Ten Things I've Learned in 2015

                                                     +AJPM+

THE MILLENNIAL CATHOLIC:

With 2015 almost behind us, I thought I'd take time out to reflect on valuable lessons I've learned in the past year and make them into a list.

Quick disclosure: unlike some top ten lists, these are in no particular order of importance and I can't guarantee people learned the same lessons from it, but then again, there's a reason common sense isn't very common.

So here's what I've learned:

1. A constitutional amendment really IS the only way to put a stop to this "gay marriage" nonsense.

After all, an amendment did put a stop to the federal income tax issue as well as the women's suffrage issue.

2. It's not a question of whether or not the Church has addressed an issue; it's a question of whether Catholics have the guts to point it out.

  This goes for anything from "Protestants are not 'separated brethren'; they are heretics" to "Islam is a danger to people" to "Outside the church there is NO salvation."
And don't think for a moment I've overlooked bishops or cardinals: they most of all need to have the guts to stand up to secular nonsense and will be judged more harshly if they fail at their job.

3. Hell does exist, and you might go there in the same sense you might go to heaven.

Let me make one thing clear: I am not saying if you don't believe exactly as I do, you will be sent to hell. I don't know whether or not you'll go to hell. In fact, I don't even know if I'm going to heaven. The only one who knows for a fact who's saved or damned is God.
Yes, it is preferable if you don't commit any mortal sins but since "all have fallen short of God's glory", I don't know whether this has dawned on you or how seriously you're taking it.
Once you fully understand what I just said, then you'll understand how stupid the traditional Protestant view is.
Speaking of which...

4. Protestants really ARE to blame for the rise of religious "nones".

No…I will not back down from that statement. No, I will not change my mind on it anytime soon. No, I am not saying that out of ignorance. No, I am not going to stop using the term Protestant: if you say you're Christian and you're not Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, then you're Protestant. Plain and simple.
Out of all the non-religious people I've come across, some were raised in non-religious households but the vast majority came from Protestant families.
Just look at all these errors one orthodox person put together.
If you still aren't convinced, consider this: What's to stop someone using Protestant theology to read the Bible and conclude the whole thing is nonsense? Sure, you can say their take is wrong…but how are they wrong? The Protestant mindset doesn't have a leg to stand on.

5. Atheists really, REALLY suck at mind reading.

I've learned that when you try to argue with atheists, they have no real interest in logical debate. Instead, they'll try to psychoanalyze you and accuse you of having a hidden agenda or accuse you of having some mental problem.

This is no different than the tactics used by the former Soviet Union: they too had the "if you disagree with us, you must be crazy" attitude.
News flash, atheists: when someone asks you a question, they expect an answer. If you don't give an answer, they will automatically assume you don't have one.

Speaking of which…

6. If you say atheism is a religion, atheists will have NO actual response to it.

I'm not kidding. They don't have a sound refutation to this. Sure, they'll go on about some sound-bite bull about "atheism is a religion like baldness is a hair color" but of course that won't work because atheism is a religion like baldness is a physical trait.
I'll go into more detail about this in another post some time in 2016 but for now, I'll say atheists can claim all they want, but they can't deny atheism being a religion any longer.
I've seen too much about it, I have too many sources and I have observed atheist behavior myself to conclude atheism is a religion.

7. Despite what I put on my Rules list, I still will NOT read or heed anything promoting atheism.

Again, I am not kidding about this. I still have atheists messaging me as recently as a week ago telling me I should look at this atheist material or that atheist material and then by magic (symbolically speaking, of course) I'll drop this religion nonsense and be atheist.

To that I say….no.

No I will not read it and I will not heed it.

I had enough of atheist nonsense for most of my life and I will NEVER go back to that dark area.
If you think I won't read it because I'm afraid to be wrong or I'm too childish or I'm too close-minded…I refer you back to point #5.

8. The overall difficulty in finding sources for particular teachings.

Good example of this concerns the teaching about the Great Apostasy. Do any of you have any idea how hard it is to find any credible sources on this that have nothing to do with Mormonism or some fundamentalist idiot that uses the Whore of Babylon ruse?
Another example is the "Outside the church there is NO salvation" I mentioned earlier. Does anyone else have any idea how hard it is to locate solid teachings on this not written by a sedevacantist?
I can only find one that I would recommend on criteria alone.

9. A good number of traditionalist Catholic websites are run by people who have no idea what they're talking about.

Note I'm saying some have no idea, not all of them. I think this can be traced back to Vatican II, but Vatican II isn't the problem: it's the lies some websites tell concerning Vatican II. These lies lead to rejecting the authority of the current pontiff, leaving one outside the mystical bride of Christ. A good way to tell is if they call any pope after Pius XII an antipope.
If that wasn't bad enough, the site owners refuse to admit their errors even if you present their error in the fraternal correction spirit.
Some websites I've found that give solid Catholic teaching fully in line with the Chair of Peter include (but by no means are limited to):
fisheaters.com
thecatholictreasurechest.com
churchmilitant.com
catholicbible101.com

Finally, the main lesson I've learned in 2015….

                                    Atheists are a whole lot dumber than I thought.