We live in a relativist age in which it pays to be positive.

With that in mind there's a lot of repertoire to choose from.

Even secular stuff:



(Just beware what might happen if the artist is pressured to disassociate himself from you.)

"But WHAT are you protesting?"

What d'ya got?

Am I the only CMAA member to have ever heard Country Joe and the Fish sing that live?

I still have some protest buttons that I used to wear from my college days.

And, no, I'm not talking Vietnam, for those of you old enough to remember LBJ. I'm talking about Bush and Iraq, circa. 2003.

Country Joe and the Fish--WOW--they were at Woodstock!

I have a CD entitled "Songs of Protest." (all songs from the mid-to-late 60s). You may want to check some of this out. The content follows:

Where Have All the Flowers Gone, The Kingston Trio
Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire
With God on Our Side, Manfred Mann
Universal Soldier, Donovan
Laugh at Me, Sonny Bono
Let Me Be, The Turtles
It's Good News Week, Hedgehoppers Anonymous
I Ain't Marchin' Anymore, Phil Ochs
The "Fish" Cheer/I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag, Country Joe & The Fish
People Got to be Free, The Rascals
Sky Pilot, Eric Burdon & The Animals
Society's Child, Janis Ian
Abraham, Martin, and John, Dion
Ball of Confusion, The Temptations

I'm afraid the dark days aren't over, PGA. I became kind of a news junkie after my son Peter began explaining all the ins and out of American politics to me---I never used to have the time or interest in it----but I don't like looking at the headlines any more. Now I'd far rather look at music scores on CPDL. : )

I think that's about the best spin possible on current events, PGA.

PGA,

It's a protest in defense of traditional marriage.

a CD entitled "Songs of Protest." (all songs from the mid-to-late 60s)

Sorry, can't help but think of:



...more here

Kathy's hymn would be a good choice then, right from the first stanza:

At the dawning of creation,
  God divided light from shade,
And he made us, male and female.
  In His image we were made.

How about a rousing rendition of God of Grace and God of Glory (Cum Rhondda). You gotta love verses 2-4. They don't spare any punches.

1 God of grace and God of glory,
on thy people pour thy power;
crown thine ancient church's story;
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour.

2 Lo! the hosts of evil round us
scorn thy Christ, assail his ways!
From the fears that long have bound us
free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the living of these days,
for the living of these days.

3 Cure thy children's warring madness;
bend our pride to thy control;
shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
lest we miss thy kingdom's goal,
lest we miss thy kingdom's goal.

4 Save us from weak resignation
to the evils we deplore.
Let the gift of thy salvation
be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving thee whom we adore,
serving thee whom we adore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oevNjFeWUyQ

It is tricky. Pope Benedict encouraged us to use natural law arguments rather than religious arguments to defend the traditional definition of marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation and union between the husband and wife.

The more religious we appear the more we fall into the trap of being seen as imposing religion on minorities.

The French example of counter-protest has managed to retain a secular character.

I think that while we can still exercise our First Amendment rights, we ought to use everything in our arsenal, every true argument and every true angle we can think of.

Not for nothing, but apropos this question of what and how much we should be proclaiming to the world in defense of the most basic moral issues, I just started reading Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quas Primas which deals with a subject commonly referred to as the doctrine of the Kingship of Christ, so this seems like an opportune time to take a look at what the Church has taught in this area.

(Lest anyone be tempted to think this doctrine is outdated, I think it's helpful to recall that Vatican II, in its Constitution on Religious Liberty stated in the beginning of the document that all previous magisterial teaching on the subject is to be reaffirmed.)

If you want to use everything in the arsenal, how about:

Battle Hymn of the Republic
Why Should Vain Mortals Tremble
Svyashchennaya Voyna

;-)

Ha, ha, Chrism. All kidding aside, anyone who believes in Quas primas today really is a believer because this encyclical, perennially valid---I'm sure we all remember that expression, the 'hermeneutic of continuity'----challenges us to think more deeply and go beyond what might be called "have a nice day theology," and I'm sure we all know what that is, but I think the doctrine of the Kingship of Christ as enunciated by Pope Pius XI and confirmed by Vatican II really does have some important implications.

More Catholics should be organizing/attending these protests so that other catholics join the fight.

I just don't believe that this will be effective. What are you hoping to accomplish?

More protesting, yelling in the streets, and carrying signs is exactly what we don't need.

Pope Francis has talked about turning down the volume, so to speak, on the "culture war" and "fighting the good fight" kind of talk. I really think that he's on to something.

We should demonstrate ways of Holy living by our own lives and witness, not by brow-beating others with whom we do not agree.

Well, this really is a providential discussion and is bringing up some issues that for some reason or other have not received the attention they deserve in the postConciliar years.

Now our friend Stimson is taking part in a protest vs. gay marriage while our other cautious friend, PGA, urges us to smoke an ecclesiastical peace pipe and focus on good examples and happy thoughts on what unites us rather than what divides us and basically refrain from emanating negative waves, man. (Something I have alot of sympathy with usually.)

I can't think of anything that unites us more as Catholics than the common profession of Faith illustrated so well in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Now this discussion has afforded an opportunity to go to the CCC and see what it teaches concerning what traditional moral theologians used to call 'sodomy.'

I was really surprised to learn that this is actually listed by the CCC as "one of the four sins that cry to heaven for vengeance."

Now I don't know what PGA thinks of the term "cries to heaven for vengeance" but that's what the CCC says, reminding us that God so hated (uh, oh, that's another troubling expression) this sin that He actually destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of it and turned the plain of Sodom into this:

The whole land will be covered with salt pits and burning sulfur, with nothing planted, nothing sprouting, and producing no vegetation (Deut. 29:23)

So, I think our friend Stimson is on the right track and is acting in a way that reflects the tone and tenor of the CCC's teaching on this issue.

Another question for another thread is why we never hear that the sin of Sodomy cries to heaven for vengeance but suffice to say this: Just because we never hear about this Biblical truth, does that make it any less real or true?

Another question for another thread is why we never hear that the sin of Sodomy cries to heaven for vengeance but suffice to say this: Just because we never hear about this Biblical truth, does that make it any less real or true?

How many other sins do we not hear about anymore? How about divorce? If John the Baptist were alive today, he would not be put to death. Good old John would say, "I understand Herod, how tempting your brother's wife was to you. Let's go see the marriage tribunal and get everything squared away. It's not a big deal. We can fix this." So what was once a sin - divorce - is now fixed by annulment - Catholic divorce. So much for the Church holding fast to "truth." BTW, just what is in that ecclesiastical peace pipe anyway? ;-)

LOL

Charles it seems that you are a little bitter on the annulment process.
This also belongs in another thread or another forum but you do know that annulments are not Catholic divorce right?
There is no separating what God has joined together. The Church is simply declaring that a union never really happened in the first place.
It might not seem like a difference but it is a huge difference. Annulments are not just handed out and I know a lot of people who are very upset at the church for denying their Catholic divorce.

Quit your 'Meanness' indeed . . . this is the Church of NICE!

I have no bitterness toward annulments and have not personally experienced them. I know someone whose long-term marriage was annulled for the most frivolous of reasons. The annulment grounds were preposterous.

What I was getting at above, was that the Church emphasizes the wrongness of particular sins more at some times than at others. There are sins that are the fashionable topics to attack, then they go out of fashion and something else gets the limelight. It's been that way for 2,000 years. Name the sin you want to righteously hate, and there is a time period when folks took to the street to condemn it. There is probably a cultural context at work in this somewhere. So far, I have lived through the divorce wars, the birth control wars, the abortion wars, and it seems the same sex marriage wars are the current item of contention.

I like "Quit Your Meanness." I am saving this one for future reference. ;-)

By the way, PAX, since you mentioned protesting the Iraq War, I must ask - did you ever read Neo-Conned! ?