Punditry

Kathy Shaidle guest blogging over at Small dead animal.

In other news: Pope calls "Peace Train" "self-indulgent, second rate"

"In an interview with BBC television, [Cat Stevens] said that he went to a Catholic school, ‘so at one point I used to believe that the Pope was infallible.’

"But he added that the pope’s comments on Islam showed he was fallible, ‘because of the kind of interpretation he had of Islam, he should read Gandhi and find out what he said about Islam,’ the singer said, adding that the Indian leader had a more peaceful interpretation of the faith."

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Wow, that must’ve been some craptastic Catholic school, because, as everyone else learned in, like, grade 4, the Pope is only infallible when speaking ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals.

But I guess those big words confounded the man behind such profound compositions as "Wild World".

As for Gandhi, I for one have always been way more interested in what he said about daily enemas as the path to enlightenment, sleeping with naked teenage girls, and how Jews should let Hitler kill them.

But I’m funny like that.

I do keep waiting for him to update some of his old classics like "Hard Headed Inman", "Spanish Peace Train Bombing", "But I might die tonight (if my suicide belt works properly)", or "Crecentshadow" In fact if you read some of the lyrics of the original Moonshadow they do have a suicide bomber bent. Such as:

And if I ever lose my hands…
And if I ever lose my eyes.., And if I ever lose my legs,
And if I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth, north and south,

Well I am all for his losing his mouth part.

Since just when did the Washington Post start printing conversion stories? I guess when a Catholic converts to Islam. [Via Gerald] Exactly why is the conversion story of an aspiring and unknown rock musician worthy of the Post’s coverage. I don’t seem to recall similar stories of more well known people or the ones of rockers like Alice Coooper, Iron Maiden’s drummer Nicko McBrain, or Korn’s ex-guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. Oh maybe it was because they converted to Christianity and not Islam.

We won’t soon be reading conversion stories of Muslims turned Christians in Islam dominated countries. Those converts know they are heading for trouble or should I say beheading for trouble.

A readers sent me a link to an interesting Telegraph blog post on the state of the nations faith which chronicles the further decline of religious faith in Britain. That without Christian migrants would be even more in a free fall.

The Roman Catholics have recorded the largest drop; between 1989 and 1998 (the dates covered by a previous Census) it declined by 3.2 per cent. Between 1998 and 2005, the latest figures, it lost a further 4.2 per cent. In other words, on the measure of Sunday attendance, it has halved over the past sixteen years.

The Oxford movement has become the secular movement. Though considering Oxford today maybe they are the same thing.

The percentage of 15 to 29-year-olds attending has fallen from 15 per cent in 1998 to 12 per cent. The overall drop in the 20 to 29 age group was a staggering 29 per cent, the highest of any age group.

Women are abandoning the pews twice as fast as men (an intriguing finding given the ordination of women). The average age of churchgoers is 45, against a population average of 40.

No real surprise there. All attempts at changing doctrine to fit the times results in a church that comes out of a Jello mold. It looks fine at a distance, but it wobbles and conforms itself to fit the times; and of course collapses easily under the slightest pressure.

Joseph Pearce at the First Things’ blog at a good post on the effects of multiculturalism in England.

The trouble, of course, is that the comrades, long since disillusioned with Lenin, have adopted Lennon instead. Whereas the old Marxists believed in something, albeit something absurd and dangerous, New Labour believes in nothing; “nothing” as defined by John Lennon in his sentimentally pernicious imagination: “No heaven … no hell … no countries … nothing to kill or die for and no religion too.” This is the new hedonism with which the secularists want to unite British society; the new uniculturalism to replace the old multiculturalism. It is perhaps not surprising that many Muslims are unconvinced by this self-centered hedonism in which, to return to Lennon, “all the people” are “living for today.” If this is all we have to offer, to hell with it.

Some time ago somebody signed me up for the VOTF newsletter. I have read that this has happened to several other bloggers also. I do wonder if it was a VOTF member who did it to enlighten my rather skeptical view of VOTF, or somebody who was also skeptical and wants them exposed.

Regardless today their newsletter I saw something different than in the past.

One of the Fall Campaign for Accountability options for our affiliates is to organize one or more group recitations of the Rosary. Where has the rosary been? It was so much a part of pre-Vatican II Catholic prayer life

I think this was the first time they ever suggested a traditional devotional practice. Normally it is always about financial accountability, priestly abuse, and changing the structure of the Church. I though good for them that finally they were promoting something positive. So I opened up the PDF on the Rosary they had and I found that it had the normal overview on how to pray the Rosary with an illustration, though it was missing the Fatima prayer "O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell; lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen.", but of course no one is required to say this with the Rosary.

They had one set of reflections included that was VOTF back to their normal form.

The First Sorrowful Mystery: THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN

Jesus comes with his disciples to Gethsemani and says "Stay here, while I go yonder and pray."

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse ask us to stand with them. Do we do so until we become tired and lose
interest? When the authorities accuse them do we run away as the disciples did?

The Second Sorrowful Mystery: THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR

Jesus is taken before the High Priest where He is falsely accused, buffeted and insulted. The Jewish leaders
take Jesus before Pilate, for only he can impose the death penalty. The robber, Barabbas, is preferred to Jesus.
Pilate can "find no cause in Him", yet to appease the Jews, he orders Jesus to be scourged.

Survivors have been doubted, vilified, and accused of money chasing. Credibly accused priests have had
excuses made for them, had their crimes covered up, and been allowed to drop out of sight. Do we “wish the
crisis would go away” so that we can relapse into our comfortable “no problem” relationship with our
Church?

The Third Sorrowful Mystery: THE CROWNING WITH THORNS

In the praetorium, the soldiers place an old purple robe on Jesus in mockery of His claim to be a king. They
fashion a crown out of thorns, and press it down upon His head. In His bound hands they place a reed, as a
scepter, in mockery of His kingship.

Survivors have been mocked and scorned even in some cases by their very families. They have been ignored
and oppressed by the Church because of a fear of scandal rather than being supported and healed out of a
sense of justice.

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS

One condemned to death by crucifixion is forced to carry the cross to the place of execution. The suffering
of Jesus is intense as the cross is laid on His bruised and wounded back and shoulders.

Survivors are condemned to carry the memories of their experience for the rest of their lives. This is a
sentence laid on them by their perpetrators. Such a sentence may be lightened by the assistance and support
which we give them.

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: THE CRUCIFIXION

The hands and feet of Jesus are nailed to the cross. "I thirst." "It is finished."

The crucifixion of survivors continues everyday. Until those accountable face this reality more persons will be
sexually abused by representatives of our Church. We must continue to pledge ourselves to thirst and work
for justice for our brothers and sisters.

Yes let us meditate daily on priestly abuse and cover up. That Jesus takes a backseat in these meditations is indicative of VOTF in the first place. Now I realize there have been Rosary meditations in the past, such as Pro-life ones, that interweave an important issue to pray on but concentrates on Jesus. The problem with this set is that they are not interwoven and in some cases totally ignores the meditation on Jesus and concentrates on abuse survivors. I can’t imagine the horror of sexual abuse, but to equate it with crucifixion is over-the-top.

As bad as the abuse scandal is, I have always gotten the feeling that the whole issue is just a Trojan Horse for VOTF. A convenient prop used to deceive people as to their real motives. Instead of Troy though they plan to lay waste and siege Rome. From the beginning they have been the typical less-than-orthodox organization that has used abuse as a patina of respectability to cover their typical dissident agenda. Over the years their mask has slowly slipped, mainly because it was never firmly attached in the first place. For example on their site they say:

We do not advocate the end of priestly celibacy, the exclusion of homosexuals from the priesthood, the ordination of women, or any of the other remedies that have been proposed across the spectrum of Catholic thought.

They say "We accept the teaching authority of the Catholic Church", but by their own statement then deny the Vatican’s authority via the document on not allowing "Persons with Homosexual Tendencies" from the priesthood. They say they don’t endorse women’s ordination yet they recently proposed.

Whereas, the Gospel message of inclusion is diminished by discrimination against more than half of its total membership; and

Whereas, women are excluded not only from governing positions within the Church’s hierarchical structure, but also from many ministerial leadership roles; and

Whereas, the deterrence of future abuses by the hierarchy is dependent on the entire People of God,

THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED THAT:

Voice of the Faithful calls for Church-wide discussion on advancing equal access for women to all positions of leadership and ministry within the Catholic Church.

They say they do not advocate the end of priestly celibacy, yet the majority of the people in their speakers bureau do just that.

The most important part of reforms is always our inward reform. We must reform ourselves first so that we can see clearly. Reform must start inward before it can work outward. In their case they want to skip step one and go right to removing the mote from the Bishop’s eyes. That so often they are willing to lie and misrepresent what the large majority of the members believe proves doesn’t exactly show holiness, much less faithfulness. They go on an on about openness and accountability yet do nothing to criticize their members when they go against the teachings of the Church and in fact are willing to promote the most heterodox of speakers. They talk about cover ups, but need to look no further than their own organization.

For these self-appointed reformers of the Church, I say "Doctor heal thyself." For myself I say "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner."

Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex reports on a sex ed curriculum put out by St. Stephens Community House (Anglican) and a bit of The homosexual propaganda called “The Little Black Book–A Book on Healthy Sexuality." Shelray ends with this:

The St. Stephens Community house has removed all traces of this on-line sex manual from the website as of today. Like some in the psychiatric industry, I am convinced that many who are drawn to the sexual education of the young have more than their share of sexual disorders and confusion and consequently, pass on their delusional thoughts to impressionable kids.

Considering the history of sexual research with the likes of a true pedophile and pervert like Alfred Kinsey (who was a zoologist and not a medical doctor) leading the way this observation is right on the money. There has always been an agenda that has had zero regard for true scientific research and is willing to falsify and make outrageous claims to sexualize children. The foxes have long been put in charge of the Hen houses when it comes to so-called sex ed

Catholic League president Bill Donohue wrote to NBC chief Bob Wright today about the upcoming Madonna concert:

Last February, NBC Nightly News decided it would not offend Muslim sensibilities by showing the controversial Danish cartoon of Muhammad in full. Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for NBC, said, We felt that in order to convey the essence of the story, it was not necessary to show the entire cartoon.

Accordingly, the same ethical principles which drove this decision should apply to Christians. Therefore, in deference to Christian sensibilities, NBC should not air the entire Madonna concert. If it does air the Mock Crucifixion, it will send a message to the 85 percent of the American population that is Christian that their sensibilities count less than Muslims. And that is not a decision that any responsible person or company can afford to make.

And how about offending people that have any musical tastes? Normally I never mention Madonna on my blog, because why give her any attention when that is what she wants with her constant practice of mocking Christianity especially the Catholic Church. She doth protest too much. I say let her do her mock crucifixion just as long as we get to scourge her first. It is though NBC that should be the one criticized here. The same broadcaster that decided their running of Veggie Tales on Saturday mornings also had to be edited to remove Christian references and Bible Verses. They had no problem censoring in this case, of putting Larry the Cucumber and the rest in a blender and setting it to puree.

I remember several years back she sued the Madonna House apostolate started by Catherine Doherty. The reason was that they had from the beginning of their web presence the url Madonna.org. Of course this organization was started long before she was even born and certainly had more of a legal right to the name than she did. Unfortunately her legal bullying made them change their url to Madonnahouse.org.

In a somewhat related story. When the Marx Brothers did the movie "A Night in Casablanca", Warner Brothers’ had their lawyers sending them a cease and desist letter. Grouch Marx wrote them back saying he was counter-suing them since they were brothers before the Warner brothers were. That ended the suit.

Update: It was the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, not Madonna House that was involved. A cyber squatting pornographer had owned madonna.org and was going to give it to the hospitable, but was forced to hand it over to Madonna instead. The hospital still owns madonna.org.

As Gerald Augustinus has noticed.

Some media outlets have reported, with some sensationalism, that the Pope was re-doing his speech from Regensburg. Well, yeah. The Vatican website, from day one, before the story became such a news item, said that the version up was just provisional, that a footnoted edition would be published later. That has nothing to do with Muslim protests whatsoever.

There is a very good reason for them to be updating the translation that has nothing to do with re-doing. Fr. Fessio mentioned last night on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

And by the way, just to get it straight, you know, while we’re here on the record, and on the radio, if you read the German text, and listen to him speaking it in German, you’ll see that where the first English translation came out said the Pope says the emperor turns to his interlocutor, somewhat bruskly, with a central question. But in the German, it’s…in very harsh form. And Ratzinger, actually, the Holy Father, actually added…he said it’s amazingly harsh, even an astonishingly harsh form.

He also mentions the fact that it should be Protestants not Muslims if anybody who should have taken offense.

I mean, he criticized the Protestants twice here. First, he said that reason is a part of Christian faith. Logos, theology’s not just Hellenization. And when did that union of faith and reason begin? Have you lost the first phase, he says, is the 16th Century reformists with sola fides, you know? And then, he says the 18th and 19th Century liberal Protestant theologians, who tried to reduce the study of theology to merely imperical, historical science. So…but I didn’t notice any Episcopalians burning Catholic Churches, or any Baptists out there hanging the Pope in effigy on this thing.

The irony is that event notable Anti-Catholic James White defended the Pope [Via Defensor Veritatis].

I like what the Pope said today in the Wednesday Audience [Via Dom].

However, to an attentive reader of my text it is clear that in no way did I wish to make my own the negative words pronounced by the medieval emperor, and that their polemical content does not express my personal convictions.

So where are the headlines "Pope slams inattentive readers"?

Carl Olson has an excellent post on The (False) Tale of Two Popes. A recent meme by some Muslim’s, the media, and some in the Church attempt to invent some contrast between Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, that JPII never wrote anything critical of Islam and that Benedict has dashed all he built up. He gives some what should be provocative quotes on the Koran that never got the media’s attention so what is the difference? I think it is because the one quote in the Regensburg lecture is sound bite size. JP II’s writing had no gotcha moment that was easy to misrepresent.

Some Australian Muslim groups have reacted angrily to comments made by Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell.

The Archbishop of Sydney has backed the Pope’s speech made in Germany last week, linking Islam’s history with violence.

The Pontiff has since apologised, saying he is deeply sorry about angering so many Muslims, and that the 14th Century passages that he referred to in no way reflect his views.

Cardinal Pell says the pontiff did nothing wrong in making the speech, and says he does not rule out a link between Islam and violence.

"I’m not sure, I would welcome some clarification from our Islamic friends," he said.

Nada Roudee, spokeswoman for the Islamic Council of NSW, says Cardinal Pell should look at world history.

What a coincidence. In fact that is exactly what the Cardinal has done in the past.

Islam and Us, originally published in First Things this year.

Islam and Western Democracies

Pope Provoked Muslim Rage To Help Bush and Republicans

Ratzinger is not stupid. Including the reference to the passage that has incited Muslim anger was no accident. It was a calculated, intentional strategy designed to help George Bush and the Republicans in the 2006 elections, just like the Catholic church systematically helped Bush and the Republicans in the 2004 elections, through Cardinals and Bishops who attacked Kerry.

Of course the fact that not one Cardinal said anything negative about Kerry and that the number of Bishops who did you could count on one hand. That the Bishop’s conference has been called the Democratic Party at prayer. Though facts gets in the way of Rovian-Vatican conspiracies to influence the U.S. election.

To spell it out, it seems that the Pope intentionally drew an angry, violent, anti-Catholic, possibly anti-Christian response from Muslims on the street in the Arab world. This makes great TV– burning the Pope or Christians in Effigy, threats to terror Bomb the Vatican and Catholic Churches. This is designed to raise the hackles of American Christians, to intensify the fear of Muslim terrorism, to boost the belief that there are 1.1 billion Muslims plotting against Americans.

I had to recheck the site URL to make sure I hadn’t wondered onto the Onion’s site. Yes the Pope knew that the media would intentionally mischaracterized his comments and write provoking headlines to inflame the passions of Muslims. When he wrote a scholarly discourse of the role of faith and reason and a condemnation of religious violence it was of course meant to start religious violence and get Republicans elected in the fall election. Pope Benedict has been misunderstood in the past, but this one takes the cake. This type of analysis applies zero facts and shows a poor faith effort at even looking at the slightest details of the Pope writings.

And speaking of John Kerry.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry on Monday urged people of faith to work cooperatively on problems such as poverty, global warming and reducing the number of abortions – "godly tasks" that transcend the nation’s culture wars.

In a speech laced with anecdotes of his own journey of faith, Kerry, a Roman Catholic, told students in a speech at Pepperdine University that "we can take up God’s work as our own.

"Shame on us if we use our faith to divide and alienate people from one another, or if we draft God into partisan service," Kerry said. "As God gives us the ability to see, let us take up the tasks associated with loving our neighbors as ourselves."

Even with the nation riven over reproductive rights, Kerry said a shared goal should be reducing the high number of abortions. The first step, he said, it to accept the responsibility of making abortion rare.

"Even as a supporter of Roe v. Wade, I am compelled to acknowledge that the language both sides use on this subject can be unfortunately misleading and unconstructive. … Everyone is worse off for it," the Massachusetts senator said.

Listening to John Kerry talk about faith is like what Mark Shea says, watching Nixon Trying to Disco. Well at least this time he didn’t quote St. James on faith and works while voting for partial-birth abortion. He is trying the President Clinton line about making abortion rare, but what he forgets is that Bill Clinton was charismatic so he could say vapid things and make them sound good. You want to deliver a line like that without having anybody pausing to actually think about it. As has been mentioned before exactly what other "right" should be made rare? If abortion has no moral quality then the numbers don’t matter in the first place. Of course they also never lay out any plan on how this is to happen other than throwing gasoline on the fire methods like more sex education and more contraceptives and then mock programs that teach abstinence.

"For 12 years I wandered in the wilderness, went through a divorce and struggled with questions about my direction. Then suddenly and movingly, I had a revelation about the connection between the work I was doing as a public servant and my formative teachings. Indeed, the scriptures provided a firmer guide about values applied to life," he said.

Well maybe he just has another 28 years to wander in the wilderness first. Here is hoping he makes his way to the promised land, though I heard he voted for war against the Hittites before he voted against it.