|
Post by rachelcarson1953 on Aug 15, 2022 16:21:13 GMT
IMDB2.freeforums.net/thread/309131/blurring-politics-religion-rosaries-bulletsI posted this same thing on the Politics board, and no one seemed too shook up about it. The Atlantic How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol Opinion by Daniel Panneton - 8h ago Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or “rad trad”) Catholics. On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal. (Click on the image to see bullet holes in a circular pattern in place of rosary beads with a cross at the bottom.) This image has been reduced by 0.8%. Click to view full size. Guns and Rosaries© John J. Custer; The Atlantic Their social-media pages are saturated with images of rosaries draped over firearms, warriors in prayer, Deus Vult (“God wills it”) crusader memes, and exhortations for men to rise up and become Church Militants. Influencers on platforms such as Instagram share posts referencing “everyday carry” and “gat check” (gat is slang for “firearm”) that include soldiers’ “battle beads,” handguns, and assault rifles. One artist posts illustrations of his favorite Catholic saints, clergy, and influencers toting AR-15-style rifles labeled SANCTUM ROSARIUM alongside violently homophobic screeds that are celebrated by social-media accounts with thousands of followers. The theologian and historian Massimo Faggioli has described a network of conservative Catholic bloggers and commentary organizations as a “Catholic cyber-militia” that actively campaigns against LGBTQ acceptance in the Church. These rad-trad rosary-as-weapon memes represent a social-media diffusion of such messaging, and they work to integrate ultraconservative Catholicism with other aspects of online far-right culture. The phenomenon might be tempting to dismiss as mere trolling or merchandising, and ironical provocations based on traditionalist Catholic symbols do exist, but the far right’s constellations of violent, racist, and homophobic online milieus are well documented for providing a pathway to radicalization and real-world terrorist attacks. The rosary—in these hands—is anything but holy. But for millions of believers, the beads, which provide an aide-mémoire for a sequence of devotional prayers, are a widely recognized symbol of Catholicism and a source of strength. And many take genuine sustenance from Catholic theology’s concept of the Church Militant and the tradition of regarding the rosary as a weapon against Satan. As Pope Francis said in a 2020 address, “There is no path to holiness … without spiritual combat,” and Francis is only one of many Church officials who have endorsed the idea of the rosary as an armament in that fight. In mainstream Catholicism, the rosary-as-weapon is not an intrinsically harmful interpretation of the sacramental, and this symbolism has a long history. In the 1930s and ’40s, the ultramontane Catholic student publication Jeunesse Étudiante Catholique regularly used the concept to rally the faithful. But the modern radical-traditionalist Catholic movement—which generally rejects the Second Vatican Council’s reforms—is far outside the majority opinion in the Roman Catholic Church in America. Many prominent American Catholic bishops advocate for gun control, and after the Uvalde school shooting, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, lamented the way some Americans “sacralize death’s instruments.” Militia culture, a fetishism of Western civilization, and masculinist anxieties have become mainstays of the far right in the U.S.—and rad-trad Catholics have now taken up residence in this company. Their social-media accounts commonly promote accelerationist and survivalist content, along with combat-medical and tactical training, as well as memes depicting balaclava-clad gunmen that draw on the “terrorwave” or “warcore” aesthetic that is popular in far-right circles. Like such networks, radical-traditional Catholics sustain their own cottage industry of goods and services that reinforces the radicalization. Rosaries are common among the merchandise on offer—some made of cartridge casings, and complete with gun-metal-finish crucifixes. One Catholic online store, which describes itself as “dedicated to offering battle-ready products and manuals to ‘stand firm against the tactics of the devil’” (a New Testament reference), sells replicas of the rosaries issued to American soldiers during the First World War as “combat rosaries.” Discerning consumers can also buy a “concealed carry” permit for their combat rosary and a sacramental storage box resembling an ammunition can. In 2016, the pontifical Swiss Guard accepted a donation of combat rosaries; during a ceremony at the Vatican, their commander described the gift as “the most powerful weapon that exists on the market.”The militarism also glorifies a warrior mentality and notions of manliness and male strength. This conflation of the masculine and the military is rooted in wider anxieties about Catholic manhood—the idea that it is in crisis has some currency among senior Church figures and lay organizations. In 2015, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix issued an apostolic exhortation calling for a renewal of traditional conceptions of Catholic masculinity titled “Into the Breach,” which led the Knights of Columbus, an influential fraternal order, to produce a video series promoting Olmsted’s ideas. But among radical-traditional Catholic men, such concerns take an extremist turn, rooted in fantasies of violently defending one’s family and church from marauders. The rosary-as-weapon also gives rad-trad Catholic men both a distinctive signifier within Christian nationalism and a sort of membership pass to the movement. As the sociologists Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry note in Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, Catholics used to be regarded as enemies by Christian nationalists, and anti-Catholic nativism runs deep in American history. Today, Catholics are a growing contingent of Christian nationalism. Helping unite these former rivals is a quasi-theological doctrine of what Perry and another sociologist, Philip S. Gorski, have called “righteous violence” against political enemies regarded as demonic or satanic, be they secularists, progressives, or Jews. The hostility toward liberalism and secularism inherent in traditionalist Catholicism is also pronounced within Christian nationalist circles. No longer stigmatized by evangelical nationalists, Catholic imagery now blends freely with staple alt-right memes that romanticize ancient Rome or idealize the traditional patriarchal family. Some doctrinal differences and divisions remain. Many radical-traditional Catholic men maintain the hard-line position that other forms of Christianity are heretical, and hold that Catholics alone adhere to the one true Church. Christian nationalism’s nativism and its predilection for “Great Replacement” theory alienate some radical-traditional Catholics who are not white or who were not born in the United States, and deep veins of anti-Catholicism persist among far-right Protestants. Yet the convergence within Christian nationalism is cemented in common causes such as hostility toward abortion-rights advocates. The pro-choice protests that followed the leaked early draft of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, led to a profusion of social-media posts on the far right fantasizing about killing activists, and such forums responded to Pride month this year with extremist homophobic and transphobic “groomer” discourse. Rad-trad networks are also involved in organizing rosary-branded events that involve weapons training. Catholics are taught to love and forgive their enemies, that to do otherwise is a sin. But the extremist understanding of spiritual warfare overrides that command. To do battle with Satan—whose influence in the world is, according to Catholic demonology, real and menacing—is to deploy violence for deliverance and redemption. The “battle beads” culture of spiritual warfare permits radical-traditional Catholics literally to demonize their political opponents and regard the use of armed force against them as sanctified. The sacramental rosary isn’t just a spiritual weapon but one that comes with physical ammunition.
|
|
|
Post by clusium on Aug 15, 2022 19:35:49 GMT
IMDB2.freeforums.net/thread/309131/blurring-politics-religion-rosaries-bulletsI posted this same thing on the Politics board, and no one seemed too shook up about it. The Atlantic How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol Opinion by Daniel Panneton - 8h ago Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or “rad trad”) Catholics. On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal. (Click on the image to see bullet holes in a circular pattern in place of rosary beads with a cross at the bottom.) This image has been reduced by 0.8%. Click to view full size. Guns and Rosaries© John J. Custer; The Atlantic Their social-media pages are saturated with images of rosaries draped over firearms, warriors in prayer, Deus Vult (“God wills it”) crusader memes, and exhortations for men to rise up and become Church Militants. Influencers on platforms such as Instagram share posts referencing “everyday carry” and “gat check” (gat is slang for “firearm”) that include soldiers’ “battle beads,” handguns, and assault rifles. One artist posts illustrations of his favorite Catholic saints, clergy, and influencers toting AR-15-style rifles labeled SANCTUM ROSARIUM alongside violently homophobic screeds that are celebrated by social-media accounts with thousands of followers. The theologian and historian Massimo Faggioli has described a network of conservative Catholic bloggers and commentary organizations as a “Catholic cyber-militia” that actively campaigns against LGBTQ acceptance in the Church. These rad-trad rosary-as-weapon memes represent a social-media diffusion of such messaging, and they work to integrate ultraconservative Catholicism with other aspects of online far-right culture. The phenomenon might be tempting to dismiss as mere trolling or merchandising, and ironical provocations based on traditionalist Catholic symbols do exist, but the far right’s constellations of violent, racist, and homophobic online milieus are well documented for providing a pathway to radicalization and real-world terrorist attacks. The rosary—in these hands—is anything but holy. But for millions of believers, the beads, which provide an aide-mémoire for a sequence of devotional prayers, are a widely recognized symbol of Catholicism and a source of strength. And many take genuine sustenance from Catholic theology’s concept of the Church Militant and the tradition of regarding the rosary as a weapon against Satan. As Pope Francis said in a 2020 address, “There is no path to holiness … without spiritual combat,” and Francis is only one of many Church officials who have endorsed the idea of the rosary as an armament in that fight. In mainstream Catholicism, the rosary-as-weapon is not an intrinsically harmful interpretation of the sacramental, and this symbolism has a long history. In the 1930s and ’40s, the ultramontane Catholic student publication Jeunesse Étudiante Catholique regularly used the concept to rally the faithful. But the modern radical-traditionalist Catholic movement—which generally rejects the Second Vatican Council’s reforms—is far outside the majority opinion in the Roman Catholic Church in America. Many prominent American Catholic bishops advocate for gun control, and after the Uvalde school shooting, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, lamented the way some Americans “sacralize death’s instruments.” Militia culture, a fetishism of Western civilization, and masculinist anxieties have become mainstays of the far right in the U.S.—and rad-trad Catholics have now taken up residence in this company. Their social-media accounts commonly promote accelerationist and survivalist content, along with combat-medical and tactical training, as well as memes depicting balaclava-clad gunmen that draw on the “terrorwave” or “warcore” aesthetic that is popular in far-right circles. Like such networks, radical-traditional Catholics sustain their own cottage industry of goods and services that reinforces the radicalization. Rosaries are common among the merchandise on offer—some made of cartridge casings, and complete with gun-metal-finish crucifixes. One Catholic online store, which describes itself as “dedicated to offering battle-ready products and manuals to ‘stand firm against the tactics of the devil’” (a New Testament reference), sells replicas of the rosaries issued to American soldiers during the First World War as “combat rosaries.” Discerning consumers can also buy a “concealed carry” permit for their combat rosary and a sacramental storage box resembling an ammunition can. In 2016, the pontifical Swiss Guard accepted a donation of combat rosaries; during a ceremony at the Vatican, their commander described the gift as “the most powerful weapon that exists on the market.”The militarism also glorifies a warrior mentality and notions of manliness and male strength. This conflation of the masculine and the military is rooted in wider anxieties about Catholic manhood—the idea that it is in crisis has some currency among senior Church figures and lay organizations. In 2015, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix issued an apostolic exhortation calling for a renewal of traditional conceptions of Catholic masculinity titled “Into the Breach,” which led the Knights of Columbus, an influential fraternal order, to produce a video series promoting Olmsted’s ideas. But among radical-traditional Catholic men, such concerns take an extremist turn, rooted in fantasies of violently defending one’s family and church from marauders. The rosary-as-weapon also gives rad-trad Catholic men both a distinctive signifier within Christian nationalism and a sort of membership pass to the movement. As the sociologists Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry note in Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, Catholics used to be regarded as enemies by Christian nationalists, and anti-Catholic nativism runs deep in American history. Today, Catholics are a growing contingent of Christian nationalism. Helping unite these former rivals is a quasi-theological doctrine of what Perry and another sociologist, Philip S. Gorski, have called “righteous violence” against political enemies regarded as demonic or satanic, be they secularists, progressives, or Jews. The hostility toward liberalism and secularism inherent in traditionalist Catholicism is also pronounced within Christian nationalist circles. No longer stigmatized by evangelical nationalists, Catholic imagery now blends freely with staple alt-right memes that romanticize ancient Rome or idealize the traditional patriarchal family. Some doctrinal differences and divisions remain. Many radical-traditional Catholic men maintain the hard-line position that other forms of Christianity are heretical, and hold that Catholics alone adhere to the one true Church. Christian nationalism’s nativism and its predilection for “Great Replacement” theory alienate some radical-traditional Catholics who are not white or who were not born in the United States, and deep veins of anti-Catholicism persist among far-right Protestants. Yet the convergence within Christian nationalism is cemented in common causes such as hostility toward abortion-rights advocates. The pro-choice protests that followed the leaked early draft of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, led to a profusion of social-media posts on the far right fantasizing about killing activists, and such forums responded to Pride month this year with extremist homophobic and transphobic “groomer” discourse. Rad-trad networks are also involved in organizing rosary-branded events that involve weapons training. Catholics are taught to love and forgive their enemies, that to do otherwise is a sin. But the extremist understanding of spiritual warfare overrides that command. To do battle with Satan—whose influence in the world is, according to Catholic demonology, real and menacing—is to deploy violence for deliverance and redemption. The “battle beads” culture of spiritual warfare permits radical-traditional Catholics literally to demonize their political opponents and regard the use of armed force against them as sanctified. The sacramental rosary isn’t just a spiritual weapon but one that comes with physical ammunition. That article has been ridiculed on Twitter.
|
|
|
Post by Isapop on Aug 15, 2022 21:39:57 GMT
That article has been ridiculed on Twitter. Which could be easily taken as either a disparagement or an endorsement.
|
|
|
Post by clusium on Aug 15, 2022 22:52:22 GMT
That article has been ridiculed on Twitter. Which could be easily taken as either a disparagement or an endorsement. That, is basically how those people are treating the article.
|
|
The Lost One
Junior Member
@lostkiera
Posts: 2,668
Likes: 1,290
|
Post by The Lost One on Aug 16, 2022 8:36:56 GMT
The idea of rosaries as a symbol of masculine strength is kinda funny considering the only people I ever see with them are little old ladies.
|
|
|
Post by clusium on Aug 17, 2022 22:38:55 GMT
|
|
|
Post by amyghost on Aug 24, 2022 18:20:32 GMT
IMDB2.freeforums.net/thread/309131/blurring-politics-religion-rosaries-bulletsI posted this same thing on the Politics board, and no one seemed too shook up about it. The Atlantic How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol Opinion by Daniel Panneton - 8h ago Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or “rad trad”) Catholics. On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal. (Click on the image to see bullet holes in a circular pattern in place of rosary beads with a cross at the bottom.) This image has been reduced by 0.8%. Click to view full size. Guns and Rosaries© John J. Custer; The Atlantic Their social-media pages are saturated with images of rosaries draped over firearms, warriors in prayer, Deus Vult (“God wills it”) crusader memes, and exhortations for men to rise up and become Church Militants. Influencers on platforms such as Instagram share posts referencing “everyday carry” and “gat check” (gat is slang for “firearm”) that include soldiers’ “battle beads,” handguns, and assault rifles. One artist posts illustrations of his favorite Catholic saints, clergy, and influencers toting AR-15-style rifles labeled SANCTUM ROSARIUM alongside violently homophobic screeds that are celebrated by social-media accounts with thousands of followers. The theologian and historian Massimo Faggioli has described a network of conservative Catholic bloggers and commentary organizations as a “Catholic cyber-militia” that actively campaigns against LGBTQ acceptance in the Church. These rad-trad rosary-as-weapon memes represent a social-media diffusion of such messaging, and they work to integrate ultraconservative Catholicism with other aspects of online far-right culture. The phenomenon might be tempting to dismiss as mere trolling or merchandising, and ironical provocations based on traditionalist Catholic symbols do exist, but the far right’s constellations of violent, racist, and homophobic online milieus are well documented for providing a pathway to radicalization and real-world terrorist attacks. The rosary—in these hands—is anything but holy. But for millions of believers, the beads, which provide an aide-mémoire for a sequence of devotional prayers, are a widely recognized symbol of Catholicism and a source of strength. And many take genuine sustenance from Catholic theology’s concept of the Church Militant and the tradition of regarding the rosary as a weapon against Satan. As Pope Francis said in a 2020 address, “There is no path to holiness … without spiritual combat,” and Francis is only one of many Church officials who have endorsed the idea of the rosary as an armament in that fight. In mainstream Catholicism, the rosary-as-weapon is not an intrinsically harmful interpretation of the sacramental, and this symbolism has a long history. In the 1930s and ’40s, the ultramontane Catholic student publication Jeunesse Étudiante Catholique regularly used the concept to rally the faithful. But the modern radical-traditionalist Catholic movement—which generally rejects the Second Vatican Council’s reforms—is far outside the majority opinion in the Roman Catholic Church in America. Many prominent American Catholic bishops advocate for gun control, and after the Uvalde school shooting, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, lamented the way some Americans “sacralize death’s instruments.” Militia culture, a fetishism of Western civilization, and masculinist anxieties have become mainstays of the far right in the U.S.—and rad-trad Catholics have now taken up residence in this company. Their social-media accounts commonly promote accelerationist and survivalist content, along with combat-medical and tactical training, as well as memes depicting balaclava-clad gunmen that draw on the “terrorwave” or “warcore” aesthetic that is popular in far-right circles. Like such networks, radical-traditional Catholics sustain their own cottage industry of goods and services that reinforces the radicalization. Rosaries are common among the merchandise on offer—some made of cartridge casings, and complete with gun-metal-finish crucifixes. One Catholic online store, which describes itself as “dedicated to offering battle-ready products and manuals to ‘stand firm against the tactics of the devil’” (a New Testament reference), sells replicas of the rosaries issued to American soldiers during the First World War as “combat rosaries.” Discerning consumers can also buy a “concealed carry” permit for their combat rosary and a sacramental storage box resembling an ammunition can. In 2016, the pontifical Swiss Guard accepted a donation of combat rosaries; during a ceremony at the Vatican, their commander described the gift as “the most powerful weapon that exists on the market.”The militarism also glorifies a warrior mentality and notions of manliness and male strength. This conflation of the masculine and the military is rooted in wider anxieties about Catholic manhood—the idea that it is in crisis has some currency among senior Church figures and lay organizations. In 2015, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix issued an apostolic exhortation calling for a renewal of traditional conceptions of Catholic masculinity titled “Into the Breach,” which led the Knights of Columbus, an influential fraternal order, to produce a video series promoting Olmsted’s ideas. But among radical-traditional Catholic men, such concerns take an extremist turn, rooted in fantasies of violently defending one’s family and church from marauders. The rosary-as-weapon also gives rad-trad Catholic men both a distinctive signifier within Christian nationalism and a sort of membership pass to the movement. As the sociologists Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry note in Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, Catholics used to be regarded as enemies by Christian nationalists, and anti-Catholic nativism runs deep in American history. Today, Catholics are a growing contingent of Christian nationalism. Helping unite these former rivals is a quasi-theological doctrine of what Perry and another sociologist, Philip S. Gorski, have called “righteous violence” against political enemies regarded as demonic or satanic, be they secularists, progressives, or Jews. The hostility toward liberalism and secularism inherent in traditionalist Catholicism is also pronounced within Christian nationalist circles. No longer stigmatized by evangelical nationalists, Catholic imagery now blends freely with staple alt-right memes that romanticize ancient Rome or idealize the traditional patriarchal family. Some doctrinal differences and divisions remain. Many radical-traditional Catholic men maintain the hard-line position that other forms of Christianity are heretical, and hold that Catholics alone adhere to the one true Church. Christian nationalism’s nativism and its predilection for “Great Replacement” theory alienate some radical-traditional Catholics who are not white or who were not born in the United States, and deep veins of anti-Catholicism persist among far-right Protestants. Yet the convergence within Christian nationalism is cemented in common causes such as hostility toward abortion-rights advocates. The pro-choice protests that followed the leaked early draft of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, led to a profusion of social-media posts on the far right fantasizing about killing activists, and such forums responded to Pride month this year with extremist homophobic and transphobic “groomer” discourse. Rad-trad networks are also involved in organizing rosary-branded events that involve weapons training. Catholics are taught to love and forgive their enemies, that to do otherwise is a sin. But the extremist understanding of spiritual warfare overrides that command. To do battle with Satan—whose influence in the world is, according to Catholic demonology, real and menacing—is to deploy violence for deliverance and redemption. The “battle beads” culture of spiritual warfare permits radical-traditional Catholics literally to demonize their political opponents and regard the use of armed force against them as sanctified. The sacramental rosary isn’t just a spiritual weapon but one that comes with physical ammunition. I'm not surprised by this. Militant Catholicism is becoming more and more prevalent in developing nations where the Catholic religion is gaining increasing foothold and influence. It might yet be behind militant Islam as an ominous cultural and societal force, but its doing its' damnedest to catch up.
|
|
|
Post by clusium on Aug 24, 2022 19:12:10 GMT
IMDB2.freeforums.net/thread/309131/blurring-politics-religion-rosaries-bulletsI posted this same thing on the Politics board, and no one seemed too shook up about it. The Atlantic How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol Opinion by Daniel Panneton - 8h ago Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or “rad trad”) Catholics. On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal. (Click on the image to see bullet holes in a circular pattern in place of rosary beads with a cross at the bottom.) This image has been reduced by 0.8%. Click to view full size. Guns and Rosaries© John J. Custer; The Atlantic Their social-media pages are saturated with images of rosaries draped over firearms, warriors in prayer, Deus Vult (“God wills it”) crusader memes, and exhortations for men to rise up and become Church Militants. Influencers on platforms such as Instagram share posts referencing “everyday carry” and “gat check” (gat is slang for “firearm”) that include soldiers’ “battle beads,” handguns, and assault rifles. One artist posts illustrations of his favorite Catholic saints, clergy, and influencers toting AR-15-style rifles labeled SANCTUM ROSARIUM alongside violently homophobic screeds that are celebrated by social-media accounts with thousands of followers. The theologian and historian Massimo Faggioli has described a network of conservative Catholic bloggers and commentary organizations as a “Catholic cyber-militia” that actively campaigns against LGBTQ acceptance in the Church. These rad-trad rosary-as-weapon memes represent a social-media diffusion of such messaging, and they work to integrate ultraconservative Catholicism with other aspects of online far-right culture. The phenomenon might be tempting to dismiss as mere trolling or merchandising, and ironical provocations based on traditionalist Catholic symbols do exist, but the far right’s constellations of violent, racist, and homophobic online milieus are well documented for providing a pathway to radicalization and real-world terrorist attacks. The rosary—in these hands—is anything but holy. But for millions of believers, the beads, which provide an aide-mémoire for a sequence of devotional prayers, are a widely recognized symbol of Catholicism and a source of strength. And many take genuine sustenance from Catholic theology’s concept of the Church Militant and the tradition of regarding the rosary as a weapon against Satan. As Pope Francis said in a 2020 address, “There is no path to holiness … without spiritual combat,” and Francis is only one of many Church officials who have endorsed the idea of the rosary as an armament in that fight. In mainstream Catholicism, the rosary-as-weapon is not an intrinsically harmful interpretation of the sacramental, and this symbolism has a long history. In the 1930s and ’40s, the ultramontane Catholic student publication Jeunesse Étudiante Catholique regularly used the concept to rally the faithful. But the modern radical-traditionalist Catholic movement—which generally rejects the Second Vatican Council’s reforms—is far outside the majority opinion in the Roman Catholic Church in America. Many prominent American Catholic bishops advocate for gun control, and after the Uvalde school shooting, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, lamented the way some Americans “sacralize death’s instruments.” Militia culture, a fetishism of Western civilization, and masculinist anxieties have become mainstays of the far right in the U.S.—and rad-trad Catholics have now taken up residence in this company. Their social-media accounts commonly promote accelerationist and survivalist content, along with combat-medical and tactical training, as well as memes depicting balaclava-clad gunmen that draw on the “terrorwave” or “warcore” aesthetic that is popular in far-right circles. Like such networks, radical-traditional Catholics sustain their own cottage industry of goods and services that reinforces the radicalization. Rosaries are common among the merchandise on offer—some made of cartridge casings, and complete with gun-metal-finish crucifixes. One Catholic online store, which describes itself as “dedicated to offering battle-ready products and manuals to ‘stand firm against the tactics of the devil’” (a New Testament reference), sells replicas of the rosaries issued to American soldiers during the First World War as “combat rosaries.” Discerning consumers can also buy a “concealed carry” permit for their combat rosary and a sacramental storage box resembling an ammunition can. In 2016, the pontifical Swiss Guard accepted a donation of combat rosaries; during a ceremony at the Vatican, their commander described the gift as “the most powerful weapon that exists on the market.”The militarism also glorifies a warrior mentality and notions of manliness and male strength. This conflation of the masculine and the military is rooted in wider anxieties about Catholic manhood—the idea that it is in crisis has some currency among senior Church figures and lay organizations. In 2015, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix issued an apostolic exhortation calling for a renewal of traditional conceptions of Catholic masculinity titled “Into the Breach,” which led the Knights of Columbus, an influential fraternal order, to produce a video series promoting Olmsted’s ideas. But among radical-traditional Catholic men, such concerns take an extremist turn, rooted in fantasies of violently defending one’s family and church from marauders. The rosary-as-weapon also gives rad-trad Catholic men both a distinctive signifier within Christian nationalism and a sort of membership pass to the movement. As the sociologists Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry note in Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, Catholics used to be regarded as enemies by Christian nationalists, and anti-Catholic nativism runs deep in American history. Today, Catholics are a growing contingent of Christian nationalism. Helping unite these former rivals is a quasi-theological doctrine of what Perry and another sociologist, Philip S. Gorski, have called “righteous violence” against political enemies regarded as demonic or satanic, be they secularists, progressives, or Jews. The hostility toward liberalism and secularism inherent in traditionalist Catholicism is also pronounced within Christian nationalist circles. No longer stigmatized by evangelical nationalists, Catholic imagery now blends freely with staple alt-right memes that romanticize ancient Rome or idealize the traditional patriarchal family. Some doctrinal differences and divisions remain. Many radical-traditional Catholic men maintain the hard-line position that other forms of Christianity are heretical, and hold that Catholics alone adhere to the one true Church. Christian nationalism’s nativism and its predilection for “Great Replacement” theory alienate some radical-traditional Catholics who are not white or who were not born in the United States, and deep veins of anti-Catholicism persist among far-right Protestants. Yet the convergence within Christian nationalism is cemented in common causes such as hostility toward abortion-rights advocates. The pro-choice protests that followed the leaked early draft of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, led to a profusion of social-media posts on the far right fantasizing about killing activists, and such forums responded to Pride month this year with extremist homophobic and transphobic “groomer” discourse. Rad-trad networks are also involved in organizing rosary-branded events that involve weapons training. Catholics are taught to love and forgive their enemies, that to do otherwise is a sin. But the extremist understanding of spiritual warfare overrides that command. To do battle with Satan—whose influence in the world is, according to Catholic demonology, real and menacing—is to deploy violence for deliverance and redemption. The “battle beads” culture of spiritual warfare permits radical-traditional Catholics literally to demonize their political opponents and regard the use of armed force against them as sanctified. The sacramental rosary isn’t just a spiritual weapon but one that comes with physical ammunition. I'm not surprised by this. Militant Catholicism is becoming more and more prevalent in developing nations where the Catholic religion is gaining increasing foothold and influence. It might yet be behind militant Islam as an ominous cultural and societal force, but its doing its' damnedest to catch up. Whether or not there are potentially terrorist prone fanatics within the Catholic Church or any other Christian denomination, equating the Holy Rosary with the terrorist acts of the likes of ISIL, al Qaida, etc., is frankly ridiculous, & has been heckled on Twitter & other social media websites. Spiritual Warfare is just that: warfare on the spiritual plane, rather than on the physical plane. In other words it is all about defending our own souls from the evil spirits, etc. Most religions use prayer meditation beads. Islam included. Prayer/Meditation Beads
However, fanatical terrorists from the Muslim religion do not use their tasbihs in their physical attacks on their intended targets (where they use them to pray for victory over their supposed enemies, I don't know). They use bombs, guns, knives, etc. Therefore, comparing the Rosary & other types of Christian prayer beads to physical weapons and extremism is laughable, at best.
|
|
|
Post by amyghost on Aug 24, 2022 19:31:36 GMT
I'm not surprised by this. Militant Catholicism is becoming more and more prevalent in developing nations where the Catholic religion is gaining increasing foothold and influence. It might yet be behind militant Islam as an ominous cultural and societal force, but its doing its' damnedest to catch up. Whether or not there are potentially terrorist prone fanatics within the Catholic Church or any other Christian denomination, equating the Holy Rosary with the terrorist acts of the likes of ISIL, al Qaida, etc., is frankly ridiculous, & has been heckled on Twitter & other social media websites. Spiritual Warfare is just that: warfare on the spiritual plane, rather than on the physical plane. In other words it is all about defending our own souls from the evil spirits, etc. Most religions use prayer meditation beads. Islam included. Prayer/Meditation Beads
However, fanatical terrorists from the Muslim religion do not use their tasbihs in their physical attacks on their intended targets (where they use them to pray for victory over their supposed enemies, I don't know). They use bombs, guns, knives, etc. Therefore, comparing the Rosary & other types of Christian prayer beads to physical weapons and extremism is laughable, at best. No, sorry, but the comparison of deliberately weaponized religious imagery and physical talismans to weapons such as guns and bombs isn't at all laughable. Such imagery and tokens exert a powerful hold over their respect believers' consciousness and behavior, as the centuries-long continued and powerful prevalance of their use demonstrates. Just as the Quran (a physical book, not an actual weapon of combat in the most literal sense) has been weaponized into such by militant Islam, so objects such as the rosary can also, and are being, employed in a like manner by militant Catholicism.
|
|
|
Post by clusium on Aug 24, 2022 19:37:27 GMT
Whether or not there are potentially terrorist prone fanatics within the Catholic Church or any other Christian denomination, equating the Holy Rosary with the terrorist acts of the likes of ISIL, al Qaida, etc., is frankly ridiculous, & has been heckled on Twitter & other social media websites. Spiritual Warfare is just that: warfare on the spiritual plane, rather than on the physical plane. In other words it is all about defending our own souls from the evil spirits, etc. Most religions use prayer meditation beads. Islam included. Prayer/Meditation Beads
However, fanatical terrorists from the Muslim religion do not use their tasbihs in their physical attacks on their intended targets (where they use them to pray for victory over their supposed enemies, I don't know). They use bombs, guns, knives, etc. Therefore, comparing the Rosary & other types of Christian prayer beads to physical weapons and extremism is laughable, at best. No, sorry, but the comparison of deliberately weaponized religious imagery and physical talismans to weapons such as guns and bombs isn't at all laughable. Such imagery and tokens exert a powerful hold over their respect believers' consciousness and behavior, as the centuries-long continued and powerful prevalance of their use demonstrates. Just as the Quran (a physical book, not an actual weapon of combat in the most literal sense) has been weaponized into such by militant Islam, so objects such as the rosary can also, and are being, employed in a like manner by militant Catholicism. Having developed a devotion for praying the Holy Rosary & have read many an online websites of spiritual warfare, I can assure you that when the Rosary is discussed in spiritual warfare, it means strictly that: SPIRITUAL WARFARE. Not physical. The Salvation Army uses a lot of military imagery & phrases, & yet we all know that they are not an actual army & have absolutely nothing to do with going to war, but, involving in much charity work.
|
|
|
Post by rachelcarson1953 on Aug 24, 2022 19:42:59 GMT
Whether or not there are potentially terrorist prone fanatics within the Catholic Church or any other Christian denomination, equating the Holy Rosary with the terrorist acts of the likes of ISIL, al Qaida, etc., is frankly ridiculous, & has been heckled on Twitter & other social media websites. Spiritual Warfare is just that: warfare on the spiritual plane, rather than on the physical plane. In other words it is all about defending our own souls from the evil spirits, etc. Most religions use prayer meditation beads. Islam included. Prayer/Meditation Beads
However, fanatical terrorists from the Muslim religion do not use their tasbihs in their physical attacks on their intended targets (where they use them to pray for victory over their supposed enemies, I don't know). They use bombs, guns, knives, etc. Therefore, comparing the Rosary & other types of Christian prayer beads to physical weapons and extremism is laughable, at best. No, sorry, but the comparison of deliberately weaponized religious imagery and physical talismans to weapons such as guns and bombs isn't at all laughable. Such imagery and tokens exert a powerful hold over their respect believers' consciousness and behavior, as the centuries-long continued and powerful prevalance of their use demonstrates. Just as the Quran (a physical book, not an actual weapon of combat in the most literal sense) has been weaponized into such by militant Islam, so objects such as the rosary can also, and are being, employed in a like manner by militant Catholicism. Yes, and outside the Quran is the verse of the sword, which further weaponizes their faith. And not to mention, as a kid in Sunday School and Training Union, I was skilled in "sword drills"; finding a certain verse in the Bible before someone else did. And this was in the 1960s. Southern Baptists created the "sword drill", I think.
|
|
|
Post by amyghost on Aug 24, 2022 19:43:40 GMT
No, sorry, but the comparison of deliberately weaponized religious imagery and physical talismans to weapons such as guns and bombs isn't at all laughable. Such imagery and tokens exert a powerful hold over their respect believers' consciousness and behavior, as the centuries-long continued and powerful prevalance of their use demonstrates. Just as the Quran (a physical book, not an actual weapon of combat in the most literal sense) has been weaponized into such by militant Islam, so objects such as the rosary can also, and are being, employed in a like manner by militant Catholicism. Having developed a devotion for praying the Holy Rosary & have read many an online websites of spiritual warfare, I can assure you that when the Rosary is discussed in spiritual warfare, it means strictly that: SPIRITUAL WARFARE. Not physical. The Salvation Army uses a lot of military imagery & phrases, & yet we all know that they are not an actual army & have absolutely nothing to do with going to war, but, involving in much charity work. 'Spiritual warfare' has often enough, throughout history, been translated into the actions of physical warfare for that defense to hold much water. (And I'm frequently rather confused by religions who claim to hold 'peace and enlightenment' as the highest spiritual good engaging in such concepts as 'spiritual warfare' to begin with.)
|
|
|
Post by rachelcarson1953 on Aug 24, 2022 19:51:14 GMT
Having developed a devotion for praying the Holy Rosary & have read many an online websites of spiritual warfare, I can assure you that when the Rosary is discussed in spiritual warfare, it means strictly that: SPIRITUAL WARFARE. Not physical. The Salvation Army uses a lot of military imagery & phrases, & yet we all know that they are not an actual army & have absolutely nothing to do with going to war, but, involving in much charity work. 'Spiritual warfare' has often enough, throughout history, been translated into the actions of physical warfare for that defense to hold much water. (And I'm frequently rather confused by religions who claim to hold 'peace and enlightenment' as the highest spiritual good engaging in such concepts as 'spiritual warfare' to begin with.) Ah, and then there is the Bible verse...
|
|
|
Post by amyghost on Aug 24, 2022 19:52:09 GMT
No, sorry, but the comparison of deliberately weaponized religious imagery and physical talismans to weapons such as guns and bombs isn't at all laughable. Such imagery and tokens exert a powerful hold over their respect believers' consciousness and behavior, as the centuries-long continued and powerful prevalance of their use demonstrates. Just as the Quran (a physical book, not an actual weapon of combat in the most literal sense) has been weaponized into such by militant Islam, so objects such as the rosary can also, and are being, employed in a like manner by militant Catholicism. Yes, and outside the Quran is the verse of the sword, which further weaponizes their faith. And not to mention, as a kid in Sunday School and Training Union, I was skilled in "sword drills"; finding a certain verse in the Bible before someone else did. And this was in the 1960s. Southern Baptists created the "sword drill", I think. Christianity frequently engages in the deliberate use of highly militaristic language and imagery to put across such concepts as The Army of God (or of The Lord). To think that this sort of thing isn't deliberately manipulated the better to spur the less sophisticated adherents on to worldly, as opposed to simply 'spiritual', actions in the real, physical world is naive in the extreme. However, those who would without hesitation agree that precisely this manner of manipulation of language and imagery is freely engaged in by the proponents of militant Islam will often be the first to deny that a like manipulation could be occurring among the more extreme branches of Western religions; in fact, many of these sorts will go so far as to deny that militant extremism even exists in any cogent way in the Western religions.
|
|
|
Post by amyghost on Aug 24, 2022 19:57:35 GMT
'Spiritual warfare' has often enough, throughout history, been translated into the actions of physical warfare for that defense to hold much water. (And I'm frequently rather confused by religions who claim to hold 'peace and enlightenment' as the highest spiritual good engaging in such concepts as 'spiritual warfare' to begin with.) Ah, and then there is the Bible verse... Not surprising. Those who hold with the one-dimensional view of Jesus as being no more than a pacifistic advocate of the most abject form of 'turn-the-other-cheek' nonviolence certainly haven't read their Gospel any too closely; had Jesus been merely that and not a fairly powerful advocate of forms of violent change, it's unlikely that either the Sanhedrin or the Roman government in Judea would have viewed him as being the undoubted threat to the social order that they clearly did.
|
|
|
Post by rachelcarson1953 on Aug 24, 2022 20:00:45 GMT
Ah, and then there is the Bible verse... Not surprising. Those who hold with the one-dimensional view of Jesus as being no more than a pacifistic advocate of the most abject form of 'turn-the-other-cheek' nonviolence certainly haven't read their Gospel any too closely; had Jesus been merely that and not a fairly powerful advocate of forms of violent change, it's unlikely that either the Sanhedrin or the Roman government in Judea would have viewed him as being the undoubted threat to the social order that they clearly did. Excellent point!
|
|
|
Post by clusium on Aug 24, 2022 20:33:21 GMT
Having developed a devotion for praying the Holy Rosary & have read many an online websites of spiritual warfare, I can assure you that when the Rosary is discussed in spiritual warfare, it means strictly that: SPIRITUAL WARFARE. Not physical. The Salvation Army uses a lot of military imagery & phrases, & yet we all know that they are not an actual army & have absolutely nothing to do with going to war, but, involving in much charity work. 'Spiritual warfare' has often enough, throughout history, been translated into the actions of physical warfare for that defense to hold much water. (And I'm frequently rather confused by religions who claim to hold 'peace and enlightenment' as the highest spiritual good engaging in such concepts as 'spiritual warfare' to begin with.) But, in the case of the Rosary, it refers to the Salvation of our souls.
|
|
|
Post by amyghost on Aug 26, 2022 23:36:33 GMT
'Spiritual warfare' has often enough, throughout history, been translated into the actions of physical warfare for that defense to hold much water. (And I'm frequently rather confused by religions who claim to hold 'peace and enlightenment' as the highest spiritual good engaging in such concepts as 'spiritual warfare' to begin with.) But, in the case of the Rosary, it refers to the Salvation of our souls. It refers to whatever the wielder of it wishes it to refer . In the case of Church Militant, this particular symbol has been taken to refer to an agent and weapon of warfare.
|
|