(Important announcements are at the bottom of this post, and additional important ones are coming soon. Please subscribe with your email address on the right hand sidebar [or below post for mobile] here at DSDOConnor.com to be kept in the loop; this way, I can even reach you if they censor me—which, at this point, is beginning to look increasingly likely. Twitter has already acted to “prevent engagement” with the Tweet I posted linking to this post.)
Update 3 (6:50pm): It appears I can now access my Twitter account again
Update 2 (2:45pm Eastern US Time, 8/20): Twitter has locked my account:
Update 12:45pm: Twitter is blocking engagement in my posts:
[Update: Notes/Clarifications regarding this post: 1) Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for the outpouring of support, prayers, and encouragement! Please forgive me if I’m unable to get back to you personally, but know of my eternal gratitude and rest assured of my prayers for you as well!2) To clarify: I teach at a different college than where I had been studying for my PhD. Although I was kicked out of my PhD studies at one university (SUNY Albany/UAlbany) for being unvaccinated, my job as a philosophy professor is at a different college (HVCC) and is entirely unaffected. I did resign from the HVCCFA “Faculty Association” (the Labor Union) where I teach, in protest of its president’s crusade against unvaccinated students, but I am still a faculty member; I’m still an adjunct philosophy professor. 3) Many thanks for the recommendations and advice on next steps I could take! I do plan to continue working towards my PhD (I am not “Dr. O’Connor” yet), but I’m going to put formal university PhD enrollment on pause for the moment as I pray about the specifics.]
After 4 years of hard work on my PhD in Philosophy at the State University of New York in Albany, the administration has unceremoniously kicked me out since I refused to receive an abortion tainted experimental mRNA injection for a disease I already have (far superior) natural immunity to—by denying my request for a religious exemption.
Included above is the correspondence these nameless bureaucrats sent me, lest they dishonestly try to argue that they did not kick me out. Of course they did. Of the “options” presented to me, withdrawal was the only possibility. That is expulsion.
Moreover, this was manifestly not a matter of me merely “failing to adequately demonstrate” anything. I had demonstrated perfectly well to them that my “personal and genuinely held religious beliefs preclude” Covid vaccination. If they truly just regarded my explanation as insufficient, and simply needed more information to that effect, then they would have requested it. Instead, they bluntly declared, “This decision is final.”
I’ll reiterate that I intend no judgment, much less condemnation, of one who did get the jab and insists his conscience was clear doing so. Such a person’s choice is none of my business. (But I would caution such a person to ensure he does not allow that act to become a slippery slope of concessions to tyranny, for make no mistake about it, Covidist Tyranny was a Boot Camp for the Faithful). But my conscience said no (I explained why here.)
Even if my conscience were clear in taking the vaccine on the abortion-tainted issue, I would not take it. Leaving aside, for now, the mountain of reasons we now have to suspect that the vaccines may be ineffective or even harmful, I never trust brand-new categories of injected medical technologies, and I would only consider taking such a thing if there was a high chance I’d be good as dead anyway without it (which isn’t remotely close to being the case with Covid). All the Covid “vaccines” that were available to me are built upon brand new technologies, and most of them are not only new, but of the completely experimental “mRNA” tech variety. But even if I felt comfortable with the technology, I still wouldn’t take the vaccine—because I have absolutely no need for it it—“those who are well do not need a physician,” (Mark 2:17). The jab’s mandate is tyrannical. I will not cooperate with this tyranny just to make my life easier.
And this is tyranny. It has nothing to do with health. Even our national health authorities, including the CDC, (which have been anything but willing to acknowledge the downsides of vaccination or respect the rights of the unvaccinated), no longer differentiate between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in their own official policies. Yet, SUNY—run by thugs, above all my evil-promoting “Catholic” governor, Kathy Hochul—will still gladly discriminate against and persecute unvaccinated students.
Moreover, I can prove its irrelevance to health with one simple fact: if the mandates were about health, then my University would have been equally satisfied with proof of immunity – which I have, and can prove through a blood test —and my immunity is far better than what any vaccine could give. Though I disagree with all vaccine mandates, that is nevertheless how it works with others. For example, I recall that the last time I was filling out University admissions paperwork, I had the option of proving I had been vaccinated for MMR or of submitting proof of immunity. Why is that not permitted here, with Covid?
We all know the answer.
Many of our overlords among the global elite have openly admitted that all these vaccine mandates are merely attempts to pressure people into subservience to their agenda – not sincere attempts, built upon science, to limit viral transmission. If any “science” is involved in these mandates, it is Machiavellian-Psychology, not medical or epidemiological science. What they have not admitted to, but is almost certainly the case, is that the Infrastructure of the Antichrist is being laid down before our eyes.
So, no. I will not comply.
I will resist.
Neither my University’s President, nor my State’s Governor, nor my Country’s President, get to decide what I do or do not inject into my body. Good luck to any such person who tries.
4 years of hard work…
I am not resentful—I know that nothing but God’s Will can happen, therefore I am entirely at peace, and I know He has something much better in store for me now—but I admit that I was surprised. I thought I’d be granted the exemption, as I have heard of plenty other people receiving them. Perhaps whatever anonymous New York bureaucrat behind a desk was processing my request decided to Google my name and stumbled upon this blog, and was thrilled to have an opportunity to expel from the university someone who publicly stands against all the Godless anti-dogmas that the New York elites who employ him stand for.
In case that is so, let me offer a warning to him and to all those who would persecute others from the comfort and security of their anonymity: Judgment Day is coming. If you cannot even look me in the eye–but can only kick me out of my University with an email from a “no reply” administrative account and not so much as a name affixed to it–how do you suppose you’ll be prepared to stand alone and render an account before Almighty God?
But I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. I have, after all, long warned that persecution is coming. And it will obviously come the soonest for those who have been the most public with the very principles that will be subject to persecution.
Some of the Faithful reading this may be tempted to take it as a cautionary tale whose lesson is to keep one’s views quiet. But I exhort such people to do just the opposite: to shout the Truth from the rooftops.
To be silent when speaking out is called for (and if any times in history have called for that, those times are now) is to make a pact with the Devil. But the Devil does not appear to most as Mephistopheles to Faust; he does so, rather, by suggesting rationalizations:
- “What good would it do anyway?”
- “But that type of issue just isn’t what I’m about publicly. I can leave that to the experts in that field.”
- “So few people will hear or see what I say, why would it matter?”
- “But I could suffer consequences.”
Although we must never dialogue with the Devil, that reminder may be of little use to one who has already done so. Therefore, to such a person I say that each rationalization has a very simple answer:
- An infinite amount of good. An eternity of good. Even a tiny mustard seed of truth can–in a fruition we will only see at the Judgment–flourish into the greatest of trees. You can be the sower of that seed, if only you are willing.
- That’s precisely why it’s important for you to proclaim soul-saving truth. The Bishops, the priests, the theologians, and the full-time evangelists and apologists, are all too easy to ignore for many of the people out there. Justly or unjustly, such people will often be written off by the world as mere “careerists,” whereas you – not numbering among those ranks – cannot be thus dismissed.
- How do you know how many people will see or hear it? These days especially, with the internet, it is easy enough for just about anyone to proclaim the truth to an audience more than large enough to justify doing so; far larger, indeed, than the missionaries of ages past sacrificed their lives to reach. Besides, a single soul is an enormous audience – a creature who, in eternity if not before, will one day be a saint of such glory as to astonish, or a monstrosity of such hideousness as to terrify. Finally, we answer not for the size of our audience but for whether we have been faithful in ministering to it, however great or tiny. History’s seemingly greatest missionary, even if he preached to many millions, will lay no greater claim to Heavenly merit than will an ordinary nurse or tutor or grandmother if the latter nevertheless ministered equally faithfully to those whom God’s Will put in their paths.
- Read on.
A C.S. Lewis quote I have hanging up next to my office door as an important daily reminder
I was recently talking to a young man who has a very large online following. His public endeavors are not related to the Faith, but a short time ago he took a very bold and public stand for a controversial, but direly urgent, Christian Truth. He immediately received a torrent of the vilest attacks and even threats. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, he had also been encouraged by some acquaintances to retract what he said in order to mitigate the attacks. But he refused. He stood by it–and stands by it–come what may.
We need an army of such souls today. We need “God’s Seven Thousand” to stand up and be counted. The apocalyptic error, and evil, and perversity, and blindness with which you will inevitably be surrounded in the world today may at times cause you to wonder if you’re the last sane person left on the planet.
You are not. But you must understand that others are similarly tempted. By speaking up, you encourage them.
Ironically, I have just found myself in the midst of yet another SUNY-Covid-vaccine-mandate tumult. This time, it concerns the college at which I teach, HVCC. They recently decided—boldly, courageously, and correctly—to refuse to bar unvaccinated students from campus, despite a SUNY-wide policy (HVCC is under the umbrella of SUNY) requiring precisely this. (Note: I do not know what the future holds regarding my college’s bold and perhaps first-in-nation example of an individual school rejecting a vaccine mandate required by their own University System– SUNY has just “ordered” HVCC to comply)
The leaders of the Faculty Union, however, responded by throwing a fit. They condemned the college, filed a formal legal grievance against it, and fed misleading statements to local media, implying that “the Faculty” of HVCC stood against this new policy—when, in fact the FA Leadership never consulted us, never polled us, and never sought our approval.
After almost 6 years as a dues-paying member, I publicly resigned in protest. I received an outpouring of support and agreement from other faculty members—whose convictions on this matter otherwise would have had little avenue, opportunity, or cause to even being recognized, had not someone stood up to be counted and thus elicit support from others—disproving the implications of the Union Leadership that “The Faculty” stood against the college in its decision to allow unvaccinated students on campus.
Here again I have done something that exposes me to who knows what repercussions. I confess that I spent weeks wrestling with the temptation to simply stay quiet and keep my head down. Whoever is acquainted with the shenanigans of academia is aware of how vindictive certain types of professors can be (particularly certain tenured faculty against lowly adjuncts like myself who dare to speak up in contradiction to them and who teach as many or more classes than they do but get paid less than half as much!). Although most professors agreed with me, not all did. I have no idea what will come my way as a result of my actions. Angering union leadership—as I have just done, likely to a greater extent than any HVCC union member in recent memory—tends to not go over well for those who anger the leaders. So be it. My conscience compelled me.
How easy it is to rationalize ourselves out of taking a stand for the truth. In contradiction to this temptation, I present the following words of Jesus to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta:
“The cross is my flowery bed, not because I did not suffer harrowing spasms, but because by means of the cross I delivered many souls to grace …So, in seeing so much good, I held that bed of suffering as my delight, and I delighted in the cross and in suffering. You too, my daughter – take pains as delights, and delight in being crucified on my cross. No, no, I do not want you to fear suffering, almost wanting to act like a sluggard. Up, courage, be brave, and, of your own, expose yourself to suffering.”
May 1, 1900. Nihil Obstat, St. Hannibal di Francia. Imprimatur, Archbishop Joseph Leo.
The great thing about merely exposing ourselves to sufferings is that we are letting God do the directing of the if and the how the suffering itself transpires.
Fasting is good and necessary, but there is the risk that the person who fasts will–out of pride, or vanity, or some other manifestation of the self-will–extend the fasting beyond the degree willed by God for it. All sorts of other mortifications are also good and we should undertake them, but when we are in direct control of their specifics, there is always the risk that they become not exercises in charity and penance, but rather exercises in some form of subtle self-love.
On the other hand, when we simply “expose ourselves” to the real possibility of suffering, by doing what is clearly right and just, by “seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), by announcing His Kingdom and all those Truths which His Kingdom entails—and by continuing to boldly do so come what may—we thereby can be sure that whatever sufferings arise as a result participate in the Holy Cross of Our Lord which we may shoulder with Him – and in so doing, aid in the salvation of countless souls, our own sanctification, and the hastening of the Coming of the Kingdom.
Behold Matthew 5:10-12 — the only one of the Beatitudes that is so very blessed that Christ both repeated it and explained it.
I would, however, leave you with this caution: let your proclamation of the Truth always be done with such genuine and heartfelt charity that there is never any doubt whatsoever as to its inspiration. Whenever in doubt, favor gentleness (a Scripturally and Doctrinally defined Fruit of the Holy Spirit, the absence of which indicates the absence of the Holy Spirit from one’s heart) over severity. Only thus can you be sure that, if persecution follows, that persecution is indeed “for the sake of righteousness,” and not merely because you’ve been a jerk. There are some Faithful today who regard themselves as great martyrs—legends in their own mind—when, in fact, much if not most of the “persecution” they receive is at least partially deserved, on account of their rabid-dog-like behavior even while promoting the tenets of the Faith.
I will soon have much more to say about what is coming upon the world. The Times are here. And you are running out of time to Proclaim Him with both merit and effectiveness.
We have a strange window of opportunity right now. Although some segments of the population are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and still cling to the Covid tyranny of the last 2.5 years, it has largely faded – even mainstream government organizations are beginning to (implicitly) admit that almost everything they’ve done the last two and a half years has been idiotic, pointless, and Draconian. Even where Godless mandates/restrictions remain in place, ordinary people are, finally, largely ignoring them. [For example, last weekend I was using the NYC Subways in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Although there were many announcements and signs reminding us that masks were still absolutely mandatory for all in subways, most (of the thousands of people I saw) rejected this and went maskless.] Travel has mostly opened up. Even inflation seems to be taking a bit of a break from its upwards march towards its (doubtless soon to be achieved) goal of hyper-inflation.
I do not think this window will last long, so let us ensure we all take full advantage of it. The rumblings of imminent major persecution and major chastisement are growing louder and louder.
Soon, many people will die. Maybe you, maybe me.
Do not go to your death having held anything back. This incredibly short life is the only opportunity we get, for all eternity, to merit.
Let this cry by your life’s motto and mantra; your motivation and your goal:
LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING!
THY KINGDOM COME
THY WILL BE DONE
ON EARTH
AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
Announcements
- I’ll be speaking on the Divine Will in Chicago (Incarnation St. Terrance parish along with Dr. Peter Howard) on Saturday 8/27, in Cape Cod (Corpus Christi Parish) on Friday 9/16 at 7pm, and at the Orlando Divine Will Conference on Columbus Day weekend (definitely on Saturday; I am not sure yet about the other conference days). I am especially looking forward to the release of an upcoming movie on the Warning, from Belladream films, which I was recently in NYC for the filming of. Other events are also forthcoming—updates on everything will be announced here at DSDOConnor.com later.
- The Audiobook for Thy Will Be Done is finally well underway, and will be released soon. Same goes for French and Spanish translations of the book. Stay tuned!
- I was honored to be interviewed by my seminary classmate, Fr. Dan Reehil—director of Radio Maria—on his Battle Ready show.
- I just discovered that I’ve been making a terrible mistake for the last few years by referring to Fr. Edward O’Connor (author of Listen to My Prophets and Living in the Divine Will) as deceased. He is apparently alive and well and approaching his 100th birthday! Needless to say, I feel like quite an idiot. A few years back, I stumbled upon an obituary for another Fr. Edward O’Connor. Not only was the name the same (I was then unaware of this Fr. O’Connor’s middle initial), but I had even mistaken the picture as being the Fr. O’Connor I had in mind. If you are reading this, Father, please forgive me!
- Speaking of embarrassing errors, I just noticed a very unfortunate typo in my recent—and, I will reiterate, very important–“Divine Will Orthodoxy” article. I wrote “There has been (and never will be) any new Public Revelation since the death of the Apostle John.” I of course meant “There has NOT been (and never will be) any new Public Revelation since the death of the Apostle John.” I have corrected the error.
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