Amen, Lover of Truth. You said that in a more reasonable and genuinely caring way than I usually do ( okay, than I ever do ). The only problem is that you quoted the Dimond Bros. When they speak about the sedevacantist position, exclusive of their Feeneyite rhetoric, they are accurate. But we don't need to be associated with those who, shall we say, come off as fanatical. People already assume sedevacantists are fanatical. If they go on Michael Dimond's website and hear him calling literally every public figure associated with the traditional movement heretics, including other sedes, it may make them run screaming.
I'll pray that Matthew hears you. I think the SSPX breeds a certain type of personality. It makes the crisis in the Church seem grave, but not urgent. They act as if we can wait indefinitely for the situation to resolve itself, but who is going to resolve it if not the bishops of SSPX, who know very well that this is a Freemasonic takeover? How can you have "dialogues" with die-hard Freemasons? And for those who say this is just "conspiracy" and not theological fact, your own hero, Abp. Lefebvre, said the same thing, that Freemasons have usurped the structures.
I wonder if there is a correlation between having a large family and being in the SSPX. It seems that as John Lane's family grew he switched from being a hard-line sedevacantist to defending the una cuм. The larger your family is, the more you want a good life for your kids -- and the more you want a good life for your kids, the harder it will be to face the grim reality of our apostate age. Of course I know many large Catholic families are sedevacantist.
How can I put this. Sometimes it seems to me that the SSPX superficially uphold traditional Catholic rules, such as the family structure and the education of children ( while adding their own like the strict dress code which semi-Jansenistically goes beyond the pre-VII Church ), while ignoring that there is a problem with their theological stance. They act as if the victory has already been won and that having a traditional Mass means everything has gone back to normal. This makes them seem a bit like this:
EVERYTHING IS FINE DADDY IS AT WORK MOMMY IS IN THE KITCHEN NOTHING WRONG HERE
But everything is not fine. There is more to the crisis than the "Latin is Lovely" club or the "No Pants on Women" club would have you believe. I am totally unconvinced by the elaborate Masses of SSPX, their showy ordinations and consecrations, or the Lourdes procession. It feels like window-dressing to me, like it is playing off nostalgia for the FEEL of the pre-VII Church, but it doesn't have the SPIRIT. We all want the ornate cathdrals and the glorious reign of Christ on Earth but not at the expense of His Truth!
When I look at SSPX retreats and socials it just feels off to me, self-congratulatory, like "We're all in dresses and suits, look at all the pretty young couples, look at all the babies, we're flourishing." Something is wrong underneath this idyllic surface. It's like their desire for normalcy and some Catholic never-never land is so strong that those in SSPX don't understand or want to understand that GOD is being offended in the Novus Ordo by the man they call Pope. He is also being offended by the very assumption of SSPX that it is HIS Church that has failed to this extent. It's not and it cannot be.
It's not about having Solemn High Masses with swinging censers and beautiful music. It's about keeping the dogmas intact. SSPX has the masses; sedevacantists have the dogmas. Keep in mind that there have been other times in history where the Church has gone into the catacombs and been forced to go without the cozy trappings, the Vespers services, the Blessed Sacrament available for worship 24 hours a day, the armies of nuns teaching children, the great composers penning archangelic trumpet fanfares... None of this was possible under Henry VIII or during the Arian crisis, where priests had to serve Mass in private homes. It is not your RIGHT to have these beautiful Masses and things are not normal just because you have them. If the faith is not there, if the dogmas are not there, celebrating these glorious Masses can even be like putting lipstick on a corpse, to use one of my harsh metaphors.
Of course I'm mostly speaking of the French FSSPX, who must have money to burn. I've heard the Masses here are pretty lousy.
As I always say, each SSPX-er is a lost sedevacantist -- so far anyway. One wrong move from Bp. Fellay and people will wake up, they'll start hemorrhaging from SSPX. Then it will be time for the glorious Masses and the pilgrimages and processions and Vespers. More importantly, it will be time to elect a Pope.
A Blessed First Friday to you all.