Beware of ChastitySF.com and Dr. Raymond Lloyd Richmond
ChastifySF is a website by Dr. Raymond Lloyd Richmond, a Catholic psychologist who lives in San Francisco. If you are Catholic, I strongly advise against visiting his website. If you live in the San Fran area and are a Catholic with mental health issues, I strongly advise against starting to see him for psychotherapy. His ChastitySF website is all about receiving psychological healing and spiritual direction through the Catholic mystic tradition. He believes his version of Catholicism is the only true one while claiming apostolic love justifies him. He relies on the private revelations of Catholic mystics. Catholics are not required to believe private revelation. Further, he thinks the social world is awful and is to be avoided. Games, any kind of competition, television, movies, social media, secular music, and secular books, etc. are evil, according to him.
He equates enjoying modern entertainment to someone committing adultery and enjoying it. That's absurd because it depends on what the entertainment is (and what it contains) and if you're getting enjoyment and pleasure out of the morally objectionable parts (i.e. the sex scenes in Game of Thrones, excessive violence). Watching Cars (2006), for example, is not the same as committing a mortal sin and enjoying it. I don't know how you can commit a mortal sin (or even a venial sin) by watching Cars and enjoying it. There isn't much in it that is very morally objectionable. The message of the film Cars is that fame and trophies (which can cause a person to become arrogant, cocky, proud, and selfish) aren't everything. Cars is about slowing down and taking time to appreciate what really matters: loving others, thinking of others, caring for others, and enjoying the gorgeous scenery of God's Green Earth. That's a wholesome message. I daresay, it's absolutely a Christian message. I don't know how Dr. Richmond could condemn watching and enjoying a Disney movie like Cars, but he does since he has blanket-condemned contemporary entertainment.
This isn't a one-size-fits-all matter. Not everyone is the same when it comes to what is and what isn't a near occasion of sin for them in certain cases. Watching The Phantom of the Opera, for example, isn't a near occasion of sin for me because I don't enjoy or condone it when the Phantom kills two people (I'm not counting the first "kill" he committed as a child because that was a case of legitimate self-defense). I don't condone or enjoy his mistreatment of Christine. When I watch the 2004 Phantom movie, I avert my eyes during a brief sensual part of a scene (it's not worth fast-forwarding through it because it's so fleeting) and skip an entire song number sequence because of how racy and full of lust the song lyrics are (the sequence in question is an entirely different scene in the movie towards the end than the scene with the fleeting sensual bit). In fact, I'm horrified when the Phantom does bad stuff throughout the stage show and the movie every single time I watch it. Yes, Christine's act of self-sacrificial love for the Phantom towards the end is partly why I enjoy it, but I also enjoy it because of the music.
Anything other than God that makes you feel good and gives you comfort is evil, according to Dr. Richmond. If you have to do something for recreation like hiking, baking, gardening, sewing, knitting, or what-have-you after serving the Lord and others, he says pray while doing so that prayer becomes the recreation. Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin says that we do not need to be thinking about God every second of the day. In fact, Akins writes that when we direct our attention to our work and responsibilities as well as enjoying good things that others have created and to creating good things ourselves, we actually glorify and please God, even if the work we do, the created good things we enjoy, and the good things we create are not explicitly about God or Christianity. So I am not required to pray every single moment of the day, even while doing my hobbies and enjoying some recreation, and neither are you, my lovely readers. Prayer does not have to necessarily become your leisure and recreation. Or mine for that matter.
Listen to Jimmy Akin, the Magisterium, and theologians, not Dr. Richmond.
The Magisterium of the Church does not teach that movies are intrinsically bad. Again, please listen to the Magisterium and theologians like St. John Henry Newman and St. Frances de Sales. Listen to Catholic apologists like Jimmy Akin. I visited the site when my conscience told me not to, and the site's contents made me angry. I have blocked his website so I don't visit it anymore and have a moral fall (sin) again. The Lord does not want you to intentionally torment yourself and do things that make your blood pressure go up through the roof. So if ChasitySF causes you to sin, avoid it.
Accepting suffering when you experience it or intentionally making small sacrifices for others does not count as intentionally tormenting yourself and making your blood pressure go up the roof.
I mean intentionally doing things that you know will be bad for your wellbeing without a good reason. That's what I did: I knew this site was not trustworthy nor was it in alignment with the teachings of the Church. I knew it was clickbait and I visited it anyway.
He also instructs women to wear a veil at Mass. Veiling at Mass is optional, and yes, I know there's a Scripture verse by Saint Paul the Apostle that instructs women to cover their hair at Mass. Ladies, you are not required to cover your hair with a veil at Mass. I'm a Catholic woman. We are not Muslim women. We are Catholic women. Women veiling themselves at Mass became optional as a result of Vatican II. And don't get me started on the Vatican II Wars. We need to move past them and accept Vatican II if we want to be Catholics in good standing.
Dr. Richmond says he doesn't reject Vatican II, by the way.
He also instructs Catholics not to get involved in politics, such as protests, and other forms of political activism (especially if it involves drawing attention to yourself such as carrying a sign, chanting, kneeling on the sidewalk, or an area of grass).
This is absurd because Pope Francis says good Catholics get involved in politics, whether that is voting and engaging in political activism to running for public office and serving in public office. Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, and several El Paso diocesan priests knelt in silent prayer and held "Black Lives Matter" signs while attending a protest for an end to racial injustice and racism following the murder of George Floyd. In condemning drawing attention to yourself during a protest, Dr. Richmond would basically be criticizing Bishop Seitz and those priests for doing their part to help Christ change something that's not right in this fallen world of ours. Racism and racial injustice are both sins and both violate human dignity. To do nothing about issues like racism and racial injustice and develop a routine/attitude of political quietism is to not care for the common good and the good of others. I see nothing wrong with the actions of Bishop Seitz and his priests. Many Catholics attend the annual March For Life, carrying signs. Dr. Richmond would be condemning their actions, too, because they're "drawing attention to themselves." Instead of thinking ill of them and their actions like Dr. Richmond would appear to advise me to do, I choose to believe that the intentions of the many Catholics who attend the annual March For Life are not self-absorbed, proud, arrogant, vain, or selfish, but good.
This world is not going to Hell in a handbasket as Dr. Richmond would have you believe. Our world is spiritually and morally blind, for sure. It is true we cannot save this world. That's Jesus's job, but I would like to do what I can to help Him. Jesus wants to fix our broken, fallen world.
Furthermore, calling out the sins of other people; telling people they're sinning and having a "fire and brimstone" tone and attitude towards our world, but then turning around and issuing a blanket condemnation of being involved in politics and engaging in political activism because kneeling during a protest or carrying a sign draws attention to oneself is hypocritical of Dr. Richmond.
I know that prayer is powerful and important (even essential) and that we should use prayer, but protesting the sins of racism, racial injustice, and abortion in the public square is part of calling out sin.
He says defending yourself even in a life or death situation (such as a robber pointing a weapon at you, a mass shooting, or even in a war) is bad. This is not true because the Church says defending yourselves and others can be a duty. The Church says there are situations when resorting to violence and even killing someone is morally permissible and justified in legitimate cases of self-defense and/or defense of others.
If this man cares about "real love" so much, he shouldn't have a problem with Catholics attending the annual March For Life (and carrying signs to promote life and protest the evil of abortion) and other forms of political activism with a good intention and respect for people who have different political views than them. If he truly cares about "real love," so much, he shouldn't have a problem with me watching The Phantom of the Opera and Cars (2006) every now and then, but he does have a problem with Catholics watching movies because there's nothing good and wholesome in them by his standards.
Christ and His Church (and when I say "His Church," I mean the Magisterium and Catholic theologians) certainly don't have a problem with me watching Cars, The Phantom of the Opera, Pride & Prejudice, and even Harry Potter. Christ knows that the message of Cars challenges me to think of others, care for others, and love others while also making me feel good. He knows that I find Mater, Lightning, Sally, Doc, Guido, and the rest of the Radiator Springs gang to be likable and endearing characters. Heck, even The King AKA Strip Weathers, Mrs. The King AKA Linda Weathers, Mr. Tex, Rusty and Dusty Rusteze, Mack, Bob Cutlass, and Darryl Cartrip (inspired and voiced by real-life NASCAR commentator Darryl Waltrip) are likable characters. Christ knows that The Phantom of the Opera challenges me to love the outcast (which is part of loving and serving others) through sympathizing with the Phantom because of the abuse and rejection he has experienced because of his face and to show people like him (societal outcasts), unconditional love, through Christine's example while also making me feel good. And the fact that I do is not in itself a bad thing.
The fact that he issues a blanket condemnation of modern entertainment, even family-friendly entertainment like Disney movies shows how out of touch with reality he is. Not all movies and TV shows have anti-Christian values and the glorification of sin in them. It's impossible to make works of art that do not have sin in them because we're broken and imperfect. Besides, St. John Henry Newman says a work of art is decent when the negative consequences of sin are shown or explained. There are definitely movies that do that. The Phantom of the Opera is one of those movies that shows the negative consequences of sin.
Sports and games are intrinsically good. St. Frances de Sales, a Doctor of the Church and a theologian, says so in his writings. And guess what? St. Francis de Sales is a mystic!
In fact, here are a couple of really insightful quotes from G.K. Chesterton.
"Dear Sir: Regarding your article 'What's Wrong with the World?' I am. Yours truly,"
"In Catholicism, the pint, the pipe, and the Cross can all fit together."
What Chesterton is saying with the second quote is that in the earthly life of Catholics, there's a time for picking up your Cross and carrying it, and there's a time for pleasure/amusement/merrymaking, play, recreation/leisure, and socializing.
We're social creatures. We cannot live without human connection. Dr. Richmond is wrong to instruct Catholics to reject the current social world and isolate ourselves in prayer all day long. We Catholics are not the Amish. Jesus knows we need human connection and intimacy. In fact, God designed us to live in communion with each other.
Furthermore, he mentions that multiple people have contacted him to let him know they think he's a nutjob or raise an objection to what he says on his website.
That doesn't matter.
Matt Walsh, a Catholic who is also a conservative political commentator, didn't react well when a fellow Catholic (and who was also conservative politically) called him out for calling liberals Satan or "satanic" to the applause of the other people in the audience back when Walsh gave a talk in 2016.
Walsh defended his calling liberals unkind, uncharitable, and mean-spirited names such as "Satan" and "satanic" or "demonic" by saying that Our Lord called people vipers and snakes. But viper and snake are the same things because a viper is a type of snake. Yes, Jesus indeed called people vipers. But in Matthew's Gospel, Christ also had strong words for people who engaged in unrighteous name-calling. "Whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna (Matt 5: 22)." Basically, you call someone else an unkind, uncharitable, and mean-spirited name in a spirit of unrighteousness and you don't repent of doing so, you're liable to go to Hell.
But this rule is not absolute.
However, Walsh was still wrong to call liberals "satanic" and "demonic." I hate some of the things they're promoting, too, but I point out the things they support and promote as intrinsically wrong and that they're in error with some of the positions they take, but I avoid calling them unkind names like "baby-killers," "bloody murderers," "sodomites," "satanic," "demonic," and even saying things like, "So-and-so is Satan!"
At the same time, I believe Dr. Richmond means well and wants the highest good for others, but his blanket condemnation of the modern social world and its enticements contradicts what Catholic theologians and the teachings of the Magisterium say about the modern social world. Living in the world but not of the world does not require a blanket condemnation and renunciation of the modern social world and its pleasures. There is room for a balance of loving God and others while also enjoying the pleasures of the world (as long as they're not sinful or cause you to sin) in moderation.
In fact, enjoying the legitimate and good pleasures of the world is good and part of God's design and plan for us. Here's what Deacon Steven D. Greydanus, creator of the Decent Films website, has to say about Christians and enjoying worldly amusements.
"Unfortunately, many Christians and even some Catholics are suspicious of entertainment for its own sake, and even of art and culture. "There are better ways to spend one's time" is a common refrain for those who take this view. Why watch a movie when one could be praying the rosary, reading scripture or the lives of the saints, volunteering at church or in a soup kitchen?
Obviously, prayer, devotional reading, and service are very necessary and worthwhile acts, and certainly, God doesn't want us spending all our free time seeking entertainment and amusement. But neither does he require or wish all Christians to spend all their spare time in the pursuit of expressly religious and charitable works. Play, recreation, and amusement are also pleasing to him. He created us to enjoy them, and it is not only concupiscent sloth that attaches us to them. Of course, sloth may incline us to inordinate attachment to diversion, just as concupiscence may inordinately attach us to any finite good (food, alcohol, comfort, work, sleep, sex, and so on). But the thing itself, and its proper enjoyment, remains per se good.
God created us for play and amusement just as he created us for work, prayer, and community. In particular, he created us for art and culture: to create and look at images; to fashion stories and music and dance, and to perform and enjoy them; to explore imaginative scenarios of good and evil, of conflict and resolution.
It is in our nature to engage in and to enjoy these things, as it is the nature of stars to shine and plants to grow. And, just as the sun glorifies God by shining and plants by growing, so we please and glorify him when we participate in wholesome aesthetic activities and amusements. In fact, because man has free will, he pleases God in a special way when he freely participates in the goods proper to his nature. If he does so with a will to glorify God, it can even be meritorious."
Dr. Richmond mentions that people balk when he gives a blanket condemnation of the modern social world and its enticements. He instructs Catholics to renounce the modern social world.
Here's why I balked when I read a lot of the stuff on his website: it completely contradicts what the Magisterium says and what several theologians have said. I also balked because he is completely out of touch with reality when he says there is nothing good by Catholic standards in modern entertainment and the modern social world and its enticements are nothing more than illusions. The Disney-Pixar film Cars (2006), the writings of theologians such St. Francis de Sales and St. John Henry Newman, and the teachings of the Magisterium are irrefutable evidence to the contrary.
Also, he promotes false information about the COVID vaccines. It is not holy or righteous to spread misleading information about matters pertaining to public health. The proper Christian response is to heed sound medical advice. Several saints have even said that obstinately refusing to follow sound medical advice, failing to make sure that people receive medical attention, or putting them at risk counts as murder if someone dies as a result of any of the above courses of action. Their blood will be on your hands and unless you go to confession, you will answer to God for the murder of a fellow human being after you die.
In fact, Christians should protect the common good without having to be told to do so by human authorities, for protecting the health and lives of others and yourself is part of loving your neighbor and yourself.
COVID also spreads more rapidly than the flu or the common cold. So unless you want little kids to lose their parents or the elderly and people with underlying health conditions to die, don't buy into Dr. Richmond's misguided advice.
The renunciation of the modern social world is not necessary, especially when the content on Dr. Richmond's website caused me to sin. Got that? Games, sports, modern entertainment, social media, getting involved in politics, and the modern social world have not caused me to sin recently. The content on Dr. Richmond's website did so because I ignored my conscience when it told me not to visit the site, and I ended up emotionally tormenting myself to the point of letting my emotions get the better of me. And because I knew that something wasn't right about Dr. Richmond's beliefs and instructions to other Catholics, I researched what theologians and the Magisterium have to say about the pleasures of the world. So, contrary to what Dr. Richard thinks, I am not that blind or attached to the world. It is not about me having the "I'll die if I don't watch movies, listen to secular music, watch TV shows, play games, and scroll through social media anymore. I'll die without being involved in politics anymore," (being involved in politics is a duty of all good Catholics as I previously stated) attitude. I know I can give up those things if the Lord ever asks me to and be just fine and at peace without them. The Lord is asking me to make some minor adjustments (nothing as extreme as what Dr. Richmond advises Catholics to do through his website), but he is not asking me to give anything up right now. He asked me to do make some adjustments while I was doing my daily session of the Bible in a Year podcast. Well, I reflected on the Scripture readings and saw some changes that I need to make in my life for my own good. So I was asked by the Lord to make minor adjustments in my life before I stumbled across Dr. Richmond's website. I am working on practicing passionate detachment/spiritual detachment.
And no, it is not to the extreme that Dr. Richmond asks for. My reaction was not a psychological defense to pain. The fact that Catholic theologians and the Magisterium have contradicted Dr. Richardson on issues like enjoying legitimate and licit worldly pleasures in moderation supports my argument, not Dr. Richmond's. But I knew beforehand that Dr. Richmond was wrong because I already knew what the Church says about the involvement of Catholics in politics, on the use of violence to defend oneself or others in certain life or death situations, and what St. John Henry Neuman and St. Frances de Sales say about Catholics enjoying worldly pleasures and comforts. I have known what the Church says about Catholics getting involved in politics, the use of force in cases of legitimate self-defense and others, "Just War," and what St. John Henry Newman, a theologian, and St. Frances De Sales, a Doctor of the Church and a theologian, say about Catholics enjoying worldly pleasures and comforts long before I stumbled across the ChastitySF website.
The only new thing I learned from my research after I let my emotions get the better of me is St. Francis de Sales' writings in which he says that sports and games are intrinsically good.
If Catholics need psychological help, I don't have a problem with anyone seeking help and healing from Catholic mental health professionals. But please stay away from Dr. Richmond because he and his website are not worth your time. He says on his site that he preaches real Catholicism. But he doesn't preach real Catholicism because what he preaches contradicts the Magisterium in several areas.
Obey the Pope, obey the Magisterium, obey Catholic theologians, obey Catholic apologists like Jimmy Akin, and obey your diocesan bishop. Dr. Richmond is not a trustworthy source on how to live a good Catholic life.
I blocked myself from accessing his website after it caused me to fall into sin because he and his website are not worth my time nor are they worth me falling into sin again.
However, please do not contact this man and tell him you think he's a nutjob or raise an objection to what he says on his website. He'll push back rather bluntly but charitably. He's done so in correspondence with several people. In short, if we try to tell him that he's the one who is in error, he won't listen. As Christians, we should pray for Dr. Richmond and his misguided statements/beliefs. If we do that, we will truly love him and give him the "real love" he talks about (and I don't mean the total renunciation of the contemporary social world and its pleasures): recognizing that this man is in error and loving him by praying for him and those who have bought into this man's misguided advice.
I did not write this blog post out of hate and resentment towards Dr. Richmond. I did not write this chapter out of pride, selfishness, arrogance, anger, fear, pain, trauma, spiritual blindness, or because of my attachment to the licit pleasures and enjoyments of this world (which I stated I am working on moderating and regulating, but not to the extreme that Dr. Richmond talked about).
I did not write this as a hit piece on Dr. Richmond. It was never and is not my intention to damage or destroy his reputation in any way.
I wrote this after I calmed down. I make an effort to write pieces like this when I am calm, not while my emotions control me.
I wrote it out of love for all of you, my fellow Catholics, and for our Church so you know about Dr. Richmond and the dissent to the Magisterium and the writings of Catholic theologians he's preaching so you know to avoid him and his dishonest and intellectually dangerous website. I wrote this out of respect and love for the truth.
Until I write my next blog post, I leave you with a couple of brief excerpts from David Warren's analysis of St. Cardinal John Henry Neuman's homily called "The World, Our Enemy," to drive home my point and for you to reflect on.
"Today, as others have been in ages past, we may be tempted to run from the world and form separate communities. Certainly, there is a place for the monastic calling, but no community should operate under the illusion that is otherworldly, or does not also resemble society in "holding and maintaining many errors, and countenancing many bad practices. Evil ever floats to the top." We cannot escape the world, simply because the world is in us, too."
"It is not possible then, to separate men into groups and say that some of them are of the world while we are not. It is likewise absurd to say we reject the world; for in doing so we reject ourselves."