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🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum

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joined 2022 September 05 01:56:25 UTC 

				
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🇺🇸 Fiat justitia ruat caelum

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 05 01:56:25 UTC
				


				
					

					
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	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Converting to Catholicism
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I could leave the Church or preach contrary to the truth and the Holy Spirit would not immediately strike me down or silence me like Zechariah the father of John.  I do not believe the same could happen to the Pope.  He is protected, or perhaps cursed, from promulgating error.  He is the first among bishops and teaching/authority is more proper to him than it is to me.


@Corvos you have it mostly right except I would deny that genuine supernatural authority was only given to Peter.  It was invested in every apostle, and other sects with apostolic succession have valid sacraments and the ability to continue those sacraments in perpetuity.  They are just guilty of the sin of schism if they also reject unity with the bishop of Rome.  (The bishop of Rome is also guilty of schism to the extent that he has committed fault in this sorry turn of events.)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
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Baptism:


I don't know if you would consider them Protestants, but there are groups that just outright reject Baptism or use invalid formulas (like the Mormons).  It's not uncommon for Baptists to hold off on baptizing a child until well after what Catholics consider the age of reason (around 7 years old).  This seems to be at least risky behavior to me if you have the Bible and see that Baptism is part of dying with Christ and entire households were baptized together in the New Testament.


Eucharist:


I take Jesus seriously when he says (Jn 6:51–55.):




"And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink."




It seems to me that the Eucharist is one of the few things Jesus calls out as tied to salvation in a very real way.  Again, if you don't have the Bible I don't think you'd be held accountable to it, but we're talking about people who do and then don't have valid Eucharistic celebrations, or any Eucharistic celebration at all.


Obedience:


Obedience to superiors is a virtue that modern man has rejected.   There is a very traditional idea that a wife should listen to her husband, a man should obey his liege, a Christian should follow his pastor and bishop in all things but sin. From what I have seen and experienced, it seems Jesus really cares about this to the point where many have been saved through the humility found in obedience.  If you need a Bible verse instead of private revelation, Romans 13 is a good start.


Apostolic succession - Episcopal succession.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
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To be in the Body of Christ.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
My understanding is the US tried to arm the protestors, but the Kurds kept the weapons.  The protestors were not armed.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is a fairly pro-Israel and USA account: https://x.com/Osint613


This is a summary from a Fox news person of this week: https://x.com/LucasFoxNews/status/2052661509642432875


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
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I worry for those who are against infant baptism, or those who do not generally see baptism as necessary.  I worry for those who do not have the Eucharist.  I worry for those who have rejected obedience and apostolic succession.


How does this square with what I said elsewhere that there could be uncontacted members of Amazon tribes who are part of the Church?  Because there is a huge difference between being accidentally guilty of a fault and being purposefully guilty of a fault. There are some people who have everything they need to come to the truth, but there is some interior flaw that keeps them from accepting the truth.  I can't judge who from the outside those people are.  But that does worry me.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
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Because the pope was the head of the Church they belonged to, whether they knew it or not.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
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First let's look at Pastor Aeternus for the definition:




When the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals.




So basically any time we find the Pope calling back to Apostolic tradition and divine assistance, instructs the whole Church on a matter of faith and morals.  With this as a key, we can now interpret past documents for that which is divinely inspired and protected by Christ's promise to the Church and alternatively that which may still be subject to change.


This is a good one, from the Letter of Pope St. Agatho:




And briefly we shall intimate to your divinely instructed Piety, what the strength of our Apostolic faith contains, which we have received through Apostolic tradition and through the tradition of the Apostolical pontiffs, and that of the five holy general synods, through which the foundations of Christ's Catholic Church have been strengthened and established; this then is the status [and the regular tradition ] of our Evangelical and Apostolic faith, to wit, that as we confess the holy and inseparable Trinity, that is, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, to be of one deity, of one nature and substance or essence, so we will profess also that it has one natural will, power, operation, domination, majesty, potency, and glory. And whatever is said of the same Holy Trinity essentially in singular number we understand to refer to the one nature of the three consubstantial Persons, having been so taught by canonical logic. But when we make a confession concerning one of the same three Persons of that Holy Trinity, of the Son of God, or God the Word, and of the mystery of his adorable dispensation according to the flesh, we assert that all things are double in the one and the same our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ according to the Evangelical tradition, that is to say, we confess his two natures, to wit the divine and the human, of which and in which he, even after the wonderful and inseparable union, subsists. And we confess that each of his natures has its own natural propriety, and that the divine, has all things that are divine, without any sin. And we recognize that each one (of the two natures) of the one and the same incarnated, that is, humanated (humanati) Word of God is in him unconfusedly, inseparably and unchangeably, intelligence alone discerning a unity, to avoid the error of confusion. For we equally detest the blasphemy of division and of commixture. For when we confess two natures and two natural wills, and two natural operations in our one Lord Jesus Christ, we do not assert that they are contrary or opposed one to the other (as those who err from the path of truth and accuse the apostolic tradition of doing. Far be this impiety from the hearts of the faithful!), nor as though separated (per se separated) in two persons or subsistences, but we say that as the same our Lord Jesus Christ has two natures so also he has two natural wills and operations, to wit, the divine and the human: the divine will and operation he has in common with the coessential Father from all eternity: the human, he has received from us, taken with our nature in time. This is the apostolic and evangelic tradition, which the spiritual mother of your most felicitous empire, the Apostolic Church of Christ, holds.




Jesus has two wills, that's something that has been infallibly defined.


Benedictus Deus has a couple:




By this Constitution which is to remain in force for ever, we, with apostolic authority, define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints who departed from this world before the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and also of the holy apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins and other faithful who died after receiving the holy baptism of Christ- provided they were not in need of any purification when they died, or will not be in need of any when they die in the future, or else, if they then needed or will need some purification, after they have been purified after death-and again the souls of children who have been reborn by the same baptism of Christ or will be when baptism is conferred on them, if they die before attaining the use of free will: all these souls, immediately (mox) after death and, in the case of those in need of purification, after the purification mentioned above, since the ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into heaven, already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment, have been, are and will be with Christ in heaven, in the heavenly kingdom and paradise, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and see the divine essense with an intuitive vision and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature by way of object of vision; rather the divine essence immediately manifests itself to them, plainly, clearly and openly, and in this vision they enjoy the divine essence . Moreover, by this vision and enjoyment the souls of those who have already died are truly blessed and have eternal life and rest. Also the souls of those who will die in the future will see the same divine essence and will enjoy it before the general judgment.




This is something that some Protestants disagree with Catholics on, I've argued with quite a few on "soul sleep."  And another definition in the same document:




Moreover we define that according to the general disposition of God, the souls of those who die in actual mortal sin go down into hell immediately (mox) after death and there suffer the pain of hell. Nevertheless, on the day of judgment all men will appear with their bodies “before the judgment seat of Christ” to give an account of their personal deeds, “so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body” (2 Cor. 5.10).




I think there is some idea that ex cathedra means it has to be novel.  So ex cathedra statements have to be the Pope saying, "By the Power of Greyskull, the Holy Spirit, I declare something apart from any council or prior teaching!"  But really, it would be an ex cathedra statement for the Pope to walk up to the podium today and said, "By the apostolic teaching handed down to me, as the Pope, I do declare that the Christian Faith is to believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior."  That would be an ex cathedra statement!  It would just be a supremely uninteresting one.  When I say there are 200 or so examples, most of them are things like that.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
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How large was the church in 1400? Was half of Western Europe not in the church?




The Church was global in 1400. I hope there were members of uncontacted tribes in the Amazon who were members of the Church.  "They were, then, outside, but yet not divided from the holy Church, because in mind, in work, in preaching, they already held the sacraments of faith, and saw that loftiness of Holy Church."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
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Yes, essential here can be defined in a few ways:


    

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    What do I have to believe to be saved?
    

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  • 

    What do I have to do to be saved?
    

    • 

  • 

    Which incorrect views are acceptable and which are damnable?
    

    • 



I think it is very significant if there is disagreement over these because it shows that certain lines of Protestantism may be leading people to Hell.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
No, I am a woman and I have only ever been intimate with my husband.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I feel like people are responding to something I didn't say.


What I did say: I would be ok with paternity tests becoming common place and routine as just a normal part of a hospital birth.  In such a world, there is no reason to take offense.  But in this world, a specific husband asking his specific wife is obviously offensive to her.


What I am responding to is stuff like this comment, where people feel like every father should ask this of his wife at every birth before agreeing to be on the birth certificate, regardless of any evidence of cheating.


If you ask your wife for a paternity test... your relationship is going to have problems after.  So don't do it unless you already have problems.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The problem is your wife is suspecting you're unfaithful.  That is a problem!  Yes, once that problem is there, then you have no recourse but to solve it.


But in this thread it seems people are recommending men make a habit of asking their wives for paternity tests with every child even if there is no real reason to be suspicious.  And I can tell you, it would not go over well and neither should it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If I came out of a coma or had some head trauma that caused me to lose some time, and my husband earnestly presented a child to me as my own, then I would believe him.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I do not have a natural guarantee that my husband is faithful to me.  All I can guarantee is that I am faithful to him.


Also see my response here: https://www.themotte.org/post/3726/culture-war-roundup-for-the-week/440420?context=8#context


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


the wife seething in jealousy for months




But see!  This is the problem here.  It'd be a sign that your wife is currently seething in jealousy!  Your relationship is forever changed whether the test happens or not.


Let's look at the different worlds:


World 1: Wife does not ask for 'fidelity' test.


Possibilities:


    

  • Wife believes you are faithful and you are in a happy marriage
    • 

  • Wife doesn't believe you are faithful and your marriage is unhappy, but for some reason she does not request the test.  Maybe she doesn't want to rock the boat, maybe she doesn't mind as long as you pay the mortgage, etc.
    • 



World 2: Wife asks for "fidelity test"


Possibilities:


    

  • Wife doesn't believe you are faithful and your marriage is unhappy
    • 



The possibility where your marriage is happy is gone now.  Your marriage is different and you can't go back.


Given the responses from the Male Motte, the most I can say is that male and female intuitions on this topic are just diametrically opposed.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Are you married?


Let's say there was a test with 99% accuracy that would determine if you have had sex with someone else (maybe a genital swab of you and your wife that would identify bacteria from another women.)  Your wife out of the blue demands that you take the test.  The implication is that she suspects you have been cheating on her.  You had a healthy relationship.  You thought she trusted you.  You never would even think of another woman.


Wouldn't this be off-putting to say the least?  You thought you had one kind of relationship, one where it was you two, forever together, just you and her til death.  And then suddenly it appears that she is in some other relationship, one in which you would cheat.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If my husband demanded a paternity test for our kids, I'd be very offended.  If he couldn't trust me that much, does he even want to be married?


But if it was just standard at every birth, I wouldn't care at all.


Maybe a state will normalize it for some reason and the rest will follow suit.


I suspect that we're moving in a different direction though.  Many states are making the spouse of the mother is listed on the birth certificate by default, even if they obviously are not the father.  For example, two lesbians end up on the birth certificate and that's affirming and cute under the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA).  There seems to be a trend towards "intended parents" over genetic parent.


If intended parents matter more to the state than genetic parent, it doesn't make sense to start genetic testing.  It would just be a triggering reminder that two women can't actually make a baby on their own.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Better water and food quality.


Boron is mostly found in fruits and avocados, which are generally "middle-class and up fare" in America.  Silica is found in fancier mineral water.


Maybe I'm wrong here but I get the impression that nail quality is worse for people in the lower classes, which is why they love their press-ons. Meanwhile, I noticed my nails getting more brittle as I aged and started drinking Fiji water a couple times a week and now have great nails.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
For myself, getting nails done was a thing that went along with fancy/formal occasions.  We seldom went to a salon but we would make a big production of picking out nail polish that matched our dress and painting each other's toes/nails the day before a wedding or dance.


Someone who always has their nails done up strikes me as someone with too much time on their hands.  Whether that's because they are upper class or living off the dole, it could mean either.  Upper class people have more "taste" and make sure their nails don't clash.  They also probably get more silica/boron in their diet and have stronger nails to start with.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


No? Is this a common experience?




Yeah kinda.  A software developer who is ill fitted to their position changes gender and then for a year becomes unfire-able.


Am I just really unlucky here?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How old is your family? What percentage is under 25 years old?


You've never even had a coworker change gender on you?


Four of my examples are from Washington State, but one is from Texas.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If you have a large enough family, trans issues are going to happen to you at least once.


    

  • 

    One of my cousins became trans in high school.  She didn't show any sign of being masculine as a child, was a very picky eater, wanted to marry a lead singer of a boy band to the point where she plotted killing his wife... and then a year later her mother was dying and she decided that men are better able to handle such awfulness and transitioned into a boy, hormones and all.
    

    • 

  • 

    We once pooled resources with my husband's friend to rent a house together and one of our friend's sons married a transwoman who dressed in a way that was really inappropriate all the time.
    

    • 

  • 

    Another of that friends' sons is super autistic, didn't finish high school, and decided recently that he's a woman.
    

    • 

  • 

    The last of that friend's children was raped as a teenager and decided to become a man in response.  All three of these young adults suffered obvious physical and mental health challenges that were exacerbated by their belief they could improve their lives by trying to live as another sex.
    

    • 

  • 

    Now I have a family reunion coming up on my husband's side, and my sister in law messaged our family to say that her oldest son was transitioning, that her husband still used masculine pronouns and my sister-in-law used female pronouns, my nephew was still using the same androgynous first name and was wearing androgynous clothes, and it was up to us how we want to prepare our children to see their cousin.
    

    • 



Trans people are everywhere and each individual has to figure out what to do about it.  How do you address them, do you encourage them or discourage them from transitioning, do you even feel a gender?  A small group of people can't just change how all of society thinks about sex and language and think, "Why do people keep talking about us?"


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 1, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I mean, if five minutes after pressing the button 40% of the worlds population started dying of radiation sickness and over the course of weeks to a couple months everyone slowly died that would be a sign it was the button.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 1, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Why do you assume it's an instant death and not a slow drawn out painful death?