I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! I have written a new book. It was inspired by some thinking done over the past few years, and was the subject of two recent blogposts over on SoberCatholic.com, which this book combines and greatly expands upon.
A N N O U N C I N G :
From the book description:
“The Catholicpunk Manifesto is a call to arms, or rather, a call to pens, paintbrushes, and video cameras, for creative Catholics to take up St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe’s call to infiltrate pop culture and help alleviate the ills that pervade contemporary society. St. Maximilian saw back in the 1920s how the use of cinema, radio, and mass-market books was corrupting society. He thought that those same tools could be used as a force to counter this corruption. The Catholicpunk Manifesto tells how the teachings of the Catholic Faith can be used to provide a road map out of our current morass and a blueprint to build a more just and fair society constructed according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and other elements of traditional Catholic Social Teachings (CST).
A Catholicpunker is someone who Catholicpunks. Catholicpunk is, to borrow from the Manifesto:
“…a literary and artistic form that seeks to mak
e use of Catholic Social Teachings to lead the world away from the cliff of self-destruction it is heading towards…
The ‘-punk’ suffix as typically used in literary and artistic forms suggests a countercultural, anti-establishment, and anti-authoritarian ethic.
Think of ‘cyberpunk,’ ‘steampunk,’ ‘solarpunk,’ and so forth.
Therefore, ‘Catholicpunk’ utilizes countercultural values in opposition to secularist and modernist mores and values. It is anti-establishment inasmuch as it defies the increasingly centralized authority of modern governments and the intrusive reach of corporations and is anti-authoritarian based on Catholicism’s traditional opposition to dictatorships.
Catholicpunk addresses how the future might look if humanity survives the contemporary social and moral collapse plaguing the Western world and the poverty and oppression prevalent in the Global South and the East. Catholicpunk illustrates how applying CST solves major contemporary challenges made by globalism, militarism, and the anti-life and sexual libertine agendas. When Catholicpunk emphasizes sustainability, it will be with an eye towards responsible management of resources so that there will be plenty for future generations, and not through restrictions on population such as aggressive birth control and abortion agendas. People from womb to tomb will be viewed as resources to be cherished and valued, not as parasites or polluters.
Catholicism is the purest form of counter-cultural expression there is today. Catholicpunkers capitalize on this… and inspire people and give them a way out.”
Are you a creatively inclined Catholic? Are you an aspiring writer or musician, do you write poetry in secret, do you want to go to Hollywood and sell a spec script for millions, or did you draw on walls when you were little and never could color within the lines but loved drawing and coloring anyway, despite the critical opinions of others?”
Then you need to be a Catholicpunker, find other Catholicpunkers and mutually support one another in Catholicpunking! Buy and read one another’s works, listen to Catholicpunk music, watch Catholicpunk videos, support Catholicpunk painters, and so forth.”
This book can hopefully inspire you to get going and start creating and applying your Catholic faith to your works! Become a Catholicpunker!”
It’s available for $5.99 through this link: The Catholicpunk Manifesto. It will be available as a paperback within a few weeks (updates on that as I get them) and also through other online vendors. When those are completed, I’ll post updates.
The book has it’s own Page: The Catholicpunk Manifesto Page on Paul Sofranko Space.
Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!
Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)