1. With all of the qualified attorneys in the United States, the President has chosen someone to head the influential Office of Legal Counsel of the Justice Department who is so pro-abortion that she thinks that pregnancy is comparable to slavery. Guess what? Her previous job was as Chief Counsel to NARAL.
2. Interesting analysis by Ed Peters of the Canon Law issues involved in withholding Holy Communion from pro-abortion public officials.
3. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that "reproductive rights" (i.e., killing unborn children and sterilizing mothers) is at the top of the US foreign policy agenda. Well, religious liberty apparently isn't at the top of the agenda, as evidenced by our government's cavalier attitude towards it in the Middle East. (By the way, the key decisions were made while the prior Administration was in office).
4. So the HIV/AIDS rate in Washington DC is higher than in some African nations, despite handing out 1.5 million condoms last year (the DC population is about 600,000). The answer? More condoms, of course.
5. A good indicator of the derangement of the pro-abortion absolutists is their reaction to the "Choose Life" license plates. Now, they're going bananas because the Governor of Virginia (who also happens to be the Chairman of the Democratic Party) signed a bill authorizing them. Perhaps the Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, will try to get "Choose Death" plates.
6. So the newest trend among self-styled atheists is to file documents with the Church seeking to "de-baptize" themselves. I can hear them now: "I keep rubbing this mark but it won't come off. It must be indelible!" (See CCC 1272)
7. The President of the United States has just fired the head of a private corporation (GM), as a condition of that corporation receiving public money, and guaranteed the company's auto warranties. I seem to have overlooked the clause in Article 2 of the Constitution that gave the President that power. But in any event, does this precedent give anyone pause about government funding for Catholic schools (e.g., vouchers) and other institutions?
8. This was sent to me, and I pass this along without comment, because no matter what I say I'll get in trouble. A new reason to support adult stem cell research.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Hope for the Governor?
1. Gov. Kathleen Sibelius of Kansas has signed a pro-life bill that would require abortion clinics to offer a sonogram and a chance to hear the fetal heartbeat. I'm sure this had nothing to do with the pressure from pro-lifers. Of perhaps she was feeling magnanimous after her pal, the infamous Dr. George Tiller, was acquitted of all criminal charges. In any event, it is a cause for joy. Dare we pray that this is a step on the road to conversion?
2. Further confirmation that many Catholics have assimilated to the world. According to a new Gallup poll, the attitudes of those who describe themselves as Catholics are indistinguishable from the rest of Americans on crucial issues like abortion. However, among those who attend Mass, the numbers are somewhat more favorable. How fresh is the salt? (Mt. 5:13)
3. More NDU stuff. Our new Archbishop made a brief comment about the NDU issue druing a TV interview: "they made a big mistake". The whole interview is worth watching. Interesting article about the student and alumni reaction to the King Herod University, er, I mean Notre Dame, fiasco. It's encouraging that 73% of alumni letters to the school paper are opposed to the President's appearance. But what does it say about the Catholic identity of the school that 97% of the seniors who wrote letters support it? Nothing good, that's for sure. Meanwhile, here's George Weigel on the whole mess. Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston has written on the ND matter. It's important because he's the first Cardinal to comment, and he's the new Chairman of the Pro-Life Committee of USCCB. It's also a fine explanation of the principles involved in this matter and in the other major controversy, the olive branch to the Society of St. Pius X.
4. I've been asked what I mean by calling NDU "King Herod University". I do not mean to accuse them of the murderous or licentious immorality we recall about the various Herods in the New Testament. In fact, aside from public offenses against the Eighth Commandment (for the patently false statements of their spokesman), and against the Fifth Commandment (for knowingly causing scandal), I have no knowledge of any immorality on their part. What I really mean is this. If you look at the track record of the Herodian kings, their defining characteristic was their craven sycophancy towards the Roman Emperor. That is the tradition I mean to refer to. Okay?
5. Amazingly, here is an article in the US News health section about how embryonic stem cells are obsolete.
6. Here's the best Hillary Clinton story ever. While touring Mexico, the best and brightest Secretary of State visited Guadalupe. After viewing the tilma, she asked her guide, "Who painted it?" True story. The best part -- the priest who was escorting her answered, "God". Sadly, here is the worst Hillary Clinton story ever. The Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, gave its Margaret Sanger Award to Mrs. Clinton. An award named after an evil racist advocate of eugenics and euthanasia, given by an organization devoted to mass murder of minorities and covering up the rape of children. What an honor.
7. That isolated, out of touch, medieval pope -- why does his popularity continue to rise? Because he leads us to Christ, and, like the Master, he is a sign of contradiction.
8. Okaaaaaay. Some folks in Holland are objecting to the EU symbol (twelve-stars in a circle) because they think it's in honor of Mary. This on the continent that decided to ignore Christianity in its constitution. Given the open immorality in Amsterdam, don't they have something closer to home to worry about?
2. Further confirmation that many Catholics have assimilated to the world. According to a new Gallup poll, the attitudes of those who describe themselves as Catholics are indistinguishable from the rest of Americans on crucial issues like abortion. However, among those who attend Mass, the numbers are somewhat more favorable. How fresh is the salt? (Mt. 5:13)
3. More NDU stuff. Our new Archbishop made a brief comment about the NDU issue druing a TV interview: "they made a big mistake". The whole interview is worth watching. Interesting article about the student and alumni reaction to the King Herod University, er, I mean Notre Dame, fiasco. It's encouraging that 73% of alumni letters to the school paper are opposed to the President's appearance. But what does it say about the Catholic identity of the school that 97% of the seniors who wrote letters support it? Nothing good, that's for sure. Meanwhile, here's George Weigel on the whole mess. Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston has written on the ND matter. It's important because he's the first Cardinal to comment, and he's the new Chairman of the Pro-Life Committee of USCCB. It's also a fine explanation of the principles involved in this matter and in the other major controversy, the olive branch to the Society of St. Pius X.
4. I've been asked what I mean by calling NDU "King Herod University". I do not mean to accuse them of the murderous or licentious immorality we recall about the various Herods in the New Testament. In fact, aside from public offenses against the Eighth Commandment (for the patently false statements of their spokesman), and against the Fifth Commandment (for knowingly causing scandal), I have no knowledge of any immorality on their part. What I really mean is this. If you look at the track record of the Herodian kings, their defining characteristic was their craven sycophancy towards the Roman Emperor. That is the tradition I mean to refer to. Okay?
5. Amazingly, here is an article in the US News health section about how embryonic stem cells are obsolete.
6. Here's the best Hillary Clinton story ever. While touring Mexico, the best and brightest Secretary of State visited Guadalupe. After viewing the tilma, she asked her guide, "Who painted it?" True story. The best part -- the priest who was escorting her answered, "God". Sadly, here is the worst Hillary Clinton story ever. The Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, gave its Margaret Sanger Award to Mrs. Clinton. An award named after an evil racist advocate of eugenics and euthanasia, given by an organization devoted to mass murder of minorities and covering up the rape of children. What an honor.
7. That isolated, out of touch, medieval pope -- why does his popularity continue to rise? Because he leads us to Christ, and, like the Master, he is a sign of contradiction.
8. Okaaaaaay. Some folks in Holland are objecting to the EU symbol (twelve-stars in a circle) because they think it's in honor of Mary. This on the continent that decided to ignore Christianity in its constitution. Given the open immorality in Amsterdam, don't they have something closer to home to worry about?
Friday, March 27, 2009
Leviathan Turns His Attention to the Church
1. This is a very disturbing story, if true. Austin Ruse reports that the Administration is planning to reach out to the papal nuncio to try to get the Vatican to silence Archbishop Burke, in light of his public comments about Governor Sibelius and her fitness for Holy Communion. Can anyone think of a more dangerous precedent than a powerful government seeking to interfere with the freedom of a Church official to speak out on moral issues and sacramental discipline within his office's area of competence? Will this Chicago-bred sharp-elbows-style politics work? St. Thomas Becket, pray for us.
2. 180,000 and counting.
3. Another challenge to Catholics who supported the President's election. Note especially the Archdiocese from which this article comes.
4. The madness in Europe continues. In an effort to reduce experimentation on animals, they want to turn to embryonic stem cell research. Yes, Fluffy the Cat has more value to them than human beings in the embryonic stage of development.
5. How far has the Reformation come? Now a committee of the "United Church of Christ" is recommending condom distribution at churches. John Calvin is rolling over in his grave.
6. The effort to market Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, is now moving into new territory -- vaccinating boys.
7. When people throw at you the libel that the Church's opposition to condoms is killing people in Africa, ask them to prove it. We can prove that condom distribution is a poor public health policy, and that abstinence is in fact the best way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. But "there was no correlation between being the sort of African most likely to listen to the Pope about sex and being the sort of African most likely to contract HIV".
8. Speaking of Gov. Sibelius, her pal George Tiller, the notorious late term abortionist, is on trial for violations of Kansas' abortion laws, and the case will go to the jury tomorrow. Please pray that justice will be done.
9. A valuable reminder that, once the sound and fury die down, most Americans still oppose most abortions.
10. The New Evangelization in action. The Diocese of Phoenix has been running a major media campaign to bring back inactive Catholics. The result -- over 92,000 have returned.
2. 180,000 and counting.
3. Another challenge to Catholics who supported the President's election. Note especially the Archdiocese from which this article comes.
4. The madness in Europe continues. In an effort to reduce experimentation on animals, they want to turn to embryonic stem cell research. Yes, Fluffy the Cat has more value to them than human beings in the embryonic stage of development.
5. How far has the Reformation come? Now a committee of the "United Church of Christ" is recommending condom distribution at churches. John Calvin is rolling over in his grave.
6. The effort to market Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, is now moving into new territory -- vaccinating boys.
7. When people throw at you the libel that the Church's opposition to condoms is killing people in Africa, ask them to prove it. We can prove that condom distribution is a poor public health policy, and that abstinence is in fact the best way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. But "there was no correlation between being the sort of African most likely to listen to the Pope about sex and being the sort of African most likely to contract HIV".
8. Speaking of Gov. Sibelius, her pal George Tiller, the notorious late term abortionist, is on trial for violations of Kansas' abortion laws, and the case will go to the jury tomorrow. Please pray that justice will be done.
9. A valuable reminder that, once the sound and fury die down, most Americans still oppose most abortions.
10. The New Evangelization in action. The Diocese of Phoenix has been running a major media campaign to bring back inactive Catholics. The result -- over 92,000 have returned.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
More and More Signatures
1. 165,000 signatures on the King Herod University, er, I mean Notre Dame, petition as of midday today. Are you one of them?
2. Meanwhile, Bishop Olmstead of Phoenix pulls no punches. Msgr. Owen Campion adds some important facts to consider about the relationship between "Catholic" universities, which are run by lay boards, and the bishops, who thus have little authority over them beyond exhortation. Canonist Ed Peters adds some additional info on the limited authority of the bishops under Canon Law.
3. Here are the talking points that the ND spinmeister sent out to alumni leaders. The whole argument is nonsense on stilts ("we're giving him an honorary degree, but we're not really honoring him, don't you see"). But here's the line that grabbed me (they were speaking of the President's positions on such issues as poverty, health care, education): "These are causes dear to the heart of Notre Dame". Tragically, I didn't attend the premier Catholic university in the whole wide world, but even I know that "Notre Dame" is the title of a person, Mary the Mother of God, not just the name of a school. So, perhaps the school's flack should be a little more careful about how he speaks about the Queen of Heaven, since the cause of human life is also dear to her heart. They should also reflect about how they are insulting her name by associating her with this incident.
4. Very candid interview with Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City on pro-abortion Catholic public officials, like a certain Governor of Kansas.
5. On the same issue, you may have heard that the tiresome Randall Terry is promoting an interview that he did with Archbishop Burke. The Archbishop has publicly disassociated himself with the interview, and lays out some disturbing facts about Mr. Terry's less than candid conduct in relation to this incident. Beware.
6. A challenging open letter to "pro-life" supporters of the President, from some very distinguished Catholic scholars.
7. Ten members of the President's Council on Bioethics protest his decision on stem cell research funding, and correct yet again the blatantly false statement by the President that there was a ban on federal funding for research. One wonders if he even consulted with the Council while he was wrestling with -- and defeating -- his conscience.
8. The National Catholic Bioethics Center adds some good facts and analysis on condoms and HIV/AIDS.
9. Get ready folks -- it's apparently time for the "Abortion Pride Movement". Satan laughs, Jesus weeps.
2. Meanwhile, Bishop Olmstead of Phoenix pulls no punches. Msgr. Owen Campion adds some important facts to consider about the relationship between "Catholic" universities, which are run by lay boards, and the bishops, who thus have little authority over them beyond exhortation. Canonist Ed Peters adds some additional info on the limited authority of the bishops under Canon Law.
3. Here are the talking points that the ND spinmeister sent out to alumni leaders. The whole argument is nonsense on stilts ("we're giving him an honorary degree, but we're not really honoring him, don't you see"). But here's the line that grabbed me (they were speaking of the President's positions on such issues as poverty, health care, education): "These are causes dear to the heart of Notre Dame". Tragically, I didn't attend the premier Catholic university in the whole wide world, but even I know that "Notre Dame" is the title of a person, Mary the Mother of God, not just the name of a school. So, perhaps the school's flack should be a little more careful about how he speaks about the Queen of Heaven, since the cause of human life is also dear to her heart. They should also reflect about how they are insulting her name by associating her with this incident.
4. Very candid interview with Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City on pro-abortion Catholic public officials, like a certain Governor of Kansas.
5. On the same issue, you may have heard that the tiresome Randall Terry is promoting an interview that he did with Archbishop Burke. The Archbishop has publicly disassociated himself with the interview, and lays out some disturbing facts about Mr. Terry's less than candid conduct in relation to this incident. Beware.
6. A challenging open letter to "pro-life" supporters of the President, from some very distinguished Catholic scholars.
7. Ten members of the President's Council on Bioethics protest his decision on stem cell research funding, and correct yet again the blatantly false statement by the President that there was a ban on federal funding for research. One wonders if he even consulted with the Council while he was wrestling with -- and defeating -- his conscience.
8. The National Catholic Bioethics Center adds some good facts and analysis on condoms and HIV/AIDS.
9. Get ready folks -- it's apparently time for the "Abortion Pride Movement". Satan laughs, Jesus weeps.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Bishop Weighs In
1. Bishop D'Arcy's very strong and clear statement on the Notre Dame affair. Here is their pastor speaking: "Indeed, as a Catholic University, Notre Dame must ask itself, if by this decision it has chosen prestige over truth. Tomorrow, we celebrate as Catholics the moment when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, became a child in the womb of his most holy mother. Let us ask Our Lady to intercede for the university named in her honor, that it may recommit itself to the primacy of truth over prestige."
2. More good commentary from the National Catholic Register and the Wall Street Journal. Of course, the media is always ready to crank the handle to produce one of the usual Jack in the Box "Catholics" who can always be counted on to pop out of the box to disagree with all things Catholic. This time it's Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ, who stands in his perch of sublime superiority to pooh-pooh the concerns by us poor benighted yahoos as being "absurd". See the response to Fr. Reese here. By the way, if you really want to get a flavor of contemporary anti-Catholicism, read the comments to Fr. Reese's post (like the one that says that "fanatic Catholics" should be burned in the public square).
3. Well, we know that ND is proud of this whole situation, because they said they were. So why isn't the President's upcoming appearance prominently featured on the ND home page or their news and information page. Why is the "Secret Life of Frogs" more prominent? Could it have something to do with the 111,000+ signatures on the petition, which is more than would fit into ND's storied football stadium? Just askin'.
4. A spokesman for ND said yesterday "We fully expected some criticism and have received it, though nothing more than we anticipated". I'm sorry, but that can't possibly be true -- they expected open criticism by their bishop, widespread anger and denunciation by Catholics across the nation, and 100,000 signatures on a petition? Don’t they teach the Eighth Commandment somewhere on ND campus? If it is true, it actually makes things worse -- so this wasn't an insensitive goof, it was a deliberate choice to flout USCCB policy and to scandalize the faithful. Here's a shovel, boys, keep digging.
5. Just as a reminder of what the 100% anti-life President's policies are doing, a new report on the UN Fund for Population Activities -- which will be funded with our tax dollars now, thanks to the President -- shows that our money is supporting enforcement of China's wicked "one child policy". This enforcement includes "crippling fines, intense pressure to be sterilized, the flagrant display of quota information, and even the seizure of ‘illegal children’ by the government". But he's really actually for sure pro-life in a deep meaningful way.
6. Here's an excellent resource from the ZENIT news agency -- "Stem Cells for Dummies".
7. Please pray for the Sisters of Life today -- it's their special feast day. Also, if you're in the Bronx tonight at 8 pm, why not drop in at our Lady of Mt.Carmel Church (Arthur Ave. and 187th Street) for the Pontifical High Mass (Extraordinary Form), which is being offered for the cause of human life?
2. More good commentary from the National Catholic Register and the Wall Street Journal. Of course, the media is always ready to crank the handle to produce one of the usual Jack in the Box "Catholics" who can always be counted on to pop out of the box to disagree with all things Catholic. This time it's Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ, who stands in his perch of sublime superiority to pooh-pooh the concerns by us poor benighted yahoos as being "absurd". See the response to Fr. Reese here. By the way, if you really want to get a flavor of contemporary anti-Catholicism, read the comments to Fr. Reese's post (like the one that says that "fanatic Catholics" should be burned in the public square).
3. Well, we know that ND is proud of this whole situation, because they said they were. So why isn't the President's upcoming appearance prominently featured on the ND home page or their news and information page. Why is the "Secret Life of Frogs" more prominent? Could it have something to do with the 111,000+ signatures on the petition, which is more than would fit into ND's storied football stadium? Just askin'.
4. A spokesman for ND said yesterday "We fully expected some criticism and have received it, though nothing more than we anticipated". I'm sorry, but that can't possibly be true -- they expected open criticism by their bishop, widespread anger and denunciation by Catholics across the nation, and 100,000 signatures on a petition? Don’t they teach the Eighth Commandment somewhere on ND campus? If it is true, it actually makes things worse -- so this wasn't an insensitive goof, it was a deliberate choice to flout USCCB policy and to scandalize the faithful. Here's a shovel, boys, keep digging.
5. Just as a reminder of what the 100% anti-life President's policies are doing, a new report on the UN Fund for Population Activities -- which will be funded with our tax dollars now, thanks to the President -- shows that our money is supporting enforcement of China's wicked "one child policy". This enforcement includes "crippling fines, intense pressure to be sterilized, the flagrant display of quota information, and even the seizure of ‘illegal children’ by the government". But he's really actually for sure pro-life in a deep meaningful way.
6. Here's an excellent resource from the ZENIT news agency -- "Stem Cells for Dummies".
7. Please pray for the Sisters of Life today -- it's their special feast day. Also, if you're in the Bronx tonight at 8 pm, why not drop in at our Lady of Mt.Carmel Church (Arthur Ave. and 187th Street) for the Pontifical High Mass (Extraordinary Form), which is being offered for the cause of human life?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
More on the South Bend Fiasco
1. Bishop John D'Arcy of South Bend-Fort Wayne is expected to release a statement today about the situation at King Herod University, er, I mean Notre Dame. It wasn't out by the time I emailed this, so keep an eye on his website.
2. Meanwhile, the Cardinal Newman Society petition has over 55,000 signatures as of this morning. The elite cognoscenti (e.g., the leadership at ND) just don't seem to understand the level of grassroots anger over the President's anti-life policies, as evidenced by the ND president's position.
3. National Review Online has a symposium on the Notre Dame affair, including such heavyweights as George Weigel, Rev. George Rutler, and many more. My favorite line is Fr. Rutler's suggestion that ND award Judas Iscariot a postumous doctorate in business administration.
4. More reaction at First Things, and a debunking of the official response by the ND president here and here.
5. Has Peter Singer been visiting Texas? You remember Singer, the philosopher who defends the idea of killing newborns because they lack consciousness and are thus not persons? Well, a Texas legislator wants us to go down that road, introducing a bill that would reduce the murder of a baby less than one year old to the lesser crime of "infanticide" if the mother committed the crime out of post-partum depression. Since the legislator is a Democrat in a Republican-controlled house, it's unlikely to pass, but this is a dangerous devaluation of human life.
6. "Constitution? Who needs the stinking Constitution? The heck with the separation of powers. I know better." Thus spake a federal judge here in New York, who took it upon himself to modify the FDA's requirement for a doctor's prescription for "emergency contraception" for 17-year olds because, well, he just knows better than the FDA. The Administration will go in the tank for this ruling, and won't appeal.
7. Our deplorable Sen. Charles Schumer has taken a moment out from mugging for the television cameras to announce that he has suddenly had a revelation that "marriage" actually means two people of the same sex. Thanks, Chuck.
8. A cautionary tale of the removal from public life -- and persecution -- of Christianity in the UK. It could happen here.
9. For once, a positive scientific study (although it still does little more than confirm what we already know). The scientists now find that romantic love can endure in long-term relationships. I could have told them that -- next week is our 24th anniversary and I'm still madly in love with my wife.
10. Blogged yesterday on the Notre Dame fiasco. Check it out.
2. Meanwhile, the Cardinal Newman Society petition has over 55,000 signatures as of this morning. The elite cognoscenti (e.g., the leadership at ND) just don't seem to understand the level of grassroots anger over the President's anti-life policies, as evidenced by the ND president's position.
3. National Review Online has a symposium on the Notre Dame affair, including such heavyweights as George Weigel, Rev. George Rutler, and many more. My favorite line is Fr. Rutler's suggestion that ND award Judas Iscariot a postumous doctorate in business administration.
4. More reaction at First Things, and a debunking of the official response by the ND president here and here.
5. Has Peter Singer been visiting Texas? You remember Singer, the philosopher who defends the idea of killing newborns because they lack consciousness and are thus not persons? Well, a Texas legislator wants us to go down that road, introducing a bill that would reduce the murder of a baby less than one year old to the lesser crime of "infanticide" if the mother committed the crime out of post-partum depression. Since the legislator is a Democrat in a Republican-controlled house, it's unlikely to pass, but this is a dangerous devaluation of human life.
6. "Constitution? Who needs the stinking Constitution? The heck with the separation of powers. I know better." Thus spake a federal judge here in New York, who took it upon himself to modify the FDA's requirement for a doctor's prescription for "emergency contraception" for 17-year olds because, well, he just knows better than the FDA. The Administration will go in the tank for this ruling, and won't appeal.
7. Our deplorable Sen. Charles Schumer has taken a moment out from mugging for the television cameras to announce that he has suddenly had a revelation that "marriage" actually means two people of the same sex. Thanks, Chuck.
8. A cautionary tale of the removal from public life -- and persecution -- of Christianity in the UK. It could happen here.
9. For once, a positive scientific study (although it still does little more than confirm what we already know). The scientists now find that romantic love can endure in long-term relationships. I could have told them that -- next week is our 24th anniversary and I'm still madly in love with my wife.
10. Blogged yesterday on the Notre Dame fiasco. Check it out.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Disgrace in South Bend
1. The University of Notre Dame is a self-described Catholic institution of higher learning named in honor of the Mother of Our Savior. They have invited the 100% anti-life President to give its commencement address, and to receive an honorary doctor of law degree. This is too tragic to be a joke. Since I can't think of anything remotely charitable to say about the people who issued this invitation, or those who defend it, I'll just offer you the relevant statement from the US Bishops: "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." You'll notice that there's no "but he's the President" exception to that principle. Perhaps it's in the emanation of the penumbra, so I missed it.
2. Look, I know we have to respect the man, and show due honor to the office, but we are duty bound to speak the truth about the objectively grave moral evil of his actions. If you wish to make your opinion heard, consider signing to the Cardinal Newman Society petition. If you're an alum, you should know what to do when the next fund-raising letter arrives.
3. It's nice that Notre Dame will also be honoring Mary Ann Glendon at their commencement. But what a contrast will be there for all to see -- the 100% anti-life President and the 100% pro-life Catholic scholar and public servant. It's a perfect real-world illustration of the meditation from St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises on the Two Standards. Will the students get the message? Will the university? Will the President?
4. Here is ND Prof. Ralph McInerny's take on the situation: "It is an unequivocal abandonment of any pretense at being a Catholic university."
5. There is a very troublesome situation in Boston, where Catholic hospitals are entering into a joint venture with secular hospitals that perform abortions. Cardinal O'Malley is assuring everyone that the arrangement is morally acceptable, but the staff of the Catholic hospitals will have to provide information and referrals to people who are seeking abortions. The Cardinal is seeking another opinion from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, a very solid group. Please pray for their deliberations, and for the Cardinal, that they may do the right thing.
6. Don't worry, they said. You have the federal Defense of Marriage Act. You don't need a constitutional amendment defining marriage. Sure, but what do we do if there's a federal court challenge (in Massachusetts, no less) to DOMA on the grounds that it violates the Equal Protection Clause? Can we count on the current Administration to defend a law that it openly opposes? Yeah, sure.
7. Speaking of that, gay "marriage" supporters in California are doing the full Dan Brown conspiracy crackpot shuffle. Here's a summary of an absolutely delusional piece in a gay San Francisco newspaper that attacks the Knights of Columbus as if the order were some secret society of albino hitmen that nobody's ever heard of or encountered before. (I don't want to link to the original story because it's on a wicked website and I don't want to drive up their traffic). Boy, I had no idea that I was a member of such an "obscure Catholic group", nor that the entire Catholic Church "operates its legislative efforts through the little understood entity"! When do I get issued my official K of C "license to kill"? Maybe at the next Friday Fish Fry I'll ask one of the super duper secret members who's walking around with the tuxedo, baldric, cape, chapeau and sword -- if he's not too "obscure" to find. Sigh. Sin does indeed make you stupid.
8. Thanks to the Patriarch of Moscow for supporting the Holy Father's position on condoms and HIV/AIDS.
9. Remember that game "MadLibs", where you filled in the blanks in a story to make it funny? The National Catholic Register has created a MadLib to lampoon the idea that condom distribution is a good public health policy.
10. That old fashioned, out-of-touch, insular Pope, he's so unpopular he was only able to draw one million people to his Mass in Angola. Of course, there's only about 17 million people in all of Angola, and a similar sized crowd here, as percentage of the US population, would have been 18 million.
2. Look, I know we have to respect the man, and show due honor to the office, but we are duty bound to speak the truth about the objectively grave moral evil of his actions. If you wish to make your opinion heard, consider signing to the Cardinal Newman Society petition. If you're an alum, you should know what to do when the next fund-raising letter arrives.
3. It's nice that Notre Dame will also be honoring Mary Ann Glendon at their commencement. But what a contrast will be there for all to see -- the 100% anti-life President and the 100% pro-life Catholic scholar and public servant. It's a perfect real-world illustration of the meditation from St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises on the Two Standards. Will the students get the message? Will the university? Will the President?
4. Here is ND Prof. Ralph McInerny's take on the situation: "It is an unequivocal abandonment of any pretense at being a Catholic university."
5. There is a very troublesome situation in Boston, where Catholic hospitals are entering into a joint venture with secular hospitals that perform abortions. Cardinal O'Malley is assuring everyone that the arrangement is morally acceptable, but the staff of the Catholic hospitals will have to provide information and referrals to people who are seeking abortions. The Cardinal is seeking another opinion from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, a very solid group. Please pray for their deliberations, and for the Cardinal, that they may do the right thing.
6. Don't worry, they said. You have the federal Defense of Marriage Act. You don't need a constitutional amendment defining marriage. Sure, but what do we do if there's a federal court challenge (in Massachusetts, no less) to DOMA on the grounds that it violates the Equal Protection Clause? Can we count on the current Administration to defend a law that it openly opposes? Yeah, sure.
7. Speaking of that, gay "marriage" supporters in California are doing the full Dan Brown conspiracy crackpot shuffle. Here's a summary of an absolutely delusional piece in a gay San Francisco newspaper that attacks the Knights of Columbus as if the order were some secret society of albino hitmen that nobody's ever heard of or encountered before. (I don't want to link to the original story because it's on a wicked website and I don't want to drive up their traffic). Boy, I had no idea that I was a member of such an "obscure Catholic group", nor that the entire Catholic Church "operates its legislative efforts through the little understood entity"! When do I get issued my official K of C "license to kill"? Maybe at the next Friday Fish Fry I'll ask one of the super duper secret members who's walking around with the tuxedo, baldric, cape, chapeau and sword -- if he's not too "obscure" to find. Sigh. Sin does indeed make you stupid.
8. Thanks to the Patriarch of Moscow for supporting the Holy Father's position on condoms and HIV/AIDS.
9. Remember that game "MadLibs", where you filled in the blanks in a story to make it funny? The National Catholic Register has created a MadLib to lampoon the idea that condom distribution is a good public health policy.
10. That old fashioned, out-of-touch, insular Pope, he's so unpopular he was only able to draw one million people to his Mass in Angola. Of course, there's only about 17 million people in all of Angola, and a similar sized crowd here, as percentage of the US population, would have been 18 million.
Friday, March 20, 2009
More on Condoms and Common Sense
1. Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online sums it up on the controversy about the Holy Father's comments on condoms and HIV/AIDS. The bottom line is that the Holy Father has the issue just right -- handing out latex, while doing nothing to build virtue, is a disastrous policy that leads to the loss of life, the dehumanization of sex and of individual persons, and the destruction of souls.
2. A useful overview of the conscience threats to Catholic institutions (although one law professor is allowed to mis-state the potential reach of FOCA). I wish, however, that people would realize that the threats are also posed to our schools and charitable agencies as well, which could also be forced to teach about and refer for contraception and abortion.
3. Robert George debates Doug Kmiec in writing over the President's stem cell policy, specifically over whether it will permit federal funding for cloning embryos so that they can be destroyed for research. Kmiec relies on an artificial distinction between "reproductive cloning" (i.e., cloning for implantation) and "therapeutic cloning" (i.e., cloning for destruction). George calls this misleading, and clearly carries the day.
4. The new Administration foolishly agrees to endorse a UN statement on "sexual orientation and gender identity". This dangerous statement could threaten marriage laws around the world, and could lead to discrimination against those who hold to traditional views of sexuality. Whatever happened to the opposition to cultural imperialism?
5. In response to wide criticism, the University of San Francisco (a school in the Jesuit tradition) has finally dropped abortion referrals from its student health plan. They may have done it only under duress, but this still counts towards building the Culture of Life, one brick at a time.
6. How messed up is our culture that a survey of teens shows that most consider the singer Rihanna to bear either sole or joint responsibility for having been brutally beaten up by her boyfriend -- and virtually none hold him solely responsible. I know we're past the age of chivalry, but are we past the point of expecting even such minimally civilized behavior as never, never, never striking a woman?
7. Sen. Sam Brownback is going to do everything he can to block the appointment of an ambassador to Iraq. Could he at least lift the tippy-tip of his little finger and oppose the nomination of pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be HHS Secretary? Come on, Sam, do something!
2. A useful overview of the conscience threats to Catholic institutions (although one law professor is allowed to mis-state the potential reach of FOCA). I wish, however, that people would realize that the threats are also posed to our schools and charitable agencies as well, which could also be forced to teach about and refer for contraception and abortion.
3. Robert George debates Doug Kmiec in writing over the President's stem cell policy, specifically over whether it will permit federal funding for cloning embryos so that they can be destroyed for research. Kmiec relies on an artificial distinction between "reproductive cloning" (i.e., cloning for implantation) and "therapeutic cloning" (i.e., cloning for destruction). George calls this misleading, and clearly carries the day.
4. The new Administration foolishly agrees to endorse a UN statement on "sexual orientation and gender identity". This dangerous statement could threaten marriage laws around the world, and could lead to discrimination against those who hold to traditional views of sexuality. Whatever happened to the opposition to cultural imperialism?
5. In response to wide criticism, the University of San Francisco (a school in the Jesuit tradition) has finally dropped abortion referrals from its student health plan. They may have done it only under duress, but this still counts towards building the Culture of Life, one brick at a time.
6. How messed up is our culture that a survey of teens shows that most consider the singer Rihanna to bear either sole or joint responsibility for having been brutally beaten up by her boyfriend -- and virtually none hold him solely responsible. I know we're past the age of chivalry, but are we past the point of expecting even such minimally civilized behavior as never, never, never striking a woman?
7. Sen. Sam Brownback is going to do everything he can to block the appointment of an ambassador to Iraq. Could he at least lift the tippy-tip of his little finger and oppose the nomination of pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be HHS Secretary? Come on, Sam, do something!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Powers and Principalities Attack the Holy Father
1. The vicious attacks on the Holy Father by the media and the cognoscenti increase, over his common sense and undeniably true statements about condoms, HIV/AIDS, and Africa. See here and here. The ideology of sexual libertinism is so powerful that it will brook no dissent. And, as the Holy Father noted in his recent public letter, there are some groups and people whom it is considered fashionable to hate. Let's never forget that the principalities and powers have an agenda to drive the Church from the public arena and to persecute us. Please pray for the Holy Father and Holy Mother Church, especially on this Solemnity of St. Joseph, our Patron.
2. As Msgr. William Smith used to say, verbal engineering always preceeds social engineering. Now some of the leading dictionaries are changing the definition of "marriage" to include same-sex couples.
3. The Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, continues to cover up the rape of children. At some point, will the Department of Justice start a large-scale interstate investigation of this?
4. A record 40% of births in the United States are now out of wedlock, in part because more people are deliberately choosing to have babies without marriage. Of course, this doesn't count the children lost to abortion, which would push the out-of-wedlock pregnancy rate even higher. This bodes ill for the stability of society.
5. There was a very disturbing article over the weekend, based on a report by the International Red Cross, about the use of torture by our government in the war against Islamic terrorists. There is no way that the kind of conduct described in this article, if true, could possibly satisfy the standards of the moral law (see CCC 2297-98 and 2312-13, and the USCCB's webpage on torture). The impulse to use "whatever means are necessary" is not a Christian sentiment, and we cannot approve consequentialism in any of its disguises.
6. Interesting analysis of Archbishop Chaput's recent comments on the media and their coverage of the Church. What surprises me (well, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised) is the shocking ignorance of the remarks by Sally Quinn, who supposedly is qualified to cover religion for the Washington Post. Would they assign a reporter to cover baseball who doesn't have a clue that there are four balls, three strikes, and three outs?
7. This is just weird -- the Japanese are getting closer to developing a robot that resembles a human to an uncanny degree. I'm very worried about this. Didn't they notice that the robot is dressed like an Imperial Storm Trooper?
8. St. Joseph, please pray for us, especially us men, that we may be better husbands, fathers, and men.
2. As Msgr. William Smith used to say, verbal engineering always preceeds social engineering. Now some of the leading dictionaries are changing the definition of "marriage" to include same-sex couples.
3. The Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood, continues to cover up the rape of children. At some point, will the Department of Justice start a large-scale interstate investigation of this?
4. A record 40% of births in the United States are now out of wedlock, in part because more people are deliberately choosing to have babies without marriage. Of course, this doesn't count the children lost to abortion, which would push the out-of-wedlock pregnancy rate even higher. This bodes ill for the stability of society.
5. There was a very disturbing article over the weekend, based on a report by the International Red Cross, about the use of torture by our government in the war against Islamic terrorists. There is no way that the kind of conduct described in this article, if true, could possibly satisfy the standards of the moral law (see CCC 2297-98 and 2312-13, and the USCCB's webpage on torture). The impulse to use "whatever means are necessary" is not a Christian sentiment, and we cannot approve consequentialism in any of its disguises.
6. Interesting analysis of Archbishop Chaput's recent comments on the media and their coverage of the Church. What surprises me (well, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised) is the shocking ignorance of the remarks by Sally Quinn, who supposedly is qualified to cover religion for the Washington Post. Would they assign a reporter to cover baseball who doesn't have a clue that there are four balls, three strikes, and three outs?
7. This is just weird -- the Japanese are getting closer to developing a robot that resembles a human to an uncanny degree. I'm very worried about this. Didn't they notice that the robot is dressed like an Imperial Storm Trooper?
8. St. Joseph, please pray for us, especially us men, that we may be better husbands, fathers, and men.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
A Test for the Governor
1. A test for Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The Kansas legislature has passed a "women's right to know" bill, and sent it to her for signature -- a bill that, among other things, mandates a sonogram before an abortion. This will be a test of her purported commitment to reducing abortion, and to the authenticity of her Catholic faith. Please pray that she does the right thing.
2. The official foreign aid organization of the Canadian Catholic Bishops is supporting groups in South America that promote abortion. This is not the first time, and they don't seem to be particularly aghast at their error. Instead, they offer the legalistic answer that they don't support "projects" promoting abortion; they don't deny supporting organizations that do so in their other projects. Here's my suggestion: pink slips and top-to-bottom housecleaning.
3. Archbishop Chaput warns of the modern tendency in the media to make politics into a quasi-religion, while dismissing the importance of authentic religion and marginalizing the Church.
4. Here's some valuable background to support the Holy Father's argument that condom distribution policies only worsen the spread of HIV/AIDS. This information is an important factual vaccine against the continuing theme in the media's coverage of the situation in Africa (for example, in this editorial in the Times) -- that somehow the Church is responsible for spreading the disease because we teach the only sure-fire way to prevent it (chastity and monogamy). The reality -- and the clear evidence -- is that the more condoms are distributed, more promiscuity results, and the spread of the disease continues unabated. But somehow we're the ones who aren't "realistic".
5. One of the President's religious advisors, Jim Wallis, is warning him that including abortion coverage in any national health insurance plan will kill it. This is important, because he is considered a leader of the "religious left", and has been important in giving the President's policies "cover" among religious moderates.
6. Meanwhile, Cardinal George had a private meeting with the President. I'm sure that, as the diplomats like to say, a "frank discussion" took place.
7. Some numbskulls are trying to change the name of St. Patrick's Day to "Shamrock Day", to avoid giving offense to some hypersensitive people who can't stand to have any expressions of religious belief, especially Christianity. As my Irish grandmother would have said, this kind of thing is what they invented the shillelagh for.
8. Posted today at my official ArchNY blog on the travesty of the NY Assembly Codes Committee approving the unjust, anti-Catholic statute of limitations bill -- on St. Patrick's Day! What better day to attack the Church than our patronal feast day.
2. The official foreign aid organization of the Canadian Catholic Bishops is supporting groups in South America that promote abortion. This is not the first time, and they don't seem to be particularly aghast at their error. Instead, they offer the legalistic answer that they don't support "projects" promoting abortion; they don't deny supporting organizations that do so in their other projects. Here's my suggestion: pink slips and top-to-bottom housecleaning.
3. Archbishop Chaput warns of the modern tendency in the media to make politics into a quasi-religion, while dismissing the importance of authentic religion and marginalizing the Church.
4. Here's some valuable background to support the Holy Father's argument that condom distribution policies only worsen the spread of HIV/AIDS. This information is an important factual vaccine against the continuing theme in the media's coverage of the situation in Africa (for example, in this editorial in the Times) -- that somehow the Church is responsible for spreading the disease because we teach the only sure-fire way to prevent it (chastity and monogamy). The reality -- and the clear evidence -- is that the more condoms are distributed, more promiscuity results, and the spread of the disease continues unabated. But somehow we're the ones who aren't "realistic".
5. One of the President's religious advisors, Jim Wallis, is warning him that including abortion coverage in any national health insurance plan will kill it. This is important, because he is considered a leader of the "religious left", and has been important in giving the President's policies "cover" among religious moderates.
6. Meanwhile, Cardinal George had a private meeting with the President. I'm sure that, as the diplomats like to say, a "frank discussion" took place.
7. Some numbskulls are trying to change the name of St. Patrick's Day to "Shamrock Day", to avoid giving offense to some hypersensitive people who can't stand to have any expressions of religious belief, especially Christianity. As my Irish grandmother would have said, this kind of thing is what they invented the shillelagh for.
8. Posted today at my official ArchNY blog on the travesty of the NY Assembly Codes Committee approving the unjust, anti-Catholic statute of limitations bill -- on St. Patrick's Day! What better day to attack the Church than our patronal feast day.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Really Slippery Slope
1. The slippery slope is quickly becoming an elevator shaft. The Times endorses cloning yesterday, without using the term explicitly. What first becomes permissible eventually becomes obligatory.
2. The USCCB has set up a new web page with resources on conscience protection, including a YouTube video with Cardinal George.
3. On the way to Africa, Pope Benedict defends the Church's approach to preventing AIDS (i.e., chastity in and out of marriage), stating the incredibly bloody obvious point that handing out latex and shutting up about virtue does nothing to stop the rampant promiscuity that is the cause of spreading the disease. Well, His Holiness was a little more diplomatic in how he put it.
4. Wesley Smith reveals that virtually all of the people who were victims of assisted suicide in Oregon were actually in hospice care at the time, and none of them were referred for mental health counseling to prevent suicide. Once again, proof that evil cannot exist on its own, but can only exist by corrupting something good.
5. Our bishops are starting to be more open about the immorality of "reproductive technology". Here's Bishop Wenski of Orlando, FL.
6. Same-sex "marriage" legislation moves forward in Maine and Vermont. In Connecticut, however, the assisted suicide bill is withdrawn.
7. The Vatican is going to launch its Chinese language website. I have two problems with this. One, could they please fix the awful English website? It's absurdly difficult to navigate and find anything. Second, when do they launch the Esperanto website?
2. The USCCB has set up a new web page with resources on conscience protection, including a YouTube video with Cardinal George.
3. On the way to Africa, Pope Benedict defends the Church's approach to preventing AIDS (i.e., chastity in and out of marriage), stating the incredibly bloody obvious point that handing out latex and shutting up about virtue does nothing to stop the rampant promiscuity that is the cause of spreading the disease. Well, His Holiness was a little more diplomatic in how he put it.
4. Wesley Smith reveals that virtually all of the people who were victims of assisted suicide in Oregon were actually in hospice care at the time, and none of them were referred for mental health counseling to prevent suicide. Once again, proof that evil cannot exist on its own, but can only exist by corrupting something good.
5. Our bishops are starting to be more open about the immorality of "reproductive technology". Here's Bishop Wenski of Orlando, FL.
6. Same-sex "marriage" legislation moves forward in Maine and Vermont. In Connecticut, however, the assisted suicide bill is withdrawn.
7. The Vatican is going to launch its Chinese language website. I have two problems with this. One, could they please fix the awful English website? It's absurdly difficult to navigate and find anything. Second, when do they launch the Esperanto website?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Ah, the Professional, Impartial Media
1. You can't help but laugh at the bone-headedness of the media. Archbishop Naumann writes a small piece for the online blog of the Kansas City Star, which I believe is operated by "professional journalists". In the piece, he explains calmly and in detail his position on the question of pro-abortion (and pal of late-term killers) Gov. Kathleen Sebelius being told not to come to Communion without publicly recanting her anti-life positions. So what's the headline? "Archbishop Naumann attacks Sebelius over abortion", of course. My favorite part is that they don't even identify him as Archbishop of Kansas City in the byline.
2. Fortunately, despite the President's stem cell decision, it remains unlawful to use federal funds to create and destroy embryos for research, under the so-called "Dickie-Wicker Amendment", which is part of the federal budget (which was just signed, ironically enough, by the same President). This is important to recall, because there will undoubtedly be a new legislative push to remove the amendment, and permit the creation and destruction of embryos. Remember the slippery slope?
3. Prof. Doug Kmiec has now graduated to the fever swamps usually inhabited only by the likes of the egregious Richard McBrien and the editorial board of the National "Catholic" Reporter -- he now claims that pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius "fully believes in the protection of human life at all its stages". This is the classic case of what Mark Shea frequently says -- "sin makes you stupid".
4. The Evil One is trying a new marketing technique -- atheists and feminists in Argentina are running internet ads trying to convince Catholics to renounce their faith.
5. Sometimes, words just can't capture the absurdity and tragedy of modern life. A same-sex "spouse" is arrested for domestic abuse for trying to forcibly artificially inseminate her "spouse". Exhibit number 2,345,983,856,251 in the case that the world is going you-know-where in a handbasket.
6. One of the best points in the Holy Father's recent letter about the Society of St. Pius X controversy was the outlining of his priorities for his papacy. Here's a more detailed analysis of this very important point. Hint: it's all about bringing people to God.
7. Posted at my ArchNY blog over the weekend about what it's like to visit the State Capital with the Sisters of Life. It's not your usual lobbying trip, that's for sure. Check it out.
2. Fortunately, despite the President's stem cell decision, it remains unlawful to use federal funds to create and destroy embryos for research, under the so-called "Dickie-Wicker Amendment", which is part of the federal budget (which was just signed, ironically enough, by the same President). This is important to recall, because there will undoubtedly be a new legislative push to remove the amendment, and permit the creation and destruction of embryos. Remember the slippery slope?
3. Prof. Doug Kmiec has now graduated to the fever swamps usually inhabited only by the likes of the egregious Richard McBrien and the editorial board of the National "Catholic" Reporter -- he now claims that pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius "fully believes in the protection of human life at all its stages". This is the classic case of what Mark Shea frequently says -- "sin makes you stupid".
4. The Evil One is trying a new marketing technique -- atheists and feminists in Argentina are running internet ads trying to convince Catholics to renounce their faith.
5. Sometimes, words just can't capture the absurdity and tragedy of modern life. A same-sex "spouse" is arrested for domestic abuse for trying to forcibly artificially inseminate her "spouse". Exhibit number 2,345,983,856,251 in the case that the world is going you-know-where in a handbasket.
6. One of the best points in the Holy Father's recent letter about the Society of St. Pius X controversy was the outlining of his priorities for his papacy. Here's a more detailed analysis of this very important point. Hint: it's all about bringing people to God.
7. Posted at my ArchNY blog over the weekend about what it's like to visit the State Capital with the Sisters of Life. It's not your usual lobbying trip, that's for sure. Check it out.
Friday, March 13, 2009
De-Fund Moloch
1. Orange County, California, comes to its senses and de-funds the Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood. Even better, members of the Board specifically cited their abortion practice as the reason.
2. Utilitarianism taken to the monstrous level. Now a stem cell expert in the UK is calling for the use of organs from aborted babies to be used for transplants. Just think of the new profit opportunities for the Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood.
3. More lunacy from the UK. A supposedly Catholic college in Birmingham is holding an event -- in the chapel, no less -- to honor the birth of Mohammed.
4. Don't mean to beat up too much on Europe today, but the European Union is considering a bill that would permit atheists to sue religious organizations if they're offended by some public religious display (like a cross on a hospital wall?). Oh, it's okay, all they really want is tolerance, right?
5. Not coincidentally, Cardinal Pell of Sydney was in the UK to warn of the totalitarianism of secularism (sorry, that's quite a mouthful to say). And not coincidentally, secularism is on the rise in America, and may be accelerating under the new Administration.
6. Excellent editorial from Our Sunday Visitor on the stem cell decision. It completely skewers the patently false claim by the President and his supporters that this has anything to do with "scientific integrity". It's all about ethics-free science.
7. The unspeakable Speaker of the House, however, despite the specific and pointed admonition from the Holy Father, continues down the path to destruction. She was gushing the other day about what a "great honor" it was, for her to be present at the announcement of the President's decision to fund the dismemberment of human beings in the embryonic stage of their development. .
8. Poor Bill Clinton. It must have been a deficiency of that Jesuit education he got at Georgetown, but he seems to think that embryos haven't been fertilized yet. The weird thing is that the interviewer -- a CNN reporter who is also a brain surgeon and was originally nominated by the current President to be Surgeon General -- didn't stop and correct him, even though he repeated the error five times. Yes, science has now triumphed over politics. There's the proof, right?
9. News flash -- the Times accepts papal infallibility. Well, only in the headline, but it's a start.
2. Utilitarianism taken to the monstrous level. Now a stem cell expert in the UK is calling for the use of organs from aborted babies to be used for transplants. Just think of the new profit opportunities for the Temple of Moloch, er, I mean Planned Parenthood.
3. More lunacy from the UK. A supposedly Catholic college in Birmingham is holding an event -- in the chapel, no less -- to honor the birth of Mohammed.
4. Don't mean to beat up too much on Europe today, but the European Union is considering a bill that would permit atheists to sue religious organizations if they're offended by some public religious display (like a cross on a hospital wall?). Oh, it's okay, all they really want is tolerance, right?
5. Not coincidentally, Cardinal Pell of Sydney was in the UK to warn of the totalitarianism of secularism (sorry, that's quite a mouthful to say). And not coincidentally, secularism is on the rise in America, and may be accelerating under the new Administration.
6. Excellent editorial from Our Sunday Visitor on the stem cell decision. It completely skewers the patently false claim by the President and his supporters that this has anything to do with "scientific integrity". It's all about ethics-free science.
7. The unspeakable Speaker of the House, however, despite the specific and pointed admonition from the Holy Father, continues down the path to destruction. She was gushing the other day about what a "great honor" it was, for her to be present at the announcement of the President's decision to fund the dismemberment of human beings in the embryonic stage of their development. .
8. Poor Bill Clinton. It must have been a deficiency of that Jesuit education he got at Georgetown, but he seems to think that embryos haven't been fertilized yet. The weird thing is that the interviewer -- a CNN reporter who is also a brain surgeon and was originally nominated by the current President to be Surgeon General -- didn't stop and correct him, even though he repeated the error five times. Yes, science has now triumphed over politics. There's the proof, right?
9. News flash -- the Times accepts papal infallibility. Well, only in the headline, but it's a start.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
An Intellectual and Moral Lobotomy
1. Justice David Souter says that at the beginning of each Supreme Court term, he experiences something of an "intellectual lobotomy". He means that he's too busy to read books until the end of the term. However, I invite people to read the abortion decisions he's joined (especially the plurality opinion he signed in the Casey case, with the absurd passage "[a]t the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life"). Then you'll understand the deeper meaning of what he was talking about, and it has nothing to do with having time to read the latest Grisham thriller.
2. Another rebuttal to the argument that we can end the same-sex "marriage" debate by taking the government out of the marriage business. One of the most outlandish statements by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in the decision in which they invented the right to SSM, was that marriage was a creation of the state. In so doing, the court turned the Declaration of Independence and human nature on their head and made us all creatures of the state, begging with out cups outstretched for scraps of rights that will be doled out to us with the great condescension of our rulers. That's not democracy, it's tyranny with a smile.
3. Fascinating analysis in the Christian Science Monitor, claiming that Evangelical Christianity will collapse within the decade, primarily because of the emphasis on personal feelings and the present political conflicts. It argues that Evangelicalism's lack of doctrinal rigor leaves it rife for absorption into the secular culture, although many will come over to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
4. This analysis of the President's stem cell decision, by an advocate of ESC who is by no means a pro-lifer but who is worried about the road we are travelling, is a must-read for all sides of the debate. Here's a man who looks utilitarianism in its face and is deeply troubled, and wishes to warn society to look before it leaps.
5. The stem cell decision is getting some push-back from states that have passed laws defining human life as beginning at conception. People often belittle these kinds of bills (guilty as charged!), but sometimes "symbolic" laws are not so "symbolic".
6. I don't really have much to say about the case of the Society of St. Pius X or its bishops, but you really should read the letter of our Holy Father, in which he opens his heart about the reactions to his lifting of the excommunications. It is rare that Peter Among Us is so candid about his inner thoughts and feelings, and the letter is so beautifully and gently written. Take note of his touching discussion of the role of mercy, forgiveness, and unity within the Church. Thank you God for this Shepherd!
7. Here's a warning to all those single and engaged ladies out there -- avoid the hyphenated name. Hey, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.
2. Another rebuttal to the argument that we can end the same-sex "marriage" debate by taking the government out of the marriage business. One of the most outlandish statements by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in the decision in which they invented the right to SSM, was that marriage was a creation of the state. In so doing, the court turned the Declaration of Independence and human nature on their head and made us all creatures of the state, begging with out cups outstretched for scraps of rights that will be doled out to us with the great condescension of our rulers. That's not democracy, it's tyranny with a smile.
3. Fascinating analysis in the Christian Science Monitor, claiming that Evangelical Christianity will collapse within the decade, primarily because of the emphasis on personal feelings and the present political conflicts. It argues that Evangelicalism's lack of doctrinal rigor leaves it rife for absorption into the secular culture, although many will come over to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
4. This analysis of the President's stem cell decision, by an advocate of ESC who is by no means a pro-lifer but who is worried about the road we are travelling, is a must-read for all sides of the debate. Here's a man who looks utilitarianism in its face and is deeply troubled, and wishes to warn society to look before it leaps.
5. The stem cell decision is getting some push-back from states that have passed laws defining human life as beginning at conception. People often belittle these kinds of bills (guilty as charged!), but sometimes "symbolic" laws are not so "symbolic".
6. I don't really have much to say about the case of the Society of St. Pius X or its bishops, but you really should read the letter of our Holy Father, in which he opens his heart about the reactions to his lifting of the excommunications. It is rare that Peter Among Us is so candid about his inner thoughts and feelings, and the letter is so beautifully and gently written. Take note of his touching discussion of the role of mercy, forgiveness, and unity within the Church. Thank you God for this Shepherd!
7. Here's a warning to all those single and engaged ladies out there -- avoid the hyphenated name. Hey, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
More than One Outrage in Connecticut
1. The storm of outrage by bishops, clergy and laity have resulted in the hearing on that horrible Connecticut bill being postponed, and the bill has been tabled for the rest of the session. The matter is not dead, though -- the two committee chairmen say they are reviewing the bill's constitutionality. Well, perhaps they should listen to Carl Anderson, the Supreme Knight, on that score.
2. At the same time, the State of Connecticut official website contains unbelievable noxious propaganda about homosexuality, including a page entitled "Help for Youth", and subtitled "Being Gay is Normal". It even has pages devoted to a "pro-gay" interpretation of the Bible. I won't link directly to those pages because they're objectively gravely sinful. But what in the world is going on in that state, that they can put this kind of junk on their official website, paid for by taxpayers, specifically designed to corrupt the morals of minors? Where's the storm of outrage over this?
3. The fashionable continue to call it an "right-to-die network", but here's the nuts and bolts on how a murder for hire outfit actually works, courtesy of our Morning Paper.
4. Boo Hoo. Now some of the scientists who've been on the public dole for stem cell research funding are pouting because they think that state and private money will dry up once the federal government starts shoveling money their way. Hey, I have an idea. Why not take the billions earmarked to pay for the scientists' BMW's and spend it on aid to poor families instead?
5. Robert George and Eric Cohen puncture the airy rhetoric surrounding the President's stem cell decision, and replace the hot air with the truth.
6. You've heard some people (e.g., the Prof. Doug Kmiec) argue that the way out of the "gay marriage" debate is to take the state out of the "marriage" business altogether, and grant only civil union status to people (a la France). Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse turns her intellelectual Cuisinart on that idea.
7. Just so you know what public witness entails in this age of "tolerance", here's the story of a woman who did nothing more than give money to the Proposition 8 cause in California, and the persecution she suffered at the hands of the forces of "tolerance". Remember John 15:18.
8. Thank goodness they're on the case. The Administration is on top of the real crisis in our nation -- the need to get more fresh vegetables in our diet, especially for the poor people who eat at soup kitchens. Now, does this mean that we vegetarians can get a piece of the stimulus package?
2. At the same time, the State of Connecticut official website contains unbelievable noxious propaganda about homosexuality, including a page entitled "Help for Youth", and subtitled "Being Gay is Normal". It even has pages devoted to a "pro-gay" interpretation of the Bible. I won't link directly to those pages because they're objectively gravely sinful. But what in the world is going on in that state, that they can put this kind of junk on their official website, paid for by taxpayers, specifically designed to corrupt the morals of minors? Where's the storm of outrage over this?
3. The fashionable continue to call it an "right-to-die network", but here's the nuts and bolts on how a murder for hire outfit actually works, courtesy of our Morning Paper.
4. Boo Hoo. Now some of the scientists who've been on the public dole for stem cell research funding are pouting because they think that state and private money will dry up once the federal government starts shoveling money their way. Hey, I have an idea. Why not take the billions earmarked to pay for the scientists' BMW's and spend it on aid to poor families instead?
5. Robert George and Eric Cohen puncture the airy rhetoric surrounding the President's stem cell decision, and replace the hot air with the truth.
6. You've heard some people (e.g., the Prof. Doug Kmiec) argue that the way out of the "gay marriage" debate is to take the state out of the "marriage" business altogether, and grant only civil union status to people (a la France). Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse turns her intellelectual Cuisinart on that idea.
7. Just so you know what public witness entails in this age of "tolerance", here's the story of a woman who did nothing more than give money to the Proposition 8 cause in California, and the persecution she suffered at the hands of the forces of "tolerance". Remember John 15:18.
8. Thank goodness they're on the case. The Administration is on top of the real crisis in our nation -- the need to get more fresh vegetables in our diet, especially for the poor people who eat at soup kitchens. Now, does this mean that we vegetarians can get a piece of the stimulus package?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
"Things"
1. Sometimes, one statement can capture the entire essence of an issue or problem. Here is a medical researcher, talking about the use of human beings, conceived through IVF but now frozen in the embryonic stage of their development, for medical research purposes, which, of course, will result in their destruction: "It's really mind-boggling to me these things are going to be discarded and scientists haven't been allowed to use them to do research". You read that right. "Things". There is the Culture of Death, in all its utilitarian squalor. I'm going to blog about this later this week.
2. In the same vein, some researchers have developed a mathematical classification system to select the "best" IVF embryos for implantation. How much further alienated can assisted reproduction get from the intrinsic link between humanity and procreation, much less sex and marital love? This epitomizes the dehumanization of the whole process and industry.
3. More of the inside story about that awful Connecticut anti-Catholic bill, including an analysis of some of the forces behind it -- principally the dissident group "Voices of the Faithful" (sic), aided by some professors at universities in the Jesuit tradition. The agenda is way broader than mere financial "accountability" -- the goal is to usurp control of our parishes so that they become congregational in governance. Anybody check recently how congregational-style churches are keeping to the faith that comes to us from the Apostles? The Church in CT is mobilizing to fight this repressive legislation, but make no mistake -- I fear that this is just a trial balloon for bills that will come to other states too. St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, please pray for our Church.
4. An excellent summary of the moral, scientific and political blunder by the 100% anti-life President's lifting of the limitations on funding for embryonic stem cell research. By the way, he also rescinded the executive order that required funding for ESC alternatives because, well, just because. Yeah, science over politics, that's surely what's going on. It has nothing to do with giving shovels full of money to the Cult of Moloch's biomedical research division. Isn't it finally time for his "pro-life supporters" to stand up and admit their error?
5. When you turn Catholic schools into public charter schools, guess what? Yeah, there's still an open school there, but it's stopped being Catholic. And that's somehow a good thing?
6. Sorry, it's been lots of bad news lately. But let's keep our eye on the ball -- it's Lent, and we're on our way to Calvary, which is the only way to the Empty Tomb. Keep up the good work.
7. I'm off to Albany today. I'm doing temporal punishment for my sins by lobbying the State Legislature on the Catholic Conference's Lobby Day. Yeah, it's about as miserable as it sounds, but at least I'll have a couple of the Sisters of Life with me. Please pray for us.
2. In the same vein, some researchers have developed a mathematical classification system to select the "best" IVF embryos for implantation. How much further alienated can assisted reproduction get from the intrinsic link between humanity and procreation, much less sex and marital love? This epitomizes the dehumanization of the whole process and industry.
3. More of the inside story about that awful Connecticut anti-Catholic bill, including an analysis of some of the forces behind it -- principally the dissident group "Voices of the Faithful" (sic), aided by some professors at universities in the Jesuit tradition. The agenda is way broader than mere financial "accountability" -- the goal is to usurp control of our parishes so that they become congregational in governance. Anybody check recently how congregational-style churches are keeping to the faith that comes to us from the Apostles? The Church in CT is mobilizing to fight this repressive legislation, but make no mistake -- I fear that this is just a trial balloon for bills that will come to other states too. St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, please pray for our Church.
4. An excellent summary of the moral, scientific and political blunder by the 100% anti-life President's lifting of the limitations on funding for embryonic stem cell research. By the way, he also rescinded the executive order that required funding for ESC alternatives because, well, just because. Yeah, science over politics, that's surely what's going on. It has nothing to do with giving shovels full of money to the Cult of Moloch's biomedical research division. Isn't it finally time for his "pro-life supporters" to stand up and admit their error?
5. When you turn Catholic schools into public charter schools, guess what? Yeah, there's still an open school there, but it's stopped being Catholic. And that's somehow a good thing?
6. Sorry, it's been lots of bad news lately. But let's keep our eye on the ball -- it's Lent, and we're on our way to Calvary, which is the only way to the Empty Tomb. Keep up the good work.
7. I'm off to Albany today. I'm doing temporal punishment for my sins by lobbying the State Legislature on the Catholic Conference's Lobby Day. Yeah, it's about as miserable as it sounds, but at least I'll have a couple of the Sisters of Life with me. Please pray for us.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Church Under Attack in Connecticut
1. What in the world is going on in Connecticut? Their legislature is holding a hearing this week on a blatantly anti-Catholic bill that seeks to strip the bishop and the pastor of their authority to govern the parishes. The bill's sponsors dishonestly say that it's intended to look at misappropriation of money by religious institutions (not by the CT government, with its billion dollar deficit and a record of political corruption by governors and legislative leaders that would make New Jersey blush). But -- surprise, surprise! -- it only addresses the structure of Catholic parishes. The Church in Connecticut is mobilizing to defeat this unconstitutional outrage. If you know anyone in CT, please contact them and direct them to the CT Catholic Conference website.
2. In a not-unrelated item, a new survey of religion notes that the Catholic population of New England has plummeted.
3. The 100% anti-life President is going to overturn the previous Administration's limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, despite his earlier promise that he would leave the issue up to Congress. However, he's apparently going to leave it up to Congress to repeal the prohibition against creating embryos for the purpose of destroying them in experiments. So, we're now moving towards a regime where human life at its earliest stage is not just "spare parts" for others, but is a commodity to be produced and destroyed. But remember what the Catholic quislings were telling us during the election: the President's really more pro-life than the other guy would have been. Really.
4. We now know a little more about the young lady who wrote the piece for the National "Catholic" Reporter claiming to be a "pro-choice Catholic". She's not just an advocate for legally killing children, ordaining women, and for the full menu of Call to Action nonsense, she's also "married" to her female "partner" and told the full story in her NCR column. (I will not link directly to her column because it would be leading others into sin). So she is the very model of a very modern "Catholic" -- she does not hold steadfastly to the teaching of the Apostles, she openly and notoriously lives in an objectively immoral manner, and she tries to lead others to join her in separating from Catholic faith and life. And the best part is that she's published by a newspaper that arrives regularly on the doorstep of Catholic parishes, schools, convents, and homes. I'm going to post about this situation today at my ArchNY blog, particularly about how it relates to the proper formation of conscience.
5. Interesting column in the Wall Street Journal asking the question whether the JP II Generation will welcome the new Archbishop of New York. I'll bet that the answer will be "yes".
6. And finally, as Easter approaches, law enforcement authorities in New Jersey are considering the earth-shattering question of whether an attack on an inflatable Easter bunny is an anti-religious hate crime. Dare we say that the attacker may have been egged on? Sorry.
2. In a not-unrelated item, a new survey of religion notes that the Catholic population of New England has plummeted.
3. The 100% anti-life President is going to overturn the previous Administration's limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, despite his earlier promise that he would leave the issue up to Congress. However, he's apparently going to leave it up to Congress to repeal the prohibition against creating embryos for the purpose of destroying them in experiments. So, we're now moving towards a regime where human life at its earliest stage is not just "spare parts" for others, but is a commodity to be produced and destroyed. But remember what the Catholic quislings were telling us during the election: the President's really more pro-life than the other guy would have been. Really.
4. We now know a little more about the young lady who wrote the piece for the National "Catholic" Reporter claiming to be a "pro-choice Catholic". She's not just an advocate for legally killing children, ordaining women, and for the full menu of Call to Action nonsense, she's also "married" to her female "partner" and told the full story in her NCR column. (I will not link directly to her column because it would be leading others into sin). So she is the very model of a very modern "Catholic" -- she does not hold steadfastly to the teaching of the Apostles, she openly and notoriously lives in an objectively immoral manner, and she tries to lead others to join her in separating from Catholic faith and life. And the best part is that she's published by a newspaper that arrives regularly on the doorstep of Catholic parishes, schools, convents, and homes. I'm going to post about this situation today at my ArchNY blog, particularly about how it relates to the proper formation of conscience.
5. Interesting column in the Wall Street Journal asking the question whether the JP II Generation will welcome the new Archbishop of New York. I'll bet that the answer will be "yes".
6. And finally, as Easter approaches, law enforcement authorities in New Jersey are considering the earth-shattering question of whether an attack on an inflatable Easter bunny is an anti-religious hate crime. Dare we say that the attacker may have been egged on? Sorry.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Pro-Choice is No Choice
1. The Senate yesterday defeated (39 yea, 55 nay) an effort to retain the Kemp/Kasten Amendment in the appropriations bills, which would prohibit giving taxpayer money to international organizations that support coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization (e.g., the one-child program of the Chinese government). I would break the count down to see how the Catholic Senators voted, but I expect that you could guess yourselves, since it was pretty much a straight party line vote. I should note that Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) voted "yes", although our new senator, Kristen Gillibrand, sullied her record immediately with a "no" vote. Just so it's clear what this vote means. US tax dollars will now go to organizations that participate in conduct that was among the charges of "crimes against humanity" at the Nuremburg Trials. How is this a "pro-choice" position, exactly?
2. An excellent overview of the Sebellius situation. It is worth remembering that the Church's teaching on human life is not the only doctrine that is at stake here. Also in play is the Church's teaching on the obligations of lay Catholics to bring the Gospel to all areas of life (see, e.g., Lumen Gentium 36), and the obligation of public officials to oppose violations of human rights (see Lumen Gentium and the CDF document on Catholics in public life). We cannot accept a strict division between the City of God and the City of Men -- we are citizens of both.
3. The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the challenge to Prop 8, which preserved the traditional definition of marriage. It's hard to read the tea leaves of oral arguments, but if the LA Times (a/k/a the Ministry of Propaganda for the "gay rights" movement) thinks the court is leaning towards preserving Prop 8, that's good news.
4. A Catholic college in Massachusetts has taken steps to stop a student from distributing condoms on campus. That's a good start. I hope they're also doing something to encourage the students to live chastely in general.
5. Some events have just so many layers of tragedy that they are virtually incomprehensible without an understanding of the effects of evil and sin on the human condition. A 9-year-old girl in Brazil, pregnant with twins as the result of being raped by her stepfather, underwent an abortion. Please pray for her and all those involved in this abominable situation (even the stepfather, who is obviously in the grips of grave evil).
6. I missed this, but Wedneday was the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis. The first sentence said it all -- "The redeemer of man, Jesus Christ, is the center of the universe and of history."
7. Continuing our history lesson, today is the anniversary of the Dred Scott decision. I imagine that Justice Taney thought he was "settling" the issue of slavery, just as our modern Supreme Court justices think they have settled the abortion question (as they famously claimed in the Casey decision). He was catastrophically wrong, and so are they.
8. So, the Great Orator can't or won't speak in public without a teleprompter. No comment until I see the remarks prepared by my staff.
2. An excellent overview of the Sebellius situation. It is worth remembering that the Church's teaching on human life is not the only doctrine that is at stake here. Also in play is the Church's teaching on the obligations of lay Catholics to bring the Gospel to all areas of life (see, e.g., Lumen Gentium 36), and the obligation of public officials to oppose violations of human rights (see Lumen Gentium and the CDF document on Catholics in public life). We cannot accept a strict division between the City of God and the City of Men -- we are citizens of both.
3. The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the challenge to Prop 8, which preserved the traditional definition of marriage. It's hard to read the tea leaves of oral arguments, but if the LA Times (a/k/a the Ministry of Propaganda for the "gay rights" movement) thinks the court is leaning towards preserving Prop 8, that's good news.
4. A Catholic college in Massachusetts has taken steps to stop a student from distributing condoms on campus. That's a good start. I hope they're also doing something to encourage the students to live chastely in general.
5. Some events have just so many layers of tragedy that they are virtually incomprehensible without an understanding of the effects of evil and sin on the human condition. A 9-year-old girl in Brazil, pregnant with twins as the result of being raped by her stepfather, underwent an abortion. Please pray for her and all those involved in this abominable situation (even the stepfather, who is obviously in the grips of grave evil).
6. I missed this, but Wedneday was the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis. The first sentence said it all -- "The redeemer of man, Jesus Christ, is the center of the universe and of history."
7. Continuing our history lesson, today is the anniversary of the Dred Scott decision. I imagine that Justice Taney thought he was "settling" the issue of slavery, just as our modern Supreme Court justices think they have settled the abortion question (as they famously claimed in the Casey decision). He was catastrophically wrong, and so are they.
8. So, the Great Orator can't or won't speak in public without a teleprompter. No comment until I see the remarks prepared by my staff.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Two Demonstrations of the Verb "To Bishop"
1. Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City speaks out about the appointment of a member of his flock, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of HHS. Here's his latest column as well. How much clearer can you get? "Repent and believe in the Gospel!"
2. Bishop Martino of Scranton once again demonstrates that the fundamental task of a Catholic bishop is to hand on the faith that comes to us once for all from the Apostles. This time, he addresses the "Diversity Institute" at a local "Catholic" college, speaking of its responsibility to transmit Catholic teaching, and not mere moral relativism. Here's his closing line: "My job as a Bishop is to promulgate the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church to all the faithful. I will continue to do so."
3. Interesting analysis of the "Catholic vote" in the Wall Street Journal. I'm not sold on the idea that Catholics gave the 100% anti-life candidate a pass because he's not Catholic. I think it's much more likely that they were focusing on other issues and didn't believe he'd be as radical as his record indicated. Now that they can see him as he really is, I'm betting on significant buyer's remorse.
4. The clinic director involved in that horrific botched abortion case in Florida has been charged with the odd crimes of practicing medicine without a license and tampering with evidence (presumably by disposing of the body). Since the baby was born alive (autopsy revealed air in the lungs), and she killed her either directly or by depraved indifference to human life, the appropriate charge is murder or manslaughter.
5. Here's a good summary of where we are with the issue of conscience protection for heatlh care workers, especially in light of the federal regulations which are about to be rescinded by the Administration. It's important to remember that the pressure on doctors, nurses, social workers, etc. doesn't just come from the government, but from their own professional organizations, which seek to impose "ethics" rules that would require complicity in abortion in the name of respecting "patient autonomy" and other similar concepts. Some states are strengthening their conscience protections for health care workers. This will be valuable not just for the pending recission of the regulations, but for the effects of health care "reform" or the passage of bills like RHAPP or FOCA.
6. More insanity from the UK. Now IVF moms can name anyone on the birth certificate as the "father", including another female. So what does "father" mean any more? As Inigo Montoya said, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
7. Judaism gets Lindsay Lohan, who's converting to please her girlfriend. We get Newt Gingrich, whose converting to share the faith of his Catholic wife. It's a tough call, but all told, I think we're ahead on this one.
2. Bishop Martino of Scranton once again demonstrates that the fundamental task of a Catholic bishop is to hand on the faith that comes to us once for all from the Apostles. This time, he addresses the "Diversity Institute" at a local "Catholic" college, speaking of its responsibility to transmit Catholic teaching, and not mere moral relativism. Here's his closing line: "My job as a Bishop is to promulgate the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church to all the faithful. I will continue to do so."
3. Interesting analysis of the "Catholic vote" in the Wall Street Journal. I'm not sold on the idea that Catholics gave the 100% anti-life candidate a pass because he's not Catholic. I think it's much more likely that they were focusing on other issues and didn't believe he'd be as radical as his record indicated. Now that they can see him as he really is, I'm betting on significant buyer's remorse.
4. The clinic director involved in that horrific botched abortion case in Florida has been charged with the odd crimes of practicing medicine without a license and tampering with evidence (presumably by disposing of the body). Since the baby was born alive (autopsy revealed air in the lungs), and she killed her either directly or by depraved indifference to human life, the appropriate charge is murder or manslaughter.
5. Here's a good summary of where we are with the issue of conscience protection for heatlh care workers, especially in light of the federal regulations which are about to be rescinded by the Administration. It's important to remember that the pressure on doctors, nurses, social workers, etc. doesn't just come from the government, but from their own professional organizations, which seek to impose "ethics" rules that would require complicity in abortion in the name of respecting "patient autonomy" and other similar concepts. Some states are strengthening their conscience protections for health care workers. This will be valuable not just for the pending recission of the regulations, but for the effects of health care "reform" or the passage of bills like RHAPP or FOCA.
6. More insanity from the UK. Now IVF moms can name anyone on the birth certificate as the "father", including another female. So what does "father" mean any more? As Inigo Montoya said, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
7. Judaism gets Lindsay Lohan, who's converting to please her girlfriend. We get Newt Gingrich, whose converting to share the faith of his Catholic wife. It's a tough call, but all told, I think we're ahead on this one.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Cause and Effect
1. The likely effect of an expanded government role in social services is the reduction in religious practice among Americans. This is yet another reason to be dubious about the "reforms" proposed in Washington.
2. New York is not the only state facing a state version of FOCA -- one is moving forward in Illinois as well.
3. An excellent overview on the need to regulate the IVF industry, as the State of Georgia is now proposing. Most people don't realize that this industry is very tightly regulated in Europe, in contrast to the Wild West situation here in the United States.
4. It's very important that we understand the broad agenda of attacks on the Church, with the statute of limitations repeal and the attacks on conscience rights. (Kudos to our own Dennis Poust of the New York State Catholic Conference for making this clear to the reporter). And this article doesn't even address the threat posed by the recognition of same-sex marriages.
5. The indispensible Fr. Thomas Berg writes about the effect of social networking sites on our brains and our relationships. I'd send the link to my kids, but they haven't put me on their "friends" list.
6. Interesting article about the different levels of religious belief and activity between women and men. They find that women pray more than men. Of course, that's because the women are praying for their men, and it's a good thing too.
7. I don’t follow football, but it sounds like the Jets' quarterback is one of the good guys, giving public witness to his Catholic faith.
2. New York is not the only state facing a state version of FOCA -- one is moving forward in Illinois as well.
3. An excellent overview on the need to regulate the IVF industry, as the State of Georgia is now proposing. Most people don't realize that this industry is very tightly regulated in Europe, in contrast to the Wild West situation here in the United States.
4. It's very important that we understand the broad agenda of attacks on the Church, with the statute of limitations repeal and the attacks on conscience rights. (Kudos to our own Dennis Poust of the New York State Catholic Conference for making this clear to the reporter). And this article doesn't even address the threat posed by the recognition of same-sex marriages.
5. The indispensible Fr. Thomas Berg writes about the effect of social networking sites on our brains and our relationships. I'd send the link to my kids, but they haven't put me on their "friends" list.
6. Interesting article about the different levels of religious belief and activity between women and men. They find that women pray more than men. Of course, that's because the women are praying for their men, and it's a good thing too.
7. I don’t follow football, but it sounds like the Jets' quarterback is one of the good guys, giving public witness to his Catholic faith.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
What's Wrong with Sebelius
1. Here's a surprisingly decent summary from CNN of the situation with the Sebelius nomination, including the very disappointing endorsement from Catholic Sen. Sam Brownback. Here is an excellent presentation of the reasons that Gov. Sebelius is unfit to serve as HHS Secretary, and a good overview of the news coverage of the religion angle of the nomination. George Weigel weighs in at First Things.
2. Let's always remember the proper standard against which to judge Gov. Sebelius' record -- and the record of any citizen or public official, Catholic or not -- which was set forth by Pope JP II in Evangelium Vitae: "Abortion and euthanasia are crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection."
3. When Rep. Jerry Nadler was in the minority, he was just a bit of a joke. Now that he's in the majority, his radicalism is more serious -- now he has introduced a bill to repeal part of the Defense of Marriage Act. At the same time, a lawsuit is being filed to overturn DOMA, and California's Prop 8 is under attack in the legislature and the courts. Gee, do you think there might be a movement afoot to attack marriage?
4. A California clinic has begun to offer "designer babies" -- children who have been genetically manipulated to fulfill the desires of their parents. Meanwhile a bill has been introduced in Georgia to rein in the IVF industry.
5. Another advance in stem cell research that does not involve destroying human life. Yet, curiously, embryonic stem cell researchers don't seem to welcome the developments. Could it be a guilty conscience?
6. This sums up pretty much everything that's tragically wrong with some women's religious communities, in a nutshell -- absurdly unbalanced opposition to the "visitation" that was ordered by the Holy See, claiming that it is "violence" and advocating resistance. You would have thought that those who are most enamored of the mythical "spirit of Vatican II" would welcome a little of the Council's "aggiornamento" or openness. Ironic.
7. Moloch has re-emerged, and has posted on his blog. He's happy with the way things are going in Washington and in the culture.
8. Posted yesterday at my official ArchNY blog on the new threats to human life and our Church from the 100% anti-life Administration, mainly the rescinding of the conscience protection regulations and the Sebelius nomination.
2. Let's always remember the proper standard against which to judge Gov. Sebelius' record -- and the record of any citizen or public official, Catholic or not -- which was set forth by Pope JP II in Evangelium Vitae: "Abortion and euthanasia are crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection."
3. When Rep. Jerry Nadler was in the minority, he was just a bit of a joke. Now that he's in the majority, his radicalism is more serious -- now he has introduced a bill to repeal part of the Defense of Marriage Act. At the same time, a lawsuit is being filed to overturn DOMA, and California's Prop 8 is under attack in the legislature and the courts. Gee, do you think there might be a movement afoot to attack marriage?
4. A California clinic has begun to offer "designer babies" -- children who have been genetically manipulated to fulfill the desires of their parents. Meanwhile a bill has been introduced in Georgia to rein in the IVF industry.
5. Another advance in stem cell research that does not involve destroying human life. Yet, curiously, embryonic stem cell researchers don't seem to welcome the developments. Could it be a guilty conscience?
6. This sums up pretty much everything that's tragically wrong with some women's religious communities, in a nutshell -- absurdly unbalanced opposition to the "visitation" that was ordered by the Holy See, claiming that it is "violence" and advocating resistance. You would have thought that those who are most enamored of the mythical "spirit of Vatican II" would welcome a little of the Council's "aggiornamento" or openness. Ironic.
7. Moloch has re-emerged, and has posted on his blog. He's happy with the way things are going in Washington and in the culture.
8. Posted yesterday at my official ArchNY blog on the new threats to human life and our Church from the 100% anti-life Administration, mainly the rescinding of the conscience protection regulations and the Sebelius nomination.
Monday, March 2, 2009
No Surprises -- Just Continued Tragedy
1. Continuing not to surprise anyone who was paying attention, the 100% anti-life President will now rescind the conscience protection regulations enacted by the previous Administration. What weak federal conscience protections are already in place just got weaker, since the regulations would have put some enforcement teeth into them. And just in time for our next item.
2. The President has also formally announced that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will be his Health and Human Services Secretary. You must look at the picture that accompanies the Catholic News Agency story that I link to. It shows the Governor -- who is ostensibly a Catholic -- posing at her mansion with notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller, for whom the Governor hosted a fund-raiser/tribute (and who was subsequently indicted for his activities). Due to her anti-life policies, Gov. Sebelius was instructed by her Bishop not to present herself for Communion. Now she will oversee health care policy for the United States, including shaping the national health insurance proposal, research grants (e.g., stem cell research), and enforcement of conscience laws. God help us.
3. The Catholic quislings who love to talk about "abortion reduction (without doing anything to reduce abortions)" will be crowing about Gov. Sebelius' "pro-life" credentials because she supposedly favored policies that encouraged pregnant women who had decided to carry their babies to term. Of course, she also opposed any real restrictions on abortion and never did anything to directly restrict or regulate abortion. For yet another debunking of the "abortion reduction" argument, see here.
4. And if "pro-choice" advocates really want to reduce abortions, then why wouldn't they oppose this Missouri bill aimed at preventing coerced abortions? Perhaps we'll try to introduce a similar bill here in New York and see which way the hypocrites jump.
5. The continuing disgrace of the National "Catholic" Reporter hits a new low, publishing an article entitled "I'm a Pro-Choice Catholic". (I won't link to the actual article because I don't want to hang a millstone around anyone's neck). The piece was written by a young woman who is also an advocate for women priests (Strike Two!) and a leader in Call to Action (Strike Three!). There is only one conclusion from her attitude towards conscience and Church teaching, and for the results she reaches through her erroneous judgment and clouded reason -- she's a protestant (i.e., she believes ultimately in the infallible authority of her own private judgment) not a Catholic, and in integrity she should find a nice protestant community that suits her interests. Why does any Catholic parish, priest, religious, layperson, or school continue to subscribe to this awful, awful newspaper?
6. Outstanding piece by Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online about our new Archbishop.
7. Happy Pulaski Day to our Polish comrades. Eternal gratitude to the General for helping us win independence, and for giving his life for our glorious cause.
8. Posted over the weekend at my official ArchNY blog about the Silent No More witness in City Hall Park. Blogging today about the President's latest moves.
2. The President has also formally announced that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will be his Health and Human Services Secretary. You must look at the picture that accompanies the Catholic News Agency story that I link to. It shows the Governor -- who is ostensibly a Catholic -- posing at her mansion with notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller, for whom the Governor hosted a fund-raiser/tribute (and who was subsequently indicted for his activities). Due to her anti-life policies, Gov. Sebelius was instructed by her Bishop not to present herself for Communion. Now she will oversee health care policy for the United States, including shaping the national health insurance proposal, research grants (e.g., stem cell research), and enforcement of conscience laws. God help us.
3. The Catholic quislings who love to talk about "abortion reduction (without doing anything to reduce abortions)" will be crowing about Gov. Sebelius' "pro-life" credentials because she supposedly favored policies that encouraged pregnant women who had decided to carry their babies to term. Of course, she also opposed any real restrictions on abortion and never did anything to directly restrict or regulate abortion. For yet another debunking of the "abortion reduction" argument, see here.
4. And if "pro-choice" advocates really want to reduce abortions, then why wouldn't they oppose this Missouri bill aimed at preventing coerced abortions? Perhaps we'll try to introduce a similar bill here in New York and see which way the hypocrites jump.
5. The continuing disgrace of the National "Catholic" Reporter hits a new low, publishing an article entitled "I'm a Pro-Choice Catholic". (I won't link to the actual article because I don't want to hang a millstone around anyone's neck). The piece was written by a young woman who is also an advocate for women priests (Strike Two!) and a leader in Call to Action (Strike Three!). There is only one conclusion from her attitude towards conscience and Church teaching, and for the results she reaches through her erroneous judgment and clouded reason -- she's a protestant (i.e., she believes ultimately in the infallible authority of her own private judgment) not a Catholic, and in integrity she should find a nice protestant community that suits her interests. Why does any Catholic parish, priest, religious, layperson, or school continue to subscribe to this awful, awful newspaper?
6. Outstanding piece by Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online about our new Archbishop.
7. Happy Pulaski Day to our Polish comrades. Eternal gratitude to the General for helping us win independence, and for giving his life for our glorious cause.
8. Posted over the weekend at my official ArchNY blog about the Silent No More witness in City Hall Park. Blogging today about the President's latest moves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
