Catholic and Enjoying It! |
|
 Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again! Tips are deeply appreciated! Yes! I do take Credit Cards! Atom RSS Feed         Franciscan Friars of the Assumption Province - Religious Vocations for Men   Little Way Web Store  Hard to find holy cards and photographs of St. Therese imported directly from her store in Lisieux. We specialize in carmelite spirituality and offer a wide selection of books and gifts about carmelite spirituality. This is the website you have been waiting for. Gethsemane Garden Stones  Stations of the Cross Garden Stepping Stones transform your garden into a Prayer Garden Check Out "Rock Solid"  Mark Shea's Podcast                   
ARCHIVES
My Site (Mark-Shea.com)04/01/2002 - 05/01/2002 05/01/2002 - 06/01/2002 06/01/2002 - 07/01/2002 07/01/2002 - 08/01/2002 08/01/2002 - 09/01/2002 09/01/2002 - 10/01/2002 10/01/2002 - 11/01/2002 11/01/2002 - 12/01/2002 12/01/2002 - 01/01/2003 01/01/2003 - 02/01/2003 02/01/2003 - 03/01/2003 03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007 07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007 08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007 09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007 11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007 12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008 02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008 03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008 04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008 05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008 Act One: Writing for Hollywood AirMaria American Chesterton Society Ave Maria Singles Catherine of Siena Institute Catholic Educator's Resource Center Catholic Exchange Crossroads Initiative Decent Films Drudge Report Exceptional Marriages Gilbert Magazine MercatorNet Peter Kreeft Mars Hill Review St. Austin Review St. Blog's Prayer Network Star of the Sea: Catholic Resources from Paul Thigpen David Alexander's Man with Black Hat: Zydeco Catholic Mike Aquilina's Fathers of the Church Rod Bennett: Tremendous Trifles Domenico Bettinelli: Very Sensible Guy Nancy Brown: Flying Stars Elliot Bougis: Fides, Cogitatio, Actio Chris Burgwald's Veritas Cacciaguida: Defending the 12th Century Since the 14th Catholic World News - Off the Record Cosmos Liturgy Sex: That About Covers it All Disputations: Dedicated to Arguing Ross Douthat: The Atlantic's Most Sensible Writer Michael Dubruiel's Annunciations: Sanity in Cyberspace Envoy's Blog: A Banana Republic for Catholic Apologists Dawn Eden: The Dawn Patrol Get Religion: The Smartest Blog on the Web about Religion and Media Dave Hartline: The Catholic Report Heart, Mind and Strength: The Weblog of Exceptional Marriages and Other Fun Stuff Intentional Disciples: The Group Blog of the St. Catherine of Siena Institute Fr. Rob Johansen: Thrownback Christopher Johnson: Midwest Conservative Journal Daniel Larison: Eunomia Fr. Dwight Longenecker: Standing on My Head White Around the Collar Mary's Aggies: Aggies for Mary Mere Comments: Touchstone's blog Mommentary: Elinor Dashwood's Sensible Blog Barbara Nicolosi's Church of the Masses On the Square: The First Things Blog James Preece: Catholic and Loving it! (Not to be confused with another site of a similar name) Dale Price: Dyspeptic Mutterings Scott P. Richert is All About Catholicism Scrappleface: As Funny as the Onion The Shrine of the Holy Whapping: Fun Lovin' Catholic Nerds from Notre Dame Southern Appeal: The Law with 11 Catholic Herbs and Spices Andrew Sullivan: The 800 Pound Gorilla of the Blogosphere Who is Hopelessly Fuddled about Catholicism and Sex Mark Sullivan: Irish Elk Amy Welborn's Charlotte Was Both What's Wrong with the World: Sane People in Insane Times Eve Tushnet: Wide Ranging Mind Daniel Vitz: Committed to an Institute Vox Nova Blog: An Interest Catholic Group Blog Zippy Catholic: Committed to Catholic Common Sense etc
|
Friday, August 29, 2003
"I feel called to respond to my parish and the local parish school because of my developed Catholicism." Translation: I demand the Church approve of my homosexual practice and tell my kid that it's just fine. I support the school on this one. Those of my readers who are challenged in the ability to distinguish gnats from camels will doubtless find it impossible to understand my wild inconsistency here given the Great Scarf Controversy of 2003 which broke out here yesterday. The difference is that wearing a scarf and trying to observe one's cultural proprieties is an utterly innocous thing that does nobody any harm, while trying to cram approval of homosexual practice on an entire school and parish does lots of people great harm. And, of course, the transparent disinterest in the good of the kid, who is essentially a political pawn for the narcissism of her Baby Boomer Mommies, is breathtaking. Not too complex really. Secret Agent Man on Joseph Druce's Legal Strategy No word yet on whether Druce's attorney is cribbing from the Moral Theologians over on the Freeper board. I suspect so. Chris, that's *nothing*! I'll see your Owensby, and raise you a Mankowski. (Of course, Mankowski is tongue in cheek and your guy is serious, so maybe you *do* win after all). Something to Refresh My Loathing of the Most Narcissistic Generation in the History of the World Baby Boomers: my tribe. Sincerest apologies to our parents and our children. We're self-absorbed losers who pissed away what our heroic parents gave us even as we turned to lecture our children on what paragons of the human race we are. God rest Officer Schroeder and give him happy reunion in heaven someday with the family who loves him still. God mete out some fitting punishment to crack the shell of egoism that surround the wretched Power creature and all who tremble with adoration of her. May she be saved by the merciful Purgatorial judgement of God from the hell her pride has made her to herself and so many others. Leftist Culture War Terrorists Release Weaponized Madonna Spores into the Atmosphere As Michael Medved sagely observed sometime ago, the "If you don't like it, turn it off" excuse offered by the manufacturers of pop culture is simply inadequate to the problem. I have never owned a Madonna album. I've seen Today's liplock photo on Drudge is an example of the thing I'm talking about. Nobody asked for it. Nobody needs it. Okay. Message received. Casual lesbianism is hip and cool (so much for the "it's all genetics" agitprop). The whole thing couldn't have been more scripted if they'd tried. It was a deliberate act of cultural aggression foisted on us in the public square by exhibitionists eager to "push the envelope" who then say, "Stop looking at us! Why are you meddling with our privacy!" I need a Madonna/Spears/Aguilera air filter. A Few Jews Have Hysterics over The Passion Y'know, I'm as empathetic as the next person to the sufferings of the Jews, but some of these quotes are just barmy: "It will result in anti-Semitism and bigotry. It really takes us back to the Dark Ages ... the Inquisition, the Crusades, all for the so-called sin of the Crucifixion of Jesus." ("so-called sin") I think most reasonable people today would say that the death of Jesus was not exactly humanity's finest hour. And it will launch a new Dark Ages? Inquisition? Crusades? Give thou me a break. "Nevertheless, Mr. Hikind said he is urging all distributors to make no deals with Mr. Gibson for "The Passion." (After all, distributing the film could lead to totalitarianism and the muzzling of free speech.) "This film clearly depicts a Jewish mob — not some Jews, but a Jewish mob — the leaders of the Jews, being directly responsible for the Crucifixion of Jesus. Sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it?" Mr. Hikind said. (Um, well, there *was* a Jewish mob at the trial of Jesus. Of course the film also depicts Mary, the apostles, Joseph of Arimathea and, of course, Jesus himself as Jews. But don't let the facts get in the way of hysteria.) "The Passion is a lethal weapon against Jews." Little boys wearing yarmulkes chanted the same slogan. We haven't seen it, but do have this really neat slogan! Get it? "Lethal Weapon"? And look, we're training our kids not to think either! Malka Moskowitz, an elderly woman from Brooklyn wearing a straw hat, said she was a Holocaust survivor and compared the atmosphere of dispute surrounding the movie with the bloody reign of the Third Reich. "This is the way it started," she said, her voice breaking. Some poor old woman who knows from *nothing* about this film, her old wounds rubbed raw by professional handwringers who trot her out for a sound bite. I pity her sufferings and venerate her desire to do right. I feel disgust for her manipulators. A rabbi from Brooklyn called the film pornography. He told Mr. Donohue that he would be responsible if violence broke out. Of course, he hasn't actually *seen* the film.... Amazing. My Friend Tells Me I'm Wrong We won't be in Iraq for 50 years, he says. We'll be there for about 5, with endless stuff like this going on, until enough American troops die and nothing much changes that people finally say, "Okay. We're done. Let's declare victory and bail." He may be right. But I'm becoming pretty convinced that this won't end well. Sorry for the formatting twitchiness PayPal appears to have broken into Haloscan's liquor cabinet and gone on a bender. When it regains consciousness, the little button gif will return and the formatting will be fine. See how sin disrupts the entire social fabric? Howard the Dean Could Make a Fine Bishop From Boston A reader writes: Read your "Art Bell" comments concerning Howard Dean. Following those links you come to this piece: Fascinating! This would be very interesting for some crack journalist to follow up on. Oh, if only I knew somebody who wrote for the Dallas Morning News or something like that. :) If it turns out that Dean reported this guy to the cops, then he at least has more moral sense than several members of the American hierarchy. If it turns out he didn't, then there are two possibilities: 1) he's an irresponsible scum or 2) he's a lying scum and the whole incident is as real as Gore's invention of the Internet. Either way, the Dems will be battening on a man who has all the integrity of the late and unlamented episcopacy of Boston *and* all the veracity of the Clintonistas! And he is, of course, unswervingly committed to the Sacrament of Abortion and the denial of fundamental parental rights, which he is (if the story is false) willing to prop up with outright lies. The Ideal Dem! What made me ask the questions about ghosts? Just curious. There are various "fringe" areas where the Tradition has never had very much to say since the data is so fuzzy. This is one and I was just curious about it. I know people who've had dreams about dead people (and I've had some significant dreams about my late father--though I couldn't prove they were supernatural), but I've never seen a specter while awake. I do know people who have experienced poltergeist phenomena and I have friends who can tell some stories that will raise the hair on the back of your neck (see, for instance, Rod Dreher's comments below). And my wife had a relative who came down with something mild, had a dream, and awoke to tell his wife that "the baby" (their deceased daughter) had come to him in the dream and told him she'd be back for him on Tuesday. He then died very unexpectedly on Tuesday. I suspect there are some people who may well have a sort of charism in this department. People who just have... experiences... with the dead that they didn't ask for but needed for some mysterious reason in the Great Plan. "The white picket fence of the 1950s" It's amazing how social revolutionaries steeped in the Deep Thought of the 60s think that all of human history began in the 1950s. Someone needs to alert them to the fact that the concept of the family as one man and one woman with children is... gosh... decades older than that. A reader writes: There is a link to a recent story on Pius XII on Amy's blog that I have been commenting on. There is the usual give and take. I am disputing the usual "the pope was silent", "the pope didn't care at all about the Jews", "the pope was all about power" line of reasoning. Since I read your blog every day, I was interested in your take on it all. I have posted under the name Michael. Unfortunately the only nature I've been... well, not enjoying exactly, is a long night of Gastrointestinal Ick, which is why I'm up so early. I am not an historian and can't competently deal with the fine points of the case. However, speaking as an ordinary layman, I do remark that from what I've seen on Amy's board and read elsewhere, I would concur with Rabbi David Dalin that Pius was indeed a righteous gentile. Did he do everything perfectly? Probably not (that's a question for historians). Did he do a great deal? Yes. I think it obvious he did and that the "Hitler's Pope" slander is despicable. It is one of the weird twists of history that so many in both the Catholic and Jewish communities should survey the wreckage of WWII, a wreckage in Allied Leaders like Roosevelt and Churchill refused to bomb the rail lines to Auschwitz and in which Stalin did nothing as the Warsaw Ghetto was annihilated, and look past this to a man who had not a single gun to defend himself, and yet who was responsible for the rescue of more Jews than any other man in Europe--and condemn him as practically being the architect of the Holocaust. I think future generations may well look back on us as the moral freaks for being so blind to such an obvious fact. Thursday, August 28, 2003
Interesting Resistance Movement Afoot When the secular insurgents of yesterday become the flabby apparatchiks of today and the drooling old farts of tomorrow, it will be fun to see the grass roots re-assert old pieties as an act of youthful rebellion. Watched King Kong tonight with the little ones What I love most about the film is the sense of boyish *wonder* in it. "It's adventure, fame and money! It's the thrill of a lifetime and a long sea voyage!" says Carl Denham to Anne Darrow and something in the heart leaps up. Yes! I'd be there in a heartbeat! Who wouldn't? And even the portrayal of the natives on Skull Island doesn't come off as racist. It comes off as boyish. It's a tale told by boys for boys. One doesn't think, "Ah! Primitives!" Still less does one want to hear Marxist claptrap about colonialism. Instead, you watch and think, just like Denham, "Holy mackeral! What a show!" It's all *wonderful*! Islands which you alone know about because of a secret map from a sailor in Singapore. Lurking danger behind an immense wall that might be Egyptian. Dinosaurs. Narrow escapes. And Kong himself. Terrifying and *wonderful*. My children take me back to a time I should never lose if I want to stay human. Crisis has such great readers This is from the latest issue: SPARE THE MEAT, SPOIL THE GOSPEL Dennis Kucinich Running for Captain of Spaceship America Interview shows definitively that Kucinich's mind is an incomprehensible goulashe of eco-spirituality, deracinated post-Catholic drivel, room temperature universalism, and spiritualized policy wonkism. The only glue that holds it all together is commitment to the Sacrament of Abortion. Back in 1999... the black helicopter crowd was filling Art Bell's airwaves with nutty conspiracy theories about how Clinton was going to declare Martial Law when the Y2K bug struck and erect a Nazi dictatorship with him as President for Life. You had to be waaaaaaay out on the nutso fringe of the Right to go for this stuff. No serious conservative touched such kookmongering with a barge pole. The great thing about the Democratic party is that the kookiest Art Bell listener can now be a Presidential frontrunner! The FLA Supreme Court Just Really Likes Putting People to Death I'm one of those hopeless weenies who thinks, as the Pope does, that even guilty human life should be preserved unless it is an ongoing danger to the community. "It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." "Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand! Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?" Ghosts What are they? What do you make of them? This, like most "paranormal" stuff is one of those topics about which Catholic theology has very little to say other than "Don't try to contact dead people" and "It's a stranger world than we know." The basic rule of thumb for Catholics is, "Don't seek out the paranormal. On the other hand, sometimes weird things happen to people without their seeking it out and it should be discerned, not chucked out instantaneously." If the paranormal thing doesn't conflict with the Tradition (think "Lourdes") then it might be from God. If it does, ignore it, even if there seems to be something genuinely supernatural taking place. The devil is supernatural, after all. That doesn't mean he's doing God's work. Any thought on the matter? Speaking of that Strong Tower of Episcopal Courage in Los Angeles I'm sure we will be seeing oodles of spirited leadership from the Cardinal of Hollywood as the Gov mulls a bill to force foster parents to knuckle under to gay brownshirtism at its finest. With Thomas "Windshield" O'Brien, Thomas Daily, Rembert Weakland, and Cdl. Law out of the running... the competition is getting more intense for the "Worst Still-Serving Bishop" Award. Bp. Adamec may be pulling into the lead. But there is still the inimitable John McCormack of New Hampshire, who just didn't notice anything odd about Paul Shanley after years of warnings, flares, klaxons, foghorns, explosions and ear-splitting screams trying to get his attention to the fact that public advocacy of manboy love might signal just the teensiest problem. And, there are other competitors too, notably our Man in LA. Decisions, decisions. JRR TOLKIEN - LORD OF THE RINGS CONFERENCE with JOSEPH PEARCE Think I'll go. I had dinner with Joe when I was in Michigan a while back. Lovely man. Genetically Modified Food Fight Rome recently said, "Sounds fine to us." Green Kiwis are upset by this. Some people think the Church has no business involving itself in such matters. I think the Church *must* involve itself in such questions. Certainly the questions of "How do we feed starving people?" vs. "What are our responsibilities for stewardship of creation?" are central to the Church's moral theology and the mission of the gospel and they are not simple ones. Rome basically appears to have come down on the side of, "Don't be too fussy about gene-modification if it means human beings will be fed." A reasonable stand. However, there remain big questions in the "What could it hurt?/How was I supposed to know?" department that await more light from the sciences. However the knee jerk opposition to GM is foolish, particularly in a starving world. The Spectator is Off Its Meds However, this quote, if real, shows how ripe some people are for the rule of Antichrist: The former Belgian prime minister Paul-Henri Spaak once made a plea for ‘a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people’ and added, ‘Be he God or the Devil we will receive him.’ The rest of the piece is Milk-Out-of-the-Nose funny. A murderous Bronze Age Fanatic? Heck yeah. But possessed of a visceral drop dead authenticity that's capable of seeing the *good* in the people he butchers. Welcome NRO Folk! I'm honored to see Mark-Shea.com is NRO's "Cool Site of the Day". Boy, if those chicks in high school who wouldn't go out with me could see me now. Browse away. Be enriched and renewed by my ASCII. Buy all my stuff. I love you long time, GI Joe. A Colorful Evangelical's Pithy Sayings Preserved by His Students Click on the quotes link. I love profs like this. I side with the girl. Sometimes Jewish kids go to Catholic schools. (Hey! They're good schools! If you want your kid to get a good education and there aren't other options, you take what you can get.) If some Jewish kid wore a yarmulkah to a Catholic school I daresay the school wouldn't forbid it. The Catholic Church is supposed to honor the cultural customs of the human race when they do no harm. This is a needless offense. A reader asks: Can you point to some way an ordinary catholic can or should forgive someone's sins against a third party? I am really quite surprised to hear so many Catholic deny the principle that the Catholic sacrament of confession presupposes: that sins hurt the whole body of Christ, not just the individual sinned against, the sinner and God. It is precisely because we are members of one another (Rom 12:5) that what injures one injures all. So the priest hears confessions and restores the penitent, not only to fellowship with God, but to fellowship with the injured Body, by the grace of God. So the notion that "Geoghan hurt only his victims, not me, so I don't have to forgive him" is utterly un-Catholic. It is also, by the way, manifestly untrue from a purely observational standpoint too. If a person hates Geoghan enough to rejoice over his death with the words "I would rather he 'lived' an entire horrid lifetime, in prison hell. Ummmm... Nah... he got what he deserved. Good riddance, subhuman" then the person, by any reasonable measure, has something against Geoghan. Geoghan has done him an injury. And therefore that person *is* a victim of Geoghan's and, by our Lord's command, is bound to extend forgiveness. As to how it's done: the way we always do it. By desiring with our wills the best for Geoghan. By hoping that he made his peace with God and was forgiven. By praying, "Lord have mercy on him." By putting to death the urge to rejoice over his death. By not calling our thirsty hatred and lust for vengeance a "Christian desire for justice." If Christ does not need our help in forgiving, he certainly doesn't need it in damning. The pleasure of being a Christian Vigilante You get to know the very mind of God and the state of a man's soul, to lick one's lips in trembling delight over the suffering of those we hate, and to rejoice over the (assumed) damnation of a human being: "He's dead, and in hell. The 150 boys he molested will carry the emotional scars for their entire lives. You get to exempt yourself from the absolute duty to forgive: "Geoghan got exactly what he deserved. Christ does not need us to forgive this scumbag, that's solely His privelege." And, when pesky people remind you that it *is* an absolute duty per Our Lord's own words ("For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." - Matthew 6:14-15)., you get to play the delightful game of "Christian Morality Allows Me to Identify with Others Enough to Hate Their Victimizers, But Not Enough to Forgive Their Victimizers: Moreover, we can only forgive 'those who trespass against us.' We can't forgive anybody for any offense they commit against someone else. What a wonderful deal Christian Vigilantes have. They can pour out hatred on most of the human race if they like (since most of the human race will not sin against them directly) and still congratulate themselves on what good people they are and how pleased God is with them (not like that subhuman scum over there, may he burn in Hell forever). Never mind the fact that there is no Revised Vigilante Version that adds "if they repent" to the command to forgive and not hate sinners. It is true that forgiveness will not benefit the one to whom forgiveness is extended if it is not received. But it is a complete falsehood that we are free to go on hating somebody, rejoicing over their death and hoping for their damnation, if they don't repent. And, of course, it's also not written anywhere that we know Geoghan did not repent and receive the Mercy. It's scary the judgment some Christians pile up for themselves in their Pharisaic lust to say, "I thank thee, O Lord, that I am not like other men." May they find the Mercy they so brutally deny to others. And may it teach them to show mercy before it's too late for them. Okey doke. Got the Blogmatrix RSS code and other stuff Check the left margin, O You Who Are Interested. Whatever The bishops have the liturgical fidgets. We've already implemented some of this stuff here in Seattle. Most especially stupid was the directive to stand after communion "for the sake of unity." Of course, people don't really want to stand, but they will if they *have* to. Sensing the resentment at the "Peter, try experiments on my rats" approach to liturgy, the archdiocese also said, "Well, just stand till the end of the first communion hymn. Then, if you like, you can sit or kneel." Result: at the end of the first communion hymn, a parish that was formerly united in kneeling after communion is now half kneeling and half standing. Brilliant. Unlike so many, I do not detect the Trump of Doom in these imbecilities and I am frankly amazed at how much energy Catholics can spend fussing over this stuff. My main desire is that the liturgy simply *stay put* so I can get my mind off the thought "*Now* what is it?" and back on to God. My parish, thanks be to God, celebrates the liturgy very well and puts the focus on God, not on Fr. Look at Me. Indeed, we are refreshingly free of egocentric priests. Liturgy should be like an old pair of shoes. The mark of good shoes is that you don't notice you are wearing them. Wednesday, August 27, 2003
I can be even more pedantic A Jewish commenter makes the common mistake of confusing Marcionism with Catholic teaching. Not surprising since so many Catholics do too. Supersessionism and the idea that the Old Testament is somehow revoked by the New is a big no-no in Catholic teaching. "They are Israelites, and to them belong [note present tense] the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race according to the flesh, is the Christ" (Rom. 9:4-5). The New Covenant (a term the apostles get from the lips of Jesus himself, who in turn consciously borrows from Jeremiah 31:31-34) does not abolish but fulfills the Old. Yes, there are aspects of Old Testament ritual and ceremony which are, from the Catholic perspective, no longer necessary since the Reality who is Christ has come (a moot point for most Christians anyway since they are Gentiles). The epistle to the Hebrews (and Romans and Galatians) are about this. But it is Marcion, not Christianity, who took the term "Old Testament" to mean "obsolete testament". The Christian picture is found instead in the image of the wild olive branch grafted onto the cultivated tree. Paul's warning to supercessionists is grave: You do not support the root, the root supports you. (Romans 11) Catholic Outlook is a cool site And if the look resembles Mark-Shea.com, that wouldn't be because Gary Hoge graciously helped techno-illiterate me put my site together or anything. No sir. It's just... coincidence! Yeah! That's it! That's the ticket! Coincidence! Christopher Hitchens Inadvertently Proves that Sin Makes You Stupid Watching a brilliant mind like his reduced to high school sophomore filosufee like "If God made us in his image, then how do you explain bad people? Huh? Huh? How do you explain that? Hah!" is painful to watch. Gee. Never noticed that people sin before. What a master stroke. Christianity and Judaism lie prostrate before your genius. Stick to politics, Chris. FLA bishops' statement on Terri Schiavo Jeb Bush Gets off the Dime too Finally, some movement from the most visible Catholics in Florida. Memo to the bishops and the Gov: "The Church thinks in centuries" is a nice sentiment when you have centuries in which to act. Prudence is the virtue of seeing what needs to be done and doing it when it needs done. Better late than never though. What it's like to be Catholic some days Just replace "Protestant" with "Catholic" and you've read a lot of my mail over the years. I am just worried sick about those poor Protestant idol worshippers. Why, just today I read where a Protestant let slip the Awful Truth about what they really believe: they worship statues. Oh yes, it's true. It was on the news and everything. A Protestant actually called a sculpture of the Ten Commandments "our God". Of course, the "Christian" blogger who reports this tries to paper the truth over but I was raised Protestant and I know all about it. I remember our Sunday school teacher used to have us kneel to the Bible and pray too. So there you are! Plus, that guy just sounds to me like he worships the statue, and I have the Holy Spirit too. So I have the gift of discernment. Now, convince me that I'm wrong, you idol worshipper. And if you don't reply to me, that just proves you know I'm right and you're afraid of the truth. "It's the fastest growing religion in America!" Adherents of Wicca and other childish fashions tout their wares with this bit of ledgerdemain. What it means is "We had ten suburban dilettantes in our coven last year and this year we have 20." A 100% growth rate! Meanwhile, Catholic faith pokes along with a mere 200,000 converts a year. The question is not "Is this the religion of tomorrow?" The question is: "Is this the religion of the day after tomorrow?" Remember: Lies. Damned lies. Statistics. From our "Lawrence Welk Plays the Beatles" files Liberal talk radio network still forging ahead They don't know what's killing them. "It reinforces the notion that these guys always win," he said. "I worry that will make it harder for some victims report their abuse." Those are the words of David Clohessy of SNAP regarding the death--the death--of John Geoghan. Apparently, because of some stupid technicality, Geoghan's conviction could be voided because he can't present for his appeal. The man was strangled and stomped to death in prison and Clohessy sees Geoghan as the "winner". Exhibit A in the "why unforgiveness is an eternal prison" display. Geoghan is a "winner" only in Clohessy's mind. But the mind can be a very effective prison until the bars are shattered by forgivenness and the abandonment of the demand for the Victimizer to be punished by unforgiveness. Geoghan will, paradoxically, continue to have power over every victim who imitates Clohessy's mindset. Poor souls. Like I say, Christ's teachings on sex aren't the big scandal for most people. It's his teaching on mercy and forgiveness that really outrages us. Thanks to Dom for this. One of the Soviet of Washington's Many Colorful Residents I think he's bucking for Folk Hero. Still doesn't hold a candle to the Rainier Shoe Bandit though. I have a theory... I suspect that Howard the Dean's big lead among the Dems is like being the best opera singer in Tulsa." More and more normal people are leaving the Dems. Only the fanatics and hard lefties are remaining. And so the most extreme liberal naturally is "the people's choice" in a pool of people who are rapidly losing touch with reality. Take him out of the hothouse and put him back in front of the general electorate, however, and I think he's gonna get clobbered in 2004. Dukakis/Mondale Clobbered. "The father said, 'Is this going to be a gay film?''' recalled Dong, answering that it would be "neither gay or non-gay." Translation: it's a gay film. One last thing Remember last year at the height of the Scandal when everybody was saying things like "If we ran the Church like a business, this sort of thing would never happen!" Sooner or later, somebody will convince Americans that business is not the opposite of our sexually deranged culture but one of the most powerful engines of it. The way out is not by bishops conforming themselves with even great jellolike docility to the animating spirit of Mammon, but by their conforming themselves to Christ. Much to write today Argue with each other about... evolution, politics, religion, and sex. Are you for or against them? Why? Give three examples. Amy's blogged something about this Cdl. Stafford article I would simply like to point out that the answer for what the Cardinal is looking for is found in the St. Catherine of Siena Institute article "The Parish: Mission or Maintenance". Every priest in the country needs to memorize this article, learn from the Siena Institute (which is really about the business of putting legs on the Council's teaching concerning lay vocation, charism, and collaboration with the ordained office), and act to make that vision a reality. If you haven't had them to your parish for the Called and Gifted Workshop, you are missing out. Call them today! You will return to my blog and blubber all over me in weepy gratitude once you've heard them. "I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their .... aw, what the hell. Let's just go on judging everybody by the color of their skin. Forever and ever and ever." Columnist attempts to square circle. Tuesday, August 26, 2003
I would love to see it go... though I will miss the chance to hock a loogey at it whenever I pass by. Late at night it would be a pleasure to pee on it too. Though I've never had the opportunity. True story: I once heard some clown on Seattle radio defend the statue against the standard "How about a statue of Hitler too" argument by saying, "Oh! But Lenin was an intellectual!" Hey stupid: meet Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Most of the troubles of the 20th century were the creations of intellectuals. A clever mind and an evil heart is practically the definition of Satan. Journalism: The Art of Announcing "Admiral Bangs is Dead!" to a Public that Never Knew Admiral Bangs had been born Catholics have this notion of Evangelicals as Rock-Ribbed Bible Christians Sure, a bit gruff and simple, but you can always count on them to generally come down on the right side in the Culture Wars. Well, not always. Actually, they can fall prey to Oprahfication, therapeutic theology and general squish just like the loopiest Jesuit. Here's a fascinating sample of the way Evangelicalism can go to seed. Another fascinating way I've seen this happen is when Evangelicals go to college and get a little exposure to postmodernism, deconstruction, and nihlistic relativism. Think "Bill Bradley". Former Evangelical, now gung ho pro abort liberal. Some of the cleverer ones go toward it like a duck to water. Frightening really. I had a friend who had a long conversation with former Evangelicals, now deconstructionist atheists, who laughed at his insistence that the pile of ashes at Mauthausen had any meaning. Much as I love Evangelicals, I don't believe there will be any such critter a century hence. The movement has no real center. Some will become Catholic/Orthodox. Those who refuse to will mutate into a gaggle of warring Oprahites, clever nihlists, and flathead Fundies. As my convert friend from Evangelicalism said, "I came to point where I could be Christian or Protestant, but not both." Eventually, Evangelicalism as a whole will reach that crisis, I think. Cool! You could see Mars shining like a brilliant ruby through the trees at Washington Park last weekend. Breathtaking. We live in a wonderful universe. Here's a nifty service 
Pre-Paid Legal: for all your lawyerly needs. My wife and I signed up for it a few months ago. We're having our wills drawn up but I also figured it would be handy to have an attorney on call to do all those attorneyfication thingamabobs they do without paying an arm and a leg. Provides nice peace of mind. Check it out. Cronkite: We're liberal because we're just so darn good I am Walter Cronkite. I am the Impartial One. ("Let's face this one down right now: I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I am a registered independent") These kids today. They aren't enlightened like we were back in the 60s. ("We reached our intellectual adulthood with daily close-ups of the inequality in a nation that was founded on the commitment to equality for all. So we are inclined to side with the powerless rather than the powerful.') We don't *try* to be liberal. It's just a natural consequence of our deep goodness. ("I believe that most of us reporters are liberal, but not because we consciously have chosen that particular color in the political spectrum. More likely it is because most of us served our journalistic apprenticeships as reporters covering the seamier side of our cities -- the crimes, the tenement fires, the homeless and the hungry, the underclothed and undereducated.") Besides, it's just a perception that we're liberal. Really, we're Impartial, like me, a reporter doing the Best Darn Job I Know How! ("The perceived liberalism of television reporters, I am convinced, is a product of the limited time given for any particular item.") Oh, and conservatives are stoopid bigots. ("Incidentally, I looked up the definition of "liberal" in a Random House dictionary. It gave the synonyms for "liberal" as "progressive," "broad-minded," "unprejudiced," "beneficent." The antonyms it offered: "reactionary" and "intolerant.") Dom Bettinelli Makes a Good Point While he was alive, John Geoghan was, you see, an abusive priest of "victims", "youths", "children", "teens" "adolescents" and other sexless beings whose maleness was a sheer coincidence. Homosexuality had absolutely nothing to do with it. But now that he's dead he is a victim of "anti-gay hate crime". No word yet on when canonization proceedings for the latest martyr to the Homosexual Cause begin. Sts. Matthew Shepherd and Brandon Teena, ora pro nobis. Miles Jesu Does Good Work So good that Dan Brown will probably target them in his next illiterate screed of a novel against the Church. WSJ on Gay Bishops Yes. Homosexuality is not the only sin. But the entire point is that nobody is saying gluttony or gossiping is a virtue, a sacrament, patriotic, and the "pinnacle of evolution" or that impenitent advocates and practitioners of these sins should be given a mitre precisely *because* they practice them. The gay brownshirts are insisting we swallow all that. Don't muddy the waters with the "there are other sins, you know" rhetoric. How a blog is maintained I know that people would like to think that I have 8 full hours a day to pore over each and every entry in the comments boxes, lovingly lavishing my full attention on each thought, each turn of phrase, each link, and each and every point. I know that the only conceivable explanation for my failure to do this, and to draft full replies to each and every comment, is that I am a wicked person who fears the truth and dodges anything that challenges me. Nonetheless, the real story is a bit more prosaic. I dash off thoughts based on news stories I run across or whatever occurred to me in the shower this morning. Much of it is thought in via, ideas I'm still working through, opinions I'm not quite sure about, stuff that amused me. As I have time, I blast through immense numbers of comments to get the gist. Sometimes, I reply. Often, I'm thinking, "I have to get going on the Bible study/column/article/pile of email. Oh well, I guess this is good enough" and hit send. Moral: You are not the center of the universe. My failure to reply to your incredibly brilliant and crushing rejoinder that shows me up for the fool and scoundrel I am might very well be due to the fact that I just never really noticed it because I've got so much stuff I'm trying to do on very limited time. Or, if I did notice it, I might have said, "I have to get that Bible study written. Oh well..." and skipped it. Cardinals Rodriguez and Glemp make fools of themselves "Would a cardinal who advocated gay marriage or abortion not be defrocked?" Actually, the answer is quite probably "no". Has Dershowitz not been paying attention? Excommunication and "defrocking" (I'm not clear if he means "depriving somebody of Holy Orders" or "depriving somebody of the Red Hat") are very seldom used radical surgery. Sorry, but that's just a fact of life in the Church. The Spiritual Side of the Terminator He gives lots of money to Cdl. Mahony and goes to a fashionable parish, so why does support for abortion matter? Oh dear. Made more readers mad at me Somebody wants to send me love beads cuz I once again expressed my misgivings about our involvement in Iraq. Good one. You sure have my number. What an America Hater I am. Now, getting back to the Catholic faith and a Catholic anthropology: One aspect of Just War Theory is "Will things be better after the war than before?" Not *immediately* after (and we are still in the "immediately after" phase), but "long term after". One of the things that has consistently bugged me about this war (and I extend my apologies in advance to those who think I should just shut up and cheer) is that I don't think a culture with a TV-conditioned attention span has any clear idea how to deal with a culture whose memory extends to the Crusades. I am skeptical of our ability to *stay with the problem*. I wish I could just say "the Pope is an idiot" along with all True Patriots[TM], but I keep finding these annoying little burrs in my soul that make me question the wisdom of this war and of the confident declaration that we will seed Iraqi soil with western democracy and it will all be wonderful. I frankly don't see much chance of it myself. I see an Iraq that remains a basket case or another Islamic regime. And when the only response is "Shut up, you stupid hippy" I'm less than convinced that there are good replies from those who think otherwise. The best service you can render your country is to keep it in touch with reality. The reality is that Islamic soil is notoriously resistant to western notions of the freedom and dignity of the human person. That's to be expected since Islam is also resistant to these notions. In Islam, we have a *very* large nut to crack indeed and notions that "American Can-Do Spirit" will take care of this in a jiffy are Fukayaman in their naivete. The only sure cure for a diseased spirituality is not secularism but a healthy spirituality. That's the little factor that's being left out of the calculations of secular Americans (and secularized Christians) who put their trust entirely in chariots and horses. That, I think, is what we will discover in the long run. Comments boxes are for screaming in. Feel free. Mel's distribution problem is solved Professional handwringers continue to do the thing they do best. Episcopal Spine Alert! "Bishop Fred Henry of the Catholic Diocese of Calgary recently warned that Chretien, a Catholic like many top federal politicians in Canada, may burn in hell for his stand. ''He is making a morally grave error,'' Henry said. ''I pray for the prime minister's soul because I think his eternal salvation is in jeopardy.'' Also, amusing is the nervousness of the gay brownshirt, who thought they could ram this down the public's throat by judicial fiat and are now acting like bullies surprised at the thought they may have to stand and fight. But most grotesque is Chretien himself and his absurd coda: "At the end of the day, we have to live up to our responsibility." Responsibility to whom? The electorate doesn't want it. That's why all the judicial fiat and subterfuge. Responsibility to Tradition then? Heh! Nope. Responsibility to a few utopians who Know What's Best. A smart reader writes regarding last Sunday's Ephesians 5 reading ("Wives, be subject"): The priest at my parish did not avoid the subject, oh no. Some courage. The line is optional anyway. By the way, I'm a huge believer in voting with your feet if your parish is a constant source of lousy liturgy and heresy. If I were single, my philosophy might be "Stay and fight". But my first duty is to my family and to see that I don't raise a brood of numbskulls whose heads are filled with AmChurch twaddle. We made the haj from our old parish to Blessed Sacrament (fond salute) after a year or so of "God made your nose" catechesis and a homily or two in which the priest declared that the epistle to the Hebrews was "a crock". In urban areas, this should be one of the first remedies a beleaguered family makes use of. Find a good parish, even if its across town. I'm getting mixed signals. What's the story here? Some of my readers tell me the bishop of St. Petersburg has filed a protest on behalf of Terri Schiavo, this story suggests the FLA bishops are all mum. A decentralized group of individuals who have to deal with one another repeatedly will tend as a matter of self-interest to evolve norms of honesty and reliability. That is, reputation, whether for honesty or fair dealing or product quality, is an asset that self-interested individuals will seek to acquire. While religion may encourage them, a hierarchical source of rules is not necessary. - Francis Fukayama Francis, memorize this phrase: "mystery of evil". More Signs of Hope! A reader sends along this note: First episcopal-priest-prog.-rocker Kemper Crabb preaches the Eucharist to the Cornerstone crowd (Kemper Crabb - The Implications of the Eucharist for the Arts) The latter is especially heartening to me since I've corresponded with Bill in the past and did not know he'd returned to the Church. His music is very good. Check it out. |
