{"id":2222994,"date":"2024-04-17T07:51:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T11:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-the-fbis-assault-on-catholics-threatens-all-christians\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T07:54:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T11:54:30","slug":"why-the-fbis-assault-on-catholics-threatens-all-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-the-fbis-assault-on-catholics-threatens-all-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"The FBI&#8217;s Threat to Catholics and All Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-the-fbis-assault-on-catholics-threatens-all-christians%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2222994&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The summary of the text\u2064 is about the author&#8217;s feelings of betrayal upon reading \u200bthe\u200c FBI&#8217;s anti-Catholic &#8220;Richmond\u2063 memo.&#8221; As a Catholic, the\u2063 author felt personally attacked by the document, which characterized certain Catholics\u200b as &#8220;radical-traditionalists.&#8221; The author\u2064 raises concerns about the FBI targeting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-trump-religious-groups-begin-turning-up-heat-on-gop-to-take-action-on-marjorie-taylor-greene\/\" title=\"Pro-Trump, Religious Groups Begin Turning Up Heat On GOP To Take Action On Marjorie Taylor Greene\">religious groups<\/a>, specifically Christians, beyond the scope of this memo. The summary \u2062covers the author&#8217;s sense of betrayal after encountering the FBI&#8217;s anti-Catholic &#8220;Richmond memo,&#8221; which labeled some Catholics \u200cas &#8220;radical-traditionalists.&#8221; The author, a \u200dCatholic individual, expresses \u2064worry about broader implications\u2063 for religious groups, particularly Christians, from the FBI&#8217;s actions that extend beyond the memo&#8217;s focus.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Betrayal. If I could sum it all up in one word, it would have to be \u201cbetrayal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what being stabbed in the back feels like,\u201d I thought to myself on that winter day when I first laid eyes on the FBI\u2019s anti-Catholic \u201cRichmond memo.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-485738376\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-90ce114b5814b6bae4d71e8f6a6d2175 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-90ce114b5814b6bae4d71e8f6a6d2175\"><\/div>\n<p>My reaction was predictable. I am Catholic, and I thought it was appalling, plain and simple. <\/p>\n<p>Of all the groups our top <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/waffle-arizona-house-speaker-claims-they-cant-enforce-constitution-wont-commit-to-calling-legislative-hearing\/\" title=\"WAFFLE: Arizona House Speaker Claims They Can\u2019t Enforce Constitution, Won\u2019t Commit To Calling Legislative Hearing\">federal law<\/a> enforcement agency would write an 11-page document targeting, they picked us. With all of the crime going on in the country, especially in the last few years, the FBI decided we Catholics were the problem.   <\/p>\n<p>\u201cRadical-traditionalist,\u201d I thought, trying to make sense of the term the FBI used more than 40 times throughout the memo.\u00a0It was certainly not a term I had ever heard before in the counterterrorism space. <\/p>\n<p>Who is a \u201cradical-traditionalist Catholic?\u201d (Let\u2019s call them \u201cRTC\u201d for short.) <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-5ed6c2c0505d2b8839b34cdfc8e99521 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-5ed6c2c0505d2b8839b34cdfc8e99521\"><\/div>\n<p>I\u2019m friends with people who love the Latin Mass. I attended a traditional school where I learned Latin from fifth grade through high school. <\/p>\n<p>Are they RTCs? Am I?  <\/p>\n<p>As these questions raced through my head, I thought back to another watershed moment in my life \u2014 the day I decided as a 27-year-old to put my \u201cprofessional career\u201d path behind me and enlist in the U.S. Air Force. I also remembered the day I applied to the FBI, several years later, eventually becoming an agent.  <\/p>\n<p>The memo was a punch right in the gut. The American ideals I had signed up for as a young man were betrayed. In some ways, even as a fortysomething who has worked in government, I still have some naive American idealism. So this was personal. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-85a32943d036261eb4fc433f664e8da6 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-85a32943d036261eb4fc433f664e8da6\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two Americas <\/h2>\n<p>As I sat down to read the Richmond memo, I could not help but notice that the entire thing is written from the perspective of someone who holds views antithetical to what we believe as Catholics. I later learned it was an analyst who was the product of Georgetown University, a nominally Catholic school directly inside the swamp. <\/p>\n<p>The group of people who composed the memo believe abortion \u201crights\u201d need to be defended. They also believe the LGBT agenda needs to be pushed down the American people\u2019s throats. <\/p>\n<p>However, it\u2019s not just us Catholics who reject these leftist beliefs but most Christians and people of faith in general. Targeting RTCs in one memo out of Richmond opens a door for the FBI to look into all traditionally religious people \u2014 which, statistically, is almost half the country.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My Source and Disclosures<\/h2>\n<p>The whistleblower who brought me the memo (and told me it was a problem) is not a Catholic. Being intentionally vague to protect the identity of my source, he\/she is, however, a practicing Christian and realized that if the FBI can target so-called RTCs, then anyone who espouses a traditional faith could be next.  <\/p>\n<p>On Oct. 27, 2021, I met with the representatives of my congresswoman, Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-New Mexico. In speaking with them, I made several disclosures.  <\/p>\n<p>In whistleblowing, a \u201cdisclosure\u201d happens when information that was once concealed from the public is made known. It has to be very specific, and it is laid out in the FBI Whistleblower Protection Act of 2016. An employee must make a reasonable allegation of fraud, waste, or abuse or that the agency or management is involved in a violation of rule, law, or policy. This is exactly what I disclosed on that fateful day. <\/p>\n<p>One of the things I spoke to Herrell\u2019s staff about was the FBI\u2019s politicized prioritization of their counterterrorism targets.  <\/p>\n<p>My FBI office was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-abortion-arsonists-have-firebombed-three-pro-life-groups-in-a-month\/\" title=\"Pro-Abortion Arsonists Have Firebombed Three Pro-Life Groups In A Month\">targeting pro-life activists<\/a>. The closest abortion facility to where I lived was in a small city called Anthony, New Mexico, right on the Texas border. At the time, it was a small operation. Women would come in, get their abortion pills, and that was it. As expected, the protesting we saw outside of it was fairly minimal. <\/p>\n<p>But there were a few Catholic women with an ultrasound machine in a trailer. They set up shop somewhere in the vicinity of the facility. They were your typical harmless pro-life Catholics who prayed and sang hymns. When a young woman came to pick up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-state-legislatures-move-to-ban-chemical-abortion-by-mail\/\" title=\"GOP State Legislatures Move To Ban Chemical Abortion By Mail\">abortion-inducing drugs<\/a>, the Catholic women would try to convince her to get an ultrasound to see her baby.  <\/p>\n<p>None of this violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act or any federal law. But this didn\u2019t stop FBI agents with my office from interviewing them. I found this very troubling, so I told Harrell\u2019s office. <\/p>\n<p>The New Mexican pro-lifers were just the tip of the iceberg of what I had witnessed at the FBI.<\/p>\n<p> What is also clear from the contents of the memo is that the FBI\u2019s targeting will not stop at \u201cRTCs.\u201d <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Targeting All Christians<\/h2>\n<p>The FBI is establishing a gateway in what they think is \u201cfringe Catholicism,\u201d as a means to go after Christians in general and declare them to be the real \u201cthreats\u201d and \u201cpotential terrorists\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n<p>Slowly but surely, the FBI is probing its way into all religious communities. All Christians are in the crosshairs. They may be gung-ho on RTCs now, but the idea of them targeting a so-called \u201cradical Baptist\u201d or \u201cradical Lutheran\u201d in the near future is certainly on the table.  <\/p>\n<p>Just look at the people the FBI has recently gone after \u2014 pro-lifers, parents opposed to the radical indoctrination of their children, mainstream conservatives \u2014 people who are objectively not \u201cfringe.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Power plays like the Richmond memo \u2014 if left unchecked \u2014 never fizzle out. One always leads to another.  <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don\u2019t Just Go Along<\/h2>\n<p>What if too many Catholics remain silent and decide to \u201cgo along to get along\u201d? As Catholics, and as Americans, we have a responsibility to speak out about this rampant injustice. Become involved with your local parish community. Remain involved and continue to follow the news. When you see something, say something \u2014 to your congressional representatives, to the media. Self-censorship is the worst form of censorship because you have internalized the goals of the regime and decided to enact it on their behalf. This is what Martin Niem\u00f6ller was <a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopedia.ushmm.org\/content\/en\/article\/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warning<\/a> about in his \u201cThey came for the\u2026\u201d verse. Eventually, they will come for you. <\/p>\n<p>If you work in the federal government, you can also help by calling out wrongdoing when you see it.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last few years, we heard a lot from people calling themselves \u201cthe resistance.\u201d I have concluded that with everything going on, the true new resistance is actually everyday churchgoing folks with families. <\/p>\n<p>My advice to anyone who wants to \u201crebel against the status quo\u201d is as follows: Go to church, get married, start a garden, and have children. This is the most countercultural thing we can do.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is an adapted excerpt from <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/store.catholicvote.org\/products\/for-god-country-sanity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">For God, Country, &#038; Sanity: How Catholics Can Save America<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c563c51e7ef40ceed320f98bd840e052 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c563c51e7ef40ceed320f98bd840e052\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A sense of betrayal overwhelmed me as I read the FBI&#8217;s anti-Catholic &#8220;Richmond memo.&#8221; It felt like a stab in the back, leaving me stunned. Being a Catholic, the feeling of betrayal was profound<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3077,"featured_media":2222995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/May_2018-_FBI_Academy_Gym_Seal-e1712960157718.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2222994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/May_2018-_FBI_Academy_Gym_Seal-e1712960157718.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3077"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2222994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2222995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2222994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2222994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2222994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}