Monday, April 27, 2009

2 New Women Priests

Patricia Fresen, a self proclaimed Catholic bishop, ordained two women in Roxborough, Philadelphia as priests in the Holy Catholic Church. In other news, I'm looking for someone to take over my position here as Mayor of Cleves Village, so that I can be sworn in as president of Australia. My good friend, John Smith, will be presiding over the Australian ceremony.

Really folks… get a clue.

At least the reporter, David O'Reilly, somewhat looked into the real Catholic stance on this issue. I found the story here:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20090426_Risking_heresy_to_serve_as_priests.html

Of course, the real problem was in his title. These women are not RISKING heresy. They are heretics.

Oh well. BTW – I'm also going to be sworn in as American Vice President two months from now, so I'll let you all know how that turns out.

Obama Crowned With Thorns

There's a lot happening this week. Apparently, Obama is named the new messiah, as a painting to be unveiled on the 29th this month will depict him with outstretched arms wearing a crown of thorns. You can read the whole story here:

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=96138

I don't think I even have to point out the sacrilegious idea being portrayed here. But I did want to talk about something I've been putting off.

A lot of my friends, family, and fellow bloggers have begun to think that maybe Obama is the antichrist. With a story like this, it's not too hard to believe.

But I just don't think the antichrist will be like this. I haven't heard too many speeches by the man (I try to avoid listening to him). I have read quotes, often ones from news casters who are salivating at his feet. I really don't hear him saying anything profound. I mean he's not the kind of person I'd describe as 'inspiring'.

Obama is part of a fad. He's a sensation. But it's not he himself that is sensational. He represents a movement towards liberal ideas, but by himself he is nothing. I don't think that's what the antichrist will be like. I think the antichrist will tempt even great Christians to follow him… because he himself will evoke a sort of inspiration and pride.

Obama—no, he's just a guy who was in the right place at the right time. The kind of anti-religious pictures mentioned in the story above (this is only one of many) are created by anti-religious artists. He's not turning people away from religion, he's gathering the people who are already against religion. Including the millions of people who identify themselves as Catholics but aren't really Catholic at all.

I would repeat something I said in an earlier post: Lines Are Being Drawn!

We're not really preparing for battle. Maybe we will soon. But for now we're making it clear who is on whose side. The Church is beginning to awaken from the long sleep. The shepherd is calling the flock. Are you a lamb or a wolf?

Friday, April 24, 2009

Fighting Amongst Catholics

An article in the Washington Independent by David Weigel today described the outcry against Obama as little more than bickering between conservative and liberal Catholics. And I guess he's right… in a sense. Here's the article:

http://washingtonindependent.com/40303/few-conservative-catholic-groups-fuel-obama-notre-dame-scandal

But like most outsiders (and quite a few insiders) he misses the bigger point.

While it might be the conservatives and liberals fighting back and forth, the conservative side (at least, those labeled as conservative) have knowledge of something that the liberals will never quite understand: There is no room in the Catholic Church for certain beliefs.

I might believe priests should be able to marry. There's room for that. I might believe that charismatic Christians are great and that the hooping and hollering is uplifting. There's room for that. But I CANNOT believe that ANYTHING justifies killing an innocent child.

You see, abortion is one of the beliefs that must split us. Not because it will create healthy debate, but because it will show us where the cancer is in the church. Let's face it, the Catholic Church will not get better unless one of two things happen—we either cut the infected sections from the body of the church (meaning we strip certain people and institutions from their right to call themselves Catholic) or God, by some miracle, makes them Catholic again.

Lines are being drawn. Not for war, but for us to know who is who. I don't know what will happen next, but I think the line is important no matter what. It's like when Moses told the Israelites to choose sides. "Who is for God and who is against Him?" The abortion issue is one of those deciding views. Who is Christian, and who is not?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Another Catholic Priest Sex Abuse Scandal

This one dates back to 1979. According to the victim (Ben Rodriguez), he was invited to watch pornography by the priest (Father Gordon Pillon) as a 15-year-old boy. I didn't see any specifics on what happened after that, except that the priest molested him for the next several years. Rodriguez then became a priest himself. He served a parish in Peoria, Illinois for 16 years, he says, before they forced him out when he began talking about his past experiences.

You can read the story from Associated Press here:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ilg-XpU7rvtWx3qbEwd152oTmBiwD97MFRC01

I'm not going to pretend to know if any of this is true. But I would point out how excited the media will get now that they have yet another scandal to talk about.

Well, we know this stuff will keep happening. The seminaries are in a sad state of decay, drawing the wrong sort of people to the priesthood. Those people end up being bishops, and the corruption only gets worse. The Catholic universities in America is just an extension of that problem. We can see it now at Notre Dame and at the university in Georgetown where they covered up the crosses so that they could get Obama to speak there.

This won't get any better without breaking some eggs. If the American Church would let a few more priests go (including many of the bishops who made bad decisions) and try to rebuild with priests who embrace the teachings of Christ, we might eventually see some real changes. Until then, we have to keep praying.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Vatican Looking Into Homosexual Nuns

There's a big problem in Catholic America, and very few people have addressed it. A lot of our convents are teaching false doctrine concerning homosexuality and other teachings. Seeing how the number of nuns have dramatically declined in the US, the Vatican is finally taking notice.

You can read the story from Press TV here:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=91583&sectionid=3510212

A bigger problem is that it's not just the convents slipping in doctrine—our seminaries are as well, and we've known it for quite some time. I would think it's about time the Vatican started a war to save our religious orders.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

New York Archbishop Dolan Seems Promising

SEWELL CHAN from the New York Times gives a fairly comprehensive report of Archbishop Donlan's first press conference. Here's the blog passage:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/archbishop-dolans-first-news-conference/?hp

All I can say is, "He sounds like the kind of guy the Church needs right now." Someone who won't back down, someone who isn't afraid of truth.

We'll see how this plays out. According to my sources, he's friendly to the Traditional Mass. I wish he was here in Cincinnati. Our bishop had all kinds of rules and red tape for any parish wanting a Latin Mass. As a matter of fact, there's still only one place you attend a Tridendtine Mass in Cinci.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

12 Year Old Martyr On YouTube


Sometimes the most beautiful parts of Christianity come out in the form of ugliness. Take, for example the videos of ChristianU2uber, who posted some views about same sex marriage. He was verbally crucified.

Here we see the true nature of the godless. And we see the prophetic words of Christ come to life—"If they hated me, they will hate you."

You can see him here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUdFsRgd7f4

A year or so ago, I was engaged in a debate about evolution on a popular marketer's forum. Over and over again, I simply asked the question, "What has the theory of evolution produced for the scientific community? How is it of any use?" I condemned no one, I simply asked the question.

I was amazed at how many people hated me for asking the question, and I was even more amazed at how open they were with this hatred. The thread ended up being the single longest thread in the history of the forum.

Throughout the discussion, many people guessed at my reasons for being a Christian. I'm stupid. I'm brainwashed. You know, the usual.

I wouldn't engage in those kinds of arguments. I wanted to debate about my main point—that evolution is a useless theory. Among other things, I wanted to illustrate how hateful their side was. And I accomplished that.

Once they had made it blatantly obvious (by their classic insult tactics) that there's a distinct line between Christians and non-Christians, I finally posted a letter telling them why I was a Christian.

The forum has since then been removed, along with all of the discussions. But I do have a copy of my final response (the final one that mattered, anyway), which I'm posting below.

Ok, it looks like my argument about the uselessness of evolution study is over.  I can't see why everyone was so unwilling to really address it, but whatever. 

Over and over again, some of you have eluded to my reasons for being a creationist...sometimes about my reason for being a Christian.  I'm brainwashed, I'm emotional instead of logical (tell that one to my wife--according to her, charcoal has a fuller range of emotions than me), I've been indoctrinated, I'm scared of the truth, I'm living a dream, etc.,

Well, I thought I'd make one statement here to set that record straight.  Until now, I've avoided it, because I didn't want to make it part of my argument.  After all, it really isn't an argument.  It's a personal choice I've made, just as many of you have chosen not to be Christian.

Now whatever your response is going to be- believe me, I've heard it all before.  Save your fingers.  It might make you feel better to poke fun, but it sure ain't gonna change my mind, and it won't change the mind of any other Christian.

Every other Christian on this board will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.  Not a single non-Christian will have any clue.  It's not the kind of thing you can grasp unless you've experienced it.

To me, Christianity (and everything involved) is a love story.  Not the kind of sappy romance stories you see now-a-days.  It's a perfect love story.  One that has a happy beginning, a happy (but difficult) middle, and a happy ending.

It's the kind where a guy meets a woman that is so perfect, so far above him, that he knows he'll NEVER be worthy of her love.  Yet instead of settling for something less, he spends his entire life trying to make himself worthy.

And despite all his flaws, she loves him back.

It only makes sense for him to reject everything that rejects her.

That's the plain and simple.  There's nothing more to it.  I reject evolution because the only time I hear it put to use, is when someone is trying to disprove creation...even when the two do not contradict each other.

Now you might point to all the obvious reasons that my God is not perfect (as in my love story), and that He only makes my life harder, and doesn't lift a finger to solve the world's problems.  But in answer to that, I'll tell you another love story.  A true one.

Jan and John fall in love just before entering into college.  They know they're not financially ready for marriage, but they decide to tie the knot anyway, and go through college as a married couple.

John has to have some shots before he can go to the school he wants.  He has a bad reaction to them.  

Fastworward a few months.  John is bedridden.  As a matter of fact, he is very nearly a paraplegic.  He cannot work, he cannot do anything around the house, he is in complete misery (very severe physical pain ALL the time).  And it doesn't look like it will EVER change.  His life as an active young man ended at the age of 20.

Now in present time.  Jan didn't run.  She had a 4 month honeymoon, and then she had to quit school and work full time at two jobs so that she could support the both of them.  When she gets home every night, she thanks whichever relative had been there all day to take care of John, and then begins the tiring work of keeping house.  He can talk, he can feel, he can think, he can tell her he loves her and how sorry he is for all of this...that's about it.

Some people will say she got a raw deal.  Some people would look at it as bad luck for both of them.

But here's the way I see it:  Damn, that's some powerful love!  She's about the strongest woman I've ever known.  She's on the top of my list of "saints who haven't died yet".  And as hard as her love is, the one thing you CAN say about it is that it's true love.  It's the one real example of true love in a modern, loveless world..  It's love when everything else falls apart.

That's the kind of love I strive for, whether I end up as a Jan or a John.  And that's the kind of love that is exactly the opposite of what I've been accused of over and over again:

I'm not emotional about it.

Love is not an emotion.  Rather, it is an overcoming of emotions.  It is a choice to sometimes ignore the emotions.  If we rely on emotions to carry us through a marriage, it will end in divorce every time.  But when we rely on love, we're able to see past the emotion, and experience something much deeper.

Without love, a simple debate over religion quickly turns to hateful (or playful) insult.  Something clearly demonstrated over and over again in this thread.  But not by the Christians.

I chose to love Christ.  I try not to waver on it.  It's that simple.

I haven't been brainwashed.

Have you ever tried to talk a man out of an idea that was programmed into him by a cult?  He won't argue against you on it.  For example, when a Jehovah Witness tells you that "our God is not a God of confusion", look up the passage and put it in context.  Show him where he's wrong.  He won't argue with your response, he'll change the subject or repeat what he said the first time.

I HAVE stuck to one point.  But I've directly answered every point against mine (except the mind-numbing, same-old-same-old, 'you're being emotional' accusations).

I haven't been indoctrinated.

My parents raised me Catholic.  But they were more into teaching than indoctrination.  I've had access to a lot more kinds of books as a kid than most people will ever have as adults.  Not just the new-age feel good stuff--everything.  Solid philosophers like Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, and Chesterton.  Not many people will have read a third of the Summa by the time they are 15.  Nor the entire works of Shakespeare by the time they were 18.  And I always had stuff like Stephen King just for fun.  The fact is, I've had access to more diverse knowledge and literature than most people do even now that the Internet is offered to them.  And I used it.

I know a lot of you can't quite grasp this concept, but to me truth always starts with love.  It's the one truth that doesn't change.  It's the one thing in life that doesn't need a test to prove itself, but ALWAYS IS tested.  

In fact, I'll go for love before I ever put my faith in any science.  

And when the two collide (as they do in the theory of common descent), my instinct is always to stick with what I know.  And every time I do this, I'm glad.  Because all the 'evidence' I've found for common descent is just as 'untestable' as creation.  In fact, it completely relies on its own theories to hold itself up.  It has ZERO solid evidence (that I've seen).

No, I'm not going to read all the books on evolution that have been suggested here.  I no longer read books just to prove myself right.  I already know I'm right.

It's like when I was very young and reading apologetic books on Christianity and Catholicism.  I wanted the complete picture--an answer to every rebuttal.  But I've found that it's easy to miss the trees in the forest when you think this way.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about and think I'm a nut job, don't worry.  At some point in your life, you're going to feel a little tug.  A nag in your gut that says "Hey, maybe there really is a God, and maybe I should find out how I can serve Him."  You'll have a choice then: do you fall in love and become a nut job like me, or do you run the other way?

Chesterton (my favorite author, who once had a public debate with and totally creamed the guy who first tried to make the teaching of ID in American schools illegal) said there are 3 steps to conversion:

question
listen
run like hell

If you don't ever get to step 2, then it's your fault.  There are none so deaf as those who refuse to hear.  If you've entered step 3, then don't worry.  You'll find the way.  As hard as you try to resist, love has a way of conquering.  The question you have to ask yourself is, do you want to be a Jan who lovesfreely, or a Jon who can no longer run and has no choice but to love.

Friday, April 10, 2009

NY Daily News Gets It Right – American Catholics Have Identity Crisis

I know a lot of people think I search and search for news items on Catholics that completely miss the real points, but you can believe me when I say, "I'm thrilled when a reporter 'gets it.'"

Today, NY Daily's S. E. Cupp reported that the criticism of Notre Dame for inviting the president to speak is a little "too little, too late" considering the fact that it was Catholics who put Obama in office. And he's 100% right. You can read the column here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/04/08/2009-04-08_the_catholic_identity_crisis.html?page=0

I don't want to ignore the bishops and priests who spoke out against Obama from the start. They might be thinking all their efforts were fruitless, but we must remember that God judges our will, not our results. Their will was to testify to the truth, and they did it beautifully.

But at the same time, a lot more could have spoken up, and there could have been a lot more public teaching and preaching going on. The problem is that half of our bishops and priests are in the same identity crisis.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Obama Speaking At Notre Dame

Every Catholic out there has weighed in on this subject while I've been avoiding it. It's not that I think it's not a big deal, and it's not that I think we shouldn't show some kind of public disapproval (although, I think MOST of it ought to be handled by Notre Dame alumni, students, and the Church itself). But I think the whole subject is being handled wrong.

To me, this is like a patient coming in to a doctor and complaining about a terrible headache… when he was just there last week and diagnosed with a brain tumor. The cancer eating the Catholic universities in America might be causing the pains and aches. But it's doing far more than that. As a matter of fact, I'd say it's too late to find a cure for this. The pro-death president speaking and receiving honors at a Catholic university is nothing but a noticeable sign (one of MANY) that Notre Dame has lost its right to be called Catholic.

Raising a stink over it, to me, is like trying to heal a patient of headaches long after the patient has died. I've seen the question of authority come up again and again, and it looks like the Church doesn't really have any. If the Church has no authority over this college, then why is it a Catholic college?

I would say to the bishops and those in charge of all the orders who have any part at Notre Dame, "Pull your guys out, and start a Catholic college. Quit pretending."

That's really all I can think of to say about it.