Ann Barnhardt, encore?

Part 1 is now up over 100,000 views, and there are lots of mirrored postings of the files (great!), so the total viewership is more than that. I thought that YouTube would have pulled it within hours, but we’re almost one week in, and it has never been pulled. I am not going to “thank” YouTube for standing by the fundamental human right of free expression and speech, but I will doff my cap to them, as they have done the right thing. I’m sure that somewhere in the inner sanctums of YouTubage, there was a meeting to discuss it, and apparently they came to the correct conclusion. Good on them.With regards to the comments, I disabled those myself, as I always do. The reason why I disable comments on all of my videos is because of the incredibly FILTHY language that people use on those comment threads. It is all “F” this and “C” that. I’m not going to facilitate that. I knew that a lot of good people would be looking at the clips, and if I had left those comment threads open, it would have needlessly scandalized good people. I can’t do that. Thanks for leaving “Channel Comments”, though. I have managed to get them all read, and really appreciate everyone’s outpouring of love.

1. I have actually been out of the office since Thursday on business, and am just now able to really look things over on something other than an iPhone. Thank you again for the truly incredible (and continuing) response.2. I do have a request to make. I’m gonna need your help on this. Over the course of the last week, I have been called the Joan of Arc of the United States, the standard bearer of both the Church Militant and Western Civilization, the next Reagan, the next Thatcher, and (my favorite) the next Barry Goldwater (blush). This could REALLY mess with a person’s mind. Seriously. It might be helpful if you started sending emails saying things like, “I dig what you said, but you’re no Hilaire Belloc, Honey.” Or, “Will you marry me? I was hoping for Salma Hayek, but I guess I could settle for you.” The word “humility” means “honesty”. Our model for humility is, of course, Mary. I think I’ll pretend that each of your incredibly flattering compliments are a single tulip (my favorite flower). I’ll bundle them up as they come in, and then I’ll give them to Mary, and then she can give them to Our Lord.

3. DO NOT send me donations. Checks are immediately voided and then shredded, so if you send me a check it will never clear and will just cause confusion when you go to reconcile your bank statements. Cash will be tithed anonymously. PLEASE, do not send me money. That is not what this is about, and that is not who I am.

4. Thank you for your help with that little Facebook issue. By acting swiftly and decisively, the entire issue is now put to bed. Everyone now knows that any FB page is not me, and it is now impossible for anyone to try to impersonate me on FB. This is the Deputy Barney Fife method of situation management: Nip it, nip it, NIP IT IN THE BUD.

5. Over at GatesofVienna.blogspot.com they are doing a project called “A Rosetta Stone for Ann Barnhardt”. They are recruiting folks to translate and subtitle my videos into as many languages as possible. I support this effort wholeheartedly.

6. The most incredible sub-set of feedback I have received has come from athiests. There are two classifications: the “I am still an athiest, but I respect you”, and then the “I am an athiest, but because of you am going to give God another look-see.” How amazing is that? Let this be a lesson to all of the weak-tea Christians out there. If you really want to win hearts and minds for Christ, start kicking some moral and intellectual butt. The kind of people who emailed me are never, ever going to be impressed by “rock band church” or “metrosexual motivational speaker church” or “if you love Jesus He will make you rich church”. That is all a pathetic cultural flash in the pan, and these people know it. Ladies and Gentlemen, God doesn’t do “fads”, nor is He a talk show host or a disc jockey. He is the Triune Godhead in all His mystery, nailed to the Cross, and come down on the altar in the Eucharist for us. Return to this, and the people will come. I promise you that.

7. I strongly recommend that anyone who is interested read Mark Twain’s historical biography “The Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc.” Twain considered it to be his best and personal favorite work. St. Joan’s life and work is ENORMOUSLY informative when thinking about the place of just war in the Christian milieu. Twain uses as his opening placard a quote from Louis Kossuth:

Consider this unique and imposing distinction. Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen.“

Goosebumps much? Yeah. Let me offer another point just to whet your interest. One of the reasons that she was able not only to ascend to supreme commander of the French, but to have the full confidence of the men right from the start involved her battle training. While it took the average soldier something like two years to master the art of riding a war horse in full armor, St. Joan required only TWO WEEKS of training. The men who witnessed it knew instantly, and without a doubt, that it was a miracle of God, and they made sure all of the other men recognized this, too. And that is just the beginning. Get off the Facebook, turn off the TV and read up. You’ll be glad you did.