TNT and Infiltration
A friend recently asked me my thoughts on “TNT”, the work of Taylor Marshall and Timothy Gordon. I try and avoid writing about specific Catholics media personalities, but I’ve been asked about them so often I thought I’d just put down some thoughts here…
A gentle tongue is a tree of life
I was an early fan of Dr. Marshall, ever since his days at The Catholic Information Center in Washington DC. I loved listening to the talks he gave there. I really enjoyed his theology books, such as The Crucified Rabbi, as well as his fictional works such as Sword and Serpent – I was actually part of the Launch Team for the second two books in his trilogy. When I had an opportunity to join his New St. Thomas Institute, I signed up. I also really benefited greatly from his first hundred or so podcast episodes.
However, towards the end of last year I stopped consuming Dr. Marshall’s material. I just had fatigue. I think it was towards the end of 2018, around the time that Timothy Gordon began appearing on his show, the trajectory of his ministry took a notable shift. The episodes started getting longer and longer, and the criticism more sustained. The comment sections on YouTube and Twitter followed suit, becoming increasingly toxic.
I reached the point where I just had to stop. I just found that, after listening to an episode, I would go away feeling anxious and exhausted.
Infiltration
A little bit before I stopped consuming Dr. Marshall’s material, he released Infiltration a book “showing how these enemies of Christ strategically infiltrated the seminaries, then the priesthood, then the episcopacy, and eventually the cardinal-electors all with the eventual goal of electing one of their own as pope.”
Now, admittedly I have not read this book from cover-to-cover. I did, however, get the chance to look through a copy which one of my friends had purchased. Rather than argue over the details of Dr. Marshall’s book, allow me to express my chief issue with the book…
Let’s say for sake of argument that the criticisms of this book are unfounded. Let’s say that everything stated and implied within its pages is accurate (I have no easy way of disproving many of the claims anyway). Let’s assume that there have indeed been coordinated conspiracies to take down the Catholic Church. Here’s my question…
What difference does that make to me?
Can I change who is Pope? No.
Can I change the actions of the USCCB? No.
Can I even change the actions of my own Bishop? No.
So, if I have no scope of influence in the areas discussed by the book, how do I really benefit from its pages? What fruit will it produce in my life, other than anger and anxiety?
I need to home and love my family
I posted a comment on Dr. Marshall’s Twitter account a while back saying that I needed to take a break from his materials due to the relentless negativity and said that I would love to see him return to producing the spiritually nourishing material of his earlier years. While Dr. Marshall was kind, many of his acolytes were not.
I don’t begrudge Dr. Marshall or other Catholic commentators for doing what they do. Perhaps it gives ensures some kind of accountability for some clerics? Maybe…it’s hard to say. However, I do know it’s just not for me. When I come across folks who consume this kind of material day-in-day-out, they don’t seem joy-filled. They remind me of politics junkies who spend their days getting angry about the words and actions of politicians who are utterly removed from their own day-to-day existence. In my opinion, that’s no way to live.
On a personal note, I’ve noticed that when I constantly focus on the faults and sins of clergy I’ve never met, I’m more liable to ignore my own faults. Naturally, Uncle Screwtape loves this sort of thing because it means that I think about my own sins even less than I did before! Rather than spending time in humble introspection, I waste my time getting angry about people I’ve never met and about stuff I can’t ever change.
So, rather than listening to ninety-minute podcasts and videos complaining about Popes, Bishops and Priests, I think my time is better spent doing a Holy Hour and then going out rejuvenated to serve the local Body of Christ. As the (apocryphal) saying of Mother Teresa goes:
“If you want to bring peace to the whole world, go home and love your family.”
Not Mother Teresa
One of things I initially applauded about the TnT podcast is that they were talking about issues like illegal immigration and capital punishment from the perspective of actual Church teaching. The political posturing of the bishops and even the pope himself on these issues lead to even greater confusion on these issues. It is true that we cannot change the actions of the pope or the USCCB. But we can, perhaps must, point out where they are using their offices to advance a political policy as opposed to presenting the actual teaching of the Church on these matters. Remember, instructing the ignorant is a work of mercy. So properly informing ourselves as well as others and serving our fellows is not mutually exclusive.
That being said, after reading the book Infiltration in its entirety, I found it troubling. It seemed geared more toward being sensationalistic than informative. It makes many veiled implications that are substantiated. For example, his saying Vatican II may have contained error, I put this question to Dr Marshall on one of your FB posts he was trolling:
“Taylor Marshall, in your book you state:
“By a divine miracle, the pope of Vatican II taught that Vatican II contained no extraordinary dogma and did not carry the mark of infallibility—meaning the documents of Vatican II are fallible and may contain error.”
To which I put the following question:
“If it is possible that Vatican II taught error and that it has always been understood that ecumenical councils are free from error, you are in effect denying that Vatican II was in fact an ecumenical council. Am I understanding you correctly?”
He never responded. That’s a more than fair question by any honest and intelligent estimate.
Marshall, like many in the popular Catholic establishment, are averse to dealing with substantive criticism. That is something I have found problematic for many years now. It seems to me, this has become more apparent with him since Infiltration.
“It has always been taught that ecumenical Councils are free from error.” Where has it been taught? By whom has it been taught? If it has been taught in the unlimited way you express it then presumably the Fourth Lateran Council was not in error when it passed Canon 13, forbidding the formation of new religious orders. If it was not in error then Ignatius Loyola should not have been given permission to establish the Society of Jesus.
Do you think canons are irrevocable?
True. I actually met Taylor Marshall years ago at an event. I admired his writings but then when i met him face to face, he was pompous, so into himself and he would talk over priests and bishops at the event. He also had a lot of request from the organizers of the event, he was like a diva! He gives out the impression that he is better than everyone else! Now, compare him to Michael Voris. At first, I hated Michael Voris in his videos because he was so toxic and negative. Then, i met him during one of his talks, he was the 2nd speaker for the day, the 1st speaker was chastity promoter Jason Evert. In person, Michael Voris is VERY APPROACHABLE, Voris smiles a lot, is very laid back in taking with people, he shook hands with everyone and even high-fived the children there. He also listened in on Jason Evert when Jason was talking and Voris was the one who firs approached Jason and shook his hand. Voris is very different in person then what he potrays himself to be on Youtube. Getting to meet them face to face, I now respect Voris more than Marshall. I don’t listen to Taylor Marshall anymore.
My post is less about Dr. Marshall’s character (he’s been polite enough to me when we’ve interacted online). For me, it’s more of “How does this help? What difference does it make to my life?” My answer is that I don’t think it helps and getting upset about something I can’t change is pointless.
Popes have been condemning Freemasonry and the secret societies for 300 years, including their plans to overthrow the monarchies and the Catholic Church. Many Catholics want to understand HOW our church go to be the way it is. Dr. Taylor Marshall’s book explains how, with footnotes. Your lack of interest in history and current events does not make them unimportant.
Let’s say for sake of argument that Dr. Marshall is 100% correct in his analysis. What difference does that make to your day-to-day life as a Catholic?