Remembering the 5th of November - A Catholic Response

Many Ron Paul supporters will be familiar with the Money Bomb campaign over at This November 5th.

Catholics for Ron Paul join in the desire to give Ron Paul a major boost in donations, however the meaning of November 5th leaves much to be desired in its anti-Catholic and anti-Christian symbolism.

The inspiration for this date comes from Guy Fawkes Day in England, a ritual re-execution in effigy of a Catholic who opposed the oppressive Protestant rule of James I. Guy Fawkes was involved with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 - an attempt to relieve the persecutions against English Catholics by assassinating the King and blowing up Parliament. The plot was discovered and Guy Fawkes was executed. This event was used to introduce more oppressive measures against English citizenry by the State, these oppressive laws remained intact for over 200 years.

Every November 5th, Guy Fawkes is ritually re-executed in effigy as a ritual of Protestant sectarian boosterism. If anyone has visited the North of Ireland and experienced the way events from the 1600's are ritually enacted, they will know what this is all about.

But this is not why the organizers of this event chose November 5th, it is because of the film V for Vendetta - where the vigilante anti-hero of the film takes on the persona of Guy Fawkes and turns him into an anti-statist anarchist. (Note the anti-Catholic tract pictured at the beginning of this youtube clip.)

Here too, the symbolism is a bit off the mark.

Yes Ron Paul is a hero that is going against the state to seek freedom and repair a structural injustice within our system. But the film V for Vendetta is an openly anti-Catholic film that bizarrely glorifies a Catholic anti-establishment figure from history who sought to liberate Catholics from an anti-Catholic tyrannical regime, and puts him in a film which is overtly anti-Catholic and anti-Christian. How does this fit with Ron Paul and his message?

There are many supporters for Ron Paul who read into his message an anti-establishment ethos, but Ron Paul himself is a believing Christian and remember that the Liberties that he and we are fighting for are rooted in a Judeo-Christian worldview. Austrian Economics, the school of thought Ron Paul is speaking from, has its philosophical beginnings in the work of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Scholastics.

Equating Ron Paul with the V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes is a mess of symbolism. The historical Guy Fawkes fails in his plot and is killed by the state. The V Guy Fawkes is trying to over throw a the film's portrayal of Christianity in favor of a radical social agenda. How does this fit with Ron Paul's message? Ron Paul is on the record that he agrees that the definition of marriage is a union between a man and a women - this position would place him among those organizing the concentration camps in the V for Vendetta film!

As for Catholicism - Ron Paul's son is Catholic and Ron Paul is one of the most eloquent defenders of Catholicism. Ron Paul is not for the elimination of Faith from the public square, he is for the repeal of all legislation that has limited the free exercise of religion (such as no prayer in public schools) in our society. This is not exactly the message of V for Vendetta.

Again, Catholics for Ron Paul is in support of giving Ron Paul a money Bomb and a big boost, however the choice of November the 5th is unfortunate and runs counter to Ron Paul's message.
Catholics for Ron Paul respectfully asks the organizers of the 5th of November Money Bomb initiative to clarify their use of this date, and distance themselves from the anti-Christian and anti-Catholic symbolism of the 5th of November Guy Fawkes/V for Vendetta message.

Why mix Ron Paul's positive message of with the off color symbolism and frankly distasteful message of V for Vendetta and Guy Fawkes Day?

UPDATE: It seems that CFRP is not the only one's out there questioning the meaning of the 5th of November date.:

The problem? Their huge political win is going to be mired due to Neocon criticism that Ron Paul is endorsing terrorism against the US government.