Seen at PJ Media

How far should churches go to appeal to men?

1 - the fact that this question is being asked shows you just how far to the Left and feminized churches in America are today.

2 - in order to attract men back to Church, you have to go back to the Church's original teachings, not the feminized, hippy-peace-love crap that spews out from almost every denomination today.

Lemme give you a small example of what I mean, shall I? 

There is a Catholic saint, born under the name Giovanni, who once had the balls to stand in front of a Sultan and tell him that he worshiped a false god, and followed a false prophet.  This Saint directed that two blazes be set, and that he and the muslim priest walk through the fires.  The one who came out the other end unharmed would prove who followed the true God.  The muslim priest ran away in fear.  The Saint prepared himself to walk through the fire even though the muslim priest had ran off, and the Sultan had to demand that the Saint not attempt the passage. 

This same Catholic Saint was once ignored by the people he attempted to speak to.  And so, this Saint told the people "Since you will not listen to me, I will preach to the things who will listen to God's word".  And he turned and spoke to the forest, and the animals and birds of the forest came and listened to him. 

This Saint would challenge anyone who allowed themselves to wallow in sin, no matter what their status was, or what their station in life was. 

This Saint came from a wealthy family in what is now Italy, and after a run-in with his father, where he was standing in the town square with his father, the town governor, and the local bishop all around him, took off every stitch of clothing he had, handed it to his father and said, "I give you back everything you have given me, including my name."  And from that point on, he was not addressed as Giovanni.  He was known only by the name his father had given him as a way of mocking him.  Giovanni's mother was from modern day Burgundy, and Giovanni's father, when he was in a fit of rage, would call is son Francesco.  The Frenchman. 

Francis.  From a little town known as Assisi.

Now, do a quick search of St. Francis of Assisi and you'll find plenty of prayers for peace.  The prayer of St. Francis begs God to "Make me a channel of your peace".  But St. Francis was troubled by anger all of his life.  His prayers aren't just a man making platitudes in church, they are the heart-felt prayers of a man who has a temper, and who knows just what damage that temper can do to him and those around him.

Francis just so happens to be my Confirmation name as well, so I've done a bit of research on the guy.  Yes, he begged for peace.  But he did it as a man who had gone to war and spent a year as a prisoner of that war, and most likely suffered from PTSD the rest of his life.  Yes, he gave what he had to the poor.  But he did it as a man who saw the indulgence of the Church's leadership, and spoke out directly against those indulgences.  Imagine working at the White House and telling the President that he needs to knock off all the golfing and partying with celebrities.  How long do you think that guy would last in Obama's White House?  Yes, he spoke the word of God to animals when men would not listen to him.

But he had the manhood to stand up to the falsehoods of Islam, and directly challenge a man who could have cut off his head.  He stood up against the bishops who lived fat and happy while the people they were supposed to minister starved.  And he kept his integrity and his honor intact despite every negative thing that happened to him.

And yet, the modern church makes him out as nothing but a peace-loving hippy who liked animals.

Ann Barnhardt (who finally has hyperlinks!) loves to show pictures of the Saints as they were seen and known.  There are quite a few Saints shown with weapons in their hands.  They are shown that way for a reason.  You have to fight evil.  And sometimes, you have to do it physically.  St. Michael the Archangel is shown with his foot on Satan's neck, holding a sword in one hand and the scales of justice in the other.  "St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle".  But how many Catholic churches even pray that particular prayer, even though the should be praying it every Sunday at the conclusion of Mass?

How many Catholics even know about the Leonine prayers after Mass?  I didn't, and I grew up Catholic.  I first found out about them when the Ragin' Mrs. bought me a Sunday Missal at a garage sale, a missal that had been printed in 1954.  And they had the Leonine prayers after mass, and all manner of religious doctrine, and not a bit of it had been taught to me when I was a child in church.  Not a bit of the doctrine, not a bit of the history, nothing like what I was able to learn by just reading a Sunday missal printed decades before I was born.

And people wonder why I left for a decade.

You want to get men back in Church?  Go back to what the Church used to teach, unabashedly and without reservation.  Start with the Ten Commandments.  Morality.  Integrity.  When a person is confirmed in the Catholic church, the bishop confirming them is supposed to slap them across the face.  HARD.  Why?  Because it represents the fact that the Confirmant is now joined the battle against Satan, and that battle is going to be HARD.  It is going to HURT.  It will not be easy, but the alternative is even worse.

Try teaching that for a bit, and see what happens.