So, How Did You Enjoy Cesar Chavez Day?

This question is directed to our Western Christian readers (since we Orthodox won’t celebrate the Resurrection for another 30 days).

But first, a little context: It’s been a bone of contention here on Monomakhos that West has become increasingly secularized. It’s not so much the culture per se but those cultural “drivers” who try very hard to Stalinize the language. By and large they’ve won. Modern culture is very much desacralized but most importantly it’s de-Christianized.

You know what I mean: “Winter Break,” or “Winterval” instead of Christmas break, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” and so on. Usually we get our cues from Roboanchors and Anchorbabes on the nightly news (who invariably wear some type of AIDS/Breast Cancer/Colorectal-screening/whatever Ribbon) when they force themselves to say things in as contrived a fashion as possible: “Well Jill, what is the weather situation for the upcoming Winter Break?” As for the schools, politics, and almost everything else, mockery of Christianity is de rigeur.

For my money though, the most egregious attempt at trying to pretend that Christianity doesn’t exist is the following screenshot that Google posted on Easter Sunday. Here it is in all it’s glory:

google-chavez

Get it? Last Sunday was the day that upwards of 2 billion Christians the world over celebrate the resurrection from the dead of the Lord and Savior, Who lest we forget, was the single most significant figure in all of human history. And who does Google choose to honor on that day? Why none other than Cesar Chavez! Now Chavez was a complicated man but he was far from a saint. A union organizer to be sure but miles to the right of the Tea Party when it came to illegal aliens (he hunted them down with a fervor that would do The Minutemen proud). Towards the end of his life grew increasingly erratic, turning his union into a Synanon-influenced cult of personality in which no dissent was accepted. He was historic in the context of the late sixties but that decade’s history could have been written without his having existed in the first place. At best, he came from the second or third tier history-wise, not up there with Robert F Kennedy or Martin Luther King but somewhat along the lines of Sen Eugene McCarthy.

But for heaven’s sake, his life story never merited a Google page on its own! And not on the same day as Easter!

So why did they do it? My guess is that the owners of Google are anti-Christian. Like the rest of the instigators of our societal collapse, they despise Jesus, His Church, and everything He stood for.

We see this every year in the major newsweeklies. One always knows when the paschal season approaches because that’s when they have their annual “What Easter Really Means” articles. They use an icon of Christ on the cover (always good for sales) but the verbiage inside is anything but adulatory. Simply put, these annual Easter essays are used to destroy faith. So we shouldn’t be surprised that the studied, intentional invective of the literati has now born truly ignorant fruit. Whereas forty years ago, the journalists who wrote these stories were engaged in a deliberate campaign of deception, we now have rock-solid proof that their journalistic descendants are truly ignoramuses who don’t know what they’re talking about.

Please take the time to read the following satire by Andrew Klavan. He’ll explain what I’m talking about.

The New York Times Resurrects an Old Joke

Source: PJMedia | Andrew Klavan

She’s off the hook!

You’ve probably heard this one; it’s been around forever. A Dumb Guy is on a game show. He’s being humiliated. He doesn’t know anything. At the show’s finale, the Host, feeling sorry for the man, feeds him an easy one just to bring his score into the plus column. “For your last question,” the Host says. “What is Easter?”

“Oh, I know that!” says the Dumb Guy. “On Good Friday, Jesus Christ was crucified.”

“Ye-es?” says the Host.

“Then he was buried in a tomb with a big stone covering the entrance.”

“And?”

“After three days, on Easter, the stone was rolled back and Jesus stepped out.”

“Yes, yes!” says the excited Host.

“And if he sees his shadow, we get six more weeks of winter,” says the Dumb Guy.

Now, when I was a kid, the Dumb Guy in the joke was Polish. Then, when for some reason Poles objected to being represented as stupid all the time, the Dumb Guy became a Blonde. Now, however, the New York Times has done us the favor of putting their reporters into the lead role by running a story on the Pope that got the meaning of Easter as wrong as the guy in the joke!

Via NewsBusters [2]:

Elisabetta Povoledo is a Rome-based reporter for the paper’s international edition, but either she or her copy editor made a mortifying mischaracterization of the meaning of Easter in an online story on Pope Francis posted Monday: “Pope Calls for ‘Peace in All the World’ in First Easter Message [3].”

Here’s the original final paragraph, vanished from nytimes.com but available on Nexis, emphasis added:

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection into heaven of Jesus, three days after he was crucified, the premise for the Christian belief in an everlasting life. In urging peace, Francis called on Jesus to ”change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace.”

The Times issued this correction:

An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the Christian holiday of Easter. It is the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead, not his resurrection into heaven.

This is wonderful! It, so to speak, resurrects an entire species of humor while eliminating its taint of political incorrectness. From now on, we can feel free to tell gut-busters like these:

What do a New York Times reporter and a beer bottle have in common? They’re both empty from the neck up.

What do you call a pimple on a New York Times reporter’s backside? A brain tumor.

How can you tell when a New York Times reporter has been using your computer? There’s white-out on the screen.

So thanks to the New York Times for years of laughter to come!

And to Jesus for, you know, the salvation.

Comments

  1. “It’s been a bone of contention here on Monomakhos that [the] West has become increasingly secularized.”
    Bone of contention? Surely not! It’s been at least two generations since Christianity was formative of societal ideals of what constitutes a “good life” in the West. I’ll grant the USA might be dragging the heels on that on account of the sheer size of the residual numbers of Christians in its midst but you’re surely not that far behind either the UK and her former settlement colonies or western Europe? All we have left are fragments of a once great civilisation that few people under 40 understand or even recognise as of any value. The best thing Orthodox Christians can do in this scenario is accept it and make contingency plans that God may bless. I’m very keen on the idea of retirement villages set up around viable monasteries which can serve as weekend havens for younger Orthodox who have to make their way in the neo-pagan city Monday to Friday. Such communities could also serve as beacons of light to pagans in an increasingly dark world. They could have hospitals and hospices for the dying and other charitable works attached, as well as farms and small businesses that contribute financially to the endeavour.

  2. Johann Sebastian says

    I wonder what Google will feature on its homepage come May 5?

    • George Michalopulos says

      I imagine something to do with Cinquo de Mayo as would be entirely appropriate.

      • Johann Sebastian says

        But the Mexicans already got Cesar Chavez on March 31.

        Maybe they’ll put up a Cadbury egg on Pascha.

        • “The Mexicans”? “The Mexicans”? Really. Was that just for “the Mexicans?” I think we all benefit from those workers who pick the fruit and vegetables we eat. When farm workers went on strike there was no rush by us white folk to do their job. NADA! Comprende?

          Google is what it is, a secular company in the free enterprise system of the good old USA.

          Who cares what Google puts up on May 5. We all know the importance of that date and I don’t need Google to validate my Orthodoxy.

          Get over it.

    • Taco Bell

  3. Paradise and Utopia
    Reflections on the Rise and Fall of Christendom
    This is a series of forty reflections on the history of Christian civilization, or Christendom (and will include additional introductory and concluding episodes). It is divided into two halves tracing the “rise” of Christendom in early times and its “fall” in modern times. The entire podcast is organized around the theme of “paradise and utopia”—that is, of the civilization’s orientation toward the kingdom of heaven when traditional Christianity was influential, and of its “disorientation” toward the fallen world in the wake of traditional Christianity’s decline in the west following the Great Schism.
    http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/paradiseutopia
    Author Bio ↓
    Fr. John Strickland is a professor of history at Saint Katherine College near San Diego and serves as an attached priest at Saint John of Damascus Church (OCA) in the nearby town of Poway.

    • Tim R. Mortiss says

      Looking backwards, you can fit all of history into your theme, if you want to, including the decline of Christianity in the West as all due to the Great Schism.

      On the other hand, the reality now is that the Orthodox, the Catholics, and millions of Protestant “schismatics” are rapidly finding themselves in the same boat. The Orthodox evangelical response to this crisis will be interesting to see, if there is one!

      • I don’t think that the Orthodox, the Catholics, and millions of Protestant “schismatics” are in the same boat.
        But then, that’s just my opinion.

  4. Latest video says

    We should remember Cesar Chavez fo rhelping farm workers living in deplorable conditions.

    Why are you so concerned about the Pope of Rome and western Easter? Do you need me to FedEx you some on sale chocolate bunnies? Need some pomp and circumstance to get you through the fast?

  5. Cesar Chavez helped farm workers. ex.

    http://www.chavezfoundation.org/uploads/Prayer_of_the_Farm_Workers.pdf

    Lately, you seem very oriented toward western practice, worrying over the pope in Rome and how western Easter is celebrated. My feeling is that we are blessed with the date of western Easter this year because we can purchase Pascha goodies at deep discount and save them up in our cupboards and the back of the Pantry. When there is a decent spread between theirs and ours, a further blessing is that our children and grandchildren don’t have to get confused with hat parades, candy egg hunts, bunnie rabbits and chicks in cages while they learn the meaning and importance of Christ’s Holy Resurrection

    Here is a nice video

    http://www.chavezfoundation.org/uploads/Prayer_of_the_Farm_Workers.pdf

    I’ll wait a while for the Kalo Pascha and wish you instead a good rest of the fast.

    • George Michalopulos says

      The deification of Cesar Chavez has got to stop. Towards the end of his life he ran his union like a cult –literally. I mean along the lines of Ayn Rand and her Objectivist School. It was that bad. (On the other hand, during his early years he helped the INS round up illegal aliens by the boatload.)

      • Bishop Tikhon Fitzgerald says

        Oh, “the deification of Cesar Chavez” is no more invidious than the deification of Ronald Reagan, is it?

        • George Michalopulos says

          Not even the close to the same thing. Reagan was a POTUS, he took us out of the Nixon-Ford-Carter Stagflation era, caused the greatest economic expansion in history, destroyed the Evil Empire without firing a shot, brought back American morale, rebuilt the armed forces, wasn’t a class-warrior like Chavez, etc.

          • Cezar Chavez is a hero. The plight of migrant farm workers in California and other states is a terrible scandal for Christians. These people do back breaking work, work that “white” people would never consider suitable. They make it possible for us to have food on our tables and they do this with little legal protection.

            Chavez stood up for these people and he considered to be a hero and I agree.

            As for President Reagan, history continues to judge his time as POTUS.

            George, you are way out over your skis on trying to make something out of Google’s recognition of Cezar Chavez. Silly post and article. Chavez was and still is revered not as a union leader but as a human being who saw wrong and tried to right it and used organizing workers as a means to bring them justice and protect people. I see nothing against the Gospel in his efforts.

            • George Michalopulos says

              If you feel that way, then you know nothing of Chavez’s career. He worked to improve the labor conditions of AMERICAN citizens who were doing stoop labor (he himself was third-generation American and couldn’t speak Spanish). That’s why he and his brother patrolled the Border and turned in ILLEGAL ALIENS who were brought in to UNDERMINE the wages of American stoop-laborers. Hence my sympathetic comparison to him with The Minutemen. So yeah, even though he was a Marxist, at that stage of his life I’d say he was a hero.

              Let’s face it, we know why the Republicrats are all for open borders: the GOP/Chamber of Commerce wants cheap labor (helotry anyone?) and the Democrats want more Welfare spending (future Democrat voters). It’s that simple.

              • George,

                You are correct that Chavez fought with the UFW of his day to stop the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico used by farm owners to break the UFW with cheap undocumented workers. His first call was to Mexican-Americans, members of his union and movement to better the lives of the workers and their families. However it is a leap to therefore superimpose today’s immigration reality to his efforts in the 70’s and 80’s. One can only speculate how he would view our current situation. It is only my opinion but I don’t think that Chavez would be a Minuteman today thus trying to link him is speculation.

                What we do know is that he took a major step by his activism to curtail abuses by farm owners to exploit their workers. To the degree that such abuses continue by farm owners who would rather hire undocumented workers to pad their bottom line than offer a living wage for a day’s work reminds us that vigilance must continue or worker’s rights are undermined.

                On another note, the mockery of Christianity as “all the rage” when was it not? Christians have been persecuted from Day One and I suspect we always will be, that is if we are really living a Christ-like life. The Devil hates it so we should not be surprised. We should welcome it as a sign that we still try to be an example of what we believe. When the persecution, abuse and mockery stop, that is when we are really in trouble.

                • George Michalopulos says

                  I don’t know whether he would be a Minuteman or not –it’s interesting to speculate and it could go either way. My point was that he was more drastic in his measures to stop illegal border crossings than The Minutemen of today are.

                  • George,

                    Given the givens, if you were on the other side of the border and saw what was possible getting into the USA, would you not, for yourself and your family, do what was necessary to get across the border?

                    I know I would for the sake of my children. The pull of parents for their children to have a better chance at a better life is natural, historic and should not be underestimated.

                    The USA made have lots of issues, but compared to our good neighbor to the south, we are a better bet.

                    How wonderful if that was true for the OCA, a better bet than the other options.

  6. Prayer by Cesar Chavez

    Show me the suffering of the most miserable;
    So I will know my people’s plight.
    Free me to pray for others;
    For you are present in every person.
    Help me take responsiblity for my own life;
    So that I can feel free at last.
    Grant me courage to serve others;
    For in service there is true life.
    Give me honesty and patience;
    So that I can work with other workers.
    Bring forth song and celebration;
    So that the Spirit will be alive among us.
    Let the Spirit fourish and grow;
    So that we will never tire of the struggle.
    Let us remember those who have died for justice;
    For they have given us life.
    Help us love even those who hate us;
    So we can change the world.

  7. cynthia curran says

    Well, talking about Nixon I remember readng the book Justinian’s flea about Justinian and Theodora and the others and the Plague, anyway, the author mention that book Nixon and Justinian stay up all nite. I also thought well both were from rural backgounds not that causes one to stay up all nite. Everyone will state their religious views were very different but both were not popular in their day.

  8. cynthia curran says

    Historians and sociologists have made further distinctions between radical Anabaptists, who were prepared to use violence in their attempts to build a New Jerusalem, and their pacifist brethren, later broadly known as Mennonites. Radical Anabaptist groups included the Münsterites, who occupied and held the German city of Münster in 1534–5, and the Batenburgers, who persisted in various guises as late as the 1570s.

    [edit] These movements were the ancestors of modern communisim.. The Munster group practice communal marriage and communal owenship. Talking about the religous left this is the ancestor, also a lot of dancing in the sprit, speaking in tongues and so forth. The radical antibapists went against conventional protestant or Roman Catholic churches in their day.

  9. cynthia curran says

    I like his early career against illegal immirgants to try to keep his union to have some say with big ag. In those days Republicans in Ca sided with BIG Ag tChavez, they learn to regreat this when Reagan’s legalization act since thousands from the central Vally to places like La to do non-farm work. Reagan was against Chavez.

  10. cynthia curran says

    Cezar Chavez is a hero. The plight of migrant farm workers in California and other states is a terrible scandal for Christians. These people do back breaking work, work that “white” people would never consider suitable. They make it possible for us to have food on our tables and they do this with little legal protection. Well, Whites and Afro-Americans did it at least up to the 1980’s or 1990’s in the South. It was the West and Texas because of the Branceo program that made it mainly a Mexican and now it becoming more Central American since Mexicans prefer other jobs. Second and Third generation Mexicans in the Central Valley of California have high unemploment rates and actually robots could eiinimate most farm picking but Agri-business does not want to spend the capital in doing it. I read that there are labor shortages in Mexican even for farmwork so they get Central Americans. Canada has a smarter guestworker program, you can’t have girlfriends when you do the farmwork and stricter enforement of worker vistas.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Very good point. Growing up I knew a few children of American stock whose parents were migrant workers.

  11. cyntha curran says

    Even in industries like Hotel industry many workers still have to be native born or know english well enough. There are just as many front desk clerk jobs as they are maid jobs, but the politicans well not tell you that. Ran Paul’s Kentucky tends to be a lower income white state and most of the maids even in his state are still not Hispanics but Paul wants guestworker programs.

  12. Seraphim98 says

    Speaking of selective coverage/acknowledgement in the media, here’s something, in my view, deeply tragic, current, relevant, but we’re not likely to hear much about it since it has noting to do with gay, bi, or transgendered couples having their inner child wounded by “God Hates’ (fill in the blank)” nutters, or pro gun or pro life advocates being caught “unreasonable” or snared in a moment of “I gotcha journalism”. This is sad…and more than that an outrage that this should happen so easily upon our shores. Lord have mercy is all I can say….on us all.

    http://www.copticworld.org/articles/1775/

  13. cyntha curran says

    I know I would for the sake of my children. The pull of parents for their children to have a better chance at a better life is natural, historic and should not be underestimated.

    The USA made have lots of issues, but compared to our good neighbor to the south, we are a better bet.
    James, a lot of children of illegal immirgants drop out of high school and get involved with gangs, not all of them but enough. I read the stats for La and a lot of Hispanics lived in very crowded housing also in Califorinia. Maywood 19,000 per sqaure mile and Santa Ana 12,000 per sqaure mile, these cities don’t have high rises. In both La and the OC some of the most overcrowded housing since immirgants many of them illegal can’t afford the rent, sometimes 2 to 3 families in apartments and renting tract houses.