Agents of Influence in Poland and the US 02

Just a quick follow up before I go on vacation until January 17th. Yes, the young are the most susceptible to ideologies. They feel more accutely the suffering of their time, and they are looking for something to put their hope in. They are also often stuck between the pleasures of Sodom and following the path of virtue. Those who get stuck in this way end up like a deer in the headlights, with frozen minds and frozen hearts.

Finally, as a commentor noted, only a small number of priests or people go along with false ideologies. During the French Revolution, 4 out of 300 Bishops bolted from the Church. The vast majority of French Catholics remained loyal to Rome by dying rather than denying their faith.

Jansenism

Am reading these days about Jansenism. It might be that secularized Jansenism had not a little to do with the origins of the French Revolution. As the 17th Century wanes into the 18th Century, Jansensists developed a legalistic culture of protest against authority, using all sorts of "democratic" and legalistic mechanisms to avoid obedience to the Pope and to thwart the King. The Jansenists were also looking for a sort of redemptive act that would give real physical expression to the invisible Church, which was being held in bondage by the visible Church and the King.

I know from previous research that Voltaire thought that the Jansenists would he useful allies for a time in paving the way to Revoltuion. He realized that they shared his hatred of the King and authority. Voltaire, at the same time, disliked the Jansenist. His brother got involved in some "signs and wonders" that took place in a Jansenist cemetary in the 1720s. Voltaire took this to be a sign that all Christians were interested in hokey signs and wonders. He also thought that they could be easily duped.

The Revolution Comes to Venezuela

Anyone who has looked at this blog before and is aware of the situation of religious freedom in China, could probably see that the Chinese are following a model of Church State relations that was set in France during the French Revolution. The Revolutionaries decided that the State would for all practical purposes turn the Catholic Church into the French Church and that the State would control that Church.

Now, it appears that the Chinese are not alone. The example that we see from the French Revolution is making its way to Venezuela. It actually might be more of the example set by England and the States of Northern Europe during the Reformation. It is, in the end, the nefarious ideas of Marsilius of Padua and William Ockham at work.

Here is the link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238015,00.html