I'm outta here till Monday!
My fellow Americans: Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for!
To my non-American readers: I'm thankful for you and for the fact that one of the great things about your being Catholic (assuming you are) is that you can give thanks at Mass tomorrow in ways our own Pilgrim forebears could not, via the immense blessing of the Eucharist.
To my non-Catholic readers: I'm thankful for you too! Let us all be grateful for what God has given us, especially that tomorrow at least, nobody will say, "The rest of you, break into small groups."
Finally, don't forget the Dave G. Diaper Fund, an excellent way to kick off Advent! Thanks to the generosity of readers so far, we have collected somewhere around $395 (minus whatever the Paypal fees are, which I haven't figure out yet). This Monday, I will fire off a check to Dave G. for whatever the final talley is. Thanks for your generosity to a brother in need and your fidelity to your prolife convictions! Well done!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
My Latest for Inside Catholic
In which we learn that you can't not seek happiness. You can only seek it in good or bad ways.
In which we learn that you can't not seek happiness. You can only seek it in good or bad ways.
Another Novena for Obama by Prolife Folks
Judy Townsend (from Charlotte, NC) has been inspired to promote a 54 day Novena of Rosaries beginning on November 30th, the first day of Advent, and ending on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, January 22nd. The intention of this novena is that God would change the hearts of President-elect Obama and Vice-President-elect Biden so they would protect life.
The "coincidence" of the timing of the days we feel is an indicator of God's blessing for this proposal and it is already rapidly taking off among the Catholic community.
Would you please consider joining this novena, and also promoting it among the various groups you are involved in?
The newly elected leaders of our country are proudly promoting their first agenda as including:
1. Reversing the Mexico City doctrine and funding international abortion via Executive Order
2. Reversing the ban on embryonic stem cell research (creation, manipulation, cloning and destruction of human life) and federal funding via Executive Order
3.Signing as his first piece of legislation the Freedom of Choice Amendment which may well lead to the closing of all pregnancy care centers and Catholic hospitals by entitling abortion as a fundamental constitutional right. It would invalidate all restrictions on abortion including parental notification, waiting periods, physician-only abortion procedures, removal of conscience clauses for medical personnel and more. Catholic health care workers would face loss of their jobs if they refuse to refer, support, participate in or otherwise not provide abortion.
Regardless of who a Catholic voted for and what economic or military positions a person has, all Catholics must agree that these things are wrong and realize that religious and personal freedoms will be encroached upon if these laws are enacted. Our Bishops are preparing a statement which may include the statement that FOCA is an "evil" piece of legislation.
When American Pols Trumpet Their "Deep Faith" I Break Out In a Rash
I have no doubt that Obama is a Christian, of sorts. He believes in something or other about Jesus, kind of. And my criterion for what constitutes a Christian is notoriously open-ended. I will not deny the name of "Christian" to *anybody* who names the Name, no matter how muddled their theology is. It's not my job to act as gatekeeper for the Pearly Gates.
However, it does not follow that I have to credit their theology as Christian or orthodox. Obama obviously is not theologically orthodox. He doesn't have a clue what orthodox Christianity is and spouts the normal stuff one would expect from a person of the "Christ was a great teacher who believed in social justice" school.
Some people are puzzled why I don't reject Obama as a Christian if his theology is not orthodox. Simple: I think that *everybody* theology is not orthodox in some way or other, including mine. So rather than set myself up for the embarrassment of facing God on That Day, telling him "I thank you, O Lord, that I amn not like Barack Obama, who holds a bad soteriological scheme" and then having the Almighty point to several weakness in my own conception of Christ's saving work, I figure that I will allow God to sort that out. That doesn't mean I don't feel obliged to learn the Faith and teach it as best I can. It just means that I don't believe we can judge people on their intellectual works any more than I think we can judge them on their physical works. Only God is judge. My task is to pay attention to the quality of my own corporal and spiritual works of mercy, not peer into my neighbor's soul. I will happily argue with somebody like Obama all day long and try to bring their understanding of Christ closer to the revelation given through the Church. But I won't sit in judgment of their soul when I think they are wrong, because I don't know how culpable they are for their wrong ideas, nor even if the things they are saying necessarily reflect a false idea. C.S. Lewis once spent several hours arguing with a man who categorically rejected the claim that God is "personal". It was only several hours into the argument that Lewis suddenly realized, with a jolt, that, by "personal", the man actually meant "corporeal". Huge amounts of theological argument is like this, which is one of the reasons I am so circumspect about judging somebody who says something cockamamie.
I have no doubt that Obama is a Christian, of sorts. He believes in something or other about Jesus, kind of. And my criterion for what constitutes a Christian is notoriously open-ended. I will not deny the name of "Christian" to *anybody* who names the Name, no matter how muddled their theology is. It's not my job to act as gatekeeper for the Pearly Gates.
However, it does not follow that I have to credit their theology as Christian or orthodox. Obama obviously is not theologically orthodox. He doesn't have a clue what orthodox Christianity is and spouts the normal stuff one would expect from a person of the "Christ was a great teacher who believed in social justice" school.
Some people are puzzled why I don't reject Obama as a Christian if his theology is not orthodox. Simple: I think that *everybody* theology is not orthodox in some way or other, including mine. So rather than set myself up for the embarrassment of facing God on That Day, telling him "I thank you, O Lord, that I amn not like Barack Obama, who holds a bad soteriological scheme" and then having the Almighty point to several weakness in my own conception of Christ's saving work, I figure that I will allow God to sort that out. That doesn't mean I don't feel obliged to learn the Faith and teach it as best I can. It just means that I don't believe we can judge people on their intellectual works any more than I think we can judge them on their physical works. Only God is judge. My task is to pay attention to the quality of my own corporal and spiritual works of mercy, not peer into my neighbor's soul. I will happily argue with somebody like Obama all day long and try to bring their understanding of Christ closer to the revelation given through the Church. But I won't sit in judgment of their soul when I think they are wrong, because I don't know how culpable they are for their wrong ideas, nor even if the things they are saying necessarily reflect a false idea. C.S. Lewis once spent several hours arguing with a man who categorically rejected the claim that God is "personal". It was only several hours into the argument that Lewis suddenly realized, with a jolt, that, by "personal", the man actually meant "corporeal". Huge amounts of theological argument is like this, which is one of the reasons I am so circumspect about judging somebody who says something cockamamie.
A reader writes:
Don't know anything about the guy myself, but I'm always happy to hear that bishops are actually taking up their task with vigor. My hope is that the Benedictification process will continue to harden spines and put more fire in the belly of our episcopacy.
An episcopal spine alert for you today
Archbishop DiNardo is quietly making a name down in Texas for his strength of character and commitment to the faith that comes to us from the apostles.
I also think this sort of thing is a great model of a small, prayerful way to begin healing some of the divisions within the church between adamant pro-lifers, who tend to be on the conservative political spectrum, and the "social justice" types, who of course tend to lean left...it reminds all of them of their first duty to the Church, and to the culture of life, above and beyond all political commitments.
Don't know anything about the guy myself, but I'm always happy to hear that bishops are actually taking up their task with vigor. My hope is that the Benedictification process will continue to harden spines and put more fire in the belly of our episcopacy.
Prayer Request
A reader writes:
Father, hear our prayer for this girl and her family (and for the driver who hit her). Grant them all healing and peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for them.
A reader writes:
Longtime reader of your blog and articles. I see lots of prayer requests on your blog. Everyone needs prayers, but I was especially moved to ask you for some in this case. Just down the street from us, a nine year old girl was riding her bike home from school and was hit head on by an SUV that had drifted into the bike lane she was riding in. She was airlifted to a children's hospital 60 miles away last night and was described in the paper as having serious injuries. The reports I am hearing indicate she was not wearing a helmet and is not faring well. I have two daughters, six and three, with another child on the way. I cannot fathom the pain this family is enduring. Please pray for them.
Father, hear our prayer for this girl and her family (and for the driver who hit her). Grant them all healing and peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for them.
A reader writes:
In a quirky way, that's a hopeful sign to me. Despite all the bluster about his radical messianic plan for ushering in the New Millennium, everything he has done so far suggests that he is actually rather cautious and guarded about screwing things up. Hence the heavy reliance on the Old Guard. If that's so, I hope he will be as cautious about doing something as stupid as pushing or signing FOCA, and provoking a crisis that could shut down a third of the nations hospitals.
Never underestimate the capacity of highly intelligent people to commit world-historical folly, but we can still hope that Obama will get a clue and quietly back away from the stupidity of pushing FOCA.
Regarding the President-elect filling his administration with Clintonista retreads:
"Barack Obama; building a bridge to the 20th century!"
It had to be said.
In a quirky way, that's a hopeful sign to me. Despite all the bluster about his radical messianic plan for ushering in the New Millennium, everything he has done so far suggests that he is actually rather cautious and guarded about screwing things up. Hence the heavy reliance on the Old Guard. If that's so, I hope he will be as cautious about doing something as stupid as pushing or signing FOCA, and provoking a crisis that could shut down a third of the nations hospitals.
Never underestimate the capacity of highly intelligent people to commit world-historical folly, but we can still hope that Obama will get a clue and quietly back away from the stupidity of pushing FOCA.
His Mercy Endures Forever!
Founder of Italian Communism had deathbed reconciliation with God and received the sacraments.
Founder of Italian Communism had deathbed reconciliation with God and received the sacraments.
"Did you catch this man?" asked the colonel, frowning. Father Brown looked him full in his frowning face. "Yes," he said, "I caught him, with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world, and still to bring him back with a twitch upon the thread." - G.K. Chesterton, The Innocence of Father Brown
20,000 Muslims Attack a Church in Cairo
No doubt they had it coming. You know the *real* menace is a Church that doesn't have women priests to consecrate a sacrament the press doesn't believe in. Let's have some more pictures of Piss Christ. And how about that bombed out abortion clinic picture from 24 years ago! And a couple of people praying in the Castro! And don't forget Fred Phelps (who is not Christian, but who cares?). The point is, all religions, philosophies and cultures are equally superior to Christianity and, especially, Catholicism, which deserves whatever abuse it gets.
No doubt they had it coming. You know the *real* menace is a Church that doesn't have women priests to consecrate a sacrament the press doesn't believe in. Let's have some more pictures of Piss Christ. And how about that bombed out abortion clinic picture from 24 years ago! And a couple of people praying in the Castro! And don't forget Fred Phelps (who is not Christian, but who cares?). The point is, all religions, philosophies and cultures are equally superior to Christianity and, especially, Catholicism, which deserves whatever abuse it gets.
Reason to Homeschool #349857345935304503948934599837532495487239483659
Children as young as five should be taught to understand the pleasures of
gay sex, according to leaders of a taxpayer-funded education project.
Prolifer Gets on the Bad Side of End to Evil Types
For ever so long, Richard Sanders has been a prolife libertarian judge out here in Washington, well hated by the pro-aborts and periodically praised by Republican who found him useful. However, his utility came to an abrupt end when he spoke truth to power and condemned the tyrannical actions and war crimes of the Bushies. So the remnants of the GOP attack machine are now busy chewing him for the crime of being *too* prolife when the needs of Bush/Cheney are at stake. Meanwhile, here in Washington, some consistent prolifers are celebrating him, as they should.
For ever so long, Richard Sanders has been a prolife libertarian judge out here in Washington, well hated by the pro-aborts and periodically praised by Republican who found him useful. However, his utility came to an abrupt end when he spoke truth to power and condemned the tyrannical actions and war crimes of the Bushies. So the remnants of the GOP attack machine are now busy chewing him for the crime of being *too* prolife when the needs of Bush/Cheney are at stake. Meanwhile, here in Washington, some consistent prolifers are celebrating him, as they should.
In the evening of our lives, we will be judged on our love - St. John of the Cross
God bless him and rest his soul through Christ the Lover of the Poor.
God bless him and rest his soul through Christ the Lover of the Poor.
Let Us All Praise the Dear Leader in Unison for 10 Minutes!
Another public edifice to be named for a guy who isn't even President yet and has never actually done anything. The moral, of course, is that color matters intensely because the only thing Obama has done is get elected in somewhat more melanin-rich skin. True, he has invented the imaginary Office of the President-Elect (partly in response to Bush's Amazing Disappearing President Act), but the fact is, the message that is being sent--even as all deny sending it--it that only thing that really matters about Obama is what color his skin is.
America is deranged about race. Someday we will really reach a place where people are honored for what they do and not merely what color they are. But the millennial fever surrounding Obama's election, simply and solely because it was the election of a guy with dark skin, shows that we are still light-years from the goal. Yes, we should be proud that we have overcome racism sufficiently that the election of a black guy is now history. But the fact that we think it *that* big a deal only illustrates the paradox of how far we have to go. When such things are simply a normal part of life unworthy of remark (like the fact that no employer asks me, "Hmmm... You're not Irish or Catholic are you?") we will finally have reached the place where we ae no longer insane about race.
Another public edifice to be named for a guy who isn't even President yet and has never actually done anything. The moral, of course, is that color matters intensely because the only thing Obama has done is get elected in somewhat more melanin-rich skin. True, he has invented the imaginary Office of the President-Elect (partly in response to Bush's Amazing Disappearing President Act), but the fact is, the message that is being sent--even as all deny sending it--it that only thing that really matters about Obama is what color his skin is.
America is deranged about race. Someday we will really reach a place where people are honored for what they do and not merely what color they are. But the millennial fever surrounding Obama's election, simply and solely because it was the election of a guy with dark skin, shows that we are still light-years from the goal. Yes, we should be proud that we have overcome racism sufficiently that the election of a black guy is now history. But the fact that we think it *that* big a deal only illustrates the paradox of how far we have to go. When such things are simply a normal part of life unworthy of remark (like the fact that no employer asks me, "Hmmm... You're not Irish or Catholic are you?") we will finally have reached the place where we ae no longer insane about race.
Mormons to be Punished for Prop 8 Victory
The shameful thing is that it's Mormons and not Catholics who are being punished for doing what is right.
The shameful thing is that it's Mormons and not Catholics who are being punished for doing what is right.
The Obama Election Seems to Have Freed a Certain Sort of Intellectual to Really Let His Hair Down
Here is a real live serious intellectual giving us the True Meaning of the Obama election:
These next four years are going to be full of this delightful sort of hagiography.
Here is a real live serious intellectual giving us the True Meaning of the Obama election:
We must understand the underlying, naked, mythological background behind what we see in the rhetorical clothing of the cut and thrust of daily politics. Barack Obama must not simply be celebrated because of his expertise, his organizational depth, or his ability to discipline marginalized references to growing watermelons and holding barbecues on the White House lawn. He must not be adulated because he became a celebrity in the eyes of many who wanted to party and celebrate good times because, in the words of Kool & the Gang, “everything’s gonna be all right.” Rather, we must extol, consecrate, solemnize, and honor Barack Obama by performing the rites due to a transformative figure, beginning with the ritual of turning water into wine, or transforming the irrationality of the political process to reveal the underlying logos.
Adelman is not content with uncovering of the “underlying logos” of the Obama phenomenon. He’s had a revelation about the McCain campaign, too:The choice of Sarah Palin as McCain’s vice-presidential candidate was not just an effort to round up the fundamentalist vote for the Republican party, but was also a re-creation of the Slavonic pagan sacrifice, made in the name of the Ritual of the Rival Tribes that constitute the Republican party.
Adelman is a research professor at the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice, and Governance at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. So, evidently this is not a joke. It would, however, make a great Saturday Night Live sketch.
These next four years are going to be full of this delightful sort of hagiography.
I am reliably informed by Blogger that this is my 20,000th post
I would therefore like to laugh mockingly at that piker StrongBad.
And while we are on the subject of my superior awesomeness, allow me to stoop down in condescending pomposity and receive John C. Wright's craven submission to my Alpha Male dominance (and the hilarious Superman II reference). Admittedly, John has, well, published a number of fine novels that have garnered high critical praise but I have written 20,000 blog posts and I know somebody named for Dejah Thoris!!!!
I would therefore like to laugh mockingly at that piker StrongBad.
And while we are on the subject of my superior awesomeness, allow me to stoop down in condescending pomposity and receive John C. Wright's craven submission to my Alpha Male dominance (and the hilarious Superman II reference). Admittedly, John has, well, published a number of fine novels that have garnered high critical praise but I have written 20,000 blog posts and I know somebody named for Dejah Thoris!!!!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Ross Douthat Tries to Talk Sense to George Weigel
The sooner prolifers take responsibility for and renounces all the excuses, compromises and lies they've told to buttress the GOP, the sooner they can start restoring their credibility.
The sooner prolifers take responsibility for and renounces all the excuses, compromises and lies they've told to buttress the GOP, the sooner they can start restoring their credibility.
Homestarrunner Reaches New Outer Limits of Surrealist Oddness
It's like "If Japanese animators had done 'It's a Charlie Brown Christmas'--only about Thanksgiving... and on drugs... after a video gaming session."
It's like "If Japanese animators had done 'It's a Charlie Brown Christmas'--only about Thanksgiving... and on drugs... after a video gaming session."
Palin-Related Dementia
Andrew Sullivan hates Sarah Palin worse than I've seen just about anybody hate anybody on the web. His reaction to her was instantaneous and visceral and has never relented for one moment. He is the original Trig Truther and, even now, weeks after the death of her vice presidential hopes, he can't let her go. He's like those man-apes in 2001: A Space Odyssey, still whacking her corpse with a stick after it has ceased to twitch. Here he is, Queeg-like, proving that a conspiracy *did* exist and the turkey video is further proof of her Supreme Evilness.
Let it go, dude! Who cares?
Andrew Sullivan hates Sarah Palin worse than I've seen just about anybody hate anybody on the web. His reaction to her was instantaneous and visceral and has never relented for one moment. He is the original Trig Truther and, even now, weeks after the death of her vice presidential hopes, he can't let her go. He's like those man-apes in 2001: A Space Odyssey, still whacking her corpse with a stick after it has ceased to twitch. Here he is, Queeg-like, proving that a conspiracy *did* exist and the turkey video is further proof of her Supreme Evilness.
Let it go, dude! Who cares?
Seems like a good idea
A reader writes:
A reader writes:
You *have* to check out http://yoursphere.com - Click on 'Parent Information' to see a short video explaining why this site was created.
It was originally the idea of a parishioner in our diocese (in the city of Davis, CA). It's a healthy alternative to Facebook and MySpace that I highly recommend to all parents of children between the ages of 9 and 18.
Vatican War Machine Poised to Reconquer Europe!!!!!
Nutty paranoid Protestant sect continues to refight the 16th Century.
Would to God the Catholic Church could make a serious resurgence in Europe.
Nutty paranoid Protestant sect continues to refight the 16th Century.
Would to God the Catholic Church could make a serious resurgence in Europe.
You May Want to Sit Down for This
Incredibly, the Obama-besotted MSM didn't cover abortion hardly at all during the campaign. Some terribly bigoted people might somehow suspect bias was involved. But that's just because they are racist, doncha know.
Incredibly, the Obama-besotted MSM didn't cover abortion hardly at all during the campaign. Some terribly bigoted people might somehow suspect bias was involved. But that's just because they are racist, doncha know.
Reader Dave G. Could Use our Prayers
I think if we are going to be prolife we should put our money where our mouth is. I haven't talked to Dave about this, but this seems like one of those "Unleash the Power of the Blog" moments. So I'd like to ask folks to kick in what they can to the Dave G. Diaper Service Drive. I'm in for $50. If you want to get in on it too, just click on the PayPal button on the left rail and designate your donation for "diapers" and I will know to pass it on to Dave G.
Hey Dave! Email me and gimme your snail mail address. Let's keep this kidlet's bum dry and happy!
2008 has not been kind to us. For more reasons than I can get into, it's been rough. And truth be told, some of it has been those usual 'clergy-becomes-Catholic' practical difficulties finally mounting up while the economy as a whole is tanking. In addition, there's been some medical issues, primarily with my dad's Alzheimer's as it progresses into the later stages of the disease. I've found that disease is everything it's cracked up to be. Yet, at the end of it all, in the cold November of the year, we've received some unexpected and wonderful news: We're having a baby! No, it wasn't planned. But it wasn't unplanned either. It seems to be the logical consequence of our love for each other when filtered through the lens of Catholic morality. In fact, my wife pointed out the great, yet creepy, observation that had we not been Catholic, this little blessing probably never would have happened. And that's pretty deep if you think about it. So it looks like 2008 is going to end up being a great year after all. Anyway, we wanted to pass on this good news, and ask for prayers from folks for the baby, for the mom, the overly excited older brothers, and for the family as a whole. Thanks, and have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.
I think if we are going to be prolife we should put our money where our mouth is. I haven't talked to Dave about this, but this seems like one of those "Unleash the Power of the Blog" moments. So I'd like to ask folks to kick in what they can to the Dave G. Diaper Service Drive. I'm in for $50. If you want to get in on it too, just click on the PayPal button on the left rail and designate your donation for "diapers" and I will know to pass it on to Dave G.
Hey Dave! Email me and gimme your snail mail address. Let's keep this kidlet's bum dry and happy!
Fr. Thomas Dowd Addresses His Support Group
Somehow this reminds me of one of my favorite jokes.
When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, "Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?" And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
Then he will say to those at his left hand, "The rest of you, break into small groups."
Somehow this reminds me of one of my favorite jokes.
When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, "Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?" And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
Then he will say to those at his left hand, "The rest of you, break into small groups."
Happily, There are Signs that the Spirit is Stirring Hearts
For instance, a reader writes:
I'm always open to hearing good news! It is out there. Christ is still mighty to save and the Church is still, if she will bestir herself, terrible as an army with banners and thing that can makes the most experienced of Screwtape's tempters uneasy.
For instance, a reader writes:
I'm writing because I believe a particular point about hope, encouragement and steadfastness ought to find its way to your readers, and comboxes have a way of having points said in them overrun by commentary clutter. I hope you will see fit to share the following with them, if you please, though of course I can't demand so rather than leaving it to your best judgment. 8^)
Little could have surprised me more than what I saw in the days just following the election.
Here we had argued so long and hard over what to do about politics to truly defend the issue of life where most of the world was content to vote for a guy because he liked the word "change". While the masses fell for the media spin on the happy-looking candidate, those of us who knew better were tossed between arguing amongst ourselves as to what to do and despairing because whatever we do was probably too late to prevent the most pro-abortion government in the history of the USA.
Then when the seemingly crucial moment was over, when we seemed to lose, when one would expect us to fall either into despair or into the famous "bunker mentality"... many of us instead fell into hope. I can't explain how it happened, but there was a noticeable change. I almost want to say I could _feel_ the difference, although I don't want to sound either like I lack objective data on it or that I have one of those "Tales of the Unexplained" moments (which my experience has taught me to be very wary of), as I'm not so sure either of those would be true. But it was there.
The best I can say is to compare it to Tolkien's verse about fire awoken from the ashes and light springing up in the darkness -- an echoing of a far older verse that "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." In what would have been our darkest moment, we suddenly _knew_ that God is still with us and if we only make the effort to turn some of our energy being used on failing worldly things to instead turning to Him, then no matter what happened in the world we would win the real victory.
Why am I bringing this up now? Because there are some, and I do not speak of humans, who would smother our newfound (though hardly new) fire. I know in my own life that this enthusiasm and hope has already come under attack; I find to my dismay that I have hardly prayed at all as I had hoped. The blows against us needn't be obvious, the Devil and his minions don't have to appear blatantly and scare the willies out of us to discourage us -- indeed, in some cases appearing blatantly might make us run willies-scared-out to God faster and so ruin their whole aim. But the time is coming, ever gradually, that the strength we felt as we turned to God will not be felt anymore -- even if it is still there, unfelt, unseen.
I am writing, therefore, to say merely this: do not fear, do not lose hope even if you falter, remember that what God was trying to tell us in that moment of unlikely, unexpected peace was not, "I will keep you happy through all this," but rather, "Know that I am with you even when these things all but destroy you with their weight and turmoil, and that I will not let you be truly destroyed by them but rather will use you to glorify Me in spite of them."
We will not always be as strong as we feel when at what we think is our best. Yet we may be at our real best when we no longer feel strong at all. God Himself told us that His power is made perfect in weakness; and though we cannot understand this mystery, we nonetheless can strive to live it.
As a final note, and I hope I haven't lost my audience long before now, I wonder if it might help us all to have a place to share encouragement in Christ with each other. Actually, I suppose many such a place already exists. We are running around in the Catholic corner of the blogosphere, after all. But I think we should all put a little extra effort not just into praying, but into encouraging one another in these times when it is hard even to pray. And of course, as I believe I mentioned on the Rosaries for Life site, we would do well to add that itself to our prayer intentions, and to ask prayers from any priests we know familiar with prudent (and being prudent about engaging in the following two things cannot be overemphasized) intercession and spiritual warfare.
I'm always open to hearing good news! It is out there. Christ is still mighty to save and the Church is still, if she will bestir herself, terrible as an army with banners and thing that can makes the most experienced of Screwtape's tempters uneasy.
A culture of death is a culture of fear
In addition to economic collapse, war (including a resurgent Cold War), renewed vigor from the enemies of family, free speech and babies, and even a new lease on life for pirates, here's more happy news: we are defenseless against an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack!
I'm helping to edit a book on Scripture at present. Part of the method of sacred historical writers is to "tell" in the legal codes and "show" in the historical documents. In other words, the point of Scripture is to show that the law given to Israel is not just a bunch of arbitrary rules, but is inextricably linked to, well, happiness. When Israel is faithful to the covenant, they enjoy happiness because they are rightly ordered to God, one another, and themselves. When they ignore the covenant, not so much. Entropy takes over and nastiness results as everybody does what they see fit.
Our culture increasingly resembles that of the period of Israel and Judah before the Assyrian Conquest. It is a culture that hauntingly echoes the covenant curses given in Leviticus 26:
It gets worse if we don't repent. You can read it for yourselves.
Oh! But we're not Israelites! We're not bound by the Old Covenant! Right. We are, if we are baptized, bound by the New and Everlasting Covenant, the apostle of which tells us "These things [in the Old Testament] were written for our sake". The point is that if infidelity to the Old Covenant had catastrophic effects on Israel, do we really fancy that deliberate and calculated rejection of the saving gospel is going to result in a smoothly running civilization--even after the 20th Century?
If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.
Yes, I realize that the ultimate goal of the gospel is heaven, not heaven on earth. In the world you shall have tribulation. But it does not follow from this that there will be no consequences here on earth if our civilization continues its present course and labors to undo the gospel's effects. For instance, shutting down one third of the nation's hospitals is an especially vivid illustration of the principle "Sin Makes You Stupid". But it is what our brilliant Dem leadership is currently poised to do in their brain dead fealty to abortion.
Here's the thing: We really are in a midst of a much bigger war than the trivial struggle with Radical Islam, which is but a campaign in the real war. That war is between Heaven and Hell and there really are principalities and powers that seek, not for one faction or other of the human race to win, but for humanity to be eternally destroyed. Glimpses of this are seen at times, when leaders under their influence make choices which are utterly insane, even from their own alleged ideological perspective. So, for example, we see Nazi Germany actually depriving its own war machine of the ability to fight, just so more Jews can be murdered. And all this climaxes with Hitler, whose entire raison d'etre was the superiority of Germany, declaring that Germany should be utterly destroyed. The devil has a knack for turning our acts of sin inside out and delivering the exact opposite of what he promises.
Ours is increasingly a society that promises freedom if only we will reject God. If history is any measure, what we are heading toward is slavery and tyranny. And we will freely submit to it because the slavedriver will promise to keep us safe from the terrors we are increasingly facing due to our own negligence of our obedience to God.
The good news is: there is a way to turn our civilizational tragedy to good.
After 9/11 we made a brief gesture of piety to God. Then we quickly gravitated back to faith in arms, torture, abortion and consumerism as the real goods in which we placed our faith for salvation. Now the bills are coming due. God, who is patient and gracious, is asking us for a serious act of recommitment to him. Most of in the West are still trusting that a more precise technique, some recrafting of some system, a greater infustion of capital or force or intellect, will get us out of our jam.
But the jam is fundamentally spiritual and though we may jigger things to postpone the results of our choices briefly, we will only make the bill more expensive when it comes due.
In addition to economic collapse, war (including a resurgent Cold War), renewed vigor from the enemies of family, free speech and babies, and even a new lease on life for pirates, here's more happy news: we are defenseless against an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack!
I'm helping to edit a book on Scripture at present. Part of the method of sacred historical writers is to "tell" in the legal codes and "show" in the historical documents. In other words, the point of Scripture is to show that the law given to Israel is not just a bunch of arbitrary rules, but is inextricably linked to, well, happiness. When Israel is faithful to the covenant, they enjoy happiness because they are rightly ordered to God, one another, and themselves. When they ignore the covenant, not so much. Entropy takes over and nastiness results as everybody does what they see fit.
Our culture increasingly resembles that of the period of Israel and Judah before the Assyrian Conquest. It is a culture that hauntingly echoes the covenant curses given in Leviticus 26:
But if you will not hearken to me, and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 I will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it; 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be smitten before your enemies; those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.
It gets worse if we don't repent. You can read it for yourselves.
Oh! But we're not Israelites! We're not bound by the Old Covenant! Right. We are, if we are baptized, bound by the New and Everlasting Covenant, the apostle of which tells us "These things [in the Old Testament] were written for our sake". The point is that if infidelity to the Old Covenant had catastrophic effects on Israel, do we really fancy that deliberate and calculated rejection of the saving gospel is going to result in a smoothly running civilization--even after the 20th Century?
If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.
Yes, I realize that the ultimate goal of the gospel is heaven, not heaven on earth. In the world you shall have tribulation. But it does not follow from this that there will be no consequences here on earth if our civilization continues its present course and labors to undo the gospel's effects. For instance, shutting down one third of the nation's hospitals is an especially vivid illustration of the principle "Sin Makes You Stupid". But it is what our brilliant Dem leadership is currently poised to do in their brain dead fealty to abortion.
Here's the thing: We really are in a midst of a much bigger war than the trivial struggle with Radical Islam, which is but a campaign in the real war. That war is between Heaven and Hell and there really are principalities and powers that seek, not for one faction or other of the human race to win, but for humanity to be eternally destroyed. Glimpses of this are seen at times, when leaders under their influence make choices which are utterly insane, even from their own alleged ideological perspective. So, for example, we see Nazi Germany actually depriving its own war machine of the ability to fight, just so more Jews can be murdered. And all this climaxes with Hitler, whose entire raison d'etre was the superiority of Germany, declaring that Germany should be utterly destroyed. The devil has a knack for turning our acts of sin inside out and delivering the exact opposite of what he promises.
Ours is increasingly a society that promises freedom if only we will reject God. If history is any measure, what we are heading toward is slavery and tyranny. And we will freely submit to it because the slavedriver will promise to keep us safe from the terrors we are increasingly facing due to our own negligence of our obedience to God.
The good news is: there is a way to turn our civilizational tragedy to good.
And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39* For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him." 40 And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
After 9/11 we made a brief gesture of piety to God. Then we quickly gravitated back to faith in arms, torture, abortion and consumerism as the real goods in which we placed our faith for salvation. Now the bills are coming due. God, who is patient and gracious, is asking us for a serious act of recommitment to him. Most of in the West are still trusting that a more precise technique, some recrafting of some system, a greater infustion of capital or force or intellect, will get us out of our jam.
But the jam is fundamentally spiritual and though we may jigger things to postpone the results of our choices briefly, we will only make the bill more expensive when it comes due.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Pray for Her
Young skull full of mush labors to sear her conscience while whining about being snubbed by other doctors for her commitment to murdering babies. Oh, and note the picture of the bombed clinic from 1984. Cuz, you know, those mobs of murderous Christians are just everywhere. Quelle courage!
When a civilization reaches the point where it now paints its vilest crimes as acts of heroism, you start to wonder if the catastrophes that are piling up all around us are not merciful attempts to get us to our knees in repentance before its all too late.
You also wonder if it is too late.
Young skull full of mush labors to sear her conscience while whining about being snubbed by other doctors for her commitment to murdering babies. Oh, and note the picture of the bombed clinic from 1984. Cuz, you know, those mobs of murderous Christians are just everywhere. Quelle courage!
When a civilization reaches the point where it now paints its vilest crimes as acts of heroism, you start to wonder if the catastrophes that are piling up all around us are not merciful attempts to get us to our knees in repentance before its all too late.
You also wonder if it is too late.
Speaking of Prophetic Dreams...
God be praised for his little tokens of joy!
I totally believe things like this happen all the time, not least because I once had my own strange and startling prophetic dream.
Good afternoon, sir. I have a little story that might fit into your current theme of odd happening that can only be explained by the Spirit. I leave it to your discerning mind to decide if I'm just going off on a tangent.
My baby sister was born right before my 13th birthday, but she was supposed to be born right after; in fact, she was a solid 8 weeks early. One night in February, I dreamed that my dad came in my room, woke me, and told me he was taking my mom to the hospital and for my brother and me not to go to school in the morning. I went back to sleep, and that was the extent of the dream. I told my mom about it, and she laughed. "Well, let's hope that wasn't a sign. It's too early for her yet".
The next night, I had the exact same dream (you can see where this is going). I woke at about 9 the next morning, panicked that I was late for school, and then realized the second dream had not been a dream at all when I found my brother eating cereal and watching cartoons, oblivious.
Sure enough, my sister was born late that morning. She's ten now, and precocious as all get out, and we've always been extraordinarily close. I've never been quite sure what to make of the whole thing...
Thanks for all you do! God's peace and happy Thanksgiving!
God be praised for his little tokens of joy!
I totally believe things like this happen all the time, not least because I once had my own strange and startling prophetic dream.
Top Commie Abortionist Repents with the Very Active Assistance of St. Thomas Aquinas
Here's a great big fat Tale of the Unexplained. Such things do happen, thanks be to God!
Here's a great big fat Tale of the Unexplained. Such things do happen, thanks be to God!
Prop 8 Opponent Finally Starting to Figure out that Gay Marriage Advocates are Enemies of Free Speech
Thanks for writing this column, pal. We'll just add your name to the blacklist. Tolerance is not enough! You. MUST. Approve!
Thanks for writing this column, pal. We'll just add your name to the blacklist. Tolerance is not enough! You. MUST. Approve!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Fr. Alexander Ignatius Jones is interviewed by Commander Craig
Around the thirty minute mark. He's a fictional former SSPXer (sort of) and offers us a great parody that manages to satirize both sedevacantists and 9/11 truthers.
I look forward to the Trig Truthers joining in the fun, along with the JFK Assassination Conspiracy buffs and the Roswell/Area 51 folk.
Around the thirty minute mark. He's a fictional former SSPXer (sort of) and offers us a great parody that manages to satirize both sedevacantists and 9/11 truthers.
I look forward to the Trig Truthers joining in the fun, along with the JFK Assassination Conspiracy buffs and the Roswell/Area 51 folk.
The Vatican: Home of the Ents
The thing I love about Rome is how entirely out of touch those guys are with popular trendiness. Forty years ago, John Lennon quipped that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. This week, the Vatican, after giving it some thought, decides that this wasn't that big a deal. Most people sort of formed their opinion about that remark, oh, forty years ago. The Ents of Rome have finally reached a decision.
I love that. This is a culture that really takes its time making up it mind about things.
The thing I love about Rome is how entirely out of touch those guys are with popular trendiness. Forty years ago, John Lennon quipped that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. This week, the Vatican, after giving it some thought, decides that this wasn't that big a deal. Most people sort of formed their opinion about that remark, oh, forty years ago. The Ents of Rome have finally reached a decision.
I love that. This is a culture that really takes its time making up it mind about things.
Baptist accidently Makes the Case for the Rosary
He didn't mean to. He thought he was arguing against eastern forms of meditation which involve either emptying the mind or invocation of false gods. But basically, when you recommend meditation on the revelation of the gospel in Scripture, you are recommending the Rosary, cuz that's what it is. Yup, even the Assumption and Coronation of Mary mysteries.
He didn't mean to. He thought he was arguing against eastern forms of meditation which involve either emptying the mind or invocation of false gods. But basically, when you recommend meditation on the revelation of the gospel in Scripture, you are recommending the Rosary, cuz that's what it is. Yup, even the Assumption and Coronation of Mary mysteries.
Wonderful! Lovely to hear!
A reader writes:
I have nothing but admiration for SSA folk who are serious about following Christ. They have made some of the best Catholics I have ever known.
A reader writes:
Good News, I thought you'd like to hear.
I came into the Catholic Church about 10 years ago in one of the most notorious parishes around, but I had to leave that parish right after confirmation for my own spiritual health. And for all of their talk of inclusiveness, I felt rather excluded for living with SSA in a Catholic way rather than a rainbow sash way.
But then a new priest came this year.
Homilies are no longer given by the laity nor peppered with Marxist thinking or illusions to the goddess within. They no longer talk of struggle with structures and power but rather struggle with sin and powers. They talk of Christ, his mother, his saints, and faith, hope, and charity.
The Nicene Creed is back.
The our father and mother is now just the Our Father.
Glass vessels have been replaced with metal.
There’s now a tabernacle and it’s front and center.
And also there’s a new permanent deacon, who by first impressions seems a warm and generous man, and also a good homilist. When was that last time anyone heard the reality of hell (and heaven) preached?
I’m deliberately omitting the name of this parish because I don’t want this to be seen as gloating or stirring up the pot. When this new priest came and had to put his foot down, I saw the look of shock, hurt, and agitation on the faces of many. Now the pews are significantly emptied, at least of Anglos, and I genuinely hope that Christ pursues those who have left.
Viva Christo Rey!
I have nothing but admiration for SSA folk who are serious about following Christ. They have made some of the best Catholics I have ever known.
Canonist Ed Peters on FOCA and what the bishops can do
Maybe the bishops have tiptoed around our apostate Catholic leaders till now because they were afraid of provoking them into doing something radical. Well, if they actually propose FOCA, I see no point in tiptoeing any more. Once they open start pissing on the common good, I think they should be cut off from communion. When the culture decisively opts for Moloch, we are in a different place than when we are still trying to hold on to the shreds of the culture.
Maybe the bishops have tiptoed around our apostate Catholic leaders till now because they were afraid of provoking them into doing something radical. Well, if they actually propose FOCA, I see no point in tiptoeing any more. Once they open start pissing on the common good, I think they should be cut off from communion. When the culture decisively opts for Moloch, we are in a different place than when we are still trying to hold on to the shreds of the culture.
Uppity Brit Cleric Suggests that Capitalism Might be Subject to Effects of Original Sin
Turns out Catholic social teaching might have something to contribute to a Western culture blinded by pride and avarice and stumbling blindly to its doom.
One place to start is to recall that the hallowed place capitalism hold in the Western psyche is precisely one of those "traditions of men" that Paul warn about trying to elevate to the same level as Sacred Tradition.
Turns out Catholic social teaching might have something to contribute to a Western culture blinded by pride and avarice and stumbling blindly to its doom.
One place to start is to recall that the hallowed place capitalism hold in the Western psyche is precisely one of those "traditions of men" that Paul warn about trying to elevate to the same level as Sacred Tradition.
NYC Orders Churches to Stop Providing Shelter for Homeless
Some damn rule or other stands in the way of the mercy of Christ. Egan should tell Caesar to go to hell and keep the shelters open anyway.
Stories like this illustrate the truth of the saying, "Judas Iscariot was the first bishop to receive government funding."
Some damn rule or other stands in the way of the mercy of Christ. Egan should tell Caesar to go to hell and keep the shelters open anyway.
Stories like this illustrate the truth of the saying, "Judas Iscariot was the first bishop to receive government funding."
My reader is back
Any resemblance to a current news article is purely coincidental.
The amazing thing to me is that these people aren't *already* excommunicate. Do you really have to actually *pass* FOCA before the bishops will work up the gumption to say, "You know, we really think your fanatical support for abortion is just a teensy bit incompatible with the Faith."
Eminences: With respect, More guts please.
Any resemblance to a current news article is purely coincidental.
CATHOLIC BISHOPS DECLARE: PLUS CA CHANGE, PLUS C'EST LA MEME CHOSE!
MUNICH - CNSNEWS.COM
Catholic members of the Reichstag and the armed forces who support the Fuhrer's plans to relocate and exterminate Europe's Jews could face "automatic excommunication" if their support is determined to be "formal cooperation" in the evil of genocide.
When asked last week whether a Catholic politician, soldier, or policeman enforcing the Reich's proposed Judenfrei program - which would impose nationwide bans on Jews in professions and businesses, require Jews to wear distinctive badges, and relocate them into cramped urban environments before transporting them to camps in the eastern part of the Reich, where they are worked to death or killed outright - would incur automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church, Cardinal Francis George of Nuremberg said the question would need to be discussed once the actual details of the program were known.
George is president of the German Conference of Catholic Bishops (GCCB).
In order to be considered in the next Reichstag, which convenes in January, the Judenfrei Choice Act needs to be reintroduced. In the current Reichstag, it has been sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). It has also been sponsored by the following Catholics:
John Kerry, Catholic from MA
Maria Cantwell, Catholic from WA
Robert Menendez, Catholic from NJ
Barbara Mikulski, Catholic from MD,
Patty Murray, Catholic from WA
Michael Arcuri, Catholic from NY
Mike Capuano, Catholic from MA
Joseph Crowley, Catholic from NY
Peter DeFazio, Catholic from OR
Rosa DeLauro, Catholic from CT
Anna Eshoo, Catholic from CA (Chaldean Catholic)
Raul Grijalva, Catholic from AZ
Luis Gutierrez, Catholic from IL
Patrick Kennedy, Catholic from RI
John Kucinich, Catholic from OH
Carolyn McCarthy, Catholic from NY
Betty McCollum, Catholic from MN
Jim McGovern, Catholic from MA
Jerry McNerney, Catholic from CA
Marty Meehan, Catholic from MA (out of office, 2008)
George Miller, Catholic from CA
Harry Mitchell, Catholic from AZ
Jim Moran, Catholic from VA
Grace Napolitano, Catholic from CA
Frank Pallone, Catholic from NJ
Charles Rangel, Catholic from NY
Linda Sanchez, Catholic from CA
Loretta Sanchez, Catholic from CA
Carol Shea-Porter, Catholic from NA
Hilda Solis, Catholic from CA
Ellen Tauscher, Catholic from CA
Mike Thompson, Catholic from CA
John Tierney, Catholic from MA
Nydia Velazquez, Catholic from NY
Diane Watson, Catholic from CA
Peter Welch, Catholic from VT
At a press conference at the fall meeting of the GCCB held in Munich last week, CNSNews.com asked Cardinal George if the language in the Catholic Catechism that says "formal cooperation" in genocide incurs the penalty of excommunication would apply to a Catholic member of the Reichstag voting for J-FOCA.
"The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that formal cooperation in a persecution and genocide constitutes a grave offense and the church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life," CNSNews.com asked.
"If openly Catholic politicians vote for this Judenfrei Choice Act, which would pretty much allow unfettered access to genocide in the United States, would it be an automatic grounds for excommunication? But even if it's not automatic. could you just explain the process of the excommunication?" CNSNews.com added.
"The excommunication is automatic if that act is in fact formal cooperation, and that is precisely what would have to be discussed once you would see the terms of the act itself," responded George.
"Could you expand on that, Cardinal," a reporter asked.
"The categories in moral theology about cooperating in evil, which make you complicit in the evil even though you don't do it yourself, are material cooperation, which is usually remote and therefore doesn't involve you in the moral action except in a very auxiliary and minor way, and formal cooperation, which would involve you even though you are not doing it, in the way that makes you culpable," said George.
"So we would have to take a look at each case, and at each law, to determine whether or not the cooperation is material or formal. We've never done that," he added.
President-elect Barack Obama promised in his campaign to sign J-FOCA. As introduced in the current Congress, J-FOCA denies all federal, state and local governments the power to interfere with a pure German's "choice" to exterminate the racially inferior.
On behalf of all the American Catholic bishops, Cardinal George put out a stern statement last Thursday warning the incoming administration not to push forward with J-FOCA.
"A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Reich Court decided that Jews weren't fully human," said George on behalf of the bishops.
"This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Reich Court decision itself," he said.
"In the last Congress, a Judenfrei Choice Act (J-FOCA) was introduced that would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any 'interference' in rounding up and exterminating Jews. It would deprive the American people in all fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the extermination of Jews," said George.
"J-FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting genocide with their tax dollars. It would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce the number of exterminations in our country.
"Laws protecting Jewish property would be repealed, as would laws allowing Jews to function in the professions and obtain jobs. Death camps would be deregulated," said George.
"The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of genocide would be abrogated. J-FOCA would have lethal consequences for non-gentile human life," he said.
"J-FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of soldiers, doctors, policemen and civil servants whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the genocide of the Jews," George continued.
"It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil. On this issue, the legal protection of Jews, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that "formal cooperation in genocide constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life."
Fr. Frank Pavone of the Priests for Life told CNSNews.com: "Any legislator who would vote for such an extreme piece of pro-genocide legislation [J-FOCA], and any executive who would sign it or judge who would uphold it, or even a citizen who would lobby in any way in favor of it, would be committing a serious sin, objectively speaking. It is cooperation with evil in a totally unjustified way."
Pavone said that the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law lays out multiple conditions which must be met before an automatic excommunication occurs. "This really becomes a legal question that would require analyzing those conditions in an actual situation, and it is a step removed from the more clear-cut case of a person actually performing or undergoing the procedure [of genocide]," he said.
Dr. Mark Miravalle, a theology professor at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, said of a Catholic politician voting for J-FOCA, "I think you would have to conclude that it would be a formal act, a formal cooperation [in the act of genocide]."
The purpose of J-FOCA, he continued, "is to ensure the right of the State to exterminate Jews."
One theoretical case where it would not be formal cooperation, but material, he said, was if the politician was Catholic at heart but did not favor legislation as the way to stop genocide. Miravalle said, however, that such a case would be an "extremely rare and almost entirely theoretical impossibility, given the gravity of the legislation."
Noting that J-FOCA involves not only greater access to genocide, but also government funding of genocide, Miravalle said "to vote for that [J-FOCA], means you're voting for an intention of the State to exterminate Jews and to fund that." If a politician intends to fund genocide, which is what J-FOCA would do, it would be considered formal cooperation with genocide, he said.
When asked what the church would do about a Catholic politician voting for J-FOCA, Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco said the bishops need to challenge themselves and the lay faithful in their respective dioceses to fight J-FOCA.
"So we really need to make our case," he said, "and we need to do it early and often, with the members of the Reichstag as well as with the new administration."
In reply to the question of individual Catholic politicians voting for J-FOCA, he referred to a 2004 statement by the German Bishops. "It says that we should not give a platform to people who do this, we should not give awards, we should not feature them," he said.
"But with regard to Holy Communion we all teach the same thing, about it being a cooperation in evil to vote in favor of genocidal legislation, but it is left up to the pastoral sensitivity and responsibility of the individual bishop to interact with those officeholders in his own diocese."
"The approach always entails saying that this is cooperation in what is evil," Niederauer concluded.
Niederauer's archdiocese includes the congressional district of Riech Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is Catholic.
When asked about a pro-genocide Catholic politician seeking to receive Holy Communion, Dr. Mark Miravalle said, "Canonically, based on scandal, and based on proper protection of the Eucharist, no pro-genocide Catholic politician should be admitted to receive Holy Communion."
The amazing thing to me is that these people aren't *already* excommunicate. Do you really have to actually *pass* FOCA before the bishops will work up the gumption to say, "You know, we really think your fanatical support for abortion is just a teensy bit incompatible with the Faith."
Eminences: With respect, More guts please.
Guaranteed to Induce Extreme Envy in John C. Wright
So the other night, I'm at dinner with the Seattle Chesterton Society folks. One of the people there is Tim, whose lovely wife is with him. For some reason, I'd never caught her name before, but they introduced her to our speaker, Fr. Michael Dodds, OP.
Her name turns out to be "Dejah". Now that's a memorable name! And it naturally made me curious, so I went up to Tim when the evening was over and asked him where she got the name. He tells me, "Well, she's not named for Deja Vu" (which pretty much confirmed my suspicions). So I said, "That's kind of what I thought. Is she then, by any chance, named for Dejah Thoris, the archetypal Space Princess Above All Space Princesses, Main Squeeze of John Carter, Warlord of Mars?
Tim's eyes bulged out in amazement. "Yes!" he cried, "You're like the second person to have ever guessed that!" I felt.... cool.
Turns out her parents were huge Edgar Rice Burroughs fans. So she got named for the great Space Princess of them all. This should greatly increase my awesomeness in the eyes of John C. Wright, who is, as surely all know, the Supreme Intergalactic Plenipotentiary of the Space Princess Fan Movement.
Speaking of which, I must thank him for introducing me to this commentary from William Shatner on the new Star Trek film:
Oh, and if you want to feel a thrilling rush of joy, contemplate these three words: John Carter Pixar.
So the other night, I'm at dinner with the Seattle Chesterton Society folks. One of the people there is Tim, whose lovely wife is with him. For some reason, I'd never caught her name before, but they introduced her to our speaker, Fr. Michael Dodds, OP.
Her name turns out to be "Dejah". Now that's a memorable name! And it naturally made me curious, so I went up to Tim when the evening was over and asked him where she got the name. He tells me, "Well, she's not named for Deja Vu" (which pretty much confirmed my suspicions). So I said, "That's kind of what I thought. Is she then, by any chance, named for Dejah Thoris, the archetypal Space Princess Above All Space Princesses, Main Squeeze of John Carter, Warlord of Mars?
Tim's eyes bulged out in amazement. "Yes!" he cried, "You're like the second person to have ever guessed that!" I felt.... cool.
Turns out her parents were huge Edgar Rice Burroughs fans. So she got named for the great Space Princess of them all. This should greatly increase my awesomeness in the eyes of John C. Wright, who is, as surely all know, the Supreme Intergalactic Plenipotentiary of the Space Princess Fan Movement.
Speaking of which, I must thank him for introducing me to this commentary from William Shatner on the new Star Trek film:
Oh, and if you want to feel a thrilling rush of joy, contemplate these three words: John Carter Pixar.
Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
The beginning of the end: Edmonton, Alberta. November 21, 2008.
The beginning of the end: Edmonton, Alberta. November 21, 2008.
Opposing Views Like to Argue About Stuff
I'm rather dubious about giving a slimy liar like Jon O'Brien, head of Catholics for Free Choice, a forum to pass himself off as a respectable human being and not the filthy death toad he is. But I suppose somebody needs to rebut the guy.
I'm rather dubious about giving a slimy liar like Jon O'Brien, head of Catholics for Free Choice, a forum to pass himself off as a respectable human being and not the filthy death toad he is. But I suppose somebody needs to rebut the guy.
A People Ripe for Tyranny
Have we ever, hitherto, started naming public buildings and pushing for national holidays for politicians who, not only have not actually done anything, but haven't even been President yet?
The clowns who do this stuff are people who have lost their self-respect in the very act of claiming that the Dear Leader has given it to them. They now find their whole identity in some politician. How pathetic is that?
Have we ever, hitherto, started naming public buildings and pushing for national holidays for politicians who, not only have not actually done anything, but haven't even been President yet?
The clowns who do this stuff are people who have lost their self-respect in the very act of claiming that the Dear Leader has given it to them. They now find their whole identity in some politician. How pathetic is that?
A reader writes:
One of the notable things about these small divine interventions is how they almost always are completely unnoticeable and unremarkable to everybody else. To the recipient of the private revelation, the whole world is thrown into a strange new light, while the person standing right next to him sees nothing different at all. Most private revelations are like this one: the person who is inclined to write God out of everything can easily look at it and say, "Luck" or whatever. But the person to whom it happens is graced to discern our Lord at work.
OK, Mark, since you asked:
I have a dear friend and sister in the Lord who, several years back, was virtually a prisoner in her home due to a severe seizure disorder. Sensory stimulation that you or I would consider normal (light, sound, touch) would trigger grand mal seizures. She was dependent on others to drive her where she needed to go.
One evening, I took my young children to her home to play (quietly!) with her younger children. I had things to do at home, and yet I sat down on her couch and said, "I don't know why I'm staying here, but ... how are you?" I lingered for no apparent reason. A few minutes into our (non) conversation, the phone rang. My friend's teenage daughter had been in an auto accident and needed her mother at the hospital. My friend's husband was at work and was not reachable. I was able to drive our children to my home for the evening and accompany my friend, first to the accident scene, then to the hospital. There is no question in our minds it was the work of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God I paid attention to His promptings to linger for no apparent reason!
(Also of interest -- Not too many months later, my friend was completely healed of her seizure disorder. Yes, a bona fide medical miracle.)
One of the notable things about these small divine interventions is how they almost always are completely unnoticeable and unremarkable to everybody else. To the recipient of the private revelation, the whole world is thrown into a strange new light, while the person standing right next to him sees nothing different at all. Most private revelations are like this one: the person who is inclined to write God out of everything can easily look at it and say, "Luck" or whatever. But the person to whom it happens is graced to discern our Lord at work.
Why I Have No Idea What to Make of All the Global Warming Fooferah
And, of course, I have no idea whether you can trust Inhofe. Which corporations own him? Beats me.
And, of course, I have no idea whether you can trust Inhofe. Which corporations own him? Beats me.
Common Sense Remarks about the Law of God
If you think of the Church's moral teaching as the owner's manual for the human person so that things will run smoothly and happily and not konk, you are are much closer to reality (though all analogies limp) than the concept that the moral law is just a bunch of arbitrary rules flung out by an irrational god who fears that someone, somewhere might be enjoying themselves.
If you think of the Church's moral teaching as the owner's manual for the human person so that things will run smoothly and happily and not konk, you are are much closer to reality (though all analogies limp) than the concept that the moral law is just a bunch of arbitrary rules flung out by an irrational god who fears that someone, somewhere might be enjoying themselves.
Culture of Death Chattering Classes Upset and Titillated By Having to Look at What They Want to Do to Weak
This poor kid did publically what our chattering classes want to do privately to all the weak. The Culture of Death is all about committing as much violence as possible against the weak, but keeping it private. That's because the culture of death *loves* violence against the weak and gets a sort of erotic thrill from it (what do you think our entire entertainment industry is predicated on?). So incidents like this are greeted with a peculiar mixture of horror (because the culture of death doesn't like having it's desire for violence so graphically exposed to a public no yet totally numbed to what happens during privatized acts of violence) and titillated excitement (as evidence by the "Gee look! Ain't that Awful!") wolfish excitement of outlets like Drudge.
The longterm goal of the culture of death is to take violence out of the closet and make it *pay*. Then the merchants of death will finally get a return on their investment in numbing the culture to violence and we will see a happy return to the Arena with (at first) gladiatorial combat between "consenting adults" (for big cash prizes) and (if all goes according to Satan's desires) gladiatorial "combat" between professional killers and helpless victims from the Leben unwertesleben (such as those pesky Christians).
A pagan money-driven culture of death that can no longer account for such remnants of Judeo-Christian thinking as "human rights" has not a reason in the world not to take this route. I won't be surprised to see it in my lifetime.
This poor kid did publically what our chattering classes want to do privately to all the weak. The Culture of Death is all about committing as much violence as possible against the weak, but keeping it private. That's because the culture of death *loves* violence against the weak and gets a sort of erotic thrill from it (what do you think our entire entertainment industry is predicated on?). So incidents like this are greeted with a peculiar mixture of horror (because the culture of death doesn't like having it's desire for violence so graphically exposed to a public no yet totally numbed to what happens during privatized acts of violence) and titillated excitement (as evidence by the "Gee look! Ain't that Awful!") wolfish excitement of outlets like Drudge.
The longterm goal of the culture of death is to take violence out of the closet and make it *pay*. Then the merchants of death will finally get a return on their investment in numbing the culture to violence and we will see a happy return to the Arena with (at first) gladiatorial combat between "consenting adults" (for big cash prizes) and (if all goes according to Satan's desires) gladiatorial "combat" between professional killers and helpless victims from the Leben unwertesleben (such as those pesky Christians).
A pagan money-driven culture of death that can no longer account for such remnants of Judeo-Christian thinking as "human rights" has not a reason in the world not to take this route. I won't be surprised to see it in my lifetime.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tales of the Unexplained
So I'm sitting with my friend Pete last night at the dinner before the Chesterton Society and we start talking about private revelation and the strange stories we all have to tell about God doing weird things.
He tells me about his identical twin brother and his wife. She has a "gift that runs in the family" that his brother has learned to trust. They were driving down the freeway one day when she suddenly announced, "We need to turn off here." He obeyed and she started giving him directions, turn here, go there. Finally, she said, "There's a Safeway parking lot around the corner. Go there." So he did. When they arrived, she said, "Stop! There's a woman having a heart attack between those parked cars over there." He got and looked--and there she was!
This is why the whole "Everything is just time, space, matter and energy" thing has never been remotely plausible to me. The world is far stranger than our little systems of order can possibly contain.
God be praised through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Any tales of the unexplained you'd like to share? I'll leave that to you for the weekend.
So I'm sitting with my friend Pete last night at the dinner before the Chesterton Society and we start talking about private revelation and the strange stories we all have to tell about God doing weird things.
He tells me about his identical twin brother and his wife. She has a "gift that runs in the family" that his brother has learned to trust. They were driving down the freeway one day when she suddenly announced, "We need to turn off here." He obeyed and she started giving him directions, turn here, go there. Finally, she said, "There's a Safeway parking lot around the corner. Go there." So he did. When they arrived, she said, "Stop! There's a woman having a heart attack between those parked cars over there." He got and looked--and there she was!
This is why the whole "Everything is just time, space, matter and energy" thing has never been remotely plausible to me. The world is far stranger than our little systems of order can possibly contain.
God be praised through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Any tales of the unexplained you'd like to share? I'll leave that to you for the weekend.
The world does not progress. It wobbles. - G.K. Chesterton
WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
WE'RE ALL GONNA LIVE FOREVER!
WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
WE'RE ALL GONNA LIVE FOREVER!
More Satanic Ecumenism
There's a curious tendency on the anti-christian, allegedly atheist Left to buddy up with any religionist as long as he is an enemy of Christ. Latest example: bloodthirsty Hindu murderers merely slaughtered Christians, so why should that keep them out of Britain? There are, after all, lots of the pesky Christian vermin still infesting Old Blighty. Maybe they can help there too.
There's a curious tendency on the anti-christian, allegedly atheist Left to buddy up with any religionist as long as he is an enemy of Christ. Latest example: bloodthirsty Hindu murderers merely slaughtered Christians, so why should that keep them out of Britain? There are, after all, lots of the pesky Christian vermin still infesting Old Blighty. Maybe they can help there too.
"We're setting aside the question of whether religions are true in a metaphysical sense."
Which is another way of saying, "We are fools." And being fools, they then proceed to suggest that "Christianity itself may be a function of evolution", which is another way of saying it is false.
The one thing Christianity is most emphatically *not* a function of is evolution. That is because the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity is, you know, the Creator and not a creature.
Yes, there are relatively trivial things that can be said about how Christianity adapted to culture, about the way its adherents outbred their competitors in ancient pagan culture (and are still doing so). But the metaphysic that lies behind this bit of rubbish is more far-reaching than that. It aims to reduce The Revelation to a mere fact of nature, which it can never be, any more than Christ is merely a man.
It also, by the way, is founded on a good solid lie that makes me wonder if adherents of the Darwin mythos even bother to watch the news:
Religious believers are often accused of having compartmentalized brains that keep secular and religous ideas from contacting one another and cause cognitive dissonance. How anybody, in the age of Planned Parenthood, rage at Catholic anti-contraceptive teaching, population planning movements, child-free movements, demographic collapse all over Europe and so forth can seriously declare that humans are the helpless puppets of an innate urge to pass on as many of their own genes as possible to the next generation...
Well, let's just say that the Darwin mythos seems to require an initial outlay of faith capital that dwarfs the mustard seed Christ asks for.
Which is another way of saying, "We are fools." And being fools, they then proceed to suggest that "Christianity itself may be a function of evolution", which is another way of saying it is false.
The one thing Christianity is most emphatically *not* a function of is evolution. That is because the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity is, you know, the Creator and not a creature.
Yes, there are relatively trivial things that can be said about how Christianity adapted to culture, about the way its adherents outbred their competitors in ancient pagan culture (and are still doing so). But the metaphysic that lies behind this bit of rubbish is more far-reaching than that. It aims to reduce The Revelation to a mere fact of nature, which it can never be, any more than Christ is merely a man.
It also, by the way, is founded on a good solid lie that makes me wonder if adherents of the Darwin mythos even bother to watch the news:
The theory of evolution holds that all creatures are driven by a biological urge to pass on as many of their own genes as possible to the next generation.
Religious believers are often accused of having compartmentalized brains that keep secular and religous ideas from contacting one another and cause cognitive dissonance. How anybody, in the age of Planned Parenthood, rage at Catholic anti-contraceptive teaching, population planning movements, child-free movements, demographic collapse all over Europe and so forth can seriously declare that humans are the helpless puppets of an innate urge to pass on as many of their own genes as possible to the next generation...
Well, let's just say that the Darwin mythos seems to require an initial outlay of faith capital that dwarfs the mustard seed Christ asks for.
The Great Thing About Being Pope Is that Every Time You Say "Looks Like it's Gonna Rain" and You are Right, Somebody in the Media Will Exalt your Mystical Prophetic Powers
So the Pope (then Cdl. Ratzinger) looked at Western economies back in '85, noted that they were a House of Cards built on a bunch of jury-rigged chicanery that ignores wide swaths of Catholic social teaching and remarked "This can't end well."
All of a sudden, today, that's a "prophecy".
I mean, he's right and all. But... "prophecy"?
So the Pope (then Cdl. Ratzinger) looked at Western economies back in '85, noted that they were a House of Cards built on a bunch of jury-rigged chicanery that ignores wide swaths of Catholic social teaching and remarked "This can't end well."
All of a sudden, today, that's a "prophecy".
I mean, he's right and all. But... "prophecy"?
Medievals believed in reason and therefore debated everything
...including same sex marriage. They realized the obvious: it's a disastrous idea.
Moderns do not so much use the intellect as worship it. So we don't debate same-sex marriage. We shout about it. Having lost faith in reason and a conception of the common good, all we can do is yammer at various volumes about whatever the loudest collection of imperial autonomous selves happens to want to do today. Consent is the only criterion for right and wrong and power is the only determinant of "where history is going".
Best part: you just know some master of agitprop will use that medieval debate to "prove" that the "ancient church" actually approved of same sex marriage, or was just about to till sinister forces intervened and blah blah blah.
...including same sex marriage. They realized the obvious: it's a disastrous idea.
Moderns do not so much use the intellect as worship it. So we don't debate same-sex marriage. We shout about it. Having lost faith in reason and a conception of the common good, all we can do is yammer at various volumes about whatever the loudest collection of imperial autonomous selves happens to want to do today. Consent is the only criterion for right and wrong and power is the only determinant of "where history is going".
Best part: you just know some master of agitprop will use that medieval debate to "prove" that the "ancient church" actually approved of same sex marriage, or was just about to till sinister forces intervened and blah blah blah.
Fr. Dowd on the Origins of the Same Sex Marriage Movement in Canada
Canada is sort of a testing ground for disastrous ideas, like a lab for weaponizing deadly viruses. Once the idea is shown capable of destroying millions of souls, it is released into US airspace to wreak havoc.
Comin' up next: Human Rights Commissions and the assault on free speech.
Canada is sort of a testing ground for disastrous ideas, like a lab for weaponizing deadly viruses. Once the idea is shown capable of destroying millions of souls, it is released into US airspace to wreak havoc.
Comin' up next: Human Rights Commissions and the assault on free speech.
My friend Angela, who is missing her calling as the world's first conservative Catholic female half-Indian Seattle foodie humorist, writes:
Everytime I try to send this link through The Stranger's site, it goes absolutely nowhere. I am sure the tittering deviants there are censoring my vegetarian hate mail. So I'm just sticking it in here:
This is the food they're eating in Hell. Maybe I should be grateful they've given those self-righteous organic compost gobblers another place in which to quarantine themselves from the rest of the eating public. You know, the people who don't cheer with their wasted shriveled hipster limbs in the air when "eggs" are replaced in a quiche by "mungbeans." Then their chef/guru emerges from the bowels of his bean-stained kitchen to discuss the intricacies of his bowel movement troubles in front of a room full of diners. AFTER sounding a GONG. If there weren't mealy-looking recycled napkins around to stuff into my mouth, I'd have to laugh.
On a side note, does political commentary belong anywhere in a restaurant review? The reviewer mentions with gloriously nauseating glee that he visited this eatery "the night after the presidential election of Barack Obama, an evening for celebrating the holistic urban environment if ever there was one."
On top of everything else, the half of me that's Indian grimaces at the adoringly beatnik Hindi name they gave this place specializing in godawfully lame food. Sutra? Come on. If you're going to eat vegetarian food, eat Indian food. We freaking invented it. Don't get it from the skinny white guy in the leotard bending himself into a pretzel.
Eh, that's what I get for reading food reviews in The Stranger.
Can't Decide Whether to Label This "Kill Your Television" or "Reasons to Homeschool"
Oh hell. Why not both? Pity the students whose young skulls full of mush were formed by this talking head.
Hey! And speaking of which, Michelle Malkin seems to have caught my meme!
One of the many things to look forward to with a resurgent Dem party will be an attempt to oppress homeschoolers. Statists don't *like* things they can't control.
Oh hell. Why not both? Pity the students whose young skulls full of mush were formed by this talking head.
Hey! And speaking of which, Michelle Malkin seems to have caught my meme!
One of the many things to look forward to with a resurgent Dem party will be an attempt to oppress homeschoolers. Statists don't *like* things they can't control.
A reader writes:
Father, in the name of Christ crucified, hear our prayers for Anthony, Anna and their family and grant them help and consolation. Our Lady of Sorrow, obtain succor and comfort for them by your prayers. Amen!
A few weeks back, you posted a prayer request for Anthony Maleski, my brother-in-law, who was hit by a train and sustained very serious injuries. Now, it is a few weeks after the accident and it appears that he is in even more need of prayers. In addition to his paralysis, it is becoming apparent that the accident did result in brain damage. The extent of that damage and is unknown at this point but the chances that the damage is permanent is looking more and more like a reality. As you could imagine, this is very hard on his wife, Anna, and his family.
A close friend of Anthony made this website for him. It has all of Anna's updates on Anthony's condition since the day of the accident. People who have not even met Anthony and Anna have been inspired by my sister's intense trust in the Lord in this very difficult time. Also, you can leave messages of encouragement for my sister to read, add to the growing spiritual bouquet, or donate money for the Maleski family.
Anthony and Anna have three kids: Mary Margaret (3 years), Elisabeth Anne-Therese (2 years), and Joseph Anthony (8 months). Recently, we found out that they are expecting their fourth child in May. They need all the prayers they can get so that they may have their wonderful father back fully, if it is in fact God's will.
Please help pray for Anthony and especially my sister Anna. Please do what you can so that others may know of Anthony and pray for him, and so that they may see the example of my sister's faith in this time of great suffering.
Father, in the name of Christ crucified, hear our prayers for Anthony, Anna and their family and grant them help and consolation. Our Lady of Sorrow, obtain succor and comfort for them by your prayers. Amen!
Strange Mexican Attempt to Re-Create Truly True Catholicism
Medieval garb, apocalyptic rigamarole and St. John F. Kennedy.
Medieval garb, apocalyptic rigamarole and St. John F. Kennedy.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
My Latest on Inside Catholic
In which we consider the anagogical sense of Scripture and how it reveals to us our destiny in Christ.
In which we consider the anagogical sense of Scripture and how it reveals to us our destiny in Christ.
Two by Audrey Assad
Audrey is a reader and I have become a fan of her beautiful work!
You can find out more about her work here.
Audrey is a reader and I have become a fan of her beautiful work!
You can find out more about her work here.
Weird
The Catholic News Agency runs a little story on Henry Karlson's open letter to Obama and singles me out as a signatory for some reason. I don't get that. There are lot of actual important people who signed it. Why focus on somebody as trivial as me?
By the way, a word about that letter. Politics being the art of the possible, it seems to me that Catholics need to do what they can to dissuade Obama from his FOCA promise. This letter seemed to me to basically do the job, so I signed it. That doesn't mean I agree with every jot and tittle.
In particular, I think Tom Kreitzberg is perfect right to ridicule the preposterous statement (made by Obama and seconded by Karlson) that "nobody is for abortion". *Of course* many people are for abortion. If nobody were for it, it wouldn't happen. In much the same way, many of my pro-torture readers would labor to make excuses for and defend torture while denying they were doing so. They too are speaking nonsense.
What such people mean, of course, is that nobody *enjoys* abortion (or torture). (And by that, they mean few people do.) But the reality is, plenty of people in our culture, while treating abortion and torture as sad necessities in a lousy world, nonetheless fight for them with might and main and are *zealously* for them.
Among these people are Barak Hussein Obama, who is one of the most committed pro-abortion people on the planet. Which is, you know, why that letter had to be written just as Bush's commitment to torture is why movements like this have to be created to fight the Administration's dedication to war crimes.
The Catholic News Agency runs a little story on Henry Karlson's open letter to Obama and singles me out as a signatory for some reason. I don't get that. There are lot of actual important people who signed it. Why focus on somebody as trivial as me?
By the way, a word about that letter. Politics being the art of the possible, it seems to me that Catholics need to do what they can to dissuade Obama from his FOCA promise. This letter seemed to me to basically do the job, so I signed it. That doesn't mean I agree with every jot and tittle.
In particular, I think Tom Kreitzberg is perfect right to ridicule the preposterous statement (made by Obama and seconded by Karlson) that "nobody is for abortion". *Of course* many people are for abortion. If nobody were for it, it wouldn't happen. In much the same way, many of my pro-torture readers would labor to make excuses for and defend torture while denying they were doing so. They too are speaking nonsense.
What such people mean, of course, is that nobody *enjoys* abortion (or torture). (And by that, they mean few people do.) But the reality is, plenty of people in our culture, while treating abortion and torture as sad necessities in a lousy world, nonetheless fight for them with might and main and are *zealously* for them.
Among these people are Barak Hussein Obama, who is one of the most committed pro-abortion people on the planet. Which is, you know, why that letter had to be written just as Bush's commitment to torture is why movements like this have to be created to fight the Administration's dedication to war crimes.
The Odious Influence of the GOP on the Prolife Movement
Oh gee! Look! The National Right to Life Committee has quietly returned their articles on McCain and ESCR to the web. Amazing how these things come and go, according to the expediencies of Party needs.
Speaking of being played, used, and discarded, here's some right wing hawks announcing their Strange New Respect for Obama:
Jim Geraghty:
Michael Goldfarb:
We'll see more of this. Ross Douthat puts it this way:
In short, all those "End to Evil" types who suckered Catholic pro-lifers into supporting their big geopolitical plans will gravitate over to Obama and denounce the social conservatives (as guys like David "Unpatriotic Conservatives" Frum are already doing) and social conservatives who care about abortion and such will be hung out to dry. These people are all about power, not about the common good.
Oh, and Obama supporters: you gotta love the way Obama is positioning himself to basically just leave in place the torture option and much of the Imperial Power Bush gained for him.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. Even bigger than the prolife suckers who defended Bush through thick and thin will be the Obamessiah suckers who seriously believed they were ushering in a New Era. Take three asprin and call me when the hangover hits.
Oh gee! Look! The National Right to Life Committee has quietly returned their articles on McCain and ESCR to the web. Amazing how these things come and go, according to the expediencies of Party needs.
Speaking of being played, used, and discarded, here's some right wing hawks announcing their Strange New Respect for Obama:
Jim Geraghty:
So Joe Lieberman is keeping his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee on the say so of 42 Senate Democrats AND President Obama; his Secretary of State might be Iraq War supporter and preconditionless-summit opponent Hillary Clinton; no one will be prosecuted for waterboarding, Bush's guy John Brennan may take over at CIA and Bush's man Robert Gates may stay on as Defense Secretary.
I don't know how the liberals feel, but so far the Obama administration rocks.
Michael Goldfarb:
Pardoning Lieberman, reaching out to Clinton, and keeping on Gates -- perhaps things won't be as bad as we feared.
We'll see more of this. Ross Douthat puts it this way:
Of the three legs of the rmodern right-of-center stool - social conservatives, small-governmenteers, and foreign-policy hawks - it's the hawks who almost always have the least to fear from savvy Democratic Administrations. And Barack Obama is nothing if not savvy.
Here's a fearless prediction: On an awful lot of issues, the Obama foreign policy will end cutting to the right of Bill Clinton's foreign policy, which was already more center-left than left. Even with the GOP brand in the toilet, Republicans are still trusted as much or more than Dems on foreign policy, mostly for somewhat nebulous "toughness" reasons. So why give the Right a chance to play what's just about its only winning card, when you can satisfy your base with a phased withdrawal from Iraq that's scheduled to happen anyway while waxing hawkish on Pakistan, Afghanistan ... and who knows, maybe Iran as well? (I have a sneaking suspicion that a President Obama will be slightly more likely to authorize airstrikes against Iran than a President McCain would have been.) Meanwhile, on detainee policy, wiretapping, etc. you can earn plaudits from liberals for showily abandoning the worst excesses of the Bush era, while actually holding on to most of the post-9/11 powers that the Bushies claimed. Obama already made fans of Niall Ferguson and Eli Lake; by 2012, I wouldn't be surprised if he's converted Max Boot as well.
And with his right flank safely guarded (assuming, of course, that Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iran doesn't become his Administration's Iraq), he'll have that much more political for the big-ticket goals that will guarantee his place in the liberal pantheon - universal health care, a New Deal for energy policy, a succession of young liberal judges who will tilt the Supreme Court leftward for a generation, etc. Among right-wing hawks, there will be strange-new-respectful talk about Obama's centrist instincts, his Scoop Jackson-ish tendencies, his Reaganesque blend of idealism, pragmatism and strength. Meanwhile, the rest of the right-wing coalition will be getting steamrolled.
In short, all those "End to Evil" types who suckered Catholic pro-lifers into supporting their big geopolitical plans will gravitate over to Obama and denounce the social conservatives (as guys like David "Unpatriotic Conservatives" Frum are already doing) and social conservatives who care about abortion and such will be hung out to dry. These people are all about power, not about the common good.
Oh, and Obama supporters: you gotta love the way Obama is positioning himself to basically just leave in place the torture option and much of the Imperial Power Bush gained for him.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. Even bigger than the prolife suckers who defended Bush through thick and thin will be the Obamessiah suckers who seriously believed they were ushering in a New Era. Take three asprin and call me when the hangover hits.
Newman in the Lion's Den
Fr. Dwight Longenecker's very-close-to-the-action account of Fr. Jay Scott Newman's recent adventures with Obama-worshipping media types.
Fr. Dwight Longenecker's very-close-to-the-action account of Fr. Jay Scott Newman's recent adventures with Obama-worshipping media types.
Tensions Rise Between Catholics Who Wish They Were Episcopalian and Bishops Who Appear to Be Undergoing a Benedictification Process
The Church (the actual Church as distinct from whatever schism and fantasies progressive and reactionaries dream of) will not reforming its basic positions on The Pelvic Issues. It just won't. So we will not be seeing women priests, approval of homosex, artificial contraception, abortion, divorce and remarriage and all the rest of it. It's just not going to happen.
That means the Deformers will have to either a) go into schism and try to pretend they are still the Catholic Church; b) continue the futile attempt to change the Church; c) attempt to destroy the Church by the use of Caesar's might; or d) repent.
Those are the only options. The Church Will. Not. Change her teaching.
That's not, by the way, because our bishops are profiles in courage. It's because the Holy Spirit, the Soul of the Church, is the guarantor of revelation and our arms are too short to box with Him.
The Church (the actual Church as distinct from whatever schism and fantasies progressive and reactionaries dream of) will not reforming its basic positions on The Pelvic Issues. It just won't. So we will not be seeing women priests, approval of homosex, artificial contraception, abortion, divorce and remarriage and all the rest of it. It's just not going to happen.
That means the Deformers will have to either a) go into schism and try to pretend they are still the Catholic Church; b) continue the futile attempt to change the Church; c) attempt to destroy the Church by the use of Caesar's might; or d) repent.
Those are the only options. The Church Will. Not. Change her teaching.
That's not, by the way, because our bishops are profiles in courage. It's because the Holy Spirit, the Soul of the Church, is the guarantor of revelation and our arms are too short to box with Him.
Catholics Who Vote for FOCA Could Face Automatic Excommunication
The Contessa Pelosi will not be pleased. Neither, for that matter, will Mahony who will have to, you know, actually behave like a bishop and not just hire a PR firm to cover things up. I hope the grace of their ordination sees these guys through the storm that it coming. We all need it.
The Contessa Pelosi will not be pleased. Neither, for that matter, will Mahony who will have to, you know, actually behave like a bishop and not just hire a PR firm to cover things up. I hope the grace of their ordination sees these guys through the storm that it coming. We all need it.
The Revenge of Conscience
In which one of the wisest writers I know explains *why* it is that sometimes those enmeshed in grave sin cannot abide mere tolerance of their sin but are compelled to demand that everybody around them approve of it--or else. That is the explanation of the gay "marriage" movement in a nutshell.
In which one of the wisest writers I know explains *why* it is that sometimes those enmeshed in grave sin cannot abide mere tolerance of their sin but are compelled to demand that everybody around them approve of it--or else. That is the explanation of the gay "marriage" movement in a nutshell.
Son of False Prophet and Fool Says, "Hey! *My* authoritative prophetic insights are totally reliable"
The Prophet Chesterton speaks:
Everybody loves to predict the future. It's great fun. Just don't take the prophecies (including mine) as gospel.
The Prophet Chesterton speaks:
THE human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games to which it is most attached is called, "Keep to-morrow dark," and which is also named (by the rustics in Shropshire, I have no doubt) "Cheat the Prophet." The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. They then go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun.
Everybody loves to predict the future. It's great fun. Just don't take the prophecies (including mine) as gospel.
Insane Ecuadorian Leftists
The Left's mania for egalitarianism is now extending (in some sectors) to the demand to grant viruses civil rights.
I eagerly await the moment when the words of the Prophet Chesterton in The Napoleon of Notting Hill are fulfilled:
What manias like this invariably produce is not reform, but reaction. At present, the mystical doctrine (derived *entirely* from the Christian tradition) of human equality is still treated by virtually everybody in the West as self-evident (as in "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal").
Of course, that is the one thing that these truth never have been and never will be. As fools like Dawkins and Hitchens and Myers continue to hammer away at the notion that man is created at all and not simply "the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind", they do so in the sure and certain hope that this will lead to "freedom" and the destruction of oppression since they continue to hold on to the mystical belief in human equality.
But the reality is that the moment you get rid of human dignity rooted in the fact that we are in the image and likeness of God, you also lose the only basis for supposing we are equal. Empirical measurements always show us that we are unequal in all sorts of ways. People are smart, stupid, tall, short, strong, weak, good at this, bad at that, etc.
At some point (most likely when it will be to the advantage of the powerful and wealthy), somebody is going to point this out and begin the next phase of overturning Christianity and returning to paganism: the ridicule of human equality and the idea of democracy. We already see all sorts of signs of this in our culture, of course. The notion of life unworthy of life. The tremendous effort to do for the rich what nobody would think to do for the poor ("We're too big to fail!"). The messianic and pagan adulation paid to a mere politician. The War on the Weak. All this points to our slow acceptance of the same frank pagan ethic of contempt for equality that animated the racial theorists of the Third Reich. It's just been retooled for our time a bit, so that we can continue to pretend to ourselves that we are observing the American pieties. But that's merely custom surviving for a while until we are ready to admit to ourselves that we, as a culture, no longer really believe we are creatures of God and therefore no longer believe that we have these mystical "equal rights" that owe their existence entirely to that mystical relationship with a mystical God.
When we reach that point, the powerful of the earth will suddenly point to things like the absurd mania for equality in Ecuador, teach us all to laugh at it, and then (with promises that we too can be princes of this world) enslave us all.
The Left's mania for egalitarianism is now extending (in some sectors) to the demand to grant viruses civil rights.
I eagerly await the moment when the words of the Prophet Chesterton in The Napoleon of Notting Hill are fulfilled:
There was Mr Edward Carpenter, who thought we should in a very short time return to Nature, and live simply and slowly as the animals do. And Edward Carpenter was followed by James Pickie, D.D. (of Pocahontas College), who said that men were immensely improved by grazing, or taking their food slowly and continuously, after the manner of cows. And he said that he had, with the most encouraging results, turned city men out on all fours in a field covered with veal cutlets. Then Tolstoy and the Humanitarians said that the world was growing more merciful, and therefore no one would ever desire to kill. And Mr Mick not only became a vegetarian, but at length declared vegetarianism doomed (”shedding,” he called it finely, “the green blood of the silent animals”), and predicted that men in a better age would live on nothing but salt. And then came the pamphlet from Oregon (where the thing was tried), the pamphlet called “Why should Salt suffer?”, and there was more trouble.
What manias like this invariably produce is not reform, but reaction. At present, the mystical doctrine (derived *entirely* from the Christian tradition) of human equality is still treated by virtually everybody in the West as self-evident (as in "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal").
Of course, that is the one thing that these truth never have been and never will be. As fools like Dawkins and Hitchens and Myers continue to hammer away at the notion that man is created at all and not simply "the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind", they do so in the sure and certain hope that this will lead to "freedom" and the destruction of oppression since they continue to hold on to the mystical belief in human equality.
But the reality is that the moment you get rid of human dignity rooted in the fact that we are in the image and likeness of God, you also lose the only basis for supposing we are equal. Empirical measurements always show us that we are unequal in all sorts of ways. People are smart, stupid, tall, short, strong, weak, good at this, bad at that, etc.
At some point (most likely when it will be to the advantage of the powerful and wealthy), somebody is going to point this out and begin the next phase of overturning Christianity and returning to paganism: the ridicule of human equality and the idea of democracy. We already see all sorts of signs of this in our culture, of course. The notion of life unworthy of life. The tremendous effort to do for the rich what nobody would think to do for the poor ("We're too big to fail!"). The messianic and pagan adulation paid to a mere politician. The War on the Weak. All this points to our slow acceptance of the same frank pagan ethic of contempt for equality that animated the racial theorists of the Third Reich. It's just been retooled for our time a bit, so that we can continue to pretend to ourselves that we are observing the American pieties. But that's merely custom surviving for a while until we are ready to admit to ourselves that we, as a culture, no longer really believe we are creatures of God and therefore no longer believe that we have these mystical "equal rights" that owe their existence entirely to that mystical relationship with a mystical God.
When we reach that point, the powerful of the earth will suddenly point to things like the absurd mania for equality in Ecuador, teach us all to laugh at it, and then (with promises that we too can be princes of this world) enslave us all.
If the Democrats Learned from This Guy, They Would Never Lose Another Election
By the way, note the knee-jerk media-speak in the piece: "archaic" means "pro-life".
By the way, note the knee-jerk media-speak in the piece: "archaic" means "pro-life".
The Horror!
Poor Tom Hoopes! He tries to do the decent, Christian thing and extend a word of congratulations to Obama (you know, kind of like the Pope?) In the course of it, he remarks that "we always liked Obama" and even that he is "decent" and "civil".
One letter gets that the Register has fought hard for pro-life issues and doesn't freak out over this mild display of civic spirit. Others, of course, from the Ideological Purity Police respond with the customary "cancel my subscription, traitors!" hysteria.
I really do wonder how such people fancy the gospel is spread. The curious notion that utterly demonizing somebody and refusing to acknowledge any good quality in them whatsoever is a curious way to carry out our Lord's command to love enemies.
Especially because it is manifest to normal people that Obama obviously does have the good qualities the Register notes, and others besides. It has been noted before that Obama would not even have *been* Senator had not his competitor in 2004 (a "Catholic family values" Republican) been a disgusting pervert who handed him his job by embroiling himself in scandal. It should also be noted that Obama actually appears to live out all that business about stable marriage and intact family that "conservatives" like John McCain, Newt Gingrich (who classily pressed his wife for divorce while she was recovering from surgery), Rush Limbaugh and various other major figures on the Right pay lip service to as they practice serial polygamy. People who are serious about Catholic teaching about the family, while we fight Obama tooth and nail on abortion, cannot allow our hostility to him on that matter to blind us to what the guy is doing right.
Make no mistake: I still think his Administration will be catastrophic. Judging from his appointments so far, he appears to be gearing up for a war on prolifers (and Catholics in particular, if Biden and Daschle and the obnoxious Emanuel are any indication). But about the worst way Catholics can possibly respond is to start by demonizing the guy and refusing to acknowledge whatever everybody can see: that the guy also has some admirable traits.
This goes to something larger that is rapidly being lost in American discourse: the understanding that evil is always parasitic on good. More and more, we Americans are tending to forget this and imagine we live in a Manichaean universe where evil is an equal and opposite principle to good. When we do this, we think we are gaining a tactical advantage by making darkness darker and isolating it from ourselves. But in reality, we are forgetting that evil is the deprivation of goodness and that we must always, even in the case of the devil, acknowledge that all things owe their being to God and are therefore, to some degree, good. Satan himself owes his intelligence, will, and existence (all good) to God who made him. When we refuse to acknowledge what is good in an evil creature, we are unwitting accomplices in their prideful rebellion, for Satan likewise refuses to acknowledge that all he has is from God.
Being aware of this is what allows the Register to acknowledge not only Obama's good qualities, but
Poor Tom Hoopes! He tries to do the decent, Christian thing and extend a word of congratulations to Obama (you know, kind of like the Pope?) In the course of it, he remarks that "we always liked Obama" and even that he is "decent" and "civil".
One letter gets that the Register has fought hard for pro-life issues and doesn't freak out over this mild display of civic spirit. Others, of course, from the Ideological Purity Police respond with the customary "cancel my subscription, traitors!" hysteria.
I really do wonder how such people fancy the gospel is spread. The curious notion that utterly demonizing somebody and refusing to acknowledge any good quality in them whatsoever is a curious way to carry out our Lord's command to love enemies.
Especially because it is manifest to normal people that Obama obviously does have the good qualities the Register notes, and others besides. It has been noted before that Obama would not even have *been* Senator had not his competitor in 2004 (a "Catholic family values" Republican) been a disgusting pervert who handed him his job by embroiling himself in scandal. It should also be noted that Obama actually appears to live out all that business about stable marriage and intact family that "conservatives" like John McCain, Newt Gingrich (who classily pressed his wife for divorce while she was recovering from surgery), Rush Limbaugh and various other major figures on the Right pay lip service to as they practice serial polygamy. People who are serious about Catholic teaching about the family, while we fight Obama tooth and nail on abortion, cannot allow our hostility to him on that matter to blind us to what the guy is doing right.
Make no mistake: I still think his Administration will be catastrophic. Judging from his appointments so far, he appears to be gearing up for a war on prolifers (and Catholics in particular, if Biden and Daschle and the obnoxious Emanuel are any indication). But about the worst way Catholics can possibly respond is to start by demonizing the guy and refusing to acknowledge whatever everybody can see: that the guy also has some admirable traits.
This goes to something larger that is rapidly being lost in American discourse: the understanding that evil is always parasitic on good. More and more, we Americans are tending to forget this and imagine we live in a Manichaean universe where evil is an equal and opposite principle to good. When we do this, we think we are gaining a tactical advantage by making darkness darker and isolating it from ourselves. But in reality, we are forgetting that evil is the deprivation of goodness and that we must always, even in the case of the devil, acknowledge that all things owe their being to God and are therefore, to some degree, good. Satan himself owes his intelligence, will, and existence (all good) to God who made him. When we refuse to acknowledge what is good in an evil creature, we are unwitting accomplices in their prideful rebellion, for Satan likewise refuses to acknowledge that all he has is from God.
Being aware of this is what allows the Register to acknowledge not only Obama's good qualities, but
those founding fathers who owned slaves, those Civil War generals who introduced “total war” to America, Harry Truman, who ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb (an act condemned unequivocally by popes, the Second Vatican Council, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Archbishop Fulton Sheen), and Ronald Reagan, who as governor of California signed the nation’s first “no-fault divorce” law.
These were men who were civil, decent and in some cases, great.
We can at least afford Obama the consideration we gave John McCain. He is a decent man, even though his record wasn’t always. He voted to take money withheld from our paychecks and send it to doctors to use it to kill human beings in science experiments. He voted to kill the marriage amendment in the Senate without so much as a debate. He snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Bush’s pro-life judges (many of them Catholics) as the leader of the “Gang of 14.” Yet, we were magnanimous with him. Obama deserves the same.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
My Latest for the Register
In which we discuss the (still surprising to some) fact that everlasting damnation, pain, despair and the loss of God are not what Christ came to accomplish, any more than the jungle guide who warns "Don't step there or you will fall irretrievably to your your death" is somehow at fault when you ignore him and step there.
In which we discuss the (still surprising to some) fact that everlasting damnation, pain, despair and the loss of God are not what Christ came to accomplish, any more than the jungle guide who warns "Don't step there or you will fall irretrievably to your your death" is somehow at fault when you ignore him and step there.
My Latest on Catholic Exchange
In which we continue discussing St. Paul's approach to Spiritual Warfare.
In which we continue discussing St. Paul's approach to Spiritual Warfare.
Tolerance is Not Enough. You. *MUST*. Approve.
Gay marriage is about using the law to extirpate from the public square and punish those who disapprove of homosexual practice. Period. That's the goal. That's what it is all about. It is a movement profoundly hostile to freedom of conscience and cannot rest until any person who says that homosexual practice is a sin faces draconian penalties, the churches are silenced or crushed by the state, and every trace of unacceptable thought is eradicated from public discourse.
Gay marriage is about using the law to extirpate from the public square and punish those who disapprove of homosexual practice. Period. That's the goal. That's what it is all about. It is a movement profoundly hostile to freedom of conscience and cannot rest until any person who says that homosexual practice is a sin faces draconian penalties, the churches are silenced or crushed by the state, and every trace of unacceptable thought is eradicated from public discourse.
Ditch the Christians! Back to Rockefeller and the Good Solid Worship of Mammon!
Because if there's one thing we can learn from McCain, it's that contempt for the base, discomfort with Judeo-Christian types, multiple wives, six houses, cheap theatrics, socialism for the rich, reckless wars, and country club Republicanism is a winning strategy.
You just knew the Stupid Party would draw all the right conclusions from their epic losses.
Yes. What America needs is to get rid of God. Good thinking! While you're at it, how about forging a One Ring so you can win next time.
And people are still trying to figure out why I voted Third Party.
Because if there's one thing we can learn from McCain, it's that contempt for the base, discomfort with Judeo-Christian types, multiple wives, six houses, cheap theatrics, socialism for the rich, reckless wars, and country club Republicanism is a winning strategy.
You just knew the Stupid Party would draw all the right conclusions from their epic losses.
Yes. What America needs is to get rid of God. Good thinking! While you're at it, how about forging a One Ring so you can win next time.
And people are still trying to figure out why I voted Third Party.
It's bad enough that she lost the tools, leaving them to burn up in Israeli, Russian, North Korean or Iranian airspace and trigger a nuclear exchange that annihilates mankind
... did she really have to go and be named Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper?
... did she really have to go and be named Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper?
Good for Bush!
He's trying to protect freedom of conscience for health care people who don't want to be press-ganged into the abortion industry. Naturally, the media portrays it as evil.
He's trying to protect freedom of conscience for health care people who don't want to be press-ganged into the abortion industry. Naturally, the media portrays it as evil.
Gay Community Labors to Undo Brown v. Board of Education
Of course, you could just address the bullying without creating a separate-and-more-equal-than-the-common-herd subculture sucking off the public teat. But that would not be in character for the government.
Of course, you could just address the bullying without creating a separate-and-more-equal-than-the-common-herd subculture sucking off the public teat. But that would not be in character for the government.
Journalism, Never Forget, is Largely Done by People Eager to *Appear* Instantly Conversant in the Matters They Discuss
When my wife was growing up, one of the older kids in her family got wind somehow that something about sex was different after you got married. All he knew about sex was "gender", so he came to the conclusion that when you got married you change sex. He then authoritatively passed this knowledge on to the believing younger kids. Eventually, mom and dad discovered all this and had to set the record straight.
Journalists are like that. They listen in on half-understood cultural controversies ("something about stem cells.... something about Christians") and turn to the rest of us and authoritatively explain it all in garbled language. Result: people who formerly knew nothing and *knew* that they knew nothing about stem cell research now *think* they know something but in fact what they know is wrong.
Case in point: the "controversial" stem cell treatment by which a woman got a new lease on life by regrowing her windpipe with adult stem cells.
You can see the story here and here. But note that in both stories, the ignorant journalist has not a clue about the difference between embryonic stem cell research and the use of adult cells. It's all just "controversial" because, well, I guess Christians just hate science and life and happiness (which winds up being a very significant takeaway from the story since, after all, why would anybody want to ruin this woman's life?). In fact, there's *nothing* controversial here because no embryos were destroyed. But the journalist is too ignorant to know that.
In the words of Kathy Shaidle: Journalists: our moral and intellectual superiors!
When my wife was growing up, one of the older kids in her family got wind somehow that something about sex was different after you got married. All he knew about sex was "gender", so he came to the conclusion that when you got married you change sex. He then authoritatively passed this knowledge on to the believing younger kids. Eventually, mom and dad discovered all this and had to set the record straight.
Journalists are like that. They listen in on half-understood cultural controversies ("something about stem cells.... something about Christians") and turn to the rest of us and authoritatively explain it all in garbled language. Result: people who formerly knew nothing and *knew* that they knew nothing about stem cell research now *think* they know something but in fact what they know is wrong.
Case in point: the "controversial" stem cell treatment by which a woman got a new lease on life by regrowing her windpipe with adult stem cells.
You can see the story here and here. But note that in both stories, the ignorant journalist has not a clue about the difference between embryonic stem cell research and the use of adult cells. It's all just "controversial" because, well, I guess Christians just hate science and life and happiness (which winds up being a very significant takeaway from the story since, after all, why would anybody want to ruin this woman's life?). In fact, there's *nothing* controversial here because no embryos were destroyed. But the journalist is too ignorant to know that.
In the words of Kathy Shaidle: Journalists: our moral and intellectual superiors!
Hey Spokane!
Check out the Gonzaga Socratic Club, modeled on the Oxford Socratic Club which C. S. Lewis participated in.
The site has past talks recorded and copies of written stuff. Well worth the exploration, and for you Spokanites, well worth attending.
Evolution
One begins to suspect that Benedict is the last sane person in the Church. Whenever he does his job (say, articulating the faith in the light of what the sciences and reason show us), you can always be sure there will be some yahoo from the atheist materialist crowd who will condemn him for being insufficiently devoted to the Prophet Darwin (pbuh) and, simultaneously, some yahoo who reckon him an apostate for accepting the basic contours of the development of life on earth that the sciences point to. Happily, nature has built into anti-Catholic ranters certain characteristic warning signals for the rest of us. For instance, just before it attacks, the Anticatolicus fundamentalisticus always emits the characteristic sound "I was raised Catholic and I can tell you..." That's your cue that whatever comes next will be a farrago of ignorant nonsense. Similarly, the Anticatolicus atheisticus always puffs itself up and emits the sounds "Reason!" and "Intellect! and "I have a Master's degree--in SCIENCE!" Here is a video of Anticatolicus fundamentalisticus filmed in its natural habitat:
There is some evidence to suggest that the two evolved from a common ancestor.
One begins to suspect that Benedict is the last sane person in the Church. Whenever he does his job (say, articulating the faith in the light of what the sciences and reason show us), you can always be sure there will be some yahoo from the atheist materialist crowd who will condemn him for being insufficiently devoted to the Prophet Darwin (pbuh) and, simultaneously, some yahoo who reckon him an apostate for accepting the basic contours of the development of life on earth that the sciences point to. Happily, nature has built into anti-Catholic ranters certain characteristic warning signals for the rest of us. For instance, just before it attacks, the Anticatolicus fundamentalisticus always emits the characteristic sound "I was raised Catholic and I can tell you..." That's your cue that whatever comes next will be a farrago of ignorant nonsense. Similarly, the Anticatolicus atheisticus always puffs itself up and emits the sounds "Reason!" and "Intellect! and "I have a Master's degree--in SCIENCE!" Here is a video of Anticatolicus fundamentalisticus filmed in its natural habitat:
There is some evidence to suggest that the two evolved from a common ancestor.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
And there was much rejoicing...
They couldn't have found a more perfect Spock. The guy could be a clone.
They couldn't have found a more perfect Spock. The guy could be a clone.
Hey Seattle and Western Washington!
In the words of Samuel Goldwyn, "Don't miss it if you can!"
Dear Friends of the Seattle G. K. Chesterton Society,
Just a final reminder:
The Board of Directors of the Chesterton Society cordially invite you to our second lecture of the season, on Thursday evening, November 20, at 7:30 PM, in Conference room 109, Otto Miller Hall, on the campus of Seattle Pacific University.
Evolution's Causal Chain: Could Chesterton Be the Missing Link?
Rev. Michael J. Dodds, O.P.
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
Berkeley, California
Since G. K. Chesterton commented on almost everything, it's not surprising that the issue of evolution did not escape his notice. Today evolution remains a controversial topic. Some say it excludes belief in God; others, that belief in God excludes it. Chesterton seems to have noticed a gap in the causes that are supposed to account for evolution. If we step into that breach, we may find some of the missing causes and discover the place of the Divine Cause in the phenomenon of evolution.
Michael J. Dodds, O.P., is professor of philosophy and theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. A second edition of his book, The Unchanging God of Love: Thomas Aquinas and Contemporary Theology on Divine Immutability will be published by The Catholic University of America Press in November, 2008.
Otto Miller Hall is located near the corner of Nickerson and Third Avenue West, directly across the street from the
Royal Brougham Pavilion.
To see the Society’s full Events Calendar for the year, go to www.seattlechesterton.org, and click on “Events”.
Please join us November 20 for a stimulating lecture, followed by discussion, free pizza and refreshments!
Yours faithfully,
The Seattle G. K. Chesterton Society
In the words of Samuel Goldwyn, "Don't miss it if you can!"
Fr. Neuhaus Ponders the Coming Kulturkampf
Nothing so wonderfully concentrates the mind as the prospect of a hanging.
Nothing so wonderfully concentrates the mind as the prospect of a hanging.
I've been thinking about this lately and he's right
Modernity, in abandoning Christianity, has lost its story. We don't know who we are because we don't know where we came from, nor where we are going. One of the things that Christ does for us is place us in a family with a history and a destiny. Postmoderns are more or less wandering around, oblivious to the past ("Hey! Did you know Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings!") and oscillating between fear and blind hope about whatever The Next Thing might be. Recovering the central Story of the World (which is what Christianity is, or it is nothing) is one of the spinoff gifts of salvation.
Modernity, in abandoning Christianity, has lost its story. We don't know who we are because we don't know where we came from, nor where we are going. One of the things that Christ does for us is place us in a family with a history and a destiny. Postmoderns are more or less wandering around, oblivious to the past ("Hey! Did you know Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings!") and oscillating between fear and blind hope about whatever The Next Thing might be. Recovering the central Story of the World (which is what Christianity is, or it is nothing) is one of the spinoff gifts of salvation.
What is it with Republican Leaders and Their Estranged Relationship with Language?
First there was George H.W. [Message: I care] Bush and his "syntactic linguini" as George Will memorably called it. Then there was the weirdness of Bob Dole's tendency to always refer to himself in the third person. After this, it was the inimitable W:
Now the party looks forward to the starry heights of more Churchillian rhetoric such as this:
or this:
The thing is, in order to lead a people (or craft laws) some minimal competence in the use of language is normally part of the job requirement.
First there was George H.W. [Message: I care] Bush and his "syntactic linguini" as George Will memorably called it. Then there was the weirdness of Bob Dole's tendency to always refer to himself in the third person. After this, it was the inimitable W:
Now the party looks forward to the starry heights of more Churchillian rhetoric such as this:
My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.
or this:
Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don’t get away with that. We have to balance budgets and we’re dealing with multibillion dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees in our organizations.
The thing is, in order to lead a people (or craft laws) some minimal competence in the use of language is normally part of the job requirement.
This should be interesting
I wasn't aware of Rahm Emanuel's background. I knew he was cutthroat and abrasive, but I wasn't aware of the whole Israeli thing. It will be fascinating to watch the guys on the Right who adhere to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the State of Israel and its preservation from all sin both original and actual try to simultaneously maintain hostilities with the Obama Administration and yet not offend the pieties concerning Israel. It will also be fascinating to watch the peace and granola guys who elected Obama continue trying to delude themselves that Obama is just about to usher in the Age of Aquarius with the Islamosphere.
I wasn't aware of Rahm Emanuel's background. I knew he was cutthroat and abrasive, but I wasn't aware of the whole Israeli thing. It will be fascinating to watch the guys on the Right who adhere to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the State of Israel and its preservation from all sin both original and actual try to simultaneously maintain hostilities with the Obama Administration and yet not offend the pieties concerning Israel. It will also be fascinating to watch the peace and granola guys who elected Obama continue trying to delude themselves that Obama is just about to usher in the Age of Aquarius with the Islamosphere.
A reader writes:
Father, receive your dear little daughter and grant peace and consolation to your children who mourn her. Grant that we may all meet merrily on That Day. Mother Mary, pray for us.
On Friday, Nov. 14, our daughter Natalie Claire was born to eternal life in Heaven. She was with us for only 19 weeks. We will bury her this afternoon at 1:30. Please pray for the repose of her soul, and for us to begin healing.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!
Father, receive your dear little daughter and grant peace and consolation to your children who mourn her. Grant that we may all meet merrily on That Day. Mother Mary, pray for us.
Piskies Have Mastered the Art of the Straight Face
Cuz, you know, breaking communion and hiving off to start something new is just *so* Not Anglican or Protestant.
I love the way the TEC can have guys like Vicky Gene Robinson laboring to undermine the Catholic Church and historic Christian morality, all while urging fellow Anglican to believe and profess that nothing is more sacred than making sure that he and his fellow bishops get to keep all the real estate and xerox machines. Henry VIII is the spiritual father of all this and the apple is not falling far from the tree.
Feheley said the dissidents are unlikely to ever be recognized as a province of the Anglican Communion on par with the national churches of Canada and the United States. Such a move would go against Anglican tradition, he said, and is opposed by its spiritual head, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Cuz, you know, breaking communion and hiving off to start something new is just *so* Not Anglican or Protestant.
I love the way the TEC can have guys like Vicky Gene Robinson laboring to undermine the Catholic Church and historic Christian morality, all while urging fellow Anglican to believe and profess that nothing is more sacred than making sure that he and his fellow bishops get to keep all the real estate and xerox machines. Henry VIII is the spiritual father of all this and the apple is not falling far from the tree.
Hmmmmm.....
Just got this:
Seems like people with black smoke monsters and time travel technology at their command would be able to ride this out.
Just got this:
Namaste.
I am pleased to announce that registered recruits can now log in and download your personalized Volunteer Assessment Dossier outlining your full test results as well as your position within the Dharma Initiative.
I want to personally congratulate you on behalf of everyone at the Dharma Initiative for your hard work and diligence during our testing process.
We hope that you are happy with your results. We certainly are. The tests were extremely challenging and the aptitude and excellence displayed far exceeded our expectations.
Now that you are in possession of your results I am sure you are asking the obvious question: what's next?
Our plan was that together we would commence a glorious adventure: the revival of the Dharma Initiative using the myriad talents of all our amazing new recruits. We imagined not just fulfilling long abandoned goals but taking the Dharma Initiative to a new level of greatness as an organization promoting the peaceful social and technological advancement of all humankind.
Then the financial crisis struck.
Sadly, our benefactors were not immune to this crisis. In fact, unconfirmed reports suggest that much of the money designated for the work of the new Dharma Initiative was tied up in highly leveraged mortgage derivatives. This, however, cannot be confirmed because, I am sorry to report, the principals representing the benefactors - my employers - have gone missing. Based on bills still coming into our office we believe they are somewhere in South America.
This stunning reversal of fortune has forced us to abandon our ambitious plans. In fact, absent this funding, the Dharma Initiative was forced to make the only sensible decision we had available: we sold the Dharma Initiative to the television show LOST.
While this might strike some of you as a shock, the reason for this was not simply that they were the only bidder. As the only remaining Dharma Initiative employee who had not fled the country, I felt that at the very least the show would be able to keep the spirit of the Dharma Initiative alive and in the public consciousness until such time as a reversal of the reversal of our economic fortunes occurs.
It is with a heavy heart that I must bid you farewell. Despite my fervent commitment to the mission of the Dharma Initiative, the realities of a broken marriage, heavy casino debt and some unfounded police charges have required that I change my present circumstances. It is with great excitement that I can inform you of my pending senior sales management job at a large multi-brand auto dealership in Dubai. I have enjoyed our brief association more than I can ever express, and if you are ever in the Middle East and need a car, please e-mail me for a special "Dharma rate".
In the meantime, you will hear shortly from LOST showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. They will explain to you their future plans for the Dharma Initiative and how these plans might affect you.
Thank you again, personally, for your unflagging commitment and support. I hope our paths will one day cross again. In the meantime may the spirit of the island guide you.
Namaste.
Hans Van Eeghen
Head of Recruiting
The Dharma Initiative
Seems like people with black smoke monsters and time travel technology at their command would be able to ride this out.
A reader writes:
Lord, hear our prayer!
I just got home after a disheartening experience at a work function. A nun railed on me about not voting for Obama, then my views on abortion, and then the Catechism of the Catholic Church (read: it's "outdated" and "needs to be reformed"). I respected her tremendously and am disappointed beyond belief. To make matters worse, a co-worker who is vehemently anti-Catholic, started in on me too, because, you know, I don't think women should be priests, etc. etc. She's the same co-worker who, offended at our practice of closed communion, referred to the Eucharist as "just a hunk of bread."
I tried to be civil, and attempted to end a futile conversation with, "Well, we're just going to have to disagree", after it became obviously clear all of my arguments were being dismissed as "outdated." But they persisted, so I left the function early and went for a long walk in the cold night air.
I need prayers now, for the strength to face these people again, for the souls of both the nun and my co-worker who are clearly misguided, and as I being a much-needed job search to find something a little less obviously hostile to my beliefs.
If you and your readers could do that, I'd be grateful. 2008 has come to a spectacularly disasterous end and I'm pretty much fed up with everything.
Lord, hear our prayer!
Could be an Urban Legend, but better safe than sorry
BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE--NEW WAY TO DO CAR JACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)
Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating... You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine and shift into Reverse. When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park, unlock your doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.
And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car. So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!
BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.
If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive away. Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.
Hey Pittsburgh!
A reader writes:
A reader writes:
Hoping you can post this letter from Catholic student Jessica Kaercher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She recently formed a Respect Life club and arranged for Serrin Foster of Feminists for Life to speak on campus this Wednesday Nov. 19. Although they had been promised funding from a student organization to cover expenses (before signing a contract) for the lecture, they were denied the promised grant. Other student organizations (the student Senate) also refused to provide funding on the grounds that the lecture was "too political."
This student is fighting the good fight in an agressively secular environment at this elite private research university. Any help you can provide to promote the lecture, and encourage donations to defray costs, would be much appreciated. Thanks! Here's the letter:Dear Friend for Life:
When women enter college, almost half of them are pro-life. Yet by the time they graduate, nearly three-quarters of college women describe themselves as pro-choice.
What changes their minds? By the time the women of this year's senior class graduate, most women facing an unplanned pregnancy will have cried with their best friends after an abortion. A few will feel forced to leave school for a lifetime of poverty.
Almost half of all abortions are performed on college-age women, and women with some college have the highest abortion rate of any educational group. No woman should be forced to choose between her education or career and her children. But that's what happens-thousands of times a day in America.
The Respect Life Club at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh PA) has invited Serrin Foster, President of Feminists for Life, to bring FFL's message that "Women Deserve Better than Abortion" and woman-centered solutions to Carnegie Mellon this Wednesday, November 19.
Feminists for Life of America is a pro-woman, pro-life organization that continues the tradition of the early American feminists who opposed abortion. FFL works to fulfill the unrealized dream of Susan B. Anthony to systematically eliminate the reasons that women say they have abortions-primarily the lack of resources and support. More information can be found at www.feministsforlife.org
Ms. Foster's landmark speech, "The Feminist Case Against Abortion", has been included in the anthology Women's Rights, in a series entitled "Great Speeches in History." She has presented her lecture on top campuses across the country and internationally, on Capitol Hill and at the Parliament Buildings at Stormont, Northern Ireland.
Carnegie Mellon University students need to know our rich 200 year-old pro-woman, pro-life history, how the 70s women's movement came to support abortion, and-most important-what woman-centered solutions we can implement here and now.
We have a real chance to reach those who need to hear FFL's pro-woman, pro-life message the most. Although we had applied for a grant to cover the expenses of hosting this event, we were denied our funding for what we believe was an unjust reason. In our race to gather funds in the last two weeks before the lecture, all of the large campus student organizations have also refused to contribute. This proves the struggle that the pro-life cause often faces, and the battles our new club will face in the future.
Please consider helping our new club make an impact on our campus community by making a contribution to help cover the expense of having this thought-provoking lecture.
Please send your tax-deductible contribution today to FFLA, Dept. 0641, Washington, DC 20073. Please identify your donation as a contribution toward the Serrin Foster lecture for the Carnegie Mellon Respect Life Club. If you do make a donation, please send the club an email with your name so that we can keep a list of our donors.
Students who are pregnant need to know there is a better way. I can't do that without the sacrifice of people like you who share our belief in the potential of every human life.
* Please feel free to forward this letter to anyone else you know who may be interested in attending the lecture or making a donation.
The lecture will be held:
Wednesday, November 19
8 PM
Carnegie Mellon University
Doherty Hall, 2315
Pittsburgh PA
(we will put up signs directing guests from the parking garage to the lecture)
For women, for life,
Jessica Kaercher
President
Respect Life Club
Carnegie Mellon University
cmurespectlife@gmail.com
Change To Make You Hurl
The era of the Imperial Autonomous Self has its Messiah! As Scripture say, let everyone do what is right in his own eyes!
The era of the Imperial Autonomous Self has its Messiah! As Scripture say, let everyone do what is right in his own eyes!
Fr. Tom Kraft, OP still needs our prayers
He writes:
Father, grant skill to the doctors and healing to Fr. Tom through Christ our Lord! Mother Mary, St. Peregrine and St. Luke, pray for him!
He writes:
I was blessed to travel to Oakland for the occasion of the presentation of Master's of Sacred Theology for my classmate, Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P. He is one of the most intelligent and witty persons I know; also he is an excellent professor at the University of Virgina and a master of medieval history. I look forward to his new book next year on St. Francis.
Tomorrow I will have a procedure done on my esophagus - the doctor will place a stint in my esophagus in order to widen it; therefore I should be able to eat and drink normally. Presently, I am barely able to eat or drink anything. I pray that all goes well tomorrow at 1:00 pm in the UW hospital so that I can eat again. Thanks for all of your prayers and concern too. I completely give myself to the Lord, however He wants to use me. I am His now and always.
Father, grant skill to the doctors and healing to Fr. Tom through Christ our Lord! Mother Mary, St. Peregrine and St. Luke, pray for him!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Please Add My Name, Henry
Vox-Nova runs the following Open Letter to Barack Obama:
and Mark P. Shea
Vox-Nova runs the following Open Letter to Barack Obama:
President-elect Barack Obama,
As American Catholics, we, the undersigned, would like to reiterate the congratulations given to you by Pope Benedict XVI. We will be praying for you as you undertake the office of President of the United States.
Wishing you much good will, we hope we will be able to work with you, your administration, and our fellow citizens to move beyond the gridlock which has often harmed our great nation in recent years. Too often, partisan politics has hampered our response to disaster and misfortune. As a result of this, many Americans have become resentful, blaming others for what happens instead of realizing our own responsibilities. We face serious problems as a people, and if we hope to overcome the crises we face in today’s world, we should make a serious effort to set aside the bitterness in our hearts, to listen to one another, and to work with one another
One of the praiseworthy elements of your campaign has been the call to end such partisanship. You have stated a desire to engage others in dialogue. With you, we believe that real achievement comes not through the defamation of one’s opponents, nor by amassing power and using it merely as a tool for one’s own individual will. We also believe dialogue is essential. We too wish to appeal to the better nature of the nation. We want to encourage people to work together for the common good. Such action can and will engender trust. It may change the hearts of many, and it might alter the path of our nation, shifting to a road leading to a better America. We hope this theme of your campaign is realized in the years ahead.
One of the critical issues which currently divides our nation is abortion. As you have said, no one is for abortion, and you would agree to limit late-term abortions as long as any bill which comes your way allows for exceptions to those limits, such as when the health of the mother is in jeopardy. You have also said you would like to work on those social issues which cause women to feel as if they have a need for an abortion, so as to reduce the actual number of abortions being performed in the United States.
Indeed, you said in your third presidential debate, “But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, ‘We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby.’”
As men and women who oppose abortion and embrace a pro-life ethic, we want to commend your willingness to engage us in dialogue, and we ask that you live up to your promise, and engage us on this issue.
There is much we can do together. There is much that we can do to help women who find themselves in difficult situations so they will not see abortion as their only option. There is much which we can do to help eliminate those unwanted pregnancies which lead to abortion.
One of your campaign promises is of grave concern to many pro-life citizens. On January 22, 2008, the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, when speaking of the current right of women in America to have abortions, you said, “And I will continue to defend this right by passing the Freedom of Choice Act as president.”
The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) might well undermine your engagement of pro-life Americans on the question of abortion. It might hamper any effort on your part to work with us to limit late-term abortions. We believe FOCA does more than allow for choice. It may force the choice of a woman upon others, and make them morally complicit in such choice. One concern is that it would force doctors and hospitals which would otherwise choose not to perform abortions to do so, even if it went against their sacred beliefs. Such a law would undermine choice, and might begin the process by which abortion is enforced as a preferred option, instead of being one possible choice for a doctor to practice.
It is because of such concern we write. We urge you to engage us, and to dialogue with us, and to do so before you consider signing this legislation. Let us reason together and search out the implications of FOCA. Let us carefully review it and search for contradictions of those positions which we hold in common.
If FOCA can be postponed for the present, and serious dialogue begun with us, as well as with those who disagree with us, you will demonstrate that your administration will indeed be one that rises above partisanship, and will be one of change. This might well be the first step toward resolving an issue which tears at the fabric of our churches, our political process, our families, our very society, and that causes so much hardship and heartache in pregnant women.
Likewise, you have also recently stated you might over-ride some of President G.W. Bush’s executive orders. This is also a concern to us. We believe doing so without having a dialogue with the American people would undermine the political environment you would like to establish. Among those issues which concern us are those which would use taxpayer money to support actions we find to be morally questionable, such as embryonic stem cell research, or to fund international organizations that would counsel women to have an abortion (this would make abortion to be more than a mere choice, but an encouraged activity).
Consider, sir, your general promise to the American people and set aside particular promises to a part of your constituency. This would indicate that you plan to reject politics as usual. This would indeed be a change we need.
Sincerely,
Deal W. Hudson
Christopher Blosser
Marjorie Campbell
Mark J. Coughlan
Rev. James A. Nowack
Craig D. Baker
Susan DeBoisblanc
Megan Stout
Joshua D. Brumfield
Ashley M. Brumfield
Michael J. Iafrate
Natalie Navarro
Matthew Talbot
Paul Mitchell
Todd Flowerday
Henry C Karlson III
Darren Belajac
Adam P Verslype
Josiah Neeley
Michael J. Deem
Katerina M. Deem
Natalie Mixa
Henry Newman
Anthony M. Annett
Mickey Jackson
Veronica Greenwell
Thomas Greenwell PhD
Robert C. Koerpel
Nate Wildermuth
New, Online Signatures:
Steve Dillard
Toby Danna
William Eunice
and Mark P. Shea
Gay Brownshirts on the March!
Anti-Christian sturmabteilung in San Francisco physically assault a bunch of Christians they took for No on Prop 8 demonstrators.
You can read the account of the victims here.
Tolerance is not enough. You. MUST. approve.
Meanwhile, uber-progressive yutzes in the TEC are busy instructing the flock:
I look forward to the TEC Rite of Blessing on Simulated Sodomy Attacks Against Christianists. Someday, they will enroll the Castro Mob in the roll of martyrs. Bravely enduring the glare of TV cameras as they beat up unarmed Christians who had gathered to pray, these courageous members of the vanguard of tomorrow showed us all that it's all about power. Worthy successors indeed to Henry VIII.
Anti-Christian sturmabteilung in San Francisco physically assault a bunch of Christians they took for No on Prop 8 demonstrators.
You can read the account of the victims here.
Tolerance is not enough. You. MUST. approve.
Meanwhile, uber-progressive yutzes in the TEC are busy instructing the flock:
"I urge you to encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service, and then being blessed in the Episcopal Church."
I look forward to the TEC Rite of Blessing on Simulated Sodomy Attacks Against Christianists. Someday, they will enroll the Castro Mob in the roll of martyrs. Bravely enduring the glare of TV cameras as they beat up unarmed Christians who had gathered to pray, these courageous members of the vanguard of tomorrow showed us all that it's all about power. Worthy successors indeed to Henry VIII.
Religion (Allegedly) Alters Visual Perception
This Looks Like Total Quackery to me.
From the people who brought you PZ Myers, if memory serves.
This Looks Like Total Quackery to me.
From the people who brought you PZ Myers, if memory serves.
Gay Rights, Gay Rage
How stormtroopers manage to go through life weeping for their own victimhood while bullying everybody around them.
How stormtroopers manage to go through life weeping for their own victimhood while bullying everybody around them.
Mean Pope Does Not Conceive of Priesthood as a Form of Self-Medicating Therapy
That's the lie undergirding this massive piece of agitprop. The point of psychological screening of priests is to find out if the guy is there to, you know, live the life and do the work of a priest. He is, after all, going to be a living sacrament whose life is ordered to the glory of God, the service of the sacraments and the care of God's people. So it's kind of important to know if he is motivated by the will to do these things or is trying to use the priesthood to fulfil some other agenda such as personal therapy for his own issues. The LA Times will have none of this and concieves of the whole screening process as a cruel system which keeps gay guys from fulfilling their personal quest to be priests without reference to, you know, God, the Church or the sacraments at all. If you are a gay People Person and you think the priesthood is for you, then your personal consent is all that matters and the Church should be obliged to let you be a priest. The Church herself, the conception of the ministry and its relationship to other sacraments, that's just boring theology crap. The purpose of the priesthood is, as ever, self-fulfillment.
That's the lie undergirding this massive piece of agitprop. The point of psychological screening of priests is to find out if the guy is there to, you know, live the life and do the work of a priest. He is, after all, going to be a living sacrament whose life is ordered to the glory of God, the service of the sacraments and the care of God's people. So it's kind of important to know if he is motivated by the will to do these things or is trying to use the priesthood to fulfil some other agenda such as personal therapy for his own issues. The LA Times will have none of this and concieves of the whole screening process as a cruel system which keeps gay guys from fulfilling their personal quest to be priests without reference to, you know, God, the Church or the sacraments at all. If you are a gay People Person and you think the priesthood is for you, then your personal consent is all that matters and the Church should be obliged to let you be a priest. The Church herself, the conception of the ministry and its relationship to other sacraments, that's just boring theology crap. The purpose of the priesthood is, as ever, self-fulfillment.
GOP Managing to Learn the Exact Wrong Lesson
It's like the opposite charism from papal infallibility.
It's like the opposite charism from papal infallibility.
More Information than You Require
Nutty Non-Denom Pastor Has Big Idea and Wants Us All to Know He Will be Living By His Principles
Nutty Non-Denom Pastor Has Big Idea and Wants Us All to Know He Will be Living By His Principles
Stupid Title, Pretty Good Article
"A New Counter-Reformation Starts at the Vatican" is such an exquisitely stupid title for this article that it deserves special mention. As though "reform" consisted of breathtaking biblical ignorance:
However, the meat of the article is (mostly) good, particularly when it deals with the central story, that Benedict is trying to do something to answer the need (and growing hunger) for knowledge of Scripture among (who would believe it?) Catholics.
Stories like this point to the crucial role that apostolates like this, this and this are going to play. Especially because these guys (and people like them) are forming biblically literate disciples who tend to have a great knack for communicating deeply Catholic biblical literacy to *their* disciples. They are going to have--indeed are already having--a global impact on the Church.
Which reminds me, do check out the work of Tim Gray and Ted Sri. You'll be hearing more from them too!
"A New Counter-Reformation Starts at the Vatican" is such an exquisitely stupid title for this article that it deserves special mention. As though "reform" consisted of breathtaking biblical ignorance:
Yet in recent polls only half of U.S. adults could name a single Gospel, and most didn't know that the first book of the Bible is Genesis. Six in 10 Americans can't name five of the Ten Commandments.
However, the meat of the article is (mostly) good, particularly when it deals with the central story, that Benedict is trying to do something to answer the need (and growing hunger) for knowledge of Scripture among (who would believe it?) Catholics.
Stories like this point to the crucial role that apostolates like this, this and this are going to play. Especially because these guys (and people like them) are forming biblically literate disciples who tend to have a great knack for communicating deeply Catholic biblical literacy to *their* disciples. They are going to have--indeed are already having--a global impact on the Church.
Which reminds me, do check out the work of Tim Gray and Ted Sri. You'll be hearing more from them too!
Communism: The Gift that Just Keeps On Giving
Latest monstrous evil: involuntary organ harvesting Falun Gong and Christians
Latest monstrous evil: involuntary organ harvesting Falun Gong and Christians
Various Prayer Requests from Readers
Father, hear the prayers of your people for Subitha and for the people caring for her in the name of your Son, Jesus. Grant her complete healing to the glory of your name.
****
Father, help your servants fight the good fight. Bring them customers who will provide for them financially and bless their efforts to stand up for you.
HEY SACRAMENTO CATHOLICS! PATRONIZE THESE GUYS! THEY'RE YUMMY *AND* STANDING UP TO BULLYING THUGS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
****
Lord, hear our prayer!
****
St. Luke, St. Peregrine and Blessed Virgin Mary, please pray for Aimee. Lord, hear our prayer!
****
And finally, I would like to ask your prayers for Fr. Tom Kraft of my parish. He has taken a turn for the worse in his battle with cancer and has gone to California to say his goodbyes to the Western Dominicans. He is a model of how a Christian faces death and it is painful (and beautiful) to witness it. We still hope for a miracle but we also recognize that Jesus may be eager to give a man as filled with light as Fr. Tom is his eternal reward, which will be great.
Your prayer for him (and for all of us who love him) would be appreciated.
Please cry out to God for the life of young Subitha. I just left her bedside at the hospital. She is diagnosed with denge fever and have been violently vomiting for almost a week now. Praise God they finally put her on iv, but she has lost much weight and didn't have much to lose to begin with. She came to Hope Home in 1999 at age 1 1/2 very sick. She regained quickly and has been with us since. Her mother is dead and was abandoned by her father. Pray boldly in Jesus name. Have your church pray tomorrow.
Father, hear the prayers of your people for Subitha and for the people caring for her in the name of your Son, Jesus. Grant her complete healing to the glory of your name.
****
Hi Mark, I met you when you spoke at the Catholic Breakfast Club in Sacramento awhile back. The founder of our club, David Leatherby, has a popular family-owned restaurant in town. The No on 8 crowd has targeted his family and business in a very hateful way due to their financial support of Proposition 8. I am asking that Catholic blogs publicize this so that Catholics can support the restaurant, Leatherby's Family Creamery. Thank you for your defense of our one, true faith.
Father, help your servants fight the good fight. Bring them customers who will provide for them financially and bless their efforts to stand up for you.
HEY SACRAMENTO CATHOLICS! PATRONIZE THESE GUYS! THEY'RE YUMMY *AND* STANDING UP TO BULLYING THUGS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
****
A sort of "Internet prayer team" is developing called "Mondays for Obama." We are recruiting people who are interested to pray for Barack Obama (on Mondays, obviously). We are praying for his conversion. We pray and fast on this day with the mission of bringing him to a more traditional understanding of Christianity, particularly on the life issues.
A blog, called "Mondays for Obama," naturally, has been set up to give some direction and encouragement. It is Catholic in orientation but all are welcome to participate.
Lord, hear our prayer!
****
Would you please ask your readers for prayers for Aimee Cowan and her family? She is a young mother of two who was diagnosed with malignant melanoma about 18 months ago. Many types of aggressive treatment have failed, and she is in critical condition today.
I know that sick people are routinely described as warm, generous, witty, brave, intelligent, strong, and beautiful, but Aimee really is all of these things. The world desperately needs her around for many more decades, so we are storming heaven for a miraculous healing, and for strength for her family.
St. Luke, St. Peregrine and Blessed Virgin Mary, please pray for Aimee. Lord, hear our prayer!
****
And finally, I would like to ask your prayers for Fr. Tom Kraft of my parish. He has taken a turn for the worse in his battle with cancer and has gone to California to say his goodbyes to the Western Dominicans. He is a model of how a Christian faces death and it is painful (and beautiful) to witness it. We still hope for a miracle but we also recognize that Jesus may be eager to give a man as filled with light as Fr. Tom is his eternal reward, which will be great.
Your prayer for him (and for all of us who love him) would be appreciated.
Here's a really remarkable story about an abortionist who was converted by a rather remarkable intercession of St. Thomas Aquinas
God still does wonders in our time!
God still does wonders in our time!
Take the Pledge Against Assisted Suicide
Of course, in a healthy culture, it would not be necessary to appeal to people not to kill themselves or others.
Of course, in a healthy culture, it would not be necessary to appeal to people not to kill themselves or others.
A reader sends along a flyer for a rally in support of pretend gay marriage here in Seattle
It was, natch, part of an email to Seattle University School of Law students, from the "LGBTQ" student association of that "school in the Jesuit tradition".
He asks:
Everything I have to say about Seattle U and other such "schools in the Jesuit tradition" is summed up here.
Not one dime to these wreckers of the Faith. Not one dime.
It was, natch, part of an email to Seattle University School of Law students, from the "LGBTQ" student association of that "school in the Jesuit tradition".
He asks:
I understand that students have a right to voice their opinions in an academic setting. But with announcements like this coming from a student group within a supposedly Catholic school, something just doesn't seem right about it--actually, it seems scandalous. What do you think?
Everything I have to say about Seattle U and other such "schools in the Jesuit tradition" is summed up here.
Not one dime to these wreckers of the Faith. Not one dime.
You are looking at a scientific marvel
Behold Fomalhaut b! The first extra-solar planet ever to be photographed by visible light! It is a Jupiter-sized planet orbing Fomalhaut, a star 25 light years distant. Made by the awesome Hubble.
Behold Fomalhaut b! The first extra-solar planet ever to be photographed by visible light! It is a Jupiter-sized planet orbing Fomalhaut, a star 25 light years distant. Made by the awesome Hubble.
Much kerfuffle in Greenville
Fr. Jay Scott Newman who pastors St. Mary's in Greenville has asked parishioners who voted for Obama to go to confession before receiving communion. You can read about the whole thing here at Fr. Dwight Longenecker's blog, since he is in the thick of things.
Much as I empathize with Fr. Newman's basic views about Obama, I think he's wrong.
Here's the deal: a priest cannot know *why* the Schmoo in the Pew who is presenting himself for communion voted for Obama unless he has had a conversation with said Schmoo and the parishioner has specificially told him, "I voted for Obama because I support his policies on human life and want to see an increase in abortion and further disregard for human life". (Indeed, he cannot know *that* the parishioner voted for Obama in most cases.) If the parishioner believed (however wrong-headedly) that a vote for Obama would actually have the net result of helping the unborn (by, say, improving the economy and lessening the pressure on women to abort) then that person believe they had a proportional reason to support Obama, just like the McCain voter who supported him despite his commitment to ESCR.
I don't think a priest can adjudicate the workings of every conscience and declare beforehand that they know every Obama supporter was deliberately and freely violating their own conscience before God. So I don't see how a priest can tell an anonymous Obama supporter that he can't receive communion. If the priest has sufficient knowledge of a *particular* Obama supporter, yes, I can see that. But a blanket declaration to all? I don't see how.
For further discussion of this matter, go here.
Believe me, I'd love to be able to support Fr. Newman on this, because he's fighting on the right side. But it's the wrong battle and it won't help win the war.
Fr. Jay Scott Newman who pastors St. Mary's in Greenville has asked parishioners who voted for Obama to go to confession before receiving communion. You can read about the whole thing here at Fr. Dwight Longenecker's blog, since he is in the thick of things.
Much as I empathize with Fr. Newman's basic views about Obama, I think he's wrong.
Here's the deal: a priest cannot know *why* the Schmoo in the Pew who is presenting himself for communion voted for Obama unless he has had a conversation with said Schmoo and the parishioner has specificially told him, "I voted for Obama because I support his policies on human life and want to see an increase in abortion and further disregard for human life". (Indeed, he cannot know *that* the parishioner voted for Obama in most cases.) If the parishioner believed (however wrong-headedly) that a vote for Obama would actually have the net result of helping the unborn (by, say, improving the economy and lessening the pressure on women to abort) then that person believe they had a proportional reason to support Obama, just like the McCain voter who supported him despite his commitment to ESCR.
I don't think a priest can adjudicate the workings of every conscience and declare beforehand that they know every Obama supporter was deliberately and freely violating their own conscience before God. So I don't see how a priest can tell an anonymous Obama supporter that he can't receive communion. If the priest has sufficient knowledge of a *particular* Obama supporter, yes, I can see that. But a blanket declaration to all? I don't see how.
For further discussion of this matter, go here.
Believe me, I'd love to be able to support Fr. Newman on this, because he's fighting on the right side. But it's the wrong battle and it won't help win the war.
My pal Gashwin Gomes writes:
A fine description of the Hegelian Mambo. Take some bedrock of a healthy culture. Label it an irrational "taboo": "The cruel taboo against divorce harms families by trapping people in loveless marriages!" Bang away at this theme until divorce is legal and rather stylish and fashionable for clever, sophisticated people in movies from the 30s. Then bang away again at the taboo against no-fault divorce: "The cruel taboo against no-fault divorce means the state is intruding into a purely *private* matter. It would be better from women and children if these matters could be settled without the glare of public attention."
Now we are busy knocking down another "taboo": the notion that marriage is ordered toward the good of children at all. It's all totally about the consent of two adult human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood and nothing else. The next taboo to be attacked will be the notion that its only about the consent of *two* adult human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood. After that, will come the taboo against *adult* human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood. Then will come the taboo about human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood. Then will come the taboo about marriage between human beings and even marriage to *living* human beings.
When you make consent the sole criterion for the rightness or wrongness of an act, there's nothing stopping it. And we've already settled that. Now we are in the process of knocking down mere surviving customs for which we can no longer give any rationale but "ew!". In the words of Solzhenitsyn "These things are happening because men have forgotten God."
I saw this video linked from the Facebook profile of a friend.
At first I thought, "Wow, something we agree on!" But watch it. While purporting to be about protecting marriages, it's actually an *anti prop-8* video. It's logical structure is:
1. Gay marriage is bad for society, children, etc.
2. Divorce is bad for society, children, family, etc.
3. In fact divorce is worse for society etc.
4. Therefore, let's pass a proposition prohibiting divorce.
The thing with the rhetoric is, it's trying to present 4. as a rhetorical reductio ad absurdum. Surely *no* one in their right mind would want to ban divorce for married heterosexual couples? So, why did a majority of Californians vote for Prop-8 and deny a "fundamental right" to a minority, thus making them second class citizens? The rhetorical aim is to try and point out the hypocrisy of the majority. "If you really cared about families, then you'd work towards banning divorce. Since you don't, what's really behind this is hatred of an oppressed minority."
I had to shake my head several times after watching this.
The sad thing is: The premises are true. And the conclusion is that we absolutely must work towards reducing divorce. And perhaps even limit or eliminate no-fault divorce. Well before gay marriage came along, no-fault divorce is what has killed the family. Gay marriage is simply a symptom of a complete loss of understanding of natural law, and the absolute separation of reproduction and procreation.
To me this is another reminder of the great gap in where our culture is, and what our values and ideals are. And forming couples for marriage is surely among the vital tasks facing the Church today.
A fine description of the Hegelian Mambo. Take some bedrock of a healthy culture. Label it an irrational "taboo": "The cruel taboo against divorce harms families by trapping people in loveless marriages!" Bang away at this theme until divorce is legal and rather stylish and fashionable for clever, sophisticated people in movies from the 30s. Then bang away again at the taboo against no-fault divorce: "The cruel taboo against no-fault divorce means the state is intruding into a purely *private* matter. It would be better from women and children if these matters could be settled without the glare of public attention."
Now we are busy knocking down another "taboo": the notion that marriage is ordered toward the good of children at all. It's all totally about the consent of two adult human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood and nothing else. The next taboo to be attacked will be the notion that its only about the consent of *two* adult human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood. After that, will come the taboo against *adult* human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood. Then will come the taboo about human beings who are sufficiently unrelated by blood. Then will come the taboo about marriage between human beings and even marriage to *living* human beings.
When you make consent the sole criterion for the rightness or wrongness of an act, there's nothing stopping it. And we've already settled that. Now we are in the process of knocking down mere surviving customs for which we can no longer give any rationale but "ew!". In the words of Solzhenitsyn "These things are happening because men have forgotten God."
Thoughts of a Soldier-Ethicist
An interesting new blog dedicated to trying to think through the thorny problems entailed by a profession fraught with moral ambiguities and actions full of consequences for the soul. Good for him!
(Not that any profession doesn't have moral ambiguities and consequences for the soul, but the life of the soldier can be an especially In Your Face dose of the immemorial Christian teaching about how life is a battle and the stakes are nothing less than heaven or hell. Cubicle accountants and, ahem, freelance writers find themselves rather more insulated from these stark facts than do Marines pinned down on the beaches of Iwo Jima.)
An interesting new blog dedicated to trying to think through the thorny problems entailed by a profession fraught with moral ambiguities and actions full of consequences for the soul. Good for him!
(Not that any profession doesn't have moral ambiguities and consequences for the soul, but the life of the soldier can be an especially In Your Face dose of the immemorial Christian teaching about how life is a battle and the stakes are nothing less than heaven or hell. Cubicle accountants and, ahem, freelance writers find themselves rather more insulated from these stark facts than do Marines pinned down on the beaches of Iwo Jima.)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tomorrow
I'll be sitting in for Tom Curran on Sound Insight from 8-9 AM PST. You can stream it here.
Then I have to run around and do a bunch of stuff as well as continue plunging ahead on the current Big Writing Project.
So.... ciao till Monday!
I'll be sitting in for Tom Curran on Sound Insight from 8-9 AM PST. You can stream it here.
Then I have to run around and do a bunch of stuff as well as continue plunging ahead on the current Big Writing Project.
So.... ciao till Monday!
Hey Western Washington! Mark Your Calendars! Second Thursday of Every Month!
I'll be speaking on Scripture.
Including tonight!
November 13 7:00 PM. St. Mark's, Shoreline WA. Topic: Survey of Scripture II
Don't miss it if you can!
I'll be speaking on Scripture.
Including tonight!
November 13 7:00 PM. St. Mark's, Shoreline WA. Topic: Survey of Scripture II
Don't miss it if you can!
A reader writes:
Lord, hear our prayer!
Please pray for my wife Kim and our unborn daughter. She has been passing bloodclots and we're not sure what's wrong. She has a doctor's appointment for 11:45 this morning.
St. Gerard Majella, patron of the unborn, pray for us!
Lord, hear our prayer!
Fun to Read but....
Hoo boy does this have "Run, Don't Walk in the Opposite Direction" written all over it.
The great thing about New York is that it produces such *characters*.
The scary thing about New York is that it produces such *characters*.
Here's the NY Times with a story on the lady behind the ad.
Hoo boy does this have "Run, Don't Walk in the Opposite Direction" written all over it.
The great thing about New York is that it produces such *characters*.
The scary thing about New York is that it produces such *characters*.
Here's the NY Times with a story on the lady behind the ad.
Because all of Nature--Especially Human Nature--is ours to shape and mold according to our personal truth of the moment
We are gods, knowing the difference between good and evil! Where's the harm in that?
It's a good thing we control such technology and not those evil Muslims. Clearly, if there were a God, he'd be on our side.
We are gods, knowing the difference between good and evil! Where's the harm in that?
It's a good thing we control such technology and not those evil Muslims. Clearly, if there were a God, he'd be on our side.