Catholics Should be Bitcoiners

Catholics face many challenges living the faith together in an increasingly secular age. However, Catholic communities can uphold their faith in the modern world with a simple action: adopt Bitcoin.

Freedom Money

Pope St. John Paul II famously told his American audience, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” Bitcoin gained early notoriety for its permissionless nature to enable criminals. However, just because a man can undermine his freedom does not diminish its inalienability. As a man can freely speak so others may come to know the truth, he can also use speech for harm. Similarly, the freedom to transact is necessary to provide for the common good, even if a man can use money for personal destruction. Bitcoin enables the freedom needed for the expression of public morality. As Pope Benedict XVI wrote, "It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply economic — act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in-hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise." (Caritas in Veritate 66) As a large portion of the population is unbanked because of their social status and governments de-bank political opponents, protecting the freedom to transact is more crucial than ever to maintain the right to support what we ought.

Sound Monetary Policy

Regarding wealth concentration in 1931, Pope Pius XI wrote, “This dictatorship is being most forcibly exercised by those who, since they hold the money and completely control it, control credit also and rule the lending of money. Hence they regulate the flow, so to speak, of the life-blood whereby the entire economic system lives, and have so firmly in their grasp the soul, as it were, of economic life that no one can breathe against their will.” (Quadragesimo Anno 106) The Federal Reserve, which creates US Dollars by fiat, is the single controller of the world economy because it controls the ‘life-blood’ of the world reserve currency. This arbitrary power undermines a family’s ability to save for the future and rewards cronies of the central bank by the Cantillon effect, cementing an unjust economic order.

Contrary to the Federal Reserve, whose monetary policy is at the whims of politicians, the creator of Bitcoin established an immutable and predictable monetary policy at its inception to issue all 21 million Bitcoins. Although Bitcoin may experience volatility, its sound monetary policy enables families to securely store their resources, safeguard their future, and empower them to contribute to the common good. Before Bitcoin, no one could resist the unjust exercise of power demonstrated by the central bank of the most powerful nation. However, now we can resist and are obligated to do so.

Practical Distributism

G. K. Chesterton once quipped, “Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists.” After the Industrial Revolution, while affirming the market economy, the Church has always warned against the centralizing forces of unbridled capitalism. It has sought to create a new economic framework: Distributism. “Economic development must remain under man's determination and must not be left to the judgment of a few men or groups possessing too much economic power or of the political community alone or of certain more powerful nations.” (Gaudium et Spes 65) In Bitcoin, monetary policy is decentralized to the point that any changes need unanimous consent, which means it is practically impossible to change. A prosperous nation-state has no more power than an individual running a Bitcoin server. Decentralized money is the first step toward a Distributist future from which distributed economic activity can flow. With further technological advancements, the Bitcoin network will be able to support dense local economic activity and allow a community to organize around the common good while removing the unjust influence of the central bank.

Lastly, Pope St. John Paul II left us invaluable wisdom about the post-World World II attempt to create a just economic order: “In general, such attempts endeavour to preserve free market mechanisms, ensuring, by means of a stable currency and the harmony of social relations, the conditions for steady and healthy economic growth in which people through their own work can build a better future for themselves and their families.” (Centesimus Annus 19) Let us heed his wisdom and adopt Bitcoin to create a more just future for families and communities.


Show greater interest in your family holding Bitcoin, and less about what billionaires are doing.


Contact info for Catholics and frens on Nostr.

This is a long form article, you can read it in https://habla.news/a/naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzphtxf40yq9jr82xdd8cqtts5szqyx5tcndvaukhsvfmduetr85ceqqxnzde38qunjdfjxqmnvvpsmqhf5w

# Finding Catholics and Catholic-friendly content on Nostr

## Obvious Catholics being obvious

nostr:npub1m4ny6hjqzepn4rxknuq94c2gpqzr29ufkkw7ttcxyak7v43n6vvsajc2jl

nostr:npub1k92qsr95jcumkpu6dffurkvwwycwa2euvx4fthv78ru7gqqz0nrs2ngfwd

nostr:npub1wqfzz2p880wq0tumuae9lfwyhs8uz35xd0kr34zrvrwyh3kvrzuskcqsyn

nostr:npub1ecdlntvjzexlyfale2egzvvncc8tgqsaxkl5hw7xlgjv2cxs705s9qs735

nostr:npub1rcr8h76csgzhdhea4a7tq5w5gydcpg9clgf0cffu6z45rnc6yp5sj7cfuz

nostr:npub1fyd0awkakq4aap70ual7mtlszjle9krffgwnsrkyua2frzmysd8qjj8gvg

nostr:npub1q0fe26apcqeeyqnlre29fqu7ysx0ucm5ly637md3zlvy2xcfsm3s0lsv4r

nostr:npub1dvdcmtp5llrp63jdlmhspe9gffsyu9ew7cu3ld3f9y7k79nxzjxqf4d4rm

nostr:npub1paxyej8f8fh57ny0fr5w2mzp9can9nkcmeu5jaerv68mhrah7t8s795ky6

nostr:npub1tvw3h5xqnuc2aq5zelxp3dy58sz7x9u8e6enkxywmrz70cg2j2zqjes44n

nostr:npub13tahtl9pjw9u5ycruqk84k6sfmkyljsr7y2pc4s840ctlm73fxeq3j6e08

nostr:npub1w4jkwspqn9svwnlrw0nfg0u2yx4cj6yfmp53ya4xp7r24k7gly4qaq30zp

## Other good Christian follows

nostr:npub1hqy4zwnvsdmlml4tpgp0kgrruxamfcwpgm4g3q2tr3d2ut3kuxusx73psm

nostr:npub1cpstx8lzhwctunfe80rugz5qsj9ztw8surec9j6mf8phha68dj6qhm8j5e

nostr:npub1ak5kewf6anwkrt0qc8ua907ljkn7wm83e2ycyrpcumjvaf2upszs8r0gwg

nostr:npub1mt8x8vqvgtnwq97sphgep2fjswrqqtl4j7uyr667lyw7fuwwsjgs5mm7cz

nostr:npub1q6ya7kz84rfnw6yjmg5kyttuplwpauv43a9ug3cajztx4g0v48eqhtt3sh

nostr:npub1356t6fpjysx9vdchfg7mryv83w4pcye6a3eeke9zvsje7s2tuv4s4k805u

nostr:npub1kun5628raxpm7usdkj62z2337hr77f3ryrg9cf0vjpyf4jvk9r9smv3lhe

nostr:npub1qf6gsfapq94rj0rcptkpm9sergacmuwrjlgfx5gznjajtvkcx3psfhx6k5

nostr:npub1ll99fcrclkvgff696u8tq9vupw9fulfc8fysdf6gfwp7hassrh2sktxszt

nostr:npub1zy37ecnhpvx4lmxh4spd0898sxdj0ag8m64s9yq499zaxlg7qrqq8c53q6

nostr:npub1rtlqca8r6auyaw5n5h3l5422dm4sry5dzfee4696fqe8s6qgudks7djtfs

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nostr:npub18zqmath26txwfhc70af8axk7pftjre9x7cf0lxkg92nvj2cpfgts8va790

## Christian follow list

An exhaustive list of Christians is maintained by nostr:npub1mt8x8vqvgtnwq97sphgep2fjswrqqtl4j7uyr667lyw7fuwwsjgs5mm7cz. Just look at his list on https://listr.lol/

## Catholic community

You can also join the community, to reach other catholics (usable on #Nostrudel #Coracle #Amethyst and #Satellite):
nostr:naddr1qvzqqqyx7cpzqqnd3dl8hnptg9agfugwmdcmgfl7wcrfjpgfpv28ksq6dnmqc0e8qqyyxct5dphkc6trmu6k9l

## Christian topic relay

And always make sure to use the #catholic hashtag, to get onto the top-specific christpill relay (add it to your relay list: wss://christpill.nostr1.com/).

Hope that helps! 😊


I appreciate you taking the time to analyze the arguments thoroughly.

Is there a denomination with a better claim to being the one true church than the Catholic Church?

If the answer is no church can claim that, it seems to me that you have a position that contradicts scripture because there is no church we can point to that is being guarded from the gates of hell. Unless you think the community of believers is the church with authority resting in the individual to make declarations on faith and morals, however, that seems contrary to Jesus's prayer for unity since there is no way individuals will all agree. It appears to me there is no escaping recognizing authority for the sake of unity. For this reason, the Catholic Church claims it has the authority to safeguard the deposit of faith (Scripture and Tradition) for Christian unity.

FWIW, even though the pope has authority, that doesn't mean he's above criticism. I am certainly critical of the pope at times. This is an example of criticism from a *cardinal* showing even very sharp public criticism is appropriate: https://newdailycompass.com/en/a-profile-of-the-next-pope-writes-cardinal


Moderator: What is the next catalyst that will bring the next wave of #bitcoin adoption?

Calle: CBDCs


I appreciate your willingness to examine your faith.

To answer a previous question, the reason why you should always show goodwill towards everyone is to accept them where they are and try to convert them to the truth while keeping your heart open to recognizing the truth as well, wherever it may be (the Church doesn’t claim to be the only place of truth, just the fullness of truth).

Joe Heschmeyer posted a video recently titled The Biblical Case for Infallibility. Since you don’t claim goodwill towards Catholics, and you seem to have a strong resentment for anything a Catholic has to say about the Church, I don’t expect you to be open to his arguments. However, since you seem dedicated to Scripture, which is admirable, I hope you review the Bible passages he references and reflect on what God is trying to tell us.

https://youtu.be/2djx9lESGgA?si=zncj1SehMeYL5sfZ


Having children will make you believe in god again.

“He knew only that his child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God, then God never spoke.”

~Cormac McCarthy, The Road


Protestant: “a member of any of several church denominations denying the universal authority of the Pope and affirming the Reformation principles of justification by faith alone, the priesthood of all believers, and the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth.”

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protestant

Protestantism is, by definition, a *protest* against the Catholic faith. I suggest you do a little more research into your faith, and then we can have a more fruitful discussion.


Because there aren't any “Christians” who claim no one has authority over them because they're under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who aren't a “mouthpiece of the satanic pedo death cult”? I can't believe Protestants can't bother to see what has happened to Christianity outside the Church.

It's shocking how weak the arguments are against Catholicism and how intransigent its opponents are. I've yet to see a Biblical reference or evidence to refute my claims, only opinions written authoritatively. I'm all for conversations between different denominations to figure out the truth, but many like this lack essential goodwill.


Because Jesus instituted a physical church which needs a leader…

I can’t tell if you’re trolling or genuinely curious. Joe Heshmeyer has done good work on early Christianity. He wrote the books Pope Peter and The Early Church Was the Catholic.

I think all Christians believe the Holy Spirit guides “the church,” even if they believe “the church” to be an informal community of believers. As the early Christians did, Catholics believe the Church is a physical presence on earth, which is to say, a real community with real leaders. Just like the apostles replaced Judas with Matthias, succession is essential to continue the mission of the Church.

Also, for the sake of clarity, papal infallibility is extremely narrowly defined. It exists because the (head of the) Church can’t officially teach error, which is a pretty obvious dogma if you already accept that the Holy Spirit is guiding it.


I guess the church died with Peter! 😂


#Bitcoin is reality.

Fiat is an illusion.

nostr:npub10qrssqjsydd38j8mv7h27dq0ynpns3djgu88mhr7cr2qcqrgyezspkxqj8 https://i.nostr.build/zd3m3.jpg


“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19)


To recap the conversation: anyone who believes in papal infallibility is incapable of reason, yet when provided with evidence supporting the guidance of the Church, it is rejected out of hand with baseless claims. Is belief in an infallible Church the issue? Or is it the belief that the Church contradicts your infallible opinions that is the issue? I hope you reflect on whether you accept Christ on his terms or your terms.


If you think Pope Francis is bad, you should look back at some of the popes over the past 1000+ years. Yet the Church still stands and seems to be the only institution capable of repelling corrupt forces. There must be something there!

“Your majesty, we Catholic clergy have done our best to destroy the church for the last 1800 years. We have not succeeded, and neither will you.” - Cardinal Consalvi to Napoleon Bonaparte


Please listen to Livera’s podcast with NVK. It’s not possible for everyone in the world to have their own UTXO and use it for everyday transactions. It never was possible. This “dream” — that people have that everyone can be self sovereign — is sold by folks who are idealistic but haven’t done the math.

I would love it too if everyone could be self sovereign. It’s just that I understand the limitations and I’m not willing to chase an impossible dream and compromise the decentralization of the protocol.

If you disagree, do the math. Show me how everyone in the world can have their own UTXO and make everyday transactions on L1 with self sovereignty.

Our objective is to replace central banks. Unfortunately most people in the world will be using bitcoin ecash. It’s not true self sovereignty with their own UTXO but 1000x better than the current system where central bankers control our money and print it at will.

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Completely agree! Naive Bitcoiners take “don't trust, verify” at face value and apply it everywhere, even though that's obviously false.


Definitely not! However, principles are a good starting point for exploring theological concepts in depth.


“This is why the Church is so strict on [abortion] because accepting this is kind of like accepting daily murder.”

“The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking. In this regard, I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs. A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.”

“Gender ideology, today, is one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations. Today children — children — are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex. Why are they teaching this? Because the books are provided by the people and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries. And this is terrible!”

🤔

If we believe the scripture that the gates of hell will not prevail and the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church, the pope speaking infallibly about faith and morals ex-cathedra makes sense. Pray never to lose hope!


Go to the gym or for a run. Completing a successful workout when you don't want to has a domino effect on helping you achieve other things you don't want to but know you should.


Believing you can know objective truth is the first point in my argument for why Bitcoiners should be Catholic.

note1cmz59htvnzhd4zrh2f8qq9g8h74qd9ggc5gf4dzuv09znhwtc64qkuu8us


I'm not sure about another order of magnitude. Yes, 5 lightning TXs for an individual is a lot, but this is an average, so for an exchange (”Bitcoin bank”), that's nothing.

Shared UTXOs may be able to help.  I'd love to see more development going toward channel factories. However, if unilateral exit and constant communication are required while fees are high, it seems that a shared UTXO has a high trust threshold, which will make it impractical.

I'd love for you to be right that >100,000,000 entities will regularly transact on-chain, but I fear Saylor’s estimation of 100,000 is closer to the current trajectory. I'm working on an e-cash solution for close friends and family to share a lightning node to get closer to my optimistic 10,000,000 estimates. If trust is required, it's better to be at a lower/smaller organizational level than a company or government.


Great post. How many entities (individuals, families, communities, businesses, and governments) do you think will regularly transact on-chain?

An average of 6,000 TXs per block with two parties per TX leads to ~50,000,000 possible entities per month. If each entity participates in an average of 5 monthly TXs, that’s 10,000,000 entities. I think it is an optimistic scenario, but I'm interested to hear other opinions.


The Spiritual Battle is real. Evil depends on people thinking there isn’t a spiritual battle so they become complacent.

More people being aware of the battle favors Good.


I wrote a blog post about The Sovereign Family: Why The Sovereign Individual is only a half-great book.

“Bitcoiners underestimate the technical difficulty of mundane tasks in Bitcoin and overestimate the technical aptitude of the population. Focusing solely on individuals threatens to undermine the entire Bitcoin experiment.”

https://sovereign.app/blog/the-sovereign-family


This.
https://image.nostr.build/e2f2c2640e02bb75a40d967ab8fc2d545bbc1d1141f5ba71c7027b123ed5b7f1.jpg


My write up on how #cashu #ecash like shares might he used for a #mining pool.

https://delvingbitcoin.org/t/ecash-tides-using-cashu-and-stratum-v2/870/20

#Ecash TIDES using #Cashu and #StratumV2

Recommended reading/References:

- Cashu ecash protocol
- ecash Proof of Liabilities
- Ocean TIDES
- Stratum v2 Spec (Sv2)

Goals:

- Auditability
- Small payouts
- Privacy

Using the Blind Diffie-Hellmann key exchange (BDHKE) from Cashu as a Sv2 Protocol Extension, a pool can provide auditable, small scale, private pool rewards in the form of eHash.

A hash provider (HP) connects to a pool and begins job negotiation. This aspect remains largely unchanged from current paradigms. However, the HP will also request the active block_keyset. This is a list of pubkeys as defined in NUT02, but the value amounts for the individual keys correspond to difficulty targets for various miners which is used as a share weight in the TIDES rewards. The unit for these keysets is left up to specific implementations. A block_keyset is rotated once the pool finds a block or when the network difficulty adjustment occurs.

When the HP finds a valid share, in addition to standard share data, the HP will generate a secret and send a blinded message (B_) to the pool. The inputs for this blinded message could be done at an individual ASIC level or as part of a farm proxy implementation, with the latter seemingly ideal for larger farms. This blinded message (eShare) would be included in Sv2 channel messaging as a protocol extension. This signals to the pool that there is a valid share and requests a signature using the appropriate key from the active block_keyset. The same blinded message could be reused multiple times as long as special consideration is given on the pool/mint side for tallying these submissions. Reuse of blinded messages may be necessary during implementation if computing these blinded messages is too costly for a given HP, otherwise a new blinded message should suffice and lower complexity.

When the pool receives an eShare, it first validates the share itself, as usual. Once validated, the pool signs the blinded message, completing the DHKE and providing the blinded signature (C_) back to the HP. This share + blinded signature are then added to the time ordered TIDES defined share_log. The HP retains the blinded message data inputs (x) and the unblinded signature (C) as defined in the Cashu protocol NUT00 1.

This share process continues until a new difficulty adjustment occurs, after which a new keyset is issued with appropriate difficulty targets, OR a block is found by the pool. A keyset rotation after a difficulty adjustment accounts for new share target difficulties. A keyset may be reusable across difficulty adjustments as a % delta from network difficulty.

When a block is found by the pool, a full list of shares and associated blinded signatures is published by the pool. This signals to the HP that the eHash shares are available for redemption. Now the pool references the share_log using the share_log_window (defined in TIDES) for what eHash is eligible for redemption. As HP’s redeem their eHash, the eHash is recorded alongside the public record of shares and blinded signatures as defined in the ecash Proof of Liabilities 5.

Redemption of eHash can be any of the available Cashu or ecash mechanisms appropriate for the HP.

Other thoughts:

Cashu supports spending conditions, such as P2PK (NUT10 1 and NUT11)
the blinded message secret uses hash_to_curve(x) computation which could be offloaded to an ASIC, maybe.
Since this is an ecash usage, Fedimint is also a viable option but has not been considered in depth.

P.S. I look forward to feedback and considerations I may have missed. This post was an effort to solidify my idea into something more concrete and shareable. A vocal (and probably less comprehensive/coherent) monologue of this idea can be found here. I hope to create a diagram to help illustrate this proposal.


Bitcoiners Should Be Catholic

With skepticism and moral relativism more prevalent than ever, it's unsurprising that people are inclined to think one's religion has the same level of importance as a favorite sports team. However, everything in life is ordered toward a highest intrinsic good. It is vital to acknowledge what that good is. The Catholic deposit of faith supports principles Bitcoiners cherish, agreeing on what is truly good.

We believe in objective truth.

A signature is valid, or it's not; a transaction is confirmed or not; a block is accepted or not. These are the fundamental objective truths that form the basis of Bitcoin. These truths are not subjective to personal judgment or the whims of politicians. Grounded in mathematics, Bitcoin takes its form in the objective reality of the universe. Yet, many people today don't believe there are objective truths, or at least, if there are objective truths, they think we can't know what they are. However, it is contradictory to say it is true that there is no truth. Objective truth describes reality, so it is true or false for everyone. Since religion, properly understood, describes reality, its central claims are objective and can be investigated. Any religion worth pursuing puts objective truth in the middle of its dogmas. Catholics believe “Man tends by nature toward the truth.” (CCC 2467) Central to the Christian claim is that God is the truth: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Bitcoiners are some of the only people in our secular world who understand objective truth.

We believe in solidarity.

A society maintains a proper monetary order when the hardest money becomes the only money (Copernicus-Gresham's Law). Furthermore, Bitcoin is a consensus protocol. The network rules bind every participant together, and we all share in the fruits of the network. Users, miners, and developers depend on each other to maintain the network's health. Similarly, the Church teaches all creation orders toward solidarity: "Interdependence must be transformed into solidarity, based upon the principle that the goods of creation are meant for all." (Sollicitudo rei Socialis 39) Humans are social animals who flourish in a community bound together toward common objectives. Bitcoiners intuitively grasp this fundamental Catholic social teaching.

We believe in subsidiarity.

While the Bitcoin network is a shared resource for the common good, it is not a collectivist enterprise. Not your keys, not your coins, flows from the ethic of subsidiarity: “A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.” (Centesimus annus 48) Fiat currencies have perverted this principle by introducing the unnatural institution of the central bank. Bitcoin rightly reorders money management back to the lowest level of society: the family, who can hold their keys to save, earn, spend, and invest their own money with sovereignty. Finally, “the principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.” (CCC 1885) Bitcoiners understand the proper international order Catholics have been discussing for centuries and are working toward making it a reality.

Bitcoiners should discern the Catholic faith to deepen their understanding of these principles that resonate deeply with the ethos of Bitcoin. Catholicism offers more than a belief system. It provides a path to spiritual fulfillment and a community grounded in timeless truths, with teachings that will always be true, like the immutable ledgers we keep on our full nodes. Joining the Catholic Church means embracing a tradition that stands the test of time and offers profound purpose and social cohesion in accordance with the eternal law. Join our journey to seek the truth.


Bitcoin is the narthex to our cathedral: it's just the start.

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It is a natural result of a liberal world order focused on individual will and power.

We will only resolve to do any better if we return to a society focused on human dignity, the common good, and God.


A short explainer of how our vaults work at https://sovereign.app
https://m.primal.net/IHVd.mov


People are mostly afraid of AI and robotics because the control structure that manipulates money doesn’t allow the productivity gains to flow to them….instead, concentrating the control and dystopian outcomes.

And that’s mostly tied to the fact they don’t understand how #Bitcoin changes that paradigm.

AI + Robotics are only tools - created by us, serving us in the free market imposed by #Bitcoin. We (together) on an honest ledger are the supercomputer.


sovereign.app launched a public beta
nostr:nevent1qqsdwrvrsujcc77lykamykw053hur69qn7u0g2xmpjyg2f8n600srdspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsz9mhwden5te0wfjkccte9ehx7um5wghxyctwvshszxthwden5te0wfjkccte9eekummjwsh8xmmrd9skctcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdu5cjr8c


Join our public beta! https://sovereign.app https://video.nostr.build/28b6513af055ae0846488512a865320b2774a3e5fae132844332bce4b078c04b.mp4


I'm excited to launch my company today for public beta testing! Sign up and let me know what you think https://sovereign.app/blog/introducing-sovereign-app