately, he’s not using weights or repetition rangers that will likely tax anybody’s cardiovascular system, so no risk of hypoxia or hypercapnia.
I wonder how many people will in years to come, find out they have interstitial lung disease from inhaled polyester fibers, similar to “flock workers disease”.
Whatever our judgment may be of Fauci [he was responsible for identifying and curtailing the AIDS virus], and there are arguable questions, we were dealing with an unknown, imperceptible virus engineered by the CCP as a weapon. How it was loosed on the world remains a question.
Similar worldwide restrictions were taken, even more severe in China and elsewhere, where reports of death and serious illness were initially dramatic. It was a value judgment to close the schools. Certainly, it would have subjected children to infection.
Although, what we know now, in hindsight – that it would have presumably been less damaging to our children’s well being had the schools remained open.
Similarly, if we did not shut down the labor force the loss of life remains unknown. In medical centers where I visit, medical and nursing staff still regards Covid as a dangerous illness and take full precaution [the Covid ‘vaccine’ has been shown to reduce the risk of death once infected by the virus].
I’m certain Joseph Mengele did some heroic deeds in his day too.
It makes perfect sense to take precautions for people with poor immune systems.
The Covid response, start to finish, required those in charge to jettison the playbook for dealing with a pandemic that had been developed for decades. It was known within the first 6 months that approximately 90% of deaths occurred in those with less than 3 months to live. The detriment for people, children and adults, from long-term social isolation is such that there are restrictions on it in prisons and extended use can be considered cruel and unusual.
These things are not known merely in hindsight. They were known beforehand, and those trying to speak up were censored, lost jobs and research funding, and were turned into laughingstocks – including when a drug on the WHO’s list of most beneficial drugs was made out to be mere horse dewormer by the CDC and every mainstream news outlet. The federal government pressured social media sites to censor particular people and general trends, even as face to face conversation was generally suppressed.
10 out of 12 scientists that Fauci consulted were of the opinion, early on, that it was bioengineered. At least one of the other two was engaged in gain of function research. Yet this was suppressed, and the only acceptable claim was a wet market gone wrong.
It is not possible for a nation to have a correct response when that response is being managed by people who lie – or when most people accept the lying. Fauci publicly said that he had deliberately lied to the American people and considered that a good decision. He should have been fired for that alone. Another thing that is standard in Public Health is that YOU DO NOT LIE.
As I understood the issue with Fauci, is that he was devious regarding his involvement, for example, in constantly placing the source of the virus in Wuhan ‘wet markets’, when the CCP were eliminating Chinese researchers who knew too much. He must have had some sense of what was going on and apparently sought to distance himself.
It would have been best [in hindsight] if the U.S. did not shut down schools and churches, industry, and instead continued. Although, it appeared to this writer that China had a marked interest in disrupting our growing economic edge over that Nation. Nevertheless, at the time we were dealing with an apparent dangerous unknown.
Covid actually started waning after the omicron(sp)strain infected so many. It was easily spread and needed to go through the population to build some immunity. Why doesn’t Fauci tell us what happened!?
This wasn’t the Spanish flu were people dropped dead who didn’t even feel sick.
‘
The contradiction in his diary that he urged the shutdown although he publicly denied that he did reveals his unwillingness to acknowledge his responsibility for the aftermath.
A strange attitude if true, because if he did publicly attempt to influence the government shutdown there would be multiple witnesses. It doesn’t make sense. The answer seems remote.
We’re still paying for the bad decisions made during covid.
This article is sort of useless because it doesn’t ask why- why has the Church been prone to produce lukewarm folks like Fauci over the past 50-60 years? The answer ironically implicates Becklo and the “word on fire” outfit, who represent one kind of post-VII downgraded-mediocre catholicism that helps to feed into this. (Yes, word on fire is better and more orthodox than other efforts relatively speaking, but absolutely speaking and compared to what things once were not too long ago, they leave much to be desired. Sixty years ago, bishop barron most likely would have been labeled as being somewhat “progressive” and word on fire’s efforts as minimalist catholicism.) Such efforts do their best to defend the post-VII malestrom that has left people like Fauci uncatechised, given banal liturgies, watered down doctrine, prone to dissent, etc. But at the same time they will attack anything “traditional” and things that remind us of what existed before the council. And yes, the council itself is to blame, to whatever degree.
Otherwise, the question still remains- why else do we have so many lukewarm catholics over the past few decades, and perhaps more importantly, the fact that their lukewarmness is now tolerated by Church authority, and even produced by it? We now even have Rome, including popes, telling us that heterodoxy is orthodoxy and vice versa…
I would like to respond to John with an anecdote or two, and I realize anecdotal evidence is not proof of anything, but it can be an indicator.
In the mid 1990’s, after taking an early retirement package from the business world I went back to school and then began teaching freshman high school religion. About five weeks into my first year I finished all that I had to say one day with ten minutes to go and told the students to read the next chapter in the bible. The diocese program was for freshman to study the Old Testament. With that a student got up from her desk and walked to my desk and the following conversation took place:
Student- I don’t like this class.
Me – I am sorry to hear that. Did you like religion class last year in the eighth grade?
Student – Yes I did.
Me – What did you do in last year’s class to make you like it?
Student – We drew pictures and colored pictures.
There you have it. All of my students had eight years of Catholic elementary school. At the end of my third grade (1951) I am confident that all of my class mates knew much more about the Catholic faith than these high school freshmen.
Are things much different now? From what I know about my large parish elementary school, I would say no.
John, you ask: <> The simple answer is that the Church used to teach (and it’s still in the CCC) that if you die in mortal sin you will go to hell, and that mortal sin includes things like masturbation and missing one Sunday Mass. Since a very few percentage of Catholics still buy that bill of goods, a very large percentage of us are now what you call “lukewarm.”
John, you ask: “why else do we have so many lukewarm catholics over the past few decades, and perhaps more importantly, the fact that their lukewarmness is now tolerated?” The simple answer is that the Church used to teach (and it’s still in the CCC) that if you die in mortal sin you will go to hell, and mortal sin includes things like masturbation and missing one Sunday Mass. Since a very few percentage of Catholics still buy that bill of goods, a very large percentage of us are now what you call “lukewarm.”
Although the claim has been made that Vatican
II changed no Dogma of The Faith, this is simply not true. Vatican II, by doing away with The Charitable Anathema of Jesus The Christ, changed The Major Dogma of The Catholic Faith, “You cannot be My Disciples if you do not Abide In My Word”, (Christ’s Charitable Anathema) making it appear that it is possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesiastical Communion, which is a great deception because in denying The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, denies The Divinity of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, And Holy Ghost, which is, in essence, Apostasy.
Still so many unanswered questions about the origins of COVID 19:
https://centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/tabletop-exercises/event-201-pandemic-tabletop-exercise
Excellent article. I probably read it first time around but Fauci is looking even more hollow, let’s say, these days, IMO.
I recently had a scathingly brilliant idea (Canadian here).
Offer Confession for the hour before CEO Masses. Give some of these hollow Catholics at Christmas, Easter and Grandma’s funeral a hint (about worthy reception of Communion, if nothing else).
You have a lot of people in church for the only time that year, use that!
Homilies about the importance of showing up, given how Christ showed up for us. Homilies about sacrificing for Him, given how much He sacrificed for us. Homilies about the Eucharist as a love-pact, that cannot be received if you have rejected that by your actions, until you have been restored by the Passion of Christ and repentance.
If you have a captive audience of people who desparately need Jesus, don’t waste it on pleasant fluff or safe advice to be nice and loving.
I agree with Carl Olson: Fauci is a sociopath.
And Georgetown University “SJ” is a sewer, and the “marriage” of Fauci-Georgetown is a fitting endpoint for the two.
Those who want to bring Trump into this need to consider whether there is any action that he could have taken, especially the firing of Fauci, that you would have accepted!?
What does the award of expertise allow?
It’s good to ask the question “Compared to what?”
So you absolve Trump of any wrongdoing? Red states had higher death rates than blue states due to MAGA refusing to get vaccinated, wear masks, etc. Who answers for that lethal stupidity?
Insofar as citing the 5th amendment when asked questions during the hearing, who with intelligence would not if you were certain that they were seeking to entrap you and make a case. If they had substantial evidence for conviction they wouldn’t need to have a hearing.
Yeah… it’s not like there aren’t any state prosecutors who have him in their crosshairs, or (I think) the possibility of perjury charges from previous hearings.
I don’t think the possibility of perjury in the present hearing can be used, but I don’t think he needs it.
Congress can investigate things with no intent to prosecute anyone. Sometimes you just need to figure out what happened. This is not one of those times.
Apparently Fauci is responsible for what he attempted to conceal to avoid blowback. Although regarding the closures it’s unreasonable, at least difficult to accuse him of malevolent intent.
Perjury is difficult to legally establish because the prosecution has to clearly prove intent, other related issues. Defense often addresses misunderstanding a question, forgetfulness and so forth.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/flashback-pope-francis-invited-fauci-to-push-covid-jabs-at-vatican-conference/
Congress does not conduct real investigations. They conduct show trials.
The legislative branch NEVER conducts investigations, because it should not. Read up on Bills of Attainder, when you take a break from Mother Jones, The Nation and The Huffington Post.
Ah, advice from the Bitter Bean Counter. Nice of you to instruct us, O Wise One.
@ William
The reference to a perjury trial was in response to Amanda’s suggestion, “it’s not like there aren’t any state prosecutors who have him in their crosshairs” as a possibility.
It’s not my fault that you are ignorant of basic tenets of government.
Who is more bitter than you and your constant envy others economic successes.
Of course, if you can’t formulate a good argument, you can always resort to argumentum ad hominem.
The 3 branches are now branched out to include lobbyists.
And so says the Bitter Bean Counter. Your insults imply a serious personality disorder.
I don’t envy those with more money. I have enough to get by. I only think that the billionaires should pay their fair share of taxes. Why is that economic envy?
what is economic success?
more is better?
keeping up with the Joneses ruined a lot of families and still is today, as new technology comes out and people think a smaller home is beneath them
Process would be like Nuremberg, collating details matched to the established identities, the context being already notorious and, undeniable; whose criminal perpetrators can’t be saved by 5th Amendment if they invoke it.
The question is whether Dr. Fauci’s previous sworn Congressional testimony is at odds with the contents of his own personal diary (more than 1,000 pages), which was subpoenaed by Senator Rand Paul.
Fauci is open to prosecution for criminal and negligent acts committed before 2014.
If he was involved in a continuous evolving criminal program, that was initiated before 2014, he is liable on that as well and for the ultimate consequences.
If Biden was mixed up in that before 2014, he too could be prosecuted and convicted.
The issue here is not about “shattering” Fauci’s “credibility”. It is the flouting and trammeling with impunity of all law and principle -which can not be allowed to pass unpunished.
Re John above (11:10 p.m.)
Good question – Why do we have so many Fauci Catholics?
Next question – Can anything be done about it? At the parish level, say, which is where most Catholics learn and live (or not) their faith?-
There are many things we can do about it, but the thing NOT to do is return to the fear-based, hell-threatening pre-conciliar catechesis of the 50s. That’s what drove so many boomers away and why many call themselves “recovering.”
No, Maria, that’s the usual narrative we’re given but it has little evidence behind it and is nonsensical: that pre-VII was the bad old days from which we were liberated by VII. If that was the case the opposite should have happened: people should have been prone to stay once that was supposedly changed, not leave. But people left in droves precisely after VII and its “liberating” message, not during the prior time when the messaging was supposedly fear-based. So, if anything, the evidence tends to say the pre-conciliar catechesis worked.
The loss of boomers is a net positive, so I’m not sure what your pojnt is. Boomers are the reason the church is in the poor state it has been.
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………………………………….
The church was instructed to save souls, not run a social society – it’s not always going to be pretty.
The service provided by the sociopath Fauci is the self-own-arson of the leftist institutions of government, media and university-hive-minds.
They can’t put out their own wildfire.
Whether or not Fauci will live to see it, his credibility will one day be shattered, if it isn’t already. His views and actions are despicable.
His credibility should have been shattered the moment he announced he had lied, was right to do so, and would do it again if he thought it necessary.
The fact that most Americans continued to believe him says something decidedly unfortunate about them.
Absolutely, Amanda. It’s almost like some Americans have Stockholm syndrome towards Fauci. They know they’re being lied to and held captive by the guy, yet feel compelled to defend him in the name of public safety. It’s disgusting.
Question – How did Sen. Paul get his hands on Fauci’s diary?
How did that whole thing come about?
He wrote his diary on government computers. The computers are property of the government. I also think that the material was subpoenaed. I also saw something online that an investigator had requested this info through FOIA and the request was never responded to.
Insofar as the question of lukewarm Catholicism the cause would be a reflection of the entire spectrum on society. Persons who enter a religious life generally carry their baggage with them.
This article is an insightful and a well written reflection on the pride and arrogance. The picture of a Pharisee in words.
Many voices here seem to think there is a possibility of living in the garden … before the fall. No, we live in a fallen world … full of sinners … sinners who need a Savior. Jesus established His church, not with sinless souls .. but broken men and women … some who betrayed Him. The church IS the lifeboat Jesus built.
I was raised as a Catholic, and was quite religious as a child.
When I was 16, I began questioning and rebelling.
When I was 18, I began losing my faith.
At 20, I was an avowed atheist. I was “free” and not before long, severely depressed.
Today I’m 45, and back in Church for about 10 years. It was gradual, step by step. The last one happened just last year, when I finally went to confession.
Here’s some food for thought: all those years, I never really left church, not completely. The most important factor was my mother; she never stopped praying for me, and whenever I visited my parents she asked me to go to church with them, saying “I know you no longer believe, but just do it for me, to make me happy. She introduced me to a friend of her, a priest, because she knew I’d enjoy talking to him (he was a very smart man, a proffessor) and that maybe he’s help me see some things in a different light. (He did!). And like I said, she never stopped praying and believing.
My point is: don’t knock “cultural Catholics”, don’t write them off completely! They may come back one day. As long as they live, there is hope.
And maybe, just maybe, praying for their souls will bring better results than being nasty and judgmental 😉
William writes above: “I did receive the Covid shot and 2 boosters. To be fair, operation Warp Speed to develop, test and distribute the Covid vaccine was a major accomplishment. Trump deserves credit for this. Curiously, he does not seem to take credit,where credit is due. Perhaps due to the anti vaxxers among his so called MAGA base? Very odd.lliam writes above: “I did receive the Covid shot and 2 boosters. To be fair, operation Warp Speed to develop, test and distribute the Covid vaccine was a major accomplishment. Trump deserves credit for this. Curiously, he does not seem to take credit,where credit is due. Perhaps due to the anti vaxxers among his so called MAGA base? Very odd.”
This presumably explains your confused mental condition.
It’s really amusing when he calls himself a “conservative”.
That word does not mean what you think it means, obviously.
YOU have no idea what it means, VI. The two of you are peas in a pod, envious leftists, eager to comment on matters you don’t even take the slightest bother to understand.
Witness “William”’s complaint that Congress doesn’t conduct investigations. -Point out that they are proscribed and he responds with an typical flustered ad hominem.
“And so says the Bitter Bean Counter. Your insults imply a serious personality disorder.”
This is SOP when he gets “caught”. After hypocrisy, he resorts to nebulous slogans “fair share”, never once asking whether taxes should be levied in the first place or whether he’s paid HIS “fair share” or even defining “fair share”, what ever that might be when there seems to be no limit to federal spending.
It’s rather amusing he has NO indignity for Fauci, who, while not a “billionaire”, became by any measure fabulously wealthy-with the highest government pension, exceeding that of the four living ex-Presidents and three were two-termers.
Then, there’s you claiming there’s no relationship between COVID shots and thrombosis, when the medical literature shows there is a relationship.
Conservative and right wing are not the same. The GOP MAGA cult is right wing. You don’t seem to grasp this difference.
Who are you to judge?
My COVID vaccines explain my continued existence in this mortal plane, so there is that. I have to thank Trump for that 😉
I highly recommend a book to my fellow readers here: The Psychology of Totalitarianism by Mattias Desmet. Well worth the read.
From Fauci’s own diary, we learned this week that he had taken his own “vaccine” in front of cameras and then later developed pulmonary emboli which got him admitted to Walter Reed Hospital where he was cared for by the best of doctors.
Here’s the kicker: IT WAS NEVER REVEALED PUBLICLY THAT HE HAD A SERIOUS REACTION TO THE JAB!!!! AND, HE CONTINUED TO PUSH THAT SAME VACCINE ON OTHER UNSUSPECTING AMERICANS.
THAT WAS NOT ONLY UNETHICAL BUT GROSSLY IMMORAL.
The Covid vaccine saved thousands of lives. Trump should take credit.
Pardons are meaningful ONLY WHEN SOMEONE IS FOUND GUILTY OF COMMITTING A CRIME!
What’s with all the CAPS? Why the digital shouting? Take a tranquilizer.
Trump also needs to take responsibility for the uncounted deaths caused by the so-called vaccine– and it looks as though the coverup on that is ongoing. That was nothing less than immoral experimentation on human beings. I will not give him a pass on that. And being “anti-that-particular-non-vaccine-that-didn’t-work” does not make one an “anti-vaxxer.” That is a serious, unjust mischaracterization.
Trump didn’t force people to take the vaccine; Biden did that, so he bears most of the responsibility here.
The vast majority of people did not have a severe reaction. Are you against vaccines? Why? Are you a QAnon conspiracy buff.
It’s not a “vaccine”. You cannot have a traditional vaccine for an RNA virus.
Now define “severe reaction”.
The standard for adverse reactions for healthy people getting a medical intervention is not “a vast majority are OK”. It’s more like 1 in a million. At that rate, there should be approximately 300 people in the entire United States that had a serious adverse reaction to the vaccine. Myocarditis in teenagers alone has more than that.
Maybe you know the statistics, but my older sister had quite a reaction to the booster shot (did not need medical intervention). The following came up on a quick internet search from Indonesia; they surveyed their employees who were injected:
A cross sectional study was conducted on health workers who received mRNA Covid-19 vaccine booster (Moderna) at Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital, Indonesia and had filled the questionnaire assessing side effects form. We associated the form of the questionnaire assessing side effects from the originating source of hospital immunization unit in September 2021.
Results:
A total of 101 health workers who received mRNA Covid-19 vaccine booster in Jul–Aug 2021 were included. Most of health worker experienced more than 3 side effects. The side effects were sore arm (100%); chills (72%); fatigue (57%); headache (53%) and fever (51%), other symptoms (28%). The side effects mostly happened a day of receiving a booster shot (61.4%). There was no association between age, gender, comorbid to amount of side effects (P>0.05).
Conclusion:
Since the public must fulfil the immunization program during pandemic, it is the responsibility of the healthcare provider to inform about the potential side effects and benefits of a new Covid-19 vaccine.
Note that they said it’s the responsibility of the healthcare provider to inform about potential side effects. In this country they said get the shot and wear a mask (and your neighbors and employers won’t think you’re crass…)
Pulmonary embolism are not uncommon in older folks. They are not a vaccine complication. Why should he reveal his health details when Trump keeps his a state secret?
Thrombosis IS a known complication of the experimental genomic therapy. Your homework is to read “COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Thrombosis: A Systematic Review and Exploratory Analysis” on Pubmed.
Your homework is to learn to read scientific studies. Thrombosis after vaccine is very rare occurs from platelets dysfunction in younger people and women within 28 days of the vaccine. The site is usually the brain sinus not the lungs. Fauci had a lung embolus 5 months later not related to platelets.
Gerard these new “vaccines” do not mean what you think they mean and do not do what you think they do.
When Biden got in ge never mentioned any possible side effects to the shot, it’s safe and grandma will be as well….
Biden promised us a “a winter of severe illness and death” in December 2021.
Truthfully, I rather enjoyed the mutiny.
He was likely reading what others told him to say, but the fear mongering by the left and that lady CDC director was over the top. Someone remarked during the lockdowns “you don’t shut down a $ 3 trillion economy for anything.”
I remember when people were sick in late 2019 with an “unknown flu.”
He should stand up like a man and tell us what happened; at his age what’s he to lose except that huge pension perhaps.
The Lie to Congress issue centers on Fauci’s alleged funding arrangement with the Wuhan Institute of Virology to research not permitted in the U.S.
Although this is framed by Senator Rand Paul as the cause of the outbreak, Fauci and the NIH maintained that the specific experiments did not meet the regulatory framework or legal definitions required to be classified as such.
There is disputation on this issue between scientists and politicians.
Did Fauci have a right to request research? If he had indeed requested ‘change of gain’ [modification of the virus] research does that necessarily equate causality followed by his liability? It appears in this context a value judgment.