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“Hitting Bottom” – Matt Archbold lays it out (Must Read!)
AlwaysCatholic ^ | November 7, 2012

Posted on 11/08/2012 2:13:21 PM PST by NYer

I can’t help but think that America is now like your brother who can’t keep a job, drinks too much, is constantly asking for money, and oh, has a crazy bad addiction that’s destroying his life.

You tried just lending him money every time he promised to go straight but he just ain’t gonna’ do it. At some point you accept that he’s going to have to hit bottom. You don’t know what bottom looks like but you know that he’s racing towards it. It might be jail, death, brain damage. Nobody knows. But at some point he’ll hear the thud and wake up face first in a pool of his own vomit and he’ll have to make the decision to turn over and get back up or just die.

And that’s where America is heading. This country is going to have to go absolutely bankrupt and hit bottom before it starts getting better. This country is borrowing money from children that they’re killing in the womb in record numbers. That, is not a recipe for success.

And of the children that we do have, many of them are being born into single parent homes where their chances of spending some time in jail are increased while their economic outlook is severely diminished.

For too many years we slept. Maybe we saw it coming, maybe we just suspected that everything was going to hell.

Leftists have taken over our education establishment, giving them firm control over what our children learn (unless you homeschool or have a great Catholic or private school). The left has long controlled the media and therefore control what people hear about current events. So think about it, they have control over the teaching of history and the present.

And why didn’t we think we were going to be routed? And what did we do to prevent this? We talked about school choice but got weak kneed when the fight got bloody. We snarked about the media and congratulated ourselves on how many interesting and funny ways we tweeted that Chris Matthews was stupid. Here’s the thing, pretty much everyone in the media agrees with him. It’s an MSNBC media. Some just hide it a little better.

If you want to understand the true power of the media, this election is a prime example. The media propped up a corrupt and egotistical ideologue throughout this entire campaign. They ignored Solyndra. They ignored Benghazi. They covered up the economic ruin we were inviting on ourselves. Sure, FoxNews and the new media have hurt the media establishment but what the MSM showed in this election is that we can snark it up all we want, they’ve got one hand firmly on the levers of power and the other around our throats.

But here's the thing. I've gotten to the point now where I'm thinking about the fact that I have five kids, a wonderful wife, and a good parish. My life is good and full of love. We try to give to charity and work with a home for unwed mothers. We'll continue with these things. I'm focusing on what I can do in my life. I'll continue to write and work but I know where this country is heading.

I know where the country is going. I'm not going there and neither is my family. The Church will continue to exist whatever happens to this country. The country's barreling downwards and when it hits bottom it's going to explode like shrapnel. My job is to protect my family from the flying pieces. And then we'll start gathering the pieces.

The only good news in all this is that I think that we'll hit bottom awfully quick because we're heading there awfully fast.


TOPICS: Current Events; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: moralabsolutes
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To: SumProVita
Dear SumProVita,

I don't regularly read Mr. Archbold, and can only comment on what's in this essay. Here's the part with the overly optimistic assertions:

“I know where the country is going. I'm not going there and neither is my family.”

In one sense, that may be true. The country is going to hell in a handbasket, and Mr. Archbold will keep his family from joining the country in those nether regions.

But in another sense, it's entirely too optimistic. As the country goes to hell, we will be in for hell on earth. Not the eternal damnation sort of hell (but I'm not sure that Mr. Archbold means that about the country, anyway), but the grinding misery that may very well come our way.

“The Church will continue to exist whatever happens to this country.”

Yup. But we live in THIS country, and whatever happens to this country will affect us all. Possibly quite negatively.

“The country's barreling downwards and when it hits bottom it's going to explode like shrapnel. My job is to protect my family from the flying pieces. And then we'll start gathering the pieces.”

This borders on wishful thinking. When our country “hits bottom,” or at any point along the way, Mr. Archbold, and any of us, may be hit by those flying pieces, and we might not survive to start gathering up those pieces.

In fact, there might not be much to gather up. He assumes that there will be something left onto which to rebuild. Maybe eventually, but quite possibly, not in his lifetime nor that of his children.

“The only good news in all this is that I think that we'll hit bottom awfully quick because we're heading there awfully fast.”

This, too, is optimistic. I'm kinda thinking that the crisis will be relatively drawn-out, like slow torture. There are all sorts of tricks to be pulled out of the anti-Christ’s sleeve, and the sleeves of his enablers in the ruling elite. I figure, after the actual fall of the economy, the media and the elites will deny it even happened for the first four or five years, even as folks are dying of starvation.

And then, once we hit bottom, as others have pointed out, there's no guarantee that we'll make any meaningful recovery.

Your points about heaven and funny saints are all very well and good - I've heard the St. Lawrence story on uncounted occasions since I was maybe 14, I'm 52 now - but they're a little irrelevant to the question of whether or not Mr. Archbold is overly optimistic.


sitetest

21 posted on 11/08/2012 5:18:19 PM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: NYer

I am not a Catholic but I agree with him 100%.


22 posted on 11/08/2012 7:53:44 PM PST by longhorn too
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To: NYer
I don't see any reason why God should save this nation. Why?

1) Millions turn out for a chicken sandwich, but can't figure out a way to peacefully and legally stop abortion. Really? ( eye roll)

2) 85% of our nation's children attend GODLESS government schools. What will they learn there? Answer: They **will** learn to think and reason godlessly. They must just to cooperate in the godless classroom. And...They risk learning that any government powerful enough to give them tuition-free schooling is powerful enough to give them **lots** of free stuff! After 100 or more years of this is it any wonder that half the nation looks to government as its redeemer and savior?

If Christians ( Catholic and Protestant) removed their children from the godless indoctrination camps these schools in many counties would have to close tomorrow.

Of the two above, the second is worse. At least an aborted baby flies directly into the arms of Jesus. Children in government schools risk losing their eternal souls.

Personally, my prayer for months as been that God will give this nation what it needs ( pleasant or painful) to bring it to repentance.

23 posted on 11/08/2012 8:29:44 PM PST by wintertime (:-))
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To: wintertime

**If Christians ( Catholic and Protestant) removed their children from the godless indoctrination camps these schools in many counties would have to close tomorrow.**

Excellent point. Thank you. If I had it to do over again — I would send all my children to Catholic School. My husband was for public schools because he had attended the ONLY Catholic high school in Salt Lake City. Not a pleasant experience for him evidently.


24 posted on 11/08/2012 8:36:25 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Just curious.

Is your husband a practicing Catholic?


25 posted on 11/08/2012 8:59:56 PM PST by wintertime (:-))
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To: rigelkentaurus

....Unless you seek rehab help.


26 posted on 11/09/2012 3:11:15 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: SumProVita

My big concern is that we as a nation is heading towards a second civil war. Just look at the sales of guns since Tuesday’s election.


27 posted on 11/09/2012 3:19:46 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: sitetest

But the question I do have is this: Is Obama the anti-Christ or not? He may not be, just a precurser.


28 posted on 11/09/2012 3:21:44 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: NYer
‎"If you look at the numbers and the way pure democracy works, pure democracy is dangerous. The majority dictates against the minority. Right now the majority are receiving a check. That is why people were sort of surprised with these conditions that the president could get reelected. That is a bad sign in that there are more on the receiving end.

People do not want anything cut. They want all the bailouts to come. They want the Fed to keep printing money. They do not believe we of gone off the cliff or are close to going off the cliff. They think we can patch it over, that we can somehow come up with a magic solution. You cannot have a budgetary solution if you do not change what the role of government should be. As long as you think we have to please the world and run this welfare state, all we will argue about is who will get the loot. "

Ron Paul

(Don't accuse me of being a Paul Bot please)

29 posted on 11/09/2012 3:31:53 AM PST by listenhillary (Courts, law enforcement, roads and national defense should be the extent of government)
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To: SumProVita
Of course there was. Saying that “after we hit bottom, they will listen to us!” is classic codependency BS.

After they hit rock bottom, they will come for this author’s nice little life and strip him of all he has to be “fair”. Addicts don’t change till they want to, and most will not want to till they die.

Save your own, and help those who want to be saved. But do not think that this country will get better. It will not. We will resemble the worse part of Mexico sooner than you think.

30 posted on 11/09/2012 4:04:16 AM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: redgolum

after we hit bottom, they will listen to us!

_______________________________

Hitting bottom must mean something different to you than it may mean to Mr. Archbold.

Most people DO learn the hard way. I know of too many people who are basically good people...but who have bought into a lie. When they see the fruits of their lie, they WILL want to change. Some won’t....but that is always the case. I happen to believe that the majority will wake up...when the horror fully surrounds them. Will I see them wake up ? I don’t know...because I think we are in for a long time of devastation.


31 posted on 11/09/2012 4:30:05 AM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo....Sum Pro Vita - Modified Descartes)
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To: sitetest

Well sitetest,

It took me a long time to learn to put my trust in God....but when I did, it was the LESSON of LIFE...because He has NEVER let me down. There is even more:

You said “And then we’ll start gathering the pieces.”

This borders on wishful thinking.”

I don’t agree with that...because I think God has a plan in all of this. And I am not alone. Hang in there. We are in for, as the Anchoress puts it....some “interesting times.”

Here is part of her take:

** [...] Relativism, with a dose of narcissistic self-actualization, has been redefined as a “tolerance” that will tolerate anything but intolerance, and those religious groups who insist on teaching the faith to an age rather than teaching a passing age to the faith are seen as too-intolerant-to-be-tolerated by the secular triune godhead of state, media and academia.

The challenges are only going to get worse because the society is in a habit, now, of dissolution and this election feels to me – and I emphasize feels, because this is just instinct talking – like a willful choice toward the here-and-now rather than [toward] eternity. It’s a choice fueled by feelings being given primacy over reason, a general lack of imagination, and a poor understanding of supernatural realities that – I am sorry to say – is partly due to the deplorable job the Church has done, for far too long, of teaching its members how joyful, affirming and fulfilling is the life lived in Christ, and in obedience to his Bride.

We have for too long allowed our Church to be interpreted and filtered through media outlets whose members are sometimes hostile, sometimes ignorant, sometimes both. We have permitted a sacred continuum to be perceived as out-of-touch rather than wise, and we’re paying for that – and the payments are about to increase.

But there is an opportunity, here. Last night I monitored reactions from people on social media and I saw many “people of faith” – Catholics and Evangelicals – being completely roiled by the returns and I kept thinking of Peter’s first Letter: “There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears.” (1 Peter. 1:6-7)

There is a great deal of genuine Christian feeling and desire out there, but it is immature – American Christians have for the most part lived comfortably the life of faith. I believe we’re being given a chance, now, to become mature in our faith – if we are willing to be open to the workings of the Holy Spirit.

That is a big “if”. American Christians have not gone completely untouched by the influences of secularism and the selfishness and self-regard it foments. “Thy will be done” still spins our heads because our training insists, “but what about what I want?” We don’t realize that what God wants for us is always better than anything we can want for ourselves. The Church has a lot of work to do; much to teach; voices to find. But I believe the Holy Spirit is bringing them forward. Welcome to interesting times.**

So, sitetest, I honestly believe that the roots of the American people ARE predominantly found in the Christian view...though our vines and leaves have become wilted and part of the plant diseased. The Good Vine-dresser is about to prune us...to make us productive again...in SPIRITUAL fruits.


32 posted on 11/09/2012 5:05:24 AM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo....Sum Pro Vita - Modified Descartes)
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To: SumProVita
“Thy will be done” still spins our heads because our training insists, “but what about what I want?”

For most American Christians, P and C alike, this is not a problem, because they believe, sincerely, that His will = what they want at the moment.

33 posted on 11/09/2012 5:14:02 AM PST by Jim Noble (Diseases desperate grown are by desperate appliance relieved or not at all.)
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To: All

That is why “rehab” is the “cure”.


34 posted on 11/09/2012 5:16:04 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: SumProVita

Most people don’t learn to check their core assumptions. That is a fact.


35 posted on 11/09/2012 5:16:42 AM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Biggirl
Dear Biggirl,

“Is Obama the anti-Christ or not?”

THE Anti-Christ? I don't think so. He's too stupid, too blatant, insufficiently subtle, of too-limited talents. I suspect The Anti-Christ will be someone capable of deceiving nearly all. This jackass could barely deceive 50.5%. And that's with bribing 47% of the folks.

But he is AN anti-Christ. Of that, there is no doubt.


sitetest

36 posted on 11/09/2012 5:22:35 AM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Jim Noble

Yep...You got it! That’s why it will, indeed, be interesting....when the Truth invades. I don’t think it is any mere coincidence that the focus of the Church in this Year of Faith is evangelization.

:-)


37 posted on 11/09/2012 5:22:38 AM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo....Sum Pro Vita - Modified Descartes)
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To: redgolum

True...but I am not sure of exactly what you are focusing on with that statement.


38 posted on 11/09/2012 5:25:25 AM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo....Sum Pro Vita - Modified Descartes)
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To: sitetest

I agree with you on this, sitetest. He definitely walks in the spirit of the anti-Christ. He was brought up in that spirit. May God have mercy on his soul.


39 posted on 11/09/2012 5:28:30 AM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo....Sum Pro Vita - Modified Descartes)
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To: SumProVita
Dear SumProVita,

“It took me a long time to learn to put my trust in God....”

By saying this to me, I could readily infer that you think I don't. Be careful of the assumptions you make.

“I don’t agree with that...because I think God has a plan in all of this.”

God always has a plan. And God somehow figures out how things will be worked into his plan. So, when Islam wiped out nearly every trace of Christianity in the 7th century in what is now Saudi Arabia, I'm sure God's plan is in there, somewhere. But for the Christians who were wiped out,... well,...

Christians were annihilated in Saudi Arabia, in Afghanistan, nearly so in any number of other countries, and those that survived have lives under daily persecution, and have so lived for FOURTEEN HUNDRED YEARS in a lot of these hellholes under these barbarian savages.

I believe in God, I believe that He will save us ultimately, and that those who die in a state of grace will be with Him in Heaven. Doesn't mean the United States might not be completely lost to Satan for centuries to come. Doesn't mean there is going to be anything to pick up after the Kenyan anti-Christ is through with us.

Maybe there might be. Maybe there won't.

God's plan, God's grace, God's kindness, none of these imply, none of these require that the United States survive, or that it remains Christian, or that the Christians in America will survive, or that most of us won't be killed.

“So, sitetest, I honestly believe that the roots of the American people ARE predominantly found in the Christian view...”

That's nice. So were the roots of a lot of nice Christians throughout the Middle East, who, nonetheless are no more, or who have lived with over a millennium of oppression.

That may be our fate, here, and if it is, we will have to learn to live with it. Perhaps it will be God's will that many of us may be martyred. And at the Eschaton, all will have been for the best. Certainly.

But, like St. Thomas More, I never desired martyrdom, never sought it out. You'll forgive me if I don't face the destruction of what was once a decent society, of all that was good and decent in America, and of all those innocents who are being and will be destroyed in America, with a big happy-faced smile painted across my face.

It is permitted to mourn what is lost.


sitetest

40 posted on 11/09/2012 5:41:11 AM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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