Caraffa,

Good points.

I've seen other Neo-Trads support such things as:

- detached altars
- Mass facing the people
- communion under both kinds
- communion in the hand
- women in pants
- women unveiled
- lay readers
- long hair on men
- wearing flip-flops/ t-shirts to Mass
- listening to heavy metal and watching the videos
- frank mixed discussions of sɛҳuąƖity
- a consesus opinion of theologians binds us to a moral certainty
- Catholics could morally have used birth control before Humanae Vitae if their priest told them it was ok
- It is Catholic to believe God can yank souls out of Hell (Hell is not necessarily permanent)

The list goes on and on.

What is boils down to is that no Neo-Trad could explain what constitutes a Traditional Catholic. They were so afraid to limit their own beliefs they barely admitted that it would, at minimum, entail a preference for the TLM.

They don't like "labels". This is code-word for them wanting to be able to believe in and practice whatever they want and still call it Traditional Catholicism. You'll see these types constantly attacking "50's" Catholicism or their idea of it, which in their eyes was rigid and shallow. Then you'll see them pluck all sorts of archaic practices out of Church history, strip them of all context and use them as a pretext for a liberal "diversity" in the Traditional movement.

These people are the worst corrupters of Tradition. Though they would never admit it, they are liberal wolves in Traditional trappings. They love to talk the talk and wear the name, bash the Neo-Caths and the libs out of a sense of superiority. But they save their worst ire for true Traditionalists. You then hear the same tired old cries you hear from liberals.

You are judging! Who are you to judge? Tradition is not cookie cutter, Tradition is diverse! There are many ways of being Traditional. You are too into appearances, Tradition is what is on the "inside".

These same people are still debating and trying to figure out if in our day and age, hair down to your waist is feminine or masculine, if men or women are supposed to wear pants, if listening to death metal is uncatholic, etc. They are simply lost, lost, lost.

They are Neo-Catholics and liberals who like the TLM, but who want to separate themselves from Neo-Caths and liberals. You'll see them complaining about JPII in one breath and then venomously attacking true Traditional Catholics if they actually try to point out where he preached error. As all liberals, they are walking contradictions. Their reticence to condemn error forcefully comes from their own guilty consciences. To condemn error would be to condemn themselves because they've bought error and are addicted to error.

They truly represent liberalism, dressed up with incense and a Roman chausible. In this sense they are worse and more diabolic than the Neo-Caths because the Neo-Caths are easily identifiable. These types are a Trojan Horse in the Traditional movement. A 5th column looking to destroy it from within. They should be called out and counteracted at every turn. I salute Matthew for attempting to do that with this site.

The Neo-Trads, like the liberals, will spew every sort of calumny, hypocrisy, and venom they can at us to silence us. They will ban us from their forums, malign our character, call us names. But do not be disheartened as these things are a badge of honor. Know that this is the best sort of endorsement as to your orthodoxy, to be irrationally attacked by a Neo-Trad. It shows you have pricked their conscience. And with that, and prayer, comes hope of their conversion.

Here is an important point:
If it could happen to the Catholic Church in 1969, it can certainly happen to the "traditional Catholic" movement.

Matthew