Introduction

This is not the first time that I have started a blog on here, but for various reasons, the other ones didn't last all that long. I've ultimately decided to start this one in the hope that I will bring some attention to my writing. I spend most of my time at home working on books that I self-publish. Since the topics are very intellectual and technical, there is not much of an audience for such books out there, not to mention that self-published works rarely get much attention anyway. Besides, the books I write tend to be very long; I am currently working on the fourth volume of a book called the Theologia Psalmorum, which is a theological exposition on the Psalms, going through them practically verse by verse. The fourth volume covers Psalms 17 and 18 out of 150 psalms (148 not counting the psalms that repeat other psalms, since I did those together with the ones they repeat). If all goes according to plan, this book will fill many more volumes if I ever manage to complete it (God willing).

But obviously a blog devoted only to promotion of one's other works won't draw people in, so that is not entirely the point of what I am doing here. I intend to offer an ongoing commentary on matters of theology, philosophy, history, politics, and whatever else catches my attention. It is my hope that, if people can sample my work in this way, they might be inclined to read some of the books that I have self-published. Even if not, I do have rather strident opinions on a lot of topics, and I see no problem with going voice to them here. Being that this is largely the purpose of this blog, it suffices for me to give some idea of my worldview. As the description given in the "About Me" indicates, I am a traditionalist Catholic who lives as a hermit in Brooklyn, New York. Leaving aside the eremitic things for now, my views as a traditionalist involve the following:

-The necessity a Catholic state religion, with pragmatic religious tolerance.
-An organic (but not constitutional) limited monarchy.
-A hierarchical society of orders (clergy, nobility, and commoners).
-Corporatism in economics (read: the medieval guild system).

The closest approximation that I can give of my worldview to an existing system would be that of the Carlists in Spain. Of all of the conservative and traditionalist movements in Europe, they seem to hit closest to the mark. Having said that, I do not believe that adherence to political philosophies, ideologies, or parties should be absolute. The only beliefs that a decent Catholic should hold as absolute are the sacred doctrines of the Church. But there are other ideas that derive from and relate to those doctrines better than others. Traditionalism is the most comprehensive and coherent explanation of the application of Catholic doctrine to the world in which we live. Other attempts at reconciling Catholic doctrine with different worldviews surely fall short of the mark. Worst of all are those that seek to reconcile Catholic doctrine with such manifest modern absurdities as Enlightenment liberalism (in either left or right varieties), separation of church and state, free market capitalism, socialism, secularism, feminism, individualism, and so forth. (Obviously this counting of errors is not exhaustive.)

Being a traditionalist Catholic in the United States presents some problems. The United States (much to my disgust) was founded on the errors of Enlightenment liberalism, and thus on rejecting all of the things that I believe. In the case of most countries, the country makes the constitution, not the other way around. This is the case in countries that developed organically. But the United States was founded; and insofar as it was founded, it was founded on principles. And it just so happens that those principles are antithetical to those of the Catholic Church in general and to traditionalism in particular (despite what most of the spineless bishops in this country would like you to think). Recall that Pope Leo XIII in 1896 condemned Americanism as a heresy in Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae. Needless to say, I am less than enthusiastic about my country. And to preemptively address the riposte that I can always move elsewhere, I can only say that the United States has infected all of the other countries with Enlightenment liberalism; and those that it hasn't infected, it has bombed repeatedly. So there is really nowhere for a traditionalist Catholic to go. Even in the Church we sit on the sidelines, thanks to the insipid modernists in the hierarchy.

While I do have plenty of problems with the Church hierarchy in its present incarnation, I must add, out of obligation, that I nevertheless do recognize their legitimate authority. I have no time for conspiracy theories about fake popes or false sacraments. I don't have much time for SSPX either, despite my traditionalism. I like what they do, but they don't seem to have a firm grasp on the concept of obedience. Likewise, while the Second Vatican Council was very clearly a disaster for the Church, it was still a legitimate ecumenical council. If its statements were not completely wrong (I haven't read all of the council documents exhaustively, so I can't say one way or the other), there are ways that an orthodox interpretation can be squeezed out of the vague, nauseating, syrupy language of the conciliar documents. So while I am a traditionalist, I am what someone once described as a "sane traditionalist," defined as "someone who doesn't see modernists hiding behind every tree." I see tradition as a means to an end, and the end is ultimately God.

For good measure, despite my cantankerous nature, I also detest the behavior of what I call "the mean traditionalists," the kinds of people who aren't happy until you're not happy. If you've met these people, you know what I mean. Nothing is ever good enough for them; they live to piss and moan about every last little detail. In my experience, such traditionalists are a minority among the traditionalists in general; but unfortunately they are a shrill and obnoxious minority that, as I see it, present the greatest obstacle in the Church to the recovery of the old liturgical forms.

This suffices to cover the general idea of what I am about and what I intend this blog to be about. I am not quite sure how long I intend future posts to be; but I would like them to be substantive without exhausting the reader. I know what it can be like to come across long essays online, and not have the interest or the energy to read them. I hope to avoid doing that to any prospective readers that may come along. With any luck, this blog will give me a voice and can maybe help to draw some notoriety to my other writing. My books will remain the main concern of my writing; but I will post on here hopefully on a regular basis. And I will try to as thoughtful and entertaining as possible. I see little point in writing things on here that other people may have observed on their own elsewhere.