From Carol Burnett to Kathy Griffin
From Shirley Temple to Miley Cyrus,
From John Wayne to Leonardo DiCaprio,
From Gregory Peck to George Clooney,
From Audrey Hepburn to Rose McGowan,
From glamour to goth,
From Cecil B. DeMille to Michael Moore,
From Walter Cronkite to Jim Acosta,
From Johnny Carson to Jimmy Kimmel,
From Dick Clark to Howard Stern,
From the Smothers Brothers to the Kardashian sisters,
From gentility to feminism,
From Paul McCartney to Justin Bieber,
From J. R. R. Tolkien to J. K. Rowling,
From Martin Luther King to Barak Hussein Obama,
From Harry Truman to Nancy Pelosi,
From Nelson Rockefeller to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
From Albert Einstein to Al Gore,
From the jitterbug to twerking,
From mink coat to public underwear,
From fedora to doo rag,
From cloche hat to pussy hat,
From Terry Bradshaw to Colin Kaepernick,
From Ted Williams to Manny Machado,
From pugilism to mixed martial arts,
From mashed potatoes to quinoa,
From flat-iron steak to fried tofu,
From book to the tablet,
From Monopoly to Grand Theft Auto,
From the world to cell phones,
From the Red Cross to Planned Parenthood,
From patriotism to globalism,
From priest to psychologist,
From family to pets,
From prayer to yoga,
From Sunday worship to walking the dog.
Such are the poisonous fruits of the Judas Council. As the Church goes, so goes the world.
Aquinas taught us always to distinguish. We’re all sinners, but some admit it humbly and repent while others try to justify themselves by rationalizing excuses. Saint Peter repented and is the Rock of the real Church. Judas didn’t and left the Church, if he was ever in it. We should not blame the real Church for the downfall of civilization. On the contrary, the Church cultivates civilization. Perhaps what you meant by “Church” was the hierarchy. Scandals will occur, but in my experience of 40 years of religious life, the proportion is far less than one-twelfth. There may be only one fallen soul among 120 among the clergy, at most, yet insofar as they are fallen, like Judas, they are not part of the Church by their own bad choice, unless they undergo conversion of heart.