Resist the Beginnings!
We are way past the beginning, but a reminder is in order
There can be no question, on the part of anyone with their eyes and ears open, that we are witness to an ever-more censorious culture. For all intents and purposes, the 1st Amendment, practically speaking, is headed for the dustbin of history in the United States.
Pastor Martin Niemöller was German as you might have guessed, and is writing here about his regret at not having spoken, and in fact regret that the entirety of church leadership in Germany had not spoken, in defense of those targeted by the Nazis. From the Martin Niemöller Foundation I took the original German, and translated it to English using Google Translate; this was the surprising result:
Resist the beginnings!
When the STASI-Antifa brought the National Socialists in, I kept quiet - I wasn't a National Socialist.
When they brought in the democratic nationalists, I kept quiet - I wasn't a nationalist.
When they brought in the patriotic conservatives, I kept quiet - I wasn't a conservative.
When they fetched the non-Christians and neo-pagans, I kept quiet - I wasn't a pagan.
When they took me there was no one left to protest.
M. F. (freely adapted from Martin Niemöller)"
That is quite different from English translations I have seen, as that pictured above. But, if alarm bells are not already going off in your head, they should be. Eventually, they will come for you.
Yesterday I was made aware, by Mark Levin, of some FBI action, the news of which prompted this post.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena to FBI Director Christopher Wray for records as part of a probe into the bureau's handling of an FBI field analysis that proposed further developing sources within a group of traditionalist Catholic chapels in Richmond, Va., to look for signs of radicalization and burgeoning domestic violent extremism.
The committee's chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, of Ohio, accused the FBI of undertaking "domestic violent extremism investigations against Catholic Americans…”
House Judiciary Committee subpoenas FBI Director Christopher Wray over Catholic churches field report
April 10, 2023
Then, directly from the subpoena:
…we now know … that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith
We have repeatedly sought information from the FBI relating to a January 23, 2023 document generated by the Richmond Field Office entitled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities”
In this document, the FBI purported to categorize Catholic Americans based on theological distinctions and relied on the Southern Poverty Law Center to suggest that certain kinds of Catholic Americans may be domestic terrorists.
By the way, the Southern Poverty Law Center is the leftist outfit that much of our administrative state, and media, rely upon when targeting their ideological enemies. So let’s see now, the FBI has tagged parents confronting woke school boards as “domestic terrorists,” and now Catholics. Not too mention “white nationalists;” arguably they/I were the first; after all, I’m white, and it might be said I’m a nationalist. Having said that, I was fairly recently informed that “white nationalist” is actually leftist code-word for “white supremacist,” which I am not. Hmmm… for some reason that doesn’t make me feel any better.
Continuing on with the subpoena:
This information is outrageous and only reinforces the Committee’s need for all FBI material responsive to our request. The documents produced to date show how the FBI sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners. Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment. They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called “tripwire” sources or other informants in their houses of worship.
Disturbing, no? So for my Catholic family and friends; when you are sitting in the confessional this Sunday, that priest sitting opposite you might be an FBI informant. Just sayin’.
First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Please notice that the 1st Amendment does not say, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof under the supervision of the FBI!” Be on the lookout for “tripwires.” And whatever you do, don’t mention my name!
#itcanhappenhere