Good Morning.

You know me; I tend to be heavily insulted whenever anyone else derides New England or Boston as being "less" than their ideals or area of the country. I needn't remind everyone that everything we take for granted in these United States (including these United States) was probably invented here, or by somebody from here? But I digress.


Nay, once again my online acquaintance who happens to be a minister is at it again. I've referenced him many times before. I don't know what denomination they are, but he and his wife run a small corporate ministry out of Lancaster County, PA. (meaning they minister to corporations in the area as "company Chaplains".) Your mileage may vary, but if you want to check them out, it's called "Daily Encouragement".

This past Wednesday and Thursday, he posted a couple of messages that really just rubbed me the wrong way. Evangelicals in this country have it in their head that we are in the middle of a great Apostasy, and in turn, this turning away from God is the source of all our problems. The folks at Westboro have taken this point-of-view to an extreme, but this is apparently the root of their beliefs.

In any case....the podcasts this week focused on colleges and other institutes of higher learning, and how they've gone out of their way to denigrate religion. He even claims that many religious colleges are heading down that road. Again, I contemplated messaging him, but I continue to turn the other cheek with regards to direct confrontation.

I didn't go to a religious college, but Mrs. TriSec did. Boston College is one of the more prominent Catholic schools in the US (Jesuit) and indeed, many courses are still taught by actual priests...there's even a seminary across the street, and they have a big, beautiful cathedral at the end of the subway line in Newton that we looked at very hard to see if we could get married there.


Saint Ignatius, Boston College

What's got me upset today is Thursday's podcast, where my religious friend told the story of a conversation he had with his elder brother, also a minister in Pennsylvania. It seems that they have grave concerns about the "persecution" of Christians these days. Oh, nobody has been rounded up and sent to a concentration camp in the name of the Federal Government yet, but they are both afraid for "future generations". He didn't enumerate his concerns, but the indictment of liberals, intellectuals, and the entire Northeast part of the country was implicit.


Trinity Church, Copley Square

So, if he feels this way in rural Lancaster County, surrounded by Amish...here in Greater Boston, in a college town, a leading state of the Northeast, and a hotbed of liberal politics, this must be Hell then, eh?

I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.