Playing the Media
I was going to ask this question, but Diogenes already did.
Logic question: How could Bishop Tobin, by writing a private letter in 2007, escalate a public dispute that began in October 2009?
Yes not only can Bishop Tobin time travel, but he must also have other powers. For example his powers include making Rep Kennedy reveal the letter at the proper time and making him keep bring up the dispute.
Funny how the media has framed this "conflict" exactly backwards. Bishop Tobin has been working behind the scenes in regards to Rep. Kennedy and his public statements have always been in response to Rep. Kennedy.
Rep. Kennedy has been masterful at plucking the strings of the media. He knows exactly how to get media attention. Plus when it starts to die down he plays the trump by telling about a Jan 2007 letter he relieved from the Bishop. He knows the so-called Communion wars are tasty bits for the MSM and that they would tie this "interference" into the health care debate. Well played Rep. Kennedy.
Known as 
The sooner the Catholic Church actively and publicly excludes emancipated, independent thinking parishioners from participation in the Church and it's sacraments, the sooner most will walk away in frustration and disgust, leaving the Church an insular, anachronistic cult, led by a repressed, perverted, autocratic and patriarchal cabal. It is the fate Catholicism deserves. It will make for a healthier and cohesive society moving forward.
It can't happen too soon. Hooray for Bishop Tobin!
reddog, it is all a matter of perspective:
The sooner that the Church actively excludes emancipated, independent thinking parishioners, who are unmoored and unanchored, having no clue where they are on the map of reality, the sooner will these parishioners find that they are the insular, self-referent, proud, yet lost souls that they are. The Church isn't going anywhere and it beacons its wandering children to come back to the safety of the fold when they get tired of their self-importance.
The Church outlives the Caesars, it outlives the Vandals and Huns, it outlives the corruption and betrayal of even its own priests and bishops through the years, it outlives the fracture of Protestantism and all the other -ism's out there, it outlived the Nazis, it brought down the Berlin Wall, it stands up honorably to the brutish, dehumanizing persecutions in China, Africa, and elswhere. I put odds on it outlasting our financially, morally, and spiritually bankrupt society as well. The Church isn't even going to break a sweat as it consigns the Kennedy's and their like to its long trail of dust in the ash-heap of history... it will barely be a blip on the radar.
Nonetheless, by the example of her Lord, the Church patiently believes that our people and our nation today deserves the chance to step out of the darkness and foolishness of our ways in order to reach out to find the way to something greater... greater than being just another Kennedy.
Ah, the "resident" anti-Catholic troll strikes again.
Well, Jeff, perhaps you're winning over reddog just a bit; he seems to like it here.
What happens if a bank mistakenly pays money into an account?
"excludes emancipated, independent ..."
One would have thought that the terms "emancipated" and "independent" implied self-exclusion. But, then, one doesn't expect coherent thought from the same.
Let's see, the Catholic Church has been buried by any numbers of caesars, emirs, German princes, a sultan or two, a French emperor, an Italian unifier, several party chairmen, a German Fuhrer, a bunch of university instructors and politicans, and reddog...Yep, sounds like business as usual.
Reminds me of the Archbishop of Paris' reply when Napoleon I explained he would destroy the Church: "Monsieur le Emperor, if 1800 years of bad priests haven't destroyed it, what chance do you have?"
It is well played only if he actually doesn't believe.
If he actually believes then this is about as foolish as one can get.
This guy needs prayers STAT!
Looks like reddog found himself a thesaurus :) Same schtick though. Yeah, we get it. You hate the church, church is bad, run by bad people,*yawn* and you're here to tell us what idiots we are to profess and allegiance to such an entity. What do you hope to do? Get us all to say you're right? Or are you just so filled with hate that you have to troll around Catholic sites to exact revenge? That's just sad...and been done. I see the ghost of Hoodlum rising. There is nothing left to do but to pray for you.
Psalm 7:15
He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made.
Here's my prayer for all them emancipated people that reddog hallucinates about leaving the Church.
"Dear Lord, in thy infinite mercy please don't let the door hit them on the arse on their way out. Amen."
I'm still shocked that there is no organized Catholic movement in USA, asking Rome to face the USCCB REFUSING to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, LONG AGO with Canon 915.
This SCANDAL leads millions to think that is OK the oxymoron "catholic-pro-choice" like Kennedy.
Just wanted to wish you a "happy feast day" for your patron, Blessed Miguel Pro.
Fr. Bill P.: "What do you hope to do? "
He hopes to get people to pay attention to him. He's not persuasive, he's not (apparently) bright, he's not polite, he's not charismatic, he's not well informed, he's not articulate, and so he cannot hope to get anything out of this other than attention. Which is why this is the last time I will, albeit indirectly, give him any.
reddog,
I signed the Manhattan Declaration.
Have you signed yet?
Just ignore reddog. He knows he's on the losing side of the battle; it tends to make people bitter and angry.
"emancipated, independent thinking parishioners" ARE "a repressed, perverted, autocratic and patriarchal cabal".
Reddog, it occurred to me long ago that churches are like country clubs. If you don't want to follow the club rules, you shouldn't pretend to be a member. It only encourages them.
Find a religion that fits what you already believe about G-d, the world, the way we ought to behave, and so on. If you can't find one that's a good fit, keep looking. You will find it eventually.
By the way, for the Catholics here, there are many religious beliefs older than either Catholicism or Christianity. They are still here too, in spite of persecution and oppression, and they still speak to the hearts and minds of those who cherish them.