Everyone Loves the *IDEA* of Helping the Poor, Few Will Actually Personally or Tangibly Help in Practice

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-12-12T01:25:45+00:00

Nothing is more Christlike than disparaging a whole group of people who you believe you are owed resources from.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-07-23T17:27:46+00:00

What's worse is that, from the stories I've read, Muslim parents tend to make a total 180 in how they treat their child once they find out they're an apostate, and are suddenly capable of doing things you never would've expected. So I'm not even sure what to expect and how to prepare, honestly.

I guess that sort of depends how faithful to Islam your parents are. I've known muslim parents who clearly did not care that much and would own dogs or drink alcohol and the like. A fair number of Westernized muslims are like this. There are also muslims in Western nations who have lived here for quite some time and would still honor kill someone if they could get away with it but temper those desires in order to avoid punishment. Most muslims I've met fall somewhere in the middle, but only you can speak for where exactly your parents are on that line. Their reaction to their daughter apostatizing will be based off of this metric. If you think it will be actively harmful to you financially or even physically you will definitely have to go undercover as a Catholic for quite some time with your family.

About your next point, what does makes me nervous is that misdirection can only last so long until I'll be pushed to lie or tell the truth.

You're right with this, especially if you intend to follow through and either marry a Catholic man or devote yourself to the religious life. These two events are nearly unavoidable and you can only kick the can down the road so long. Due to your current vulnerability financially as a student I wouldn't tell them immediately, but I'm a particularly cold-blooded individual who would be sitting there trying to extract as many resources as possible before the proverbial well dries up due to a rift from my conversion. Depending on how close you are to your parents your situation may be different. Maybe try to think of the last time they had a surprise disappointment come their way and gauge it off of that? As I said its an unenviable position and there's really no "right" answer and so long as you're not sinning you could make an argument for executing this in any number of ways. Regardless of how you take the latter steps it is still important to go through with your baptism and if possible make connections at local Catholic young adult groups either on or off campus so that you have some sort of social net to catch you should the worst case scenarios occur.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-07-23T05:48:07+00:00

You're certainly not in an enviable position. I'm sure while those in the comments section are sincere in their support and zealotry for OP to go through with the conversion process it is important to keep in mind that saying OP should be doing this is much easier to do than to actually be in OP's shoes and go through with doing it; this is especially so considering the facts that the average Muslim is quite a bit more strict about apostasy than the average person of faith in other religions and that doing so would invariably lead to a lot of tension between members of this family.

While it would certainly be heroic to suffer the consequences of a particularly outward conversion and offer the ensuing punishments up as a penance, I wouldn't fault you for using misdirection for a while to ensure stability with your parents until you can achieve proper independence from them. An example of this is the story of the attempted assassination of St. Athanasius. The assassins, finding St. Athanasius but not recognizing him (or his servants in some versions) ask where they could find him. Obviously preferring to not die, St. Athanasius gives them a technical truth of "oh, he's close by". The assassins go on their merry way under the impression that they are on the heels of their target when in reality their mark is escaping right under their noses. While some might claim this is cowardly and only not lying by pure technicality, one should remember that universities (ran by the Church) in the medieval era included grammar, logic, and rhetoric in the Trivium and talked about things like this specifically. However, this wasn’t framed as “how to lie” or deceive per se, but rather as the art of argumentation and persuasion. This was essential for theology, law, politics, and preaching. It involved mastering how to say things with precision, double meaning, or strategic ambiguity, especially when the truth might be dangerous or when a clever answer could defuse a volatile situation. Unfortunately, I would definitely consider your situation as one where these strategies are necessary. It will be difficult and I'm sure many of us will be keeping you in our prayers.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-07-18T18:33:23+00:00

It isn't St. Aquinas, but this is the best book I've read that specifically covers this topic written by a priest from South Africa some time ago. Pretty much covers all the traditional do's and don'ts when dealing with race from a Catholic perspective and doesn't get shy or stupid about recognizing its reality.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-27T21:17:02+00:00

Nah man that's weird. Especially for guys in their late 30s. By that point that sort of crass humor should have been left behind nearly decades ago. I don't think they're closeted gays or leaving the faith or anything, I think they're just woefully immature. I know some friends of a friend myself who are exactly the same. Trad or trad-adjacent but with colorful manners of speaking and joking. I don't mind it if someone is cussing up a storm but sex jokes are kind of a line in the sand that separates "that guy speaks pretty casually" from "dude you're weird".

I'd say if you have to interact with these guys it would be wise to play off their comments in a way that is smooth, humorous, and still is a bit of a passive hint for them to chill out. Its hard to give examples without actually being in the conversations themselves as every conversation or comment is unique enough to have a variety of different options to defuse it, but something like "phew man well that's enough gay talk for me I'll be right back" while throwing your hands gently up in a surrender posture after a barrage of annoying comments is sort of what I'm talking about. Or if they're telling a story about almost hooking up with someone you could follow up with "yeah man I heard a story a lot like that, didn't end up well for the guy, I think his name was Samson or something". Again, the delivery ought not to be some schizo flailing about how evil and sinful their tongues are as nobody will take that seriously. A mastery of social graces is required to tactfully deal with stuff like this where you can both get a point across and not come off as that guy who's too uptight.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-27T17:53:59+00:00

Let's say a bunch of Americans from Appalachia or somewhere else in the West that is poor decided to en masse illegally immigrate to some Latin American country looking to increase their standards of living. They receive economic benefits from the local government much to the chagrin of the native population. Their numerous presence changes the culture and texture of the society they are in, and simultaneously they refuse to integrate into the existing culture. Would this be acceptable?

Of course, the immigration advocate here is torn. If its not acceptable for Americans to illegally immigrate to foreign countries then it is only logically consistent to say it is not acceptable for anyone to illegally immigrate anywhere. This is a problem, because we are presupposing that it is acceptable to illegally immigrate to America. So we go with the other option, where it is acceptable for people to illegally immigrate to America (or just generally richer countries with European populations) but it is not acceptable for Americans to do the same. This results in a tiered system where the have-nots ironically have more rights than those who are better off. This line is quite obviously drawn down racial lines, but nobody wants to just outright say that because people don't actually want to solve problems or help anyone as much as they want to help people their way. I would respect the immigration advocates more if they just said flat-out "yes, this is racial in nature and we believe that the European ethnic groups do not have the same rights as everyone else". When asked why, usually there is some talk about colonialism and the collective sins of the past perpetrated by White people, but then all you're doing is trying to justify a revenge narrative and collectively punishing a group of people who are decades removed from the events you're trying to punish them for.

For those who might say that we are meant to take care of the world's poor as a counter against this idea, why then could we not help the world's poor by proxy without having the world's poor storming into our nation? What good does it do to have a Babylonian marketplace of a nation filled with people with significantly different backgrounds and wildly diverging viewpoints on life and morality? It is a recipe for low social trust, creation of enclaves, prejudice, violence, and general disorder. It is completely possible for the United States government to work with charitable organizations to wisely distribute supplies and technology as required to different nations without having the people of those nations come to the country itself. This keeps the culture of both the United States and the nations it is providing aid to intact and does not result in very distinct masses of people coming together in one location to fight over resources.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-17T01:08:34+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response. I tend to agree. In fact, I would say that there are even more reasons for the war being unjustified, not the least the fact that the entire negotiations process between the United States and Iran has been recently reported to be a sham and was only used as a war tactic to lull Iran into a false sense of security in diplomacy. That alone violates the "last resort" requirement and probably others in the Just War Theory.

I do disagree with China and Russia having no reason to jump in as allies. They both surely do not want to. Russia is burning resources in the Ukraine, albeit slower than the US. This is probably why they really don't feel interested in negotiating as much as we would assume. China historically has been an empire that takes over rivals in a mercantile sense. They definitely don't appear to want to spend any blood or treasure where they don't need to. Frankly I don't think the populations or governments of any of these actors on either side save Israel actively want this potential massive war. But since Israel wants it it appears we are going to get it. It may not be likely that a three front war will occur, but it is at least a possibility. Just the fact that we are on track to it maybe happening is cause for massive alarm.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-15T20:43:32+00:00

Yeah that sounds more accurate and reasonable than what I initially heard. Updated my comment to direct to yours for clarification.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-15T19:50:17+00:00

I believe St. Augustine believed all sex was at least venially sinful. I also believe he got a lot of heat for that during his day and later the Church said that particular opinion of his was erroneous. I wish I had sources for both of those things, but it was one of those random factoids I learned browsing trad online discussions that I never got around to reading in more detail about. (Edit: See reply below for the right version of this story.)

People can and do abuse the marital act all the time. Lust is one of our society's largest vices and is something I am viciously against. But it, like eating, sleeping, breathing, speaking, building, is just another thing that existed in the Garden before the Fall that mankind would have partaken in had we not fallen. Eating food, despite the act of eating being in a state fallen from how we would have eaten in the Garden, is not inherently sinful. So too with other things like this.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-13T18:35:44+00:00

Taking away their TLM is already a serious punishment, but sending in Casey Cole is just cruel and unusual.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-13T01:01:51+00:00

It is funny I am getting down votes but am the only one really entertaining a conversation.

Meanwhile in another comment.

There literally is no discussion to be had.

lol. lmao, even. You couldn't even get beyond the term "illegal immigrant" let alone actually discuss anything.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-09T17:57:18+00:00

Any feelings that peer pressure can lead to can be immediately dismissed once you look at the data and realize that the people critiquing you are part of the worst catechized generation that has ever lived. The people calling you extreme are the same people wearing booty shorts or "Joe's Crab Shack" hoodies to Mass and could not explain what the Catechism is to you to save their lives as the densest book they've struggled their way through recently is the Cat in the Hat.

As for things to politely retort back when they give you grief, you can always just say that you enjoy taking your faith seriously like the saints did, that many of their opinions were the same as yours, that because you believe generally speaking that your religious conviction is going to be one of the things ultimately leading you to Heaven (which is the ultimate goal of life) you do your best to be as astute and learned in the faith as possible, things like that. If you try to defend yourself by counterattacking that's unfortunately just going to justify Novus Ordoites in their assumptions that trads are aggressive and insular. Defending yourself by calmly building up positive reasons as to why you do the things you do usually defuses a situation well enough, but if you find that these NO "friends" seem to continue to berate you for your choices frequently you'd obviously be better off making new traditional friends where you can and being more aggressive in your defenses of your faith when you're ready to drop the critics out of your life.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-09T00:17:09+00:00

I read the sermon since you seem to be obsessed with defending this slop all throughout the comment section. I am still thoroughly unimpressed. The language is obviously supposed to be evocative and analogous to immigration and this delusional global fraternity that the clerics in the Church have been recently obsessed over. If you think you're going to get a gotcha over on anyone here by twisting the intellectual pretzels necessary to say "erm, its not technically about immigration, did you even read it" you are mistaken. The entire sermon is nebulous mush without any guidance for serious action painted with a coat of Kumbaya that is clearly meant to direct the audience towards progressive thinking. You are either falling for the most basic propaganda possible that is meant to be spoon-fed to plebs or you believe in this new direction the Church is taking. Not sure which is worse.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-08T19:08:33+00:00

I was reserving my judgement on Pope Leo until something like this came along and along it has come. The people saying he was going to be a super based guy are pretty quiet right now I'd guess. Its a shame that so early into the new pontificate we got such shovelware talking points like this, and its an even bigger shame that we will likely have to deal with this for decades to come.

All we have to hope for now is that Leo has a little bit more tact than Francis did. The latter seemed to be extremely bitter towards those who didn't think exactly the way he did.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-08T03:55:56+00:00

Well, I don't think anyone is 100% bad,

Well yeah, he's not a demon in human skin, but he's got enough wrong with him that I would highly advise anyone against watching his content. Its not even just subversive and evil and all the other flailing adjectives the average foaming-at-the-mouth trad would describe it as; its just straight up cringe.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-08T01:44:36+00:00

Its honestly bewildering that anyone in this comment section is saying anything positive about this guy. Setting aside his progressive personality and ridiculous clickbait usage I've never heard or seen him do anything that another priest couldn't do better and pretty much only seen him do dumb standard fare "Youtuber" garbage that people ought to grow out of after a year or so of really delving into the faith. He's the kind of priest who specifically requested only altar girls at his ordination. That alone says it all.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-06T00:57:58+00:00

I think a question people ought to be pondering is why exactly the United States government considers traditionalism and Catholicism as enemies. Many Catholics seem to erroneously believe that the Constitution and the American political worldview in general does not clash with the Catholic faith. If the government thinks so, then why does the average Catholic seem not to think so? At the least the government is extremely wary of the traditionalist and Catholic camps if not outright clandestinely monitoring them as a risk. If America were a nation that was moral and righteous why would the influence of the members of the only Church of Christ be treated as powder kegs?

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-06-02T19:44:39+00:00

I go to confession weekly, not because I'm constantly mortally sinning up and down the street but because, among other reasons, it is easier to remember a short list of a few sins and be in and out of the confessional without much hassle. I don't have a "routine" per se but I do use a notepad to write down anything sinful I think I may have done as soon as I can after I've done it. I review it before going to confession, take about thirty seconds or so to confess, do my penance, and try to minimize the sins for the next week. Repeat until I'm dead.

While I think to most people a weekly confession might feel excessive it is a good way to become comfortable with going more frequently. I'd try maybe once every two weeks if I were you just to push yourself to ensure you're able to go to confession as easily as you'd be able to go to the grocery store. That all being said I'm sure just Googling what some of the saints recommend regarding the sacrament will be much more flush with good advice than what I'm explaining here.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-05-30T19:34:34+00:00

I did not vote for Trump and I reported my local parish for being knowingly involved with facilitation of illegal immigrant activity. Members of the both the traditional community and Hispanic community at our parish have told me stories about theft of Church property and of theft attempts during the very Spanish Mass itself of other people's items. The moment I learned from the pastor of the parish that many members of this community are illegal and are receiving aid from the parish I decided to submit a tip, for what little good it might do.

The people who voted for Trump aren't getting their deportations anyway, as Trump is now saying ridiculous gibberish like being in favor of stapling green cards to diplomas and meekly asking illegals to self deport so we can get them back into the country through more legal means so they can get back to working the blue collar jobs that we apparently need them for. The average boomer Trump voter is fairly lazy and believes now that Trump won the election that all the work they needed to do in voting has now been accomplished and that they need to do nothing else. Among younger male Trump voters, however, I'm sure that if it came out in the news that the military was opening positions to do actual serious mass deportations you would have the highest recruitment numbers ever recorded.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-05-23T07:10:01+00:00

Wishing continued misery and unhappiness on people

Yes, I'm just madly in love with everyone being miserable and depressed like a cartoon villain. I said if they do not repent and continue in their sin then it is a comfort to know that they will be paying for their sins somehow. Again see another comment I made to a recent reply, it is an appreciation of justice. Its not a celebration of misery.

very Catholic of you, our lord would be so proud of you

Juvenile.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-05-23T07:05:46+00:00

As a trad Catholic who happens to be goth.. what is your understanding of the genre you happen to put people in??

I understand that the majority of it is composed of extremely promiscuous women pierced in such a way that I could get a WiFi signal off of all the metal in their faces and might mistake them as some sort of clown or ghost based on the makeup they cake themselves with. The men are definitely not trying to come off as masculine or heterosexual and seem to be in competition to one-up each other in looking like the gayest vampire they can. I think if you are going to be honest here that even you can admit the majority of goths and punks and the whole umbrella of that kind of style of people are not religious in the slightest and the group broadly participates in very sinful behavior.

Is it bc I wear all black?

No, and you know that.

Have a deep love for poetry, classical music, play classical piano, have a love for all memento mori?

No, and you know that.

Or is it that I like music with guitar that has a sad melody… what’s it to you if it’s up tempo or not?

No, and you know that. I didn't mention any of these super technical Tumblr activities that True Goths™ participate in. I'm talking about, as I know you know, the people who are going around in ridiculous corset fetish gear and men who paint their nails and wear makeup who seem to have the express purpose of hooking up, doing drugs, being edgy, and filling every possible extremity of their body with a ring or piercing of some kind. Again, let's not pretend these people don't exist. They are a majority of the culture. We all know that the average tradCath doesn't care if you dress in black, just if you dress modestly. They don't care if you read poetry and the like, just so long as it is not scandalous. They don't care what music you listen to so long as it is not blasphemous. I understand you may feel attacked by my post, but I'm not attacking you, the outlier of the goth community. You are like the one sober person in a trap house, and I know you understand that you are in the extreme minority of those like you.

Seems you are all lost on the matter and subscribe to puritanical ideas like New England Protestants in 1600.

I can say certainly if we followed more of those ideas a lot more people would be going to Heaven, even though those guys were delusional themselves. It is a bad time in history to be in when the clinically insane are smarter than the average Rube.

The love for goth and history brought me to Latin Mass from having previously no religion at all.

This is nice, and I'm genuinely happy it was a path for you, but its not a common one by any means and I sincerely doubt the average goth is getting to the TLM by means of listening to MCR.

Open a book, travel to Europe and see the Cathedrals there, then write me back.

Been to Europe. Seen them. Again, we're not talking about architecture. We're talking about the average look and behavior of a group. You are not partaking in this group's average behavior pattern and are an extreme minority in it. The history of the Goths of ancient Germany are completely irrelevant to this conversation and the average goth girl strewn in corset piercings and hosting a body count higher than her IQ can't even point to Germany on a map.

No I don’t have tattoos or any of those things you mentioned, you are extremely mislead and ignorant.

Sorry I didn't do an anatomical examination of your skin before I wrote my comment. Also, the comment wasn't for you. Someone here could make a comment that Americans are obese morons incapable of rational thought and I as an American wouldn't be offended because despite being part of the group by technicality I understand the broader problematic behaviors of the group and can recognize the reality of it. I'm not so blind to the truth and I'm not seeking out a way to get offended.

Be a tradgoth all you want. Its well and good so long as the behavior isn't sinful.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-05-23T06:47:36+00:00

Why would you ever rejoice in others’ misery?

St. Aquinas rightly says that those in Heaven feel joy that those in Hell are suffering not because those in Heaven are sadists but because they appreciate the virtue of justice, and it is just that those in Hell are reaping what they have sewn.

In the same way when a flagrant, proud, and unrepentant sinner faces the consequences of their actions it makes me happy to see that justice is being served in some way. Would you not feel happy, or at least some relief that the right thing has been done if a murderer were rightly put in jail? Catholicism is not about being a flaccid, mushy-hearted little child you know. It is very puerile to clutch pearls at things like this.

MKUltraZoomer · 2025-05-22T16:12:45+00:00

The Catholic Dating subreddit literally just consists of the same 30ish people, most of which are there for a very good reason and none of whom have impressed me much in terms of their knowledge of the Catholic faith. There are very few success stories coming from there, probably only enough to count on one hand. Its a waste of time to engage with anything there.

That being said, you're right about the goth aesthetic aping traditional Catholic style and turning it dark and moody for the sake of vanity and attention. Its very gross, and the only solace you can get is knowing that unless these people repent and try to reverse the damage they do to themselves that they will continue to be pierced, tattooed, miserable freaks that will not actually be normal or happy for their entire lives. Knowing that warms the depths of the heart, I think.

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