The Silent Drug

There’s a new plague in our society. It has been lurking over time, yet gradually growing, infecting, and spreading wherever it can reach. 
Sometimes it’s silent. Sometimes it’s a whisper. Sometimes it rears its’ ugly head, demanding to be seen and heard by all, only to take all down with it. 

Pornography. 

Yes, I’m finally going there. It’s nearly impossible to go anywhere, turn on any channel, any radio station, anything, without it being pornographic, even in the slightest away. More than anything, it’s pathetic. 

Pathetic because these organizations, producers, directors, designers and whatnot are reducing all to cheap sexuality to force-feed to the people. Our latest example is 50 Shades of Grey. But, we as people can rise above it, and be better than that.

What happened to human sexuality being special? Being treasured? Being revered instead of tossed everywhere and in everyone’s face? Porn is a disease of its’ own, and more than anything, it kills love. It really and truly does. 

Love is cool. 

Porn is not cool. 

It never will be, because nothing is better or cooler than real love. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until my voice goes out. We all long for love, and that isn’t a bad thing. It shows that we desire to be unselfish, to think of and eventually give ourselves to another. However, love can’t be found in pornography, because porn warps and distorts the idea of love, by making it solely about yourself, instead of anyone else. The awesome thing about love is that it calls you to forget yourself, for the good of your beloved. 

Porn is the antithesis of love.

However, our modern society definitely isn’t understanding that concept, but that should only be part of our motivation to go against this tide, pursue authentic love, and rise above porn. Although pornography is rampant in the world today, not all hope is lost, because in the end, love always triumphs. 

Which is where I introduce to you, Fight The New Drug 

This is an organization I am very excited about, and if you haven’t heard of them or checked them out before, I strongly urge you to do so. Like, now. They’re doing an amazing job of spreading the word that porn is harmful, not only through the merch and media exposure, but also through the hard facts on the harmful effects of porn use. 

So remember kids, love is cool, and anything else opposite of that, just isn’t.

Our Lady, an Announcement & Salty Carmel

First off, happy solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel! May she bless, protect and save us all from everlasting death, through the means of the Brown Scapular. St. Simon Stock, pray for us. 

Now, you may or may not have noticed that something is different around here. I’ll give you a second to look around and find it.

Found it yet? 

That’s right. I’m no longer going by “The Cali Catholic Girl”. While the title was a cute creation, and I’m grateful it helped me make some sort of name for myself and my obscure little blog, it was time to move along. Not too drastically life changing or even shocking. The content won’t change at all, simply the blog title and url. 

So here we are. 

The Salty Catholic. 

Aside from inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I chose this name for a number of reasons, but I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s just make a short list instead.

• As Catholics, we are called to be the light of the world, and salt of the earth, as read in Matthew 5:13-16. Also, by renaming the blog as The Salty Catholic, it personally pays homage to a deal I made a long time ago; to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. You can find more on that in my memoirs, many decades from now. Stay tuned. 

So here’s our equation so far: Salt + Catholicism = a Salty Catholic

• In the Catholic Church, salt is viewed as a powerful sacramental when it is blessed or exorcised. I prefer exorcised, just to give it that extra oomph. Back to the drawing board: Salt + Catholicism = a Salty Catholic

• Lastly, in modern culture among our youth, the word “salty” has become an adjective to describe someone who is a bit bitter or testy. In all honesty, it perfectly reflects my personality, because I am Catholic, and I can be salty. For however long you’ve graced this little blog with your presence, you should already have an idea of that fact. I’m definitely not salty all the time, but I also won’t deny that that is how I can be. Again, Salt + Catholicism = a Salty Catholic. 

So, it makes sense. To celebrate today’s special solemnity and word play, I’ll be attempting to make salted caramel. Or should I say salted Carmel?

It only makes sense. Pax.