Chesterton and Friends

Wrong Again White Boy

2012-02-03T13:21:00.003-05:00

What was I thinking?!?

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation apologized for cutting off funding from Planned Parenthood.

Yes that's right APOLOGIZED.

"Screw the facts, the statistics, and screw the body count. We are sorry. Please continue to send your money don't worry about how we spend it. And we really need to be loved by Mayor Bloomberg and his friends. Really we won't make the mistake of being right again."

and the walls begin to crumble

2012-02-01T14:42:00.002-05:00

And so it begins: The Komen Foundation no longer is sending money to Planned Parenthood. Of course they are not doing this because of the documented connection between breast cancer and abortion or that PP does not provide mammograms, which Komen admits, but because PP is under investagation for financial misconduct. (Shocked I say Shocked!)

A spokeswoman for the the Komen Foundation, Leslie Aun, explained that the cutoff was a result of the charity's newly-adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state, or federal authorities.

They need that rule because common sense is too diiiiiiifficult to understand.

the March

2012-01-27T16:27:00.001-05:00

Those in the red caps is our group

It’s been said that the reason the Government Media Complex does not cover the March for Life is that, “Since it happens each year it is not news.” I would like purpose that since it does happen every year makes it news.” and here is another good reason why they stay away. Also the numbers that go is growing. Last year it was estimated that 400,000 people were there this year they are saying it is close to a half million. I don't know if that is true but I do know that we filled our bus this year and when we tried to take a break at a truck stop outside of DC we were told that there was no room for our bus. None of that has happened before.

I took my youth group to The March for Life in DC again this year. Yes it rained, it was cold, and we were tired from the red eye bus trip, but they knew why they were there why they had to be there. A couple of my kids smiled when one of the politicians said, "If only we had a republican president and control over both houses we could end this!" These kids knew the history. We had that and still nothing was done. Most of the Marchers know that the ruling class has no intention of seriously battling Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the like, they are learning what Chesterton meant when he said “....Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.” It is easy to feel discouraged and that the situation won't change. However many of us are encouraged. We can't expect someone else to do the heavy lifting for us anymore. Maybe this is an inadvertent positive change the current occupant gave us.

When he says stuff like this, “I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right.” we know he is full of crap.

2012-01-17T13:52:00.002-05:00

New Year's

by Dana Gioia

Let other mornings honor the miraculous.

Eternity has festivals enough.

This is the feast of our mortality,

The most mundane and human holiday.

On other days we misinterpret time,

Pretending that we live the present moment.

But can this blur, this smudgy in-between,

This tiny fissure where the future drips

Into the past, this flyspeck we call now

Be our true habitat? The present is

The leaky palm of water that we skim

From the swift, silent river slipping by.

The new year always brings us what we want

Simply by bringing us along—to see

A calendar with every day uncrossed,

A field of snow without a single footprint.

A Chesterton Buffet

2012-01-16T13:22:00.003-05:00

I was reading a recently published collection of the best Chesterton essays when I thought of a local Chinese restaurant.

I wasn't thinking of Chesterton's dining habits. Indeed, I have doubts that Chesterton ever ate what we think of as Chinese food - though I don't know that for certain. Maybe he did enjoy an egg roll or some chow mein at some point.

The restaurant in question serves meals, but the bulk of its business is its buffet. It has four rows of various Chinese and non-Chinese foods - pizza?? - with heated pans and heat lights. Most diners just grab plates and wander up and down the rows taking a little bit of this and a little bit of that, though there are always some individuals who grab a lot of this and a lot of that until their plates are piled so high one wonders how much of the food will actually make it to their tables.

Once while eating in this restaurant I began to reflect on differing styles of enjoying a buffet of this sort. I observed some people who would go to one row, fill their plates from that row only, and then head back to their seats to eat. When they finished their first plate they would then go back and load up from the second row, and so on, in order until they had visited each row. Did some of them methodically take a little bit of everything? Perhaps.

Then there are those who circulated among the rows, taking this from this row and that from that row. When they went back, they continued the pattern. Perhaps they had favorites and only ate those foods. Perhaps they were afraid to try new things. Or perhaps they were like me, vegetarians who avoid meat dishes.

Recalling this restaurant got me to musing about reading styles when approaching collections of any sort.

There are some people who seem to enjoy by sampling pieces in various sections of the book. Perhaps they seek out particular topics or writers, or maybe they just trust to luck and read whatever they come to that captures their interest.

There are some collections that lend themselves to this sort of sampling.

Then there are those people who methodically work their way through the collection from preface to index.

There are some collections that lend themselves to this approach.

Both methods have their pluses and minuses.

The sampling method ensures that one will enjoy what one reads for such readers tend to gravitate toward those things for which they already have an interest.

But in doing so, such readers might miss out on gems that just didn't happen to catch their attention.

The methodical readers take in everything the collection contains, good and bad, and thus might have a complete understanding of the organizing principle behind the collection, and along the way perhaps discover unknown treasures and nuggets of information they might otherwise never have encountered.

On the other hand, they might also run into a patch of less interesting pieces that might lead them to stop reading.

When it comes to Chesterton, either approach is acceptable. You can just plunge in and sample as the spirit moves you. Or you can work your way through from beginning to end, knowing that because it is Chesterton there won't be any less interesting pieces to get you questioning whether or not to go on.

When it comes to the restaurant - and many collections - I tend to be a sampler.

With this collection of Chesterton, I'm going the cover-to-cover route.

Either way works well when accompanied by a nice cup of tea.

Two books to enjoy

2012-01-14T14:23:00.002-05:00

I've been busy with school work - and the sickness that now has me on antibiotics. But I did manage to squeeze in some good reading.

First up was Exiles, by Ron Hansen, and interesting account of Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins and the five nuns that became the inspiration for his poem, "The Wreck of the Deutschland." I've always enjoyed historical "fiction," and this gave me some insights into his life. Good read.

I also just finished (while sitting in the doctor's waiting room) The Man Who Invented Christmas, by Les Standiford. It's an account of Dickens' writing A Christmas Carol, and the effects it had on his career and how the book helped to revive the celebration of Christmas. Also a good read - especially for fans of Dickens and Christmas (like me).

Two thumbs up.

Now, back to those Chesterton essays.

Christmas Books

2011-12-30T08:57:00.003-05:00

Every Christmas, relatives and friends gift me with books.

Some of the books are ones I've indicated in not always subtle ways that I want. This year, for example there was one particular book (involving Chesterton, I might add) that I really wanted. When a catalog from a well-known Catholic publisher arrived, I searched through it until I found the title, folded the catalog open to the right page, circled the book several times, and sang some Christmas carols with an earnest smile.

I got that book.

Other times people give me books based upon my particular interests. Chesterton, St. Francis of Assisi, poetry, and Dickens are among the interests addressed this year.

Some people knowing my quirky sense of humor give me books they think I will find amusing. This year, a relative who moved to Utah, a state that, to be honest, has never been of the slightest interest to me, although I do like Marie Osmond's version of a Dada poem, sent me a book about Utah curiosities. I've already discovered one story in it about a woman who uses cow pies - yes, those "pies" - to make clocks, and picture and mirror frames.

A keeper.

The books end up either next to my bed in the pile of books to be read, or outside the "reading room."

This year's additions:

In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton. Circles and Christmas Carols do work.

The Road to Assisi: The Essential Biography of St. Francis by Paul Sabatier. Chesterton's biography is the essential one, in my opinion, but this modern examination of his life looks like it has much to offer.

Surpassing Pleasure by John Slater. A contemporary Cistercian poet: I can't wait to test those verbal waters.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. I'd actually read many of these poems long ago and enjoyed them, so it's wonderful to have them before me again. Plus, it's nice to be reminded that Eliot didn't always write as if he had spiritual heartburn.

How to Do Everything (From the Man Who Should Know) by Red Green. Red Green is a Canadian comedian who is an acquired taste, and a taste that I acquired long ago.

The Man Who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford. A book that examines how Dickens helped to save Christmas from those who would downplay the celebration of it, and, in the process, apparently saved his own career. I've always loved Dickens and his Christmas tales, so this should be an intriguing read.

Utah Curiosities by Brandon Griggs. Cow pies. Need I say more?

Much reading to do.

Oh joy.

I've been remiss: Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T10:42:00.003-05:00

Happy Feast of St. Stephen.

I realized today I had not posted here in about three months. Chesterton deserves better than that!

This Christmas I gave a copy of Chesterton's Irish impressions to an Irish friend. And then (after some not so subtle hinting on my part), on Christmas morning my dear bride presented me with a copy of In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G. K. Chesterton.

It's wonderful to find some of may favorite essays - "A Piece of Chalk," "What I Found in My Pocket," "On Lying in Bed," "Cheese," and more - all in one place. And there are many other essays I haven't read yet conveniently waiting for me.

I just have to finish Ron Hansen's Exiles, and then I dig into this treasure trove.

As for my Chesterton endeavors, I'll be sending in to Gilbert a batch of clerihews my students wrote, and scribbling a few more of my own. Plus, I've decided to give a more prominent role to the Chesterton-based character in that novel I've been writing forever.

Tally ho!

St Bernard on All Saints Days day

2011-11-01T11:06:00.002-04:00

"Why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this feast day mean anything to the saints? What do they care about earthly honors when their heavenly Father honors them by fulfilling the faithful promise of the Son? What does our commendation mean to them? The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning.

Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints. But our dispositions change. The Church of all the first followers of Christ awaits us, but we do nothing about it. The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them.

Come, brothers, let us at length spur ourselves on. We must rise again with Christ, we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory.

When we commemorate the saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we may one day share in his glory. Until then we see him, not as he is, but as he became for our sake. He is our head, crowned, not with glory, but with the thorns of our sins. As members of that head, crowned with thorns, we should be ashamed to live in luxury; his purple robes are a mockery rather than an honor. When Christ comes again, his death shall no longer be proclaimed, and we shall know that we also have died, and that our life is hidden with him. The glorious head of the Church will appear and his glorified members will shine in splendor with him, when he forms this lowly body anew into such glory as belongs to himself, its head.

Therefore, we should aim at attaining this glory with a wholehearted and prudent desire. That we may rightly hope and strive for such blessedness, we must above all seek the prayers of the saints. Thus, what is beyond our own powers to obtain will be granted through their intercession."

"Holiness is not about what you do but with how much love you do it."

Do not seek to be like the Saints - seek what they sought.

2011-10-31T13:16:00.003-04:00

In case you were wondering if Catholics were Hard Core or not - wonder no more

And this is not the only one

good reminder for All Souls day and yes it is only the living that scare me.

2011-10-21T10:15:00.003-04:00

After a year of research and preparation, the giant screen film JERUSALEM advanced into production with an unprecedented aerial shoot throughout Israel and the West Bank. Scheduled for worldwide release in 2013, the film will take audiences on a spectacular tour of the Holy Land and the city once believed to lie at the center of the world.

From Chesterton's The New Jerusalem:

"As I tried to explain this eccentric sentiment to myself, I was conscious of another which at once completed and contradicted it. It was not only like a memory of Rye, it was mixed with a memory of the Mount St. Michael, which stands among the sands of Normandy on the other side of the narrow seas. The first part of the sensation is that the traveller, as he walks the stony streets between the walls, feels that he is inside a fortress. But it is the paradox of such a place that, while he feels in a sense that he is in a prison, he also feels that he is on a precipice. The sense of being uplifted, and set on a high place, comes to him through the smallest cranny, or most accidental crack in rock or stone; it comes to him especially through those long narrow windows in the walls of the old fortifications; those slits in the stone through which the medieval archers used their bows and the medieval artists used their eyes, with even greater success. Those green glimpses of fields far below or of flats far away, which delight us and yet make us dizzy (by being both near and far) when seen through the windows of Memling, can often be seen from the walls of Jerusalem. Then I remembered that in the same strips of medieval landscape could be seen always, here and there, a steep hill crowned with a city of towers. And I knew I had the mystical and double pleasure of seeing such a hill and standing on it. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid; but it is more strange when the hill cannot anywhere be hid, even from the citizen in the city."

2011-10-18T19:16:00.002-04:00

In contrast to this common perception of capitalism, Chesterton defines it as, "that economic condition in which there is a class of capitalists, roughly recognizable and relatively small, in whose possession so much of the capital is concentrated as to necessitate a very large majority of the citizens serving those capitalists for a wage."

"The present problem of capitalist concentration is not a question of law but of criminal law, not to mention criminal lunacy."

"Now what is the matter with the financial world is that it is a great deal too full of imagination, in the sense of fiction."

Roll Over Bethoveen

2011-10-18T07:51:00.000-04:00

Happy 85th birthday Chuck

2011-10-06T11:37:00.000-04:00

Steve Jobs was adopted. His life, passion, and vision inspired many. God our Father, Your power brings us to birth, Your providence guides our lives, and by Your command we return to dust

Rochester Chesterton Conference

2011-10-01T20:56:00.002-04:00

The Rochester (NY) Chesterton Conference was, like the previous seven held here, a delight.

We enjoyed presentations by Dale Ahlquist, Dr. Tom Martin, Joseph Pearce, and Kevin O'Brien. Oh, and a visit by Hilaire Belloc!

Rochester Chesterton Conference

2011-09-30T20:30:00.002-04:00

The Rochester (NY) Chesterton Conference is tomorrow at St. John Fisher College. The usual gang will be there - including me. I'll take some pictures, keep some notes, and maybe write a clerihew or two.

As a side note, I'm teaching a writing class at my high school. I just introduced the students to clerihews. They have to write some of their own for next week. I hope to submit some of theirs to Gilbert - or at least post some here.

Arcade Friday

2011-09-30T16:40:00.003-04:00

Diamond Hollow II

As one reviewer wrote, here's the thing about this game: "...it tricks you into playing it because it has the word 'diamond' in the title. You think it's going to be pretty and nice and kind of glamorous and ladylike and sweet smelling, like a gardenia. But then it's just like any game. You're supposed to kill stuff and collect points but the primitive animation makes it hard to tell the difference between the diamonds and the bad guys so you get confused and die many times over. Then you just give up.

Also, the diamonds in this game are the color brown."

What fun.

2011-09-29T21:12:00.002-04:00

Chesterton had alot to say about Margart Sanger and her club. He was one of the early voices to sing out against her type of progresive madness. “Progress,” G.K. Chesterton observed, “has discouraged anybody who had anything to say in favor of man, in his common relations to manhood and motherhood and the normal appetites of nature. Progress has been merely the persecution of the Common Man.”

He, of couse, was right. So why did hardly anyone listen. Sanger, long before Rules for Radicals was written, employed what Saul Alinsky wrote in the beginning of his book:

“What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be.” Here is an excellant article of how she do the voodo she do so well.

Speaking of progress:

Mrs. H. Clinton, accepting Planned Parenthood’s highest honor, the Margaret Sanger Award, said “I want to assure you that reproductive rights. . .will be a key to the foreign policy of this administration.” For our little Hillary the taking of innocent life gets the same priority as issues of war and peace.

Secretary Clinton also told her adoring audience, “I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision,” and “Margaret Sanger’s work is not yet done.”

Oh yes her work is not yet done because the one she worked for is not done the father of lies, the great accuser, that talking snake.

On this the feast day of the Arch Angels let us call them back to battle. Especially Michael

2011-09-28T11:19:00.002-04:00

Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards could not have been happy on September 15 when she was served with a letter from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce announcing the opening of an official investigation and demanding financial and other documentation dating back 20 years in an effort to ascertain if the company is misusing federal funds and violating the law regarding the reporting of suspected sexual abuse and the aiding and abetting of sex traffickers.

My prayer now is that this is not just an other episode of political theatre.

This is a good beginning for 40 days of life.

JUST A HEADS UP

2011-09-26T19:59:00.002-04:00

Father Barron's Catholicism TV series starts next week, (check your local PBS listings). I bought the book last week and although I am only a little way into it I would like to note two things:

The first is that Father Barron has so far quoted GK Chesterton and CS Lewis at least once per chapter.

The other is, if this TV series is only half as good as the book be prepared for bulging RCIA classes.

As Marc Barnes said, "The things we do should be fantastic. We’re not just anyone, we’re Catholics! What we do reflects our Church, and our Church is the only sane thing left in the world! Strive for excellence then, glorify God by using every drop of talent He’s given you, because I do believe that—now more than ever—our Church needs to reaffirm that we have brought the world the best literature, art, architecture, music and life it has. And that we still do."

doodlers of the world unite

2011-09-23T15:59:00.001-04:00

I feel so much better now.

2011-09-23T15:10:00.001-04:00

I am so glad the era of the "angry white chick" is over.

"What could it hurt?"

2011-09-01T16:15:00.003-04:00

Brian Brown is the president and spokesman for National Organization for Marriage. NOM is working the front lines in the war on marriage. He is doing good work and I do not envy him. This video below shows you one of his skirmishes.

He lost this round not because he was wrong, (he was the only one in the room that was right), but he did not know how to state his point. He relied on common sense and obvious truths, stuff that was throw out decades ago.

“...the reason the government is involved in marriage is that taxpayers and society have a key interest in bringing together mothers and fathers to raise their children together”.

Brian, you need to articulate that interest.

“The government obligates third parties to respect and recognize your marriage, it does not merely enforce your private and personal agreements”.

Brian, why does it obligate any one to recognize that union?

Brian was out gunned and out maned. Some one needs to give him better sound bites. If I could think of any I would send them.

This just reminded me of the time before the roe v wade decision came down. No one thought it would happen the way it did - it just wrong and 'everyone' knew it. Surely the highest court in the land would see that, so no worries. Now 40 million babies later..........

I hope Brian succeeds I don't want anyone blogging 30 years from now saying. "How were we to know?!?".

The Ruth Institute is doing very good work as well.

2011-08-31T17:08:00.001-04:00

"We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people. We need to get good people to restrain us from bad laws." GKC

"Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable", GKC. When they agree on what activity is excusable it becomes law. When an activity becomes legal it then becomes normal and then it becomes moral. It does not matter if that activity is intrinsically evil or not the pattern is the same, (they sometimes switch out the words its moral for its a right). Judith Reisman and Mary Mcalister have done a great job in connecting the dots.

When a law is evil the mental gymnastics needed to keep convincing yourself its moral is something you need to do every day and leads to a society that borders on insanity.

The only entity that keeps us tipping completely over the edge is the Catholic Church. Or as GKC said "We do not really need a religion that is right where we are right. What we need is a religion that is right where we are wrong."

Chesterton on Orthodoxy

2011-08-25T17:22:00.000-04:00

“There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy.” - GKC

Take Your Magic Elsewhere Holy Man

2011-08-25T11:51:00.005-04:00

Remember Fr. Judge? There were prayers that day. Lots of them. But Bloomberg does not want that messing up his event to remember 9/11.

"No, Michael Bloomberg’s Super Colossal, Low-Salt 9/11 Memorial and Networking Event is a big-ticket item for the the ones who can be tapped, later, for their money or their influence — the most important sorts of people.

And of course, some of the families of the dead will be allowed in. One does need them for the pictures, after all.

First Responders and Clergyfolk are not very important to the powerful and the enlightened."

And as everyone knows those first responders don't dress very well.

"This is America, and to have a memorial service where there's no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me," said Mr. Washington, former dept mayor to Giuliani

Oh Joe What You Don't Know

2011-08-25T10:17:00.002-04:00

"Biden’s remark was not only not a condemnation of China’s one-child policy, it wasn’t even a slight criticism. Worse than that, it seemed to be an endorsement. Note the line again: “Your policy has been one which I fully understand—I’m not second-guessing—of one child per family.” He next appeared to say that the policy, which he “fully understands” and is “not second-guessing,” is not financially/economically sustainable because too few young people will exist to pay the social services of elderly people. If that’s a criticism, it’s one based strictly in financial/economic terms, not moral terms. In fact, Biden thus seemed to express added understanding of the “severe” problem China faces."

As Pia de Solenni said, "Anyone who can say that he or she is ok with those forced experiences of loss, both of one’s child and family, needs some time off to think, regardless of their religious beliefs".

Holy gourd Batman! Let's get a fried pickle.

2011-08-24T17:13:00.004-04:00

We are in the middle of Fair week here - the greatest county fair on the planet. It is a big deal around these parts and I enjoy it in a large way. Just to give you an idea of how big this is our county has a population of 53,000 humans by the end of the week 185,000 humans will pass through the gates of the fair. Many like me will register more than once on that count but hey....

The people are beautiful.

For those who love fried food this is where heaven meets earth. Truly I say onto ya-all that even cow pies deep fried would taste good at the fair.

My daughter won a Blue Ribbon at the dog show. That with an apple dumpling buried under a half pound of ice cream makes this a day for dancing.

Another voice in the wilderness.

2011-08-23T17:12:00.003-04:00

San Diego, August 22, 2011: St. Gianna Physician’s Guild today launched an online petition (www.StopTheBirthControlMandate.com) requesting the Obama Administration and Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, toimmediately withdraw all references to contraception and contraception counseling from the “Guidelines for Women’s Preventive Services” under The Affordable

Care Act, and to provide a conscience clause to protect the religious freedom and beliefs of Catholics.

Not sure if this type of petition works. However, it would never work if we do not put forth our voice. The current occupant is moraly tone deaf. I have fought a lot of fights I did not 'win' and knew I would not when the fight began ("not sure how many of them it would take to kick my ass but I knew how many they were going to use.") but it would be worse for not fighting.

I have signed it and wish you to do the same.

Invisible infants

2011-08-23T16:37:00.004-04:00

We know the moral costs of abortion but "they" think morality is so yesterday. So here are just some economic stats and its the 'economy stupid'.

"In 1973 there were 744,000 abortions of babies who would be 38 years old, if they were alive today. If about half had married and had an average of 2.1 children, another 390,000 babies would have been born.

On the assumption that people marry at age 24, About 10 million of those invisible infants would have married and would have had 10.8 million children of their own. Perhaps another 2 million babies would have been born out-of-wedlock.

Consequently, America is missing about 65.5 million people. That is more people than live in New York, Los Angeles, and an additional 127 of America’s largest cities.

The economic consequences of these missing people are staggering. Marco Ciavolino, a computer consultant, created the Invisible Infants website and the spreadsheet which estimates that these people would have earned $5.7 trillion, (assuming an average per capita income of $26,000 according to Census). They would have paid $1.4 trillion in taxes!

We live in a time of high unemployment. If all those children had been born, wouldn’t the economy be worse?

No. If those Invisible Infants had been born, they would have been a boon to the economy. This column noted recently that the 76 million Baby Boomers only had 49 million children. No wonder they have trouble selling their houses and downsizing! If 38 million couples had the usual 2.1 children they would have had 80 million children. There would be no housing slump."

See charts and Mike McManus' article here

It is a lie that more people equals more poverty, and strife. As you look at the world the places that have the most poverty, war and political instability are the countries with the lowest numbers in population.

File this under the 'no crap' column.

2011-08-22T15:02:00.003-04:00

"In the United States, our battles over abortion, family life, same-sex marriage, and other sensitive issues have led to ferocious public smears and legal threats not only against Catholics, but also against Mormons, evangelicals, and other religious believers…the mass media tend to cover these disputed issues with a combination of ignorance, laziness, and bias against traditional Christian belief…We make a very serious mistake if we rely on media like the New York Times, Newsweek, CNN, or MSNBC for reliable news about religion. These news media simply don’t provide trustworthy information about religious faith …These are secular operations focused on making a profit…They have very little sympathy for the Catholic faith, and quite a lot of aggressive skepticism toward any religious community that claims to preach and teach God’s truth."

Archbishop Chaput

Read it all here

2011-08-22T11:47:00.002-04:00

Patient: "Doctor. Doctor. It hurts when I do this."

Doctor: "Then don't do that."

Pope Ben has named a new doctor of the church, 16th century Spanish priest St. John of Avila. The title of ‘Doctor of the Church’ is bestowed upon a saint whose writings are deemed to be of universal importance to the Church. The Pope must also declare the individual to be of “eminent learning” and “great sanctity.” Other Doctors of the Church include St. Augustine, St. John Chryosostom, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Catherine of Siena and, our bestest little girl, Therese of Lisieux.

They also released a short list of those to be considered as doctors which include John Bosco and Louis-Marie de Montfort - two of my favorite Saints.

An historical clerihew

2011-08-22T11:09:00.001-04:00

Titus Oates

liked wearing heavy overcoats.

When it simply got too hot

he alleged a papist plot.

2011-08-22T09:53:00.003-04:00

Do Not Try This at Home

one for the good guys

2011-08-16T14:35:00.000-04:00

One of the really great things about being a Christian is we know how the war ends. Sure, sure, we are going to lose a few battles and there will be the wounded and sometimes we feel that we lose every battle. So when we do win one we should share it like the widow who lost her coin ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’

Here is a good win - a coin almost lost.

“America,” Chesterton says, “ is the only nation in the world founded on a creed. The creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration of Independence, perhaps the only piece of practical politics that is theoretical politics and also great literature.”

2011-08-15T15:50:00.001-04:00

Bishop of Toledo Bans Parishes from Raising Funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation

Dear Friends in Christ,

Few of us remain untouched by the scourge of breast cancer. Whether among our families, friends or neighbors, there are a great many women in our country who confront this disease every day with tremendous faith and courage.

Researchers, physicians and medical personnel, using their God-given intelligence and skill, work very hard not only to provide healing of those who are afflicted, but also to find a cure. We are all familiar with the mobilization of effort in our country on behalf of this worthy goal.

One of the most widely known initiatives is that of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Many people participate in efforts to raise funds for this cause, including some of our Catholic institutions and schools.

While we want to do everything possible to support the search for a cure, sadly the landscape of medical research today is sometimes marred by the erroneous belief that research is not bound by moral norms rooted in faith and reason, as reflected in the teaching of the Church. That teaching holds, for example, that it is not morally acceptable to destroy one human life, even in its embryonic stage, in order to save another human life.

For some time, moral questions have been raised from various quarters about the research funded by the Komen Foundation. The Bishops of Ohio have discussed this and have looked into the matter. As best we can determine, at present the Komen Foundation does not fund cancer research that employs embryonic stem cells. However, their policy does not exclude that possibility. They are open to embryonic stem cell research, and may very well fund such research in the future. They are also contributors to Planned Parenthood, which, though it may claim to provide needed medical services to poor women, is also the largest provider of abortions in our country.

In order to avoid even the possibility of cooperation in morally unacceptable activities, the other Bishops and I believe that it would be wise to find alternatives to Komen for Catholic fundraising efforts.

For that reason, I am directing that in the fight against breast cancer, fundraising carried out under Catholic auspices, including our schools, should be channeled to our locally known Mercy Cancer Centers instead of Komen.

Through Mercy, we can help local women who are without financial means to receive specialized care which includes treatment, detection and support in their fight against breast cancer. We can be assured that at Mercy, these women will receive a high level of compassionate care that respects their human dignity.

More information will be coming to you from Mercy regarding this opportunity. I thank you for your cooperation and support. Together let us pray for all cancer sufferers, especially those in the greatest physical, spiritual and emotional need.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair
Bishop of Toledo

Obama Clerihew

2011-08-13T07:52:00.002-04:00

For his birthday Barack Obama

received a llama.

Alas, this camel-like pet

made him long for a cigarette.

2011-08-10T14:22:00.000-04:00

A group of gay-rights activists has set up an online petition to encourage Sesame Street producers to make a social statement on the show. To wit, they want longtime roommates (and long-rumored gay couple) Bert and Ernie to get married. Predictably, supporters and opponents are lining up on either side of the issue, even though Sesame Workshop has stated that neither character is gay.

While the Bert and Ernie petition is interesting, it doesn't seem like a priority in terms of Sesame Street social issues. First things first - let's get Oscar off the streets and Cookie Monster into rehab.

Religion as Weapon

2011-08-05T21:29:00.003-04:00

Just another example of how the MSM is woefully ignorant on religion - any religion.

When a Dem says he/she is a Christian the press says he/she is a good guy/gal. When a Repub says the same the press says he/she is a bad guy/gal.

From a post over at Public Vigil: The press has discovered that Protestants are not Catholic.

"When did being a mainstream Protestant even become an issue in American politics? When that Protestant actually takes her faith seriously and formulates her political campaign on Christian principles.

If Michele (Bachmann) were a faithful Catholic, then we would be warned about her allegiance to the Pope. That's always been standard procedure for the secular press. Now it seems like any Christian presidential candidate is going to come under attack from the secular press one way or the other."

"Amazing how humanists care nothing about religion unless they can use it to justify one of their "human rights" campaigns. Homosexuals suddenly wanting the blessing of the Church for their orgies comes to mind.
Suddenly, the secular humanists are the latest and greatest defenders of the papacy against the attacks of the Lutherans."

2011-08-05T16:04:00.002-04:00

It's Official-Pregnancy is now a Disease

2011-08-05T15:05:00.007-04:00

In the new Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines for health insurance plans, HHS took the extraordinary step of putting the guidelines into effect immediately so that college students could have free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortifacients by the 2012-2013 school year.

“The Obama Administration apparently believes that ensuring contraceptives for students’ premarital exploits is reason enough to forego public comment before making these rules effective,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “That is social engineering at its worst.”

According to the proposed rule submitted to the Office of the Federal Register:

“The July 19, 2010 interim final rules indicated that HRSA expected to issue guidelines by August 1, 2011. After considering public comments raising the issue addressed in these amendments, however, the Departments determined that HRSA should be granted the discretion to address the commenter concerns at issue prior to issuing guidelines under section 2713(a)(4). Many college student policy years begin in August and an estimated 1.5 million young adults are estimated to be covered by such policies.5 Providing an opportunity for public comment as described above would mean that the guidelines could not be issued until after August of 2011. This delay would mean that many students could not benefit from the new prevention coverage without cost-sharing following from the issuance of the guidelines until the 2013-14 school year, as opposed to the 2012-13 school year. Similarly, 2008 data from the Department of Labor indicate that over 4 million Americans have ERISA group health plan coverage that starts in August or September; they too would experience over a year’s delay in the receipt of the new benefit if the public comment period delayed the issuance of the guidance for over a month. The Departments have determined that such a delay in implementation of the statutory requirement that women receive vital preventive services without cost-sharing would be contrary to the public interest because it could result in adverse health consequences that may not otherwise have occurred.”(emphasis added)

Yes pregnancy has to be prevented because it could result in adverse health consequences - you know, like a baby.

Mark Your Calendars

2011-08-05T10:02:00.005-04:00

In a breakthrough agreement, public television executives in Chicago have committed to prime-time broadcasts and nationwide distribution of Fr. Robert Barron's new CATHOLICISM documentary series this fall.

A show broadcast on PBS that shows Catholics in a positive light, as something good?!? Whod a thunk it? This is major. Really when was the last time you saw Christianity let alone Catholicism shown, on public TV as anything but harmful or at best quaint.

As Father Barron said, "The Catholic story is being told, but being told by the wrong people in the wrong way. We need to tell our own story." And brothers and sisters he tells it well.

When I saw the trailer two words kept leaping in my head: "Holy Crap"

Show starts this fall check your local listings.

2011-08-04T12:51:00.004-04:00

The current occupant has lost 'the appreciation of primary things and therefore all sense of proportion about the world'.

"If [my daughters] make a mistake I don't want them punished with a baby".

Senator Barack Obama

"Now a child is the very sign and sacrament of personal freedom. He is a fresh free will added to the wills of the world; he is something that his parents have freely chosen to produce and which they freely agree to protect. They can feel that any amusement he gives (which is often considerable) really comes from him and from them and from nobody else. He has been born without the intervention of any master or lord. He is a creation and a contribution; he is their own creative contribution to creation. He is also a much more beautiful, wonderful, amusing and astonishing thing than any of the stale stories or jingling jazz tunes turned out by the machines. When men no longer feel that he is so, they have lost the appreciation of primary things, and therefore all sense of proportion about the world. People who prefer the mechanical pleasures, to such a miracle, are jaded and enslaved. They are preferring the very dregs of life to the first fountains of life. They are preferring the last, crooked, indirect, borrowed, repeated and exhausted things of our dying Capitalist civilisation, to the reality which is the only rejuvenation of all civilisation. It is they who are hugging the chains of their old slavery; it is the child who is ready for the new world." GKC

2011-08-04T10:16:00.002-04:00

One of the side effects of the Arab Spring

Breaking News on the Heat Wave

2011-08-03T18:49:00.000-04:00

Windows Opened On Both Coasts In Effort To Create Transcontinental Cross-Breeze

WASHINGTON—In a move to combat record-high temperatures and facilitate some much-needed cross-country ventilation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Friday it had ordered the opening of two windows, one in San Francisco, CA and another in Virginia Beach, VA. “As we speak, a cool cross-breeze is sweeping eastward to bring relief throughout our stuffy 3.79 million square miles of interior,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, adding that those with air-conditioning should turn it off now to avoid wasting electricity. “While we’ve heard reports of more flies coming into the central states at night, we feel that’s a price worth paying to prevent people from having to sleep on top of the sheets.” As of press time, the transcontinental breeze had decreased considerably after the window in San Francisco was shut to keep out street noise. (Onion)

A Presidential Clerihew (in Gilbert)

2011-08-03T14:46:00.003-04:00

I received the May/June issue of Gilbert Magazine in the mail today (yeah, I know: It's August 3rd), and to my surprise, one of my clerihews was in it.

President James Polk

would rarely crack a joke.

But his friends say he was quick

with a limerick.

Debt Cieling Absurdism

2011-08-02T09:00:00.002-04:00

In the latest Distributionist review Kevin O’Brien outlines the problem with usury and our government debt.

"Somewhere Hilaire Belloc says that an economic system based on usury must always by its nature collapse.

In Economics for Helen Hilaire Belloc outlines in his admirably lucid manner the following principles of usury.

Belloc writes:

1. Usury is both wrong morally and bad for society because it is the claim for an increase of wealth which is not really present at all. It is trying to get something where there is nothing out of which that something can be paid.

2. This action must therefore progressively and increasingly soak up the wealth which men produce into the hands of those who lend money, until at last all the wealth is so soaked up and the process comes to an end.

3. That is what has happened in the case of the modern world, largely through unproductive expenditure on war, which expenditure has been met by borrowing money and promising interest upon it although the money was not producing any further wealth.

4. The modern world has therefore reached a limit in this process and the future of usurious investment is in doubt."

read whole article here

It's Punday

2011-08-01T08:39:00.004-04:00

Yea I know "Coincidences are spiritual puns" but these are fun to tell at parties:

1. The fattest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: ‘You stay here; I’ll go on a head.’

13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: ‘Keep off the Grass.’

15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

17. A backward poet writes inverse.

18. In a democracy it’s your vote that counts. In feudalism it’s your count
that votes.

19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you’d be in Seine .

21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, ‘I’m sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.’

22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says ‘Dam!’

23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too.

24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, ‘I’ve lost my electron.’ The other says ‘Are you sure?’ The first replies, ‘Yes, I’m positive.’

25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

Head in the Clouds

2011-07-28T13:51:00.002-04:00

If you are looking for a cool dissertation paper for your masters work in theology do a study on clouds in the bible. From today’s mass reading:

Ex 40:16-21, 34-38

Then the cloud covered the meeting tent,

and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.

Moses could not enter the meeting tent,

because the cloud settled down upon it

and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.

Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling,

the children of Israel would set out on their journey.

But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward;

only when it lifted did they go forward.

In the daytime the cloud of the LORD was seen over the Dwelling;

whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud

by the whole house of Israel

in all the stages of their journey.

In both the old and new testaments clouds abound and are usually mentioned as God’s mode of transportation-His hover craft if you will or as the place where He best liked to play peek-a-boo when talking with humans.

As Chesterton said “There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.” so maybe that’s why God hung out in them.

for the rest of us there is The Cloud Appreciation Society. Wonder around on thier site it is all very pleasant.

2011-07-27T10:14:00.004-04:00

On the left coast the people voted against same-sex marriage and now the legislator is trying to overturn that vote. On the right coast the legislator said yes to same-sex marriage and the people are working to put a measure on the 2015 ballot to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. This is why we will ultimately lose. It is a bad definition it is heavy on the what but lacks the why. With the given definition what difference does it make to replace the nouns or the numbers. And by waiting until 2015 there will be 4 years of same-sex marriage - enough time to make it look safe and not enough time to see the damage.

What if they added to the ballot definition, ' for the procreation, protection and education of children'.

We are now full into the time Chesterton called a place where we can talk about anything but can't talk about everything an age of "efficiency" or "politics for politics sake." I have yet to hear one politian explain to the people the why of traditional marriage or the PHILOSPHY of marriage. Stop and think for a moment, today when we use the word marriage we always need to use the qualifier traditional. That means there can be an untraditional marriage and still be a marriage. Just note the fact that many writers are putting the word marriage within quotation marks these days.

"For the Christian dogmatists were trying to establish a reign of holiness, and trying to get defined, first of all, what was really holy. But our modern educationists are trying to bring about a religious liberty without attempting to settle what is religion or what is liberty. If the old priests forced a statement on mankind, at least they previously took some trouble to make it lucid. It has been left for the modern mobs of Anglicans and Nonconformists to persecute for a doctrine without even stating it..." GKC (Heretics)

It begins with, "What could it hurt?" and ends with, "How were we to know?"

"...Suppose that a great commotion arises in the street about something, let us say a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is approached upon the matter, and begins to say, in the arid manner of the Schoolmen, "Let us first of all consider, my brethren, the value of Light. If Light be in itself good—" At this point he is somewhat excusably knocked down. All the people make a rush for the lamp-post, the lamp-post is down in ten minutes, and they go about congratulating each other on their unmediaeval practicality. But as things go on they do not work out so easily. Some people have pulled the lamp-post down because they wanted the electric light; some because they wanted old iron; some because they wanted darkness, because their deeds were evil. Some thought it not enough of a lamp-post, some too much; some acted because they wanted to smash municipal machinery; some because they wanted to smash something. And there is war in the night, no man knowing whom he strikes. So, gradually and inevitably, to-day, to-morrow, or the next day, there comes back the conviction that the monk was right after all, and that all depends on what is the philosophy of Light. Only what we might have discussed under the gas-lamp, we now must discuss in the dark." GKC (Heretics)

As Chuck Asay notes in his cartoon (above) same-sex “marriage” is a dead end. Same-sex “marriage” is not marriage; it is an exercise in frivolity. At best, a same-sex union can produce entertainment.

(and I have no idea why everything is underlined)

Happy Birthday, Hilaire Belloc

2011-07-27T09:58:00.002-04:00

(Above: Shaw, Belloc, and Chesterton.)

Today is the birthday of Joseph Hilaire Pierre Belloc, born in 1870 to a French father and an English mother. He and GKC became such good friends and allies that they became known as the "Chesterbelloc."

As a young child he lived in France, but was sent to Cardinal John Henry's Newmany Oratory School in England, then studied at Balliol College, graduating in 1895 with a first class honors in history.

Belloc's first book, The Bad Child's Book of Beasts, was published in 1896, the same year he married Elodie Hogan. He wrote about a variety of topics which include French and British history, military strategy, satire, comic and serious verse, literary criticism, travel, and religious, political and social commentary. In 1902, Belloc wrote his most famous work, "Path to Rome", which described a one-man pilgrimage to the Holy City.

Belloc was also interested in politics and was elected to Parliament in 1906 and 1910. However, he left politics in order to start a new political review called Eye-Witness with G.K. and Cecil Chesteron. In the review the three of them attacked the English governmental system. Belloc, who revered Napoleon's efforts, worked to promote a unified Europe. He, along with GKC, also promoted Distributism

His life was filled with tragedy. Belloc's wife died in 1914 and his son Louis was killed in 1918 in World War I. His good friend Chesterton died in 1936. In 1941, Belloc's other son Peter died in World War II, and Belloc suffered a severe stroke in 1942 which ended his literary work. He died in 1953.

I leave with one of his sunny verses.

The Catholic Sun

Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine
There's always laughter and good red wine.
At least I've always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!

Sun Burnt Memories

2011-07-26T09:29:00.002-04:00

I cannot remember which is correct: 'No sane mane would take a baby camping' or is it 'Only a sane man could take a baby camping'. Needless to say we took babies on this trip and they were wonderful to have along. We knew they would limit the activities we could all do together so we worked out an adult tag team method so we all could do stuff.

However the heat wave blitz swept down upon us the morning of the first day and fried our plans of highly physical activities. So our schedule was changed to this - breakfast and go to the lake - lunch and go to the lake - dinner and sit in the shade till the sun went down or go to the lake.

We would all move around in a clump in cool lake water floating the babies between us broken only by short breaks of naps in the shade. My toes are still wrinkled.

We had a great time.

Smuggling in Chesterton

2011-07-20T15:42:00.002-04:00

I've been hired to teach English at a local Catholic high school.

One of the classes I'll be teaching writing one - as in creative writing. My department head said it was up to me how I wanted to structure the course, and what works I wanted to include.

I'm adding a personal essay component - and one of the essays I intend to look at (before sending the students off to write) is Chesterton's "A Piece of Chalk."

Who knows what else I can sneak in! Maybe a Fr. Brown story ... or "Lepanto?"

To The Woods!

2011-07-16T10:03:00.002-04:00

“I’m bored.”, a phrase uttered by every child at least once a day during the summer. How many of us teachers out there have not heard the phrase, “This is so booooring. Why do I have to learn this stuff.”

“The universal, or approximately universal, opinion in these days is that the unpardonable sin is to be a bore. This is a profound error. If this awful phraseology is to be used at all, it may be safely said that the unpardonable sin is being bored. “– G.K. Chesterton, “A Defense of Bores”

According to the Etymology Dictionary the word boredom, in its current usage, started in 1852. The date corresponds with the fiery start of the second industrial revolution.

Interesting that man became bored when things were happening to make his life easier and 'more free'. Now with all our blinking, singing, dinging and whirling toys we are more bored than ever.

My children, grand children and I are headed for our annual summer camping trip-away from the plug in toys. No one is ever bored kicking a stone, baiting a hook or sitting around a campfire.

2011-07-12T12:01:00.001-04:00

Scientists have finally demonstrated that sex is useful. I can't tell you how relieved I am.

Move Along. There Is Nothing To See Here.

2011-07-11T09:20:00.003-04:00

At the conclusion of Tom Wolfe’s book THE PAINTED WORD he summarized his theory and made a prediction:

"Hilton Kramer, lets slip the admission: “Frankly, these days, without a theory to go with it, I can’t see a painting”.

“LETS SLIP,” AS I SAY. WE NOW KNOW, OF COURSE, that his words describe the actual state of affairs for tout le monde in Cultureburg; but it is not the sort of thing that one states openly. Any orthodox critic, such as Kramer, is bound to defend the idea that a work of art can speak for itself. Thus in December 1974 he attacked the curators of the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibition “The Impressionist Epoch” for putting big historical notes up on the wall beside the great masterworks of the Impressionists. But why? What an opportunity he missed! If only he could have drawn upon the wisdom of his unconscious! Have the courage of your secret heart, Hilton! Tell them they should have made the copy blocks bigger!—and reduced all those Manets, Monets, and Renoirs to the size of wildlife stamps!

"Twenty-five years from now, that will not seem like such a facetious idea. I am willing (now that so much has been revealed!) to predict that in the year 2000, when the Metropolitan or the Museum of Modern Art puts on the great retrospective exhibition of American Art 1945-75, the three artists who will be featured, the three seminal figures of the era, will be not Pollock, de Kooning, and Johns—but Greenberg, Rosenberg, and Steinberg. Up on the walls will be huge copy blocks, eight and a half by eleven feet each, presenting the protean passages of the period . . . a little “fuliginous flatness” here . . . a little “action painting” there . . . and some of that “all great art is about art” just beyond. Beside them will be small reproductions of the work of leading illustrators of the Word from that period, such as Johns, Louis, Noland, Stella, and Olitski. (Pollock and de Kooning will have a somewhat higher status, although by no means a major one, because of the more symbiotic relationship they were fortunate enough to enjoy with the great Artists of the Word.)"

He was close. It took thirty years for this to reach full fruition. Where words are not only larger than the works of art they explain they completely replace the art. Please don’t be confused, this is not “word art” the words still just describe the art it is just that the art does not REALLY exist.

The Museum of Non-Visible Art, or MONA, is a joint collaboration between art collective Praxis and actor James Franco. The museum, which doesn’t actually exist, features invisible art pieces, which also don’t exist, that can nevertheless be purchased with cash - which does exist. MONA art pieces currently on “exhibit” include imaginary sculptures, invisible garments and even a hypothetical Franco short film.

Yes, they are serious.

Corinth anyone?

2011-07-08T16:25:00.003-04:00

The International Planned Parenthood Federation released two new publications on abortion and sexual rights for youth. The new documents are the latest part of the organization’s larger campaign targeted at teenagers and older children.

'The sexual rights guide “Exclaim!” calls for a cornucopia of sexuality and gender protections and entitlements under the guise of international law. “Governments must respect, protect and fulfill all sexual rights for young people,” the publication states.' It says protect and fulfill sexual rights. Sexual rights mean the right to have sex so if the government is to fulfill that right will it have to get into the prostitution buisness? The report does not say.

As Chesterton said, "Once abolish the God and the government becomes the God." so think if this “plan” goes through we will have to set up a new cabinet seat - “The Department of Aphrodite Pleasure”. As every town now has postal service will they have to have ‘temple prostitutes’ as well?

Movie finds an answer through Chesterton

2011-07-08T10:46:00.005-04:00

The director of Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and more had a serious accident that set him off exploring the question, "What's wrong with our world?" The title of the resulting documentary (and the answer) come from Chesterton: "I am."

I'm going to look for it. I hope is comes to my town.

Funny place to find Uncle Gilbert

2011-07-07T15:56:00.007-04:00

A recent donation to the library of congress puts a new spin on an issue considered long settled - a Flat Earth Map. In 1893 Orlando Ferguson created a map of the Earth that, he claimed, reconciled biblical (note the angel reference from Revelation 7:1) and scientific knowledge.

The map depicts the Earth as a giant square slab with a dimpled upper surface - an inverse torpoid for you math majors out there.

This is great news for the Flat Earth Society cause no one really liked their map.

The Society aims are simple:

1. To restore humanity’s faith in Common Sense. Seeing is believing. For hundreds of years humankind has been blinded by metaphysics, brainwashed by popular fallacies and bullied into denying the evidence of one’s own sense. The Flat Earth Society stands for a renewed faith in the basic truth of sense experience.

2. To combat the fallacious deification of the sphere which, ever since the sly deception of Pythagoras, has warped western thought.

3. To spearhead humankind’s escape from his/her metaphysical and geometrical prison by asserting that science, like philosophy and religion, is ultimately metaphorical and therefore that reality as we verbalize it isultimately metaphorical, and therefore that realtiy as we verbalize it is essentially mystical and poetical.

George Bernard Shaw was a member of the group (really?) they also infer that G. K. Chesterton was a member by quoting him on their membership application:

G.K. Chesterton: “A man should always question the strongest convictions of his age, for those convictions are invariably too strong.”

If it is good enough for uncle Gilbert you can count be in. I would love to see Dale Ahlquist's response to this. I think he should devote a show on it.

Oh yea, people don't fall off the Earth because of Intelligent Pulling, not gravity.

Small thoughts on the 4th

2011-07-06T09:57:00.003-04:00

"The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man." - G. K. Chesterton

The Mayflower compact is a small document that no longer appears in school history text books maybe it is because it mentions God a whole bunch or it advocates small government is anyone's guess. In case you have never seen it here it is:

"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, e&. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."

A little document that set the ball rolling for the Declaration Of Independence. Both documents base our government on a Christian ideal. Today we are working to erase that original ideal to a secular one. But if we are not governed within by God we must therefore be Governed without by Government.

As Robert Winthrop said in 1849, "All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they may have of stringent State Government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the State supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is Religion which must support the State.

Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence said. "[T]he only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be aid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments. Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind."

2011-06-29T09:55:00.003-04:00

Benedictus XVI makes a TWEET.

Launching a new web page: news.va where you can get the latest news from the Vatican.

Oh yea, he also celebrates his 60th anniversary as priest today.

2011-06-28T11:10:00.000-04:00

Daily meditations by Pope Benidict XVI in english.

Very Cool.

Go Ask Alice

2011-06-27T16:47:00.000-04:00

On Yahoo news you might have seen the blurb called ‘No 'him' or 'her'; preschool fights gender bias’. A little story about a preschool in Stockholm that does not use gender specific language or toys or I suppose bathrooms.

All this is done, of course, in the name of equality. I know many of you are shaking your heads thinking those crazy Swedes and you might even be afraid to read the article knowing that with each step in you will get closer to having your head explode from the onslaught of absurdity. However there was line in the story where the loony grenade went off in their hands. To show how right thinking they are they mentioned a book where you do not need a mommy and daddy just two caring adults, "From a bookcase she pulls out a story about two male giraffes who are sad to be childless — until they come across an abandoned crocodile egg."

I do not know this book but all I could think of was when that crocodile grows up it will eat its parents.

Maybe I'm just projecting reality on to the situation which will always get you twisted up.

"When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said;
'Keep YOUR HEAD'."

Another note on Fr Corapi

2011-06-23T22:32:00.004-04:00

When I first heard about the problems Fr. Corapi was having I was shocked but not surprised. I had heard several of his talks about the possibility of this kind of thing happening to him as it has to other priests. Is it possible that the allegations are true - yes it is possible. However there was one allegation that did not ring true to me and that was his "occasional" drug use.

In his own story Fr Corapi admits of his previous drug use. He was an addict spending everything he had for a fix. In my work with junkies there are a few things that are always true. The first is the habit can be beaten but they are always and forever a junkie. It is impossible to go back to occasional use and when they do fall off the wagon it is always back to the drug of choice. Just like an alcoholic can never become a social drinker nor switch to crack, a crack junkie can not do an occasional line nor swith to whiskey.

There is another thing about junkies and that is the personality trait that made them addicts in the first place does not go away. So they do sometimes trade a hard drug for a hard philosophy. The field of social work and counseling is filled with ex-junkies. Some make the trade to bodybuilding, or drive harder back into their pervious profession or become Jesus freaks.

Fr Corapi had traded his drug habit for the priesthood and he had become a fame junkie so it did not take long for Fr. Corapi to go into full withdrawal when the scandal broke. After the attack all of his media outlets, except his website, were cut off to him. In one of his talks he had mentioned that if this kind of allegation happened to him he would just spend more time with his dogs and do a lot more fishing. His addictive personality could not let him do that.

His withdrawal first manifested itself in an attack on his accuser all over his web site. "Not my fault!" - "I was framed" - "She is unbalanced." This at first,for me, seemed way out of character until I remembered that for junkies it is never their fault and everyone is out to get them. And I knew then he was in deep spiritual trouble.

Then there was silence from him and I thought he was going to work through the process. Yes, the process is deeply flawed and one that fully states you are guilty until proven innocent and in time it will correct itself until then we just have to suck it up.

This past week Fr. Corapi has said he is leaving the priesthood. He said it in a whining-burn your bridges sort of way. Now not only is his accuser unbalanced his Bishop seems to be too. Here I was both shocked and surprised. In his many talks about Spiritual Warfare he has stated correctly that the devil attacks the priesthood because if there is no priest there is no Eucharist and no Eucharist no power. Yes, in some of his talks he made stuff up or exaggerated events of his past I forgave him those because they were stories used to high light a theological truth. The substance of those talks were true then and are true forever what he is doing now does not change that. He has just been overpowered and beaten by Satan and it is for that reason I pray for Fr. John Corapi.

There are two many examples from the saints that have gone through a beat down that Fr. should have modeled but no... he turned and walked away. Again that's what junkies do.

He now says that through his new Black Sheep Dog program he will be able to reach more people with his message, (note: it is now his message not Jesus'). I do not know how this will happen since EWTN gave him a world stage. Maybe he will become a radio talk show host or FOX news will make him a commentator all I know is that fame junkies do not end well. Maybe he needs to go through that fall again to get back on the right path.

"But for the Grace of God there go I."

lets play

2011-06-21T10:01:00.001-04:00

Table Gype can now be played for free online at BoardGameArena.com!

Clerihews in Gilbert Magazine

2011-06-04T05:00:00.002-04:00

The March/April issue of Gilbert Magazine just arrived (never mind that it's now June!), and it contained several of my clerihews.

Perhaps the editors have lowered their standards!

Lot's wife
ended her life
when she came to a halt
and proved her salt.

In his early life Thomas Merton
was often uncertain.
He ended his consternation
through contemplation.

Vladimir Kosma Zworykin
helped to make possible television.
His contribution to that form of mass media
is why he's one of the last entries in our encyclopedia

e (cummings) e
tYpog(plays)raphy
(poet)surpri(ic)sinG imagery,paren
theses—(games)w or d sb ro k en

Anne Rice
found a pearl of great price.
But she had to make money first
dwelling on an unnatural thirst.

Prolific Stephen King
can make horror out of anything.
His wife fears what he'd do
if he tried to barbecue.

Ah, fame.

Of course, payment consists of the satisfaction of seeing my name in print and being part of that fine publication (subscribe if you don't already!).

I won't quit my day job.

Israel Gow on radio?

2011-05-07T12:20:00.002-04:00

A local (Rochester NY) radio production of "The Honour of Israel Gow" may be in the works.

The script is currently being developed - in conjustion with the head of the local Chesterton Society and local Catholic radio.

As I get mdore details, I'll post more information. But it is exciting to learn of a chance for GKC's writing to reach a new and wider audience.

Breaking News

2011-04-19T09:40:00.003-04:00

I have been trying to get deep into lent and especially Holy Week but this news was worth lifting my head for and sharing with all you Chesterton nuts.

Paul Novak’s Table Gype won the MENSA Select award for 2011!
And in the second edition the packaging has been improved as well as wooded game pieces – no longer will “some assembly be required”

If you have yet to get yours now is the time.

Pope Clerihew

2011-04-13T06:38:00.001-04:00

When Alexander Pope
slipped on a bar of soap
the couplet he muttered was neither stoic
nor heroic.

Philosophy matters

2011-04-11T17:09:00.000-04:00

John Paul II sums up the inventible out come of the European existential world view:

"At the root of this loss of hope is an attempt to promote a vision of man apart from God and apart from Christ. This sort of thinking has led to man being considered as 'the absolute center of reality which makes him occupy — falsely — the place of God and which forgets that it is not man who creates God, but rather God who creates man. Forgetfulness of God led to the abandonment of man.' It is therefore no wonder that in this context a vast field has opened for the unrestrained development of nihilism in philosophy, of relativism in values and morality, and of pragmatism — and even cynical hedonism — in daily life. European culture gives the impression of 'silent apostasy' on the part of people who have all that they need and who live as if God does not exist."

But then JP2 is a phenomenologist so he concludes

"Be confident! In the Gospel which is Jesus, you will find the sure and lasting hope to which you aspire. This hope is grounded in the victory of Christ over sin and death. He wishes this victory to be your own, for your salvation and your joy.
"Be certain! The Gospel of hope does not disappoint! Throughout the vicissitudes of your history, yesterday and today, it is the light which illumines and directs your way; it is the strength which sustains you in trials; it is the prophecy of a new world; it is the sign of a new beginning; it is the invitation to everyone to blaze new trails in order to make the continent a true common home filled with the joy of life."

Mussolini clerihew

2011-04-11T17:05:00.001-04:00

We don't know if Benito Mussolini
ever wore a bikini,
but there are reports he once sang a song
while wearing a thong.

2011-04-06T15:55:00.002-04:00

Who doesn't love a good haunted guitar song.
The Guitar by Guy Clark

Chesterton Sighting: Among Humorists

2011-04-01T09:21:00.003-04:00

I was at the library when I spotted a book by Paul Johnson called Humorists: From Hogarth to Noel Coward. The title alone attracted me, but I would probably have passed it by, except on the cover among the list of the "humorists" was ... G.K. Chesterton.

Okay, I had to take it out. He refers to Chesterton as "A Living, Talking Gargoyle," and begins the chapter on GKC with "It is hard to think of Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) without laughing. Or I find so."

He points out that Chesterton found humor in even serious subjects: "GKC never regarded humor as inappropriate, intrusive, or out of place. On the contrary. It was, or should be, welcome always and everywhere, especially in religious discussion."

He gives some background on GKC, noting that like many of his generation he could have become just another "aimless bohemian," but "He was saved by marriage, his wife, Frances, being a sensible and practical person."

I agree with that conclusion. Frances was a gift from God.

Johnson does raise the rumors about the marriage being unconsummated - I find in many of the other chapters in the book he also tends to wander into matters of sexuality - but questions that assumption and argues that it may just be a way GKC's enemies to attack him.

He goes on to provide some interesting (though familiar) insights about Chesterton as a humorist.

The book is clearly intended for folks who might not be familiar with the writings and humor of Chesterton, or who perhaps have not analyzed the humor of some of the other featured humorists (Benjamin Franklin, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, James Thurber, and Charlie Chaplin being among some of the others).

If you spot it, check out what he has to say about Chesterton. It's worth the read - and it's a quick read.

2011-03-22T13:49:00.004-04:00

Pinetop Perkins goes home at 97 and he still had 20 gigs booked for this year. Boy, that man could play.

The Strange Music by G. K. Chesterton

Other loves may sink and settle, other loves may loose and slack,
But I wander like a minstrel with a harp upon his back,
Though the harp be on my bosom, though I finger and I fret,
Still, my hope is all before me: for I cannot play it yet.

In your strings is hid a music that no hand hath e'er let fall,
In your soul is sealed a pleasure that you have not known at all;
Pleasure subtle as your spirit, strange and slender as your frame,
Fiercer than the pain that folds you, softer than your sorrow's name.

Not as mine, my soul's annointed, not as mine the rude and light
Easy mirth of many faces, swaggering pride of song and fight;
Something stranger, something sweeter, something waiting you afar,
Secret as your stricken senses, magic as your sorrows are.

But on this, God's harp supernal, stretched but to be stricken once,
Hoary time is a beginner, Life a bungler, Death a dunce.
But I will not fear to match them-no, by God, I will not fear,
I will learn you, I will play you and the stars stand still to hear.

2011-03-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

There is much talk these days about what is happening in several states about striping teacher unions of their collective bargaining rights. The balance of power between labor and management is a volatile one each side feels the other is taking too much. All states are now facing budget problems states do not produce anything they take and distribute they cannot crank up production to give more they can only take more but there is no more to take. On average 90% of each state’s budget is spent on three things: Education, Medication and Incarceration. They won’t cut medication because that would make them seem heartless and they won’t attack incarceration because that would make them look soft on crime, also both of those programs have many and very strong voters. So they attack education. This is principally the fault of the teachers unions. They have always thought of themselves as invincible and as such have done a very poor job of PR.

Their saying has always been, “It’s for the kids.” now for so many that saying rings hollow. It seems that every voting cycle there is a tax on the ballot for the schools yet test scores are dropping, the number of those going on to college is dropping, school violence is rising - yes by most accounts our schools are failing. True, the percentage of “bad” teachers is below the average of any public industry but the only news we get is from those bad ones. The unions have not spent the energy to publicize the successes.

The education field is hurt because they have taken on the job of parenting, a job they are not equipped for and will always fail at. A village cannot raise a child. At one teachers meeting, I was at, the principal told us we need to find more ways to get the parents involved. My question was, “Why would we want to do that”? No one had an answer. The last thing any teacher wants is being kibitzed by a parent because they do not care about your classroom they only care about their child. As one parent told/demanded of me was that her child needed more individual attention and it was useless to tell her that I have a 40 min class with 30 kids so he will just have to wait his turn to get more than his one minute. I am sure the reason this edict came down for on high was to improve public relations but they did not have the mental tools to complete this program – we are teachers not sales and marketing people.

Also schools are now all teaching to the test. Overall test score are linked to federal dollars. Teachers are no longer given the freedom to follow a train of inquiry. The new merit pay program for teachers will be linked to test results. Schools will become more and more like Dilbert factories that put out defective product.

The attack on unions will not improve education only save money. Lower salaries will not attract quality people but attract more like the one I knew who said, “I only teach to get money for my clothing budget.”

Good game for the first day of spring

2011-03-21T08:08:00.003-04:00

Its Monday the first day of Spring so who wants to work.

Imagine for a moment you're a baby plant - a seed. Depending on the choices your make, your life could go in any direction. You could grow into a beautiful rose or a Venus fly trap. You could get eaten by a bird or crushed by a bowling ball. You might even find yourself babysitting a chorus of giggling baby broccoli florets.

Such is life.

Gameplay: Not so much a game as a series of decisions. Transfer those decisions from your thinker to your computer via the click of your mouse.

Recommended for: Anyone currently circling the circle of life.

Play HERE

PLANNED PARENTHOOD LIES AGAIN

2011-03-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

Somehow I don't think they will really correct the problem - and will continue to deceive.

Ultimate Loyalty: Japanese Dog Stays With Injured Friend

2011-03-17T18:49:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons I love dogs.

Chesterton Sighting

2011-03-17T14:50:00.006-04:00

Of the five seasons I dislike Mud Season the most. Although it is the shortest it is the ugliest. We try to console ourselves with Robin and Crocus sightings
but we walk on roadways to avoid losing a shoe. The rains are relentless, there is flooding and the streams and creeks are swollen to the 10th month with twins capacity. On those days when the rain abates I take lunch in my car trading the gloom of my shop with the gloom of nature. I usually park my car near the pedestrian suspension bridge that spans the wet gash that runs through our park.

This is a good looking bridge that all the area’s first year photographers make a pilgrimage to. I enjoy this structure for its simple man-made beauty. One of the things that has amazed me about this bridge is that it is always sans graffiti. That was until yesterday. The creek it spans was as high as I have ever seen and on one of its anchoring black girders someone wrote in chalk “POOL CLOSED”.

The two things that lightened my heart was of course the sense of humor displayed in this bleak time of year and that this person respectfully wrote in chalk, the next rain will wash it away. Then I thought what kind of person walks around with chalk in their pocket? Could it have been a large human wearing a cape and Pince-nez glasses?

2011-03-15T09:22:00.001-04:00

It seems that today relationships follow this pattern: This is a great deal becomes an ordeal becomes looking for a new deal. And in our sped up world the seven year itch has become the three year glitch. A new survey of 2,000 British adults points to the 36-month mark as a significant point of relationship restlessness. The poll cites weight gain, stinginess and snoring as key factors that seem to be annoying couples earlier than ever, which are big deals in a materialistic world. The poll was commissioned by Warner Bros. in promotion of the U.K. release of its film, Hall Pass, which addresses marital tedium. (I have been married for 32 years and it has been a lot of things but never tedious or as Uncle Gilbert said "The whole pleasure of marriage is that it is a perpetual crisis.").

Incidentally, 34 percent of those polled said the film made them feel slightly better about their partner, while 66 percent said they saw the movie while cheating.

2011-03-02T16:41:00.001-05:00

Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa said, “Whenever a person’s fear of sin comes before his wisdom, his wisdom will endure; but when a person’s wisdom comes before his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure.”

Which is the eloquent way of saying “Sin Makes you stupid”.

Again, although conflicted, I think Live Action undercover videos may come to a bad end. And we should take a pray and wait and see approach. But I know offering prize money to follow that precedent might lead others to “Lie for Jesus”.

Careless drinking

2011-02-25T15:56:00.003-05:00

"... For in so far as drinking is really a sin it is not because drinking is wild, but because drinking is tame; not in so far as it is anarchy, but in so far as it is slavery. Probably the worst way to drink is to drink medicinally. Certainly the safest way to drink is to drink carelessly; that is, without caring much for anything, and especially not caring for the drink. "-gkc

Apology

2011-02-24T15:31:00.001-05:00

In my recent post on helping your Wednesday I mistakenly attributed the quote to Chesterton, it rightfully belongs to Maryanne Williams. I have no excuse.

Indefensible

2011-02-24T09:29:00.000-05:00

Attorney General Eric Holder says the United States will continue to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, but will not defend it in court because he and President Obama have decided it is unconstitutional.

I don't know about you, but I find it alarming when the President and the Attorney General get together and decide that a law is unconstitutional. Last I checked that was not their job. If this stands a precedent will be set that the President can now over turn any Supreme Court decision or just decide which laws are worth obeying. Can you say cafeteria constitutionalism?

In a bizarre letter, to John Boehner, the Attorney General opines that the DOMA violates the Fifth Amendment. You will recall that the Fifth Amendment protects people from having to testify against themselves in court, assures people accused of crimes of due process of law, and keeps private property from being taken without just compensation.

How this could have any bearing on DOMA boggles the mind, but that's why lawyers are paid the big bucks. CNS News explains it far more cogently than the Associated Press. In a nutshell, the Attorney General argues that there is no legal basis for government not recognizing a "marriage" between two men or two women. The only reason he can see is irrational and therefore discriminatory and discriminating irrationally against someone violates his or her implicit right to equal treatment under the law.

Got it?

It's a stretch, but that's the gist of it. According to the Hon. Mr. Holder, Congress can defend the law if it wants to, seeing as how he has washed his hands of doing his job.

“…Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition. Thus we have two great types—the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins.” GKC

This should help your Wednesday

2011-02-23T14:46:00.004-05:00

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -GKC

At Last a Game for Liberal Arts Majors

2011-02-22T10:48:00.002-05:00

Today's Game: The Great Gatsby for NES.

Gameplay: If the literary classic The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald were interpreted by Japanese developers in the 1980s, it presumably would result in something like this runaway Internet hit.

It's actually a decently entertaining platform, featuring the novel's Nick Carraway as the hopping, boomerang death-hat tossing protagonist. Collect coins for extra lives. Down martinis for health. Upgrade your weaponry with snazzier and apparently more aerodynamic hats.

This adaptation ends up being surprisingly faithful to the book, including elements from the bespectacled admirer of Gatsby's library to Daisy Buchanan's fateful automotive accident, to Nick's epic battle against Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's giant floating laser eyes atop a train speeding through the desolate Valley of Ashes.

If you don't remember that last part, clearly you haven't revisited the book since high school. To your local library!

2011-02-21T11:37:00.004-05:00

There has been allot of discussion on the blogger sphere about the work of Live Action and their undercover video’s that expose Planned Parenthood for what they are.

The question is “Can you sin (lie) to bring out a greater good”? Every parent has taught us that ‘two wrongs do not make a right’ and the Church teaches us that ‘the ends do not justify the means’

Many respected Catholic bloggers have come out against the tactics of LiveAction (and here) and yet all of Catholic radio is in favor of it. This type of sting operation has always bothered me. Even on shows like 60 Minutes whenever they did a sting I was always confused for whom to cheer for. When Police do it I always felt it was the quick and lazy way. Whatever good comes out of Live Action’s “undercover work” I think it will be short lived because it is a house built on sand.

That said The House has defunded Planned Parenthood whether the Senate passes it as well looks doubtful and we know Obama will veto it.

Very Cool Stuff

2011-02-19T15:07:00.003-05:00

For those of you unaware of Fr Spitzer please take the time to check out his work - Faith and Reason in action. And of course he can be held up as a role model that the Church is NOT anti-Science. The mission of his Magis Center is: To explore and share the close connection between reason and faith as revealed by new discoveries in astrophysics and philosophy.

The Videos are worth checking out. View them in order (12 of them 10 mins each) yea it will take some time but worth it. Great for Home School lessons.

A GOOD FRIDAY NIGHT TUNE

2011-02-18T15:11:00.005-05:00

2011-02-18T08:27:00.003-05:00

We have all heard of the “Death Panels”in our new health care bill and this begs the question: will we get a Court of Protection?

---------------------------------

"A New Theory of Biology" was the title of the paper which Mustapha Mond had just finished reading. He sat for some time, meditatively frowning, then picked up his pen and wrote across the title-page: "The author's mathematical treatment of the conception of purpose is novel and highly ingenious, but heretical and, so far as the present social order is concerned, dangerous and potentially subversive. Not to be published." He underlined the words. "The author will be kept under supervision. His transference to the Marine Biological Station of St. Helena may become necessary." A pity, he thought, as he signed his name. It was a masterly piece of work. But once you began admitting explanations in terms of purpose – well, you didn't know what the result might be. It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes – make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that the goal was somewhere beyond, somewhere outside the present human sphere, that the purpose of life was not the maintenance of well-being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge. Which was, the Controller reflected, quite possibly true. But not, in the present circumstance, admissible. He picked up his pen again, and under the words "Not to be published" drew a second line, thicker and blacker than the first; then sighed, "What fun it would be," he thought, "if one didn't have to think about happiness!" Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

-------

Yes, G. K. Chesterton thought Huxley’s book sadly laughable, observing that, “However grimly he may enjoy the present, he already definitely hates the future. And I only differ from him in not believing that there is any such future to hate.” Maybe this could be the only place where Gilbert got it wrong, that future is here.

My Dear Watson

2011-02-17T16:02:00.003-05:00

IBM supercomputer Watson made history this week when it defeated former Jepordy! Champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on the popular quiz show. Watson finished the three-day tournament with $77,147.00.

“It was no sweat,” Watson told reporters. “I could have beat those clowns with 80 gigs of RAM tied behind my back.” Watson was later spotted in Hollywood with fellow supercomputers Deep Blue and HAL9000. Huffing aerosol keyboard cleaners and flirting with several shapely iPads.

Chesterton spotting

2011-02-17T15:33:00.002-05:00

In The New York Times of all places Ross Douthat writes:

"Chesterton is rather a publicist and a polemicist on behalf of those ideals. He is not joining some great conversation with Don Scotus, Aristotle, and Nietszche. Rather he is in a constant scrum with Bertrand Russell, Benjamin Kidd, Cecil Rhodes, H.G. Wells, Sidney Webb, Edward Carpenter, W.T. Stead, etc… Notably, only half those names live on and most are dimmer than Chesterton’s. Judged in that company he is sterling. When was the last time you saw an H.G. Wells insight applied to anything? If Chesterton were alive today a similar list would be something like, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Karen Armstrong … Marty Peretz, Stephen Hawking, and Jonathan Chait. If I were going to produce a polemic against Karen Armstrong’s book The History of God – and I dearly would like to – you might be satisfied with a clever review. You wouldn’t chastise me for failing to produce the Summa Theologica. To criticize Chesterton in this regard seems unfair. Besides The Everlasting Man, his books are mostly recycled newspaper material. Next to a considered book of philosophy, Chesterton seems a little smug. Next to a cartoon and letters to the editor and in response to his actual opponents, he’s not only a genius, but a delightful one."

article here

2011-02-16T20:21:00.004-05:00

I have recently completed a series of short stories all fiction and all from a Catholic point of view. I am now in search of a Catholic publisher that might pick up this sort of thing. After an exhaustive search there is no such animal. I have heard and read that there is no audience (outside of magazines) for this type of work. I have found some that will do Christian Poetry and one that specializes in Catholic fiction: Sophia Institute Press. They have some excellent guidelines for success; the most I’ve seen from any publisher Catholic or not. Their main point is to hide the faith or rather make it very subtle. Here are a couple of their tips for Writing About Faith and Faithful or Holy Fictional Characters: Some Recommendations

"...3.) The secular rule, which still holds true for us is: you can get away with any amount of preaching if the character doing it is sufficiently insane, off kilter, evil, or unexpected.

I'm not talking about using a colorful old Irish priest to present your rules on marriage: I'm talking about having a homosexual debaucher pointing out to the main character that he's losing his soul. (Evelyn Waugh brilliantly does this in Brideshead Revisited: "I warned you at great length and in great detail about Charm. It kills art. It kills love. And I fear, Charles, that it has killed you." Charm here is the socially-acceptable compromise with morality that Charles has embraced to escape his boring marriage: no one in the entire book points this out to Charles except for Anthony Blanche, the sinister homosexual character). Readers expect priests and nuns to stand for and speak of morality. They don't expect your villain or your loser or your sappy wallflower to do it. So, for maximum impact, use them, not your openly religious characters!

Don't show normality. Be wary of showing consolations in prayer.

Characters can pray if:

a) they are sufficiently under stress, or better yet, there is a situation causing stress - there is a fire, shooting going on, etc. Anyone, including atheists, can pray then! Having characters getting worked up and crying in prayer really only should be used when circumstances demand it: someone shedding tears mainly over their own sinfulness or someone else's is generally going to read as false.

b) the prayers aren't answered, apparently. This is almost always acceptable. A) works best, actually, if the prayers don't seem to help.

c) the character is sufficiently strange or unexpected

d) the characters are priests, monks, or nuns, whom the reader will expect to see praying and acting in a holy, upright manner. (In fact, if such characters are not seen praying, it might weird the reader out, especially if the nuns or priests are engaged in too many other "normal" activities like playing cards, riding bikes, etc. The reader might think, "If they're just like me, why are they wearing those funny clothes?") For better or worse, prayer is expected from religious, but lay people who are devout are still seen as abnormal.

e) prayer is used for irony: someone prays for chastity and then goes out and starts lusting. The juxtaposition has to be sharp in order to work. This isn't me being nasty: think of how many times we Catholic parents can go from praying devoutly for patience to screaming at our kids!

f) the framework is humorous. Think of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof chastising God, or the Mouse character in LadyHawke bargaining with the Almighty. If someone has a unique or offbeat relationship with God, constant prayer can be fine."

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Seriously, they have laid out some excellent points for any writer and probably should be used in any creative writing class.

I will continue my search for a publisher but my hopes are not as high as when I started. Or as my Dad used to say, “Now the real work begins.”

The Glenn Beck Conspiracy Generator

2011-02-15T07:39:00.003-05:00

Promising “Fair and Balanced Paranoia on Demand,” the Glenn Beck Conspiracy Generator, from About.com’s Political Humor blog, is a fine example of internet technology in service of a greater good.

I don’t have a joke for this one. I just like it. Copy down these algorithm-base screeds, bust them out at your next party or faculty meeting and see if anyone notices the difference. Good, clean, American fun.

To paraphrase G. K. Chesterton, when people stop believing in God they don't believe in nothing, they believe in everything ...The credulous and the gullible are having their day."