BMDFP = Baboons, Mongrel Dogs, Filthy Pigs and ...

Whenever your mouse passes over or pauses on the sarcastic-editorial abbreviation BMDFP, anywhere in the Thinking Catholic Strategic Center website, the words Baboons, Mongrel Dogs, Filthy Pigs should pop up in your browser's navigation bar, so you don't need to actually click on it every time just to see what it means. Just put your mouse on it without clicking, and look at your navigation bar. (Use your browser's Back button to return.)

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I have so often been engaged in argument with people who insist that their chosen ethos is somehow superior to the Catholic, or to the Christian, or to the Western ethos, but do not ever name their ethos, that I have come up with my own name for it. Always, it seems, the defended ethos is of the "pick and choose" variety that combines a lot of this and a little of that, but always manages to contain a whole lot of licentiousness, but is always unnamed. I'm tired of playing the "name that ethos" game.

First letter of BMDFP: Baboons.

BMDFP comes, primarily, from my memory of little mini-lectures given by my grandmother to her children and grandchildren. We used to have big family trips to the Detroit Zoo and to Belle Isle park, which also had a zoo. One of our favorite places to watch animals was one or the other of the monkey islands, where large congregations of monkeys or baboons could be seen interacting.

Periodically there would be sudden fits of frantic activity among them, chasing and fighting and threatening and screaming, with various males suddenly mounting other members of the group, including even other males. The suddenness and ferocity of it all induced a kind of fog-of-war confusion; you couldn't tell what the hell was going on or who was on first; it made no sense. Maybe there was some pecking order being established or reaffirmed, but the activity was so sudden and so foreign to human observers as to be random and very nearly insane. But some of the monkey island activities were not so hard to understand.

Grandma spoke of the "red assed apes" in comparison to the overly-made-up loose women who were clearly demonstrating their availability to any male in sight. She compared the moral standards of the baboons to the standards of those who actively sought all the pleasures of life while avoiding the responsibilities and commitment that should go with them. It was clear that what she was talking about was an ethos, a way of living, that was and should always remain foreign to us. We are humans, we are not baboons. We are called to a higher standard.

Next two letters of BMDFP: Mongrel Dogs.

Grandma sometimes talked about the social habits of mongrel dogs and alley cats, to differentiate from the social habits of well brought up human adults. We all know how dogs shake hands. And, we all know that mongrel dogs come about because of dogs being turned loose by men to unrestrainedly satisfy whatever urges they experience. Which, just about any dog, will do, if allowed. But we are humans, not dogs, and we are called to a higher dignity.

Last two letters of BMDFP: Filthy Pigs.

This last one may seem to be a slam on pigs, but the rhetorical point is worth making, even though I truly love bacon and ham. We call "filthy pigs" filthy because of their seeming total lack of discernment and discrimination. The pig will eat, urinate, defecate, and wallow, all in the same place and even at the same time. When the pig sticks his snout in the muck and ruts around through it, he does not appear to be discriminating between food, mud or fecal matter, whether his own or anyone else's. Get between a pig and something the pig wants, and the pig will squeal like he's being killed. The pig is totally filthy, totally selfish and totally indiscriminate.

Note that the Judao-Christian Ethos involves the exercise of critical thinking that is tempered by certain behavioral axioms or givens that come out of Divine Revelation. The Ten Commandments, summarized into the Two Great Commandments, are at the core of these givens, and they limit our life decisions and behavior, making us predictable and able to cooperate in a more secure and recognizably decent social order.

The ethos of BMDFP knows no such limitations, being essentially atheist in nature. The BMDFP adherent denies the notion of sacredness, and holds nothing whatsoever to be sacred; certainly not human life or dignity. Therefore, if human beings get in the way of the BMDFP adherent, then, those human beings may simply be done away with. You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

BMDFP Illustrated:

The ethos of BMDFP is most easily illustrated by a short, cursory examination of the Clinton presidency, where America had the very first President who didn't even know the meaning of the word disgrace. Clinton exhibited the social standard of the red assed apes, the sexual proclivities of the mongrel dog, and the discrimination of the filthy pig. Big time news analysts and commentators justified his white house activities as events between consenting adults and accused investigators of violating the sanctity of the bedroom door. Indicating that the main stream media, just like the filthy pig, was incapable of discerning the difference between the bedroom door and the door to the oval office. And, after all, what's a little adultery between consenting adults, and a little lying about it? Especially since Geraldo Rivera does it too, and openly brags about it, just like the rest of his fellow red assed apes, mongrel dogs and filthy pigs. In Leftist, SLIMC, Democratic Party circles, Clinton's behavior is quite normal, expected, and even praiseworthy. After all, that is their ethos.

When someone's ethos is under examination and exhibits any of these BMDFP traits, and is claimed or even implied to be somehow superior to my Catholic ethos or our collective Judeo-Christian ethos, I intend to point that out, loud and clear. And I hope they don't like it.

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From: Name Withheld
Date: Wed Jan 03 11:41:56 2007
Subject: BMDFP
Comment:

Dear Mr. Biorseth,

In "BMDFP," you called Bill Clinton the very first President who didn't know the meaning of the word "disgrace." I suggest that you've missed a few. Nixon was above all others ignorant of the word disgrace, and Harding and Grant also had little understanding of actions that disgraced their office.

As for sexual misdeeds, which you seem to see as uniquely Clintonesque, I'd point out as well to Presidents Cleveland, FD Roosevelt, Eisenhower (though before he was elected), Kennedy, and Johnson as men who had women on the side to lesser or greater extent.

Regards

Name Withheld:

From: Vic Biorseth
Date: Wed Jan 03 1:15:58 2007
Subject: BMDFP
Comment:

Dear Name Withheld:

I beg to differ. Any of the past Presidents you named who were involved in any sexual scandal would have resigned in disgrace had their particular scandals become public while they were still in office. Now that we know that Nixon really didn’t know anything about Watergate until after the fact, the only thing he was really guilty of was excessive loyalty in covering up for his staff. In fact, to me, the most shocking thing to come out of Watergate regarding Nixon was the discovery that he had such a filthy mouth. Call me naïve. To me, men who rise to anywhere near that level should be exemplary role models for other men.

I stand by my statement about Clinton; kings have abdicated thrones over lesser scandals. Here is a quote about him from The Thinking Catholic page:

And, of course, there is the absolutely humiliating and disgraceful history of the Presidency of Billary to consider. Everyone on Earth who was literate and had access to any media at all knew the day the news broke that President Clinton had masturbated on Monica's blue dress. Every literate person on Earth knew that Monica was performing oral sex on him while he was on the phone ordering military action in Bosnia. And these were just some of the day to day scandalous events that went on inside the Oval Office. Kings have abdicated thrones over far, far lesser scandals. But Clinton was the first American President in recorded history who did not and does not even begin to know the meaning of the word disgrace.

Regards,

Vic

Date: Sat Jun 05 22:13:06 2009
From: Lester and Mary
Email:
Location:
Comment:

Sir:

While we agree with your direction and appreciate your passion for your subject matter, we do feel, in our house, that the vulgar terms used here for President Clinton’s sexual activities in the White House are over the line. If younger people are to be encouraged or even allowed to read your pages, you really ought to tone it down, and at least eliminate the gutter jargon and street vernacular terms. Elsewhere you talk about presenting a good example for the young; we only suggest that you practice what you preach, in the language that you use.

Respectfully agreeing with what you say, but disagreeing with how you always say it, we remain yours in Christ,

Lester, Alice, Timothy, Ann, Mary and John.

Date: Mon Jun 08 05:44:23 2009
From: Vic Biorseth
Comment:

Lester and Mary:

Well … when you’re right, you’re right. Point well taken.

I have modified the terminology in the Thinking Catholic webpage, and where it was quoted in the dialogue at the end of the BMDFP webpage. Hopefully the changes will make my content more acceptable for younger readers.

Please accept my humble apologies, offered to you and to all other readers for presenting a less than exemplary example of how to speak the truth in love. Life is a process of learning, for all of us, and I hope to continue improving my example to others, particularly those younger than me. Which, by now, is just about everybody.

Regards,

Vic

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