The Return to Order Moment

During the sixties, so-called experts promoted something called “new math.” This spirit transformed America’s classrooms. Other disciplines soon followed. English became Language Arts. History and Government were combined into Social Studies. The library morphed into the Media Center. Science kept the same name, but instruction radically changed. Computer screens are now the sign of modern education.

Some subjects were eliminated. Handwriting instruction, Home Economics, Driver’s Education, and most Business courses are things of the past.

All of these changes were supposed to get our children ready for life in the twenty-first century.

All of these changes were supposed to get our children ready for life in the twenty-first century.

Listeners who wish to read the essays in their original format may use the following links - https://www.returntoorder.org/2024/02/important-new-research-indicates-that-students-learn-more-from-books-than-computer-screens/, https://www.returntoorder.org/2024/01/inspired-by-their-warrior-mascot-a-pennsylvania-school-board-turns-back-a-leftist-invasion/, and https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/12/even-if-schools-deny-it-children-and-adults-need-to-learn-to-write-in-cursive/.

Thank you for listening.

China. Korea. Russia. Iran. Israel. Ukraine.

These are more than just the names of countries. Each one represents a significant threat to the world order that took shape after World War II. That order survived the Cold War, armed conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, and seventy years of conflict in the Middle East – among other challenges.

On February 24th, Two Thousand Twenty-Two, Russia invaded Ukraine. On October 7, Two Thousand Twenty-Three, Hamas invaded Israel. What will happen in Two Thousand Twenty-Four? Will China invade Taiwan? Will Iran finally obtain Nuclear Weapons? Will the United States and its European Allies find themselves involved in a four-part international conflict?

On February 24th, Two Thousand Twenty-Two, Russia invaded Ukraine. On October 7, Two Thousand Twenty-Three, Hamas invaded Israel. What will happen in Two Thousand Twenty-Four? Will China invade Taiwan? Will Iran finally obtain Nuclear Weapons? Will the United States and its European Allies find themselves involved in a four-part international conflict?

Unfortunately, that same spirit is becoming increasingly popular across the land. Many Christians are taking part in it, under the misconception that believing in a poorly defined and elusive “peace” can make it happen. They find their hopes in the tired phrase “Give peace a chance,” that they inherited from the sixties.

Such an attitude is massively erroneous. To ignore the world situation because of fear would be a mistake equal to that made by Neville Chamberlain at Munich in 1938. We must remain alert and ready to support the cause of Western Christian Civilization.

Thank you for listening.

It is very difficult for leftists to describe their visions for the future. They will be happy to mouth the usual words, equity, inclusion and the like. However, when asked to be more specific, they are at a loss for words. There are two reasons for their speechlessness. First, many of them are so far lost in their utopian dreams that they have not transformed those dreams into useful goals. Second, those who have done that thinking can’t devise a message that attracts support.

Consider this quotation, attributed to World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, “You will own nothing – and you will be happy about it.” One wonders if Mr. Schwab counted himself among the happy poor of the earth.

Indeed, that may sound good to some, usually the same people that describe their hopes in Karl Marx’s famous phrase, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

However, no one knows how such a culture would work. Throughout history, an individual’s economic security has been based upon how much that person or his family owns. That is his only protection from famine, pestilence, or tyrannical governments. The only people who have been happy owning nothing are nuns and monks who derive their well-being from their relationship with God. For everyone else, the idea of being poor and happy at the same time is a delusion.

The resistance to Mr. Schwab's prediction is one of three aspects of the left's overly optimistic outlook that this podcast discusses. Together these three "bumps" on the leftist road constitute a roadblock that makes their path to the future unnavigable.

Those who wish to read the essays in their original formats may use the following links - https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/11/you-will-own-nothing-blueprint-for-the-world-to-come/, https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/12/what-happens-when-celebrity-leftists-turn-right/, and https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/11/can-right-wing-marketing-compete-with-the-leftward-drift-of-many-giant-american-corporations/.

Thank you for listening.

As this episode goes live, Ash Wednesday is only one week away. This may come as a surprise because it has been such a short time since the end of the Christmas season.

As most Catholics know, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a penitential season that lasts until Easter. Typically, most people observe lent by giving up something – perhaps a favorite food, drink, or activity.

This podcast is oriented to finding new meanings in the Lenten experience.

Any listeners who wish to read the essays in their original format may use the following links - https://www.tfp.org/how-to-make-this-lent-sublime-by-broadening-your-supernatural-horizons/, https://www.tfp.org/real-american-men-put-on-the-armor-of-god/, and https://www.tfp.org/lenten-meditation-unconventional-ash-wednesday/.

May all of our listeners have a blessed Lent, and thank you for listening.

Other than the gathering clouds of yet another contentious election, the biggest news story of the day is the battle between Israel and the Hamas Terrorists. The media coverage of this story is telling. Israel is immediately connected with Judaism and Zionism, yet there seems to be a reluctance to draw the obvious connection of Hamas and Islam. There is an even greater reluctance to recognize that Islam is an inherent enemy to Western culture.

This podcast discusses several aspects of this broadening struggle. Listeners who wish to read the articles in their original format may use the following links - https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/12/why-are-people-ignoring-the-slow-motion-jihad-that-rages-inside-france/, https://www.tfp.org/new-book-by-catholic-scholar-islam-and-the-suicide-of-the-west-reveals-great-threat/, https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/10/the-west-at-war/ and https://www.tfp.org/pope-franciss-abrahamic-religions/.

Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the Return to Order Moment. We hope that you find these weekly podcasts to be both informative and a blessing.

Today, we are going to shift gears a bit and bring you a message from the founder of the International TFP Movement, Professor Plinio Correa de Olivera. This message concerns three virtues – seriousness and serenity as listed in the title – as well as the related virtue of obedience.

Instead of talking of these virtues as part of a philosophical or historical discourse, Professor Plinio uses incidents from his own life. Many of these occasions happened in the context of his childhood relationship with his mother – a woman of great strength and love, as you will see. In the later part of the podcast, he will be answering questions about practicing these virtues which were raised by TFP members.

Recently, many Americans have become interested in the so-called Gilded Age. The term itself comes from the title of a little-read book by novelist Mark Twain.

Today, it is easy to get swept up in the lavish clothes and elaborate social rituals of that period. It is so different from the modern age, where there are no rules and many believe that jeans and t-shirts are appropriate for any occasion.

However, there are many products of the late nineteenth century that helped to destroy the society that created them. One of these is Liberal Christianity.

Those who industrialized the world were dissatisfied with traditional religious belief. They wanted a scientific religion to accompany their technological advances. They cared little about salvation after death, what they wanted was a religion that worked to improve society. This was the development that Pope Saint Pius the tenth criticized as Modernism.

Interestingly, as Liberal Christianity grew, the Christianity part became detached. Today, many say that they are “spiritual,” rather than religious. Interestingly, their so called spirituality always fits beautifully into their “no limits” lives without rules.

This podcast examines the failings of Liberal Christianity and the reasons that it is failing.

LIsteners who wish to read the essays in their original formats may use the following links - https://www.tfp.org/why-liberals-love-religion-without-consequences/?PKG=TFPE3222, https://www.tfp.org/the-plight-of-modernists-without-faith/, and https://www.tfp.org/the-hoax-of-atheistic-communism/.

Thank you for listening.

As this podcast goes live, the final preparations are being made for the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 19, 2024.

The date for the annual event was first chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the disastrous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. When that decision was overturned, many hoped that the pro-abortion – often inappropriately referred to as “pro-choice” – movement would dry up and blow away.

However, that has not happened. In fact, the pro-aborts appear even stronger today than they did in the bad-old-days of Roe. Many so-called conservatives are saying things out loud that they once kept under wraps – that it is time to jettison the pro-life message from the right-wing lexicon.

Today’s podcast is designed to resist that sentiment.

Listeners who wish to read the essays in their original formats may use the following links - https://www.returntoorder.org/2020/02/achieving-christendom-is-americas-best-chance-at-overthrowing-abortion-lgbt-reign-of-terror/, https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/11/no-the-abortion-issue-did-not-lose-its-edge-in-the-last-elections/ and https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/12/the-invincible-courage-of-paulette-harlow/.

Thank you for listening.

Today, the Return to Order Moment wants to introduce its listeners to one of the most significant men of the Twentieth Century. His significance lies in the fact that he diligently opposed the Zeitgeist that made the last century the moral cesspool that it was.

This man founded the international TFP movement. His biographer referred to him as “the Crusader of the Twentieth Century” and “the Prophet of the Reign of Mary.” I refer, of course to Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

Shortly before his death in 1995, he compiled this Philosophical Self-Portrait. We hope that bringing this to you will inspire you to read his books and find out more about the organization that he founded.

Those who wish to view a printable copy of the essay upon which the podcast was based may use this link - https://www.tfp.org/philosophical-self-portrait-plinio-correa-de-oliveira/?_gl=1*7dbgbp*_ga*NjI0ODI1NDY3LjE2NTgxNjYyODM.*_ga_T660L5C23G*MTcwMzg2NTI4Ni40NC4xLjE3MDM4NjU3NTkuMC4wLjA.*_ga_HFSGW18RNL*MTcwMzg2NTI4Ni4yMDcuMS4xNzAzODY1NzU5LjYwLjAuMA..

Thank you for listening.

Usually, Americans tend to ignore foreign policy. It is messy and tricky and difficult to understand. However, the death of Henry Kissinger last month recalled one of the few periods that foreign policy was on the newspapers’ front pages.

For those born since the disastrous Vietnam War, if may be difficult to understand why Dr. Kissinger was so famous. His short stature, homely face, and thick German accent would seem to inspire ridicule rather than respect.

However, those who lived through that time wanted to see an end to the war. They also wanted reassurance that World War III would never happen. Henry Kissinger’s presence seemed to promise that these ends would be achieved.

The current situation in both China and Russia shows that Kissinger's happy talk of detente made promises and implied a future that has not come to pass. Indeed, Russia provoked the first European war since World War II and China became ever more militant.

This podcast explores those realities.

The second essay, by Mr. Julio Loredo, is richly footnoted. Interested listeners can see his sources of information by activating this link - https://www.returntoorder.org/2022/04/can-russia-and-nato-co-operate-vladimir-putin-says-no-it-is-time-for-the-facts/. The other two essays can also be read in their original formats by using https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/12/the-disastrous-kissinger-era-comes-to-an-end/ and https://www.returntoorder.org/2023/05/xi-jinpings-threats-to-taiwan-highlight-the-dangers-of-americas-fictional-one-china-policy/.

Thank you for listening.