Sunday, January 08, 2012

Chavez at our Lady of Coromoto: an essay on moral turpitude, part 2

In philosophy or ethics we can discuss morality, immorality and amorality.  Immorality implies knowledge of morality and thus the possibility of sin and repentance (even if it rarely happens).  Amorality may imply ignorance of morality whatsoever, or the outright rejection of the concept of sin (and hence repentance).  When I look again at the videos of Friday's visit of Chavez to the shrine of our Lady of Coromoto I am at a loss as to what to use for Chavez, immorality or amorality; or perhaps look into coining a new term to express what I am about to show you (though the simpler term "circus show" could also be quite acceptable).

In the preceding post I tried to illustrate how the pro-Chavez culture has robbed its followers of free will making them a flock of luxury beggars, and/or desperate ones.  In this text, which follows Chavez once he entered inside the Basilica of our Lady of Coromoto, I am going to try to let you understand how low chavismo has gone to the point of making blunt politics with religion and faith, while INSIDE the most sacred of our shrines.  If the previous post needed no translation of the sound track, this will require some.  Still, they are still quite short, at a minute and a half at most.  Commentary starts after the video image.




This shot is a few minutes after Chavez entered the sanctuary, which is decorated at the altar with the huge flags of the Vatican and Venezuela (you will see them in a following video).  Although at all time we will hear crowds during the cadena we never see them in full, just close ups.  There are at least three priests welcoming Chavez, and a choir near the altar singing all sorts of things from middle age monastic responses to more modern stuff as at some point the audience and Chavez are treated to a brief concert.

Our Lady of Coromoto
But back to this video.  What you see there is the mother of Hugo Chavez, making a P.D.A. of sorts in front of the reliquary that holds a statue of Lady of Coromoto and the Baby Jesus.  Note that the woman has quite a few jewelry and bangs on her.

What is interesting in this segment is the soundtrack.  The media folks are interviewing some woman from the "consejo comunal", the communal council who are supposed to be the backbone of chavismo.  They sure enough picked someone with a "tierrúo" enough accent, that is as popular as possible but still quite understandable to all, from me to the rankest and filest of chavistas. Her intervention starts at second 4 and the  highlight of what she says:
"Le pedimos a dios todopoderoso que, que, su sanacion sea efectiva que ya el esta sano esta declarado sano.  Entonces nosotros, en nombre de los consejos comunales y en nombre del poder popular que esta relegado [sic?] aqui trabajando hondamente con el gobernador del estado y con, con la revolucion que tenemos aqui un gran presidente que se ha preocupado por los humildes, se ha preocupado por los niños, por los ancianos, todos "
We ask God almighty that, that, his cure be done 'cause he is already healthy he is declared healthy.  Thus we, in the name of the communal councils and in the name of the Popular Power which relegated [delegated?] here working deeply with the governor of the state and with, with the revolution that we have [got] a great president that has worried for the lowly, that has worried for the children, for the elderly, all.

Observe that her speech is not polished (she was chosen on purpose, she is not faking it, and yet understandable) and that she makes sure to quote the essential of Chavez reelection program, namely the Popular Power and the misiones recently relaunched, ignoring that nothing was done in 12 years, and that these recent misiones are just remake for the second or third time of previous misiones from 2003 and 2006.

That is what you call a well oiled propaganda machinery which main purpose is to create a class difference.





This video is shorter to comment.  First there is a blessing from the main priest (I really do not care who is it so no name searched but I am sure that the Catholic hierarchy will have its say somewhere).  And then Chavez places a rosary on the image of the Virgin!!!!!!!!  A rosary!!!!  At which point a big applause breaks which suggests to me that there must be a TV screen somewhere for people to follow.  You can hear in the background "celestial" music.

Now, you may remain stuck on the pagano-religio-ridiculo aspect of the scene but you would be wrong.

First, Chavez has decided to play at the Catholic Church level and hunt for its votes, trying to neutralize it for the next election.  For somebody who has demonized the Catholic hierarchy, there cannot be any bigger reversal but to come to Coromoto with as rosary, the symbol of old church goers (think about the mision he just re-launched for the elderly).  This is XXI century tropical Canossa.

But in second there is also a major gamble from his part.  For years Chavez attacks on the Catholic church were interpreted (wrongly) by the evangelical movement of Venezuela (20%?) as an indirect support.  For Chavez to do the rosary scene means that he either takes now for granted the evangelical vote (more worried about rivalry with the Catholic church than moral issues like in the US, this being Venezuela after all) or that he is giving it up.  Because you can trust me on that one, if this image circulates among the Evangelicals of Venezuela, he is going to lose votes, many votes.




And we come to the last but not least part of this series of 9 videos.

Chavez uses the sanctuary of Our Lady of Coromoto to make a political speech.  He starts by asking the permission to the padre but does not wait for it, not even pretends to look toward the padre.

In this video you will see how he calls to the pulpit the three major political forces of the area after himself (governors or ex governors of Barinas, Lara and Portuguesa), at second 20.  All running for office in December, by the way.

And then he calls Rangel Silva at second 22.  He announces at second 55 that he appoints Rangel Silva as the new minister of defense, asking for the blessing and protection of the Virgin (1 minute and 11 seconds).  Rangel Silva being, for memory, the general accused by the US of drug trafficking, the general that announced he would not accept an electoral result unfavorable to Chavez.

I do not know about you but such a political act in a major Catholic Sanctuary is profanation, and it is an agnostic who is writing this.  Be it a Mosque, a Synagogue, a Temple, a Church or a Pagoda, the only speech one can ever do there, and on very counted circumstances, is on religious matters of tolerance, brotherhood and the like.  NEVER to ask the deity to protect you and your goons.  Will the Venezuelan Catholic church reply?

Notes:
- Tal Cual makes fun of this by wondering whether it is the Lady of Coromoto or Jose Greogorio Hernandez who cured Chavez.

- Tal Cual also suggests that the main priest of the Basilica seemed to be surprised by Chavez daring to touch the statue of the Virgin and pout a Rosary.  That would make sense because it is hard to believe that the Church would willingly have allowed all what Chavez did Friday evening.

- Apparently, at this point, the national press does not seem as offended as I am by last night pathetic show.  But El Pais in Spain noticed and used the words of Chavez asking for the Virgin's blessing to highlight their note on the matter.


18 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:15 AM

    "[...]I am at a loss as to what to use for Chavez, immorality or amorality"

    I would guess immorality.

    Chavez, like most sociopaths, has a deep sense of "right" and "wrong". Of course, "right" means everything that makes him happy and fulfills his goals and "wrong" is anything that makes him unhappy and/or prevents the realization of his goals. He doesn't ignore morality, he just thinks he is the very definition of it. And he is very adamant on making EVERYONE follow his personal idea of morality.

    So, yes, there is "morality" somewhere inside Chavez's head. It just so happens to be the morality of a pampered 5-year-old child.

    ReplyDelete
  2. anonymous

    I am not so sure. Morality is not personal, it is promoted through the social values that surround you. In other words I see sociopaths rather as amoral.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Island Canuck12:54 PM

    Chavez will use every resource at his disposal to create a myth about his persona.

    When he dies he wants Chavismo to continue. The latest polls support the theory that without Chavez there is no Chavismo.

    Maybe by creating a sort of "sainthood" he can perpetuate his message even after death.

    Just a side note Daniel: the correct word in your 2 titles is "essay" not "assay"

    as·say/ˈasā/
    Noun:
    The testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality: "submission of plate for assay".

    es·say/ˈesā/
    Noun:
    A short piece of writing on a particular subject.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Assay works too in this topic. Chavez is being weighed and examined against a standard. I kinda like it. Assayed and found wanting, being less than pure anything.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Glenn4:28 PM

    It is not long it has been so long since Chavez diatribes against the Catholic church and the padres that expressed concerns over his actions. This "show" is only a show for votes, nothing more, though a hypocritical one at that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:12 PM

    I think there is a greater purpose here. His actions may confirm the fact that Chavez himself knows that he is dying. This is exactly what you would do were you to have the child-like mind of a Hugo Chavez. The word to be used here does included immorality, but it surely encompasses the word narcissism as well. Hugo Chavez is quite simply a narcissist. I believe this whole act was staged not because of the Catholic vote, but because of his (Chavez's) health. He knows that the cancer wasn't expunged, and he knows his days on earth are numbered. That was the whole point

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  7. Did Chavez strike a deal with the Church ? If not I guess the Church will have to speak out against his abuse of using religious ceremony for political purposes...so we will see ;)

    Here we also observe a Chavez who is emulating the late Sai Baba , pretending to manifest material wishes through magical means in accepting wish lists etc.

    While it might be true that many Venezuelans have always wanted something for nothing, I think that this is true will all populations,as the human being is inherently lazy; the difference being that few speak up against it enough for those guilty to learn that the wish is immature and the price paid will be abnormally heavy.The oil money makes that stupid wish even more feasible.

    We always pay a price for childish dependence extending into what should be mature adulthood.

    This new image of Chavez with the Church, while he is still heavy with Santeria is quite disturbing.This just shows us how inconsistencies are ignored by the brainwashed and the sleepwalking.There seems to be a new trend everywhere linking Christianity with political ideology.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Using religion for political purposes is nothing new. Just about every "leader" since the dawn of human civilization, probably around Ethiopia, has done the same thing.

    Rulers know that to gain power or remain in power they need to be "authenticated" by God, or the prevailing religious deities.

    Indian Shamans, the Romans, Chinese, Egyptians, Le Roi "Soleil" en France, the British, even here in the USA, with guys like Bush, they ALL have used Religion to their advantage. Chavez is not stupid. He's simply doing the same.

    The average "pueblo" person is usually quite religious. Christians in Venezuela, or what have you elsewhere. They respect those deities, they accept their superior powers. And, above all, they FEAR "the powers that be", as stated in King James' bible. (December issue, national Geographic, very interesting)

    So, politicians everywhere, for centuries, have tapped into that resource: Religion. They have claimed to be even direct descendants from God, chosen by God, personally, as Ramses II did, for example. That's how you stay in power.

    There's God, Simon Bolivar, and then Chavez. All blessed.

    Uneducated, religious people buy into that sort of crap, they fear the "Lord" and his chosen rules, so they must obey. Pure propaganda.

    It's nothing new.And it has always worked very well, everywhere.
    CI

    ReplyDelete
  9. Also, the alleged "separation of powers" is nothing but a myth, a piece of cheap, bogus advertising since the early Greeks:

    " The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle,[1] is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic. Under this model, the state is divided into branches, each with separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility so that no one branch has more power than the other branches. The normal division of branches is into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary. For similar reasons, the concept of separation of church and state has been adopted in a number of countries, to varying degrees depending on the applicable legal structures and prevalent views toward the proper role of religion in society."

    Obviously, such noble and idealistic concepts have never been truly implemented or respected anywhere, EVER. If you think about it. It's just a nice idea to sell, or, at best, a rule of thumb to try and follow in civilized countries today.

    But especially now in rogue countries Venezuela, where the blatant transgressions between "executive, judiciary, and legislative" powers happen every minute, on national TV.

    "L'Etat c'est moi", disait l'autre. I am the State. That's Chavez. Except he can barely speak some odd melange of criollo with aborigen.

    The 4th Power, Religion, can be the most dangerous and effective. Separation of Church and State? YEAH, RIGHT. Where? When?

    And it's been mixed-up into some dreadful enchilada salad with the other 3 powers in Venezuela. Basically, Chavismo controls all 4 powers, and there's virtually no "separation" whatsoever.
    CI

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sung to the tune of "Mademoiselle From Armentiers"

    Does Chavez want to be the State, parlez -vous ? (2X)
    Yes he wants to be the State,
    wipe the slate and clean the plate
    hinky dinky parlez- vous


    Does Chavez gives us all we need ? parlez -vous ( 2x)
    Yes Chavez give us all we need,
    and everything to him we plead
    Hinky Dinky parlez -vous


    http://youtu.be/hzb7yMOW5OA

    ReplyDelete
  11. Boludo Tejano7:41 PM

    Off-topic via Babalú:Venezuelan General Consul in Miami declared persona non grata by State Department.

    ”It appears that the U.S. government has declared the General Consul of Venezuela in Miami, Livia Antonieta Acosta, persona non grata and has given her 72 hours to leave the country. On December 10, 2011, several U.S. congressional leaders asked for an investigation into the General Consul for her alleged connection with a possible cyber attack on the U.S. by agents of Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. In a letter sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, four leaders of congress expressed their "deep concern" over the diplomatic credentials of Acosta who has been heading up the Miami office since last March.” [Babalú translation]

    How many Chavistas has the USG declared persona non grata? Would love to see all those Chavista McMansions in the US confiscated for ill-gotten gains.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous9:26 PM

    "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" Marx (although the sentence is not originally his). Politicians of the dictator variety do not use religion to control the people: they destroy religion to consolidate power. Religion is what unites the people, often against the dictator. An effective way to get rid of religion is to undermine it from within. Just watch Chavez at the Chiquinquira shrine. The dictator then establishes his own pseudo-religion (of which comunism is one example)to really control the people. Ask Lenin next time you visit his mausoleum.

    Joseph

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Politicians of the dictator variety do not use religion to control the people: they destroy religion to consolidate power. Religion is what unites the people, often against the dictator."

    Not so sure about that. Religion is certainly "Opium for the people", a somewhat stabilizing and calming force.

    But if you look at history, religion is also right at the epicenter of most Wars. Century, after century, after century, around the globe. It's been the perfect excuse to attack, conquer, steal the gold, rape the women, and then leave "in the name of God".

    The examples are countless. Pre-historic tribes fought about religion. The Romans invaded half of the world in the name of Ceasar, "son of God":

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_God

    The Spanish, our proud ancestors in Venezuela, did the same thing in the Americas: kill indians by the bushel, rape the women, steal all the riches, in the name of Jesus, and the Queen of Spain. The Brits did the same thing in North America, the Portuguese in Brazil.

    All the modern genocides in Congo or Rwanda, why? Money and God differences, hand in hand.

    And to this day, same thing: the wars with AL Quaeda and the muslims, all of that, common denominator: Religion differences. The "Sunnis, or Shietes" (sorry about spelling, the "infidels" , and thus, you have 911.

    History repeats itself, and religion fanaticism is almost always right in the middle of the mess.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous1:08 AM

    El Presidente has been very good at establishing the Religion of Chavez in Venezuela. However, he is a mere piker compared to the Kim Regime in North Korea.

    Perhaps he should visit that great country and learn how the masters do it. Perhaps he should stay there.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous4:06 AM

    As the World is ready to post sanctions on Iran....our great president is meeting with it's President tomorrow to sign bilateral agreements. What an embarrassment.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous4:36 AM

    Este individuo no tiene fé, no cree en Dios, es un farsante y abusador, falta de respeto con la iglesia, solo cree en babalaus que son otros farsantes, pero se equivoca porque el pueblo no acepta esto. La Maga Lee

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous5:59 AM

    comunistas GO HOME

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous4:14 AM

    Death to Communism ! Viva Christo Rey !

    ReplyDelete

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