Swimming in a sea of relativism, Bishop Morlino holds an eternal rope.

so conception is a process that takes several days? this is news to me.

I think that that is an oblique reference to the time between fertilization and implantation - an area that is debated fiercely by the pro-contraception, por-abortion folks.

Whether conception takes one second or several days really isn't relevant anyway. If we have reason to believe that there could be life there, we shouldn't take the risk of killing someone. It would be like demolishing a builing on the grounds that we don't know if anyone is in there or not.

My morning radio show sometimes calls Madison the Peoples Republic of Madison. Seems like the good Bishop ran into a bit of this

What a terrible piece of journalism! My favorite line was:

Today, Vatican City is the smallest country in the world.

God bless,
Jay

yeah, the comment about vatican city being the smallest country in the world was stupid because well, it's the same size it's always been.

The article was written in a tone of bemusement, the writer explicitly stating he doesn't understand his subject and implicitly expecting his reader won't, either. I've seen the same tone used in articles on UFO enthusiasts and on William Shatner.

If a reader does understand the subject, the writer may well come off appearing shockingly incompetent.

The "smallest country in the world" line was odd, but Vatican City has only existed as such since 1929. The writer was referring to the loss of the Papal States, in a failed attempt to correlate authority over dirt with moral authority, but I doubt I'm alone in saying, of the loss of the Papal States, "Good riddance!"

If 'biology' really does unanimously tell us that: '...there is no moment of conception but rather a process of conception that takes place over a one- to two-day period...;' I say 'bring it on!'

I'd love to have that arguement used against me: Just concede the remainder of the 9-month period once and for all; and then, after we've corrected the abortion laws accordingly, we can quibble over that first 2 days.

(An aside: Would that be Mr. Biology? Kind of like Mr. & Mrs. They, who live in Nebraska and sit around all day spouting those little facts that people repeat in conversations? "They say that...")

Bishop Morlino is a throwback to the era when the Church triumphant reigned imperially. He doesn't get what being in a democracy is all about, and after hearing him this weekend turn a church dedication into a diatribe about the decline of western civilization, I find him pretty pompous.