Dear TIA,

Salve, Maria!

I am so glad you answered the writer of a complaint about your views on celebrating Halloween as if they were Puritanical.

Innocent joys are good, yes! But Halloween is not innocent, not even 40 years ago when Catholic mothers dressed their daughters as witches. It prevents a child from recognizing evil as evil.

It didn't take me long to realize the persons my innocently dressed cowboys and saints were walking the streets with were not "cowboys" or "saints," but persons dressed as demons, corruption, infamous murders, and aliens. The older or more depraved the child, the more daring and ugly the costume. Thoughts of providing good role models disintegrated as the manners of the costumed disintegrated. Little princesses are no match for grim reapers, hiding their facelessness in their shapeless cowls, enjoying the fright they ignite in innocent ones.

A parent teaches their child to take no food from a stranger, much less speak to one, yet once a year under cover of darkness children are encouraged to go to strangers" homes amongst other strangers begging for candy. This "innocent" pleasure is not innocent or safe. A lifetime of teaching can be undone in one night, for children are literal creatures.

It was the older teens with their pillow-case "bags" and no manners whatsoever that taught me the final lesson, too long coming due to the taunts of "puritanism" from misguided family and friends. I found the older ones would thrust a pillowcase "treat bag" in your doorway and leave without a polite word of greeting or gratitude, with the possible exception of raucous insults about the too-innocent decorations you provided for their pleasure. Charity demands we not allow these ill-formed youth to continue on their way to depravity.

Your final sentence summed it all for parents trying to bring up children for God and not the world: "Parents who form their children in a relativistic way will have a hard time explaining it to the Eternal Judge."

Your instruction and encouragement is a blessing for all parents fighting the good fight. Thank you for your excellent website.

     In Maria,

     C.C.

Dear Dr. Horvat,

The following two links may be useful in regard to the book Pasque di Sangue by Ariel Toaff (here and here).

I would be interested in reading the review that you proposed.

     P.A.

Dear TIA,

While looking for some work related info, I noticed this link.

This one is a page in a series of 10, in which its author claims that the freemason G. Washington was a "hero" who could not lie (introduction page), while indicating (completely out of context) that "in the Middle Ages it was spread the lie that Jews carried out ritual killings of Christian children"(webpage referenced above).

Without further details, from the history I read in the Church, I know there were ritual killings of Christian children by Jews, but what makes me indignant and alarms me is that this website - with almost null credibility (how stuff works) - is engaging in smearing the good standing of Catholic history by publishing an out of context calumny on the Middle Ages.

My question to you is if you have any information that clarifies the evidence about whether there were Jews in the Middle Ages engaged in ritual killings of Christian children.

Thanks for your attention, I pray you keep the fight for vindicating and restoring the glorious Christian legacy in the traditional Catholic doctrine and civilization.

     J.L.



TIA responds:

Dear P.A. and J.L.

To P.A. - The book Bloody Passovers by Ariel Toaff has been read by one of our writers and his book review is on its way. We hope it will be published on this website soon. Please watch for it on our daily Updates page.

To J.L. - Yes, there is evidence of such ritual killings of Catholic children by Jews. It is presented in the book mentioned above by a serious Jewish scholar. It is our plan to offer a review as soon as possible for our readers.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

UPDATE: Two of our writers have book reviews on Pasque di Sangue (Bloody Passovers) by Ariel Toaff; read here and here.

Hello from Scotland,

Could you tell me what we Catholic laity are supposed to do when they are faced with a government that wishes to force sodomy upon our children?

Since most of the bishops in Scotland are completely silent on the matter and home-schooling isn't a viable option for most, what can the laity do when every avenue to stop this from happening has been taken?

I don't mean to sound over dramatic but they are already teaching this to 4 year olds in some parts of the country. In Germany, for example, the government has issued a sex ed program which states that fathers should masturbate their infant daughters because they are sexual beings (Sodom has nothing on Europe)

Would the laity be justified in taking up arms against a government that is hell bent on perverting children's minds? Or does Canon Law forbid the laity from taking up arms against such evil. In some places, it would seem that there is no other option.

Your advice would be much appreciated.

     God bless you

     J.P.



TIA responds:

Hello J.L.,

The situation you describe in Scotland is really tragic. We are very sorry for that, and we understand your indignation.

In our opinion, the right thing to do is to take your children out of school, even if you and your wife do not have conditions to home-school them. It is better to have a child uneducated than perverted to practice sodomy or other vices that are not directly against nature.

If the government obliges you to send your children to school, you should fight it legally, arguing that you have an objection of conscience and that religious liberty guarantees you the right to form your family in accordance with the Catholic Faith and Morals. Acting this way, you will be supported by Natural Law and Catholic doctrine. You should find a good Catholic lawyer to defend your case, an effort in which many other parents may join you.

By fighting the immoral and revolutionary laws regarding education, American families won the right to home-school, which did not exist before. Here in the United States there were also very intrusive laws obliging families to send their children to school. After persisting in a long and difficult fight, the families won, and today all over the U.S. home-schooling is recognized as a valid and efficient system.

We believe that the recourse to arms, according to Catholic Morals, is restricted to cases of legitimate defense of life, honor and private property. This translates, in the case you described, as the right you have to defend your children with arms from rape or murder.

However, you should not take up arms against those who are teaching and influencing your children to commit bad actions. There are other civil recourses available that you should take to avoid these evils before resorting to the very rarely justified extreme of raising an armed rebellion against the government.

We hope this will encourage you to fight the right battle, which is to win for Scotland the right for families to home-school.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

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