The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of vitality in the foggy city. Chapter 159 Telling Jokes
Chapter Subtitle: Catholicism vs. Freemasonry
Mussolini took a closer look and saw that the newspaper "Italian People" contained an editorial article written by himself. This article introduced the news events from Mexico to the readers.
The United States of Mexico is called the United States like its northern neighbor, but compared to the United States of America, it is just a coffee table and a sideboard.
The Spanish arrived in the 16th century, bringing with them smallpox and the Catholic Church, and their generosity was richly rewarded.
Two hundred years later, at the beginning of the 19th century, the situation in Europe changed dramatically. In 1805, the Spanish Armada was destroyed at the Battle of Trafalgar. In March 1808, Napoleon invaded Spain, overthrew the Bourbon dynasty, and installed his brother Joseph as King of Spain.
These two historical events caused Spain to lose both its actual control and legal rule over its American colonies.
At the same time, Mexico's intellectuals and bourgeoisie were inspired by the War of Independence and the French Revolution and also wanted to break away from the Spanish colonial power.
And so in 1810, the Mexican War of Independence broke out...
However, the domestic and international situations of the United States and Mexico when they gained independence were very different.
In fact, comparing the founding of these two countries and their subsequent history is like comparing China and India. It is very inspiring and interesting.
The Puritans of the Mayflower were already at odds with their home country. Furthermore, they had the full support of France and Spain. This was how they were able to completely eradicate British influence from the Thirteen Colonies.
In contrast, in Mexico, the bourgeoisie, regardless of size, was almost entirely composed of Creoles, descendants of early French and Spanish colonists. At the time, Mexico's population was nearly 6 million, but Creoles numbered only 1 million. Yet, they held enormous economic power, and they served as both middle- and low-level military officers and clergy and civil servants.
Therefore, these vested interests were not so united on whether to overthrow Spanish colonial rule.
Therefore, the Mexican War of Independence not only dragged on until 1821, but also failed to completely get rid of the influence of Spain after it was over. The Creoles completely usurped all the gains of this war..
The incompleteness of the revolution had a religious consequence. Article 3 of Mexico's first federal constitution, enacted in 1824, clearly stipulated that the state religion of Mexico had been and would always be Roman Catholicism, and prohibited the practice of other religions within Mexico.
In contrast, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the establishment of a state religion and guarantees people's religious freedom.
Just for this point of view, look at the United States and Mexico and then look at China and India. Don’t you think it sounds very exaggerated?
In fact, Mexican intellectuals and political elites also realized this problem, especially after suffering two major losses in Texas independence and the Mexican-American War.
Therefore, from the mid-nineteenth century, many high-ranking Mexican government officials became members of the Freemasons.
The government's policy quickly shifted from supporting Catholicism to extreme opposition to theocracy. Anti-clerical sentiment within the government grew rapidly, especially in 1857, when they amended the constitution to include anti-Catholic clauses.
In 1917, Venustiano Carranza, leader of the Constitutional Party, became Mexico's first constitutional president and promulgated the 1917 Constitution. Of course, he was also a Freemason.
This constitution is even more hostile to Catholicism. Its provisions consider religious orders and priests born outside Mexico illegal, and prohibit these groups and individuals from operating in Mexico. It stipulates that all church property shall be managed by the government, and the government has the right to restrict or even deprive Catholic clergy of their personal property.
Furthermore, the Mexican government has banned churches from engaging in any educational activities and clergy from wearing religious clothing outside of church.Priests suspected of being "anti-government" are prohibited from holding religious ceremonies; all clergy must register with government departments and obtain permission before they can hold religious ceremonies at designated times and places, otherwise they will be imprisoned.
Back to Mussolini, who was a staunch atheist and active anti-clericalist at the time, the Hanged Man cheered for his Mexican Masonic comrades in his newspaper "Italy Popular", saying that they were "getting rid of the Catholic influence that hinders the progress of all progressive forces. This is the key step to the success of the revolution."
By 1921, his tone had softened, but this immature politician sometimes couldn't resist publishing anti-Catholic articles, particularly using Mexican news to indirectly attack the Vatican.
In fact, this is not an exception. Many atheists have a sense of superiority in both IQ and morality.
"Mr. Investigator, what does this matter have to do with your SCP Foundation?"
"Of course it's related!" Lord Justice replied, "Freemasonry is our mortal enemy!"
He paused and continued, "What I'm saying is, personally, I want you to stop praising the Freemasons in Mexico."
"Huh? Why..." The Hanged Man said with sudden enlightenment, "So your SCP Foundation is the Church's... that affiliated organization?"
Mr. Little Chandler shook his head and said, "Of course not! Why would we obey the church's orders? We have nothing to do with Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Judaism, or any other religion."
"Hahahaha..." Mussolini couldn't help laughing. "So you don't believe in the ' Proceedings of ', that the Jews founded Freemasonry to control the world, and that communism is also a Jewish conspiracy?"
He tried hard to hold back his laughter and said, " Hahaha... Mr. Investigator, this is really funny..."
His Excellency Justice said coldly, "Mr. Mussolini, is this really that funny?"
"Hahaha..." The Hanged Man finally laughed out loud, "Dang, dang, of course it's that funny..."
He laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes. While wiping his eyes, he said in a sarcastic tone: "Dear Investigator. Thank you for telling me such a funny joke!"
"Your Excellency, Mr. Mussolini, you are welcome."
Mr. Little Chandler smiled slightly, reached into his inner pocket, pulled out a stack of photos, and dropped them on the desk with a clatter.
"But after seeing these photos, do you still think my jokes are funny?"
"Ha ha……"
The Hanged Man picked up the photo.
"ha……"
He flipped it over casually.
“…”
His laughter stopped abruptly!
Mussolini looked at the photos and then at the SCP Foundation investigators without saying a word.
He suddenly stood up, opened the door forcefully, and shouted loudly outside: "Arnaldo..."
