Catholic Surfer

2010-12-17T17:36:00.001-06:00

Conversation in Bethlehem

Imagine what Mary and Joseph talked about as they looked at their newborn Son Jesus. Scripture doesn't tell us, so maybe their conversation went like this:

Mary: "Joseph, isn't he beautiful?! Just think, Jesus, OUR son, will be the Messiah!"

Joseph: "Well He looks like an ordinary baby to me. Look, he's got ten fingers and ten toes just like all babies. Are you SURE that angel said he would be the savior of the world?"

Mary: "Of course I'm sure. It's not every day that an angel appears to someone. I remember it like it is burned on my brain. What did you THINK he would look like?"

Joseph: "I don't know what I was thinking. I know Isaiah said there would no stately bearing to make us look at him, but I just didn't think he would look so ORDINARY!"

Mary: "When Moses spoke to God, God appeared in a burning bush. Did you think Jesus was going to be a burning bush?"

Joseph: "Well, no, but I thought when I looked at him, it would be obvious that He is God."

Mary: "The Israelites were led by God under the appearance of a pillar of fire. Did you think he would look like that?"

Joseph: "Well, I guess I shouldn't think this, but I imagined he would glow a little bit at least. How are people ever going to believe He is really God if he looks so ordinary? If you see a burning bush or a pillar of fire, you know those things don't normally happen, so you know it must be God that makes them happen. I'm afraid people will reject him because they won't realize Jesus is God."

Mary: "We will just have to trust that God will do something to make it easy for people to know Jesus is God even though he looks like one of us. Maybe there will be miracles like when God opened the Red Sea or like that time that Nahum got healed of leprosy."

Joseph: "I bet you're right. The prophet Isaiah says, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.' Maybe Jesus will heal a blind man or something and then everybody will believe."

Mary: "Yes, SURELY if Jesus heals a blind man THAT will be enough to convince them."

Joseph: "I sure hope so. But you know how stubborn people are. Moses freed us from slavery and still some people continued worshiping false gods. Maybe he will be a powerful leader or famous like Moses. Some people say the Messiah will be a king that frees us from the Romans. But he wasn't born into Israel's royal family. He isn't related to Herod at all. He's just a descendant of David."

Mary: "Well, the prophets say there will be a king from the line of David, but kings aren’t usually so poor that they are born in a stable. We'll just have to trust that God knows what He's doing. God sure is MYSTERIOUS sometimes."

Joseph: "You can say THAT again!"

2009-08-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

This week, I am starting a Masters in Pastoral Theology program at Ave Maria University. I will be spending every fourth weekend in class from now until May. It will take three years to complete. Why am I doing this? Heaven knows. I feel called to do this. I feel this is the best and highest thing I can do to serve my Lord at this time in my life.

There are many reasons I am doubting my sanity for doing this. I feel somewhat overwhelmed at how much work is involved. Can you really teach an old dog new tricks? I've been out of college since 1975. I have never taken formal theology classes at the university level before. I've never studied while working full time before. I can't think of a really good use for what I will study. It's expensive. Yet I have been resisting the call to do this for five years. I keep hearing the call, so how can I say no? My excuses are weak compared to my desire to follow God's will in my life. He keeps telling me to trust him. He will help me. He will explain later. Who am I to argue with that?

I pray that the Holy Spirit will fill me with wisdom as he did Mary, so that the Word of God will grow within me. May I have the courage to say, "Nothing is impossible with God. Do whatever he tells you. Not my will, but yours be done."

2009-08-16T18:20:00.001-05:00

My letter to Speaker Pelosi:
I am firmly opposed to the nationalization of the health insurance industry. I thought nationalization of industries was something that only happen in third world socialistic and communistic countries. I have always thought I lived in a capitalistic economy until the current administration came to power. Who gives Congress the right to wipe out the health insurance industry and replace it with enforced coercive take over of both the auto industry and now the insurance industry. You do not represent the people of this country if you do not listen and respond to the wishes of the people. Do not cram this terrible legislation down our throats.
Another reason I am opposed to this health care legislation is that it would force taxpayer to pay for abortions and force health care professionals to participate in abortions regardless of their consciences.

May I remind you of the Declaration on Religious Freedom Second Vatican Council, which says in paragraph 2, "This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.

The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself.(2) This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right."

If you claim to be a Catholic, then I ask you to respect the religious freedom of American citizens and not turn this nation into a repressive dictatorship. Stop this health insurance industry legislation.

2009-06-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

As White House Readies Abortion Plan, Packaging Emerges as Major Issue
Abortion Article in USNews.com:

June 29, 2009
By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

As the White House readies its plan for finding "common ground" on reproductive health issues and reducing the need for abortion, a major debate has emerged over how to package the plan's two major components: preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing the need for abortion.

One of the comments to this article was from Hopeful of FL
"I am at a loss. Please explain to me the "right to life" movements displeasure with contraception and education.

Also, pro choice doesn't mean pro abortion. No body wants abortions. The pro choice side just wants to stop them in with all the tool in the tool box. The pro life side wants to stop them through prayer and abstinence, which if we were honest, both sides know doesn't work."

My comments:

To Hopeful of FL: The explaination of why artificial contraception is sinful is a big topic. If you want to know, read the book, Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West. In addition to the reasons given in the book, artificial contraception also fails to prevent the emotional damage of fornication and adultery, fails to prevent the spread of STDs, and destabilizes marriages. The pro-choicers say it is OK to murder an unborn baby. A bill to reduce the number of abortions? How long will that take and how many babies will die in the meantime?

I am part of a group who are working on starting a homeless shelter for pregnant women in Illinois, near St. Louis. We are having a hard time getting zoning approval from neighbors who are yelling, "Not in my back yard." And getting any government funding for building it is non-existant. I would welcome the Pregnant Women Support Act. Give women a real choice -- the choice to bring their baby into this world.

The article is at http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/06/29/as-white-house-readies-abortion-plan-packaging-emerges-as-major-issue.html

2009-05-31T20:04:00.000-05:00

The Problem of Evil

I have never thought about how the doctrines of original sin and free will are related and what the implications of these doctrines are.

As Catholics, we believe that pain, suffering and death entered the world (Genesis 3) because of the sin of Adam and Eve. We inherited a weakened body that is vulnerable, where before the fall of Adam, God created us "very good" as Genesis 1 tells us. St. Ambrose said that God allows us to die to limit the amount of suffering we have to endure in this world. Death, then, is a loving method of reuniting ourselves to God eternally. Therefore, pain, suffering and death are part of the human condition.

The Old Testament paints God as wrathful; and always smiting people for their disobedience. How can God be both loving, merciful, kind and yet be punishing? That is a contradiction. Without the doctrines of original sin and free will, we would have to believe that suffering is inflicted by a vindictive God as punishment for sin. In Catholic theology, punishment for sin is the loss of grace that helps us to grow in virtue, and if serious and unrepented, will result in the loss of salvation. In this way, mortal sin is a far greater punishment than temporary physical sickness. On the other hand, God is patient and usually gives us a lot of time to repent. Hopefully, the loss of God's friendship leads to conversion.

Because I love my children, I discipline them with natural consequences, such as grounding them from being with friends and watching TV. My children see me as a cruel and vindictive. That would be true if I abused them physically, but I am merely taking away a privilege. They don't understand that I am trying to teach them to do the right thing out of love for them. They don't see the big picture. I hope they will see it when they become parents.

It is their free will that has resulted in the consequences. By choosing to disobey, they are choosing the punishment. It is the same way when we sin. We choose to disobey God, so we deserve to lose God's grace. Sinners may think God is mean and vengeful, but that is a failure to take responsibility for their choices.

Sin does often have physical side effects. Sexual sins may result in sexually transmitted diseases. A drinking binge causes brain cells to die and, if it becomes a habit, can lead to cirrhosis of the liver. These sins may also have an emotional consequence of a wrecked relationship. However, these illnesses and pain are not inflicted by God for punishing the sin. They are a result of free will.

In Catholic theology, Original sin deprived us of grace and weakened us, but did not make us totally depraved. We have the freedom to do evil or the freedom to chose good. The benefit of obedience to God is that we grow in holiness and friendship with Him. We enjoy the guidance of the Holy Spirit which dwells within us. We are members of God's family and so we receive an inheritance of eternal life which is a free gift. Sirach 15:11-20 supports the doctrine of free will. "Say not: "It was God's doing that I fell away"; for what he hates he does not do. Say not: "It was he who set me astray"; for he has no need of wicked man. Abominable wickedness the Lord hates, he does not let it befall those who fear him. When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the LORD; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God see all he has made; he understands man's every deed. No man does he command to sin, to none does he give strength for lies."

If instead we believed that we are incapable of doing anything but sin, it would be indeed a cruel God for punishing us when we can't do anything good. That would be like a father that beats his developmentally disabled son for disobeying him in not doing his trigonometry homework. That is not my idea of a good, loving father. I could not praise a God that treated us that way.

Does God punish us for sin by inflicting sickness? In Job 1:12, God told Satan "do not lay a hand upon his person." Satan disobeys God. Job 2:7 says, "So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with severe boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head."

The last chapter of the book of Job also gives us a clue about suffering. Job 42:7-8 says, "And it came to pass after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and with your two friends; for you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job. Now, therefore, take seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up a holocaust for yourselves; and let my servant Job pray for you; for his prayer I will accept, not to punish you severely. For you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job." If you remember, Eliphaz and two other of Job's friends had told Job that he must have sinned or God would not have caused the loss of his family and property. So the Lord tells Job's friends that they were not telling the truth; that is, suffering in this world is not necessarily a punishment for sin. The just man will also suffer. The Lord does not owe us an explanation. In humility, we trust that sometimes God allows us to suffer when something really good can come from it. In the end of Job, God restores everything to Job. Job has set a good example to others of faithfulness and has learned humility. Job 42:10 "the Lord restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the Lord even gave to Job twice as much as he had before." God knew a good result would come from this test.

Another aspect of suffering is that it can become a way of teaching us what we can't learn otherwise. Instead of asking, "Why me?" and wallowing in self-pity, perhaps we need to ask "Why not me?" Though we can't totally avoid suffering, when it comes to us, we can try to get something good out of it. Perhaps we can learn to be more grateful for what is still good in our lives. Perhaps we can be more empathic to those who are suffering in the same way as we are. Perhaps we can grow in the virtue of patience. Perhaps, like the Prodigal Son, it leads to repentance. If there can be good effects from suffering, we should ask "Who among us is so good that we can't gain something from a little pain?" Some saints practiced fasting for this reason. God is so good to us, but we tend to forget that he treats us better than we deserve. We frequently react with self-pity.

Self-pity in the face of suffering increases our pain. In the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that we are not alone in our suffering. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you." The Catechism, no. 164, says, "Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice, and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it" . God provided a remedy for self-pity. Col 1:24 says, "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church." While some believe that nothing is lacking in Christ's suffering, this verse says otherwise. We can offer our sufferings in union with the sufferings of Christ for the redemption of others. We can bear our sufferings patiently while offering them to God for the benefit of others. Catholics have a term for this called redemptive suffering. The suffering of Christ gives meaning to our suffering.

Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Salvifici Doloris, "On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering" agrees with this. This encyclical also says that while we have revelation about why mankind suffers, the reason a particular individual suffers is a mystery. In the same way, each individual will react differently. The challenge of suffering is to react in a faithful, hopeful, and loving way. That requires grace, so let us ask for the Lord's help daily to carry our cross.

2009-05-31T19:58:00.001-05:00

Does God Cause Evil?

It is important to begin by defining what we mean by evil if we are going to understand it.

Whether something is evil depends on the nature of the one who experiences it. If a human was born without eyes, we might think that is evil because it is the nature of humans to have eyes. If a stone does not have eyes, we do not think that is evil because sight is not the nature of a stone.

When God created Adam and Eve, Genesis 1:27,31 says, "God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them... God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good." The nature of humans changed after Adam and Eve sinned. As Genesis 2:17-19 says, "To the man [Adam] he [God] said: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, "Cursed be the ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, as you eat of the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return." After the fall, humans inherited a weakened, vulnerable body.

If sickness, pain and death became part of our human nature because of the fall, then it is not evil if we lose our health. It is to be expected. If we never had sickness, pain and death, it would be abnormal. It would be as strange as a chair having eyes. Sickness is an absence of health, not the act of a vindictive God.

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, evil is also not a thing, but instead it is an absence of good. Since it is not a thing, it cannot be created. An analogy to this is a shadow. No one can create a shadow, because it is an absence of light. One can cast a shadow by blocking a light, but it is not a thing.

Things cannot, of themselves, be evil. God can make a tree that has the ability to oxidize and thus burn. But God does not light the fire. The fire can be either a good thing or a harmful thing, depending on how it is used. Fire can heat us on a cold day or cook our food. It can also burn down a building and kill people. So it is not the fire itself that is evil. What can be evil is the reason, or the will, of the person who starts the fire. The US Court system recognizes this intention as a factor in whether something is a crime or an accident. A person that is insane, severely mentally retarded, or acting in self-defense is treated differently than one who commits a premeditated act. A person who burns a building may be doing a good thing if it is a storage facility for the enemy’s weapons, because that would protect others.

The story of Adam and Eve shows that God created humans with free will. We can choose to do good or we can sin. We can obey or disobey God. For a sin to be mortal, it must be grave matter, we must be capable of knowing and know it is a grave matter, and of our free will decide to do it anyway. It is the nature of humans to go either way.

Can God do evil?

We can observe from experience that some things are better than others. There is a continuum that ranges from an absence of good, to better, to best, the ultimate goodness. As humans, we neither have an absence of good or ultimate goodness, since we are capable of sin.

If we define the nature of God as having the ultimate goodness, then it is not possible for God to will evil. Why? Doing evil would cause an absence of goodness. To use an analogy, if I put ice in a pot of boiling water, it would not be boiling water until it again reached the temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. With the absence of heat, it would lose its boiling nature. It would not be at the ultimately highest temperature that water can be. In the same way, if you mix a will to do evil with the ultimate goodness of God, God would lose his ultimate goodness and, therefore, would not be God. The nature of this being would be the same as humans.

Is evil, then, caused by God lacking the power to stop it? There are some things God can't do. He can't make a square circle. We have to trust that God made us according to his loving plan. He gave us free will, because we would be like puppets if we did not have it. He can't make us have both free will and not able to choose to do evil. Also, he could not let the sin of Adam and Eve go unpunished, because God is totally just. Despite our sinful choices, God makes it possible to turn evil to good. We do this by uniting our sufferings with the sufferings of Christ for the redemption of the world.

It is not evil for God to remove his grace from us when we sin. He warned us what would happen if we die in unrepented mortal sin. He is merely giving us what he promised he would. God wills the salvation of all. He gives us all the grace we need to be holy. By our Baptism, we are given an inheritance of eternal life. We don't have to earn it, because it is a free gift. Yet we can choose to lose it through serious sin. Ultimately, the responsibility for obeying God is ours.

To summarize, evil:

depends on nature,
it is not a thing,
it cannot be created,
is caused by our free will to sin
is not the will of God, so therefore, God cannot cause evil.
God does not cause sickness, pain or death.

2009-03-09T13:04:00.000-05:00

Obama Signs Order Lifting Restrictions on Stem Cell Research Funding
Supporters say it will open up a broad front of research to find better treatments for ailments from diabetes to Parkinson's disease; opponents saying destroying embryos for research is morally wrong.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/09/obama-lift-restrictions-stem-cell-research-funding/

What this article fails to say is that embryonic stem cell research has found zero cures so far, so it is wasting taxpayer lives and wasting taxpayer dollars. If it were so promising, there would be a ton of private funding. Also, it neglects to say that adult stem cells can now be made as flexible (Pluripotent) as embryonic stem cells. See http://www.stemcellresearch.org/ for a list of the 73 cures using adult stem cells.
This leads me to suspect that its real purpose of embryonic stem cell research is to keep abortion legal. The logic behind it is that if embryos are no more valuable than any other cell, then how can abortion be morally wrong? embryonic stem cell research treats these cells as property in the same way that slaves were thought of as property. How can an African-American president allow anyone to be treated like a slave?

2009-01-21T14:05:00.002-06:00

Comments on the Inaugeration of Obama

In St. Augustine's City of God, Chapter 1, Augustine refers to the sacking of the city of Rome by the West-Gothic King Alaric in 410 AD. He was the most humane of the barbaric invaders and conquerors of Rome, and had embraced Arian Christianity. Augustine asks a question, "Are not those very Romans, who were spared by the barbarians through their respect for Christ, become enemies to the name of Christ? " He asks this because the invaders spared those who went inside churches. The Catholic churches were a sanctuary from harm.

"Thus escaped multitudes who now reproach the Christian religion, and impute to Christ the ills that have befallen their city; but the preservation of their own life—a boon which they owe to the respect entertained for Christ by the barbarians—they attribute not to our Christ, but to their own good luck. They ought rather, had they any right perceptions, to attribute the severities and hardships inflicted by their enemies, to that divine providence which is wont to reform the depraved manners of men by chastisement, and which exercises with similar afflictions the righteous and praiseworthy,—either translating them, when they have passed through the trial, to a better world, or detaining them still on earth for ulterior purposes. And they ought to attribute it to the spirit of these Christian times, that, contrary to the custom of war, these bloodthirsty barbarians spared them, and spared them for Christ’s sake, whether this mercy was actually shown in promiscuous places, or in those places specially dedicated to Christ’s name, and of which the very largest were selected as sanctuaries, that full scope might thus be given to the expansive compassion which desired that a large multitude might find shelter there."
I see a parallel here with the American economy and issues most dear to the religious right. The way the mainstream media is catastrophizing, you would think the Goths were at our door. Perhaps they are right. Conservatives are joining this chorus of doom and gloom. Are we really on the verge of becoming a socialist nation? If this doesn't happen in the Obama administration, I think we are getting close to the brink. As in any crisis, the fingers are pointing in many directions is typical blame game stuff.

It seems to me, the religious right is blaming the pagan secular humanists, while the irreligious left is blaming the Christians. History is repeating itself. I think we can learn some things from Augustine's defense of Christianity.

"Therefore ought they to give God thanks, and with sincere confession flee for refuge to His name, that so they may escape the punishment of eternal fire—they who with lying lips took upon them this name, that they might escape the punishment of present destruction. For of those whom you see insolently and shamelessly insulting the servants of Christ, there are numbers who would not have escaped that destruction and slaughter had they not pretended that they themselves were Christ’s servants. Yet now, in ungrateful pride and most impious madness, and at the risk of being punished in everlasting darkness, they perversely oppose that name under which they fraudulently protected themselves for the sake of enjoying the light of this brief life."

Leftists are saying that conservatives should gladly subscribe to redistribution of wealth. They say that capitalists are too greedy, and that is the reason for the collapse of the financial institutions. In their book, Christians are homophobic and are holding women back if the pro-lifers restrict abortion. Leftists say defending our country from terrorists through the Patriot Act is dangerous to our freedoms. Totalitarianism is just around the corner. All would be well if not for the Christians telling them what to do.

The financial conservatives accuse the liberals of stealing their paychecks with higher taxes that are being redistributed to welfare recipients. The religious right points the finger at the secular humanists for the decline in morality, high divorce rate, unwed pregnancy, higher STDs, and high rate of abortion. The Right blames this on the ban on public school prayer, the removal of religion from the public square due to the protests of atheists. Armegedon is just around the corner. God will punish our pagan country, so we better shape up.

Who is right? That is something we cannot know for sure now. History will tell us someday. What does seem clear is that catastrophizing is keeping us from the unity we need to deal with the mess our country is in. Pagans blaming Christians, and Christians blaming Pagans will accomplish nothing.

When one points the finger at others, remember three fingers are pointing back toward the accuser.

Instead of despair about the Inaugeration of Obama, Christians need to get to work to make the country a better place, a City of God, in spite of the leftists pagans ignoring how they benefit from the Christian's moral imperative to love one's neighbor. It should be obvious, after numerous bankruptcies, foreclosures, bail outs, the failure of the Madoff Ponzi scheme and the fall of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, that capitalism is dependent on morality, yet it is not obvious to enough of us. Pagans want morality in business, but free reign in sexual behavior. This inconsistency is laughable, but ignored. We need to point it out whether the mainstream media does or not. Conversion doesn't happen overnight. They need to be warned that those who "perversely oppose that name" [Christ] and are "enjoying the light of this brief life" will be dealt with in the hereafter. Reaching out to them is being merciful, but be prepared to turn the other cheek.

The Roman pagans trusted their gods to protect them, but ran to church when their gods failed to do that. Despite my great fear of what the Obama administration will do, I will not put my trust in the United States government. I hope you will join me in getting down on the knees to pray for our country. I know who my Messiah is. I know where my true home is.

2008-11-11T11:17:00.002-06:00

I wrote another e-mail to my German cousin. This is what it said:

I do not share your opinion about Bush, but let's agree to disagree about that.
I am very sad that the unborn have been betrayed because some want to put more coins in their pockets. We are a nation like Judas, who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Some think that if the economy gets better, there will be fewer abortions, but I ask, "How long will that take and how many millions of unborn babies will die before then?" Some say we will always need legal abortion, but isn't that like saying there will always be a need for legal murder?If Hitler had been a candidate that had promised to improve the economy, but I knew he wanted to kill 12 million people, would it be right for me to vote for him? That is what Americans did last week. The killing of innocents will be permanently legal.

This article says what I am really concerned about:
http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4825&Itemid=100

"Senator Obama has promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which
would repeal every restriction on abortion in every American state, right up
through the ninth month. But then, we knew that about Obama, the whole
infanticide thing. But there's more. The FOCA raises abortion to (in its own
words) a "fundamental right." According to legal analysts at the U.S. Council of
Catholic Bishops, the act's language is so sweeping that it will snuff out any
state's "conscience" clause -- the laws allowing hospitals, doctors, and nurses
not to take part in abortions. To do so would amount to illegal discrimination,
denying a citizen her fundamental right. Christian hospitals could no more
decline to perform abortions than they can currently refuse to operate on black
people. "So President Obama and his congressional supermajority would
force every Christian hospital, doctor, and nurse either to abandon their faith
or go out of business. By federal law, believing Christians would be banned from
a major industry (and apostolate). This is literally equivalent to a law banning
faithful Jews from owning newspapers. "History tells us that steps such as
this aren't where religious persecutions end; it's where they begin. Things are
already scary enough in neighboring Canada, where Christians are now routinely
hauled up before human rights tribunals for repeating what the Bible teaches
concerning sex. Who knows what some Obama-appointed judge, 20 years from now,
will make of a pastor whose sermons attacked the "fundamental right" of women to
kill their children? How many churches and seminaries will face crippling civil
judgments and have to close?"

The same thing can be said will happen if homosexual marriage becomes legal. Anyone who opposes it could lose their job or lose tax-exempt status, which means the government can take away your business. Currently, the right of Americans to refuse to do things they believe are sinful is under attack. A recent court case in California is an example. A homosexual couple of women went to a doctor to get help getting pregnant artifically. The doctor believes it is wrong for a child to be born and raised by homosexuals, so he refused to help. Instead, he gave them the name of another doctor who would do it. After the couple had a baby, the couple sued the first doctor. The doctor lost and had to pay a lot of money to the couple, in spite of the fact this was not an emergency procedure. The pharmacists are being sued and losing their jobs for not giving out medicine that causes abortion.

This could mean that Catholic churches and schools would be forced to teach that homosexuality is good and not sinful as the Bible says it is. Any priest that says it is not could be jailed for "hate speech." Our freedom of speech and conscience will be lost forever. Americans do not realize the danger we are in because the newspapers and TV are telling us what to think and they think that abortion and homosexual marriage is good. They have become like a government Department of Mind Control. Americans are fools if they let this happen. The good news is that three states passed laws against homosexual marriages in this election and one outlawed adoption by these couples. This country already has enough laws that let people give their money to anyone they want after they die and to make health care decisions for them. No one tells them they can't live together or not get a job. They have the same freedoms they need without the problems of letting them adopt children or making others think the way they do .

Yes, love the sinner, but hate the sin. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim were destroyed by "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven" (Genesis 19) because homosexuals wanted to rape men. I fear God will destroy our country for our sins.

2008-11-05T09:18:00.002-06:00

"The End Of The World"
Nina Gordon

Why does the sun go on shining
Why does the sea rush to shore
Don't they know it's the end of the world
'Cause pro-lifers failed to score

Why do the birds go on singing
Why do the stars glow above
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when Obama won

I wake up in the morning and I wonder
Why everything's the same as it was
I can't understand, no, I can't understand
How life goes on the way it does

Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended 'cause unborn babes will die

Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended 'cause unborn babes will die

Obama as Antichrist?

No, an apocalyptic author explains. November 04, 2008
"The influential Canadian Catholic artist and novelist Michael O'Brien has disclosed in his private newsletter that many readers see "an uncanny resemblance" between Senator Barack Obama and the figure of the Antichrist portrayed in O'Brien's apocalyptic novel Father Elijah. While acknowledging similarities, O'Brien concludes that Obama is not the Antichrist. Nevertheles, he says: "I also also believe that he is a carrier of a deadly moral virus, indeed a kind of anti-apostle spreading concepts and agendas that are not only anti-Christ but anti-human as well. In this sense he is of the spirit of Antichrist (perhaps without knowing it), and probably is one of several key figures in the world who (knowingly or unknowingly) will be instrumental in ushering in the time of great trial for the Church…"

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/081103a.html

The Last President of a Free Democracy
in Free Republic

"But what of those ”Bitter Clingers” who stand in fear of what his [Obama's] ascension to power really means? When their leaders are declared enemies of the state and the laws are changed to stifle their dissent? What will they do when the country they loved resembles the tin horn dictatorships of South America? What will become of them, after their enemy has destroyed their way of life? Will they ever be able to mobilize as a force to take back their country? And what of their God, whom the friends of the “Anointed One” will inevitably declare illegal on grounds of tolerance?"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2125896/posts

Welcome to the Obamanation!
Nov 5, 2008 Neal Boortz
"The big question for me today is whether or not freedom, economic liberty and self-sufficiency can make a comeback in America. Right now it seems that a dismaying number of Americans think that they are owed a living; that it is the government's job to guarantee their economic security. Can we ever turn that around and return to a time when people accept the responsibility for their own lives and eschew the idea of using government as a tool of legalized plunder?"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2125803/posts

2008-11-02T20:09:00.002-06:00

Obama's Planned Parenthood Speech
Friday, July 11, 2008
This is a chilling reminder why we have to vote pro-life on Tuesday, Nov 4.
http://ppgi.blogspot.com/2008/07/obama-planned-parenthood-speech.html
Obama will wipe out all the small victories we have had in protecting babies. I don't agree with his vision for American women.

Vote pro-life to save black babies too.

Black Genocide
Between 1882 and 1968, 3,446 Blacks were lynched in the U.S. That number is surpassed in less than 3 days by abortion.
1,452 African-American children are killed each day by the heinous act of abortion.
3 out of 5 pregnant African-American women will abort their child.
Since 1973 there has been over 13 million Black children killed and their precious mothers victimized by the U.S. abortion industry.
http://blackgenocide.org/home.html

I am vacillating between anxiety and hope about this election. I am anxious because so much is at stake for the pro-life movement. I don't think I'll get much sleep Tuesday night. I am hopeful because I know that God is in control.
Holy Spirit, please inspire the undecided voters to remember unborn babies as they cast their vote.

2008-10-31T15:00:00.003-05:00

Senator Obama's Four Tax Increases for People Earning Under $250,000 and for Those Earning as Little as $25,000 a Year
By Ned Barnett

Senator Obama’s two tax promises: to limit tax increases to only those making over $250,000 a year, and to not raise taxes on 95% of “working Americans,” intrigued me. As a hard-working small business owner, over the past ten years I’ve earned from $50,000 to $100,000 per year. If Senator Obama is shooting straight with us, under his presidency I could look forward to paying no additional Federal taxes – I might even get a break – and as I struggle to support a family and pay for two boys in college, a reliable tax freeze is nearly as welcome as further tax cuts.
However, Senator Obama’s dual claims seemed implausible, especially when it came to my Federal income taxes. Those implausible promises to make me look at what I’d been paying before President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, as well as what I paid after those tax cuts became law. I chose the 2000 tax tables as my baseline – they reflect the tax rates that Senator Obama will restore by letting the “Bush Tax Cuts” lapse. I wanted to see what that meant from my tax bill.

Read the rest at http://www.americanthinker.com

Barack Obama’s aunt is living in public housing

A Boston Housing Authority director says Barack Obama’s aunt, a Kenyan woman who has lived in public housing for five years, is an “exemplary resident” and only recently did anyone know of her connection to the presidential contender.

Obama’s campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin confirmed to the Herald yesterday that Zeituni Onyango, 56, who lives on Flaherty Way in South Boston, is Obama’s aunt on his father’s side.

If Obama wants to spread the wealth around, why doesn't he spread his wealth to his beloved aunt?
http://bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1128958&format=text

ENPR Prediction: Obama Narrow Win, Dems 58 Senate Seats, 254 House Seats
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=29267

But we all know how biased the polls are. The only one that counts is the one next Tuesday, Nov. 4. Please vote pro-life.

2008-10-28T10:17:00.002-05:00

Pre-election Anxiety
I wrote to my German cousin again about the election.

As the days until the election shorten, I become more anxious. So much is at stake here. I don't believe polls, but I am worried that it is going to be a close one. It all depends on how many of each party actually go to vote. The conservative Republicans are more happy about McCain because of Sarah Palin. I think she will help more than she will hurt. Americans can identify with her. Unlike Obama, Biden, or McCain, she has actually managed a government. She has more useful experience than they do. I wish she were running for President.

I am wondering whether the financial mess is caused by investors that are worried that Obama will win. Obama, I think, will not be able to handle the financial mess as well as McCain could. It's too bad that Americans don't know much about economics.

On top of Obama's lack of experience, he is a socialist in disguise. Obama says, "Spread the wealth around." This is what his wife Michelle Obama says. "In order to get things like Universal Health Care and revamped Education System, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of the pie so that someone else can have more" I detest the way class warfare, of rich against poor, is dividing the country. I think those who encourage coveting one's neighbors goods are sinful. It is wrong to envy those who have more and to coerce them to give to others through voting. That's not charity or love of neighbor. It's robbery. Christians should care for the poor, but they should not be forced to do it or go to jail if they don't pay taxes. It will be a much poorer country when the government can decide how much one is allowed to make. The power to tax is the power to destroy. Any government that is powerful to give you anything you want is powerful enough to take away everything you have. People in Germany voted for Hitler because the economy was bad. I think the content of one's character is what really counts. I trust a survivor of prisoner of war camps much more than Obama.

Do you know what is a stake for the pro-life movement in this election? At least two Supreme Court justices will retire in the next 4 years. The Supreme Court justices decide what the laws mean, but liberal ones ignore the votes of the people and use international law and their own feelings to make new laws. They could be on the court for 30 years. If Obama wins, he will pick liberal, pro-abortion justices. The pro-life movement will lose everything we have worked for since 1973! This is showdown time. We either elect a pro-life president or lose the war to protect unborn babies. It is life or death issue. The Democrats say they help the "little guy." I think they should also help the "little UNBORN guy" too.
Will old people be treated as non-persons too? Yes, if Universal Health Care comes in, there will be rationing of care. Those who cost too much to treat will be left to die. I was at a workshop on health care justice last week that said this is happening in the UK. The US will be next. People screamed about $700 billion being spent on bailouts, but that amount would fund only about 6 years of Universal Health Care. It will bankrupt the whole country. We will be forced to pay for abortions with our tax money as well.

McCain is a different person than George Bush. He has always been disliked by Republicans for voting sometimes with the Democrats instead of with his own party. He is a maverick, which means he goes his own way and often rebels against what people want him to do.

So I am praying God will have mercy and inspire people to vote pro-life.

Letter from 2012 in Obama's America
What will the United States be like if Senator Obama is elected? Focus on the Family Action spells it out for us. It is very sobering.

http://focusfamaction.edgeboss.net/download/focusfamaction/pdfs/10-22-08_2012letter.pdf

2008-10-18T16:06:00.000-05:00

In the voting booth, thou shalt not covet your neighbor's goods.

If you are not truly poor and, because you covet your neighbor's goods, you vote to force someone else to pay taxes that will benefit you, isn't that the same as robbing him? How can one justify this? Think again if you think that benefits come from "Uncle Sam." It is a real, flesh and blood American, either directly from a pay check or indirectly through higher prices due to higher business taxes, you are taking it from. You are coercing money from someone who would have to go to jail if he doesn't pay taxes. Being coerced to help others merits the taxpayer nothing from God for helping his neighbor. The one who receives these govenment benefits rarely accept them as a sign of love from God, unlike they would do if they were from a generous neighbor.
Wouldn't it be better to encourage us all to donate money to a charity that cares for the poor instead of voting to raise taxes? If we all did that, there would be no need for the government to care for the poor. God will reward you for your love of neighbor, but not for coercing someone to pay higher taxes through the ballot box.
The same people who believe they are being benevolent by voting for helping "the little guy" need to also help "the UNBORN little guy." Voting in a way that helps your pocketbook often results in voting for those who allow the holocaust of abortion to continue. We need to make the right to life our highest priority. Please vote pro-life.

2008-10-11T19:32:00.001-05:00

Revolution? This article says it has already started.
The Rebellion Has Begun
by Sandy Rios
Somewhere along the way while most of us were enjoying our precious freedoms, taking kids to soccer, ordering pizza and listening to our iPods, there was another group of people who were at work to destroy America. Even as they enjoyed with us its benefits, they schemed and planned and, moment by moment, inch by inch gained a footing and we never realized the ground was shifting.
http://townhall.com/Columnists/SandyRios/2008/10/10/the_rebellion_has_begun
http://townhall.com/Columnists/SandyRios/2008/10/10/the_rebellion_has_begun?comments=true#comments

October Surprises
by Oliver North
Those who believe that this month's collapse of global financial markets is an unprecedented disaster need to study history. The Great Crash of 1929 -- so severe that it makes this year's meltdown pale in comparison -- began Oct. 24. In 1987, Oct. 19 became known as "Black Monday," as Wall Street investors watched the market nose-dive 22 percent and lose $500 billion in value in a single trading session -- still the biggest one-day loss of value in history.
http://townhall.com/columnists/OliverNorth/2008/10/10/october_surprises

Edmund Burke was remarkably prescient and wise when he said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

2008-10-10T20:18:00.002-05:00

How to Make the US Government be Socialist

If you wanted to overthrow capitalism and the US government and establish a socialistic, atheistic nation, how would you do it?

What won't work is brute force. A direct attack on Washington, DC would be bloody.

What will work is slowly, patiently destroying one institution at a time. I think the steps below would probably work, even though they would take about 50-100 years to work.

You would have to make the government have the authority to coerce people to give their wealth to the government in taxes.
You would have to make people feel invincible.
You would have to make people think they are better than other communist or socialist nations.
You would have to increase government regulation of every business and institution to reduce productivity and increase government power.
You would have to make the majority think that anything that exists is old-fashioned and needs to be changed.
You would have to destroy the moral fabric of the nation, especially among young people.
You would have to destroy the family.
You would have to use the goodness and trust in government as a weapon against them.
You would have to make people's weaknesses be a weapon against them.
You would have to weaken the will of the people to fight for freedom.
You would have to infiltrate universities and professional organizations.
You would have to infiltrate the press and media so that you can control what people believe.
You would have to dumb down the youth so that they don't know or care about their rights.
You would have to dumb down the nation so they don't understand how the government works.
You would have to agitate the people to think that one group of people is the enemy so they fight against each other.
You would have to control the election process, even if it means using fraud to do it.
You would have to make the legislative process unable to reform the situation.
You would have to make the laws be what you want them to mean.
You would have to destroy the idea that we must obey laws for the good of others.
You would have to take away the ability of people to defend themselves from government.
You would have to destroy powerful religious institutions and freedom of religion.
You would have to ridicule and side line all religions and promote atheism.
You would have to destroy the right to live by your conscience.
You would have to increase taxes to destroy all wealth.
You would have to make the nation's wealth be diverted to other countries.
You would have to infiltrate Wall Street so that you can rob the wealth of those who work hard and save what they earn so you can give it to the winners.
You would have to make other nations stronger militarily than the US is.
You would have to have our enemies infiltrate our nation and be ready to take control on signal.
You would have to make the government take away private property.
You would have to make the government own all private property.
You would have to elect someone willing to overthrow the government through executive order and make the military enforce absolute obedience.

End Game! You are now living in a socialistic, atheistic nation where you have no freedom, wealth, or power to change the system in your favor.

By slowing turning up the temperature on the stove, we didn’t realize that we are about to boil to death. Without seeing the blueprint of what is happening and having a short memory of history, we are almost ready to join the Roman Empire on the dust heap of societies.

Do you see what is happening in our nation? Have you noticed any of these things happening in the last 100 years?

High divorce rate, illegal drugs, irresponsible sexual behavior, status quo mocked, use the desire to care for one's neighbor to bankrupt the nation, welfare state that increases poverty through coerced tax payments, hatred of the military, main stream media in control of the enemy, government monopoly of bad schools with no way of affording a private education, class warfare, election fraud, polarization of politics, legislation by the judicial branch, restriction of gun rights, moral relativism, “hate” speech, pedophilia scandal in the Catholic church and other denominations, books about atheism on the Best Seller list, freedom of conscience destroyed by the tool of homosexual "marriage", taxes that rob from the "rich" to give to the "poor", financial crisis engineered by banks to happen just before a national election, foreign made products and raw materials so that our money is shipped overseas, give nuclear weapons secrets to foreign terrorist states, uncontrolled immigration, immigration of terrorist enemies, expensive wars, overstretched military, imminent domain protection repealed by judicial fiat, nationalization of industries such as health care, government ownership of homes, and a charismatic political candidate who promises "change."

I believe our country is on the verge of disaster in the coming election. What kind of change do you want?

2008-10-07T15:24:00.003-05:00

More on who is to blame for the credit crisis:
‘SNL’ Take-Down Taken Down
By Tobin Harshaw
“The presidential campaign has been good for ‘Saturday Night Live’ — and for Hulu.com,” reports Advertising Age’s Michael Learmonth. “In a few short weeks, the first clip of Tina Fey impersonating Gov. Sarah Palin has become the site’s most-viewed of all time. But it appears NBC.com and Hulu.com may have run into some trouble with the latest SNL political send-up. A clip poking fun at the bailout, and specifically, at former Golden West Financial Group co-chiefs Herb and Marion Sandler, has been taken down from NBC.com and Hulu.com sometime on Monday, leaving many speculating as to why. A good guess: The clip, a fake C-SPAN news report, identifies the Sandlers, who sold their Golden West Financial S&L to Wachovia in 2006 as ‘People who should be shot’ in a graphic.”
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/snl-take-down-taken-down/?ref=opinion

Who are the Sandlers?

Herb and Marion Sandler, owners of Golden West Financial Corporation, was giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic Party campaigns."[6]
Golden West was sold in 2006 for $24 billion to Wachovia Bank. The merger was completed in October 2006. The Sandlers owned about 10% of the company at the time of the sale, making their share of the sale price worth about $2.4 billion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Sandler
Wachovia had to be sold last week, due to the subprime mortgages they aquired when they bought Golden West.

How Catholic Money Funded Obama's Community Organizing

By Deal W. Hudson
October 7, 2008
http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2008/dwh_10071.shtml

One of the untold stories in the Obama campaign is how his background in community organizing has direct links to Catholic funding -- from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (web site)
Catholic journalist Stephanie Block has been writing about the CCHD for many years, but it has been difficult to stimulate any serious concern about their funding the innocuous sounding activity of "community development." Innocuous or not, Obama years as a community organizer were supported, in part, by Catholic money dispersed by the USCCB.

Barak Obama - was lead organizer in Chicago for the Developing Communities Project, it received a $40,000 Catholic Campaign for Human Development grant in 1985 and a $33,000 grant in 1986.

While he was in Chicago Obama was trained by the top Alinskyian organizers. One mentor was the ex-Jesuit, Greg Galuzzo, lead organizer for Gamaliel. The Developing Communities Project operated under the Gamaliel Foundation, a network of Alinskyian organizations that receive 4-5% of all Catholic Campaign for Human Development grants each year.

Who is Saul Alinsky?
In Rules for Radicals (his final work, published in 1971 one year before his death), he addressed the 1960s generation of radicals, outlining his views on organizing for mass power. In the first chapter, opening paragraph of the book Alinsky writes, "What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away".[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky

Obama's Alinsky Jujitsu
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
The agitator's job, according to Alinsky, is first to bring folks to the "realization" that they are indeed miserable, that their misery is the fault of unresponsive governments or greedy corporations, then help them to bond together to demand what they deserve, and to make such an almighty stink that the dastardly governments and corporations will see imminent "self-interest" in granting whatever it is that will cause the harassment to cease.
In these methods, euphemistically labeled "community organizing," Obama had a four-year education, which he often says was the best education he ever got anywhere.
Is it any wonder, then, that Obama's Alinsky Jujitsu is making mincemeat of the woman who merely interviewed Alinsky, wrote about him, and spent the next 30 years in corporate law and in the lap of taxpayer-funded luxury in government mansions?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/obamas_alinsky_jujitsu.html

Barack Obama and Alinsky's Rules for Psychopaths
By James Lewis
A psychopath is a person without conscience; someone who constantly breaks the moral rules of the community. Saul Alinsky was a "community organizer" who found a career that fit that personality disorder. In the Orwellian upside-down world of the Left, community organizers disorganize communities. That is the meaning of revolution, to overturn whatever exists today in the raw pursuit of one's own power.
Alinsky boasted about his close alliance with Frank Nitti, Al Capone's second in command in the Chicago Mob during the 1930s. Al Capone's Mob were domestic terrorists, and not for any noble cause either. They poisoned the Chicago politics of their era. Alinsky's close alliance with Frank Nitti tells us something crucially important today. Alinsky was also a lifelong ally of the Stalin-controlled Communist Party, at a time when Stalin was known to have murdered tens of millions of people. He was proud of building a bridge between organized crime and the power hungry Left. That tacit alliance may continue today.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_alinskys_rule.html

Saul Alinsky’s son: “Obama learned his lesson well”
By Judi McLeod Tuesday, September 2, 2008
In Artful Dodger style, Barack Obama, plays down his mentorship with Communist author Saul Alinsky. But Alinsky’s son, L. David Alinsky, credits Obama for “learning his lesson well” from the Communist guru.
Indeed, Alinsky Jr. who credits his late father for the success of last week’s Democratic National Convention, may have done something that Obama’s detractors couldn’t: blown the cover on the presidential hopeful’s communist leanings.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4784

2008-10-03T14:20:00.002-05:00

Catholic Voting & the “Seamless Garment” Theory
by Patrick Madrid
How to vote with a clear conscience
Are some [issues] more important than others?
http://www.envoymagazine.com/pdf/envoy_votersguide.pdf

Karl Rove Lists 10 ‘Factually Wrong’ Biden Debate Statements
Karl Rove sets the record straight on 10 things Biden said in the debate last night.

Biden said McCain voted the same as Obama on the budget resolution vote. Fact: McCain voted No, Obama voted "Yes" to increase taxes on those making $42,000 year.
Biden said people would pay no more taxes under Obama than they did under Reagan. Fact: The top rate under Reagan was 28%, Obama wants to return it to 39.5%.
Biden said it would take 10 years to get new oil into production. Fact: It would take only about 2 years.
Biden said used of force resolution in Iraq was not an authorization for war. Fact: Yes it was.
Biden said McCain voted the same as Obama on funding the troops. Fact: McCain voted yes, Obama voted "no."
Biden said we are spending as much in 3 weeks as we have in 7 years in Iraq. Fact: Not true
Biden said Article 1 of the Constitution refers to the Executive branch. Fact: Article 1 refers to Legislative branch
Biden said there is a windfall profits tax in Alaska. Fact: Not true
Biden repeated the lie about a nuclear weapons bill that Obama passed. Fact: Not true
Biden said McCain opposed Clinton on Bosnia. Fact: Not true
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=187263

Biden doesn't understand what the Veep job really is.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/03/biden-gets-veep-role-wrong/

A 1999 New York Times article explains how we got in the financial mess we are in
Read this article which appeared in the NEW YORK TIMES ON SEPTEMBER 30, 1999. It answers the question. Some of the quotes in here are eerily prophetic.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Agency’s ’04 Rule Let Banks Pile Up New Debt, and Risk
Dennis Brack for The New York Times
"Many events in Washington, on Wall Street and elsewhere around the country have led to what has been called the most serious financial crisis since the 1930s. But decisions made at a brief meeting on April 28, 2004, explain why the problems could spin out of control. The agency’s failure to follow through on those decisions also explains why Washington regulators did not see what was coming."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/business/03sec.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

2008-10-02T14:08:00.002-05:00

A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters from EWTN
"If someone were running for state treasurer and that candidate made it a point to state publicly that he was in favor of exterminating people over the age of 70, would you vote for him?... If personal character matters in a political candidate, and personal character involves the kind of thoughts a person harbors, then such a candidate who publicly states that he is in favor of the evil of exterminating people over the age of 70 - or children who are unborn - has also disqualified himself from receiving a Catholic’s vote."
http://www.ewtn.com/vote/brief_catechism.htm

More Voter Guide Links
As a Catholic, I have an obligation to inform my conscience before I vote. These voter guides are very helpful
http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/
http://www.usccb.org/bishops/catholicsinpoliticallife.shtml

What is the Most Efficient Way to Care for the Poor?
Suppose I am coerced to pay $100 in federal taxes that are for the purpose of caring for the poor. First, the legislator who makes the laws about collecting the money takes a slice, then the tax collector takes a slice, then the boss and auditor of the tax collector take a slice. Next, the social worker who determines eligibility for services and their boss and auditor of the social service agancy take a slice. Then the one who assures us that their is no fraud going on takes a slice. How much is left to give to the poor?
When I donate money to charity, I want to know the administrative expense ratio. That is, is the money going to some fat cat or is it really going to the cause for which I gave it? If my goal is supporting the poor, it seems to me to be more effective to give money to Catholic Charities than it does to the federal government.
I think it is foolish to vote for someone because they promise to do something "for the little guy." It seems that most of those promises are "voter bait." If they ever delivered on their promises, they would have to think of something else to bait the voters. Is it any wonder that campaign promises are quickly forgotten after the election? Wise up, Americans! Vote based on the character of the man and the one who will kill the fewest babies. That's the "little guys" I care about!

More of the blame game, only this has a ring of truth to it
So that's what a Community Organizer does!
What did Obama do with the Community Reinvestment Act money? Did he stop the flood of money going to these bad mortgages?
http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom

2008-09-30T14:09:00.001-05:00

U.S. archbishop at Vatican says Democrats becoming 'party of death'
By Cindy Wooden
The Democratic Party in the United States "risks transforming itself definitively into a 'party of death,'" said U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Vatican's highest court.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0804933.htm

Bishop calls abortion 'homicide'
Scranton Diocese priests read abortion position letter to parishionersBy Laura Legere
In the letter, Bishop Martino refers to abortion as “homicide” and writes, “It is a tragic irony that ‘pro-choice’ candidates have come to support homicide — the gravest injustice a society can tolerate — in the name of ‘social justice.’”
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2008/09/30/news/sc_times_trib.20080930.a.pg1.tt30bishop_s1.1980663_top.txt

Catholic Answers has a wonderful Voters Guide for Serious Catholics Video. You can find it at http://www.catholic.com/
The Voter Guides booklet says there are five non-negotiables for Christians:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Human Cloning
Homosexual "Marriage"

Please pay attention to the "How Not to Vote" section.
http://www.caaction.com/pdf/Voters-Guide-Catholic-English-1p.pdf

Presidential Voter Guide at kitchentableblog
Investigate the presidential candidates with our in-depth research and analysis on all the important Values Voter issues. From bioethics, marriage and family law to judicial and religious liberty issues, our policy experts present this valuable guide.
http://www.kitchentableblog.com/EF08H02.pdf

Secret, Foreign Money Floods into Obama Campaign
By: Kenneth R. Timmerman U.S. federal law bans any foreigner from donating to a U.S. election campaign.
http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/Obama_fundraising_illegal/2008/09/29/135718.html

The pro-bailout view:
Recent Market Commentary From Fidelity
Insight on Government Rescue Plan
September 29, 2008
The first lesson learned throughout the history of financial crises is that when financial markets simply stop working on their own, the government may be the only backstop available to prevent a systemic financial collapse that jeopardizes the entire economy.
http://personal.fidelity.com/misc/framesets/iw.shtml

The anti-bailout view:
Commentary: Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer
By Jeffrey A. Miron
So what should the government do? Eliminate those policies that generated the current mess. This means, at a general level, abandoning the goal of home ownership independent of ability to pay. This means, in particular, getting rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with policies like the Community Reinvestment Act that pressure banks into subprime lending.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Bailout marks Karl Marx's comeback
By Martin Masse
In his Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, Karl Marx proposed 10 measures to be implemented after the proletariat takes power, with the aim of centralizing all instruments of production in the hands of the state. Proposal Number Five was to bring about the “centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.”
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2008/09/29/bailout-marks-karl-marx-s-comeback.aspx

Why wasn't the financial Crisis Avoided?
In late 2004, Democrats Defended Freddie, Fannie ... while Republicans were asking for more regulation
http://election.newsmax.com/bailout_fanniefreddy.html

Watch this video on YouTube
It's about who tried to prevent this problem and who helped to cause it. (OK. I'll spoil the ending a tell you. McCain tried to fix this mess years ago. Obama helped create it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxgSubmiGt8

2008-09-29T10:50:00.003-05:00

Since I have an MBA, I am interested in how all this happened and how we are going to get out of this crisis.

Why Didn't We See This Credit Crisis Coming?
This didn't happen overnight. The credit crisis has been building for years.
Graphic shows timeline of credit crisis events with banking and mortgage foreclosures data;
http://apnews.myway.com/image/20080915/FINANCIAL_MELTDOWN.sff_GFX890_20080915183434.html?date=20080929&docid=D93GC9FG0

Stocks fall sharply ahead of bailout vote
There are new restrictions allowing Congress to limit how much of the money goes out the door at once. It also includes caps on pay packages of top executives as well as assurances that the government also would ultimately be reimbursed by the companies for any losses. The Treasury would be permitted to spend $250 billion to buy banks' risky assets, giving them a much-needed necessary cash infusion. There also would be another $100 billion for use at president's discretion and a final $350 billion if Congress signs off on it.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080929/wall_street.html

Let's put this in perspective. What Foreign News sites are saying about how we got in this financial mess:
What it costs: $700 billion. Ok, in relation to some other big things it´s not that much. Financial markets help the world produce that much twice a week. And if we assume that the assets the agency buys are worth at least half of what it pays, then it´s not that far from the cost of the latest US farm bill.
http://johannorberg.net/

Total cost of the 2008 US Farm Bill

In the 2008 farm bill, the current ten-year spending level is approximately $600 billion.
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/wto.info/twninfo20080522.htm

The US subsidizes farmers. Now we want to do the same with the financial industry?

The Blame Game

Blame the bubble on FDR, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton

Article in theaustralian.news.com.au

As usual everybody blames markets and calls for regulation when there is a financial crisis. But in Dagens Industri today (in Swedish, subscribers only), I remind the readers of some milestones in the pre-history of the crisis:
1933: As part of the New Deal, investment banks are stopped from also acting as commercial banks (which would have given them bank deposits and more stability).
1938: As part of the New Deal, President Roosevelt creates the mortgage association Fannie Mae and in 1970 Congress creates Freddie Mac. With their implicit government guarantees they can offer cheaper loans and expand until they dominate the American mortgage market.
1989: The American government decides to step in and pay for the savings and loan crisis, which sets a precedent: If you take too big risks with mortgage loans, the government will save you.
1995: The Community Reinvestment Act is revised so that banks and thrifts are stopped from targeting the wealthy, and are forced to give home loans to low- and moderate income-households as well. In return they are allowed to re-package and sell those subprime risks to others, which Bear Sterns pioneers in 1997.
2001-2003: Instead of letting the market get rid of bad businesses and loans after the dot com bubble and 9/11, the Fed reduces its rate from 6.5% to 1%. There is only a mild recession, but at the cost of a dramatic expansion of the money supply, that creates a real estate bubble.
These were definitely not the only villains in the story, but if I deliberately wanted to create a financial crisis, I think that this is almost exactly how I would do it.
The prices increased, people borrowed more, and Mae and Mac ran leverage ratios that exceeeded 60 to 1 (cheered on by the Democrats who now blame free markets for the crisis) to keep giving loans to people who could not really afford it. And meanwhile everybody involved thought that they couldn´t really lose, because the government would bail them out.
It only took more traditional interest rates for the bubble to burst (with the help from some new accounting regulations). The independent investment banks that did not have access to bank deposits collapsed and almost brought the whole system down.
All those who now think that the solution is to give more powers to politicians, authorities and central banks should at least go to the trouble of looking at what they did with the powers they already had. Decision makers on the market do act irresponsibly and incredibly short-sighted from time to time. So do decision makers in government.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24421918-20261,00.html

The Financial Mess: How We Got Here
By Abraham H. Miller of American Thinker
I am not suggesting that the CRA [Community Reinvestment Act] by itself led to the current crisis, but the CRA was the first and most important part of the food chain. The CRA caused the expansion in the number of questionable loans that lending institutions made, but Wall Street and insurance underwriters were all to willing to package these loans, enhance their ratings through convenient exercises in fantasy, sell them, and insure them with reserves that were more inadequate than the incomes of the people who got the loans in the first place..
The best thing that can emerge from the current financial crisis is the realization that the government needs to stop directing economic decision making. In a sense, the government is putting out a fire it started when it both created the CRA and assessed lending institutions by how well they were doing in response to the program. When Clinton decided, in his usual arrogance, that he knew better than the market how banks should lend money, the seeds were sown for the current financial disaster.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/the_financial_mess_how_we_got.html

More information on the Community Reinvestment Act:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act

http://www.ffiec.gov/cra/

http://www.policylink.org/EDTK/CRA/Why.html

2008-09-24T13:11:00.001-05:00

How did the economy get in this bad shape?
Clinton, Republicans agree to deregulation of US financial system
By Martin McLaughlin
Nov. 1999
http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/nov1999/bank-n01.shtml

It happened the same way with the health insurance problem.
Blame Congress for HMOs
by Twila Brase
http://www.cchconline.org/privacy/hmoart.php3
Wasn't it Will Rogers that said that when Congress tells a joke, it is a law?

Scaring Us to Death
by Walter Williams
Things are not nearly as gloomy as the pundits say. Most of today's economic problems, whether it's energy, health care costs, financial problems, budget deficits or national debt, are caused by policies pursued by the White House and Congress. As my colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell suggested in a recent column, we don't look to arsonists to put out fires that they've created; neither should we look to Congress to solve the problems they've created.
http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/09/24/scaring_us_to_death

What Happened to Market Discipline?
by John Stossel
Irresponsibility induced by government-created perverse incentives is the culprit. For decades politicians of both parties have relieved big companies of the responsibility that market discipline would have imposed. The promise -- explicit or implicit -- to bail out companies "too big to fail" weakens market discipline. That invites recklessness.
We do need protection from reckless businessmen. But there is only one way to provide that: market discipline. That means: no privileges, and no bailouts.

2008-09-23T14:23:00.002-05:00

Quo Vadis, Catholic vote?
Jeffery T. Kuhner, Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/21/quo-vadis-catholic-vote/
The Catholic bloc is the key swing vote in this year's election that will decide the next president of the United States - and shape our destiny in this watershed moment in history. Catholics must support Sen. John McCain.
Both campaigns are courting Catholics vigorously. Catholics constitute America's largest single religious denomination. The church has 47 million adherents - nearly one-quarter of all registered voters. In pivotal battleground states, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, they form almost a third of the electorate. Moreover, 41 percent of Catholics are independents.

What if the bailout plan doesn't work?
Under the current plan, the U.S. government will buy up to $700 billion in assets from private holders on Wall Street. That would help banks stabilize their balance sheets, and in theory provide an incentive for banks to begin extending credit among themselves again — a critical component of a functional financial system.
Here’s the good news: If everything goes smoothly, it is even possible that taxpayers will profit from the deal in the long run, as the underlying assets accumulate value over the coming years and the government is able to ultimately sell them back into the market at higher prices than it’s paying now. Of course, it’s also possible that the values will never come back, in which case taxpayers would be on the hook.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080923/pl_politico/13769

Obama: Bailout likely to delay spending programs
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he probably would have to delay the spending programs he has called for during his campaign in light of the massive government bailout being proposed for the nation's financial industry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_el_pr/obama

Does that change how you will vote? If you are voting to line your own pockets, then you have been warned that it won't happen. Campaign promises don't mean a thing after the election is over.

2008-09-19T18:31:00.003-05:00

Barack Obama's opposition to Born Alive Act
Gianna Jessen was aborted. She had been left to die in a Los Angeles hospital. And she had been rescued.The saline solution had burned her body and the long time without oxygen left her with cerebral palsy.
Gianna is 31 now. She still sings. She even runs in marathons! And she speaks out on behalf of other children aborted and left to die. She has spoken out in a new ad aimed at presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Please watch this video.
BornAliveTruth.org Gianna ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anieuWFWe8s
and this one:
Gianna Jessen of BornAliveTruth.org on Hannity & Colmes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVf_o1C2nI&feature=related

and this one:
Jill Stanek, former nurse, on Barack Obama's opposition to Born Alive Act
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3041755&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,407882,00.html

Jill Stanek's web site http://jillstanek.com/

Gianna Jessen's web site
http://bornalivetruth.org/
http://www.giannajessen.com/

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/civil-religion/music/2008/09/gianna-jessen-sings/

2008-09-15T11:59:00.002-05:00

The US Economy and the Race for President
The US Economy and the Race for President
My German cousin wrote me about the bankruptcy of the US bank, Lehmann Brothers. He is blaming the war in Iraq. He asked my opinion of the race for president. He said he thinks Sarah Palin is a hick and is inexperienced in foreign affairs compared to Obama and Biden. He says McCain is too old.
Since he does not understand how things work in the US, I have to explain things in detail. This is my response to him:
The problems in the economy have nothing to do with the conflict in Iraq. Things are much better in Iraq now.
The economy is a complex issue.
For several years, the banks made it too easy to get a loan for a house. The interest rate set by the Federal Reserve was unusually low. Many people who normally could not afford a house when the rates were higher were able to get a loan. The greedy banks did not make these people prove they could pay the loan, because the bank would sell the loan to other investors. Many investors like to buy mortagages (house loans) because they are usually a safer investment than others.Also, many people bought homes as an investment because the increased demand for homes made the value go up. They would keep the home for only a year, then sell it and keep the profits. This is called "flipping." The loans they took had an adjustable interest rate, which means the rate can go up or down, depending on what the US Treasury charges the bank for the interest. Instead of the rate staying the same or going down as many thought it would, it instead went up. That meant that many people could no longer afford the loan payment and had to sell the home for a loss, if they were able to sell the house at all. Too many ended up losing the house when the bank took the house away from them. So there have been rising mortgage defaults and plunging home values in the U.S due to tight credit markets. When there are more houses being sold than there are buyers, the price of the house goes down.
When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, the economy cools off. It means fewer houses will be built and fewer business investments, which decreases jobs. If people lose their job, they can't make loan payments.
The U.S. Treasury earlier this month seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are agencies that make loans. They are not really owned by the government, but the Treasury took them over to keep them from going bankrupt. This means the taxpayers are going to have to pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's negligence. That is why there is a need for stricter financial regulation than before.
As for me, the price of a house has no effect. Bob and I paid the whole loan for our house so we own it totally. As long as we don't sell before the economy gets better, we will be OK. We both have good jobs, so only the higher price of gas and food have an impact on us. Financially, we are better off than we were when Clinton was president.
There is a mixture of inflation and recession going on. The price of gasoline is going up because of more competition from China for oil and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have stopped pumping for oil. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina is still having an effect on this. Also, there are environmentalists that want the price of gas to go up so that Americans will buy less gas. They don't allow drilling for oil in our own country and push for more corn to be turned into gasoline, which makes the price of corn go up. The increase in gas prices to fuel farm machinery and higher corn prices means higher food prices. Usually, in a recession, prices go down and that is not the case this time.
Americans are dependent on gasoline to power our cars until an affordable car is on the market that requires less or no gasoline. I hope that will happen very soon. There is talk of a car that is powered by air compression being on the market soon. It is made in India. One can recharge it by plugging it into the household electric socket. It only goes 175 miles before it needs to be recharged, so it will mean that gas stations will have to make available a way to recharge the tanks. If that happens, we can pay less money to the Arabs. That would make our economy much better because we would have more money to spend on other things.
Please don't believe what the media says about John McCain and Sarah Palin. They have 10 times more experience that Obama. Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska. She manages a multi-billion dollar budget. She has cleaned up corruption in the government of her state. She has made it possible to build a natural gas pipeline through the state that will make our energy cheaper. She had to get Canada to agree to let Alaska do this. That takes a lot of work to make another country agree to this. Sarah Palin is the chief commander of the Alaska National Guard. The Alaska National Guard is on duty full-time because it is so close to Russia. They are our first line of defence against attack from Russia. That mean that the US military has to work closely with the Alaska National Guard. She has done a great job in this role. The Alaska National Guard love how Sarah Palin leads them. If Sarah Palin is a hick, then my husband is one too. Bob loves to go deer hunting. Hunting is a big sport in this country. It is necessary to manage the wild animal population. It shows she has courage and is competitive, though she is still very feminine. I admire her for being a mom to 5 children and still able to work a job.
Obama was a "community organizer" which means he handed out papers for political candidates door-to-door. He was a state legislator for a few years, but wrote no legislation or got any passed. He got elected Senator because the person who ran against him had to quit the race and then the substitute candidate is a radical. Mostly, people voted for Obama because the politics in Illinois is corrupt and people feel sorry for a Black man. People feel guilty about being so racist against Blacks a long time ago. There was a lot of anger in the country against the conflict in Iraq and so he used that anger to get elected to the Senate, where he also has done no real work. He got there after the conflict started, so he can't be hated for voting in favor of it. It is getting better in Iraq in spite of what he has done to stop it. It would be a disaster to stop fighting now. Obama has never been in charge of any government and never had to balance a state or federal government. He knows nothing about how to fix the economy. He promises people he will give them government benefits that will fill their pockets, but has no way of paying for them because you can only tax people so much before the economy gets worse. That is not what is best for the country in the long run. He says he will tax only the rich, but what he would have to do to pay for all this is tax anyone who is making enough to have a spare dollar. He is almost a socialist or communist. We have never had any candidate for the president that is this extreme about the economy.
Obama is a butcher. He voted in favor of letting babies who survived an abortion die by withholding medical care. The legislation would have required doctors to care for a baby after it was born even if the mother wanted it dead. That is infanticide and killing a baby is murder. Obama is a radical extremist when it comes to the abortion issue. He is like Hilter when it comes to respect for human life. We already have a million babies die each year to abortion. Obama would defeat all the effort done in the last 30 years to stop the slaughter of babies.
Sarah Palin is to be praised for giving birth to her baby even though she knew it would be disabled. Her baby is the kind of baby Obama would have voted to kill.
Sarah Palin is the total opposite of Hilliary Clinton. She wears a skirt and lipstick. She is a real woman and mom. She loves her husband and family. She is in this race to serve, not to be famous or popular. She is not doing this to prove women are as powerful as men. She is more like the ideal American woman than Hilliary.
No person has all the experience needed to be president. Yet most of our presidents were governors of states, which is what Sarah is. Being a governor is a better qualification than being a Senator. For example, Ronald Reagan was the Governor of the state of California before he became President and Clinton was the Governor of the state of Arkansas. Governors of states are leaders, not just people who vote on legislation that was written by others. Governors of states have real responsibilies and manage huge budgets. Senators do not. In some ways, she is more qualified than McCain, Obama or Joe Biden.
However, McCain has been a Senator for a lot longer than Obama, so he is more qualified than him. McCain will be a much better manager of the economy than Obama.
Our country has been through times much worse than now, so I have hope that things will be better soon. What goes up must come down, and when the price goes down, the demand goes up. So what goes down will eventually go up. Our economy has done so much better since Reagan, that people forget how bad it was under Jimmy Carter (another former state governor).
Just as Israel was punished for its bad leaders, I fear what will happen if we elect such an incompetent, evil man as B. Hussein Obama. I am praying that the American people will make the right decision. In the news today, polls in 11 battleground states show Obama retains narrow lead as 78 Electoral College votes are still a toss-up. Sarah Palin has made the race for the White House nearly dead-level even.
Even my mom, who is a life-long Democrat, says she will not vote for Obama. She is offended that people say McCain is old at 72. She is 86, so 72 is young to her. That is an amazing change. A lot will depend on whether Catholics vote pro-life. The race is really just starting because most people don't pay much attention until the last 2 months of the campaign when the TV ads start. A lot has changed since it started almost 2 years ago. This race is going to be a lot of mud slinging, dirty politics.
In other news, I am hoping the Pope's visit to France will make more Catholics go back to church. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for the United States!
Our son, Tim, started college this fall. Our youngest will start next year. I am going to start training as a hospital chaplain on October 9 for 6 months. I will keep my technical writer job, but eventually I want to work as a chaplain. Hospital chaplains minister to the sick. In this way, I would be able to serve God and his Church.
God bless,
Betty

2008-09-15T11:57:00.002-05:00

The US Economy and the Race for President
My German cousin wrote me about the bankruptcy of the US bank, Lehmann Brothers. He is blaming the war in Iraq. He asked my opinion of the race for president. He said he thinks Sarah Palin is a hick and is inexperienced in foreign affairs compared to Obama and Biden. He says McCain is too old.
This is my response to him:
The problems in the economy have nothing to do with the conflict in Iraq. Things are much better in Iraq now.
The economy is a complex issue.
For several years, the banks made it too easy to get a loan for a house. The interest rate set by the Federal Reserve was unusually low. Many people who normally could not afford a house when the rates were higher were able to get a loan. The greedy banks did not make these people prove they could pay the loan, because the bank would sell the loan to other investors. Many investors like to buy mortagages (house loans) because they are usually a safer investment than others.Also, many people bought homes as an investment because the increased demand for homes made the value go up. They would keep the home for only a year, then sell it and keep the profits. This is called "flipping." The loans they took had an adjustable interest rate, which means the rate can go up or down, depending on what the US Treasury charges the bank for the interest. Instead of the rate staying the same or going down as many thought it would, it instead went up. That meant that many people could no longer afford the loan payment and had to sell the home for a loss, if they were able to sell the house at all. Too many ended up losing the house when the bank took the house away from them. So there have been rising mortgage defaults and plunging home values in the U.S due to tight credit markets. When there are more houses being sold than there are buyers, the price of the house goes down.
When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, the economy cools off. It means fewer houses will be built and fewer business investments, which decreases jobs. If people lose their job, they can't make loan payments.
The U.S. Treasury earlier this month seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are agencies that make loans. They are not really owned by the government, but the Treasury took them over to keep them from going bankrupt. This means the taxpayers are going to have to pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's negligence. That is why there is a need for stricter financial regulation than before.
As for me, the price of a house has no effect. Bob and I paid the whole loan for our house so we own it totally. As long as we don't sell before the economy gets better, we will be OK. We both have good jobs, so only the higher price of gas and food have an impact on us. Financially, we are better off than we were when Clinton was president.
There is a mixture of inflation and recession going on. The price of gasoline is going up because of more competition from China for oil and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have stopped pumping for oil. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina is still having an effect on this. Also, there are environmentalists that want the price of gas to go up so that Americans will buy less gas. They don't allow drilling for oil in our own country and push for more corn to be turned into gasoline, which makes the price of corn go up. The increase in gas prices to fuel farm machinery and higher corn prices means higher food prices. Usually, in a recession, prices go down and that is not the case this time.
Americans are dependent on gasoline to power our cars until an affordable car is on the market that requires less or no gasoline. I hope that will happen very soon. There is talk of a car that is powered by air compression being on the market soon. It is made in India. One can recharge it by plugging it into the household electric socket. It only goes 175 miles before it needs to be recharged, so it will mean that gas stations will have to make available a way to recharge the tanks. If that happens, we can pay less money to the Arabs. That would make our economy much better because we would have more money to spend on other things.
Please don't believe what the media says about John McCain and Sarah Palin. They have 10 times more experience that Obama. Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska. She manages a multi-billion dollar budget. She has cleaned up corruption in the government of her state. She has made it possible to build a natural gas pipeline through the state that will make our energy cheaper. She had to get Canada to agree to let Alaska do this. That takes a lot of work to make another country agree to this. Sarah Palin is the chief commander of the Alaska National Guard. The Alaska National Guard is on duty full-time because it is so close to Russia. They are our first line of defence against attack from Russia. That mean that the US military has to work closely with the Alaska National Guard. She has done a great job in this role. The Alaska National Guard love how Sarah Palin leads them. If Sarah Palin is a hick, then my husband is one too. Bob loves to go deer hunting. Hunting is a big sport in this country. It is necessary to manage the wild animal population. It shows she has courage and is competitive, though she is still very feminine. I admire her for being a mom to 5 children and still able to work a job.
Obama was a "community organizer" which means he handed out papers for political candidates door-to-door. He was a state legislator for a few years, but wrote no legislation or got any passed. He got elected Senator because the person who ran against him had to quit the race and then the substitute candidate is a radical. Mostly, people voted for Obama because the politics in Illinois is corrupt and people feel sorry for a Black man. People feel guilty about being so racist against Blacks a long time ago. There was a lot of anger in the country against the conflict in Iraq and so he used that anger to get elected to the Senate, where he also has done no real work. He got there after the conflict started, so he can't be hated for voting in favor of it. It is getting better in Iraq in spite of what he has done to stop it. It would be a disaster to stop fighting now. Obama has never been in charge of any government and never had to balance a state or federal government. He knows nothing about how to fix the economy. He promises people he will give them government benefits that will fill their pockets, but has no way of paying for them because you can only tax people so much before the economy gets worse. That is not what is best for the country in the long run. He says he will tax only the rich, but what he would have to do to pay for all this is tax anyone who is making enough to have a spare dollar. He is almost a socialist or communist. We have never had any candidate for the president that is this extreme about the economy.
Obama is a butcher. He voted in favor of letting babies who survived an abortion die by withholding medical care. The legislation would have required doctors to care for a baby after it was born even if the mother wanted it dead. That is infanticide and killing a baby is murder. Obama is a radical extremist when it comes to the abortion issue. He is like Hilter when it comes to respect for human life. We already have a million babies die each year to abortion. Obama would defeat all the effort done in the last 30 years to stop the slaughter of babies.
Sarah Palin is to be praised for giving birth to her baby even though she knew it would be disabled. Her baby is the kind of baby Obama would have voted to kill.
Sarah Palin is the total opposite of Hilliary Clinton. She wears a skirt and lipstick. She is a real woman and mom. She loves her husband and family. She is in this race to serve, not to be famous or popular. She is not doing this to prove women are as powerful as men. She is more like the ideal American woman than Hilliary.
No person has all the experience needed to be president. Yet most of our presidents were governors of states, which is what Sarah is. Being a governor is a better qualification than being a Senator. For example, Ronald Reagan was the Governor of the state of California before he became President and Clinton was the Governor of the state of Arkansas. Governors of states are leaders, not just people who vote on legislation that was written by others. Governors of states have real responsibilies and manage huge budgets. Senators do not. In some ways, she is more qualified than McCain, Obama or Joe Biden.
However, McCain has been a Senator for a lot longer than Obama, so he is more qualified than him. McCain will be a much better manager of the economy than Obama.
Our country has been through times much worse than now, so I have hope that things will be better soon. What goes up must come down, and when the price goes down, the demand goes up. So what goes down will eventually go up. Our economy has done so much better since Reagan, that people forget how bad it was under Jimmy Carter (another former state governor).
Just as Israel was punished for its bad leaders, I fear what will happen if we elect such an incompetent, evil man as B. Hussein Obama. I am praying that the American people will make the right decision. In the news today, polls in 11 battleground states show Obama retains narrow lead as 78 Electoral College votes are still a toss-up. Sarah Palin has made the race for the White House nearly dead-level even.
Even my mom, who is a life-long Democrat, says she will not vote for Obama. She is offended that people say McCain is old at 72. She is 86, so 72 is young to her. That is an amazing change. A lot will depend on whether Catholics vote pro-life. The race is really just starting because most people don't pay much attention until the last 2 months of the campaign when the TV ads start. A lot has changed since it started almost 2 years ago. This race is going to be a lot of mud slinging, dirty politics.
In other news, I am hoping the Pope's visit to France will make more Catholics go back to church. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for the United States!
God bless,

Betty

2008-09-09T10:19:00.002-05:00

Sarah Palin is no ordinary pro-lifer.

Mona Charen says, "Sarah Palin is no ordinary pro-lifer. She is an attractive, intelligent, ambitious, successful woman who has actually lived her convictions." Something about Sarah Palin set them [the media] off before their own politically correct impulses ("Must Avoid Sexism") could inhibit them. By the ferocity of the response, you might have thought Palin was a secret member of a polygamous cult or had forced her daughter to give birth after a rape. But no, she was just the mother of five, hunting, fishing, NRA member, and governor.
"I wonder if it was that baby." Read the article at:http://townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/09/09/is_trig_at_the_heart_of_medias_reaction_to_palin

Nancy Pelosi, when you don't know what you're talking about, would you please be quiet?
The Speaker's war with the Catholic Church has now spilled over to the Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has challenged when life begins. The Roman Catholic Church says life begins at conception. The Speaker, who claims she is an ardent Catholic, says down through the years the Catholic Church has not been able to agree when life begins. Church authorities have hotly disputed her view. Now a group of Pelosi's fellow House Members has weighed in with a sharply worded letter, organized by Representative Thaddeus McCotter, of Michigan. McCotter is part theologian, part street-fighter. Clearly he is one of the most articulate Members who have graced the Floor of the House of Representatives. Read the article at:http://townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/08/the_speakers_unusual_description_of_catholic_dogma
Her actions remind me of the old joke, "Don't confuse me with the facts." I surely hope she has not confused Catholics. At least her actions gave the bishops a reason to correct her.

Prime examples of liberal bias in the media: Newsweek's Anna Quindlen and MSNBC's Chris Matthews
Palin's a Tough, Smart Conservative Woman: Deal With It!
by David Limbaugh
Liberals excel in blinding themselves to their own biases and hypocrisy and blaming conservatives for their own sins, all of which they are showcasing in their frantic reaction to the Sarah Palin nomination.
Not only are they trying to destroy Palin. They are straight-facedly denying it and accusing Republicans of manufacturing this charge to exhibit phony sympathy for women.
Conservatives, after all, couldn't possibly be supportive of female Palin based on merit; it's just a political ploy to purloin Hillary voters. Liberal captives of identity politics just can't comprehend that neither gender nor race matters to conservatives. It's all about the candidate's political philosophy, approach to governance and qualifications to serve -- not those artificial constructs that liberals have exploited through the years.
Don't get me wrong. Palin's beauty and tough-as-nails femininity are refreshing icing on a delicious cake for conservatives, but if she were not demonstrably conservative, they'd be depressed -- not energized.
But you'll never convince the liberal press, which sees everything through the lens of gender and race consciousness and indiscriminately projects that propensity onto conservatives. Read the article at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2008/09/09/palins_a_tough,_smart_conservative_woman_deal_with_it!?page=2

Phyllis Schlafly outlines reasons why the the Democrats' Platform is a bad idea from both a pro-life and from an economic standpoint.
We Can't Afford the Democrats' Platform by Phyllis Schlafly http://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/09/09/we_cant_afford_the_democrats_platform
The past two presidential elections taught the losing Democrats a couple of political lessons. They learned that attacks on guns and defense of abortion are no longer winning issues for them, and this new awakening is reflected in their 2008 party platform adopted in Denver.
The platform grudgingly states, "We will preserve Americans' Second Amendment right to own and use firearms." The powers-that-be in the Democratic Party have learned to tolerate a few pro-gun candidates.
Feminist pressure won't let the Democrats recede from their "proudly" stated 2004 platform position that "Abortion should be safe, legal and rare." This year's platform is just as pro-abortion, but uses slightly softer words, stating that the Democrats support "a woman's ability to make her own life choices and obtain reproductive health care, including birth control" (throughout nine months and with taxpayers' money, of course).
Proclaiming that "we will end the Bush administration's war on science," the Democratic platform promises to "lift the current administration's ban on using federal funding for embryonic stem cells." The genuinely pro-life Republican Platform calls for "a ban on human cloning and a ban on the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research purposes."
http://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/09/09/we_cant_afford_the_democrats_platform================

2008-09-08T12:26:00.002-05:00

The Demise of the "Sisterhood of Single-Issue Feminists"
If you listened very carefully to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s dynamic speech to the Republican Convention last Wednesday night, you could plainly hear the death cry of single-issue feminism. The nomination of Governor Palin, a pro-life feminist, for Vice President of the United States has put the final nail in the coffin of an increasingly discredited and narrow-minded worldview that believes that women cannot thrive in a world without unrestricted abortion-on-demand. Equally importantly, her historic candidacy promises to transform the tone and complexion of American feminism.
Read this article at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28418

The Best Man Turned Out To Be A Woman
Ann Coulter
John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate finally gave Republicans a reason to vote for him -- a reason, that is, other than B. Hussein Obama.
[The media] claimed Palin was chosen only because she's a woman. In fact, Palin was chosen because she's pro-life, pro-gun, pro-drilling and pro-tax cuts. She's fought both Republicans and Democrats on public corruption and does not have hair plugs like some other vice presidential candidate I could mention. In other words, she's a "Republican." ....
As for former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge and Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, the other also-rans, I can think of at least 40 million unborn reasons she's better than either of them.
Read this article at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28370

A caller to the Rush Limbaugh program last week had a great insight. Sarah Palin, if elected, will be taking to Washington a baby that B. Hussein Obama voted to let a woman abort. What a contrast in values!

2008-09-08T10:21:00.002-05:00

Freudian slip? Obama's "my Muslim faith."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/08/obama-mistake-on-being-muslim-seized-by-rivals/ST. LOUIS Sen. Barack Obama's foes on Sunday seized upon a brief slip of the tongue when the Democratic presidential nominee was outlining his Christianity but accidentally said "my Muslim faith."
The three words - immediately corrected - were uttered during an exchange with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," when Mr. Obama was trying to criticize the quiet smear campaign suggesting that he is a Muslim.
Within one hour of the interview, anti-Obama groups had edited it out of context and were sending it around via e-mail. They also were blogging about it.
Mr. Obama, who is a Christian and often proudly speaks about how his faith has influenced his public service, said he finds it "deeply offensive" that there are efforts "coming out of the Republican camp" to suggest "that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith."
The exchange came after Mr. Obama said that Republicans are attempting to "scare" voters by suggesting that he is not Christian, which McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said was "cynical."
Hmmmm!

Religion Remains Major Dividing Factor Among White Voters - Gallup Poll
John McCain has led Barack Obama all summer among highly religious white voters and continues to do so in the first three days of September, with no sign of change coincident with the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/110053/Religion-Remains-Major-Dividing-Factor-Among-White-Voters.aspx

Republicans’ Enthusiasm Jumps After Convention
[The Gallup] Poll finds that the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket has more than matched the Barack Obama-Joe Biden ticket's convention bounce of last week with a "rebound" bounce, and in the immediate aftermath of the GOP convention McCain and Palin now have a slight edge over their opponents.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/110107/Republicans-Enthusiasm-Jumps-After-Convention.aspx

Zogby Poll: Republicans Hold Small Post-Convention Edge
The McCain/Palin ticket wins 49.7% support, compared to 45.9% backing for the Obama/Biden ticket, this latest online survey shows. Another 4.4% either favored someone else or were unsure.
Pollster John Zogby: "Clearly, Palin is helping the McCain ticket. She has high favorability numbers, and has unified the Republican Party. The striking thing here in this poll is that McCain has pulled ahead among Catholics by double-digits. On the other hand, Palin is not helping with likely voting women who are not aligned with either political party. The undecided independent women voters decreased this week from 15% to 7%, but those women went to Obama. Palin is also helping among men, conservatives, notably with suburban and rural voters, and with frequent Wal-Mart shoppers, who tend to be "values" voters who like a good value for their money."
http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1548

Alaska National Guard Commander Praises Sarah Palin's Performance as Commander in Chief

Don't dismiss the fact that Sarah Palin is Commander of the Alaska National Guard-- consider this.

Alaska is the first line of defense in our missile interceptor defense system. The 49th Missile Defense Battalion of the Alaska National Guard is the unit that protects the entire nation from ballistic missile attacks. It is on permanent active duty, unlike other Guard units.

As governor of Alaska, Palin is briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counter-terrorism. Her exposure to classified material may rival even Biden's and certainly by far exceeds Obama's.

She is also the commander-in-chief of the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), a federally recognized militia incorporated into Homeland Security's counter-terrorism plans.
Listen to this video:
http://www.hyscience.com/archives/2008/09/alaska_national.php

2008-06-27T08:43:00.003-05:00

Archbishop Raymond Burke Leaving St. Louis
Pope Benedict the XVI has named Archbishop Burke to the Vatican's Supreme Tribunal of Apostolic Signatura in Rome.
The Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority of the Catholic Church.

The announcement was made at the Vatican.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=148943&catid=40

Archbishop Burke has courageously defended the truth about abortion, gay rights, and embryonic stem cell research, despite the attacks from the media. He has fought the good fight. The Archdiocese stands in his debt for his pastoral care and repeated smacking down of heretics, especially handling the problem at St. Stanislaus. I am sad to see him go, but he is too good for this town. He deserves a more prestigious position. May his successor be as brave as Burke was.

2008-06-17T11:19:00.003-05:00

Presidential candidates and "the content of character"
I'm expecting a reaction from the Barack Obama campaign about the question of whether he is Muslim. I can see it now - a flood of anti-Obama sites and pro-Obama sites to deal with this question. This is a snippet from an e-mail I received this week that was refuting what Obama says in public v. what the truth really is:

7. *I Never Practiced Islam* - NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it daily at school,
where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until
your wife made you change, so you could run for office. 4-3-08 Article 'Obama
was 'quite religious in islam''
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

There is no doubt in my mind that Obama is Muslim by birth and training. It is hard to deny that. The question is how much influence will that have if he is elected President? I don't think it is a good thing to have this background if it means he would be soft on Muslim extremists. How can we know if that would be the case? I don't think we can. Obama has such sparse public experience that he is a blank slate. People don't have a complete picture of what kind of person he would be on this issue.
It is stupid to vote against him for this reason alone. It is also stupid to vote for him because he is Black. So this is the next question in evaluating Obama. Race doesn't make you better than anyone in the same way it doesn't make one worse than anyone. We were taught by Dr. Martin Luther King that we should judge people by the "content of their character", not the color of their skin. Race is neutral, despite what those who voted for him in the primary think. Here's another snippet from that e-mail:

6. *My Name is African Swahili* - NOT EXACTLY, your name is Arabic and 'Baraka'
(from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is also
Arabic and so is Obama.Barack Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected, he
would be the first Arab-American President, not the first black President.
Barack Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother's side and 43.75% Arabic
and 6.25% African Negro from his father's side. While Barack Hussein Obama's
father was from Kenya , his father's family was mainly Arabs.. Barack Hussein
Obama's father was only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father's birth
certificate even states he's Arab, not African Negro). for more go to..... http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.phtml?Barack_Hussein_Obama_-_Arab-American,_only_6.25%25_African

If Obama is not Muslim and is, instead, as he claims, a Christian, then what kind of Christian is he?
He belongs to the United Church of Christ. We already know the anti-white racist teachings of his pastor, Jerimiah Wright. We know that Obama has cut ties to his pastor. But that leaves the question, does he subscribe to the kind of Christianity that teaches a moral code that is consistent with the 10 commandments and Sermon on the Mount?
This is what the official web site for the United Church of Christ says:
"The UCC has roots in the "covenantal" tradition-meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members."
http://www.ucc.org/beliefs/
"The United Church of Christ is one of the founding faith groups of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
"http://www.ucc.org/justice/advocacy_resources/pdfs/reproductive-health-and-justice/reproductive-health-and-justice.pdf

I believe this means the United Church of Christ does not meet the 10 commandments and Sermon on the Mount test. We know that people sometimes claim to adhere to a denomination, but don't agree with all the tenets of that faith. So we have to look to the individual to see if they are actually living what their denomination teaches. What is "the content of Obama's character?" Does his claim to be Christian hold water? That is the real question.

Abortion is my litmus test for any denomination or candidate. I can't stomach a person who thinks it is right to kill an unborn baby. That shows a deep character flaw, in my eyes. For me, this article says it all:
Obama is the Most Pro-Abortion Candidate Ever
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/TerenceJeffrey/2008/01/09/obama_is_the_most_pro-abortion_candidate_ever

I rest my case. I have looked beyond Obama's religious affiliation and race. I have followed Dr. King's advice, so I can honestly say I could never give the slightest thought to voting for Obama. I may not like the McCain alternative 100%, but I will do my best to support him. I see too much to lose if I don't. The Religious Right would lose a war, not just a battle, if Obama gets to pick the next two Supreme Court justices.
How has it come to this? We have so few good choices for candidates for President. Is it because so few politicians have a clean enough record to survive the smear campaigns that our political system has become? Do we need to focus on building future candidates instead of discovering them?
10 commandments for future Presidential candidates (and for all of us, for that matter.)

Value human life in all stages.
Do follow a moral code.
Be faithful to your spouse.
Be a good dad or mom.
Study macroeconomics.
Don't do drugs or be an alcoholic.
Don't be involved in corrupt politics or business.
Get lots of real life experience that prepares you for the huge responsibilities of public life.
Improve your character by working hard to accomplish something significant that seemed impossible.
Help the poor improve their lot in life, not by giving them a hand out.

2008-05-28T14:15:00.003-05:00

Archbishop Burke is vindicated. The local newspaper the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been raking him over the coals for years, so I wonder if that will stop. I'm not going to hold my breath.

Vatican upholds declaration of excommunication for St. Stan Six
By Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/28/2008

The St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church
(Kevin Manning/P-D)

ST. LOUIS -- The Vatican has upheld St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke’s 2005 declaration of excommunication of the Stanislaus Six, the six lay members of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Church board who refused to turn over church property and assets to the archdiocese.
The board members were declared excommunicated after they hired a priest — the Rev. Marek Bozek — who had been suspended by his own bishop in the diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau. Bozek was also declared excommunicated by Burke, but his appeal was not addressed by the Vatican.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rejected the board’s appeal of the excommunications, writing in a decree dated May 15, 2008, that "it is evident that the Board Members have committed the delict of schism by constituting St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish as an independent entity capable of appointing its own clergy apart from the hierarchy of the Church."

"In a gradual process the parish has been removed from the jurisdiction of the local Ordinary," the Congregation’s prefect, Cardinal William Levada continued. "This can be seen as an expression of the refusal of the members of the Board to subject themselves to the lawfully constituted Ecclesiastical authority."

Schism, the canoncial offense that triggered the excommunications, is defined in the Catechism and the Code of Canon law as "the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."

Catholic law says that only a bishop can appoint priests to parishes.

The board members were given 30 days to appeal the Vatican’s ruling.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/6F31FC0EDBC935E7862574570052E872?OpenDocument

2008-04-29T09:41:00.005-05:00

Thomas Sowell is a conservative Black economist whose opinion I respect. He is asking some important questions. Are we this desparate to erase "white guilt?" So desparate that we will elect an unqualified person, even a radical, to be president of the US? Think long and hard before you vote for BHO. America has so far escaped the worst of socialism and the oppression that eventually comes with it, but that doesn't mean it couldn't still happen.

An Old Newness
By Thomas Sowell
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
"No doubt it is only a matter of time before there is a black president, ... The issue is whether we want to reach that landmark so badly that we are willing to overlook how questionably that landmark is reached. ....
Although Senator Obama has presented himself as the candidate of new things -- using the mantra of "change" endlessly -- the cold fact is that virtually everything has says about domestic policy is straight out of the 1960s and virtually everything he says about foreign policy is straight out of the 1930s.
Everything seems new to those too young to remember the old and too ignorant of history to have heard about it."

Be sure to read the second page of this article.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/04/29/an_old_newness

What's Wrong with Planned Parenthood?
Planned Parenthood Puts A Hit Out On Black Children
By Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
Monday, April 28, 2008

A recent Wall Street Journal story cited that Planned Parenthood is contributing an unprecedented 10 million dollars to various political campaigns this election cycle.
In Kansas the organization is under criminal investigation for falsifying documents and performing late term abortions.
In Ohio, Planned Parenthood is being sued for failing to report the rape of a 16-year-old by her father.
Planned Parenthood centers attempt to hide child abuse or statutory rape by encouraging underage mothers to falsify their ages in order to receive an abortion.
Others believe that the organization, founded by Margaret Sanger, has actually swindled the government out of money.
...experts estimate that 75% of Planned Parenthood centers are located in close proximity to minority neighborhoods. Over 1,200 black babies are aborted every day in America which amounts to over 35% of the total number of babies aborted in the nation.
Planned Parenthood facilities around the country have been accused of accepting contributions from racist donors.

Now is the time for blacks and whites to work together, to strike a blow against the unethical practices of the “death industry” in America. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2008/04/28/planned_parenthood_puts_a_hit_out_on_black_children

2008-04-23T12:18:00.002-05:00

A Stark Contrast: Sen. Barack Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, with Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Ground Zero becomes all the more meaningful when I think of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's blaming Americans for 9/11 attacks and "God Bless America" not "God damn America."

Sen. Barack Obama's pastor says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America."
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright has made a number of controversial statements. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side, has a long history of what even Obama's campaign aides concede is "inflammatory rhetoric," including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own "terrorism."
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4443788&
Now look at this article:
Pope Benedict XVI Loves Americans -- and Millions of Americans Love Him
by Newt Gingrich
I witnessed firsthand this week that Pope Benedict loves America and Americans.
The first great moment of connection came at the end of the White House welcoming ceremony when Pope Benedict XVI said simply, "God Bless America."
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26166

2008-04-21T14:03:00.002-05:00

EWTN has transcripts of Benedict XVI's speeches and a video archive.
http://origin.ewtn.com/USPapalVisit08/index.asp

I have been reading these articles because I didn't always have time to watch them when they were first broadcast and sometimes the Pope's accent made it hard for me to hear. Since I don't have cable, I had to listen to Catholic radio, which doesn't always do the occasion justice. This is especially so with the event at the World Trade Center. The video from there says so much more than the words. You will see the pastoral side of Benedict XVI if you watch it. If you are looking for a reason to love this man, this moment is it.

As a sometimes catechist, I loved the speech to the youth. It was inspiring, and totally on the level the audience could understand. I admire a theologian that can distill the truth into easy to understand language, and do it with as much charm as he did. It makes me want to imitate him. Benedict XVI's charisma is very different from John Paul II's, but it is still there.

2008-04-21T14:00:00.001-05:00

Here are excerpts ftom one of the best articles I've seen on Benedict XVI's visit to the US.
In a time of healing, let us remember all victims
By Joe Fitzgerald Monday, April 21, 2008 -
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1088501
Three years ago, while multitudes chanted “We have a new pope!” upon seeing white smoke at St. Peter’s Basilica, critics of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger were already predicting gloom and doom....
From the moment he became Pope Benedict XVI, he was on a collision course with local malcontents whose resistance to the teachings of the church added immeasurable ugliness to the scandal that left it reeling.
In their exploitation, they shamelessly created a witch hunt in which basic American tenets, such as the presumption of innocence, were tossed to the wind in reckless pursuit of ideological agendas....
By the time Archbishop Law left in the throes of the scandal, however, that collar had become a scarlet A, thanks to a lynch-mob mentality implying every priest was guilty by association, a slur made unconscionable by the fact it was intentional.
Yes, it was heartwarming to read of the pope’s unprecedented private meeting with local victims of priestly abuse; even his most wild-eyed critics were momentarily mollified.
But, lest it be overlooked, he also had the grace to allude to forgotten victims, too, urging love for those faithful priests who, while remaining true to their vows and callings, were made to pay a price for crimes they did not commit.
No list of victims is complete if it doesn’t include the ones who unfairly bore the brunt of suspicion and loathing, much of it triggered by dissidents hoping to hobble a vulnerable Catholic Church by any means necessary.

2008-04-14T13:19:00.004-05:00

Scientists Uncover Potential To Control Adult Stem Cells
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410101159.htm
ScienceDaily (Apr. 12, 2008) — "Research presented at the UK National Stem Cell Network Annual Science Meeting in Edinburgh represents a step towards the use of Adult Stem Cells (ASCs) to repair damaged tissue. Speaking at the conference in Edinburgh, Professor Cay Kielty of the University of Manchester describes how she and her team have uncovered a messaging system that instructs ASCs to contribute to tissue repair in response to chemical signals in the body. This work, funded by the Medical Research Council, holds great hope for the development of techniques by which ASCs could be instructed to repair damaged tissues."

This article shows that research with adult stem cells is still more promising than with embryonic stem cells.

The score is still 73 to zero
http://www.stemcellresearch.org/

Research shows adult stem cells can now cure 73 diseases, while embryonic stem cells can cure zero. If a law were passed to make it illegal to patent embryonic stem cells cures, the research funding would dry up fast, I bet.

Missouri House votes for taxpayer funding human cloning and life-destroying research
http://www.missourilife.org/index.html
On Wednesday March 26, the Missouri House of Representatives voted down an amendment that would have protected taxpayers from funding human cloning and life-destroying research. Rep. Therese Sander (R- 22) offered Amendment 1 to HCS HB 2007 which lined out all funding to the Life Science Research Board, funding that since the passage of Amendment 2, now Art. III, sec. 38 (d) of the Missouri constitution, cannot be restricted from being used for life-destroying research.

Adult Stem Cell Research With Cord Blood Successfully Makes Insulin
http://www.cureswithoutcloning.com/newspage2.html

Yahoooo! Hallelluia!

Cures Without Cloning Statement on Court Ruling Upholding Challenge to Carnahan Ballot Summary

http://www.nocloning.org/

ST. LOUS, MO - Lori Buffa, MD, chairwoman of Cures Without Cloning, released the following statement regarding the ruling of Circuit Judge Patricia S. Joyce upholding the coalition's challenge to the Secretary of State's misleading and inaccurate ballot summary:
"This ruling proves what we've said along: that our clear, concise initiative would prohibit human cloning and the taxpayer funding of human cloning in Missouri."

Because of the additional, drawn-out legal challenges, (http://mocureswithoutcloning.blogspot.com/) it will be impossible now to get this on the November 2008 ballot. We will have to live with Amendment 2 to the Missouri Constitution for a couple more years, it seems. But who knows? By the time the issue gets on the ballot, the advances in adult stem cell research may make this less of an issue. The research community may abandon embryonic stem cell research when they realize it is either a dead end or that patenting these stem cell lines is made illegal. We can only hope. This web site shows what the fight is about. http://mocureswithoutcloning.com/InitiativeComparison.pdf

2008-04-08T09:40:00.002-05:00

The lady is delusional!

CBS Exposes Hillary Clinton Bosnia Trip.

I'm surprised how many of my friends haven't heard this story. I guess the Main Stream Media doesn't want this story to be repeated as much as it does the abuse scandal the Catholic Church in the US. This is a dead horse that deserves beating, considering Hillary could become President of the US next year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BfNqhV5hg4

2008-04-08T09:37:00.000-05:00

Pope Reaches Out to American Catholics
Benedict XVI to visit Washington, D.C., and New York City in April
By Jay Tolson
This commentary is pretty fair in its assessment of the state of the Catholic Church in the US on the eve of Pope Benedict XVI's visit. Usually, I object to hauling out the abuse scandal AGAIN because it is seven years old. That seems like beating a dead horse. This article does this somewhat, but not bad, considering the context.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/03/28/catholics-at-a-crossroads.html?PageNr=1

2008-02-12T10:02:00.000-06:00

5 Lessons from Huck's Big Day

I agree with these commentaries on the Super Tuesday, Feb. 5 primaries:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/godometer/2008/02/5-lessons-from-hucks-big-day.html

Even if Romney releases his 288 delegates to him, Huckabee would still have only 528 votes, which is less than half what he needs to win the nomination.

I'm hoping he will stay in the race so that the evangelical voice will still be heard.

McCain's Evangelical Troubles Mount

"Complicating that picture for McCain is that many high-profile evangelical organizers who might help change minds about him are skeptical about his chances in November. “When it’s time to vote, if it’s between McCain and a Democrat [evangelicals] will vote for McCain,” said David Barton, a Texas-based Christian activist who directed evangelical pastor outreach for the Republican National Committee during the 2004 election. “But they won’t work for McCain. They’re not going to fall on their swords for him.”
“As close as recent presidential races have been,” Barton continued, “…. I find it difficult to believe that anyone can win without the help of what has been between 35 and 40-percent of the Republican base.”
http://blog.beliefnet.com/godometer/2008/02/mccains-evangelical-troubles-m.html

I agree. I don't think I will not go door-to-door to work for McCain or work those phone calls as I have in the past for pro-life candidates. I'm going to have to pray about it a lot before I could be enthusiastic about McCain. I probably can hold my nose as I vote for him, but not without angst.

2008-02-08T12:05:00.000-06:00

We're winning in Iraq

Imagine this - the war in Iraq might not be the biggest issue in the race for the presidency! How ironic? McCain gained support because he was a national security conservative, and now that issue is fizzling out! Romney is gone, so there goes the only economic conservative. We could have used him, considering that Congress is giving away the store to win the election. So Republicans are stuck with a choice between a values candidate (Huckabee) and McCain, who is all over the map on the issues. I don't buy it when he says he is pro-life.
McCain is highjacking the GOP. He's trying to put together a coalition of moderate GOP and independent voters. The value voters will either bolt or stay home on election day. It's 1992 all over again. Where is Ross Perot when we need a candidate to laugh at to take away the pain of impending defeat?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/07/AR2008020703854.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008020801213

"In the letter, the emir said the difficulty in assigning tasks to potential suicide bombers was caused by increases in U.S. military operations and the formation of U.S.-backed Sunni tribal groups, known as Awakening councils, to fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq.

"We found ourselves in a circle not being able to move, organize or conduct our operations," he wrote. "There was a total collapse in the security structure of the organization."
Al-Qaeda is almost done and finished. It no longer scares anyone," he said."

2008-02-04T14:20:00.001-06:00

What the Florida primary meant for Values Voters?

On this web site, http://www.citizenlink.org/ click on the "Forwad" button "Focus Action Analysis 2008 Florida Primary."
Focus on the Family Action team has recorded a special report for you. This latest primary continued the unfortunate trend of the media with most pundits virtually ignoring the issues that are of concern to Values Voters. Why is there such little discussion of the rights of the preborn, preserving marriage, the future of the Supreme Court or protecting our right to publicly acknowledge God?
This video is over 55 minutes long, but it is a very interesting commentary.

2008-01-25T14:23:00.000-06:00

Christianophobia
I like this new word. Read the article:
"Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in European international organizations, has drawn the attention of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to the increase in the crime against Christians in Europe.

"We often hear about anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and very little is said about Christianophobia, which is gaining strength in many European countries," Bishop Hilarion said during a meeting between Barosso and representatives of the Orthodox Churches to the European Union.
Among the forms of Christianophobia in Europe, Bishop Hilarion mentioned the removal of Christian symbols from the public sphere, the denigration of Christianity and refusal to recognize the Christian heritage of Europe, the persecution of people who openly express Christian convictions and who choose to live according to Christian moral standards."
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4200

2008-01-25T14:22:00.000-06:00

Republican Party splintered?
A Wall Street Journal editorial says the Republican Party is splintered. Duh!
Whatever piece you favor, you can find a candidate that supports the issue, but I don't think there is one that supports all the pieces. The once harmonious symphony is now a loud, clanging noise.
The article says:"On the pundit civil wars, Rush Limbaugh declared on the radio this week, "I'm here to tell you, if either of these two guys [Mr. McCain or Mike Huckabee] get the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party. It's going to change it forever, be the end of it!"
This is absurd. George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party, by which I mean he sundered it, broke its constituent pieces apart and set them against each other. He did this on spending, the size of government, war, the ability to prosecute war, immigration and other issues.
Were there other causes? Yes, of course. But there was an immediate and essential cause.
And this needs saying, because if you don't know what broke the elephant you can't put it together again. The party cannot re-find itself if it can't trace back the moment at which it became lost. It cannot heal an illness whose origin is kept obscure.

I believe that some of the ferocity of the pundit wars is due to a certain amount of self-censorship. It's not in human nature to enjoy self-censorship. The truth will out, like steam from a kettle. It hurts to say something you supported didn't work. I would know. But I would say of these men (why, in the continuing age of Bill Clinton, does the emoting come from the men?) who are fighting one another as they resist naming the cause for the fight: Sack up, get serious, define. That's the way to help."
http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

2008-01-24T09:49:00.000-06:00

Walt Whitman must have been pro-life

If Whitman is considered one of America's greatest poets, why don't we listen to what he has to say about the human body? I doubt any English teacher in a public school would say the evil Whitman wrote about is still with us. I hear a lot of Theology of the Body in his poem, "I Sing the Body Electric."
At this site http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=470749 , it says:

"Walt Whitman's description of the body being the same as the soul in "I Sing the Body Electric" is important in understanding his equal desire and passion for all human beings. Because of this comparison of the body and the soul, Whitman's description of the minute details of the body becomes an important insight into his description of the quality of the soul. In this myriad of human beings, he describes his passion for both men and women, for people of other races, and for the elderly."

Slavery was the devaluation of the human body that concerned Whitman as the most evil in his day. What he wrote equally applies to the devaluation of unborn human bodies through abortion. These are a few of the lines that seem most pro-life to me:

"I Sing The Body Electric."

by Walt Whitman

Be not ashamed women, your privilege encloses the rest, and is the

exit of the rest,

You are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the soul.....

The man's body is sacred and the woman's body is sacred,

No matter who it is, it is sacred--is it the meanest one in the

laborers' gang?

Is it one of the dull-faced immigrants just landed on the wharf?

Each belongs here or anywhere just as much as the well-off, just as

much as you,

Each has his or her place in the procession.....

If any thing is sacred the human body is sacred,

And the glory and sweet of a man is the token of manhood untainted,

And in man or woman a clean, strong, firm-fibred body, is more beautiful

than the most beautiful face.....

O I say these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of

the soul,

O I say now these are the soul!

2008-01-16T09:59:00.000-06:00

However, notice that abortion isn't mentioned on McCain's "Why John McCain" page.

http://www.johnmccain.com/Undecided/whymccain.htm

There is only a link to another page.

Look at what John McCain said about abortion in the 2000 election campaign. It shows a big change.
http://www.issues2000.org/Senate/John_McCain_Abortion.htm

I think this is also significant:

Rated 0% by National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 75% by the National Right to Life (NRLC), indicating a mixed record on abortion. (Dec 2006)
Absent from Values Voter Presidential Debate. (Sep 2007)
Voted YES on confirming Samuel Alito as Supreme Court Justice. (Jan 2006)
Voted YES on confirming John Roberts for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. (Sep 2005)

http://www.issues2000.org/John_McCain.htm#Abortion

Anyway you look at it, John McCain's position on abortion is inconsistent with some of his previous positions. Which one is the real John McCain?

Could I vote for him? If he is the lesser of two evils, yes. He is not my first choice, but I would pick him over Clinton, Obama, Edwards or other Democrats any day.

2008-01-16T09:58:00.001-06:00

John McCain's position on abortion has changed in the last few years.

His position on abortion is at this site:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-90a2-12028d71df58.htm"John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench. Constitutional balance would be restored by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, returning the abortion question to the individual states. The difficult issue of abortion should not be decided by judicial fiat. The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation. For this reason, John McCain opposes the intentional creation of human embryos for research purposes. To that end, Senator McCain voted to ban the practice of "fetal farming," making it a federal crime for researchers to use cells or fetal tissue from an embryo created for research purposes. Furthermore, he voted to ban attempts to use or obtain human cells gestated in animals. Finally, John McCain strongly opposes human cloning and voted to ban the practice, and any related experimentation, under federal law."

2008-01-16T09:55:00.000-06:00

General Election: If McCain vs. Clinton, McCain would win
Real Clear Politics, which is a summary of major polls, says that if the General Election has McCain vs. Clinton or vs. Obama, McCain would win. In all the other match ups, the Democrats would win.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_clinton-224.html

2008-01-16T09:54:00.000-06:00

Primary Elections: No Superheroes, Please
By Father Jonathan Morris

We can listen to speeches, banter with friends and foes at the coffee shop, or study campaign Web sites. We can compare and contrast party and candidate platforms, hedging our bets on who is most likely to get done more of what we most need, or want.
My suggestion to voters at this point in the race is to forget about all of this — including what other states have done, or are about to do — and instead, to choose the candidate who, according to Constitutional criterion, has the best PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT and whose RECORD coincides with this philosophy.
I mean to say, let’s choose a candidate who understands the true purpose of government and the way it’s supposed to work in the United States of America as described in our founding documents, in particular, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers.
We are not electing a national mayor, a local pastor, a motivational speaker, a civil rights activist or even a CEO.
The federal government — including the executive branch — is primarily responsible for defending the nation and its citizens from attack and subversion, maintaining public order (including commerce) and protecting people‘s fundamental rights and liberties.
In other areas, its role is secondary, or more precisely “subsidiary,” first of all to the work of families, community, charitable, religious, and other civic organizations, and then to local and state governments.
When candidates make promises to end poverty, boost the economy, restore hope, and provide health care and education for all, the questions we should ask are HOW and WHO. If they plan to use their presidential powers (including the appointment of judges) to run our states and to raise our families, they are out of line.
Read this thoughtful article at this site:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,322645,00.html

2008-01-09T11:02:00.000-06:00

Huckabee Silences Stephanopoulos On Schiavo
"Stephanopoulos continued his assault Sunday on Terri Schindler Schiavo, the disabled Florida woman who was killed by court decree at the behest of her adulterous husband, dying of dehydration on March 31, 2005, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed following nearly a decade of contentious courtroom action."
Stephanopoulos asked, "But should the federal government have weighed in or not."
Huckabee replied:
“In that case, I believe that it ultimately was because anything to do that will help save a human life and at least show the importance, imperative of valuing life, I think is a good thing, George, and I, one thing, if anything, and that’s consistent on the fact that every human life has dignity and intrinsic worth and value and I think it’s fundamental to the very essence of our civilization that we treat each other with that sense of dignity. If we don’t, if we ever violate the idea that we’re all of equal worth, I think we’ve lost something more that a political debate, I think we’ve lost our moral center because if one person is more valuable because of IQ, ancestry, net worth, if one person is more valuable than another because of ability or disability, then we really have redefined what it means to be not just a human being but specifically what it means to be an American”. http://www.northcountrygazette.org/news/2008/01/08/schiavo_disability_rights/

Wow! That is one of the defining differences of Christianity v. atheism and paganism. If you want to read about more of these differences, I recommend reading the book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible. I read that book over the holidays. I was blown away with the clarity with which it compares the benefits of Christianity and faith.

2008-01-09T11:01:00.000-06:00

Huckabee seeks Catholic support
CONCORD, NH - Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee sees his conservative religious base as reaching beyond evangelical Protestants to Catholics as well.
Huckabee, an ordained Baptist preacher, won the Iowa caucus last week which kicks off the nominating process for the November presidential election, largely because of support from the state’s numerous evengelical community.
“Catholics were a major source of support for me in Arkansas. And they have been nationally. And it’s not only because of the pro-life and pro-family issues,” he said, refering to his opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage.
“I certainly believe that Catholics are right about talking about poverty, disease and hunger. Things I talk about … I think a lot of evangelicals have not talked enough about it quite frankly,” he said.
http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/01/07/huckabee-seeks-catholic-support/

This article points out that Catholics tend to put emphasis on both pro-life and social justice issues. But how can the Federal government be both concerned with welfare and have the fiscal responsibility and limited government that Republican have traditionally supported? That is the question. Those two goals are incompatible.
Nevertheless, the Democrats position on social justice issues are the most attractive part of the party. Stealing their thunder sounds like a good idea. Make the Republican party "the party of the little guy" as Democrats say. But remember that any government that is powerful enough to give you everything you want is powerful enough to take away everything you have.
Since Baptists criticise Catholics of working their way to heaven, it strikes me funny that Huckabee says evangelicals have not talked enough about poverty, disease and hunger. Huckabee sounds Catholic to me.
BTW, there aren't many Catholics in Arkansas, so it must have been Baptists that elected him governor. Since Arkansas is my home state, I have heard feedback that he really does work for social welfare, not just talk about it.

2008-01-09T11:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, they will know we are Christians by our love.
Survey: Non-attendees find faith outside church"LifeWay Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, based in Nashville, conducted the survey of 1,402 "unchurched" adults last spring and summer. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
Most of the unchurched (86%) say they believe they can have a "good relationship with God without belonging to a church." And 79% say "Christianity today is more about organized religion than loving God and loving people."
"These outsiders are making a clear comment that churches are not getting through on the two greatest commandments," to love God and love your neighbor, says Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research. "When they look at churches … they don't see people living out the faith."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-01-09-unchurched-survey_N.htm

2008-01-08T10:08:00.000-06:00

I'm thrilled Huckabee did well in the Iowa caucus. I've thought he would since Brownbeck pulled out of the race. Huck was a nobody till then. This means the evangelical vote still has some clout.
I can't stand Hillary. Not another 8 years of Clintons in the White House! The country went through enough embarrassment when Bill was there! We became the laughing stock of the whole world. I'm not surprised when Leno laughs at him. My German cousins still joke about him.

Hillary care? Do you remember she wanted to nationalize the whole health care industry? She would turn every hospital into an abortion mill. Need a transplant? Too bad. You would be too old under a rationed system. If you think the budget deficit is bad now, wait till the government has to pay health care for all the illegal immigrants.

I don't see any Democrats I could vote for. I would hold my nose and vote for Romney instead. I could go with Thompson, but he is a long shot. I'm hoping Huckabee gets more support in future primaries. Missouri's is Feb. 5. Save the date.

2008-01-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Catholic charismatics 36 percent!
Myths Exposed on Charismatic Christianity in America
By Jennifer Riley
Christian Post Reporter

"Many people believe that charismatic Christianity is almost exclusively a Protestant phenomenon, but research shows that one-third of all U.S. Catholics (36 percent) fit the charismatic classification, according to the new Barna study. And nearly one-quarter of all charismatics in the U.S. (22 percent) are Catholics."

This article surprised me. I had no idea the percent of Catholics who are charismatics is this high. I think that is probably true in my parish, but I thought we were an anomoly. I think that the charismatic movement is the reason the ones who are active Catholics have remained and are the most involved in volunteering at the parish. I wish more people would be open to receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is rarely ever mentioned in a Sunday homily. Why? Beats me!

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080107/30767_Myths_Exposed_on_Charismatic_Christianity_in_America.htm

2007-12-26T13:20:00.000-06:00

Jesus is saved, thanks to GPS

In Florida, somebody keeps stealing Jesus.
Not the real Jesus we all know and love, but a reproduction used for a nativity scene in the center of Bal Harbour. In past years, the figurine has disappeared from the scene — even after nailing it down, if that isn’t ironic — and bystanders, including Mary and Joseph, were knocked over or damaged.
http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/business-talking-tech/2007/12/jesus-is-saved-thanks-to-gps/#more-18460

2007-12-26T13:18:00.000-06:00

The meaning of the day
St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke is quoted in the St. Louis Post today.
"An important point in Matthew's Gospel, said Burke, is the connection of the name Emmanuel with the name Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, which means "he who saves." Immediately after the angel of the Lord tells Joseph to name his son Jesus, the author quotes the Emmanuel passage from Isaiah.
"Jesus did not come just to be with us during his years of life on Earth, but he suffered, died, and remains with us always," the archbishop said. "God becomes man in order to save us, and that message is why the names Emmanuel and Jesus are connected by Matthew."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/86BD06150256580D862573BB0082BD06?OpenDocument

2007-11-16T14:25:00.000-06:00

Yes! I think it is high time bishops started confronting Catholics about their blind allegiance to the Democratic party. Perhaps the rest of the bishops, with a few exceptions, need the same confronting.

"Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston declared on Wednesday that the support of many Catholics for pro-choice Democratic candidates “borders on scandal.” http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/cardinal_omalley/2007/11/15/49826.html

2007-11-09T18:06:00.000-06:00

What Catholic book are you reading now?

Now I'm reading "a Doctor at Calvary" by Pierre Barbet. It's an analysis of the Shroud of Turin and a pathology report combined. It's a bit hard to read with all the medical jargon, but I'm enjoying it.

2007-11-09T12:08:00.000-06:00

My son turned 18 yesterday. There is something about that age that is special. He can go to the doctor without a parent. I have to have his permission to know his medical records. He can buy cigarettes and Playboy (or worse). He can legally leave home.

I know he is not ready to leave the nest yet, but the thought that he could if he wanted to is both a scary and a proud moment. I have done my best to be a good mom. I can't know for sure whether I have, but I sincerely think I have. Words can't express my love and pride for him.

I guess every parent asks the questions, "What will my child grow up to be?" and "Have I done a good job?" Only time will tell. God be with him.

2007-11-09T12:06:00.000-06:00

The Archdiocese of St Louis web site has a response to current issues in the area. An organization called "Roman Catholic Womenpriests" announced in a news release dated October 15, 2007, that it would be undertaking a ceremony on November 11, 2007, at the synagogue building of Central Reform Congregation, St. Louis, that would purport to ordain two women to the Roman Catholic priesthood. The following article serves to present briefly the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the ordained priesthood and who may be admitted to Holy Orders. The article is followed by links to some helpful supplemental resources, and a perspective on concerns regarding interfaith relationships arising from Central Reform Congregation's hosting of the November 11 event.

http://www.archstl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=173&Itemid=1

Here are some other cool web sites I found:
http://evangelization2.typepad.com/evangelization2_0/2007/10/love-to-be-ca-1.html
http://www.sqpn.com/
http://www.thatcatholicshow.com/
http://www.rosaryarmy.com/
http://www.lovetobecatholic.com/video_362_Divine_Mercy.html
Catholics need to use the web to spread the Gospel. These sites do exactly that.

2007-10-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't been updating this blog lately. I've become involved in Christ Renews His Parish weekends. I attended my first one in March. I helped to lead one Oct 6-7. Now I am helping the next team to get ready for a weekend in February or March, 2008.
It amazes me how powerful these weekends are. The dozen participants were as thrilled as I was at how God touches hearts and renews faith. The saying, "It is more blessed to give than receive" is very true, because I was blessed by giving the weekend. I love passing on the faith. There is nothing better than knowing that the Holy Spirit has been working through the meager efforts of his people.
I am helping with the pre-RCIA sessions again. Last year, the parish didn't have many people who needed those sessions, so I took a break. This is another way I can pass on the faith. It is a thrill to see those I have instructed being baptized on Holy Saturday.
I have been busy with a couple writing projects this year. I wrote a thematic bible study and a piece that is in the Screwtape Letter genre. I want to find a publisher for them.
In July - August, the family visited Daytona Beach and Orlando, FL. We had a budget motel right on the beach. That's the first time our family has had that type of convenience. I liked it, because I could see if the waves were big enough to ride. If they weren't, I continued to read the two Harry Potter books we brought. I read number six and seven, so I finished the series while on vacation.
I loved them all and it will be strange to not be looking forward to the next book in the series. It was well worth reading all seven of these tomes. I don't read a lot of fiction and I don't write it either. However, I really admire J.K Rowlings' ability to spin a great, spell-binding (pardon the pun) tale.
The other book I read while on vacation was Peter Kreeft's Handbook of Christian Apologetics. I found the chapter on the Problem of Evil to be awesome. The part about how can God be both just and merciful really touched my heart. I have been pondering the merciful love of God since I read that page. It was an epiphany for me. The understanding of mercy has never been so real to me before. I want to tell everyone about it. I feel the muse (or is it the Holy Spirit?) telling me to start writing another bible study about it. Before I do that, I want to focus on getting the one I wrote published. It is such a waste to fill up my hard drive with writings that have never seen the light of day. So I better get back to writing that book proposal.

2006-12-04T12:19:00.000-06:00

Winter Survival
My house was hit again by a power outage. In July, it lasted 4 days. This time it was 39 hours.
I've found out that what you need to survive a power outage is really different in the winter than in the summer. In July, we worried about melting frozen food, so ice and freezer space in someone else's freezer were critical. We dealt with 100 degree temps, so staying cool was a problem. That load of laundry that hadn't made it to the dryer yet was a problem.

This time there was no shortage of ice. There was plenty of snow we could put in the coolers for our food. The worry this time was whether the pipes would freeze and how our cats would stand up to the cold. We found places to put them in case we had to abandon the house.
Since we are all-season campers, we are more prepared than most people. We have a catalytic converter that heats with propane and another propane heater than can run for short spells, though carbon monoxide poisoning is a problem with that type of heater. We have a propane cooking stove so we could get some hot food. We have thick sleeping bags that let us sleep comfortably.
We keep plenty of flashlights and candles on hand in a place where we know where they all are.
We put foam over the windows and kept the drapes shut to keep the heat inside. We shut off two rooms and farmed out the kids to friends who had power. We visited friends when it got dark until bed time. Luckily, the temperature got above freezing in the day time. It would have been much worse if it had been bitter cold.

We learned quite a bit about survival this weekend. We need to be even more prepared for all seasons until our utility company finally decides to spend the money to trim the trees that keep knocking down power lines. Grrrrrr!

2006-12-04T12:16:00.000-06:00

Zogby International Poll Contemporary Catholic Trends
http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1200
Support for U.S. Bishops leadership at highest level since sexual abuse scandal broke in 2002; nearly a third of American Catholics (62%) have done volunteer work in the past 12 months; more than half believe that most people can be trusted; 27% say they have at least 10 close friends.
As part of its ongoing project to track the views of American Catholics, Le Moyne College has released the findings of the latest Contemporary Catholic Trends (CCT) poll in conjunction with Zogby International. The survey included questions on trust, friendship, community involvement, and religious belief and practice. It also asked about Catholic approval of the performance of the pope, the U.S. bishops, and local pastors.
APPROVAL RATINGS FOR PASTORS, POPE, AND BISHOPS
Since October 2001, CCT has tracked American Catholics’ assessment of how well the U.S. bishops are leading the American church. In fall of 2001 before news of the clergy abuse scandal broke the bishops enjoyed an approval rating of 83% with 43% strongly agreeing and 40% agreeing that they were doing a good job. Support is currently at its highest levels since news of the scandal. In the latest survey 71% of respondents strongly (29%) or somewhat agree (42%) that the bishops are doing a good job.
A large majority of American Catholics (88%) strongly agree (69%) or somewhat agree (19%) that the pastors of their parishes are doing a good job leading the local church. The CCT asked respondents if they felt it would be a “good idea if parishes were to choose their own priest from among available ordained priests.” Answers speak to the issue of democracy within local parishes, and 48% supported the idea. A strong majority, 65%, of those who never attend say they approve the idea. The 2001 Survey of American Catholic Priests by Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline E. Wenger found only 22% of priests supporting such a plan, suggesting a point of contention between leaders and laity.
Friendship and Trust
Recent research has found that Americans have fewer friends than in times past, with up to 25% reporting that they have no one to confide in (2004 General Social Survey). The CCT study finds that Catholics do not perceive themselves as unconnected. Respondents were asked how many people they “consider close friends.” Only 4% report having no one they consider a close friend, and 1% reported only 1 such friend. Over a quarter of respondents (27%) say they consider 10 or more people close friends.
Diversity of Friendships
Of those who reported at least 1 close friend, 79% report having a non-Catholic friend. Among the 94% with multiple friends, 55% report having Protestant friends and 29% say they have Jewish friends. Catholics are least likely to have atheist friends (18%) and Muslim friends (8%). About 35% reported having friends from more than 1 non Catholic religious tradition.
Trust
Respondents were asked if they believed “that most people can be trusted, or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people.” Fifty-one percent felt most people can be trusted, while 44% believed “you can’t be too careful.” The 2004 General Social Survey found that 36% of Americans said most people can be trusted. Asked about those who live in their own neighborhoods, 57% of CCT respondents said they could be trusted “a lot,” while about 12% said they could be trusted only “a little” or “not at all.” Less than a quarter of respondents, 24%, said that they trust the media to report the news fairly most or all of the time. About 20% said the media can never or almost never be trusted.
Volunteering and Charity
The Fall 2006 CCT survey contained a series of questions about volunteering and charitable giving. Over half of the respondents, 62%, said they had done volunteer work in the previous 12 months. The typical volunteer reported spending about 5 hours a month serving their community. Thirty-one percent said that most or all of that volunteer work was done in conjunction with a religious organization. When it comes to charity, 79% reported giving money to an organization, not including their parish, in the last year. Half of the respondents gave less than $300, while half gave more than $300.
Un-churched Catholics and Social Issues
Following a trend common among many religious groups, 20% of respondents who were born Catholic report that there was a time in their life when they left the Church. Overall, 10% of the respondents report that they do not attend Mass during a typical month. These non-attending Catholics differed from attending Catholics regarding a series of social issues. For example, a meaningful divide can be seen regarding the question of whether or not Catholic priests should be allowed to marry. Overall, 64% of respondents believe priests should be allowed to marry, but the proportion rises to 81% among the non-attendees. Regarding artificial birth control, 15% of those who never attend oppose its use, while 36% of those who attend at least occasionally oppose artificial birth control (opposition is highest among those who attend weekly or more, 43%).
Overall, Catholics are evenly split when asked if “all abortions should be illegal” (50% believe all abortions should be illegal, while 49% disagree and about 1% of respondents are undecided). Among those who never attend Mass, however, only 30% believe all abortions should be illegal. The divide regarding abortion is between those who attend every week or more and those who attend less than weekly. Fully 60% of those who attend mass weekly or more believe all abortions should be illegal.
Regarding capital punishment, a slight minority of Catholics (48%) say that the death penalty should be illegal, suggesting that the Church’s capital punishment teaching is largely disregarded. However, opinions differ by frequency of Mass attendance, with those who attend weekly or more the most likely to oppose capital punishment (53%).
Opposition to abortion and the death penalty are each elements of the “consistent life ethic” advanced by the U.S. Bishops, but only 29% of respondents reported such a combination of attitudes. The consistent life combination was most common among those who attend weekly or more (37%), while only 18% of those who attend less often endorsed both positions.
Financially Happy
A final note, 65% of respondents say that they are satisfied or very satisfied with their current financial situation.

2006-11-16T09:52:00.000-06:00

Granite City Abortion Clinic Part Of Rape Investigation
Police in Arkansas say a Granite City abortion clinic is part of a rape investigation involving a juvenile. Jeffery Cheshier, 41, is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl. Officers say he then forced the victim to have an abortion in Granite City.
Police in Bryant, Ark., say Cheshier began assaulting the juvenile last year. In October, he was arrested and charged with rape. The victim told police Cheshier had gotten her pregnant and forced her to have an abortion.
According to records obtained by Bryant police, the abortion was performed at the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City. Angela Michael frequently protests outside the clinic and police used a photo she took of Cheshier's car to prove he was there in March.
In Illinois, juveniles do not need parental consent for an abortion. When we asked the Madison County State's Attorney's Office if clinics are required to notify police when a juvenile has an abortion, we were referred to the Hope Clinic who told us such notification is not mandatory.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=107632

Frozen embryos have no right to life: Irish court
DUBLIN (Reuters) - A woman lost her fight to have a child without the consent of her estranged husband on Wednesday when an Irish judge ruled frozen embryos did not enjoy the same constitutional right to life as those carried in the womb.
Justice Brian McGovern said most agreed frozen embryos resulting from infertility treatment deserved special respect but ruled "the right to life of the unborn" in the Irish constitution did not extend to them.
"I have come to the conclusion that the three frozen embryos are not 'unborn'," the judge said in a landmark High Court ruling complicated by the fact that existing legislation does not define "unborn".
"There has been no evidence ... to establish that it was ever in the mind of the people voting on the Eight Amendment to the Constitution that 'unborn' meant anything other than a fetus or child within the womb," McGovern added.
The judgment means spare embryos frozen after successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 2002 will not be returned to the mother.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2006-11-15T174650Z_01_L15783683_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRELAND-EMBRYOS.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

Adult Stem cells help dogs with dystrophy
Missouri voters should have read this article before they voted Nov 7.
In promising new research, stem cells worked remarkably well at easing symptoms of muscular dystrophy in dogs, an experiment that experts call a significant step toward treating people. "It's a great breakthrough for all of us working on stem cells for muscular dystrophy," said researcher Johnny Huard of the University of Pittsburgh, who wasn't involved in the work.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061116/ap_on_he_me/stem_cells_dystrophy

DNA from Neanderthal leg shows distant split
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have sequenced DNA from the leg bone of a Neanderthal man who died 38,000 years ago and said on Wednesday it shows the Neanderthals are truly distant relatives of modern humans who interbred rarely, if at all, with our own immediate ancestors.
They estimate that modern humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor at least 370,000 years ago, and possibly 500,000 years ago, although we share 99.95 percent of our DNA.
"We see no evidence of mixing 40,000, 30,000 years ago in Europe. We don't exclude it, but see no evidence," Edward Rubin of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California, who led one study, told reporters.
This conflicts with some evidence from other researchers, including a team who said earlier this month that humans may have inherited a brain gene from Neanderthals.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-11-15T193028Z_01_N15369621_RTRUKOC_0_US-SCIENCE-NEANDERTHAL.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L3-Science+NewsNews-3

Woman Wins Religious Discrimination Case
SAVANNAH, Mo. (AP) -- Three years after she was fired for refusing to work on Sundays, Connie Rehm has won back her job on the staff of this small town's public library, and her employers have received a costly education in employment rights law.
A federal jury found in her favor after a three-day trial in May, and last month she was reinstated on a judge's order to the staff assistant job she had held for 12 years before her religious practice and the library's adoption of Sunday hours collided in 2003.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NOT_ON_SUNDAY?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

2006-10-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year!

Yes, Christmas cards. This is coming early (really early) so that you can get ready to include an important address to your list.Read on........What a GREAT idea!Fun with the ACLU......Wanna have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year. As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN card to brighten up their dark, sad little world. Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it.
Here's the Address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's Not the Christian way, you know!)
ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 39 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". . . It's a Christmas Tree even in the fields!! And pass this on to your email lists. We really want to communicate with the ACLU! They really DESERVE us!!

2006-09-21T14:02:00.000-05:00

Missourians vote NO on constitutional Amendment 2

On November 7, Missouri voters will decide if the State of Missouri will give constitutional protection to the cloning of human beings for research purposes while providing the biotech industry the unchecked authority and funding to conduct these unproven and unethical experiments.
Missourians Against Human Cloning is a coalition of Missouri citizens and organizations established to provide Missouri voters with the truth about this amendment to our state constitution. We are confident that when Missourians understand the truth about this initiative and its ramifications, they will oppose it wholeheartedly.
Please join our growing coalition. Stand-up and speak-out against government funded human cloning being enshrined in the Missouri Constitution.
http://nocloning.org/

I sure hope this thing does not pass.

Boy or girl? Sex selection by embryo screening
Many U.S. Couples Seek Embryo Screening
Boy or girl? Almost half of U.S. fertility clinics that offer embryo screening say they allow couples to choose the sex of their child, the most extensive survey of the practice suggests.
Sex selection without any medical reason to warrant it was performed in about 9 percent of all embryo screenings last year, the survey found.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060920/D8K8SV101.html

Sounds like Brave New World is coming true.

Skeleton Sheds Light on Ape-Man Species

NEW YORK (AP) - In a discovery sure to fuel an old debate about our evolutionary history, scientists have found a remarkably complete skeleton of a 3-year-old female from the ape-man species represented by "Lucy."
The remains found in Africa are 3.3 million years old, making this the oldest known skeleton of such a youthful human ancestor."It's a pretty unbelievable discovery... It's sensational," said Will Harcourt-Smith, a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History in New York who wasn't involved in the find. "It provides you with a wealth of information."
For one thing, it gives new evidence for a contentious feud about whether this species, which walked upright, also climbed and moved through trees easily.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060921/D8K8U6PO0.html

This doesn't shake my faith. God is still in charge of creation, even if it took longer than 6 days.

2006-04-17T16:26:00.000-05:00

Roe v. Wade': The divided states of America
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two hours after South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed an abortion ban last month, NARAL Pro-Choice America blasted an e-mail to its supporters: "Is your state next?"The South Dakota legislation and the abortion rights group's warning are early skirmishes in a battle over what states would do if the landmark Roe v. Wade decision were overturned — though both sides concede that may never happen.
If it does, a fight that for three decades has focused on nine members of the Supreme Court would be waged instead among more than 7,000 legislators in 50 state capitals.
"Now is the time to get moving on this in Ohio," says Tom Brinkman, a state legislator who has introduced a bill to ban almost all abortions. Meanwhile, Kellie Copeland of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio is braced. "Our supporters feel the fight is coming back to the states," she says.
What would states do?
Ultimately, that would depend on factors ranging from who was governor to where public opinion stood. Even so, there are clues from what state legislatures have chosen to do already and what they're considering doing next.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-04-16-abortion-states_x.htm

Missouri would be a state that would be in the most pro-life category.

2006-04-07T09:08:00.000-05:00

Tiller the Killer - Lock Him Up!
The infamous Tiller the Killer may have to do jail time for this.

Abortion Practitioner Who Killed Girl in Failed Abortion Hits Pro-Lifer With Car
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A Kansas late-term abortion practitioner who killed a 19 year-old girl in a botched abortion last year has allegedly run over a pro-life person with his car who was praying outside his abortion business. George Tiller, who may soon find himself subject to a grand jury investigation, apparently struck the protester with his vehicle yesterday. http://www.lifenews.com/state1561.html

Unfortunately, this means the show will go on. Spreading lies, that is.
Judge Rules in Favor of 'Da Vinci' Writer LONDON (AP) -- A judge ruled Friday that best-selling author Dan Brown did not steal ideas from a nonfiction book, ending the suspense about whether the novelist committed copyright infringement in his thriller "The Da Vinci Code."
High Court judge Peter Smith rejected a copyright-infringement claim by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," who claimed that Brown's blockbuster "appropriated the architecture" of their 1982 book. In the United States, the book is titled, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail."
A film based on Brown's book and starring Tom Hanks opens May 19.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DA_VINCI_LAWSUIT?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

2006-03-10T13:25:00.000-06:00

Boston -- We have a problem!

The Boston Archdiocese's Catholic Charities said Friday it would stop providing adoption services because of a state law allowing gays and lesbians to adopt children. Eight members of Catholic Charities board later stepped down in protest of the bishops' stance. The 42-member board had voted unanimously in December to continue considering gay households for adoptions.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GAY_ADOPTION?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

2006-03-06T16:24:00.000-06:00

Pope envisions greater role for women in the Church
Vatican, Mar. 03 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) believes that women should hold more positions of responsibility within the Catholic Church, although they cannot be ordained as priests.
"The Church owes a great debt of thanks to women," the Holy Father told priests of the Rome diocese during a 2-hour meeting on March 2. He cited the immense contributions made by women, mentioning St. Catherine of Siena, St. Bridget of Sweden, St. Hildegard, and Mother Teresa. Women should have "real and deep participation in the government of the Church," he said.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=42769

Wal-Mart Decides to Carry Plan B Pill
Officials of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Friday the company will reverse its earlier policy and stock emergency contraception pills in all of its pharmacies effective March 20, saying the giant retailer could not justify being the country's only major pharmacy chain not to carry the morning-after pill.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WAL_MART_CONTRACEPTION?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Scant Drop Seen in Abortion Rate if Parents Are Told
For all the passions they generate, laws that require minors to notify their parents or get permission to have an abortion do not appear to have produced the sharp drop in teenage abortion rates that some advocates hoped for, an analysis by The New York Times shows.
....But providers interviewed in 10 states with parental involvement laws all said that of the minors who came into their clinics, parents were more often the ones pushing for an abortion, even against the wishes of their daughters.
"I see far more parents trying to pressure their daughters to have one," said Jane Bovard, owner of the Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo, N.D., a state where a minor needs consent from both parents. "As a parent myself, I can understand. But I say to parents, 'You force her to have this abortion, and I can tell you that within the next six months she's going to be pregnant again.' "
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/06/national/06abortion.html?ei=5065&en=f7533d9d64b1db54&ex=1142312400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

2006-03-01T08:16:00.000-06:00

Missouri Court Upholds 24-Hour Abortion Wait
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld the state's 24-hour waiting period for abortions, a decision that turns the focus of the legal battle to federal court.
The unanimous ruling Tuesday by Missouri's highest court focused on whether the 2003 law ran contrary to the state constitution. The judges rejected arguments that it was overly vague and deprived people of liberty and privacy rights.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ABORTION_WAIT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Mississippi House committee votes to ban most abortions

JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi House committee voted Tuesday to ban most abortions in the state - an unexpected move that left abortion opponents grappling to stake out a position on a proposal that could prompt a lengthy court battle
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/13984932.htm

Embryos are human beings, Pope insists
Vatican, Feb. 27 (CWNews.com) - Human embryos deserve the same protection as all other human beings, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told an audience of scholars on February 27.
"The love of God does not distinguish between the newly-conceived infant still in its mother's womb, the baby, the youth, the grown adult or the elderly, because in each of them He sees the sign of His own image and likeness," the Holy Father said. He was speaking to participants in a conference on the human embryo, organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=42653

There has been a lot of good news on the pro-life front the last couple days. I guess it is motivated because Sam Alito is now a Supreme Court judge. When the court was so liberal, it seemed useless to pass pro-life legislation. Now there is reason for hope that Roe v. Wade can be overturned. I sense a lot more good news is on the way. Perhaps this is only the beginning. It is time to be optimistic again.

Ash Wednesday
So another Lent begins. What will I do different this year? How do I get closer to the Lord? Ordinary folks make New Year's resolutions. Catholics make Lenten resolutions. Hopefully, I will keep these better than I do New Year's resolutions.
I am taking a Paul VI Institute class on Liturgy and Sacraments. Since I am enjoying the class, does it count for a Lenten resolution? I guess Lenten resolutions can be something I enjoy, unlike the time when I gave up chocolate for Lent. That is one I can't keep anyway, so I won't do that again. At least I know I better do the work for my class or I won't get a good grade.

St. Joseph's Radio
St. Joseph's Radio is moving from California to Florissant, MO, which is pretty near where I live. I met the director yesterday. I am very excited to find out all the ways this ministry will operated in this area. They will be located at the Old St. Ferdinand Shrine, which is a very historic site for evangelization. I think I will be able to help this ministry and learn new skills at the same time. This ministry has a national audience, which blows my mind with the possibilities for serving God!

2006-02-28T15:09:00.000-06:00

Supreme Court Backs Abortion Protesters
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to abortion clinics in a two-decade-old legal fight over abortion protests, ruling that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations.
The 8-0 decision ends a case that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had kept alive despite a 2003 ruling by the high court that lifted a nationwide injunction on anti-abortion groups led by Joseph Scheidler and others.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SCOTUS_ABORTION_PROTESTS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

-----------

I hope the folks suing Dan Brown win. I have friends whose faith has been damaged by "The Da Vinci Code". I don't know how anyone could fall for this, but they have.

Lawyer: 'Da Vinci' Ideas Are General LONDON — A lawyer for the publisher of the "The Da Vinci Code" argued in court Tuesday that ideas which two writers claim were stolen for Dan Brown's blockbuster novel are so general they are not protected by copyright. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186297,00.html

-------------
I am interested in a Family mission project. Perhaps there is a project my family can do in the St. Louis area for a week this summer. We have 3 teens, ages 17, 16 & 14. Is there some way we could help the poor?
I was also toying with the idea of distributing literature about the Missouri cloning initiative door-to-door. I would like to promote the Catholic objection to this bill.
I wonder if other families with teens would be interested in doing this with us.

2006-01-03T15:18:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!
For Christmas, I got some video editing software. I've made my first movie and slide show. I was surprised how easy it was to do after I got the hang of it.
I created a movie about my ancestors. I put photos of them, maps of where they immigrated from, background music, and video of my mom talking about them. I did a voice over, added transitions, titles, and lots of cool stuff.
The DVD slide show I did has 7 chapters with buttons on a menu with background music. I think that is going to be useful. I want to do something cool with all the digital photos I have.
The hard part was rotating the photos to vertical in Photo Shop Elements. There were a ton of photos to do. I'm doing this for a neighbor just to learn how to do it.
I would love to start a business making custom movies and slide shows. I'm planning to teach my teens how to do it, since it is not hard at all. Maybe they'll end up doing something more constructive than playing video games on my computer.
The kids started back to school today, so the fun of the holidays is over. It is hard work getting kids to be responsible for homework, getting out the door on time, and getting to bed on time. So school is hard on parents as well as kids. So it is back to the grind until June.

2005-12-22T13:25:00.000-06:00

St. Norbert Upcoming Events
Christmas Mass
Saturday December 24, 2005 Time: 4:00 pm, 11:30 PM Choir sings, Mass at 12:00 Sunday December 25, 2005 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM

SCRIPTURE STUDY GROUP
Beginning Wednesday, January 4th from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. We will be using a scripture study book on forgiveness. This will be a great way to observe Lent.
To sign up or for more information, call Jo-Ann Conti at 838-6342 or Pat Drury at 839-4028.

Ongoing Events
MOM’S BOOK CLUB

A small group of moms from St. Norbert Church has been meeting to discuss wonderful Christian, nonfiction books. We are beginning a new book for the Advent and Christmas season and want to invite other interested women to join us. We will be reading “Cradle of Redeeming Love: the Theology of the Christmas Mystery” by John Saward. This book can be found on Amazon.com new or used and may also be in local bookstores. We will begin this book on Thursday, December 8th at 8:30 a.m. in the playroom at the McDonald’s near Schnucks, 1090 Shackleford Road. Children are welcome to come and play while we discuss this book. All women are asked to prayerfully consider joining us. If you have questions or wish to join, please call Tammi at 972-0635.

Bible Study
Small groups on the Holy Spirit continue to meet at several different times. Contact the Rectory to find a leader of the group that is at a time convenient for you.

The St. Norbert Yahoo e-mail group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stnorbert/ is for parishioners of St. Norbert Parish. It was set up to allow quick dissemination of information about upcoming events or neighborhood issues. Members may post and view items on the parish calendar.

2005-12-06T16:01:00.000-06:00

Gee! It's been a long time since I updated this blog. I've been busy taking a Church History class from Paul VI Institute this fall. I had a couple hours a week to work on it. It is part of my certificate in lay ministry that I am working on.

I had a great time in my hometown for Thanksgiving. All 7 of my siblings were there, which is rare. It was fun to see the new members of the family -- the new spouse of my niece and nephew -- from the weddings we attended this summer. A new member will join any day because my nephew's wife is expecting. That will be the second great-grandchild for my mom.

I'm not in the mood for Christmas yet. It takes me awhile. It snowed today, which helps. I'm working on Christmas cards and a newsletter. I got out the Advent candles. I'm going to stuff the stockings for St. Nick's day when I get home. I forgot to do it last night, because I was helping my daughter create a web site for a class. My kids really like this tradition. I wish I could surprise them though. That was the fun part when I was a kid.

2005-10-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

Death Penalty - A matter of life, death and social standing
September 26, 2005
Michael Lenza sounds like a reluctant opponent of the death penalty.
"I wish I could say the death penalty is fair, the worst people get it; if its a crime of passion, we're not executing them; we're not executing children; were not executing somebody that's mentally retarded or has severe mental disabilities," he said. "But we can't say that. We just can't."
Lenza has the facts and figures to back up what he says. The Bluffton University sociologist spent 6 years analyzing 19 years of capital murder cases in Missouri.
He concluded that when it comes to sentencing in death penalty cases, "almost everything matters except the crime." What matters most, his findings suggest, is the relative value society places on the defendant and on the victim.
Lenzas presentation Friday was based his doctoral dissertation, a study of the death penalty in Missouri from 1978 to 1996.
He examined 9,857 homicides which resulted in 152 death sentences. He found that defendants were more likely to be sentenced to death if they were young, poor, black or had a previous criminal record.
He found a black defendant who killed a white victim was 3 times as likely to receive the death penalty as a white defendant with a black victim.
Lenza's findings track with numerous other studies. A California study published last week suggested the race of the victim could be the most telling factor: A death sentence was most likely when the victim was white, far less so when the victim was black or Hispanic.
"When the jurors decide guilt or innocence, they're looking at the case. Then the trial stops. Then they have a new (sentencing) trial, and it's about the social relationships and the social standing of the defendant," Lenza said.
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/news.jsp?key=1805

Loose CanonsRole Reversal
The anti-war, anti-Bush MSM both here and abroad have reached a state of near-rapture. The president's problems, Tom DeLay's indictment, the diminishing support for the war and the growing (and healthy) fight between fiscal conservatives and big government Republicans has enthused them like nothing since the last helo lifted off from the American embassy in Saigon. They're ready to declare conservatism over. But, like the Washington Post's reports that Rep. Mike Pence's "operation offset" was dead, they will be proven wrong if actions take the place of speeches.
A little-noticed role reversal has occurred in American politics. The MSM are performing the service that Heritage, AEI, Cato, and the Hoover Institution provide for conservatives. The media have filled the political and intellectual vacuum that left the Dems entirely bereft of ideas, able to say nothing other than "no." Today the opposition party to the Republicans is not the Dems but the mainstream media itself. They write, they speak, and the Dems follow.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8830

Diesel Deliverance
"We could be driving powerful, stylish vehicles that get 35-45 mpg -- if we lived in Europe."
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8849
So don't buy a hybrid car anytime soon.

2005-10-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

And they call this a crack down?
Gay priests 'must prove chastity for three years': Vatican
An upcoming Vatican document on gays and the priesthood says men who demonstrate homosexual tendencies cannot become priests unless they can show they have lived chastely for at least three years, an Italian newspaper reported today.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=158372744&p=y5837345x

I heard it through the grapevine.
At least how we used to find out about the latest gossip. Now we get in from online, not the grapevine.
New draft translation of Mass prayers distributed to bishops
ROME (CNS) -- A new draft translation of the main Mass prayers in English has been distributed to bishops and was auctioned off Oct. 5 on eBay, the Internet auction site.http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0505666.htm

Too bad Terri Schavio's judges didn't hear this.
Italian man "understood everything" during 2-year coma
Oct. 06 (CWNews.com) - An Italian man who had been in a coma for 2 years has awakened and reports that he had been fully aware of his surroundings while he was comatose.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=40026

2005-10-06T15:36:00.000-05:00

Government failure, private success
by Michael D. Tanner
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4827
"While the response to hurricane Katrina has uncovered failures of government at every level - federal, state, and local - it has also revealed again the amazing generosity and effectiveness of America's private charitable efforts."

I've often thought exactly what this article says. You can't force people to be charitable by taxing them.

2005-10-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

Harriett Miers? Who is she?
It seems all the media frenzy today is about who Harriett Miers is. Has the country reached the point where only unknowns can be nominated and successfully seated on the Supreme Court? The fear of being "Borked" keeps the most qualified from ever wanting to be nominated. Can't the Democrats remember that they lost the election in 2004 and stop their guerilla tactics on judicial nominees? The liberals who can't win an election and use the judiciary to get their way are not acting in the best interests of the nation.

2005-10-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

A Case Of Life And Death http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051010/10supreme.htm
The Supreme Court opens its new term with arguments in a case whose implications could not be more profound
By Liz Halloran
"The future of Oregon's 1994 Death With Dignity Act is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. This week, with John G. Roberts sitting in the chief's chair, the court opens its new term with arguments in Gonzales v. Oregon.
Balance of power. The central legal question in the case is fairly straightforward: Can a federal official charged with enforcing drug laws disregard the will of Oregon voters and bar physicians from prescribing lethal doses of controlled substances?
Gonzales v. Oregon will be this term's "premier federalism case," says Jonathan Adler, a Case Western Reserve University School of Law associate professor. Whatever its makeup, the court faces a full plate of controversial issues. Abortion, the religious use of drugs, and military recruiting on campuses are all on the court's new docket."

I think this case is as important for the pro-life cause as Roe v. Wade was for the pro-death cause. This Oregon law is a slippery slope that has to be stopped. I don't want our country to end up like the Netherlands.

2005-09-28T14:29:00.000-05:00

So what's happening in Catholic morality?
http://www.the-tidings.com/2005/0923/benson.htm
“As we continue to conform ourselves more and more to Christ in all things, the question "What should I do?" will only be authentic if we first ask, "What do I want to be?" And, of course, the answer to that question is, "A disciple of Jesus.”
"What do I want to be?" is indeed an important question.

Shroud of Turin 'shows future of science,' says local expert
http://www.the-tidings.com/2005/0923/shroud.htm
"The image of the shroud and its riddle cannot be solved through the science of the past," said Piczek. Concurring with French physicist and shroud researcher, Dr. William Wolkowski, Piczek believes that transdisciplinary study of the shroud will give birth to a new scientific age. "The shroud shows the future of science," declared Piczek.

2005-09-19T15:18:00.000-05:00

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization: A review
Thomas E. Woods
This book is about what they don't teach you in World History class. I took two college level classes in World History and neither course gave any real hint of the contributions of the Catholic church. There was a small mention that 'Christianity' had monestaries that had schools, but that is misleading because 'Christianity' had only one denomination until 1517. Why did they leave that important fact out? Why did they misrepresent the church's role in science, education, economics, medicine, charity, morals, secular law and international law? This book tells the stuff that biased authors leave out. It is a real eye opener that is fun to read. I couldn't put it down! I finished it in a couple days. It leaves me thirsty to know more. The part I like the most was the contribution of the Catholic Church to the advancement of women. Before Jesus, only the woman was punished for adultery afterward the men were punished too which is much more fair. Also, women could establish convents and do social work, which was very empowering in an age where women were not allowed to work outside the home. Wow! That blows the 'sacred femininism' theory of the DaVinci Code to bits!

2005-08-15T10:06:00.000-05:00

A Baptist writing about birth control?
Albert Mohler Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
"Deliberate Childlessness Revisited"
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/mohler/?adate=8/15/2005#1345708
Clearly, I hit a nerve. Almost two years ago, I published an article entitled "Deliberate Childlessness: Moral Rebellion With a New Face." In that article I addressed the growing phenomenon of married couples who simply choose not to have children. I argued that this development indicates an eclipse of the Christian worldview in terms of the gift of children and a redefinition of marriage itself.

Pope: Faith is not all about rules
http://headlines.virgin.net/story/OOO/A16361311124031900A00
Pope Benedict has rejected the idea of Christianity as a religion of rules and prohibitions, and said he hoped to use his trip next week to Germany for a youth gathering to spur "a wave of new faith" in Europe.
The German-born Pope said "providence wanted my first trip abroad to take me to Germany."
He will fly to Cologne on Thursday to begin a four-day visit for World Youth Day, a Catholic jamboree of rallies and religious services.
Speaking about the hundreds of thousands of youths expected to converge on Cologne for the gathering, Pope Benedict said: "I would like to show them how beautiful it is to be Christian, because the widespread idea which continues to exist is that Christianity is composed of laws and bans which one has to keep and, hence, is something toilsome and burdensome, that one is freer without such a burden."
"I want to make clear that it is not a burden to be carried with great love and realisation, but is like having wings. It is wonderful to be a Christian with this knowledge that it gives us a great breadth, a large community," the pontiff said.
Vatican Radio provided an English translation of the 15-minute interview, which was conducted in Castel Gandolfo, the summer palace in the Alban Hills outside of Rome.
Pope Benedict was asked to describe the "ideal aim" for the Cologne appointment "if all would work out perfectly."
The pope laughed and replied: "Yes, well, a wave of new faith among young people, especially the youth in Germany and Europe."
In Germany, "many Christian things occur, but there is also a great fatigue, and we are so concerned with structural questions that the zest and the joy of faith are missing," the pontiff said.
On Sunday, Benedict raised the same theme of the need to invigorate faith in remarks to pilgrims and tourists at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in the hills outside Rome.

Biblical Pool of Siloam Is Uncovered in Jerusalem
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm
Tue Aug 09 2005 00:09:33 ET
Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the old city of Jerusalem have discovered the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir that was a major gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city and the reputed site where Jesus cured a man blind from birth, the LOS ANGELES TIMES reports.
The pool was fed by the now famous Hezekiah's Tunnel and is ``a much grander affair'' than archeologists previously believed, with three tiers of stone stairs allowing easy access to the water, according to Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archeology Review, which reported the find Monday.
``Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit'' to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. ``Now we have found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was.''
A gospel that was thought to be ``pure theology is now shown to be grounded in history,'' he said.
The discovery puts a new spotlight on what is called the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a trip that religious law required ancient Jews to make at least once a year, said archeologist Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, who excavated the pool.
``Jesus was just another pilgrim coming to Jerusalem,'' he said. ``It would be natural to find him there.''
The newly discovered pool is less than 200 yards from another Pool of Siloam, this one a reconstruction built between A.D. 400 and 460 by the empress Eudocia of Byzantium, who oversaw the rebuilding of several Biblical sites.
Developing...---

King David's fabled palace: Is this it?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/04/news/david.php
By Steven Erlanger
The New York Times
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2005 JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant." JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant." JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant." JERUSALEM An Israeli archeologist says she has uncovered in east Jerusalem what she believes may be the fabled palace of the biblical King David. Her work has been sponsored by the Shalem Center, a neoconservative think tank in Jerusalem, and funded by a American Jewish investment banker who would like to help provide scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history. Other scholars who have toured the site are skeptical that the foundation walls Eilat Mazar has discovered are David's palace. But they acknowledge that what she has uncovered is rare and important - a major public building from around the 10th century BC with pottery shards that date from the time of David and Solomon and a government seal of an official mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. For nearly 10 years, Mazar thought she knew where the fabled palace built for King David, as described in the Bible, might be - just outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. Now she thinks she's found it, and if she's right, her discovery will be a new salvo in a major dispute in biblical archaeology - whether or not the kingdom of David and Samuel was of historical importance. For that idea, the Bible is a relatively accurate guide, but some question whether they were more like small tribal chieftains, reigning over another dusty hilltop. Her discovery is also bound to be used in the other major battle over Jerusalem - whether the Jews have their deepest origins there and thus have some special hold on the place, or whether, as many Palestinians believe - including the late Yasser Arafat - that the notion of a Jewish origin in Jerusalem is a religious myth used to justify occupation and colonialism. Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University, says that Palestinian archaeologists consider biblical archaeology as an effort by Israeli archaeologists "to fit historical evidence into a biblical context," he said. "The link between the historical evidence and the biblical narration, written much later, is largely missing," he said. "There's a kind of fiction about the 10th century. They try to link whatever they find to the biblical narration. They have a button and they want to make a suit out of it." Other Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that Mazar has found the palace - the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel II, Chapter 5, describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent. But Mazar's colleagues know that she's found something extraordinary - the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th-9th centuries BC, the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. "This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown," said Gabriel Barkay, a renowned archaeologist of Jerusalem from Bar-Ilan University. "Very carefully we can say that this is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century." Mazar, 48, is the granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, a famous archaeologist with whom she trained. She got her doctorate from Hebrew University, is the widow of an archaeologist and has worked on and supervised dozens of digs on her own. "Archaeology is technical, but you dig with a mind open to historical sources, and anything can help," she said, as she clambered over massive stones at bedrock. "I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other, and I try to consider everything." Based on the chapter from Samuel II, but also on the work of a century of archaeology in this spot, Mazar speculated that the famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, to the north, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount. "When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress," she said, her eyes bright. "Maybe it meant something, maybe not. But I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace. So I said, maybe there's something here," and in 1997 wrote a paper proposing a new excavation in the spot, which is in east Jerusalem. Mazar is building on the archaeologists who went before her, especially Robert Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shilo in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenyon had found evidence of well-worked stones and protoaeolic capitals, which decorated the tops of columns, evidence of a large, decorative building. David's palace was the topic of a last conversation she had with her famous grandfather, who died 10 years ago, she said. "He said, 'Kenyon found the protoaeolic capitals, so go and find where she found them, and start there."' Five months ago, with special funding and permissions from the Ir David Foundation, which controls the site (and also supports Jews moving into east Jerusalem), and academic sponsorhip from Hebrew University, she finally began to dig - finding evidence of this monumental public building dating from the time of David and Solomon. Amihai Mazar, a renowned professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and Eilat Mazar's second cousin, calls the find "something of a miracle." He believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David is said to have conquered, and where he lived for a time, and which he renamed the City of David. "The interpretation will be debated," he said. "But the achievement is great. What she found is fascinating whatever it is." There is a debate among archaeologists "to what extent Jerusalem was an important city or even a city in the time of David and Samuel," he said. "Some believe it was tiny and the kingdom unimportant."

2005-08-05T16:19:00.000-05:00

We got back from vacation in Pensacola, Fl Sunday. Our teens enjoyed the beach and deep sea fishing. I did too. We caught at least two dozen big fish.
My niece, Laura, married Chris Sheperd July 23. We went to the wedding. That was beautiful and fun.
In route, we visited Southeast Missouri State Univ. in Cape Girardeau. My daughter might go there. I visited with a friend that was in our wedding that lives there now.

2005-08-05T16:18:00.000-05:00

Option to stem cells found
Pitt experts say placental cells offer palatable alternative
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05217/549236.stm
"University of Pittsburgh researchers have discovered that one type of cell in the human placenta has characteristics that are strikingly similar to embryonic stem cells in their ability to regenerate a wide variety of tissues."

2005-07-20T11:45:00.000-05:00

Start Praying Now!!!
Abortion Stance Key to ConfirmationIn an announcement Tuesday night, President Bush picked Roberts to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (search). He is seen as a solid conservative who has done little to give Democrats much cause for complaint.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163028,00.html
The rabid anti-life forces will have a field day with this nomination. The fate of Christianity in this country is at stake. John Glover Roberts, Jr. is a practicing Catholic! (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Roberts,_Jr.)

Start Fasting Now!!!
Al-Qaida's U.S. Nuclear Targets
"Al-Qaida's prime targets for launching nuclear terrorist attacks are the nine U.S. cities with the highest Jewish populations, according to captured leaders and documents."
"The optimal dates for the attacks are Aug. 6, the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Sept. 11 and May 14, the anniversary of the re-creation of the state of Israel in 1948. No specific year has been suggested, however, this Aug. 6 represents the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima attack."
The cities chosen as optimal targets are New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston and Washington, D.C. New York and Washington top the preferred target list for al-Qaida leadership.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45313

FDA Issues Infection Warning on Abortion Pill
WASHINGTON — The government warned doctors Tuesday to be on the lookout for rare but deadly infections in women using the abortion pill RU-486 (search), citing two more deaths after its use.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163032,00.html

I've been busy taking a class on Morality this summer for my certificate in Lay Ministry. I'm getting a lot out of it. Vatican II replaced the "morality of obligation and duty" with "call to holiness" and "freedom for excellence" according to our textbook. I liked the explaination of the difference between joy and pleasure as the motivators of behavior. Happiness is the goal of a moral life, but it is the joy of the Lord that satisfies our hearts, not a series of pleasurable events.
These insights are mind-blowing for me!
For example, this is what I wrote for one of my assignments:
Insights on collectivism (Marxist communism)
CCC 1885 "The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism." Why is the Church opposed to collectivism? This article explains what is wrong with this thinking.
Nietzsche: A Precursor to Hitler?
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Nietzsche.htm
The appellation of "communism" comes from the Latin root communis, which means "group" living. Fascism is a derivation of the Italian word fascio, which is translated as "bundle" or "group." Both fascism and communism are forms of coercive group living, or more succinctly, collectivism. The only substantial difference between the two is fascism's limited observance of private property rights, which is ostensible at best given its susceptibility to rigid government regulation. Nazism (a variant of fascism) is derivative of Marxism. The historical conflicts between communism and fascism were merely feuds between two socialist totalitarian camps, not two dichotomously related forces. Both tangibly represent the Nietzschean concept of the "human herd," a societal paradigm that subordinates the individual to the collective. Nietzschean philosophy comprises an ideational continuum binding Hitler, Marx, and other socialist totalitarians... "

"In addition to the continuity of political and social thought that pervaded totalitarian socialism, Nietzsche also provided a religious component. The infamous declaration, "God is dead," is but a segue for the introduction of a new god. This god has had numerous manifestations, as is evidenced by the following delineation by W. Warren Wagar:

Nineteenth-and early twentieth-century thought teems with time-bound emergent deities. Scores of thinkers preached some sort of faith in what is potential in time, in place of the traditional Christian and mystical faith in a power outside of time. Hegel's Weltgeist, Comte's Humanite, Spencer's organismic humanity inevitably improving itself by the laws of evolution, Nietzsche's doctrine of superhumanity, the conception of a finite God given currency by J.S. Mill, Hastings Rashdall, and William James, the vitalism of Bergson and Shaw, the emergent evolutionism of Samuel Alexander and Lloyd Morgan, the theories of divine immanence in the liberal movement in Protestant theology, and du Nouy's telefinalism--all are exhibits in evidence of the influence chiefly of evolutionary thinking, both before and after Darwin, in Western intellectual history. The faith of progress itself--especially the idea of progress as built into the evolutionary scheme of things--is in every way the psychological equivalent of religion. (Wagar, 106 -07)"

My comments:
Superhumanity means that Nietzsche believed in preventing the "unhealthy" from procreating and in euthanasia for those he thought were less than perfect.
This kind of thinking is what has led to abortion, free contraception from Planned Parenthood, and the "mercy killing" of disabled Terri Schavio. This is not a slippery slope I want our country to be going down. Christianity is about the only institution standing in the way of these ideas. The USA won the war against Hitler, but his ideas have infected our society to an alarming degree.

2005-05-17T16:38:00.000-05:00

Religious agreement on mother of Christ between Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians
London, May 17 (Guardian News Service):
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200505171102.htm
After nearly 500 years of intense division, Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians yesterday declared that one of the two faiths' most fundamental differences - the position of Mary, the mother of Christ - should no longer divide them.
This is amazing news! I never thought I'd see the day this would happen.

This is an article about my family. Frankenberger was my maiden name.
Fayetteville : UA dean lauds engineer dynasty a plumber began
http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg§ion=News&storyid=116487

2005-05-11T12:31:00.000-05:00

Birth Control Pill May Cause Prostate Cancer and Bladder Disease in Mothers’ Children
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/may/05050411.html
COLUMBIA, MO, May 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Scientists have determined that boys exposed to estrogen hormones in the abortifacient birth control pill while in utero are at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer and other urinary tract problems later in life.

Poll: American Catholics Support New Pope
http://abcnews.go.com/International/Pope/story?id=700062

Faith May Do More Than Help You Heal
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78786
Does believing in a higher power make you healthier? There's new evidence from the University of Chicago that in some cases, it really does.
If going to a church, or a mosque, or visiting a Buddhist temple or synagogue could help you lose weight, live longer, and simply feel better and healthier, would you do it?
Americans may wonder after a new study from the University of Chicago.
It found that African-Americans who have a strong religious faith are significantly less depressed than those who don't have it.
Professor John Cacioppo, ph.d., says "In the African-American community [we] found that the stronger their relationship to god, the less depressive symptoms they expressed."
And he says there's also proof that people who trust in God, Buddha, or Mohammed or any higher power just have healthier lives. He says, "They are less likely to smoke, binge drink, less likely to use illicit drugs. They are more likely to engage in fidelity and appropriate sexual behavior."
So do better health and stronger faith go together? An even bigger study at the University of Chicago will now explore the link between life expectancy and religious faith. But there's enough to the idea that University of Chicago divinity professor Clark Gilpin says doctors may start asking you not just what you feel, but what you believe.
He says, "In the same way that physicians need to be able to spot alcohol problems or anything else, they're going to need to be able to interpret the religious dimensions of a person's total life."

2005-04-14T16:38:00.000-05:00

John Paul II was the Father the world needed
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/kathleenparker/kp20050414.shtml
Religion under a secular assault
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050413-122937-3482r.htm
Why Bush threatens secularism
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050414-124744-9798r.htm

I think these articles are especially interesting.

2005-04-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

The Question of Motivation
By Patrick O'Hannigan
Published 4/6/2005 12:06:26 AM
Have you noticed how much commentary about the passing of Pope John Paul II talks about his leadership without addressing what motivated that leadership?
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7989

John Paul II inspired me to go door-to-door to evangelize when he wrote that Catholics should go do that.
John Paul II inspired me with his Theology of the Body.
John Paul II's preaching touched my heart when he visited St. Louis in 1999.
John Paul II's preaching touched my daughter's heart when he visited World Youth Day in Toronto. I've been asking him to pray for her while she is on retreat this week.
John Paul II has already inspired a few people I know to join RCIA this week. As parish web master, I've seen a sudden increase in the number of hits on our RCIA page from all over the US and other countries. The most frequent search word to reach our site is "becoming catholic."
John Paul II is still on the job!

2005-04-05T12:22:00.000-05:00

"BE NOT AFRAID," as John Paul II said throughout his time on earth as our servant. I'm tempted to be fearful of who will be elected Pope. I have to assure myself that the Holy Spirit is in charge and that I should trust the Cardinals to pick the right man for the job. They did a great job last time, so why should I doubt now?

Poll: What do Catholics think about Pope John Paul II? See the new Zogby poll. I guess they polled Catholics who actually go to Mass often, insted of the In Name Only ones who answered the AP poll.http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=981

But what made him great?
Pat Buchanan
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/pb20050405.shtml

2005-03-03T15:14:00.000-06:00

Has Osama bin Laden started a democratic revolution in the Middle East? One of very few universally valid laws of history is the law of unintended consequences.

Hmmm... very interesting, but from a British perspective.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1429001,00.html

2005-03-02T16:45:00.000-06:00

Cause of Marital Failure http://www.cuf.org/Laywitness/Articles/Archive/JF05/Jan_Feb05vere.pdf
by Peter Vere in LayWitness magazine
The root cause of marital failure in almost all of these [annulments] cases is abortion, contraception, and premarital sex.Read more articles from LayWitness magazine at http://www.cuf.org/Laywitness/index.asp

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=35615
Smoking pot doubles mental illness risk
Christchurch, New Zealand, Mar. 02 - New Zealand researchers have established that marijuana use doubles the risk of developing a mental illness like schizophrenia.

I liked these articles. Us baby boomers should have listened to the Church back when.

2005-02-25T15:22:00.000-06:00

Job Description for the Next Pope
THE FP MEMO: ADVICE FOR GLOBAL LEADERS http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/files/story2444.php
Job Description for the Next Pope
By R. Scott Appleby Page 1 of 3
January/February 2004
To ensure the vitality of the Catholic Church, the successor to John Paul II must embrace science, reject globalization, reach out to the Islamic world—and brush up on economics.
MEMORANDUM:
TO: The College of Cardinals, Roman Catholic Church FROM: R. Scott Appleby RE: Selecting the Next Pope
In the 21st century, Your Eminences, the Catholic Church must vigorously address three related and pressing challenges that threaten the vitality and relevance of Christianity.
I refer, first, to a new and aggressive secularization, borne into the heart of modern societies by the dynamics of globalization. In traditional as well as developed societies, increasing materialism opens the way to a form of secularism that is indifferent or hostile to religious faith. A second critical development bearing directly upon Catholicism's future is the fierce internal contest for the soul of Islam, the great world religion that is both the Church's main rival for adherents and its potential ally against a purely materialistic concept of human development. And finally, the advent of genetic engineering and related forms of biotechnology underscores the need to upgrade dramatically Catholic education and expertise in the sciences and in bioethics.
The pontiff who succeeds His Holiness John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) must address these three challenges boldly. In some cases, the new pope will draw on the example of John Paul II, but he must also define new horizons of understanding for the Church. Unless the next pope perceives the links between these challenges and their roots in the context of a historic debate over the relevance of religion to humanity, Catholicism will be unable to provide a viable alternative to the extremes of intolerant religious militancy and the self-absorbed materialism of a global consumer society.
The Challenge of Secularism
The notion that the human experience can be understood through purely empirical and social-scientific analyses, without reference to humankind's transcendent origins and orientation, is certainly not new. The reduction of the human being to an object is the abiding temptation of the modern world; witness the degradation of life in the wars, genocides, torture chambers, and social inequalities of the 20th century. But this erroneous view of humanity has found a powerful counterpart in the robust new form of globalization that now dominates economic, political, and cultural interactions among peoples. The commodification of social relations that turns individuals into cogs in the wheels of industry and politics now shapes virtually all forms of human interaction—even religion.
For more than a century, the Catholic Church has warned against understanding humanity through concepts taken exclusively from biology, economics, and psychology. With renewed vigor since the pontificate of John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Church has proclaimed that belief in the sacredness of human life is the only secure foundation for protecting human dignity. In reaffirming this cornerstone of Catholic social teaching, the next pope must display the vigor and creativity of John Paul II, who has traversed the globe proclaiming that human dignity is God's gift to every individual. Advocacy of human rights, including the crucial right of religious freedom, must remain the central message of Roman Catholicism to the world. This task is not easy: John Paul II was rebuked when he spoke out on religious freedom during a trip to India, where Hindu militants accused him of Catholic proselytism. Nor are advocates of religious freedom welcome in secular strongholds such as post-Soviet Central Asia or China, or in nations dominated by an ethno-religious majority, such as Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, or Sri Lanka. Lack of popularity or governmental disapproval never stopped Wojtyla, nor must it impede his successor.
This fundamental embrace of human dignity and human rights is the moral foundation of evangelization. In bringing Christ to those who have or have not heard the gospel, John Paul II dramatically rejected alliances with states and their coercive power. Concordats with friendly nation-states, whose friendship with the Church often came at a terrible moral and spiritual price, are a thing of the past. The next pope cannot return to a pattern of affiliation with any government. Civil society—the cradle of political self-determination and the arena for expressing human freedom in culture and religion—is the milieu within which to enact the divine mission of bringing Christ to the world and the world to Christ.
The next pope must recognize that religious faith is increasingly seen as counterproductive (at best) in a world seduced by material wealth, skeptical of truth, and wary of authority. In much of Western Europe, assertions of religious identity are often met with scorn and almost willful misunderstanding (e.g., the recent spectacle of Muslim girls in France being suspect for wearing veils to school). In Iraq, Syria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, and parts of Latin America, active religious groups of all kinds have suffered intimidation or outright persecution. In the United States, conservative Christians embrace liberty and the U.S. Bill of Rights, even as they struggle with the temptation to regulate what properly belongs only to God—the consciences and moral compasses of their fellow citizens.

2005-01-15T20:15:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I posted to this blog. Where did the time go? 2005? It still sounds strange.

It is finally hitting me that one day my children will leave home. We started talking about where they will go to college and how we will pay for it. That's when it started seeming very real. I started going into anticipatory grief. I was miserable for several days until I prayed about it. I think God gave me the wisdom to realize that now is not the time for grieving. I should enjoy what is left of the time they will be with us. I'll cross that bridge when I get there and not sooner. It is not worth losing sleep over now.

My daughter bought an IPOD yesterday with money she earned at her job. I can't tell you how earth-shaking that seems to me. She is not dependent on me for all the money she has now. She can decide to spend $250 without consulting me. It seems like yesterday that she was a tiny baby with a toothless grin. Now she has a shiny metalic-braces smile. That is, when she smiles at me, which is less often than it used to be. She's a teenager, you know.

2004-12-23T13:48:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to whomever reads this blog!

Wow! It's been a long time since I added anything to this blog! I guess I've been focusing on Christmas fun a lot lately. I get two days off, so I get a four day holiday. Yes!

My husband and I are starting to study how we can pay for college for our kids. How can it be that they are getting old enough to go to college in a couple years? We went to a company that helps parents do this. We got some shocking news last night. The feds expect us to pay for the first $12,000 each year before we would get any help! Yikes! It looks likely they will have to live at home and commute to a local public university to cut costs, especially if they don't earn academic scholarships. So much for saving for retirement!

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/041220/misc/20poll.htmHow we talk to god People pray for everything from the divine to the selfish and profane

2004-11-30T14:20:00.000-06:00

Slippery Slope is real - Netherlands Hospital Euthanizes Babies
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041130/D86MC5NO0.html
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Raising the stakes in an excruciating ethical debate, a hospital in the Netherlands - the first nation to permit euthanasia - recently proposed guidelines for mercy killings of terminally ill newborns, and then made a startling revelation: It has already begun carrying out such procedures in a handful of cases and reporting them to the government.

Theology of the Body
I'm reading a book called Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West. It discusses how God intended us to be like Adam and Eve - perfectly able to love each other as God loves us. Original sin made that harder to do, but God's grace can redeem us and make it possible. Original sin makes us like driving on flat tires. Everyone else is driving around that way, so it seems normal. God's grace can inflate the tires, but we need to keep getting filled up because we have a slow leak. We have a hard time being patient, unselfish, and forgiving.
I find this to be a very inspiring book. I got it from Catholic.com. You can some articles by Christopher West at:
http://www.theologyofthebody.com/works.htm

2004-11-18T11:04:00.000-06:00

Post-abortion psychological problems frequent
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41496
More than 1/3 of U.S. women surveyed had 'suicidal thoughts' after procedure
Women who undergo abortions suffer serious psychological problems more frequently than was previously thought, according to a new study.

Potentially Stunning News
http://www.jimmyakin.org/2004/11/house_democrats.html
Senate Democrats elect pro-life leader!
According to this CNN.com story, the shrunken Democrat minority, having lost its leader Tom Daschle, has done something that would have seemed unthinkable only a few weeks ago: They've elected a pro-life Democrat to be their leader.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/16/senate.democrats.ap/index.html

Government Issues New RU-486 Warnings
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,138756,00.html
FDA Bars Over Counter Morning-After Pill
The FDA has strengthened warning labels for the controversial abortion pill Mifeprex, better known as RU-486 (search), following an August report of a 22-year-old woman who died after taking the drug.

If we need to justify getting rid of Saddam, here is one more reason:
Saddam Hussein funded suicide bombers
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/middleeastreports/s_273762.html
Oil funds paid for bombers
NEW YORK -- Saddam Hussein diverted money from the U.N. oil-for-food program to pay millions of dollars to families of Palestinian suicide bombers who carried out attacks on Israel, say congressional investigators who uncovered evidence of the money trail.

Politically Correct Cartoons - On Depressed Democrats
http://www.conservativecartoons.com/cartoon.php?toon=mother.gif&year=2004
I'm a Republican who is depressed because my mom probably voted for Kerry!

2004-11-12T11:09:00.000-06:00

The moral of the story
David Limbaugh
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/davidlimbaugh/dl20041112.shtml
"Democrats will never be able to gain the moral high ground if they fail to take positions congruent with the 'weightier matters of the law' (Matt. 23:23). What could be weightier than protecting innocent life? The right to life is the right to all other rights. Yet it's the Democrats who think social programs are weightier moral matters than the right to life. Again, they have it backwards. … Until the Democrats correct their inverted moral hierarchy and put the right to life at the top, all their other pleas for social justice will ring hollow."

Massachusetts Supreme Court gives Bush victory [in Ohio]
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/joelmowbray/jm20041111.shtml
Joel Mowbray
In a state where only 29% believe their family’s finances have improved in the past four years and nearly 60% rate the local economy as “not so good” or “poor,” the obvious question is: how did Bush manage to win Ohio, the Democrats’ top red state target?

What About Kerry and the Atheist Vote?
Dr. Paul Kengor
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1295651.html
While liberals complain about the religious vote that went for George W. Bush, they refuse to discuss—and perhaps happily accept—the non-religious vote that went for John F. Kerry. Which ought to be considered a greater liability for an American president: to receive the overwhelming support of devout Protestants and Catholics or to be backed by atheists? Which speaks worse? Don’t we have this backward?

Why we're a divided nation
Walter E. Williams
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20041110.shtml
"The prime feature of political decision-making is that it's a zero-sum game. One person or group's gain is of necessity another person or group's loss. As such, political allocation of resources is conflict enhancing while market allocation is conflict reducing. The greater the number of decisions made in the political arena, the greater is the potential for conflict. ...
The best thing the president and Congress can do to heal our country is to reduce the impact of government on our lives. Doing so will not only produce a less divided country and greater economic efficiency but bear greater faith and allegiance to the vision of America held by our founders -- a country of limited government."

Catholic vote proves vital to Bush victory
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=33346

2004-11-10T15:11:00.000-06:00

Mad Liberal Disease Erupts
http://www.saint-mike.org/bloggers/bubba/default.asp
Christian bashing is running rampant.

The left has lost. The '60's are over.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/thomas.html
Cal Thomas
Liberal lamentations
Reaction by the losing side in last week's presidential election would be startling if it weren't predictable.