CATHOLIC BISHOPS ADDRESS EPIDEMIC OF ALIENATED YOUTH

    There are some positive signs on the horizon that Conservative and Christians are finally beginning to address the growing problem of sociopolitical radicalization of Western youth. Shortly after the monumental decision by the Southern Baptist Convention to disavow the Red Pill/Alt-Right as an anti-Christian cult; the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a resolution for the upcoming Synod on Youth.

     The US Bishops agreed that the most important problem facing American youth is Alienation. Cardinal Tobin of the Newark Archdiocese stated that "the clearly increasing numbers of disconnected Millennials is certainly a concern for us, as is the decline and delay of traditional marriage among the young." 

      "Many young people are struggling with Racism prevalent in society," Bishop Soto added in a statement to the press, "They feel angry and disconnected from the political process. The Church needs to consider how to engage these disaffected youth who feel disowned by traditional institutions."

       Bishop Soto is from Sacramento and has no doubt witnessed the results of this alienation first-hand. North-Central California has been the scene of some of the most violent politically-motivated demonstrations executed by elements of both the Far Left and the Alt-Right. Last year in Sacramento, an riot over the 2016 Elections between Antifa and Nazi Skinheads resulted in seven people being stabbed on the steps of the State Capitol.

      Bishop Barron of Los Angeles---another hotbed of youth violence---stated that the Church's Message seemed 'opaque' to many youth, who are susceptible to the wiles of radical sophistry. The Bishop proposed a 'new apologetics' that connects the Truth of Faith with science as a way of clearing intellectual confusion. As we are all well aware, pseudoscience is a huge recruiting tool for radicals: Marxist socioeconomic theories and the Red Pill Movement being outstanding examples.

       "The Church cannot, nor does she wish to, abandon young people to the isolation and exclusion to which the world exposes them." Archbishop Chaput wrote. And again, as we've noted, radicals prey on those who feel isolated and excluded. The central issue therefore is to devise a way to appeal to youth by involving them in a greater purpose. Many of the Bishops noted that a hopeful sign among young people is a thirst for greater spiritual connection; particularly through what the Church terms, the Divine Mysteries.

        Dr. John Cavadini, a theology professor at Notre Dame, praised the Bishop's Resolution and offered that encouraging the young to reflect on the Sacraments and Mysteries bring them closer to Christ through cultivating spiritual discernment.

       "Meditating on the Mystery of the Church is not thinking about it as a charter or a constitution of some club. Rather, it is about meditating on the Wounds of Christ from which His Most Precious Blood flowed, which is the real birth of the Church. Meditating on one's dwelling within, or even near, the Wounds of Christ brings about an intimacy of Love to which one's only response can be thankfulness to God.

        "The one who loves the Church loves the Love Who had no contempt for anybody human, but did not spare Himself. He didn't back away from that solidarity, even when the penalty was death. Rather, He received the blow and so transfigured the whole of human solidarity from solidarity in sin to solidarity in His Love. The Church is the Sacrament of that solidarity in the world; a solidarity which the world cannot give itself, which does not come from the world, yet is for the world."

         Cavadini is correct; and therein lies the power of the Church---its ability to unite in love rather than divide in hate, as the extremists wish to do. The Left may sneer at the Church as 'an opiate' and the Right may sneer that the Church is 'cucked'; the fact is that neither can bring solidarity or contribute to human progress because their premises never rise higher than the immediate, material world. Consequently, neither does their morality; thus the extremists on both sides have to keep their followers embroiled in a perpetual state of anger and fear to motivate them. For example, one Red Pill blogger today proclaimed that the SBC resolution would "lead to dead Conservatives" while yesterday a Left-Wing blogger announced that Trump's policies "were tantamount to Genocide." It's obvious that people like these have no interest in peace.

         The Synod is scheduled for 2018 in Vatican City.