A Salute to the Cristeros

A Salute to the Cristeros
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Friday, July 20, 2012

We have excerpts of a superb article by Phyllis Schlafly for your consideration and study. It’s from the “Westminster Herald”, Ca., July 12, 2012, “Obama Censors the Declaration of Independence.”

“Shortly before we started hearing fireworks for this year’s Fourth of July, the movie “For Greater Glory” opened in local theatres. It is a compelling dramatization of the Mexican government’s persecution of Christians from 1926 to 1929, a bloody piece of history that has hitherto been ignored by historians and filmmakers.

“This wasn’t in some faraway Muslim country, it was in our next-door neighbor’s. It’s instructive for Americans, who have peacefully enjoyed religious liberty for more than two centuries, to realize the depth of hatred that some people have for religion in general and Christianity in particular.

“The movie is a worthy addition to the genre of successful religious firms that portray Christian heroes who died for their faith, such as “A Man For All Seasons” (Thomas More), “Becket” and “The Robe.”

“In 1926, Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles brutally enforced laws to suppress religion. Soldiers on horseback broke into churches vandalized church property, killed priests and strung up dead bodies on posts to terrify the people.

“Government officials, an elite openly admiring Soviet Communism, were determined to destroy all visible evidences of religion, including the cross and other symbols, the wearing of traditional garments by Catholic priests and nuns, and religious processions. Soldiers could order anyone to repeat “Long live the federal government,” with death the punishment for refusal.

“Mexico’s Constitution required the schools to be active participants in the battle to secularize the country and to suppress religion. The Constitution stated: “Education services should be secular, and therefore, free from any religious orientation.”

“About 90,000 Mexicans died in the fighting that ensued as Christians, calling themselves Cristeros, resisted bravely. They got little or no help from the Vatican, but eventually, in 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized 25 Cristero saints and martyrs. The U.S. government apparently was interested only in protecting its oil interests.

“Our first reaction to the killings in this movie is “of course, this can’t happen here.” The bloody part may be improbable in the United States, but the contempt for religion here is already evident.

“It is not difficult to imagine the hateful words of the Mexican president being repeated in the U.S. by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “Americans United for Separation of Church and State” and various other atheist litigators who are aggressively pushing supremacist judges to ban the Ten Commandments - our national motto - and crosses from schools and from every public place, even when their purpose is to honor servicemen who gave their lives on our behalf.

“Through speeches and regulations, President Obama is trying to eliminate all public references to religion, to force religious worship behind closed doors and to coerce religious institutions into financing drugs and procedures that violate religious faith. Obamacare will force Christian hospitals, colleges and schools to pay for abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilizations for their employees…”

George H. Kubeck, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Think about it on Nov. 6th.