Sorry to say the "Colonel" is not interested in rational discussion but only in mouthing off.It's a pity. I had hoped for better from him.
There are few things quite as tedious as conversing with your redneck, one-eyed, anti-Catholic, know-nothing, neo-Fascist bigot - except perhaps his Left Wing equivalent.
Apart from knowing nothing about European history, they rarely, if ever, even know their own country's history.
Sadly, they are also often racists who think whites superior to blacks, Anglos to Latinos and are utterly paranoid that America might become a Latino state in which those whom their forebears so bigotedly and insultingly referred to as "greasers" might take charge. They can tolerate a Catholic if he is white and North American - but a Latino? The very idea sends them into a tail-spin.
To be fair, too many Latinos have been taken in by the very Party that used to crush their ancestors to dust, namely the Democrat Party, and so they start to take on board the whole raft of Lefty drivel that is poured forth by the likes of Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton.
But Latinos can also be conservatives and, if Catholic, the better sort of traditionalist.
Unfortunately, people like the Colonel keep scaring them off.
It is the rednecks who are made of the same stuff of which the authoritarian, Fascist and Nazi regimes were made. Yet, in their benighted ignorance and blissfully unaware of the facts, they comfort themselves with the fantasy that the regimes which so persecuted the Catholic Church and murdered Catholic priests and laity in large numbers, were actually somehow Catholic themselves.
Tell that to St Maximilian Kolbe, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Blessed Titus Brandsma and the large number of Catholic martyrs under totalitarianism. Tell that to the many Poles and Eastern European Catholic martyrs murdered by Hitler who have no grave and no name. Tell that to the many faithful Catholics who fought against the Nazis.
Tell that to Pope Pius XII, the saviour of over 860,000 Jewish lives, who was imprisoned in the Vatican by the Nazis and only lived because the Nazis feared the backlash if they murdered him.
And let us not forget how the Yankee plutocrats supported - for financial gain, of course - both the Soviet and the Nazi regimes, in their early days, and later!
But the rednecks will tell you that they have never "imposed" themselves on anyone!
Yes! They really believe that they were not "imposing" as they crushed the face of Mexico and other countries with their boots!
There are none so blind as they who will not see...
...
Interesting blog! I loved reading the posts about American imperialism in Mexico. I am afraid I don't ENTIRELY agree, but then again I don't entirely disagree.
ReplyDeleteCertainly there is a bloody and selfish side to what we did in many places in Latin America. But then again, there was a bloody and selfish side to the original conquest of Peru, Mexico and other places by Catholics. Yet there was a redeeming side also.
Who in the world, though, is "Colonel Bigot"?
Anyway, thanks so much for the interesting posts. I don't mind at all if you light into me for my comment....
Dear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comments!
I would not dream of "lighting into" you since you make your points so politely. I reserve "lighting" for the likes of Colonel Bigot (blog name "Colonelalp") who is merely rude and abusive and bigotedly anti-Catholic.
You can see his contrbution in the comment boxes for the previous couple of posts.
Karen "Gem-of-the-ocean" is another such semi-literate, abusive and - frankly - obscene poster of illogical rants. Sadly Karen is worse since she is Catholic. The Colonel is not and so has more excuse.
I shall answer your very reasonable question about the conquest of Perus and Mexico in a separate post as it is an interesting subject.
However, to put it shortly for the present there was a world of difference between the approach of Hernan Cortes and that of Francisco Pizarro.
Cortes was a Christian gentleman who freed the Aztecs from a most terrible and diabolical tyranny. Pizarro was a freebooter and adventurer - a bad Catholic - who brutally invaded and raped the culture of the Incas which was far less brutal than that of the Aztecs.
If you look a the index to my blog you will see that I have dealt with these issues and the issue of slavery in Latin America before. You might find some of that of interest, too.
Best wishes,
Tribunus.
It's a subject that I don't know much about except in terms of general impressions, so I'll be glad to read what you have to say about it. Making distinctions--as you do interestingly about Pizzaro and Cortes--is a sure sign of the kind of mind one can trust.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jeff!
ReplyDeleteI still think that New England is a much better place to live, in every way, than New Spain, New France or New Portugal/Brasil.
ReplyDeleteI don't see thousands of Vermonters leaving on boats to go to Haiti, Mexico, the Dominican Republic or any other Catholic country, either.
Oh, well done, Fred!
ReplyDeleteAnd doubtless you think it was the fault of the Mexicans that Yankee governments financed their destruction?
And perhaps you think the Jews were responsible for their own deaths in Nazi camps?
And no doubt you often wonder why thousands of Germans didn't clamour to be allowed into the concetration camps, either?
But then any Yankee who thinks that Haiti, Mexico or the Domincan Republic are Catholic countries deserves to be considered the original dumb ass Yank!
Go, Fred!
You are the winner of the dumb ass Yank of the year award!
Please be sure to display it proudly on your mantelshelf next to your Bart Simpson prize for mental agility and retention!
Doh!