Avoiding Babylon

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!A war budget doesn’t come with a press release that says “war.” It shows up as numbers that don’t make sense for peace, and as a mood you can feel in the news cycle. We trace that mood back to two big ideas that shaped the post–Cold War mindset: the liberal belief that institutions can tame power, and the realist insistence that nations ultimately act for themselves. Using Francis Fukuyama’s End of History and Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations as guideposts, we sketch how the old order frayed and why cultural blocs—religion, memory, language—may reshape the map more than trade agreements ever did.From there, we dig into Ukraine as a harsh teacher: drones over doctrine, trenches over glossy strategy decks, and the stubborn reality of industrial bottlenecks. Can the U.S. rebuild munitions capacity fast enough? What happens when defense contractors get pushed from buybacks to production and the state edges toward a “command economy” posture without formally declaring it? We explore how sovereignty, logistics, and frontier tech like AI become national-security terrain—and why markets shift when mission logic takes over.Europe’s identity crisis threads through it all. A continent that once exported Christianity now struggles to define itself amid demographic change and civilizational tension. We consider what realism predicts for Europe, Russia, and the U.S., and how domestic fractures—censorship battles, CBDC talk, and culture-war fatigue—complicate strategy at home. Yet there’s a human counterpoint here: we share details for our Italy pilgrimage, why we’re keeping it small, how we’ll pray together, and a moving note from a Protestant listener reconsidering Mary through biblical typology. It’s geopolitics with a soul, grounded in faith, community, and the stubborn hope that meaning outlasts headlines.If this conversation challenged your assumptions or clarified the stakes, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Then tell us: which lens explains the world better right now—liberal order or realism?Support the showTake advantage of great Catholic red wines by heading over to https://recusantcellars.com/ and using code "BASED" for 10% off at checkout!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssRumble: https://rumble.com/c/AvoidingBabylon

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!The spark was small—a tweet from Bishop Barron about synodality and doctrine—but the questions behind it are huge: What should a synod actually decide? How did “the spirit of Vatican II” turn into perpetual uncertainty? And why are everyday Catholics still getting side-eyed for kneeling at communion? We open the hood on a consistory that could reset expectations, sift Barron’s argument for what it gets right and wrong, and get painfully practical about reverence, freedom, and pastoral authority.Along the way, we share a happier twist: a priest reached out and offered to accompany our Italy trip, making daily Latin Mass not only possible but likely across private chapels in Rome and beyond. That momentum matters. People don’t want liturgical roulette; they want beauty, clarity, and worship that deepens faith. The pastoral playbook that treats piety as a problem is wearing thin, and that comes into sharp focus with a diocese banning portable kneelers for the elderly and Jonathan Roumie describing how he was told to stand when he tried to receive on his knees. Reverence isn’t performance; it’s love braving friction.We don’t dodge the tough map either. Under Francis, a common foe united disparate trad corners. Under Leo, the tone is calmer, but the doctrinal direction still worries many. Could a non-territorial jurisdiction—an ordinariate-style solution with bishops from traditional communities—offer stability without schism? Maybe. Or maybe it risks a new ghetto unless leaders honor what’s already law: the right to kneel, the right to receive on the tongue, and the call to worship God with proper solemnity. We’re watching the consistory, reading the dubia, and building something constructive: a pilgrimage ordered to daily prayer and the Eucharist.If this conversation hits home, follow the show, share it with a friend who cares about liturgy and clarity, and leave a quick review. Your feedback helps more people find thoughtful Catholic conversations that aim higher.Support the showTake advantage of great Catholic red wines by heading over to https://recusantcellars.com/ and using code "BASED" for 10% off at checkout!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssRumble: https://rumble.com/c/AvoidingBabylon

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!A neighborhood teen walks into a midnight Latin Mass and steps straight into a world of chant, candlelight, and awe. That single moment sets the tone for a wide-ranging conversation about faith that’s lived, not branded—how ordinary Catholic family life can quietly evangelize a restless culture craving stability, fatherhood, and hope.We trade UK and US vantage points and compare media narratives with street-level reality. Are things truly burning, or are we binging on spectacle? We tackle the perennial “war on Christmas,” the corporate habit of sanitizing holy days, and the rise of a substitute liturgical calendar that tries to replace the Incarnation with new rituals and new saints. The throughline is clear: without a supernatural core, culture-building becomes cosplay. Tradition isn’t window dressing; it’s the scaffolding that carries meaning from one generation to the next.We don’t stop at headlines. Mark shares the searing loss of his daughter, the decade of ache that followed, and the surprising graces that kept him moving—community, providence, and a daughter named Mary who arrived like a gift from heaven. Katherine speaks with candor about costly choices, how personal relief often shifts pain onto children, and why love sometimes means carrying the cross instead of outsourcing it. Along the way, we reflect on fatherhood statistics, Protestant critiques of Christmas, and the difference between wielding Christianity as a tool and receiving it as life.If you’ve ever wondered whether small fidelities matter—family meals, icons on the wall, prayer before bed, Sunday Mass—this conversation says yes. Light still enters the darkness. Grace still heals what pride breaks. Join us, then tell a friend, subscribe, and leave a review with one takeaway you’ll put into practice this week.Support the showTake advantage of great Catholic red wines by heading over to https://recusantcellars.com/ and using code "BASED" for 10% off at checkout!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssRumble: https://rumble.com/c/AvoidingBabylon

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!The night starts with chaos—copyright worries, a broken chair, and a mood hanging by a thread—and then shifts into something a lot more meaningful: a 10-day pilgrimage to Italy designed for depth, safety, and affordability. We walk through the route that blends history and holiness—Rome, Pompeii, Capri, Naples, Loreto, Lanciano, Assisi, Orvieto—and explain why we’re keeping it to one bus and targeting around four thousand dollars: intimacy over hype, substance over markup, and a chance for travelers who’ve hesitated to finally say yes.From there, we step straight into the week’s storm around TPUSA and the conservative media world. What happens when movements turn into personality cults, when symbols become props, and when emotion is the product? We unpack how factional tribes—Candace, Tucker, Fuentes, BAP—monetize outrage and keep us scrolling, while core Christian realities like sin, penance, and the interior life get sidelined. The result is a culture war that looks spiritual but rarely calls for conversion. Our push is simple: trade spectacle for repentance, and public drama for real prayer and virtue.We also tackle the pressure inside the Church: the fatigue of constant scandal, the unnatural posture of permanent suspicion toward the hierarchy, and the ache for true spiritual fatherhood. We’re not calling for theatrics or caricatures of masculinity; we’re asking for priests and bishops whose presence is steady, fatherly, and ordered to the salvation of souls. Finally, we confront the hot-button debates—Zionism, media narratives, and what can be questioned—arguing for honest inquiry without sensationalism and a theological lens that prioritizes human dignity, history, and clarity.If you’re ready for a conversation that ditches performative outrage and aims at real renewal—plus a concrete way to encounter the sacred in Italy—hit play. And if this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.Support the showTake advantage of great Catholic red wines by heading over to https://recusantcellars.com/ and using code "BASED" for 10% off at checkout!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssRumble: https://rumble.com/c/AvoidingBabylon

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!Knives Out 3: A murder in a neo‑gothic church, a boxer who traded the ring for a collar, and a monsignor whose thunder hides a storm—this story had us leaning in from skepticism to surprise. What starts like a stylish whodunit unfolds into a thoughtful meditation on guilt, grace, and the strange mercy of suffering. We dig into why the narrative needed Catholicism—not just the aesthetics of stained glass and cassocks, but the hard edges of confession, penance, and redemptive love.We share where the film won us over: Father Jud’s steady humility, the way ritual is presented as a living story, and a pivotal conversation that reframes doubt without smugness. Monsignor Wicks emerges as a cautionary tale of zeal unmoored from charity, while the detective’s barbs slowly reveal an old wound masquerading as certainty. Along the way we spot smart details—a well-placed theological book, a deliberate use of architecture—that signal someone behind the scenes knows the difference between costume and conviction.Expect a candid take on content concerns, an honest compare to “faith” films that preach but don’t persuade, and a deeper look at the film’s central symbols, including an “Eve’s apple” motif that turns into a stark contrast between grasping and surrender. Whether you’re Catholic, curious, or just here for a sharp mystery with moral weight, this conversation aims to help you see the clues behind the clues—and maybe why repentance doesn’t shrink a life but sets it free.If this resonates, follow the show, share with a friend who loves smart cinema, and leave a review with your take on the film’s portrayal of faith. We read every word.Support the showTake advantage of great Catholic red wines by heading over to https://recusantcellars.com/ and using code "BASED" for 10% off at checkout!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssRumble: https://rumble.com/c/AvoidingBabylon