Punditry

And why not do evil that good may come? — as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. –Romans 3:8

You would think by listening to Catholics from both sides of the spectrum that you can do evil to do good. I find this extremely annoying to hear the justification of an act because of some good results. If you question the justification of the means you are denounced for not wanting the good that resulted. For example you will hear that condoms are a necessary evil to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. If you disagree with this premise you are told that you are not compassionate and are wiling to let people die for an ideal. If you question the justification of the war in Iraq then you must approve of the immense evil that occurred under Saddam Hussein’s regime. If you believe that using an injustice to make up for a previous injustice such as in a racial quota system is mistaken, then you are branded a racist. Daily we are hearing arguments where the end does justify the means.

Recently I heard Sean Hannity interview an author of a book that says that President Bush should be impeached for going to war in Iraq. While I disagree with the arguments this author used, I was more upset by Hannity’s line of questioning. He would ask something like “Do you think it is better that Uday and Qusay Hussein are no longer around?” The author not wanting to answer the foolish question would try to go on with the interview. Sean becomes angry with “Why can’t you answer this simple question?” The interview just went on and degraded from there. Sean Hannity isn’t the only talk show host that uses this line of questioning. Regardless of what I believe to be the good results of the war in Iraq it does not change the question as to whether the war was just or not. Regardless of how many mass graves we find or other signs of that thug regime it does not change the information on what led to the war. I fall on the side that the war was probably just and that the President acted with good faith with the information he had. But I am also greatly concerned about possible intelligence lapses that might gave given a false information to our leaders. No matter what I don’t want to hear these stupid arguments of “Would you prefer that Saddam still be in charge.” These types of questions do nothing to convince those who believed that the war was not justified. If you believe the war to be just than argue based on why it was just in accordance with the framework of just war theory.

I wonder if somebody asked Sean Hannity if we should invade North Korea right now? If he answered no, would he like to then be told that his answer meant that he approves of the gulags and the police state there. But this got me thinking about what if some talk show host had interviewed Joseph.

Host: Recently you been mentioned in a new book called Genesis.
Joseph: True this book has many stories in it including the story of my life.
Host: I really liked how everything turned out and God had put you into position to save the lives of both the Egyptians and your kinsman during a time of drought.
Joseph: I was pretty happy to be part of God’s plan.
Host; It is a good thing that your brothers threw you into that empty well and then later sold you into slavery.
Joseph: That was not a good thing at all, though I later forgave them. They meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Host: If they had not sold you into slavery than many people would have died. Do you want innocent women and children to die.
Joseph: No but..
Host: Can’t you answer a simple question. I asked you if wanted innocent women and children to die.
Joseph: No! But let me…
Host: This conversation is going nowhere. See people these are the types of liberals who just won’t answer a question. I have to put up with behavior everyday.

If John Kerry is truly looking for a parish that might deny him communion, he is not trying that stunt this week.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a Catholic whose support of abortion rights has prompted some in the Church hierarchy to say they would deny him Communion, will receive the sacrament if he attends Easter Sunday services at Boston’s Paulist Center.
[Full Story]

Boston’s Paulist Center is listed on many Gay and Lesbian web sites as a Gay Friendly Parish. One of the members of the Boston’s Gay Man Chorus is also the music director there. Probably the only people that would get denied communion there are orthodox Catholics. This article says that this is the parish the Kerry’s normally go to so it is not surprising that Mr. Kerry is so ill informed about his faith. You just know the “marginalized or alienated Catholics” their mission statement says they are reaching out to are not those who believe in the entirety of the Catholic Faith. Plenty of talk about social justice and not much more.

I really don’t know what to make of this crucifix at the Paulist Center. My firsts thoughts are a deep fried Jesus and the tree that is suppose to be the cross is just plain creepy.

After watching Peter Jennings’ three hours special “Peter Jennings Reporting: Jesus and Paul, the Word and the Witness.” last night I stand by my original prophetic assessment of “Three hours of crap.” Of course when predicting the outcome of an ABC special on Jesus that is just as prophetic as saying that the sun will rise tomorrow. There were some initial reports that this special might not be all that bad. It was quite evident that they were trying to avoid an outright hatchet job and they did present what they would consider fair and unbiased. The majority of the experts were the usual parade of the theologians that we have seen many times before on A&E and Discovery channels attempts at religious history. Though they did have some people who might actually have thought that Jesus was God. But I also suspect that their replies were edited or shown out of context. The first hour on Jesus was pretty mild with a cursory overview of his life, though it was almost totally devoid of references to miracles.

They talked about the Crucifixion being “the most horrible form of torturing and killing that the Romans could devise.” I believe the first known practice of crucifixion was by the Persians. Alexander and his generals brought it back to the Mediterranean world — to Egypt and to Carthage. The Romans apparently learned the practice from the Carthaginians and modified it to be even worse.

One interesting exchange was between Jennings’ and a Franciscan Monk at a Church built at the Grotto of St. Paul. Jennings insisted that St. Paul’s conversion was a process and was not instantaneous. Of course this view point has no historical credence and is the opposite of what the Book of Acts says. This argument was made by appealing to religious psychologists about conversion. Mainly this argument is made to deny the miraculous conversion of St. Paul, because miracles can’t exist. The no miracles allowed dogmatists insists that any explanation must fit within the tight parameters of this belief. While for the vast majority of us religious faith in Christ is a process, this does not deny that in some instances in history that God has miraculously converted people. Alphonse Ratisbonne an agnostic Jew might be another example of someone who was not only converted to the faith but was infused with knowledge about Catholic doctrine. His brother Theodore also converted and became a priest.

One of the usual suspects was Robert Funk from the Jesus seminar. Almost the first sentence out of his mouth was that he believed that Christ didn’t say or do something. Those belonging to the Jesus seminar are like those old pull string dolls that can say one or two phrases because of a little plastic record player embedded within. Pull the string of a Jesus seminar theologian and you will get “Christ didn’t say that” or “It was added later”

One of their efforts at being fair was quite laughable. In the segment on St. Paul they had this one Baptist pastor, Rev. Butts, who had difficulties with some of Paul’s hard sayings, especially on homosexuality. This became the typical muddled argument that God loves everybody, God loves those who have homosexual attraction, thus God loves homosexual attraction. These weren’t the actual words but this is really the core of the argument. This part of the interview was obviously in the pastor’s office and it was very laid back and pleasant. Immediately after this they showed past protests of idiots holding signs like “No Fags in Heaven” and such. This was their attempt at balance by showing the conservative view or at least what they think it is. They also talked about and wondered how Paul could be such a “moral puritan” and still write such beautiful things about love as in 1st Corinthians 13.

The main thrust of the Paul segment which was about two-thirds of the show was that Paul was the Co-founder of Christianity and that without his abilities that Christianity would never have spread. This was the type of heavy skepticism we would expect in a show such as this. They really didn’t want to seriously tackle the question of whether Jesus was indeed God and at the same time they didn’t want to offend Christian believers.

Of course we will never see Peter Jennings doing a special on Islam or any other world religion in the same way.

Fr. Johansen of Thrown Back also has his own review which includes this great line.

“Going to John Dominic Crossan or Bishop Spong to learn about Jesus and/or Paul would be like going to Robert Sungenis to learn about astrophysics.”

The presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee recently referred to James 2:14, then to James 1:22 after saying there were too many hungry and homeless people in America.

`

“The scriptures say, ‘What does it profit my brethren if some say he has faith but does not have works?'” Kerry said, according to The Los Angeles Times. “When we look at what’s happening in America today,
where are the works of compassion? Because it’s also written, ‘Be doers of the word and not hearers only.'”

Senator’s Kerry was surprised at the response he got for his biblical Exegesis against President Bush and has decided to release some more of his scripture scholarly skills for some more verses to help us out.

Proverbs 24:16: for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again;
Kerry’s Exegesis: “I do not fall down.” That SOB Secret Service agent got in my way.

Mark 10:11-12: And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Kerry’s Exegesis: This is figurative language only and does not apply when you find a women richer than your first wife. In most cases matrimonial mulligans are allowed.

Deut 5:21: You shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant,, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s
Kerry’s Exegesis: Unless of course they are part of the upper one percent. Then you may use class warfare to provoke envy so that you may get elected.

John 13:34: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another
Kerry’s Exegesis: Unless of course they are George W. Bush “Oh yeah, don’t worry, man, “We’re going to keep pounding, let me tell you. We’re just beginning to fight here. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I’ve ever seen, It’s scary.”

Exodus 20:13: You shall not kill
Kerry’s Exegesis: We must help and protect our brothers and sisters no matter what they look like or where they are in the world, except of course if they are in a womb.

Proverbs: 12: 22: Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
Kerry’s Exegesis: �I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it�.

(CNSNews.com) – Environmental activists are warning church-goers that Palm Sunday services are not compatible with ”   environmental sustainability.”

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the Rainforest Alliance put out a press release on Friday, reminding Christians about the “unsustainable practices often used to harvest the 30 million chamaedorea palm fronds delivered to Canadian and U.S. Churches” for Palm Sunday services.

Most of those palm fronds are harvested in Mexico and Guatemala, and according to the environmental groups, Palm Sunday services account for almost 10 percent of total palm sales in the U.S.

“Unfortunately,” the environmental activists said, “Peasant workers often harvest the entire plant, leading to the over-harvesting of the species, the potential destruction of rain forests, and the depletion of many bird species that migrate to these regions in the winter.”
[Full Story]

In other Palm Sunday Wacko Activist news:

Boston � “The Cow Pope”�a 10-foot-tall statue of a cow dressed as a pope, wearing a sash that reads, “Blessed Are the Merciful. GoVeg.com,” and seated in its own “popemobile”� will be unveiled by PETA in Boston on Palm Sunday. The Cow Pope, created by award-winning Texas artist Greg Metz, holds in his hoof a staff decorated with a cow on a crucifix to remind Catholics that few activities contribute more to suffering�both for animals and humans�than eating meat:
[Full Story]

While no picture is currently available, it might possibly look something like this.

Pasteurized Pastor? Pope Cow Pi-us I?

And I guess a Cow Pope would tie into this “Got Milk” like campaign”

�Got Lent?� campaign begins at St. Gerard

The Church of St. Gerard in Brooklyn Park is celebrating its �Got Lent?� Lenten campaign to remind residents about the Lent and Easter seasons and to draw new members to its parish, 9600 Regent Ave. N.

The campaign offers a light-hearted and positive invitation to residents in area communities. The goal is to draw positive attention to being Catholic through humor and teaching.

Lenten season began Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, and continues through Easter, April 11. St. Gerard was founded in 1970 in what was at the time a cornfield. The modern Catholic church is lead by Franciscan Friars.
[Full Story]

Today there is an interfaith service which includes Protestant, Jewish leaders, and a Catholic Nun to pray for Marriage rights. Rosemary Brennan, CSJ is a Sister of St. Joseph, Boston and provides spiritual direction and retreat work. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Boston College. Of course this type of activity is a common occurrence in today’s religious gay activism. I wrote an email to her Motherhouse, but judging by their web site this activity is probably not discouraged.

The following item on their schedule really made me laugh because of its total absurdity.

Choir of more than 40 voices singing “Marry Us” (Boston Gay Men’s Chorus) to Celebrate Justice

WASHINGTON � A California atheist told the Supreme Court Wednesday that the words �under God� in the Pledge of Allegiance are unconstitutional and offensive to people who don�t believe there is a God.
[Full Story]

If you don’t believe in God and thus in no moral absolutes then how can anything truly be offensive? If you believe that values are only defined by the culture around you, then a majority culture that believes in God can set those values against a minority that doesn’t? If these values are truly only subjective then why can a minorities subjective values trump the majorities subjective values? If we are going to play the offended game, then wouldn’t removing “under God” be offensive to the majority of those who believe in God? I was once a conservative and pro-life atheist and these contradictions in my belief opened me up to the possibility of God.

Of course with the present Supreme Court, we know that logic and especially the Constitution will not be determining factors in this case. The current court is like Bullwinkle saying “Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!”, everything but a rabbit always appeared. Comparably the court says “Watch me pull a law out of the Constitution!”, everything but something from the Constitution appears instead.

I wonder what Michael Newdow’s next quest will be? Will he go to Japan to demand that God be removed from Godzilla?

Domenico Bettinelli links to and comments on this article on a vice-Mayor of Mesa upset about having Latin Masses conducted in the diocese again.

The announcement by Bishop Thomas Olmsted that Latin masses will be allowed in the Phoenix diocese after a 25-year absence troubles me, particularly in the context of other recent changes in church policy and procedures.

I wonder what those changes he objects to are? Could it be the return to orthodoxy?

Understand that I am the product of a Catholic education throughout grade school, high school and college. I lector at my parish and have served on its parish council. My first training as an altar server was in Latin. And, I don’t regret the two years of Latin I took in high school.

Unfortunately most of the times you hear “I am the product of a Catholic education” preface something, you know the next sentence will display just how lacking it was.

However, permitting or encouraging Latin masses is part of a misguided trend to go back in time to the romanticized church of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Today’s Catholic Church is not the fictional movie church of Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman or Barry Fitzgerald. We don’t speak Latin to each other. I greet people with “hello” and not “salve”.

Since he is also a lawyer I wonder if he has ever written against all the misguided Latin terms used in the law?

There was a reason that the Second Vatican Council called for services to be held in the vernacular. Greater understanding and participation by lay members led to a renaissance of the Catholic Church in the 60’s and 70’s. Sadly, some in the church today would prefer to reverse many of the Vatican II reforms.

The Mass transformed to a “service” and of course referring to the fictional references for the vernacular from the council. The actual “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” states “the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.” I wonder if his work as a lawyer in looking up references was this shoddy?

Conservative groups such as Opus Dei have infiltrated the clergy in many communities and are subtly wielding power to influence many of these changes. Such groups would be much happier if all priests wore cassocks and birettas and all nuns returned to wearing habits and living in convents, instead of actively participating in community affairs and in encouraging social justice.

The Opus Dei Bogey man attacks again. Please folks look under your beds and in your closets to make sure none of them are hiding and ready to spring out on you and to attack you with conservative theology.

This past year, we have seen a de-emphasis in the role of the laity in Mass services, with lesser roles for lectors and Eucharistic ministers and an emphasis on the roles of priests and deacons. Where is this all leading? Will the next papal bull require women to again wear hats in church?

I don’t know where this new church road is leading, but going back to Latin Masses certainly is not going my way.

Since he is a liberal Democrat who voted for every Democrat for President including Al Gore, I am surprised that he is against choice. Isn’t offering Latin, Spanish, and Masses in English just more choice? Or as the favorite liberal reply goes “If you don’t like Mass in Latin, don’t go.”

Here is a new blogger to St. Blogs who thanks the Bishop and says “The general state of the liturgy here can, I believe, rightly be classified as “suffering.” This blogger is identified as “Not A Liturgist” and I just got to love that. I wonder what the vice-Mayor would think about this blogs title being in Latin?

Liturgiam authenticam
Atom Feed

Update: Dale Price, the fisk master, also has at it on this article.

Phil Lawler of Catholic World Report posts on this story:

AUGUSTA – Crosses are out, shamrocks are in at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Augusta.

Organizers of the Irish-American Heritage Society’s parade have refused to allow a youth group from a local religious community to carry crosses in today’s parade.

‘Our position is we cannot be a platform for anyone’s views, standpoints on politics, religion, race; it doesn’t matter,” parade Chairman Earl Lovering said. ”We’re basically celebrating St. Patrick’s in the way the holiday has become to be known.”

Bill Conkright, who runs the Alleluia Community’s youth ministry, said he couldn’t believe his ears when he heard it, so he called the society’s president, Sean Burke.
[Full Story]

What I thought was funny was that the “Irish-American Heritage Society” said no to this. Do they ponder what the word heritage means” “Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.” It definitely does not mean “has become to be known”, that is the opposite of heritage.

Tom of Disputations posts:

This morning at breakfast, my eight-year-old mentioned that his Catholic school teacher told his class there was a book that would completely change how people thought of the Last Supper. Since his teacher had mentioned the book to me a couple of weeks ago, I knew she was talking about The DaVinci Code.

G.K. Chesterton had wrote about how we take great truths and exchange them for things much less grand. To bring Jesus down to some mistaken human level with faults is a most perverse trend. If I were to believe the Christology contained in the Da Vince Code it would not be a cause of joy but of despair. Sure your viewing of the Last Supper would change since the book views Jesus not as the Messiah and that the whole Church is a fraud.

From the “Last Temptation of Christ” to the latest T.V. movie on Judas; we are presented with a fallible Jesus to somehow make him more human and accessible. The Judas movie had Jesus regretting losing his temper and because he had a tendency to lose things he gave the money pouch to Judas. This presents the fallacy that the definition of being human is to sin. They see Jesus’ perfection as making him less human. When we sin we our not fulfilling what God has called us towards, but instead are walking away from it. Adam and Eve were not something else prior to their fall. Their were human both before and after.

If Jesus had faults and could and did sin then God had offered a blemished lamb for a sacrifice unable to redeem us . This mistaken view presents Jesus not as a Messiah that atoned for our sins, but something else instead. Where would be the good news in this? We would still be in our sins.

It surprises me how easy it is for Christians to replace the grand truths of the faith with cheap forgeries. That idiotic books and movies make people reevaluate their faith. We can laugh at how ridiculous The Da Vince Code is, but Catholic Answers and other organizations are getting many calls on this with people accepting this junk at face value. If only people could read the Gospels with this same acceptance.