AMERICANISM BY BIERSACH AND COULOMBE
I have been turned onto an author and speaker named Charles A. Coulombe of late, whom is very loquacious in the subjects of Americanism, Monarchism, and other political ideas of a orthodox Catholic bent. This post will simply be a distillation of the ideas presented by him and his cohort William L. Biersach on Americanism and the Syllabus of Errors. I want to first give a forewarning of the material presented, because it can be construed as anti-American. However, since we are "blessed" with the "right" of free speech (no one has the right to propagate error), I am not too concerned - especially since this isn't erroneous. Because the speakers jump around a bit and frequently add anecdotes of a personal and historical nature, an organization of the ideas was necessary. I do admit that my perspective and esteem for my country has dimmed due to his illumination of the defects in some of America's most valued tenets.
Americanism
What is Americanism? The simple definition would be adherence to the false dicta Americans pride themselves in, which are enumerated in the constitution. That Americas political system is superior to other nations, that the founding fathers are demi-gods, and the constitution is inerrant. This is what is fed to us from an early age in public schools, the media and our american culture. Americanism is the exclusion of God and Christ the King in the social order. Therefore it follows, that there wasn't a slow degradation of evil policies over the past three hundred years to the Sodom and Gomorrah we live in today, but a grave disorder from the very inception of our country. Granted,the decline in morality as indicated by modern legislation has snowballed since then, but the contrast increases the further these errors tend toward its logical conclusion. It would seem that our state looked much better some decades ago, but "It is likened to the secondary stage of syphilis which looks wonderful if you are the tertiary stage. You don’t have bits falling off and holes drilled in your head. Its great compared to the secondary stage." (Coulombe)
Im not sure when the term Americanism was actually coined, but it is mentioned by Pope Leo XIII in his letter Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae to Cardinal Gibbons in 1899. In that letter the Pope condemns a type of Catholicism which sugar coats Church teaching or removes portions of it, extols freedom of religion and sets other religions at the same level as Catholicism -he calls this Americanism. This is the excerpt from the letter and I add comments in red and emphasis in black:
The underlying principle of these new opinions (Americanism)is that, in order to more easily attract those who differ from her, the Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and make some concessions to new opinions (This same attitude and underhandedness was done to some of the documents of VII, which Michael Davies explains and proves in Pope Johns Council). Many think that these concessions should be made not only in regard to ways of living, but even in regard to doctrines which belong to the deposit of the faith. They contend that it would be opportune, in order to gain those who differ from us, to omit certain points of her teaching which are of lesser importance, and to tone down the meaning which the Church has always attached to them. It does not need many words, beloved son, to prove the falsity of these ideas if the nature and origin of the doctrine which the Church proposes are recalled to mind. The Vatican Council says concerning this point: "For the doctrine of faith which God has revealed has not been proposed, like a philosophical invention to be perfected by human ingenuity, but has been delivered as a divine deposit to the Spouse of Christ to be faithfully kept and infallibly declared. Hence that meaning of the sacred dogmas is perpetually to be retained which our Holy Mother, the Church, has once declared, nor is that meaning ever to be departed from under the pretense or pretext of a deeper comprehension of them." -Constitutio de Fide Catholica, Chapter iv.
So, as you can see any diluting of the faith as not to offend those around you and to possibly gain more converts, is false! Either they will accept it or they will reject it and if they reject it, Christe eleison. The hard truths of the Catholic faith are not easy for protestants or pagans, but to be silent is to be a coward. The pope here simply reiterates prior teachings; they are not new or made up by him.
Tolerance
A notable error of Americanism, is America being a melting pot, the tolerance of Americans expressed toward each other and the various religions as something to be extolled. We are trained to believe that tolerance is something sought after, something that defines our civilized culture and a goal to be achieved; this idea is erroneous. In order to appreciate the error of tolerance, you must understand what it means. Tolerance is the willful acceptance of a know evil. Error is evil and thoughts have consequences, one being Hell. If we truly believe extra ecclesiam nulla salus, (outside the Church there is no salvation), that the fullness of the faith presides in the Catholic Church, and in objective truth, then tolerance isn't really something to be proud.
Americans are appalled when Muslims restrict Christians from practicing their faith. Likewise, we are aghast when tyrannical regimes suppress the propagation and free exercise of religions or ideas that are not state sanctioned. To be frank, their response to squelch their "proselytizing", is exactly what Christians should be doing, provided we believe that Christianity is the one true faith. They do this because they believe free expression is counter productive to the common good of the state and its citizens. They are working under the assumption that they are serving the better interests of its people. Similarly, we know that the errors of other religions will lead to eternal damnation and the truths of the Christian faith which are safeguarded by the Catholic Church are to be propagated and should have primary place in the state.
There are three ideas which are highlighted from the Syllabus of Errors which are the root of tolerance referenced by Biersach and Coulombe, articles 55, 15, and 16.
55. It is evil to believe that: The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church. -- Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852.
15. It is evil to believe that: Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862; Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.
16. It is evil to believe that: Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation. -- Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846.
Error 55 is basically saying that a state which separates itself from the Authority of God in its social order is wrong. Error 15 is a little more tricky. No one can be forced to believe any religion they wish; this is true and the Church teaches this. However, this error says that we do not have the freedom to choose whichever religion we deem to be true. Well, you may ask, what about "free will", are you saying the Church has taken that away? I would agree, God has given us the freedom to choose whichever religion we wish, but we do not have the freedom to define truth. Some may say well what about inquisitions, the Catholic killed many who chose to apostatize. I have not done an extensive study on the inquisitions; however, I know that the motives behind the inquisitions were good. They rooted out heresy for the greater good of the people. The Church was acting in accordance with the truth, that there is no salvation outside the Church. Later on I will touch on an interesting observation Coulombe makes in regard to history of countries which had inquisitions. Error 16 is self explanatory. It again reiterates the dogma "there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church". An interesting indicator which shows how this dogma has basically fallen away from mainstream belief, is the lack of missionary zeal to evangelize pagans today. You rarely hear of Jesuit heroes, going "forth to all nations baptizing in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit"(Jesus). People are extolled for how well they dialogue and omit truths of the faith all in the name of ecumenism. Missionary Martyrs are an almost extinct animal. Saints in times passed used to regularly pray for martyrdom, not so much now. ISIS puts us to shame on this level. As you can see some of the basic assumptions of america are flat out evil and can land you in Hell if you truly believe in them.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is a well known phrase in the Declaration of Independence. These are our inalienable right endowed by our creator, which are government is to protect. The right to happiness according to Coloumbe and Biersach, "is not the end all be all of human existence". They emphasis our eternal existence and our final destination whether that may be. Any other emphases, results in an idea where materialism becomes our goal -pursuing the American dream of wealth as our highest end. Now, being prosperous, owning land, etc. is good and absolutely what we hope to achieve temporally, but this is not the highest good -God should be our end.
The relativism of our culture is the poison which we have all drunk -not so much verbally, but in our lack of evangelization; we are apathetic Catholics. Catholics are supposed to believe in objective truth -the truths of Christ and His Church. If we do not fulfill some of His obligations, then we are damned. This may sound like legalism, but it is Christ's command. If these truths are not spoken to those without the Ark of Salvation, we commit sin. "Relativism is madness. Madness is not conforming the will to reality. Or which is like saying there is no objective reality to conform the will to. That is absolute nuttiness" (Coulombe).
I had a conversation with a coworker not long ago that was the most classic cookie cutter example of relativism you could find in a Christian apologetics book. I wont narrate the conversation, but the kicker line was "well that's your truth". When they said this, I realized I had a real-live relativist in my midst. This was both exciting and shocking. I believe I responded with the philosophical law of non-contradiction, but it pretty much just bounced off. I give this anecdote simply to say that there may be a relativist right under your nose -heck you might be a relativist. Don't just assume professed "kristians" are going to be sane either.
Lastly, we must see Americanism for what it is -Idolatry. To worship anything other than God is idolatry; this is evil. It is evil to worship ones country. This is akin to animism, worshiping the spirits of trees and animals, i.e. natural religion found in native cultures. This degenerates to worship of self, its motto being non serviam (I will not serve). Americanism is subverted worship of country and as we know all religions require some form of sacrifice to its God. Will you place the pinch of incense on the coals for your country?
Stay tuned for the next part of this series on patriotism.
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