Hello friend(s).

This has been bugging me lately, so I decided to get it off my chest.

I am, as you probably know, very conservative.  As such, I surround myself with many conservative people.  As a result, I am often put down for having bought a Hyundai instead of a Chevy, and I am frequently informed that I need to "Buy American."

I suppose this can be true in some ways, but not in all.

I can be true when you are buying produce or meat.  You SHOULD buy American, but mostly for your health.  It ALSO helps American jobs, and that's good.

However my main concern is larger products like computers, TV's and cars.  I will never say "Buy American" for these things, but "Buy well."  Just buy what is best for you.  Buy the more efficient computer, buy the nicer TV for a lesser price, and buy the car that suits you best, regardless of where it is made.  Unless it's made by a terrorist.  Then burn the product before it can bring in any profit.

Here is my logic: America is one of the greater markets for these things.  Say one day EVERYONE in America decides to start only buying American.  That would be dumb.  Now a HUGE chunk of the competition is gone.  Now American car makers will be able to make crappier cars than japan, charge more than japan, and know they will still sell their product because Americans will only buy American.  Now we are paying way too much for a crappier product.  Because the product doesn't need to be improved very quickly, the development of better cars will become stagnant.

Meanwhile, Japan is competing with Germany...  and that's about it...  maybe Italy...  for a better car.  They have to make more efficient cars than their competitors, make them cheaper, and make it efficiently.  So ten years down the line, Japan and Germany will still have awesome cars, while America will be stuck with cars that are practically replicas of the cars made right now.  We lost that deal.

And on top of that, it is much cheaper for a car to made in America than to have them made in Japan and shipped to America.  So, Honda and Hyundai and Nissan and whoever else, all employ lots of people in America.  If we buy only American, those jobs would be lost.  American car companies would have no need to hire them or anyone else, because they can now afford to have less workers, because they don't need to be efficient anymore.  America still loses.

However, keeping a constant threat breathing down the necks of American corporations, makes them better corporations.  If it wasn't for the Honda Civic, we probably wouldn't have the Ford Focus.  And it's thanks to Italy that all our sports cars are where they are today.

Competition is necessary.  It allows the shopper to "vote" for a company.  If one company gives me a better product at a lower cost, I will get that company's product.  The other companies will see what the other company is doing right, and try to imitate it.  And so on.

If you want to buy American, go ahead.  Again, it is the right thing to do with many smaller products.  However, when you are furnishing your home or buying a car, or expanding your entertainment center, just get the best product.  Let the world compete for your favor.

Okay, I attend the new mass every week.  I go because the church I attend is much closer than the closest church that offers the Latin Mass, and because I am a youth group leader at this church.  Does that make me a heretic?  Crap, I hope not....

But I do prefer the Real Mass; The Latin Mass.  I believe that they are both valid, I believe that I listen to the word of God at both, and most importantly, that I become one with God in both.

However, the new mass has really been weighing down on me lately.  It's probably been at least two years since I've attended a Tridentine Mass, and I miss it very much.

I can't help but be critical when I go to mass, and I see Jesus being SERVED by lay people, received on the hand, and chugged down in a glass goblet by anyone.  I can't help but be critical when the Agnus Dei sounds like an uppity-broadway tune.  I can't help but be critical when one of the WOMEN SERVING the Blood of Christ is wearing a dress that should be reserved for prostitutes, with her evidently fake breasts hanging out for all to see.  I can't help but be critical when I see little boys and GIRLS serving at the altar without a clue of what they are doing.  I can't help but be critical when I see people chatting before and after mass in the church, and even right after receiving Communion, before Jesus is put away in the Tabernacle that is placed off to the side, only recognizable by a red candle above it.  I can't help but be critical when everyone is holding eachothers hands like some liberal cumbaya children's program.  I can't help but be critical when I see men walking in, wearing only shorts and sandals and a faded T-shirt, or women wearing booty shorts, short skirts, sandals and tube-tops or spaghetti straps, or a shirt that reveals most of their boobs.  I can't help but be critical when the Priest sits down or begins to recite the closing prayer before Jesus is put away.  I can't help but be critical when people show up half an hour late, receive Jesus, and then walk out before they are finished chewing.  I can't help but be critical when I see that out of a congregation of 300 people receiving Communion, only 3 of them have received confession beforehand.

I could keep going, but for your sake, as well as my own, I will stop there.

Anyway, what I am getting at is the liberal, feel-good tactics employed by the new mass.  Should I be taught that the reason for going to mass is to feel good?  That the reason for going to mass is to feel involved?  Should my church feel homely and welcoming?  Should I feel like God is reaching out to me at the mass to give me a great big bear hug?????  NO!

I should feel humble and unworthy of such a grace as this.  I should feel like "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you" but knowing that only by his mercy, I am healed of that unworthiness.  I should not be casual, because the Sacrifice of my God is on the altar.  That sacrifice in which Jesus made himself a victim.  I take part in that victimhood and become one with Jesus, so that I may rise from the depths of my sin, as He did over 2000 years ago, and has continued to do so ever since, on the altar.  I should relish the mystery of my Lord, and contemplate that mystery in the mass.  I shouldn't feel like the mass is on my level.  I should not feel "included" in what is going on on the altar, but only feel worthy once I have received Him.

It is the mystery and beauty that makes the mass so beautiful.  But most importantly, it is the tradition of what Jesus gave us that makes it so beautiful and important.  Tradition that has been slowly refined and perfected for 2000 years, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, from the moment it was given to us by Jesus Himself.  It is NOT something that we VOTED on, that would be appropriate for the people.  No.  No.  It is about what is appropriate for GOD.  GOD is the Central Role here, not us.  I am so sick of people telling me that one church really reaches out to them more than another.  What happened to universality?!  If I go from here to Montana, to New York, to Belgium, to Ethiopia, to Colombia, to Italy, to China, to Hawaii, to Colorado, and back here, the mass should be the same thing in each one of those places.  There shouldn't be variables.  Who is the Main Character??  GOD.  GOD should have the same mass EVERYWHERE, be HE GAVE IT TO US just how HE wanted it!

The New Mass is valid, but far from reverant.  This, I feel, is terrible.  Better to be irreverant in front of a piece of bread, then irreverant in front of Jesus.  I think we need to undo the reformation that is the Novus Ordo, and slowly bring it back to its roots.

Welcome to my site. Enjoy.