Wednesday, December 31, 2008

You're Not Worth Healing

1. One of the major fronts in the future pro-life struggle will be against health care rationing, which is a fancy way of saying government-compelled passive euthanasia, which is itself a fancy way of saying "killing people by denying them medicine and treatment because we've decided it's too expensive". Yet that is exactly what is likely to come under the health care plans of the 100% anti-life President-elect.

2. You must comply with the New Order or you will be re-educated! The New Jersey Division of Human Rights (sic) has ruled that a Methodist organization was required to rent its facilities for a same-sex "civil union", even though that would violate the group's religious beliefs. Article here, ruling here. "Tolerance", 21st Century style, coming to a Knights of Columbus hall near you.

3. Fr. Richard McBrien, dean of the revisionist wing of theologians, gave an interview with the Boston Globe the other day. He says all the expected things, which are of no interest whatsoever because we've heard them a million times already. What saddened me, though, was his answer to the question "Why don't you leave [the Church]?" He said, "Because it's my church. It's my home. And I was born in it. I've been a Catholic all my life. And I have affirmation from so many good people. I feel that I have a responsibility to them to continue working at it and doing the best I can." Sad that a priest of Jesus Christ for 40+ years didn't cite a deep love for Jesus in the Eucharist, a hunger for the salvation of souls, a desire to lead people to an intimate friendship with Christ, etc. Please pray for Fr. McBrien.

4. On the other hand, there's Pope Benedict on the task and role of theologians. Here's the money quote: "the fundamental virtue of the theologian is to seek obedience to faith, the humility of faith that opens our eyes. This humility renders the theologian a collaborator of the truth. In this way it will not happen that he speaks of himself. Interiorly purified by obedience to the truth, he will reach, instead, the point that the Truth itself, that the Lord, can speak through the theologian and theology." Amen.

5. Ok, this is a strange correlation -- the headline reads, "Teens Who Skip Breakfast Lose Virginity Earlier". What, earlier in the day? Are they so ravenous with hunger they're reduced to exchanging their virtue for food? Is their will weakened from lack of nutrition? What does oatmeal have to do with chastity, anyway? Who checks up on these things? I just don't get it.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Princess Caroline Condescends

1. Her Grace, Princess Caroline, is often touted for her noblesse oblige in working to raise money for the NYC schools system. Only problem -- nobody can remember her having done anything, or even having shown up in the office. Work? That's for the little people. Voting? For those who can spare the time from the social calendar. Her Grace has now condescended to give interviews, to apprise the peons of her "qualifications" and opinions. I won't link to the articles, since they mostly comprise of questions like "What's on your iPod?" You can always count on the star-struck press to give us the information we need. On the other hand, not all of the media is in the tank for Herself, thank God.

2. John Allen, the veteran Vatican reporter, offers his insights into the least-reported but most important Church stories of 2008. Articles like this are especially useful for their international perspective, since they remind us that, despite our innate parochialism, we're actually members of the Universal Church.


3. Last week Pope Benedict gave his annual address to the Curia, highlighting some important themes of his preaching, particularly the notion that there is an "ecology of man" -- "This has to do with faith in the Creator and listening to the language of creation, which, if disregarded, would be man's self-destruction and therefore a destruction of God's work itself." (summary here, unofficial translation here
). The usual professional complainers from the "gay" community immediately denounced the Holy Father for "homophobia", based on an entirely false and tendentious reading of his speech. Here's the ringing defense of the Holy Father from the USCCB press office: . Oh, that's right, there wasn't one. Now, I realize it was Christmas week and all, and that we don't want to be Jacks-in-the-Box whenever somebody misrepresents the Church's teaching. But no response in a week? None?

4. Here's why the Establishment Clause of our Constitution makes so much sense -- so you won't have politicians meddle in the affairs of churches that receive tax support, as they are in Germany.


5. So now there's iBreviary, which allows you to download the Divine Office for your iPhone. "O God, come to my assistance, O Lord, make haste to recharge my battery"?

6. Blogged yesterday on "Why Elections Matter" on my official ArchNY blog -- some reflections on the agenda for the pro-abortion crowd in the new Administration.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Last Thoughts Before Christmas

1. Since the Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, can't leave any women safe from exploitation, they are taking their "services" to homeless shelters. Wasn't one of Margaret Sanger's lovely eugenic slogans "More of us, fewer of them"?

2. Prof. Michael New has documented the positive effects of parental involvement laws in reducing the number of abortions. As expected, the self-interested pro-abortion crowd has objected, and now Prof. New lays out the defense of his position. This is an important argument, since the supporters of the 100% anti-life President-elect claim that social policies (i.e., public assistance, etc.) are sufficient by themselves to reduce abortions, without a need to actually enact any direct restrictions on abortion. Self-evident nonsense, yes, but the social science studies are an important part of our argument here, and it's vital that we are able to explain it to people.

3. Princess Caroline, apparently non-plussed by the failure of her social inferiors to show proper deference to her droit de seigneur, declines to reveal the nature and extent of her holdings in land and lucre. At what point does this joke get too old?

4. Just in case anyone is still willing to treat scientists as if they were the High Priests of the New Morality, here's a bunch of morally tone-deaf researchers who claim that incest isn't really all that bad, because the risk of genetic defects is "acceptable". What about the risk of moral defects?

5. Our Lord said, "Go and make disciples of all nations..." Here, the first ever public celebration of Christmas in Baghdad. Give Glory to God in the Highest!

6. I'm taking some time off during the holiday, so my missives will appear irregularly for the next two weeks. Try to have a blessed Christmas anyway.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Porn, Intolerance, and Other Oddities

1. Mona Charen on the devastating effects of the mainstreaming of pornography. We need to talk about this problem more, and more forcefully.

2. Now this is an odd symmetry. The appearance of Rick Warren at the upcoming inauguration is being critcized not just by "gay" rights groups, but now by Human Life International, a staunchly pro-life group, who think that Warren's participation implicitly endorses the views of the 100% anti-life President-elect. Unfortunately, I think that HLI is practicing the old "cut off your nose" approach to advocacy. One of the gravest threats to the pro-life/pro-marriage cause is the marginalization of our leaders by those who brand us as out-of-the-mainstream bigots. Warren's participation in the inauguration puts the lie to that nonsense, and is thus a good thing; it misleads nobody into thinking that pro-lifers endorse The One's anti-life agenda. If we flee the public square, guess who will be left there to dominate?

3. Pro-life ads from VirtueMedia (a Catholic-run operation) will appear on MTV and BET in the new year, perhaps including a post-abortion healing message. Welcome to the Real World.

4. A Catholic bishop in the UK says that it's not a good idea to go to Confession regularly, especially if all you're doing is confessing the same sins over and over again, since there's no conversion taking place. Um, Your Excellency, if I don't go to the doctor regularly for my chronic illness, won't I get worse?

5. Princess Caroline condescends to promulgate a decree to the peons explaining how she will rule them. Thank you, Your Grace. You are too, too kind.

6. Okay, this is just weird. Scientists studying the physiology of emotion say that people respond to the 100% anti-life President-elect by experiencing the physical sensation of "transcendence" or "elevation", which they describe as "a feeling of spreading, liquid warmth in the chest and a lump in the throat.". And all this time I thought it was nausea.

6. Ladies, for that last minute gift for your spouse, here's something that says it all -- Burger King has started marketing meat-scented body spray for men. Thank God I'm a vegetarian.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Conscience Rights Under Attack

1. Pharmacists in Illinois continue their fight to have their conscience rights protected. Kind of reminds you of the Book of Maccabees -- the little people, fighting against the powerful, who hold that you must sacrifice at the altar of their gods, or you will be persecuted.

2. Good interview with evangelical pastor Rick Warren, who is at the center of controversy because he supported Prop 8 and will be offering the invocation at the upcoming inauguration. He seems to have no trouble telling powerful pro-abortion political figures the truth (full transcript of the interview is here).

3. George Weigel comments generally on the new bioethics document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. I'm surprised at the relative lack of detailed reaction so far from Catholic theologians (confession -- I don't count anything published in Commonweal or the National Catholic Reporter in this category). Perhaps they're all out Christmas shopping. Interestingly, here's an article in Slate, of all places, that doesn't mention the document but supports its teaching against cryopreservation of IVF embryos, in stronger language than anything the Vatican has ever said.

4. The struggle for rationality regarding homosexuality continues at the home of the bizarre, the United Nations. Please support C-Fam, which is carrying on this difficult struggle at the Tower of Babel.

5. Charles Krauthammer thoroughly scorns and demolishes the idea of Princess Caroline becoming the newest member of the House of Lords, er, I mean the US Senate. It is worth noting that our accidental Governor's political career got its start only because he happened to be the son of a powerful Harlem Democratic mover and shaker. I realize that our next Senator will be bad no matter who is anointed, but does she -- and the entire process -- have to be such a joke as well?

6. I'm going to blog later today at my official ArchNY blog on the CDF document's section on "emergency contraception", which has important implications for the conscience rights of Catholic hospitals.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Ministers, Ex-priests, and Perspective from the Pope

1. Schadenfreude alert! Homosexual activists are annoyed with the 95+% pro-"gay" President-elect because -- horrors! -- he's chosen a religious leader who supported Prop 8 to offer the invocation at his inauguration. Rev. Warren is also pro-life, too, so I can't wait for the pro-abortion types to chime in. Sorry, I can't help it. Snicker, snicker, snicker.

2. It's very handy when dissident priests and nuns sign open letters protesting things, because it helps identify them so we know who we're dealing with. Here, a group of religious sisters express their opposition to the excommunication of Fr. Roy Bourgeois, MM (you remember, he openly advocated the ordination of women and participated in a sacriligious "Mass"). You have to love that they call excommunication "medieval" -- perhaps it's been a while since they cracked open a Bible and read Mt. 18:17, 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 1 Tim. 1:20, and Titus 3:10, not to mention the consistent practice of the ancient Church. I seem to remember someone famous who insisted "I will not serve". Not the best role model.

3. Sen. Sam Brownback, a solid Catholic pro-lifer, is retiring from the Senate, and will probably run for Governor of Kansas. Getting ready for a presidential run, we hope?

4. Unborn children can now have their movements posted to Twitter, thanks to the "Kickabee". From Twitter, it's just a short step to actual blogging, and surely life must begin at the moment of your first blog post.

5. Putting it all in perspective as usual, Benedict XVI, in his last general audience of 2008, reminds us that Christmas is an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of our existence.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

What the Other Side is Up To

1. The 100% anti-life President-elect never fails to disappoint. Lest there be any doubt, here's the laundry list of pro-abortion initiatives we can expect, including negating the proposed regulations that would protect conscience rights for hospitals and health care workers. What may be most important point is the admission by the pro-abortion crowd that they don't intend to push for FOCA, and that they don't think they have enough votes. Let us pray.

2. Last time I looked, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was still part of the Catholic Church. So why is its diocesan newspaper printing a column by an Episcopal "priest" who openly and bluntly criticizes immemorial Christian teachings on homosexuality and on priestly orders? Since when are diocesan papers an acceptable vehicle for proclaiming false doctrine and encouraging Catholics to embrace heresy? Here is what the Code of Canon Law, 823 §1 says: "In order to preserve the integrity of the truths of faith and morals, the pastors of the Church have the duty and right to be watchful so that no harm is done to the faith or morals of the Christian faithful through writings or the use of instruments of social communication." What in the world is going on out there? Hello?

3. The Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, is up to the same wicked evil tricks. Once again, an undercover "client" catches a "counselor" agreeing to hide the rape of a 13-year old and coaching her to evade the parental notification laws of Indiana. Finally, it appears that the authorities are taking action. And yet, the big private foundations keep throwing money at them.

4. Man, why didn't I think if this earlier -- just write a whole new book of the Bible to authorize my favorite sins. Let's see -- Booze? Check. Sex? Check. Bossing people around? Check. Making nasty comments about other people? Check. Not praying? Check. Always thinking I'm right? Check. Okay, I've got the basic outline ready, the trick is going to be getting those Bible publishers to include it in the next edition. Any suggestions?

5. So yesterday the accidental Governor of New York issued his proposed budget, chock full of new taxes. Yesterday was also the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. Coincidence? I think not. Where's your Mohawk outfit?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Hello? Is Anybody Home?

1. What is wrong with the Catholic Health Association (the trade group for ostensibly Catholic hospitals)? They issued a statement applauding the appointment of 95+% anti-life former Senator Thomas Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the 100% anti-life President-elect. Are they unaware that this "extraordinary and capable" man (a former Catholic, by the way) is likely to do everything within the power of the federal government to gut their conscience rights and to advance the Culture of Death? I understand that they must keep good relations with Caesar, but this is beyond the beyond -- not even a mention of any threats to human life, nothing but gush. Perhaps they should be renamed the Laodicean Health Association (see Rev. 3:14-17)

2. It's not a good week for disobedient priests. First, on the sad story of Fr. Raymond Bourgeois, MM, having not repented of his public advocacy for women's ordination or for his participation in a sacreligious simulated Mass, he has now been excommunicated. Second, Bishop Olmstead of Phoenix has formally excommunicated the founder of LifeTeen and another priest for their own brand of disobedience, including schism -- see here and here. Let us pray for their repentance and return to the Body of Christ.

3. Kathryn Jean Lopez, on National Review Online, has an interesting take on the Chicago political scandal -- it's all about conscience, and if you're going to ignore truth and goodness in some areas, you'll ignore it in others: . We all know this. Sin is infectious, and can't be contained to one part of our lives. Once we let the disease grow, it spreads like cancer.

4. Just in case anyone has any illusions about what Caroline Kennedy might be like in the US Senate, recall that she was the featured speaker at NARAL's "Power of Choice Luncheon" in New York in October. The Party of Herod, at its finest -- shallow, dynastic, and anti-life. Perfect.

5. So the 100% anti-life President-elect, er, I mean The One, is being portrayed as one of the wise men in a manger scene in Italy. Given all the hype, I would have expected them to show him as the baby in the manger. Of course, there's also this odd contribution from our Catalan friends.

6. This is what it comes to -- surrogate parenthood for "gay" penguins. The world spins out of control.

7. Blogged yesterday about the new CDF document and embryo adoption at my official ArchNY blog. Check it out.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Whose Side are You On?

1. Okay, so the University of San Francisco has announced that it has stopped providing abortion coverage to students, but this means that it continues to provide it to staff. Yesterday's reading said it very plainly: "Refrain from every kind of evil" (1 Thes 5: 22). Hello? Anyone listening? Staff babies are real people too.

2. Yes, they claim that they're not pro-abortion, but only "pro-choice". But when you take blood money from the abortion industry and its shills, what does that say about you? Let me make this clear -- it makes you Judas, and you need to repent. Now.

3. As we mourn the death of Cardinal Dulles, if you really want to get a sense of the breadth and depth of his theology, check out these great collections of his writings (only if you have lots of time to spend following links and diving into his thought)

4. You can only shake your head in disbelief sometimes. In this recent Harris Poll, 26% of Catholics say they believe in reincarnation, and 40% believe in astrology. At least some of the core Christian beliefs (God, Virgin birth, resurrection, Jesus the Son of God) got over 75%. Another victory for modern catechesis.

5. A very sad article reflecting on recent studies of the legacy of the "hook-up culture" among the young. So many broken hearts, and so many people whose capacity for true love has been badly damaged.

6. Today is Presidential Election Day. No, I'm not delusional. Today the Electoral College meets to elect the President and Vice-President of the United States. You just voted for electors back in November. Sadly, I think the results will be as reported back last month. There's always hope.

7. I'm going to blog later today on my official ArchNY blog about the new CDF statement on bioethics, particularly about the claim made by some that it leaves the door open to embryo adoption. I don't believe that's a fair reading of the document, and I'll explain in the blog. If I'm wrong about this, please explain it to me, because I would never willingly say anything against the teaching of the Church. Later in the week I'm going to blog about the document's teaching on "emergency contraception", because I think it has very important consequences for public policy (and our hospitals).

Friday, December 12, 2008

New Vatican Document

1. Important new document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on bioethical issues. A short summary is on the USCCB website. This will now be the benchmark for all further discussions. I read it quickly this morning and note that they disapprove of the adoption of so-called "snowflake babies" -- allowing couples to adopt nd bring to birth embryos that have been frozen and abandoned.

2. Efforts are increasing around the country to defund the Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood. Good luck -- the new Congress and Administration are likely to find all sorts of ways to increase funding streams the Temple of Moloch, committed as they are to the death cult it practices.

3. Unwilling as they are to engage in fair and open debate, the same sex "marriage" proponents in the New Jersey state government have resorted to the old-fashioned "stacking the deck" approach, filling a "commission" with advocates and then pretending that the resulting report is neutral and definitive. The NJ Catholic Conference calls them on it. The whole argument in favor of SSM is completely riddled with lies, half-truths, and distortions from start to finish. They should just come out and admit the truth -- they want power, and when they get it, they'll stick it to their opponents.

4. This is mind-boggling, even for those of us who are completely jaded about the Catholicity of universities "in the Jesuit tradition" and of the Society of Jesus itself -- the Jesuit University of San Francisco is voluntarily offering abortion insurance coverage to students and staff, and is thus formally cooperating in grave evil. Remember the meditation on "The Two Standards" from the Spiritual Exercises -- the one where we are asked to decide which standard we will fight under, Jesus' or Satan's? Guess which one they've chosen.

5. There is absolutely nothing that our culture will not commercialize. When you pay women to donate eggs, or to be surrogates, guess what -- they'll line up to sell themselves.

6. Gotta love the headline: "Seminary Discovers Latin". I didn't know it was lost. Anyway, a nice story about how some at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary celebrated the Extraordinary Form of the Mass for the first time in decades.

7. Our Lady of Guadalupe, please pray for us. And please pray especially for Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, who has had a recurrence of his cancer.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Dishonest Garbage from the Media

1. I'm sure many of you have already heard about Newsweek's deeply dishonest and pathetically ignorant opinion piece (disguised as journalism) about same-sex "marriage", arguing that it's completely consistent with the Bible, and that our view of marriage is un-Biblical. I won't link to it, since increasing the number of hits might encourage the fools, but here is the definitive response to the piece from a website that specializes in the analysis of journalism about religion. What's even better is that when challenged, Newsweek fell back on the old schoolyard tactic of calling names, essentially saying that anyone who believes in the authority of Scripture is "intellectually bankrupt", "unserious", and guilty of "the worst kind of fundamentalism". Get used to it -- this is how the secular atheist world (in this case revisionist theologians, which is the same thing) look at us, and they'll only get more and more vocal about it as time goes on. Now, why is any Christian still a subscriber to Newsweak?

2. Apropos of that, see this interesting comparison of liberal Protestantism to "liberal" Catholicism. Actually, the term "liberal" really doesn't get it just right. We've already been liberated by Christ, so I'm ok with being a genuine "liberal" (see Gal 5:1). I prefer "revisionist", because I think that's what it's really all about -- revising Scripture, tradition, and doctrine according to one's private judgment, in order to fit with cultural or personal preferences. Hey, life is easy if you can just make up your own religion. Until Judgment Day, that is.

3. Sen. Biden's bishop has said that he will not "politicize the Eucharist" and will engage in dialogue with the pro-abortion Vice President elect. That's exactly how the process begins -- with the bishop admonishing the public official to be mindful of his duty as a Christian. But that's not where the process ends.

4. Cardinal Egan and Bishop DiMarzio have issued a joint statement regarding Intro 826, the bill before the NY City Council that would violate the free speech rights of pro-life witnesses in front of abortion clinics. Please call your council representative a.s.a.p. if you're a New York City resident. If not, please pray.

5. Politically correct cultural suicide from the UK is the gift that keeps on giving, because there's never a shortage of stories that make you shake your head in disbelief. Now they're editing the dictionary to take Christianity out:

6. Tomorrow, I'm going to that den of iniquity popularly known as Albany for a couple of days of meetings, so I'll be off the air. Hey, it's not that bad a place. At least our Governor hasn't been arrested for selling Senate seats today. But then again, it's still early in the afternoon.

7. Blogging later today at my official ArchNY blog about keeping our eyes on the ball, and not getting distracted by side issues.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Ecumenism

1. Traditional Anglicans (i.e., those who reject the Episcopal Church's strong revisionist tendencies) have formed their own province here in North America. Psst. Over here. You're always welcome here on this side of the Tiber.

2. In other inter-religious news, the Ecumenical Patriarch is again saying very positive things about the quest for restoration of full communion between East and West. Please, Lord, make it happen soon! In other Orthodox news, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow has died. Please pray for the repose of his soul, and for a successor committed to the unity of the Church.

3. Austin Ruse of C-Fam lays out what the future holds under Madame Clinton as Secretary of State. It isn't pretty.

4. The future of American health care -- rationing, just like in the UK, where dollar values are placed on human life. Here's the key quote that says it all, if you don't want to read the whole thing. It concerns a man who needs a particular medicine (annual cost $54,000) to stop the spread of his cancer: "But at that price, Mr. Hardy’s life is not worth prolonging, according to a British government agency, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. The institute, known as NICE, has decided that Britain, except in rare cases, can afford only £15,000, or about $22,750, to save six months of a citizen’s life." They even call the agency "NICE". Mr. Orwell, call your office.

5. The tragedy of modern Spain continues. In addition to a birth rate far below replacement rates, Spain has also seen a doubling in the number of abortions over the past decade. Here's what's even more tragic: the "Equality Minister" (whatever the heck that means -- can you even imagine?) of the Socialist government is talking about "reforming" the law to make it even easier to have an abortion. The only conclusion is that the government there actually wants more women to have abortions. Sick, and evil, a symptom of deep cultural dispair.

6. The last reigning sovereign in Europe with actual ruling authority, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg will now be stripped of his veto power because he opposed a bill that would legalize euthanasia in his tiny nation. Please offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the witness of this Catholic ruler.

7. Today's the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ended Prohibition. It's a little early in the day for me, but later on I'm going to honor the occasion in the only appropriate way. I suggest you do likewise.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

The "Saxbe Fix" and Delicious Irony

1. Sometimes, the irony is just too delicious. The Constitution (Article One, Section Six) prohibits a Senator from being appointed to an executive position, if the pay for that position was increased during the Senator's term in office. This provision would thus make Sen. Hillary Clinton constitutionally ineligible to be Secretary of State. But here's where it gets good. In the 1970's, they cooked up a scheme to evade that provision, by legislatively reducing the salary of the executive position to its pre-raise level. Here's the best part -- the scheme was invented by Richard Nixon, and the guy he appointed (Sen. William Saxbe) was the clean-up crew after the infamous "Saturday Night Massacre", when Nixon shredded the Justice Department to continue the cover-up of Watergate (Saxbe had nothing to do with it -- he was pretty much a good guy). The scheme even has a shady-sounding name -- "the Saxbe fix". This is just perfect! So here we have Hillary Clinton, who made her bones on the staff of the Congressional Committee that was impeaching Nixon for abuse of power, and who's been pontificating self-righteously about the current Administration's alleged disrespect for the Constitution. And now she's benefitting from a sneaky Nixonian scheme to completely vitiate a clear provision of the Constitution. I love it.

2. The Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, is once again caught red handed conspiring to cover up the rape of a child, in order to cash in on the abortion. All with government funding. With complete impunity. Waiting for indictments or investigations? Don't hold your breath.

3. The leadership of the Party of Herod and the transition team for the 100% anti-life President-elect are giving hints as to their plans for January. At the top of the list is expanded funding for embryonic stem cell research. But he was supposed to be more pro-life than the other guy!

4. From the "You Have Got to Be Kidding" department. Elliot Spitzer has been engaged as a new political columnist for Slate online. Here's the best part: the column will be called "The Best Policy". I seem to remember an old saying that "honesty is the best policy". Perhaps they could enlighten us about his particular qualifications to write about honesty in public or private life, because they are far from self-evident.

5. Stop the presses! Breaking news, and Time Magazine has it cold -- the Pope is Catholic! Film at 11.

6. This is an odd toy -- an online calculator that will assess your risk of divorce. Mine came out so low that it was "N/A". Whew.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Go Take a Flying Leap

1. Bishop Loverde of Arlington to those who would try to force him to close Catholic institutions under the guise of FOCA: "Go take a flying leap". Is that a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 16:22?

2. The struggle continues at the United Nations, where the Holy See has announced its opposition to a measure that would call for the end to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (a precursor to pressuring countries to legalize same-sex "marriage"). This is, of course, the brainchild of the European Union, but I wonder what the position of our incoming administration will be on this? Gee, I'll give you one guess.

3. There's an interesting debate going on in the conservative movement about the role of religion, and whether religious "social conservatives" are a net plus or minus for the conservative (and Republican) electoral coalition. Here's a piece from National Review Online that lays out some important facts that must be kept in mind during this debate, namely that there is no factual basis for the claim that dumping social conservative positions -- our positions -- would gain the conservatives and Republicans any more votes. For my part, I hope the Republicans keep in mind the fate of the Whig Party, which fell apart over internal disputes about the abolition of slavery, leading to the creation of a new party that was unequivocal on the issue. Will history repeat itself?

4. It's worth recalling every so often that "abortion rights" mean that fathers are losing their children, and they have no legal right to do anything about it except mourn the loss. And apropos of that, don't forget to spread the word about Abortion Changes You, which offers hope to all those -- mothers, father, siblings -- suffering after an abortion.

5. Any budding script writers out there? There's a contest to come up with a script for a short film on a Theology of the Body theme. Let's see, how can I portray the internal communion of the Trinitarian love in dramatic form in 5 to 10 pages?

6. I received a very nice award the other night, the Pontifical Medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. I'm going to blog about it later today on my official ArchNY blog.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

What Pleases Moloch

1. You know things are bad when the Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, is pleased with the people being appointed by the 100% anti-life President-elect. What's really bad is that they're talking about his foreign policy team, not those who will be doing evil on the domestic front. But wait a minute, weren't we assured that there was little a President could do to affect abortion?

2. Yet another study that proves that abortion has a negative effect on the mental health of the mother. Watch now as the medical/psychological establishment continues to ignore reality. Can that be healthy for them?

3. The depraved pro-abortion front group "Catholics for Choice" is sponsoring disgusting "World AIDS Day" ads directed at Hispanics to promote condom use, with the slogan "Good Catholics Use Condoms". They say that the Church “has not always been honest about sex”. Maybe it's me, but I can't figure out what's dishonest about this message -- you should only have sex within a lifelong monogamous marriage, and any sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong and dangerous. What's really dishonest is to give people the false sense of security that a thin sheath of latex will insulate a person from the emotional and physical consequences of promiscuity.

4. If you can handle a glimpse into the heart of evil, read this chilling column from the UK by a person who coldly justifies killing handicapped children because it's best for them and their families. This woman needs prayers, and so does our society, if this kind of attitude is "mainstream" enough to be published in a major newspaper.

5. Have they all lost their marbles in the UK? Now the Catholic schools are going to set up separate prayer rooms and toilets for those of other faiths. No. Just no.

6. Blogged last night on my official ArchNY blog about threats to freedom of conscience -- "Sit Down and Shut Up"

Monday, December 1, 2008

Admonish with Love

1. Another priest out west admonishes his parish to examine their consciences if they voted for the 100% anti-life President-elect. Perhaps I'm naive, but wouldn't you expect a priest to admonish his flock regularly to examine their consciences? Shouldn't we be doing that every day? Do people think it's not possible to sin in the voting booth? Do people think it's not possible to sin at all any more?

2. From the "What Are You Thinking?" department, according to this report (which does not cite a source, and is thus suspect), Catholic priests in the UK have been directed to avoid "heterosexist" language. So much for Romans 1:24-27.

3. From that same department, a Vatican official has expressed his thanks to the Muslims for returning God to secularized Europe. Sorry, but I just finished reading a book about the tragic fall of Constantinople in 1453, and I feel great gratitude and admiration for the labors of the doomed defenders of the Roman Empire, as well as other men like John III Sobieski, Don John of Austria, and all the heroes of the Reconquista. I actually remember why the universal Church celebrates the Feasts of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Holy Name of Mary. I also see the threats looming from the demographic suicide of Europe (see the below-replacement level birth rates of Spain and Italy), and the activities of radical Islamists in various countries. I know what the good Cardinal was getting at, but this kind of talk makes no sense to me.

4. Here's an odd story about a couple who took pre-marital chastity to the point where they never even kissed. I suppose that if you can't kiss without sinning, then you shouldn't, but this strikes me as being more than a little bit weird.