Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. once wrote: “The devil knows us very well. He cannot read our secret thoughts but he can conclude to our inner spirit by our external behavior, and even, as exorcists tell me, the emotional expressions on our face.” In the exact same vein, St. Thomas Aquinas found that: “The demons know what happens outwardly among men; but the inward disposition of man God alone knows…It is this disposition that makes man more prone to one vice than to another: hence the devil tempts, in order to explore this inward disposition of man, so that he may tempt him to that vice to which he is most prone.” I find both of these quotations endlessly fascinating; in other words, they state that although demons cannot know our thoughts, they do have the power of observation to determine our individual proclivities. In terms of pornography, and porn addiction, the demons – according to the Pray of St. Michael, roam about the world endlessly; they think, scheme, and watch. Whenever a poor soul is looking at porn, the demons are viewing it as well. They pay special attention to those sites and images which seem to excite the viewer the most; also to those sites and images which the viewer lingers upon for the longest amount of time. This evidence gives them valuable information: for, they can then surmise, and predict, what we find desirable; and, they can also deduce from that knowledge what inner workings of the mind (usually something which took place in the past) that have caused us to become attracted to that particular film or porn scenario: for instance, a man looking at pornographic images of women dressed to look younger; or a man looking at pornographic images of bondage and discipline – what does this tell the demons about us?. Now, they know too much already. Then, the more we look at porn, and the more web-sites we peruse, the devil collects an ever growing dossier on our inner-most sexual wounds and disordered proclivities. Hurriedly, they will place those trigger-images in our paths – contributing to us falling over and over again. Yet, what we have stupidly shown to the enemy, we have been too ashamed to reveal to Christ – especially during the Sacrament of Confession. The answer: stop watching porn; be methodical in your entertainment choices – turn only to certain channels and bookmark often visited web-sites; do not surf; disclose all to Our Lord; ask for healing; pray; and go to Confession.
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The Devil Knows What Kind of Porn You Like
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The Preponderance of Daddy/Mommy Roles in Gay Coupling
Although the gay political power-pushers and their straight apologists would like to deny it, there is massive homosexual daddy/mommy phenomena inherent in almost all same-sex relationships. For instance, in one single week, we saw a parade of oddly matched couples who exemplify the intergenerational attachment which makes up three high-profile gay duos: Ellen DeGeneres (53) walking the red carpet with wife Portia de Rossi (41); Florida cop David Currie (50) marring his boyfriend Aaron Woodard (33) in one of the first legal gay weddings for that state; and the announcement of the marriage between UK comedian Stephen Fry (57) and his partner Elliot Spencer (27.) For the most part, these relationships are desperate attempts to heal past childhood injuries: becoming the loving father or mother that you never had; or, being loved by that parent who never really loved you. Now, in our world of new broken-down normalcy - homosexuals are not the only ones looking for resolution; for this reason, the often #1 pornography genre of choice in the male heterosexual sphere is MILF porn. Yet, in homosexual couplings, the dysfunction is much more physically evident - epitomized by the “butch” appearance and persona of DeGeneres as compared to her younger and more feminine partner; this dichotomy is also unmistaken in so-called daddy/boy pairings with the daddy role being fulfilled by the older and usually more masculine father-figure. Sadly, for those so confused and invested - it doesn’t work. The only way is through Our Lord Jesus Christ; as He said: “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?” And stretching forth His hand towards his disciples, He said: “Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
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Oops!... I Did it Again: Why the US Government Misled Gay Men About AIDS…and, why they are still doing it.
Back in the 1980s, the gay political-power pushers and their accomplices in the US Government and the media endlessly proselytized that the use of condoms (specifically in conjunction with Nonoxynol-9 [N-9]: a spermicide that attacks the acrosomal membranes of the sperm, causing the sperm to be immobilized. Nonoxynol-9 is the active ingredient in most spermicidal creams, jellies, foams, gel, film, and suppositories.) When researchers saw that N-9 showed in vitro activity against HIV and other STIs, N-9 was also added to condoms and sexual lubricants. In 1988, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop announced that, based on laboratory tests, condoms with N-9 could provide additional protection against HIV, and public health officials began to advise the use of N-9 for HIV prevention. Posters, pamphlets and brochures, all aimed at a gay male audience, gave a false assurance that condoms with N-9 would prevent the spread of AIDS (see posters above.) On a personal note, I often used N-9 and a dear friend was anally injected with the stuff just before a porn shoot; he and the other actor both wore condoms; my friend later succumbed to AIDS. Fast forward: From 1996 to 2000, a UN-sponsored study conducted in several locations in Africa followed nearly 1,000 sex workers who used N-9 gels or a placebo. The HIV infection rate among those using N-9 was about 50% higher than those who used the placebo. Now, the CDC states: “…avoid spermicides, such as Nonoxynol-9. They can cause irritation of the vagina, anus, and penis. Irritation makes the risk of passing HIV and STIs higher.” Today, the CDC recommends that all sexually active gay men begin to take the pharmaceutical drug Truvada; they assert: “PrEP (Truvada) is a powerful HIV prevention tool and can be combined with condoms and other prevention methods to provide even greater protection than when used alone.”
Author’s note: Unfortunately, as a community, we have been all too willing to blindly accept the words of every capitulatory scientist, while attacking and summarily disregarding divergent voices - even our own Randy Shilts; anything to keep the constant pulse of gay sex pumping; for, without that greatest of diversions - our lives will slip into chaos and disorder; and, like when we were children: our minds become ruled by inner torments. In the gay day, sex is the only momentary respite from actually living. And, in defense of science (and their government sponsors) the gay power-pushers demanded results. In the 1980s, I screamed along with ACT UP; it was anger, and a fear, brought about by the pain of watching once beautiful young men turn into monsters; and, I didn’t want it to happen to me. Only, I was not willing to give up sex; I was greedy, selfish, and infantile. I demanded the impossible; hard-pressed into action: the government has been like a bad parent - sticking candy in the whining mouth of a baby merely to shut it up. Yet, as we have supposedly matured - we continue to suck.
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| New CDC pamphlet. |
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The Orthodox Fool for Christ: A Tradition Sadly Lacking in Roman Catholicism
In the Orthodox faith, especially in Russia, there is a long tradition of “fools for Christ;” these holy men and women, according to Orthodox sources: “…battling within himself the root of all sin, pride. In order to accomplish this he took on an unusual style of life, appearing as someone bereft of his mental faculties, thus bringing upon himself the ridicule of others.” The only Roman Catholic examples are St Jerome, to a lesser degree – St Francis of Assisi, but the Western version of a fool for Christ was most perfectly embodied in St. Benedict Joseph Labre.
One of the more fascinating hagiographies of an Eastern fool for Christ must be that of St. Theophilus (Feofil) the Fool-for-Christ of the Kiev Caves. Almost as soon as he was born, the rather mentally ill and superstitions mother of St. Theophilus tried to kill her infant son. Miraculously he survived, but, over the next few years, like a contemporary hard-luck foster child, he was passed from one relative to another. As a young boy, for a time, he was raised by a priest uncle; his abusive upbringing or a natural inclination towards mysticism made him a focus of torture to local boys; he would be regularly and severely beaten forcing him to hide out in the woods; later, during a failed reunion with his mother – she again tried to murder her son. Finally, at the age of 24, he entered the Bratsky Monastery in Kiev. By all accounts he was an exemplary monk: prayerful, humble, and obedient.
Not unlike the word-of-mouth fame which spread around Southern Italy concerning Padre Pio, St. Theophilus soon had his own following of spiritual seekers drawn to his simple life of extreme asceticism. This unwanted notoriety inevitably caused jealousy and consternation among some of the other monks who saw St. Theophilus as semi-insane attention-getter. On this point, to one of his pupils, he said: “Do not listen to them; behave like a dead person who does not respond to anything surrounding him. If you are praised — be silent. If you are scolded — be silent. If you incur losses — be silent. If you receive profit — be silent. If you are satiated — be silent. If you are hungry — also be silent. And do not be afraid that there will be no fruit when all dies down; there will be! Not everything will die down. Energy will appear –- and what energy!”
His other advice and counsel to those in need, was similarly simple, but profound. One day, while walking in the woods near the Monastery, St. Theophilus met a young man so troubled by lustful thoughts that he was considered possessed. Although the boy tried to avoid St. Theophilus, when he saw the holy man approaching, the fool for Christ shouted out: “Haloo, wait up. Where are you going? Come here to me. We will delight in lascivious thoughts together.” The boy felt that he had been accused and wept sorrowfully before the Saint. “Well, that’s nothing. The Lord is merciful,” St. Theophilus said to him in consolation. “Let's go and pray to Him.” He knelt and began to pray. In half an hour he rose and, with a tender face, turned to the sufferer: “Well, go. Lascivious thoughts will no longer disturb you.” And immediately after this the youth was healed of his ailment. Beautiful: humility, love and prayer…from “fools” we see the true meaning of Christianity.
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Joseph Sciambra on Immaculate Heart Radio - The Terry & Jesse Show
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The Bizarre Mormon Dogma at the Heart of “My Husband’s Not Gay”
“Those who are married in the temple for all time and eternity obtain the blessing of eternal lives. I put stress on eternal lives. Eternal life is God's life, that is, to be like him. Eternal lives means eternal increase--the continuation, as the revelation says, of the seeds forever. To be married outside of the temple is for time only.” ~ Tenth LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972), in volume 4 of his book, Answers to Gospel Questions, (p.197).
At the heart of the recent TLC reality show “My Husband’s Not Gay” is a little understood, outside of Latter-Day Saints’ circles, or discussed Mormon dogma of “Exaltation.” While watching the TLC program, I immediately noticed the desperate tension within each man - a restless desire to be married and to have children despite their continuing attractions towards those of the same sex. This was somewhat alien to me as my experiences in the Catholic apostolate of Courage have been rather different, as those men are often drawn there in order to live a holy life in union with Christ through chastity. While some do have the desire to “convert,” usually through “reparative” therapy, and perhaps marry women - it is not a driving force. Yet, this is not the case with the Mormon men on “My Husbands Not Gay,” symbolized by the awkward moments of the married guys helping along the lone single same-sex attracted male (the most tragic figure in this program) before his first date. Frankly, when this man meets the unsuspecting woman, who initially does not know that he deals with homosexuality, he looks hungrily at her as if she were his prize ticket into salivation. To me, it was eerily disturbing.
What little exposure I have to Mormonism was through a friend of mine in San Francisco, who had left home about the same time I did: I from just north of Sodom and Gomorrah, while he had traveled from Salt Lake City. His family had completely forsaken him and they regarded their son as dead. I once asked him about it. What he said rather surprised me: they were not so much angry at him for being gay, but for the fact that he would never marry, have children, therefore - nor be with them in eternity. At the time, I didn’t think much of what he said; I merely chocked it up to another example of fundamentalist bigotry. Year later, after he succumbed to AIDS, no one from Utah showed up for the burial. Now, in light of this televion show - I get it. For, in Mormon cosmology, there are three kingdoms in the afterlife: the celestial, terrestrial, and the telestial. The telestial is somewhat analogous to the Catholic vision of hell. The terrestrial kingdom is for the honorable and virtuous people of the world who rejected the gospel message and for those who were baptized but who were subsequently not valiant followers of Christ. Lastly, the celestial kingdom, the Catholic heaven, has two separate classes, those who are sealed to a spouse and those who are not, who will be servants to others. Only those residents of the celestial kingdom who are sealed to a spouse will receive exaltation. With this in mind, the manic frenzy of the guys from “My Husband’s Not Gay” can be explained by their need to get a seat on the mother-ship.
Thankfully, in the Catholic Church, our position in the Lord’s Kingdom is not determined by our marital status. In fact, following St. Paul, Fr. John Harvey, the founder of Courage, put it best: “In the Catholic tradition consecrated celibacy has always been held in high regard. Contrary to widespread opinion, one does not have to be a monk, a nun, or priest to live this kind of live. For those who sincerely desire to be celibate. God’s grace is always present…It is another way of expressing one’s sexuality as John Paul points out in Familiaris Consortio: ‘Marriage and virginity or celibacy are two ways of expressing and living the one mystery of the covenant of God with his people’ (no.16).” The Mormons have no concept such as this. Hence, the unease that I perceive in all the participants on “My Husband’s Not Gay.” For, while there are genuine examples of same-sex attracted men, who, through the healing power of the Holy Spirit, have been able to overcome the homosexual mind-set to a point that they are able to marry women and have children, for some - this remains an impossibility. And, this is also part of God’s plan for us - as I have so abundantly found out over these 15 plus years: the life of the single and chaste man can be a lonely one filled with suffering, but, also one overflowing with Graces and joy. On this aspect of our religion, most non-Catholics are rather dumbfounded; as I follow St. John of the Cross: “Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with him suffer and take your rest, and hence annilhate yourself in all inward and outward things.” Because, at the end of the day, its not about you and what you want, (the men in “My Husband’s Not Gay kept endlessly repeating that they want family and children) but about dying to self and giving all to the Lord - even if that is a life of suffering.
“For I would that all men were even as myself: but every one hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that.
But I say to the unmarried, and to the widows: It is good for them if they so continue, even as I.”
“He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided.” (1 Cor. 7: 8-9; 32-33)
“We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live—often not of their choosing—are especially close to Jesus’ heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors…Some live their situation in the spirit of the Beatitudes, serving God and neighbor in exemplary fashion. The doors of homes, the “domestic churches,” and of the great family which is the Church must be open to all of them. “No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who ‘labor and are heavy laden.’” Catechism of the Catholic Church #1658
LDS links to more on their views of marriage and the afterlife:
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Catholic and Legatus Member Peter Coors Promotes Gay Sex
One of the featured speakers at this month’s Legatus Summit 2015, which will also include Timothy Cardinal Dolan, will be Peter Coors: current Chairman of the Molson Coors Brewing Company and Chairman of MillerCoors. According to one prestigious business periodical: “The company’s critics say the Coors clan boasts a long record of funding anti-gay groups such as Free Congress and the Heritage Foundation through the family-owned Castle Rock Foundation. Jeffrey Coors, a Free Congress trustee, was the group's chairman in 1996 when it filed a complaint in a Hawaii court case over gay marriage, calling homosexual sex ‘an infamous crime against nature.’” Despite this, Coors bizarrely tries to court the gay consumer with over a decade of flashy and oftentimes vulgar (one in particular I had to heavily censor in order to include it on my blog) advertisements targeting the homosexual market. Yet, these advertisements just don’t celebrate homosexuality in the name of diversity and tolerance, but openly promote it.
Legatus claims to be: “The only organization in the world designed exclusively for top-ranking Catholic business leaders and their spouses.” Their apostolate includes: “...a unique support network of like-minded Catholics who influence the world marketplace and have the ability to practice and infuse their faith in the daily lives and workplaces of their family, friends, colleagues and employees.” With this in mind, how does an image of gay men fornicating in a pool, while drinking Coors beer, or gyrating on a dance floor – pelvis to pelvis, infuse those who suffer from same-sex attraction with a Catholic spirit? Does this not encourage the same sexual cycle of hell in the gay community that, according to the CDC, results in gay men accounting for approximately two-thirds of all new HIV infections in the US; data included in the CDC’s 2013 National HIV Prevention Progress Report also show that there was a 12% increase in new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men overall between 2008 and 2010, and a 22% increase among young gay and bisexual men aged 13-24. Gay and bisexual men also account for over half of the 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States; in 2012, men who have sex with men accounted for 75% of primary and secondary syphilis cases in the United States. Are Coors and their advertising responsible for this? Of course not. But, it certainly hasn’t helped either.
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The Devil Won’t Let Go: Why It’s Difficult for Gays to Leave Homosexuality
St. Augustine wrote: “Whether he will or no, a man is necessarily a slave to the things by means of which he seeks to be happy. He follows them wherever they lead, and fears anyone who seems to have the power to rob him of them.” No truer words by a Saint have ever been written about the human attachment to sin. For, it runs much deeper than just a desire for pleasure. In some it is an attachment to an inner-self that has somehow gotten twisted and mangled – then, the sin becomes the identity. This is most thoroughly realized in the modern concept of homosexuality. Because, in those instances when the man or woman succumbs to the gay identity, they are choosing to seek a happiness that can only be found, in their confused and deceived estimation, within homosexuality and the gay lifestyle. For this reason, some homosexuals feel the need to publicly “come-out;” to declare their identity and their allegiances.
Once this threshold has been crossed, the person becomes, as St. Augustine put it: “a slave.” And, they become a slave, not so much to their desires, but to the false concept of who and what they are – and to the idea of what they believe is bringing them happiness: the homosexual identity. Now, the desires are also certainly a great influence upon the gay mind, as, it is through sex that we find, fleeting as it may be, a sense of resolution and peace. For this reason alone, homosexual groups, and individuals, will attack anyone or any Church or institution they perceive as a threat, real or imagined, to openly and freely express their sexuality. A particular focus of hatred and vehemence is aimed at Christianity; more specifically, the Catholic Church. Because of this, when I entered the gay world, I quickly discovered a rather bleak landscape devoid of any spirituality or link to the transcendent; there was only the worship of the male body beautiful.
Sadly, in my generation, those who came-out in the 1980s and 90s, the unbelievable horror of the AIDS epidemic solidified many of these attachments into a bond through agony, loss, and death. Now, those who ultimately succumb to AIDS are doing so much later in life, and, sometimes relatively pain free. Strangely, in the post-AIDS era, the CDC has found a 12% increase in new infections among gay and bisexual men overall between 2008 and 2010, and a 22% increase among young gay and bisexual men aged 13-24. Without the inevitably of a premature passing, the need for solidarity has been transformed into a fatalistic acceptance of sexual promiscuity and perversity (masked by an illusionistic pursuit of monogamy and marriage through main-stream media acceptance) as well as the odd phenomena of conversion parties and bug-chasers. But, unbeknownst to them, the god of the body is continuing to fail: only propped up by steroids, Truvada, and a mixture of antivirals. Only, they continue to kneel down. For, the slave will follow its brutish maters “…wherever they lead.” And, in terms of gay sex – this usually goes all the way to the pits of human abomination, and complete degradation. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, foretold by Augustine, that one way or another you end-up a slave – either to a gay disease or to the homosexual identity itself.
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Movie Recommendation: Ostrov
“Ostrov” (Russian: Остров, The Island) was a 2006 Russian biographical film about a fictional 20th century Eastern Orthodox monk; although the story bears a striking resemblance to the life of Orthodox mystic St. Theophilus (Feofil) the Fool-for-Christ of the Kiev Caves, (see: http://www.josephsciambra.com/2015/01/the-orthodox-fool-for-christ-tradition.html) The movie begins in 1942, as the protagonist, then a teenager working on a Russian coal transport ship, is captured by the Nazis, and, under extreme pressure, commits a heinous act of cowardice and violence. Fast forward 30 years, the teen is now an Orthodox monk at a remote Northern Russian monastery. There, he lives an extremely secluded life – even apart from the other monks, as his only job involves transporting coal from the nearby wrecked coal ship, the same one he served on, to the monastery. Strangely though, especially bewildering to his fellow monks, he oftentimes receives an endless stream of visitors asking for spiritual and even personal advice; for, the solitary monk can foretell the future, read minds, and discern spirits; somewhat similar in nature to the extraordinary phenomena surrounding the Italian Padre Pio.
When he is not moving coal to the monastery boilers, and shoveling it into the furnaces, he makes a series of private boat trips to a small deserted island where he continually prayers “The Jesus Prayer.” The Jesus Prayer is a repetitive prayer of the Eastern Churches which goes like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.” Throughout the film, and presumably through his life, he says this prayer over and over again. In the West, this would be somewhat analogous to the recitation of the Rosary. This adds to the overall sense of mourning that surrounds the picture. And, herein lies the great import and lesson to be learned from “Ostrov:” for the sinner, especially the sexual transgressor, in order for true repentance and healing to take place – there must be an extended, if not indefinite, period of solitude, remorse, fasting, privation, and total commitment to unceasing prayer. Through these extreme acts of penance, the Lord Jesus Christ will humble us. In Orthodoxy, as in the film, this humility is sometimes achieved by aping a certain insanity – making others believe that one is ignorant, head-strong, or even unbalanced; it goes beyond a sort of self-deprecation into a willingness towards accepting ridicule; a near-contemporary equivalent in the West would be Fr. Solanus Casey. And, through this humility, we are able to accept the forgiveness of God; and sometimes to forgive ourselves; in other words, to drop the pride and admit that we are indeed a sinner – worthy of God’s Love.
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The Canonization of Fr. Junipero Serra and the End of the Gay Revolution
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| Dolores Park, 2014. |
On January 15, 2015, Pope Francis announced that he would canonize Fr. Junipero Serra: the humble Spanish Franciscan Friar who founded a series of Catholic missions along the California coastline during the 18th Century. One of the most important sites founded by Serra, Mission Dolores in the Mission District of San Francisco – was dedicated to St. Francis (San Francisco,) by some accounts, on July 4th, 1776. The church, later dubbed Mission Dolores, as the original foundations were built near a stream and lake that had been dedicated to Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows,) is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco.
The significance of Fr. Serra and Mission Dolores is the proximity of the Mission to the Castro District of San Francisco: the world’s first and largest conclave of gay men and women in one neighborhood. From that area, the modern gay rights movement originated; the unofficial genesis beginning with the so-called “Summer of Love” in 1967: a counter-culture movement of privileged young people who embraced the alternative lifestyles of free-sex, drugs, and non-Christian belief systems. The focal point of this phenomenon was centered in the Haight-Ashbury; just over from Buena Vista Park is the Castro. Most importantly, a quick walk from Castro Street is Dolores Park, euphemistically referred to as the “fruit bowl” by the local gay inhabitants because of the park’s natural amphitheater geography and its popularity as a gay male meeting place – especially on warm summer weekends.
The Park’s namesake, Mission Dolores, is only a few blocks away. When I lived in the Castro District, my only memories of the Mission was that I oftentimes had to park my car, loaded with an ice-chest and picnic supplies, nearby there, and walk down to the Park. While lounging on the grass in the fruit bowl, enjoying the incomparable views of the San Francisco skyline, my friends and I smoked copious quantities of marijuana, endlessly admired the men, barely covered, who strolled by, and oftentimes made impromptu dates for later in the evening. Sometimes, by the end of the afternoon, I would be so wasted that I semi-unconsciously followed strangers home to their apartments. Years later, when I was not so young, cute, and or desirable, I returned to the Park – this time, late at night. For, under the cover of darkness, Dolores Park turned into the City’s “cruisey-ist” gay sex arena. Usually in the myriad of bushes and trees, or in the semi-abandoned train tunnel, I would turn quick tricks for some spare cash, a ride home, or even for merely a few kind words. Occasionally, staggering back to the guy’s car, there was a well-known stretch of wall next to the Mission, known as a good place for a late-night evacuation of the bladder, where I would urinate in a half-stupor.
Now, everything is about to change: the brave man who founded the Mission – on the day of this Countries’ Independence, a Nation which would oversee histories’ greatest explosion of homosexual rights, will be raised to the highest altar in Heaven. Near the area named after Our Lady of Sorrows, sprung up the gayborhood that would change the face of the world. For so long, Our Lady has wept here, first for her sons and daughters who desperately traveled across the globe to find a place of acceptance and meaning – only to be disappointed by the endless disillusionment and perversity which they discovered in its place; then, by the men who died needlessly due to the scourge of AIDS, and, lastly, for the continuing tide of the duped and deceived that believe they will find everlasting happiness within the false promise of gay marriage; the first jurisdiction in the US to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples was in San Francisco. Our Lady still weeps: yet, under her mantle of protection will be a new Saint: Junpiero Serra; he will return to the land he loved, the land where he wanted to die and be buried; and, he will fight for the souls of the forgotten and misguided; in his lifetime – they were the American Indians – now, it is all of us.
*It is no coincidence that the famous statue of Fr. Serra (see picture above,) at a rest stop on Highway 280, a route somewhat parallel to the Spanish Missionaries’ Camino Real, has been a favorite gay cruising location since the 1970s.
You can watch my return to Dolores Park here:
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Some Favorite Quotes of the Saints
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Patrick Coffin Interviews Joseph Sciambra on Catholic Answers Podcast
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Homosexual Web-Site Tells Gay Men to Look For Their Father in a Lover
Recently, a well-known homosexual news and lifestyle web-site had the following advice for those older men (daddies) who are interested in a relationship with a younger man:
“Be real. Be honest. Be direct. Show your boy that you’re a steady, stable rock that he can count on. That’s what young guys love about older men, after all.
Sometimes, that requires patience…he’s still learning how to be a man. Don’t nag, don’t fly off the handle. Instead, put yourself in his shoes, and remember how flakey you were when you were a kid. Be an even-keeled presence that he can look up to. And teach him how to be a better man by example.”
Sounds a lot like standing in for the younger man’s father. In fact, its eerily similar to what many psychologists and therapists have written about concerning the pivotal role of fathers within the family: in a scholarly report (1997) that deliberated the meaning of fatherhood, research professors Frank Tanfer and Frank Mott describe an ideal father as one who welds authority as the head of the family - “A father is an authority in a home and needs this authority to guide his children in a loving manner. His role should not be adversarial; he should be a partner who is sensitive and loving to his wife to model a healthy relationship to his children.” Therefore, in fact, what these young men who are attracted to older gay men are seeking - is the father they never had. In support of this conclusion, Dosser Handron, Ph.D., a practicing psychologist and writer, has found that: “Bonding helps to stimulate an infant’s cognitive and social developments; it begins in the pregnancy period. If the father was present during this period, the infant learns to recognize his voice. After birth, parents establish bonding by touching, talking, answering cries and making eye contact with the baby. Infants with affectionate fathers form more secure attachments than those without fathers. An innate connection with the father helps prepare the infant for interactions with other males. If the baby does not develop this connection, it becomes hard for him to get used to other males later in life.” As a result, boys with either missing, uninvolved, or unaffectionate fathers will be unable to have overall healthy and complete relationships with other men; resulting in an eroticization of the masculine ideal (the perfect father) and a swerve into homosexuality. In addition, according to a study published in the 2011 edition of “The American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences Journal,” college students surveyed for the “Fathering Quality, Father-Child Relationship, and Child’s Developmental Outcomes” study said good fathers were “responsible,” “available,” and “highly involved” in their children’s activities.
Not coincidently, the now somewhat marginalized, but brilliant as ever, Cardinal Raymond Burke, had this to say about the father-crisis in the Church and society as a whole:
“The goodness and importance of men became very obscured, and for all practical purposes, were not emphasized at all. This is despite the fact that it was a long tradition in the Church, especially through the devotion of St. Joseph, to stress the manly character of the man who sacrifices his life for the sake of the home, who prepares with chivalry to defend his wife and his children and who works to provide the livelihood for the family. So much of this tradition of heralding the heroic nature of manhood has been lost in the Church today.
All of those virtuous characteristics of the male sex are very important for a child to observe as they grow up and mature. The healthy relationship with the father helps the child to prepare to move from the intimate love of the mother, building a discipline so that the child can avoid excessive self-love. This ensures that the child is able to identify himself or herself properly as a person in relationship with others; this is critical for both boys and girls.”
To read Cardinal Burke’s entire interview, see:
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Boxer Replacement is Rabid Pro-Gay Demagogue
“I thought you said she was dead.”
“That was her sister—the Wicked Witch of the East. This is the Wicked Witch of the West. And she’s worse than the other one was.” ~ From “The Wizard of Oz”
California Attorney General Kamala Harris has announced that she will seek the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Barbara Boxer; Harris is the Former Attorney General of San Francisco. During her career as an elected official, Harris has been one of the most out-spoken advocates for gay marriage. As California AG, she refused to uphold the lawfully passed Proposition 8 – which mandated that marriages in the State can only validly take place between one man and one woman. When Prop. 8 was easily overturned, as Harris and Governor Jerry Brown both refused to enforce it, within an hour of the decision, Harris officiated (see pictures above) at the weddings of the various complainants.
In her dedication to all things gay related, Harris is an out and proud participate in many California LGBT parades, events, and fairs – including the Folsom Street Fair, see http://www.josephsciambra.com/2014/09/possible-new-ag-kamala-harris-supports.html; these occasions include such public spectacles as men masturbating and ejaculating on the city streets, oftentimes with the semen remaining on the sidewalks, a very real and highly infectious bio-hazard; open displays of torture, bondage, and suffocation, and even urophagia. If this woman, and her equally power-hungry cohorts in the Democratic Party, truly cared anything about gay men, they would not support such outrageous and essentially life-threatening activities. For example, according to estimates supplied by Dr. Willi McFarland, director of HIV/AIDS Statistics and Epidemiology at the San Francisco Department of Public Health:” 32% of African American MSM are HIV-positive in San Francisco, the largest prevalence rate of any ethnic group. It is estimated that 26% of white MSM have HIV, while for Latinos it is 23% and for Asians and Pacific Islanders it is 10%; and, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health: based on 2012 data, the department’s STD Control Section estimated that 64,681 MSM lived in San Francisco and one of 79 had early syphilis. The report estimated that one of 34 MSM had gonorrhea, and one of 36 had chlamydia. Compared to heterosexual men, gay and bisexual men were 117 times more likely to have early syphilis, 8.6 times more likely to have gonorrhea, and 27.2 times more likely to have chlamydia. But, these appeaser politicians don’t care; they only want us well enough to mail in our ballots or be able to walk to the nearest polling station.
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Anal Cancer in Gay Men
Men who have anal sex with men (MSM) are more likely to get anal HPV than men who only have sex with women. Researchers estimate that the prevalence of anal HPV among men who only have sex with women is around 15% while anal HPV prevalence for MSM is around 60%. If you add HIV into the mix, infection risk goes up still -- one study published by “HIV Medicine” found that 77% of MSM with HIV were also infected with anal HPV; another study published by the “Journal of Infectious Diseases” found that over 90% of MSM with HIV were infected with at least one strain of HPV.
Link to original report:
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Porn Power-Player Admits It’s Still “Kinky”
Stoney Curtis, premier porn-pusher, producer, and director said in a recent interview, concerning the glamorization of pornography: “I think anybody who thinks sex isn’t being exchanged for favors in the porn industry is a little foolish. They’re trying to make it corporate, they’re trying to clean it up, but there’s still kinky stuff going on.” He also admitted that men are the prime drivers behind porn production and consumption; while, also commenting on the changing world of porn distribution: “But I think it’s hardcore guy fans that keep it going. There’s so many different kinds of porn. And you can go to so many different places to find porn. Back in my day the only way you got seen was to put your **** out in a video store. That’s it. … It was a fight for shelf space. Now it’s a fight for internet bandwidth.”
*Stats from the porn high-temple, PornHub, back up Curtis’ contention that pornography is still primarily a male obsession, although women are seen as a growth market; and, access to porn has gone totally high-tech (see pictures above.)
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Marianne Williamson: A Harbinger of Hell in the Gay 90s
“All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.” (Matt. 11:27)
In 1992, self-appointed spiritual guru of the New Age, Marianne Williamson, burst into the national consciousness with her first popular appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey, who made it a personal crusade to find the next big spiritual thinker, who was herself always on a restless quest for divine fulfillment, hitched her wagon to a series of enlightened ones, including Deepak Chopra, Maya Angelou, and Williamson. During that 92 episode, which I watched, Williamson took much of her talking points from the New Age Bible “The Course in Miracles” (ACIM). ACIM is a book written and edited by Helen Schucman (a New York City psychologist), and first published in 1976, that, according to the author, was guided by an “inner voice” she identified with Jesus Christ. Williamson was the new appointed interpreter of that great gnostic text for the ages. To the lost, like me, what she said made so much sense at the time, for, there were “many paths” to God. In ACIM it states: “Is he [Jesus] God’s only Helper? No, indeed. For Christ takes many forms with different names until their oneness can be recognized.” Wow, I thought, because then, I was keenly exploring every religious philosophy and belief system that I could find: from Hinduism to the Tarot Cards. So, to what she was talking about - I related to – that all these things could be combined into one; and, then, I would understand who and what I was. But, what about my homosexuality? Williamson and ACIM also had the answer: “God does not forgive because He has never condemned.” Williamson wrote: “Meaning lies in us.” Therefore, I was my own arbiter of right and wrong. Williamson’s mantra of self-forgiveness and human potentiality rang true with many men in the gay community: “To remember that we are part of God, that we are loved and loveable, is not arrogant. It’s humble. To think we are anything else is arrogant, because it implies that we’re something other than a creation of God. Nothing we have ever done or will do can mar our perfection in the eyes of God. We are deserving in God’s eyes because of what we are, not because of what we do.” Nothing we could do would separate us from God – and, certainly not our homosexuality.
Author’s note: Because of Oprah’s popularity in the gay community and because of Williamson’s feel-goodism, ACIM sessions and Williamson inspired group-thinks popped up all over the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. I attended a few classes, with another former Catholic boy turned gay man, as did a few more LGBT friends in LA. For a moment, we thought we had a relationship with Christ; He didn’t care what we were doing, and we didn’t have to much worry about Him. All we had to do was love; as Williamson wrote: “Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we have learned here. I was loving without fear men in bed; Only, Williamson never really explained what love was. Catholic priest Benedict Groeschel criticized ACIM and their related organizations. Finding some elements of ACIM to be what he called “severe and potentially dangerous distortions of Christian theology,” he wrote that it is “a good example of a false revelation” and that it has “become a spiritual menace to many.” Not long ago, Williamson said: “Gay men in a very real way created my career.”
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The Gay Male/HIV/Mental Health Connection
Gay and bisexual men have a higher chance of acquiring HIV if they have mental health problems according to a new study from the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. For the study, published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, the researchers looked at how five conditions — depression, alcohol abuse, stimulant use, multi-drug abuse and exposure to childhood sexual violence — affect men’s risk of acquiring HIV. They analyzed data on 4,295 men who reported having sex with men within the previous year. The participants were asked about depressive symptoms, heavy alcohol and drug use and childhood sexual abuse; the participants did not have HIV when they entered the study between 1999 and 2001; they then completed a behavioral survey and HIV test every six months for four years. Overall, 680 men completed the study. Those who reported the most mental health issues were the most likely to become HIV positive by the end of the study. They were also most likely to report unprotected anal sex and unprotected anal sex with a person who has HIV.
Author’s note: According to the CDC 1 in 5 American gay and bisexual men are HIV+. From this study, we can extrapolate that most of those who are living with HIV, have significant mental health issues; therefore, the rate of mental illness in the gay male population is abnormally high; according to Susanne Babbel, Ph.D., M.F.T., a psychologist specializing in trauma and depression; adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse exhibit symptoms that can extend far into adulthood and include: suicidality, substance abuse, reenactment of the traumatic event, hyper-sexualized or sexually reactive behavior, and or issues with promiscuity. And, this problem of promiscuity is not exclusive to those who eventually become infected with HIV; as the CDC reports: between 2012 and 2013, the number of reported P&S syphilis cases increased 10.9%. In 2013, 75% of the reported P&S syphilis cases were among men who have sex with men (MSM); in addition, men who have sex with men are 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer than heterosexual men. Therefore, what the gay male community is dealing with is a serious and untreated problem of sexual abuse survivors trying to cope with the trauma of their past; from the medical (specifically the mental health) community – they receive no help; in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality as a mental disorder from the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II). As a result, those who were sexually abused as children, usually by males - 94% of the perpetrators of sexual abuse against boys are men – hold fairly steady to a classic pattern of: gender identity disorder brought on by trauma, sexual confusion, confirmation by society into a homosexual orientation, exploration, and promiscuity resulting in the curious phenomena of rampant clinical depression; followed by sexually transmitted diseases.
For more information on male victims of sexual abuse, see:
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"Be penitent..."
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The Conflicted and Sad Gay World of Keith Haring
I recently attended the Keith Haring respective show in San Francisco. Besides the tragedy of his death at age 31 from AIDS, the entire exhibition was overlaid with an unavoidable air of sadness. Although his figures have no faces, therefore no facial expression, Haring’s line drawn characters are often crouching, cowering, and weeping. They reminded me of the therapeutic drawings done for psychologists by traumatically abused children. Yet, even more striking is his use of the most famous image he created: the crawling baby or “Radiant Baby” which Haring described as the “purest and most positive experience of human existence.” It’s the hurt little boy inside every gay man; the troubled and the reeling; constantly seeking out solace. For Haring, this was clearly his own self portrait. Oftentimes, the baby was being lifted a loft by a caring father, or cradled in a pair of huge loving manly arms. Inexplicably, in other works, I shocking saw the same figure being sodomized and copulated.
Haring said of his early days in New York City and in the gay lifestyle: “I was here at the peak of the sexual promiscuity in New York. I arrived, fresh from coming out of the closet, at the time and place where everyone was just wild. I was major into experimenting. If I didn’t get it, no one would. So I knew. It was just a matter of time.” When the inevitable happened, Haring was rather philosophical with regards to his own fate and to the AIDS crisis in general: “One thing that’s amazing is to watch people’s parents come to them. They haven’t been that close, maybe, because in a lot of cases homosexual men don’t have a particularly good relationship with their parents, especially their fathers. Maybe their fathers had totally rejected them. But then they came to them in the end and for the first time really opened up to them and showed them love.” Everywhere with Haring, you see this progression of complete immersion in perversity, eventual disease, and then restoration with the past through death. It’s an awful way to mend fences, by dying at 31.
Author’s note: I have a rather unorthodox interpretation of a famous Haring work: from 1982, the figure breaking a stick under the images of a heart and cross. Here Haring demonstrates his inability to conform homosexuality to the Christianity of his youth; homosexuality represented by the heart and Christianity by the cross; but, he is unable to do so and then dramatically smashes them apart once and for all. Again, it’s a sad piece, as you witness a man trying to make sense of himself and his homosexuality. He never really does; one of his last major works: the enormous pink cross - is megalithic; covered with muted figures covering their mouths. The Radiant Baby is still freaking out.
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