I\u2019m not. It\u2019s true. Don\u2019t worry if it doesn\u2019t makes sense at first. It\u2019s actually good if it doesn\u2019t make sense at first. Reason? Because on the surface, it doesn\u2019t appear to make sense. And it shouldn\u2019t make sense. The real problem is if the story does make sense.<\/p>\n
In October 1978, I was working a midnight shift on patrol as a street cop in a high-crime area of the Niagara Region. I was a 21 year-old, 3-year cop at that time. At 6:30 am, I received a call from the dispatcher: \u201cDomestic in progress. Two suspects. Possibly armed. Code 3. Unit to back.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>I was only 5 blocks from the house address. When I arrived, the front door was smashed open. I heard two voices screaming and swearing. Two men were in the kitchen. One guy was 58 years-old. The other guy was 35 years-old. There were 17 empty beer bottles on the kitchen table along with an empty whiskey bottle. Two ashtrays were loaded. Overflowing. The 58 year-old guy pointed to the 35 year-old guy and screamed, \u201cI want that guy out of the house! He called me a Catholic! Get him out now!\u201d Under the Trespass to Property Act<\/i>, you don\u2019t need a reason to kick a guest out of your house. As soon as you remove “visitor consent,” the visitor becomes a\u00a0 <\/span>“trespasser.” I told the 35 year-old guy he had to leave or he would get arrested. He refused to leave and called me a “pig” (with a obscenity in front of the word pig.” I told the 35 year-old guy, \u201cLast chance. He wants you out of the house.\u201d The 35 year-old guy said, \u201cI want HIM out of the house.\u201d I told the 35 year-old guy not to be difficult and leave. Then the 35 year-old guy said, \u201cWhy do I have to leave, I live here?\u201d Then I asked the 58 year-old guy, \u201cDo you live here?\u201d The 58 year-old guy said, \u201cNo. My son does,\u201d and pointed to the 35 year-old guy. I asked the 35 year-old guy, \u201cWho owns the house?\u201d He said, \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n Police Lesson #1: Don’t assume. Ask who owns the house the moment you arrive.<\/p>\n At that point, father and son threatened to kill each other. Easy decision to arrest both. Father and son both resisted arrest and fought with the cops.<\/p>\n At the police station, I said to the son who was drunk and high, \u201cJust so you know, I\u2019m Catholic.\u201d He said, \u201cSo am I.\u201d I said, \u201cYou called your Dad, a ‘Catholic.’ What\u2019s wrong with Catholics?\u201d He said,\u201dCome on\u2026you know what they\u2019re like.\u201d<\/p>\n I talked to the Dad who was drunk and high. I said, \u201cJust wondering\u2026 your son says he\u2019s Catholic but he called you a Catholic. What are you?\u201d<\/p>\n He said, \u201cWhat do you mean? Religion?\u201d I said, \u201cYes, religion. Just wondering so I make sense out of this.\u201d Dad said, \u201cWell, my parents said I\u2019m Catholic. That\u2019s all I\u2019m gonna say.\u201d I asked: \u201cJust curious. I\u2019m Catholic. Why does it insult you to be called Catholic?\u201d Dad asked, \u201cWhat? You don\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n I’m writing these blogs to try to invite discussion about the decline in attending Mass. What does this story have to do with the decline of Catholic Mass Attendance? Everything. Catholic Mass Absenteeism isn\u2019t new. It\u2019s Old. Dual meaning. It started in the Old Days and it started with Old People. “Old Days” is defined as, “long ago when the problem started to grow.” Old People is not defined just by age. Old People is defined by fatigue, at any age. Exhaustion. Humans feel old when they can\u2019t keep up any more. And when they can\u2019t keep up any more, they give up more. They give up what they used to fight for. Reason? They run out of gas. And they\u2019re too tired to admit it. Fatigue becomes the enemy of logic. Instead of making sense, they stop the fight to make sense. They settle for no sense. They find creative solutions such as bashing each other with words. Words that demand no effort, no exertion, no discomfort, no hardship. They settle for Easyship. Easyship, a word not in the English Dictionary, is one of the infinite examples of Post-Modernism. It describe a mentality that desires a marked departure from the past. Easyship is one reason why people bash each other with words that insult their religion and use it as an excuse to stop going to Church. If that statement doesn\u2019t make sense, it shouldn\u2019t. That\u2019s why it’s used as an excuse.<\/p>\n The domestic investigation I described was part of my journey in becoming a Bashing Expert. I\u2019m an expert in cop bashing, teacher bashing, Canadian Football-Coach bashing, Italian bashing, Southern-Italian bashing, Catholic bashing.<\/p>\n Cop bashing hasn\u2019t evolved in Post-Modernism. It\u2019s primitive. Cop bashers aren\u2019t creative. They\u2019re boring. They\u2019re unimaginative. They\u2019re old-school. They plagiarize. They copy, they cut & paste. Nothing original. During 15 years of policing, cop bashers never came up with anything original. Same old insults. “Pig.” “Pig,” accompanied by death threats, donut jokes. Nothing new. Cop bashing never evolved. Stuck in the past.<\/p>\n Same with teacher bashing. The day I became a college law-enforcement teacher, a cop I used to work with said, \u201cMust be nice. Now you get summers off, March break off, Christmas and Easter off.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Teacher bashers are primitive. No post-modernism. Nothing original. Same old teacher-bashing insults. Nothing Post-Modern.<\/p>\n Canadian Football-Coach bashing is boring. American football coaches call us soft. American football coaches call Canadian football coaches another bad word that I won\u2019t use in this article because the article would have to be X-Rated. It\u2019s an 8-letter word that starts with an “S” and ends in a “K.” Same old Canadian Football-Coach bashing. Nothing new. Nothing original. Nothing Post-Modern.<\/p>\n Italian-bashers are the worst copy-cats and plagiarists. “Dago,” “Wop.” “Greaseball.” “Spaghetti-bender.” All copycats. Plagiarism. Even when they put “Dumb” in front of each insult. Nothing new. Nothing original. Primitive. Nothing Post-Modern.<\/p>\n Southern-Italian bashing by Northern Italians? Same thing. Old. Nothing new. Nothing Post-Modern. Slanderous low stereotypical insults. Dual meaning: Low IQ and low character.<\/p>\n But Catholic bashing is a different story. It\u2019s creative. It\u2019s Post-Modern. It\u2019s evil. Pure evil. Don\u2019t Google, \u201cCatholic Bashing,” it\u2019s traumatic. You won\u2019t recover easily from what you read. Resist the temptation to Google, \u201cCatholic Bashing.\u201d Resist the temptation on all of your social media newsfeeds. It will take you six weeks to recover. Minimum.<\/p>\n Do not Google, \u201cMarco Rubio American Secretary of State.\u201d Secretary Rubio is Catholic. On Ash Wednesday last week, he appeared on cable TV with a cross on his forehead after receiving ashes at Mass. He kept the ashes on during the entire international, TV interview while talking about global issues\u2014for the entire world to see. If you Google, \u201cMarco Rubio,\u201d you won\u2019t have to type \u201ccross on his forehead\u201d because it appears automatically. Warning: Do not read the vile comments. Vile and evil have the exact same four letters for a reason. They are scrambled for a reason\u2014because they will scramble your mind and your thinking. Do not let your children or any adult loved ones Google, “Marco Rubio.\u201d Save their minds from poisoning. Reason? Post-Modern Catholic Bashing has reached next-level. The good news is that Marco Rubio had the guts to do it. He had the guts to put his Catholicism on full display in front of the entire world. More good news: He\u2019s part of the solution to this serious problem of low Mass attendance. But his message has been obscured because of Post-Modern Catholic bashing.<\/p>\n Word bashing is an expression of internal pain that is intended to cause external pain. Bashing with words is a solution used by immature, weak minds that are unwilling and incapable of finding a mature solution to a problem. What problem? Their Cognitive Dissonance. Cognitive Dissonance is the inner-conflict caused by contradiction\u2026 by crossing your heart, by ignoring your conscience, by knowing better but not doing better. Left unchecked, Cognitive Dissonance becomes a lifestyle of deception, a lifestyle of abandonment, a lifestyle of abdicating responsibilities. Left unresolved, Cognitive Dissonance burns relationships from the inside-out. Relationships with self, with other humans, with your conscience, with your soul, with The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Values, beliefs, character, and morality are abandoned. Then relationships and then health in mind-body-soul. A Cycle of Despair results from the vortex of lies, alibis, and denials.<\/p>\n Word bashing is a subconscious and <\/b>conscious attempt to separate from whoever and whatever causes pain that results from obligation. When obligation causes pain, the human mind searches for an escape, regardless of who gets hurt during the escape. Pain is transferable. Someone\u2019s pain-relief becomes someone\u2019s killer-pain. The cycle is embedded in the economy of Pain Exchange as pain becomes currency\u2026\u00a0 <\/span>spent or saved at anyone\u2019s expense in order to justify a lie, any alibi, or any denial.<\/p>\n The human mind bashes any person, any culture, any organization whose structure is based on accountability. We bash anyone and anything that threatens our desire to do whatever we want without consequences, without repercussion, without permission. Bashing is a defence to an offence\u2026 real or imagined. When we fear getting caught, we bash those who want to catch us. Then we hide behind freedom-of-speech, regardless of the expense. Free from guilt no matter what or who gets killed. Multiple meanings.<\/p>\n When we want to create distance, we attack relevance.<\/p>\n Separate, then berate.<\/p>\n And vice-versa.<\/p>\n Another slight, another fight.<\/p>\n And vice-versa.<\/p>\n Bad news: Bashing is one of the steps along the dangerous continuum that connects contempt with hate.<\/p>\n When I was a detective, I spent too many hours in interrogation rooms, sitting across from violent criminals\u2014who were arrested for unspeakable crimes\u2014for one purpose: Get a confession. Just like on Saturdays at St. Patrick\u2019s at 4 pm.<\/p>\n There was one common \/ uncommon denominator that characterized every violent criminal: They were filled with hate. Hate that manifested in physical violence against the Hated One. Hate is a dangerous Change Agent. It dangerously alters worldview and workview. When you hate someone to the point that it consumes you, perspective is lost. Logic is lost. Sanity is lost. Value for decency is lost. Value for human life is lost.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the solution? Can\u2019t solve any mystery until you identify the problem with 100% laser accuracy.<\/p>\n And admit it.<\/p>\n Confess.<\/p>\n No lies, no alibis, no denials.<\/p>\n It\u2019s impossible to change when you won\u2019t admit it. It\u2019s always tough to admit it because every confession acknowledges guilt. And neglect. And commission. And omission. Absolutely zero positive change will ever happen without admitting culpability.<\/p>\n We did it.<\/p>\n We\u2019re guilty.<\/p>\n We all know exactly what happened.<\/p>\n All marked departure from past culture is the outcome of weakening. Multiple meanings. Same with broken relationships. Weakening won\u2019t work. Dual meaning. And vice-versa. Weakening leads to abandonment. And vice-versa. When it\u2019s deleted from our personal list of Basic Survival Needs, we abandon it.<\/p>\n My generation weakened family security.<\/p>\n We abandoned what needed to be taught and taught what didn\u2019t need to be taught.<\/p>\n We abdicated our responsibility to teach the Core Values that our ancestors taught.<\/p>\n We relinquished our moral obligation to teach our families the same Core Values our parents taught. Ambushed and attacked the structure our ancestors built.<\/p>\n We handed over Core-Value teaching responsibility to those outside the family. Outsourced it. Delegated the teaching of it.<\/p>\n We rebelled against the families that raised us. Shredded our upbringing, tore it apart.<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t even protect the economy for our own families. Made it almost impossible for our families to have the lifestyle that our ancestors fought and built for us.<\/p>\n Our own families likely will never buy or own a house, never afford to feed themselves and their families in the same way we did.<\/p>\n Catholic Faith and Catholic Mass attendance are just more casualties of the mess we created. We know the solution but we won\u2019t admit it. Why? When you admit to a problem, you have to commit to the work to solve it. It\u2019s easier to complain about the problem than try to solve it.<\/p>\n Good news: We can fill the seats at Mass. How? It\u2019s a long story but here\u2019s a start. It\u2019s already happening. There\u2019s a blueprint. These two links explain a wide-spread Christian revival by young people that\u2019s in-progress, right now in 2025:<\/p>\n