A glimpse, perhaps, of the courage that may one day be required of us. God bless the Cristeros!
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A glimpse, perhaps, of the courage that may one day be required of us. God bless the Cristeros!
Comments (20)
Heck, I feel that way today. That's partly why I bought a pistol and a shotgun. I'd like to have a good long rifle, but can't spare the cash.
But then I started a book where an Idaho Governor leads a rebellion against the Feds, raising a militia by taxes withheld from the Feds and the promise of land from Nat Forest and the BLM.
The problem is that if the Feds send in an army, they have drones, and air power with infrared detection not to mention night vision, artillery, and so on to pick any patriots off with ease.
My solution in how to neutralize the Fed Gov was that the Idahoans took possession of the plutonium kept at a small reactor in Arco. A few pounds of plutonium weaponized as an aerosol that could be spread into DC resevoirs or sprayed over the city is a deterrent. Also, taking control of National Guard armories provides a few tanks, artillery, jets and helicopters.
A small howitzer and a few mortars could easily be smuggled into DC to fire on the White House, SCOTUS and Congress.
I believe that if a state seceded today, though, the country wouldn't much care, nor call for a slaughter in war of rebels.
Still, patriots would need an ace in hole, some WMDs of their own to hold wannabe Lincolns at bay who think they want to be great uniters, too.
Posted by Mark Butterworth | March 31, 2011 4:00 AM
An American government that attempted to extirpate Christianity and impose a secular tyranny by violence is most unlikely, I think. It wouldn't be necessary in any case, because as successive cohorts of college students are taught to despise religion by a godless educated elite, a secular tyranny in the US would eventually arrive by default.
(I've made a note to see Cristiada when it's released. Until seeing the movie trailer this morning, I was quite ignorant of the historical events on which this film is based.)
Posted by Alex | March 31, 2011 7:57 AM
If DC's performance in the last two were any indications, just wait until the most serious blizzard of the year to declare independence...
Posted by Mike T | March 31, 2011 9:57 AM
For those so inclined, a long essay on the history of the Cristeros: http://catholicism.org/valor-betrayal-cristeros.html
Posted by Jeff Culbreath | March 31, 2011 1:41 PM
These persecutions, incidentally, created a new wave of refugees to the United States - around 450,000. I have some friends whose families arrived in California from Mexico at about that time.
Posted by Jeff Culbreath | March 31, 2011 1:58 PM
I was totally ignorant about this - never heard of it. Thanks for the link to the history as well, Jeff.
I can't help wondering what the social justice/social doctrine of the RC leftist types make of this?
Kamilla
Posted by Kamilla | March 31, 2011 2:50 PM
No doubt the movie will be sensationalized & historically inaccurate, but it will still be a good thing if it draws attention to this fascinating episode.
It's strange how little we in the U.S. tend to know or care about our turbulent neigbor to the South.
Posted by steve burton | March 31, 2011 4:14 PM
You're welcome, Kamilla.
Heh. Reality creates a few problems for them. It creates problems for others, too.
Steve, I've been following the film's pre-release publicity for quite a while. I could be wrong, but my impression is that they are making a sincere attempt at historical accuracy. The events are fresh and recent enough that any egregious inaccuracies will certainly be called out.
Posted by Jeff Culbreath | March 31, 2011 5:16 PM
Jeff Culbreath writes: "These persecutions, incidentally, created a new wave of refugees to the United States - around 450,000. I have some friends whose families arrived in California from Mexico at about that time."
Wikipedia says about 40,000 settled in Los Angeles, perhaps their descendants advocated for the movie.
Posted by Kevin J Jones | April 1, 2011 12:18 AM
Jeff, have you ever read "No God Next Door" ? It has a lot of information on the Cristeros.
Posted by Stephen E Dalton | April 1, 2011 10:13 AM
Jeff C.,
I should also note that Andy Garcia is one of the lonely conservative voices in Hollywood. He actually got a movie made (which no one saw) about the brutal realities of the communist revolution in Cuba:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_City_(2005_film)
Anyone who makes a movie showing the brutality and duplicitousness of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara is probably going to do his best to strive for historical accuracy.
Posted by Jeff Singer | April 1, 2011 11:39 AM
Stephen: No, I haven't, but thanks for the recommendation. I'm reading Blood Drenched Altars currently and find it hard to put down. The historical background of Spain and the Aztecs (it seems the Aztecs were likely descended also from Carthaginian explorers!) is likewise fascinating.
Jeff S.: Sounds like a film I need to see. Apparently Garcia worked with Nestor Carbonell in both films. I believe that Carbonell's father is prominent in Cuban-American anti-communist circles and is the author of a book about the Cuban revolution titled And the Russians Stayed. I recommend the book highly.
Posted by Jeff Culbreath | April 1, 2011 2:35 PM
Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free:
And truly blest would be our fate,
If we, like them, should die for thee.
Posted by Dirichlet | April 1, 2011 6:43 PM
Jeff C.,
Both of your book recommendations are going in my queue. I have to admit I am fascinated by the Aztec/Carthage connection. GKC immediately came to mind:
Posted by Jeff Singer | April 1, 2011 7:38 PM
And one more item from the current issue of TNR (only available to subscribers), concerning the question of whether or not Mexico should be considered a "failed state", David Rieff argues thougtfully for the negative and has this to say near the end of his essay:
Posted by Jeff Singer | April 1, 2011 8:00 PM
The Spanish version of this story isn't well known either.
Posted by Mark | April 1, 2011 9:17 PM
Here's a copy of the article. Not sure if it is legal. It is dead on in my opinion. I worked in Mexico for several years and traveled all over the country. It is a delightful place with such wonderful people and not at all like your local university La Raza activist. It is sad that Americans don't take an interest in their society of politics. It has changed dramatically over the last decades. It has a trillion dollar economy --the 14th largest in the world. They've got a long slog ahead of them unfortunately for the reasons the article mentions, but they'll make it without any doubt. It is only a question of how ugly it will be. If there is a historical precedent of a nation like this failing like the military claimed it could I'm not aware of it. The 08 report was irresponsible in my opinion. Military cooperation with Mexico is in our future I think and should be for training and logistical support.
I'll quibble with this from the article though:
Nor is it a country facing a population crisis: The average age in Mexico was 17 in 1980; it is 28 today, and Mexican birthrates are in free fall.
Sadly, one more problem Mexico has is that she was convinced by the Malthusian usual suspects that it couldn't modernize or succeed without lowering the birth rate. Indeed the birthrate is in rapid decline. Rieff thinks this is good! It isn't. Malthusians are evil. A nation's birth declining from prosperity is one thing (I'm not saying this is good either,) but declining while still in development is very scary and likely not to go well. The dirty secret is that in a couple of decades there won't be enough people to come to the US as illegals and the rate of illegal immigration will fall to the low levels of the past short of the governmental collapse of a failed state.
Posted by Mark | April 1, 2011 10:14 PM
Jeff,
I was just reading through the link at catholicism.org and came across a mention of the involvement of the Freemasons. Do they had their hands in everything? What about the French Revolution?
Kamilla
Posted by Kamilla | April 2, 2011 7:16 PM
I should also note that Andy Garcia is one of the lonely conservative voices in Hollywood. He actually got a movie made (which no one saw) about the brutal realities of the communist revolution in Cuba:
You guys need to check out this enterprise. I think the idea is great, and is exactly the sort of thing we should support.
http://www.declarationentertainment.com/
A friend of mine who is a writer in Hollywood put us on to this. Apparently there is a small but extremely dedicated Christian, conservative movement in Hollywood, and they are beginning to get the word out. Sounds to me like the above Cristiada movie is a sample.
Posted by Tony | April 2, 2011 8:06 PM
Kamilla, I really don't know. My uneducated impresion is that European Freemasonry is virulently and violently anti-Catholic, Anglo-Freemasonyy a little bit less.
Posted by Jeff Culbreath | April 26, 2011 6:10 AM