"Five Towns Radio -- Playing the Best in Jewish Music 24/6"

"The architecture of the ancient holy Tabernacle is set down in this week's Torah (Bible) portion. Among its appurtenances is the Table, covered with pure gold. It holds lechem panim, typically translated "show bread" (Exodus 25:30). I confess, I don't know the difference between "show" bread and "non-show" bread.

Lechem means bread — simple. Panim, however, connotes "face" and "inside." Panim has a double meaning, each the opposite of the other. The face of something is that which is displayed ("shown") to the outside world. The inside of something is that which is hidden from the outside word. Panim is both outside and inside, the revealed and the concealed. Perhaps the timing, arrangement and timing of this mysterious, meaning-laden bread unfolds its meaning."

The bread seems to be nearly eucharistic in it's meaning, truly a gift from above. Fascinating stuff.

It really hurts so much inside when they say stuff like that. So i guess for now there isn’t anyone. Or maybe there never was.

"In just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit"

I didn't even know this thing existed. Apparently neither does the Times, which is no big surprise. It's a protocol describing the proper boundries of Israel, issued by the Security Council in 1967 to try to protect the country from being overrun. It's more often described, however, as a resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from all occupied territories. Interesting.

"Martin Luther King Jr. called Zionism the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. In 1975, the General Assembly of the United Nations called it an international crime.


The American ambassador to the U.N. at the time, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, summed up that resolution in one word: Obscene. His impassioned protest before the U.N. remains one of the great appeals for justice in the history of that temple of hypocrisy. ("The United States rises to declare before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act.")"

Though, of course, we don't like MLK anymore. He was a clergyman fooling around in politics where he had no business.

"Sources in the Canadian
Senate have revealed to LifeSiteNews.com that the Martin Liberal
government has ordered that the radical homosexual hate crime Bill C-250
and the fatally flawed stem cell Bill C-6 (formerly C-13) are to be
fast-tracked through the Senate. Sources revealed that the two dangerous
pieces of legislation will be passed before the end of March prior to an
election call which, despite notions in the mainstream press, is still set
for the first few days of April.

Although the leadership of the Liberal Party has changed from Jean
Chretien to Paul Martin, this latest development emphasizes that the
Liberals' militant anti-life, anti-family agenda has not even slightly
changed under the new leader.

Representatives from all major faith groups - Catholic, Evangelical,
Orthodox, Islam, Jewish, Hindu - in Canada have sounded the alarm over the
hate crime bill which they have warned will threaten religious freedom and
freedom of conscience and be used to shut down debate over homosexual
marriage.

The pro-life movement has condemned Bill C-6 for:
- its sanction of destructive research on live human embryos
- its allowance of the creation of human embryos for research
- its language loopholes which WILL allow human cloning and
- its sanction of in vitro fertilization which results in the destruction
of countless human embryos.

All concerned citizens are being urged to contact Canadian Senators
immediately to ask them to vote against these two dangerous pieces of
legislation."

So we fall one rung back down the latter towards the glorious civilization of our ancestors. Ah, Babel, what a sweet joy it is to approach you.

Message: 14
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 03:48:33 EST
From: XXXXXXX@aol.com
Subject: Re: "Passion" feedback...

I saw it last night with some friends. A very powerful and moving film.
There are so many parts that I found especially so (and a couple that I
have questions about) and details I'd love to discuss, but I don't want to
spoil the film. It does exactly what a passion play is supposed to do --
it makes the suffering of Jesus real to us, so that we can more greatly
appreciate the love He has for us.

I didn't find the film to be anti-semetic, but I can understand how some
might, especially those who started with the agenda of finding it so. It
shows the priests as being much harsher and crueler than in other films
about Christ. And a lot of gentiles seem to become converts, or at least
have the seeds of conversion planted in them, along Christ's walk to
Calvary -- Pilate's wife, Herod's slave, a Roman soldier. This doesn't
happen as often to the Jews in the film. If someone were really looking
for anti-semitism, they could see these details as such.

If you're not cognizant of who Jesus is and why He is suffering so much,
then the point of the film is lost. It's not the right film for anyone
who's not familiar with the Gospels. It's excellent for those who are and
want to rekindle or deepen their faith. I think that's why the secularists
and liberals don't like it and are trying to discredit it -- they don't
understand it and/or are afraid it will cause Christians to take their
faith more seriously.

yours -- Marj

"The appallingly brief eclipse of anti-Semitism after Auschwitz demonstrates how beguiling is the simplicity of pure stupidity. All of the left's prescriptions for curing what ails society — socialism, communism, psychoanalysis, "progressive" education, etc. — have been discarded, so now the left is reduced to adapting that hardy perennial of the right, anti-Semitism. This is a new twist to the left's recipe for salvation through elimination: All will be well if we eliminate capitalists, or private property, or the ruling class, or "special interests," or neuroses, or inhibitions. Now, let's try eliminating a people, starting with their nation, which is obnoxiously pro-American and insufferably Spartan."

Intriguing . . .

Can someone tell me why everyone thinks I'm Jewish btw? Do I exude that . . . I donno, someone help me out here. I might have to start wearing a pectoral cross or something.

"Good morning. Eight years ago, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as the legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. The act passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 342-67 and the Senate by a vote of 85-14. Those congressional votes, and the passage of similar defense of marriage laws in 38 states, express an overwhelming consensus in our country for protecting the institution of marriage."

Can you say "Bush flips the middle finger at the Dems?"

Of course, it's going to be like that other myth, from 1973, where if you recall 38 states had recently passed legislation restricting further access to abortion at the same time people were trying to project a grassroots uprising in favor of legal baby-killing. If it was such an uprising, how come they didn't vote? That's all I'm asking.

"Let us keep in mind that Josh is not just being fanciful here. The average Joe on the street, if asked, has no idea when the books of the OT were actually written down and could probably name no more than 5 or 10 OT books before spluttering to the ground from the mental strain of recollection. Indeed, I have encountered many people (atheists, New Agers - even Christians) who didn't know when specific parts of the OT were written (neither liberal nor conservative dating); there was only a vague notion of "thousands of years ago." And is this so hard to believe, in an era when, in a Gallup survey, 42 percent of people couldn't name the person who delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and some even thought that it was delivered from horseback? (And this was in America; in some countries, China for example, there are demonstrably people who don't even know that there is an Old or New Testament!)"

Knowledge for all! I'll probably link up to the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the subject soon as well.

"Anyone entertaining the notion that the advancement of "gay rights" needn't adversely affect those with moral objections to the normalization of homosexual unions should pay close attention to what happened to Christopher Kempling.

The British Columbia public school teacher was suspended for a month without pay and received a black spot on his professional record for writing letters critical of the practice of homosexuality to a local newspaper, the Quesnel Cariboo Observer.

The Canadian Charter of Rights protects citizens' freedom of expression and religion, but that was apparently no bar, in the eyes of the British Columbia Supreme Court, to a local teachers panel's punishment of Mr. Kempling.

As one of the justices wrote for the court in denying Mr. Kempling's appeal of the penalty: "Discriminatory speech is incompatible with the search for truth. In addition, [Mr. Kempling's] publicly discriminatory writings undermine the ability of members of the targeted group, homosexuals, to attain individual self-fulfillment...'"

Disagreeing with the elite is a barrier to the truth. Nice.

NY Times:
"Some 49 Republican members of Congress recently signed a letter to President Bush that argued for the retention of the prescription requirement, citing concerns that removing it might lead to greater promiscuity and sexual risk-taking among teenagers. Those concerns were considered and overwhelmingly rejected by the agency's expert panels as unsupported by existing studies, common sense and real-world experience."

Reality: They have been somewhat of a disaster in Britain where they went OTC, though I lost the link about 5 months ago. Who would have guessed that providing cheap abortifacients would decrease people's cares about sex. Not me.

Remember, the people most in favor of legal and cheap abortion are men ages 18-25.

"My first contact with the SOC came last October when I learned that they were preparing to de-recognize the CRs for refusing to sign an adherence clause that would prevent them from limiting membership in their Republican club to people who are actually Republicans. I wanted to make certain that the CRs were not being singled out for de-recognition, so I called the chair of the committee.
During that conversation, I learned that religious groups would soon be forced to admit members regardless of religion or sexual orientation. That disclosure raised even more serious questions. Specifically, I wanted to know why the university thought that its diversity policies trumped the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of association and freedom of religion."

Who needs laws? We have power.

An interesting look at why Tradition, big T, is quite necesssary to do anything worthwhile in life. Not as nuanced or deep as it could be, but def worth the read for anyone interested in the question.

And how glorious it is. Pray for the man, that he may repent.

Whoever tells me where this comes from and why it's significant gets props from me. I know the answer, I'm just trying to figure out if anyone else knows/cares.

"Spiritus Sanctus a Patre et Filio: non factus, nec creatus, nec genitus, sed procedens."

Why did they remove "And the whole people answering, said: His blood be upon us and upon our children" from the movie anyway? Isn't it entirely in Aramaic and unsubtitled? That would make it kind of hard to tell what the crowd was saying unless they play it in like Syria. Someone help me out here.

"In college, Sally Winn found herself in a situation she never expected. She was pregnant, and she realized the school she attended didn't have any resources for pregnant women: no housing, no financial aid and no medical care.

"Do you ever see pregnant women on campus?" she said. "No, because they either drop out or have an abortion."

Winn's situation shed light on the difficulties college women face if they're pregnant. Today, she is vice president of Feminists for Life, and her goal is to get university communities to work with women so they don't have to make such drastic choices.

On Monday, Winn came to UNH and spoke in the MUB about being both pro-life and a feminist.

The event was sponsored by UNH Students for Life, a pro-life organization that focuses on educating both the campus and community on the importance of human life. They believe abortion is wrong because it is a method of human termination and because of the emotional consequences women face."

"There is an old saying that in a vegetable garden even a rose is a weed"

Thanks to Sed Contra for this.

"Christians defending moral teachings on homosexuality are increasingly running foul of laws that ban any negative statements about the subject. A British Anglican bishop, for instance, who suggested that homosexuals seek psychological counseling was the target of a police investigation, the Telegraph newspaper reported Nov. 10.

Bishop Peter Forster of Chester told a local paper: "Some people who are primarily homosexual can reorientate themselves. I would encourage them to consider that as an option, but I would not set myself up as a medical specialist on the subject -- that's in the area of psychiatric health."

Police investigated the statements and a spokesman said a copy of the article would be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service. Subsequently, the police dropped the case, the Independent newspaper reported Nov. 11.

The matter raised fears about restrictions on defending Christian morality, the British-based Christian Institute explained in its January newsletter. It added that the bishop's position was backed up by a lot of academic research. Even a longtime supporter of homosexual rights, Columbia University professor Robert Spitzer, recently published a study finding that homosexuals could become predominantly heterosexual through psychotherapy, the newsletter observed.

Debate also flared last year in the United Kingdom over whether churches should be allowed to refuse employment to homosexuals. The government finally agreed to add a clause to anti-discrimination legislation giving religious organizations the right to exclude a person on the grounds of sexual orientation, the Sunday Times reported June 1. Still, the Christian Institute warned in its January newsletter that employers must be prepared to argue their case in court.

In Ireland, meanwhile, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties warned the Catholic Church that distributing the Vatican guidelines on same-sex unions could bring prosecution. The document published last July by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith falls foul of the Incitement to Hatred Act, according to sources quoted in the Irish Times on Aug. 2."

All points of view are acceptable and morals are relative. We do know, however, that those Catholics are wrong wrong wrong. This is not a contradiction.

We believe in religious freedom except where we disagree with the religion, and then it should be illegal. This is not a contradiction.

We believe in free speach, except where we disagree with what the speaker has to say. Then it's hate speach. It should be illegal.

JW, eat your heart out. This guy looks like he's right up your alley.

"If you've always done it that way, it's probably wrong." - Charles Kettering

Firstly I'd like to say that I am truly grateful to Sed Contra that he gets out there every day and shares his thoughts on these oh so important issues. His perspective is truly impressive. Now into the high points. I was going to say good bits but they're all good, and it sounds pretty British, so I'll skip.

"According to this well researched piece by Stanley Kurtz, the push to same sex marriage in the Nordic countries has resulted in a hastening of the social disillusion of marriage and the resulting impact on rearing kids.

MARRIAGE IS SLOWLY DYING IN SCANDINAVIA. A majority of children in Sweden and Norway are born out of wedlock. Sixty percent of first-born children in Denmark have unmarried parents. Not coincidentally, these countries have had something close to full gay marriage for a decade or more. Same-sex marriage has locked in and reinforced an existing Scandinavian trend toward the separation of marriage and parenthood. The Nordic family pattern--including gay marriage--is spreading across Europe. And by looking closely at it we can answer the key empirical question underlying the gay marriage debate. Will same-sex marriage undermine the institution of marriage? It already has."

"In fact, building on some of what Kurtz wrote and what Mike and I talked about last Saturday, while framing up an extra room on his house, I think America has had de facto (if no de-jure) same sex marriage for decades now. After all, if a man and woman decide to deliberately attempt to thwart their body's potential fertility, rather than simply act within it to schedule or space their possible children, how is their sexual act much different from homosex? Yes, they are using their bodies in a way resonate with their design in the actual act, but they are also using chemicals and devices to make sure their act remains as sterile as any homosexual act would be."

So, yeah. We live in a society, as I seem to recall. Now, it is libertarians who deny this and the left, as far as I can tell, that would affirm this. Thus we have initiatives for safer neighborhoods and safer schools and whatnot on the basis that these things make people's lives better, something Joe L-t would probably deny. So, if we attempt to redefine one of the most important parts of our society, how can it help but change everything? If we're living in a community, and someone's doing something in the community, it affects me. Directly. It doesn't matter if they're painting their house orange or beating their kids, the fact that they do it in private doesn't change the fact that it affects the health of the society that I share with them. Or, as Hilaire Belloc put it, the "flavor" of a society is distinctly different when these things are going on. So it is with sex. If people are contracepting and engaging in homosex, it directly affects me. It directly affects everything that I do and the way that I live, because indeed we are one society, one brotherhood, if you will. If I am everyone's brother, then surely brothers care about what their brothers are doing.

"On a side note, isn't it interesting that Judge Roy Moore could flout the the interpretation of the law from a federal Judge and keep the ten commandments in the Courthouse and the media was filled with commentary about how perniciously he had behaved and yet the mayor of a major U.S. city could decide to do the same with law on the books, not even a judicial opinion, and there is nary a peep of scorn from the Englightened Scribes of the Fourth Estate? The way this story has been covered is perhaps the best instance of media bias that I have seen in years."

Interesting. San Fransisco violates state law by issuing marriage lisences to gay couples and it's ok. Judge Moore does it and he gets crucified. Very interesting. Perhaps a little Roe effect is in action here. You know. People protesting in front of abortion mill X, that's organized crime and we're suing under RICO. People killing their children, not so bad.

NYU Students for Life has started a new blog. It's called NYU Students for Life, which isn't terribly surprising. And I'm a contributer there until i get kicked out by Jenni! Now we just have to post something worth reading.

Also, Jon F should be coming on board here soon, I hope. True wisdom has that one.

Chastity is something that I have often struggled with in my life and continue to do so on a daily basis. Sometimes I fail. This article, I think, lays it all out, the stakes and the contest, or perhaps certamen, as St. Augustine would say.

"The ability to appreciate this larger story empowers men who believe the traditional, received Gospel narrative to transcend an anti-Semitic view of the passion. But it is an uncomfortable view to the modern mind, which prefers to find real evil only in comfortably-faceless structures, reassuringly-amorphous systems, and happily-guiltless neuroses. When Adam and Eve had thrown off an onerous revelation, they tried to shed the blame onto others; Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the Serpent, none of them ever blamed themselves. There are echoes today, and throughout history, when Christians have found the revelation of Jesus' death onerous and uncomfortable and have tried to invent new tellings of the Gospel in which Pontius Pilate and the conveniently-defunct Roman Empire were to blame, or in which "the Jews" and not ourselves were the cause of His suffering. The truth is otherwise. The truth is that the larger Christian narrative sets the Jewish community's rejection of Jesus as a story-within-a-story that involves all our sins and all God's love. It tells us that we have all -- Jew and Gentile -- been caught in adultery, and that none of us can lay off our guilt onto others.
. . .
This knowledge exists in anyone who understands that the passion was suffered for him, for his adulteries then, now, and in the future. It was alive even in the old Church which prayed on Good Friday for the "perfidious Jews" -- the same liturgy had the Christian worshipers playing the crowd which called for His death. It lies at the heart of the Christian faith. Critics of The Passion ask too much, and expect too little, when they claim that Christians can never tell this story-within-a-story without turning our backs on the Son of God.

Why do so many Jews not understand this about us? Why do they persist in viewing traditional thinking about Christianity's central narrative as a toxic, anti-Semitic relic which must be jettisoned? Because we have taught them that's what it is. Ghettoes in every city have taught it to them. Burned and ruined synagogues have taught it to them. Desecrated Torah scrolls have taught it to them. A hundred million slights, a hundred million acts of hatred, have taught it to them. Six million dead have taught it to them. Did we really expect them to learn nothing from our witness? From our "evangelization"? I cannot speak for them, I don't pretend to. But I know my own heart, and if this were my history it would take a miracle to dissuade me from believing that the traditional Christian account of Jesus' passion, like the traditional Christian account of Jesus himself, is malignant to the extent that it is believed."

"Dear Christina,
Jesus was rather explicit in stating His expectations of those who follow Him: 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.' (Luke 9:23). In Matthew 6:17-18 He says, 'But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know that you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.'
Basically, Christina, talk is cheap. Anyone can say ' I love you.' But we really know how much others love us by how willing they are to put themselves out for us. And we know how much they matter to us by how willing we are to put ourselves out for them. Jesus said that no one can love a friend more than to lay down one's life for him or her (John 15:13). Sacrifice is the measure of love--as Jesus has shown us.
True, Jesus did not need anything from us in order to redeem us. But He does want our love. He has wanted our love enough to suffer and die for it. To love Him is the greatest thing we can do for ourselves. And He wants this for us because He loves us that much.
This is all that it is, Christina. It's a matter of love.
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P. "

"For most of his life, he has buried his emotions and masked his long-secreted attraction. It wasn't until recently that Ashford decided to throw off the shackles of pedophilia and shed light on what he says is a misunderstood 'sexual orientation.' Last year, he became perhaps one of the first pedophiles in the world to put his name and face on a Web site to publicly profess his love for children.
'I am tired of being forced into the shadows by society,' Ashford said recently in an e-mail interview. 'I have committed no crime, therefore there is no good reason that I should have to hide myself. As long as pedophiles continue to hide, there is no chance of them ever being accepted.'
Ashford, an American expatriate living in the south of France, believes it is time the public learned pedophiles are different from child molesters in that they enjoy a romantic and emotional, but not always sexual, connection with children. He also believes it is time for a child rights movement that will give kids more say in how to live their lives."

No, contraception doens't lead to abortion doesn't lead to homosexuality doesn't lead to polygamy doesn't lead to pedophilia doesn't lead to complete solipsism. The fact that all of these things are happening just as predicted doesn't mean that the people who predicted them were right.

Honest.

"'The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding), lies here, food for worms; but the work shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author.'"

"As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her visitation,(9) nor did the Jews in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a few opposed its spreading.(10) Nevertheless, God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle.(11) In company with the Prophets and the same Apostle, the Church awaits that day, known to God alone, on which all peoples will address the Lord in a single voice and 'serve him shoulder to shoulder' (Soph. 3:9).(12)
Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues.
True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ;(13) still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ.
Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time "

There you have it. Vatican II dismisses the charge of deicide, that all Jews are responsible for the death of Christ. It does not dismiss that some Jews once were the immediate impetus for the death of Christ. Remember, read before you quote.

Mel Gibson is not his father. His father was a kook. He even seems to like Vatican II. He probalby isn't a sedevanantist. I haven't seen the movie but the friends say it's excellent. We'll see.

I also don't appreciate this:
"Take, f'rinstance, Rabbi Boteach, who informs us that Matthew's Passion account is a "fabrication used to justify Christian anti-Judaism, and a pathetic attempt on the part of the fledgling Christian community to suck up to the powerful Romans by portraying them as humane and innocent and the Jews as vengeful and vicious."
which is here (many thanks to Mark Shea for letting me steal his stuff).

But whatcha gonna do.

"Grab a cup of coffee...

...and read this two-part essay by Edward Feser on the academic slant to the left (here and here). Here's an interesting quote that is far more honest than the posturing I typically get from my atheist readers. It's from atheist philosopher philosopher Thomas Nagel on his 'fear of religion' in Part II:

'I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally, hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that. My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about human life, including everything about the human mind.'

To which my response is: would that most atheists were as honest as he. Most of them waste everybody's time posturing as people who have impartially weighed the evidence and come to the conclusion (more in sorrow than in anger, mind you) that there is no God. They're just objective rationalists analyzing the truth. While religious believers are, of course, needy people who are living a wish fulfillment fantasy that integrated adult personalities (such as atheists) have 'outgrown'.

Right. In my experience, I have never met an atheist who was not investing a helluva lot of will in demanding that God not exist. It's a massive act of faith and will. At least Nagel admits it. Puts him way ahead"

"You must learn to turn your eyes away."
-- Albert Speer, the architect of Adolf Hitler's Jewish Extermination Program

"Memorial formerly 24 March; removed from the calender and veneration forbidden in 1965 by the Sacred Congregation of Rites

Profile A child who was apparently murdered around Easter time. His death was attributed to local Jews who were accused of killing a Christian child out of hatred for Christ. Libel of the day claimed they needed his blood to make matzoh bread for Passover. Seventeen Jews were tortured into confessions. Miracles were reported through Simon's intercession, but the incident is a matter of anti-Semitism rather than sanctity."

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper virgini, beato Michaeli archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistae, beatis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, et omnibus sanctis, quia peccavi cogitatione, verbo, et opere, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maximo culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper virginem, beatum Michaelum archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, beatos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes sanctos, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum. Amen.

"Following are the first two paragraphs of a letter which the President of PLAGAL (Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians) recently received from Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force regarding the upcoming pro-choice rally scheduled for April.

Thank you for your recent letters asking that we withdraw
our suport for the March for Choice.

Since our founding 30 years ago, we have believed that
reproductive freedom and complete equality for LGBT people
are inextricably intertwined causes. We have never wavered
from this position and will not do so now.

In other words, gay rights activists believe that complete freedom for homosexuals requires we murder the unborn. What I want to know is, 'What kind of people would insist that other innocent human beings pay with their lives for their own sexual libertinism?'

Oh that's right. Pro-choicers. I forgot.

Seems to me that if homosexual activists are serious about convincing this nation that gays are as moral as anyone else, they could start by dissociating their movement from the ongoing genocide."

"Starting in the fourteenth century, Starhawk argued, religious and secular authorities began a 400-year campaign to eradicate the Old Religion by exterminating suspected adherents, whom they accused of being in league with the devil. Most of the persecuted were women, generally those outside the social norm-not only the elderly and mentally ill but also midwives, herbal healers, and natural leaders, those women whose independent ways were seen as a threat. During 'the Burning Times,' Starhawk wrote, some nine million were executed. The Old Religion went more deeply underground, its traditions passed down secretly in families and among trusted friends, until it resurfaced in the twentieth century. Like their ancient forebears, Wiccans revere the Goddess, practice shamanistic magic of a harmless variety, and celebrate the eight feasts, or sabbats, sometimes in the nude."

Interesting . . . sadly not the case though. It may be what's advocated, but it's certainly not what history shows. Reminds me of the faithful remanant idea actually, but at any rate read on. Fascinating.

"May 28: Saint Germain


He was almost aborted by his mother, and later one of his aunts tried to poison him. Again We can find no more about this Saint, who was a victim of severe child abuse from before his birth!

PRAYER: Saint Germain, you were afflicted by your family in most terrible ways. Intercede before God for all abused children, that He may help them and comfort them and lead them from misery in their life to happiness in eternal life. Amen. "

"I recently read a newspaper report about a brutal rape and murder of a teenage girl. The defendant in the case faces the death penalty. Emerging from the courtroom prior to the sentencing of the accused man, the murdered girl's father stated that he didn't believe that she would have wanted the accused put to death.

I find such a statement in the context of so painful a situation simply staggering. I can't explain it. It seems beyond anything that would ever occur to me. I wouldn't, for a moment, presume that I could ever muster such grace were I the father."

Quite beautiful, quite thought provoking.

"Priest in Rome, possibly a bishop. Physician. Imprisoned for giving aid to martyrs in prison, and while there converted the jailer by restoring sight to the jailer's daughter."

Happy St. Valentine's Day. This is the day for bee keepers, epilepsy, fainting, plague, travellers, fainting and such. Also, love and greeting cards.

In ancient shadows and twilights
Where childhood had strayed,
The world's great sorrows were born
And its heroes were made.
In the lost childhood of Judas
Christ was betrayed.

GW Russell

"Message: 2
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 08:08:40 -0500
From: "David Hasser"
Subject: RE: Re[2]: Digest Number 560

Salve!

O.-M., gratias tibi ago!

-DJH

-----Original Message-----
From: Oleg-Michael Martynov [mailto:xxxxxx@yandex.ru]
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 6:10 AM
To: chris garton-zavesky
Subject: Re[2]: [RatzingerFanClub] Digest Number 560

Ave!

O Christopher! Hic Gallice loqui non omnes possunt. Cur Latine non
scribis? Latina lingua franca omnis Catholicis est. Decerterisne? :-)

cgz> Un quebecois enfin!  Une discussion qui m'interesse grace a la langue
cgz> employee.  Et quel discours!

- O.-M."

Can I just say that I am inordinately pleased to find that I'm not the only person on the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club list who thinks we should be exchanging everythign in Latin.

Eugepae!

# posted by Squach : 9:07 AM   |  0 comments

"Dear Friend of Choice:

From day one, the Bush administration has deliberately and doggedly
attempted to turn back decades of progress in our struggle for
reproductive freedom. On April 25th, I will be marching in Washington,
D.C. with thousands of women and men from across the country to
demonstrate overwhelming majority support for women's right to choose
safe, legal abortion and birth control, and women's right to
self-determination.

I hope that you will join me in representing the 88th Assembly District of
New York State at the march. I am organizing a bus that will depart from
the Vernon Hills Shopping Center (Lord and Taylor) in
Eastchester/Scarsdale. Please see the attached registration form for more
details.

WE ARE MARCHING BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IN:

*Timely, affordable and culturally appropriate reproductive health care
for all, including low-income women whose ability to obtain services is
currently impeded by Hyde Amendment restrictions or by lack of insurance;
*An end to state-imposed restrictions on abortion rights in many parts of
the country, such as 24-hour waiting periods, state-mandated biased
counseling and forced parental notification; *Provision of comprehensive,
medically-accurate sexuality education and provider training; *Freedom
from government intrusion into private decisions about sexuality and
reproduction; *An end to discrimination in health care on the basis of
income, race, ethnic background, legal status, or sexual orientation; and
*The right of each woman to use her own ethical and/or religious beliefs
to make decisions about whether and when to have children-unrestricted by
institutional religious policies.

We must show the White House that we will not go back and we will not rest
until all people, all over the world, have the right to high quality,
affordable, accessible, and safe reproductive health care.

Please call Victoria Broccolo at my District Office (914-723-1115) for
additional information.

Thank you."

My response, in bold:

Assemblywoman,

If I may quote Ghandi:"It seems to me clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime."

Perhaps Lincoln. In one of his debates with Lincoln in 1858, Douglas scolded his opponent for telling the people in the slave states that their institution violated the law of God. "Better for him," he said, to cheers and applause, "to adopt the doctrine of `judge not lest ye be judged.'"

Emma Goldman?
"The custom of procuring abortions has reached such appalling proportions in America as to be beyond belief...So great is the misery of the working classes that seventeen abortions are committed in every one hundred pregnancies."
Mother Earth, 1911

Elizabeth Cady Stanton?
"When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit."
Letter to Julia Ward Howe, October 16, 1873, recorded in Howe's diary at Harvard University Library

Susan B. Anthony?
"Guilty? Yes. No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; But oh, thrice guilty is he who drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime!"
The Revolution, 4(1):4 July 8, 1869

Even Planned Parenthood has admitted that anti-abortion people make up most of the country. If they admit it, the actual figures must be much more skewed.

This is not the White House that you march against. It is the people of the United States, and the people of the world. I ask you to recall a particular session of the UN General Assembly a few years ago when several nations marched in a group of adolescents who, claiming to speak for all the young people of the world, demanded contraception and abortion on demand enforced by the UN. You will recall, I think, that very soon after that a rather larger group of people marched in and told the General Assembly that the others were not speaking for all the young people of the world, and that in fact most of the youth didn't want any of that. Such was the beginning of the World Youth Alliance, now a million strong, responsible in large part for the pro-life victories at Bejing+5.

Perhaps the Feminists for Life would be more your style. http://www.feministsforlife.com . Or perhaps Atheists for Life. I'm not sure.

Our understanding of self-determination is that your right to swing your fist ends when it meets your neighbor's jaw. I don't think you need any religion to understand that. Nor do I propose any religious answers to what you have said. I'm quite sure that I would disagree violently with Ghandi, Goldman, Stanton, Anthony, and Lincoln about any religious point that could be brought up. But abortion, we all agree on.

An interesting statistic. The most pro-life people in this country are ages 12-30. Those most in favor of abortion, as any 19th century feminist could have told you, are males ages 18-25. I don't think I need to explain why that is.

If I may end as I ended our last exchange, fetus is just the Latin word for child. It was meant, once, to be cute. I do not think it was intended to become a curse.

Sincerely,
David Solimano

"Inevitably, this article led to horrified press reports that Gibson's father was a 'holocaust denier'(a charge that both Mel and his father emphatically reject) and gave rise to suspicions that his unfinished film about Jesus expressed some anti-Semitic agenda. After all, the few facts known about the project prior to its completion made it sound weird, eccentric, and excessive. The star invested nearly $25 million of his own money to make the film.At one time he suggested that the dialogue, almost entirely in Aramaic with a smattering of Latin, would appear without subtitles. Reports from the set suggested that leading man Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line, The Count of Monte Cristo), another devout Catholic, had become so immersed in the role that he suffered significant injury while filming the violent torture of Christ. The rumors about the movie reached such an intense pitch that Paula Fredriksen's bruising attack on a film she had never seen appeared under the sneering headline,'Mad Mel.'
Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League, the world's most prominent watchdog group combating anti-Semitism, had received an early, unauthorized copy of Gibson's script (presumably before its translation into Aramaic) and assembled a group of Catholic and Jewish scholars to evaluate it. Gibson and colleagues were furious that this stolen script, which they insist has been changed in many of its essential elements, was subject to such analysis. Predictably, the scholars 'unanimously agreed that the screenplay reviewed was replete with objectionable elements that would promote anti-Semitism.' In a blistering June 24 press release, the ADL expressed very public concerns that The Passion would 'portray Jews as bloodthirsty, sadistic, and moneyhungry enemies of Jesus.'
At this ppoint, I became personally involved in the burgeoning controversy. As a film critic and cultural commentator who also happens to be an observant Jew (and a long-time president of an Orthodox congregation), I felt heartsick over the harsh denunciations of an unfinished motion picture that almost no one had seen. In the past, I've supported and spoken for the Anti-Defamation League, even serving as one of the featured speakers for its national convention eight years ago. I called the ADL office in New York City to express my opinion that the hostile tone of its press statements would destroy all chance that Gibson might cooperate in making adjustments to his motion picture. I also invited ADL director Abe Foxman to discuss the controversy over The Passion on my nationally syndicated radio show, but on several occasions he declined. In discussing the issue on my broadcasts, and in an op-ed column, I emphasized my sense that Gibson had been unfairly targeted with wildly premature attacks on his movie, and by a guilt-by-association campaign focused on his elderly father.

I also expressed my belief that the criticism of his unseen movie stemmed in part from the predominantly liberal political perspective of the Anti-Defamation League and other groups speaking for the Jewish establishment. Numerous commentators have noted recent shifts in the political allegiance of Jewish voters. George W. Bush has won greater popularity in the Jewish community than any Republican since Ronald Reagan. And fervent support for Israel by evangelical Christians has produced an increasingly vibrant alliance between committed Jews and Christian conservatives. The ADL, which has been outspokenly critical of the so-called "Christian Right" on many occasions, clearly looks askance at this emerging coalition. Could the controversy over The Passion help to divide Jews from the fervent Christians likely to embrace the film?"

Well, I doubt he's a homophobe since, to quote the Iona Prep days, he's a raging homo. But he doesn't like this same sex marriage stuff one bit. For some of the reasons I don't too which is odd. There may be hope yet. Maybe he's like Nat Hentoff . . .

"Pierre, South Dakota, Feb. 11 (CWNews.com) - South Dakota's House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would outlaw most abortions in the state. The bill, which passed 54-15, outlaw's all abortions, except where the mother's life is in danger. It does not include exceptions for rape or 'health,' a catch-all term that includes emotional problems and would allow abortion for virtually any reason.

The bill's chief sponsor, Republican Rep. Matt McCaulley, said of the health exception: 'When we're considering an innocent life, the health of the mother is not a substantial enough justification to take the innocent life.'"

"Catholicism has been represented far more frequently than any other faith. I've probably seen more films about the Catholic Church (and movies with nuns or priests as supporting characters) than all other religions put together. Just from the last four years, I could easily put together a Catholic Film Festival -- but I don't think too many Catholics would be pleased with the entries."

This looks pretty bad . . . ah I love the US.

Scott (10:21:48 PM): you big gay panda
Me (10:21:56 PM): mwah

"Begging the doctor once more, Walsh tried an appeal to his humanity. 'If the poor little darling has one chance in a thousand,' she pleaded, 'won't you operate to save it?'
Haiselden laughed at Walsh, retorting, 'I'm afraid it might get well.' He was a skilled and experienced surgeon, trained by the best doctors in Chicago. He was also an ardent eugenicist. Allan Bollinger duly died. An inquest was convened a few days later. Haiselden defiantly declared, 'I should have been guilty of a graver crime if I had saved this child's life. My crime would have been keeping in existence one of nature's cruellest blunders.' A juror shot back, 'What do you mean by that?' Haiselden responded, 'Exactly that. I do not think this child would have grown up to be a mental defective. I know it.'"

Love that American eugenics programming.

"It might sound silly, or even naive. But all of our high-tech know-how and military prowess, our scientific advances and wireless technologies, have not succeeded in extricating Israel from its current mess. Our modern solutions have failed us, so why not turn to the wisdom of yesteryear?"

I'm not sure if I agree with his analysis, but I agree wholeheartedly with his conclusion. It seems to me that only prayer can really win a battle. The most important battles, after all, are internal, not external. You may be enslaved, but no one can make you abandon your Lord.

"A devastating abortion rate of 70% has, during the past 12 years, claimed the lives of the equivalent of one-third of Romania's stagnant population of 24 million people."

Can i just say yikes.

This is a little more vivid that I have been imagining.

"Message: 8
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 08:22:53 -0500
Subject: Re: Mashiach ben Joseph

In a message dated 2/10/2004 5:55:10 AM Eastern Standard Time,
athol writes:

> There are five levels of Torah. Judaisim only uses four - the fifth is
> the interpretation of Torah by the Messiah of the hidden mysteries.

The four levels used in Judaism are called Pardes:

[P]ashat (Heb. "simple")
[R]emez (Heb. "hint")
[D]rash (Heb. "search")
[S]od (Heb. "hidden")

The Pashat is the literal meaning.
Remez is the implied meaning of the text.
Drash is the allegorical, typological, or homiletical application of the
text. Sod is the hidden, secret or mystic meaning of a text.

This is VERY similar to the medieval Quadriga - the four fold method of
exegesis used in the Patristic and Middle Ages:

Literal
Analogical
Anagogical
Prophetic

Art
Omnes semper - ad Jesum, per Mariam, cum Petro!"

Isn't that coolness. Apparently there's a fifth messianic meaning to the Torah too. Though I have sort of heard that one before.

"So when will other bishops in similar situations wake up? I suggest a respectful approach that some laity may consider taking. When the next diocesan fundraising campaign begins, let the local bishop know respectfully and charitably that in good conscience you are forwarding your contribution to a pro-life organization or charity in lieu of your usual contribution to the diocesan appeal, until such time that pro-abortion Catholic politicians are publicly barred from receiving communion. (I recall Fr. Benedict Groeschel, now thankfully recovering from his injuries, suggesting a similar tactic in other circumstances. He even suggested attaching a photocopy of your check to the other charity or organization that got your redirected money.) Not every one will be comfortable with this approach, but those of us who are comfortable with this approach will be giving a strong witness as lay people that will benefit all Catholics in the long run."

Effective and democratic. I don't think even the NYT could blame bishops for doing what their people wanted.

"Egan is 'entitled to his opinions but he shouldn't be dictating to the government who gets a civil marriage license,' said Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry."

Right, Cardinal Egan went up to Congress and told the government what it's laws were going to be. Since when did calling for a democratic process become dictating?

"So, now, it is about 12 years later. He was right. We have move from being a 'couple' to living in a community, a state which, ironically, resembles being married a great deal. One of the saddest thing about the way so many are discussing this topic is that it effectively leaves the sort of relationship Dan and I have out of the mix. By essentially using same sex marriage as a screen behind which to advocate for homosex acceptability, same sex marriage advocates have decided to ignore the sorts of deep friendships that people of the same sex can share that have a lot of the same characteristics as marriage."

Interesting.

"The episcopate's press director, Father Jorge Oesterheld, explained that the statement responds to the debate that arose following statements by Carmen Argibay -- proposed by President Nestor Kirchner on Dec. 30 to be a member of the Supreme Court of Justice -- who said she is a 'militant atheist' and in favor of abortion.

On Jan. 8, Bishop Jorge Luis Lona of San Luis, manifested his rejection of Argibay's pro-abortion position, and said she was proposed for the post 'to modify the letter or the meaning of the Constitution, making possible the legalization of abortion in Argentina.'"

So, the Argentinian president wants to appoint a supreme court justice with the purpose of gutting the constitution she's sworn to defend. I've heard that one before.

"President Bush's announcement is a historic beginning, truly not unlike Richard Nixon's trip to China. The White House initiative doesn't get everything right, and there is much work still to be done by both the administration and Congress. But the president has taken a critical first step and he deserves credit--both for taking on the broken status quo and for articulating a conservative case for change. What, after all, could be more conservative than encouraging the American Dream, rewarding work, restoring the rule of law and enhancing our security? "

Sorta . . . but I'm a big fan of immigration either way so. After all, when my family got here they were saying how the Italians were just going to come and steal everyone's jobs because they worked for nothing and were unamerican. We all know how much of a disaster those Italians were, they just wrecked the country. Yeah. Not gonna happen with the Mexicans either. I say, the more the merrier.

Of course we do have more of a welfare state now, but odds are it's gonna collapse anyway so why bother if this makes it go faster? It's a good incentive to make a new plan.

"Message: 6
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 21:10:21 -0000
From: "yuhannon"
Subject: Re: Oldest Liturgy

Shlomo Ruel,

Both the Liturgies of St. James and Addai & Mari are considered the
oldest. If you every go to an Orthodox Jewish Liturgy you will see
many similarities.

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.

# posted by Squach : 9:29 AM   |  0 comments

"In the case of a film these questions are particularly crucial, because the face of a particular actor, or the background of a particular scene, can become etched in the memory, making it difficult to imagine the person or the event in any other way. So when my friends-virtually without exception-began voicing their enthusiasm for Mel Gibson's cinematic portrayal of the Passion, I began to ask: Can I be confident in Gibson's artistic judgment? My answer is No.
VISCERAL REACTIONS
My misgivings have absolutely nothing to do with the allegations that Gibson's movie is tinged by anti-Semitism. That is an old canard, raised regularly by people who would like to censor the Gospels themselves. Rather I am concerned by the reports that Gibson-whose cinematic career has featured far more than its share of celluloid blood and gore-takes pride in a graphic portrayal of our Lord's physical suffering. "

Well, Father B saw it and he said it was excellent, so I'm going to see it. But this is interesting.

So, something to think about for Saturday. What is friendship? Why is it good? What are different types of friendship?

Went to a seminar on the examined life today. Excellent.

MA Constitution Article V: All causes of marriage, divorce, and alimony, and all appeals from the judges of probate shall be heard and determined by the governor and council, until the legislature shall, by law, make other provision.

So, the courts have no say in this whole question by the very constitution that they act under. How in the world did they come to the conclusion that they have jurisdiction? How come anyone cares what they say? They are, I think, overstepping their bounds.

Of course, since we let the Surpreme Court do that in the 60s I guess one could make the argument that they thought they could get away with it too.

"Our unbiased press

'With just four letters Ohio lawmakers have redefined marriage in the state.'

In the Orwellian lexicon of the mainstream media, to restate that marriage is what it has always been is to 'redefine' it.
posted by Mark Shea at 9:21 AM"

"Burke's loudest and most sustained applause - over 30 seconds - came after his two-line mention of the respect of life 'from conception to a natural death' with his regret that 'too many lives have already been taken by violence.''"

Amen.

"Yet Mikey's story is not, in the end, one of terrible suffering, but of faith and triumph. Death was Mikey's lifelong companion. Yet he graduated Yeshiva University, and hoped one day to go to medical school. After his lung transplant, he was the lead drummer at the NCSY West Coast convention, and cut CDs. He kept in constant Email contact with hundreds of friends around the globe."

We need not more reformers, but more saints.

"Various system services, such as SYS$ASCTIM assume that the year 2000 will be a leap year. Although one can never be sure of what will happen at some future time, there is strong historical precedent for presuming that the present Gregorian calendar will still be in affect
by the year 2000. Since we also hope that VMS will still be around by
then, we have chosen to adhere to these precedents."

LOL. You have to read this. Never ask a DEC engineer what's wrong with the clock.

Why? I donno. Looks good though.

"The second factor that enabled the radical character of these decisions to pass under the radar is that most people just couldn’t believe the Supreme Court would do such a thing. When I have explained the extreme permissiveness of American abortion law to people, one of the most common reactions is: “That can’t be right.” I’ve found that most people—including many law professors—have a great deal of difficulty wrapping their minds around the idea that the Court would permit the intentional destruction of a healthy infant who was capable of living outside his or her mother’s body, when the mother’s health (in the ordinary meaning of that word) is not in serious danger. That’s why polls show that the same people who say they approve of Roe v. Wade also say they believe that abortion should not be permitted except for grave reasons, and that it should never be permitted after viability except to save the mother’s life."

Fascinating history lesson, as well as a future projection.

We live in a country with the most extreme abortion laws in the world, and the Democratic candidates to a man don't think they're extreme enough. Something's wrong here.

"Kathy Harben, a spokeswoman for the agency, intimated that the CDC's long-standing support of 'safe sex' might be up for review - at least when it comes to the human papillomavirus (HPV).
'The available scientific evidence is not sufficient,' she said, 'to recommend condoms as a primary prevention strategy for prevention of genital HPV infection.'
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the country and is associated with almost every case of cervical cancer."

HPV's a little nasty. I think it's actually skin to skin tranfer, but I'm not sure. But for the CDC to say that condoms may not be the solution to the world's problems . . . that's scary.

"In other words, the guardianship plan is supposed to be reviewed by the court prospectively, not retrospectively, which makes sense since its purpose is to ensure that the plan is appropriate to the ward's future needs. (This is not the same thing at all as reviewing an accounting of past expenditures.) Moreover, the approved guardianship plan constitutes the guardian's authority to act, and the guardian's actions are limited by the contents of the plan in the coming year. Thus, it would appear that a Florida guardian of the person has no legal authority in the absence of an approved plan.
Yet, despite these very clear statutory mandates, Judge Greer only shrugs his shoulders at Schiavo's apparent unwillingness to file annual plans. Indeed, he has instead six times granted Schiavo's requests for 'time extensions' for the July 2001-June 2002 plan. It is now almost 3 years late. He also just approved a time extension permitting Schiavo further time to file his guardianship report that should have been in place between July 2002 and June 2003. By granting these repeated extensions Judge Greer sends a clear message to Michael Schiavo: I am not going to require you to comply with the statutes."

Don't you love it when the "rule of law" becomes an excuse to push your agenda by only upholding the laws you like?

"Your Eminence,
We the undersigned respectfully request that you immediately put an end to the research using aborted fetal cell lines at Georgetown University or take action to remove its Catholic identity. It is an outrage and a scandal that any Catholic facility could condone the use of aborted fetal cell lines, regardless of how long ago the abortions occurred. Are we to believe that the passage of time diminishes the sin?"

Sign it.

"Sorry for the multiple emails but here is a little news.

If you have ever had a question concerning the Catholic Church and/or the
Church's stance on the subject Thursday night is an opportunity for you to
have these questions answered and listen to your peers question. Father
Jacek is hosting a discussion on any topic people wish to know about. HE
will explain the Church's position and the we will dissect the issue as a
group. A flyer is attached but here are the details. It will be Thursday
night at 8 in W502 Lerner Hall.

Best,
Tom Longo"

I won't be around, but I can answer some too!

"Among other points, the letter mentions two sticking points of the abortion debate: quickening and conscience. I was surprised, however, to find some of the responses to the letter reflecting a weariness towards these two points. It's true that these arguments have been trotted out both to support abortion and oppose it. Still, while worn and frayed from overuse and even misuse, arguments about quickening and conscience offer important insights."

An attempt to see what Pater Theologiae himself would have thought had he had access to modern technology. The concept of anima is key, for what Aquinas and others meant by animation and thought happened at 40 to 80 days was pretty much what we know happens at conception.

Reminds me of people who attack the Ptolemaic system as being a Catholic attempt to silence science. Ptolemy, of course, was a pagan scientist who arrived at his conclusion not by looking up in the sky and seeing if the sun went around the earth (duh, it does). Instead he took measurements of stars and tried to see if there was any parallex 6 months apart when the earth would be on opposite sides of the sun. Think holding a finger in front of you and closing one eye and then the other. Of course, if you move far enough away, there won't be any parallex. It would be as if you had one eye at the center of your head. Sort of. Ptolemy, unable to find any parallex, concluded that the Earth had to be stationary, scientifically. That, of coruse, was the greatest argument against heliocentrism, and one that took a little while to be rectified by more accurate measurements. Science, as usual, was at play.

"I will certainly grant that Jody (in the argument referred to by Minute Particulars) is an eloquent writer, but his two arguments are essentially: (1) things matter because you shouldn't be selfish, and (2) things matter because they end. (1) is ridiculous on its face, for he fails to explain why, in the absence of an overriding moral code, selfishness is wrong. (2) fails because it boils down to 'things matter because they are important.'"

But she left me a comment, and I don't speak portugeese. I do, however, recognize the word sexo and also amor. And the pictures helped. Any thoughts?

"MR. JUSTICE WHITE, with whom MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST joins, dissenting.
At the heart of the controversy in these cases are those recurring pregnancies that pose no danger whatsoever to the life or health of the mother but are, nevertheless, unwanted for any one or more of a variety of reasons -- convenience, family planning, economics, dislike of children, the embarrassment of illegitimacy, etc. The common claim before us is that, for any one of such reasons, or for no reason at all, and without asserting or claiming any threat to life or health, any woman is entitled to an abortion at her request if she is able to find a medical advisor willing to undertake the procedure.

The Court, for the most part, sustains this position: during the period prior to the time the fetus becomes viable, the Constitution of the United States values the convenience, whim, or caprice of the putative mother more than the life or potential life of the fetus; the Constitution, therefore, guarantees the right to an abortion as against any state law or policy seeking to protect the fetus from an abortion not prompted by more compelling reasons of the mother.

With all due respect, I dissent. I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to support the Court's judgment. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right for pregnant mothers [410 U.S. 222] and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes. The upshot is that the people and the legislatures of the 50 States are constitutionally dissentitled to weigh the relative importance of the continued existence and development of the fetus, on the one hand, against a spectrum of possible impacts on the mother, on the other hand. As an exercise of raw judicial power, the Court perhaps has authority to do what it does today; but, in my view, its judgment is an improvident and extravagant exercise of the power of judicial review that the Constitution extends to this Court. "

And now another channel.

"Now what is the effect of this evil government?
To discredit government. When the public fails in it's duty, private men take it's place . . . . When the American government and courts are false to their trust, men disobey government, put it in the wrong; the government is forced into all manner of false and ridiculous attitudes. Men hear reason and truth from private men who have brave hearts and great minds. This is the compensation of bad government -- the field it affords for illustrius men, and we have a great debt to the brave and faithful men who in the very hour and place of the evil act, made their protest for themselves and their countrymen, by word and by deed. They are justified and the law is condemned."
Ralph Waldo Emmerson

The economics of death. Why it was in the Jewish section I haven't figured out yet. Basically he looks at the economic trends that have been going on since the 1970s to try to figure out why we now feel we should design our children, why we kill them, and why religion has been traded for consumption, all fueled by a mountain of debt. Fascinating.

Well, it's better than I could do. I still don't see how they get an OS out the door and people get fed without jobs, but whatever works.

"We should be looking at other measures to decide whether the grand utopian experiment of abortion has yielded a positive dividend.

Are marriages stronger? Have suicide rates declined? Do fewer people suffer from depression and anxiety disorders? Has substance abuse declined? Are women expressing high rates of satisfaction with their careers and family life? Has sexual harrassment declined? Domestic violence? Stalking?

With a whole generation of wanted children--have the rates of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children declined? Are these children receiving superb educations--better than the educations available in the 60s and 70s? Do their parents stay together, protect them, and provide for their mental, emotional and physical needs?"

Don't diss the people who've been there.

Aren't they cute? May I quote:

"Sulman (7:39:21 PM): we plan on getting engaged when we're out of college"

"Hence, we see a closed cycle of production and consumption. Sex teachers and counselors, abortionists and their technicians, earn their livelihood from a neatly abbreviated version of womb to tomb. Starting in many cases before their pupils have reached puberty, these specialists effectively stimulate the fertile wombs of young Americans and prematurely reap their fruit. "

The mentality I always perceived beneath the surface, laid bare. Cute.

"It's just not a good book. If you went through with a black marker and took out all that God stuff it'd be ok. He makes some good points."

I do worry about our youth sometimes. I'm not saying you have to like it. I'm just saying that if you think it makes sense without it's divine component you've missed the point of Augustine's life.

"But just to make it simple: The G-7 comprises the world's major industrial democracies. Aside from America, there are six other countries. Three - the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan - have troops in Iraq. Three - France, Germany and Canada - do not. So a majority of G-7 nations are members of this ''fraudulent coalition.'' Eleven of the 19 NATO members have contributed troops to the ''fraudulent coalition.'' Thirteen of the 25 members of the newly enlarged European Union have forces serving in the ''fraudulent coalition.'' "

Ah, the numbers of it all. Though Mark Twain once said that there were three kinds of lies, and that they were "lies, damn lies, and statistics." This is also quite true.

"Sometimes the ignorant are among the most educated. The Alexandria Library in Egypt, funded by the Egyptian and Italian governments with support of the United Nations, includes a manuscript room where the holiest books of the three Abrahamic faiths - the Torah of the Jews, the Bible of the Christians and the Koran of the Muslims - are displayed in places of honor.

Not long ago, the director of the museum placed next to the Torah a copy of the 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' an infamous forgery that sets out an outlandish Jewish plot to take over the world. None but the most credulous anti-Semites have ever taken the book as serious work, but it has taken on new life with the Islamist resurgence in the Muslim world. "

And so the sickness lives on.

I'd like to welcome two readers from Estonia and Israel whom have graced my site with a visit. I hope I didn't scare them off :-0.

"Message: 13
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 14:17:32 -0600
From: "Marty Barrack"
Subject: RE: For Catholics Only?

Hi Celal,

When you become familiar with Catholic theology in depth, and not at the
surface, I think you'll see that the differences are profound. The entire
Catholic faith is centered around the Holy Eucharist and Petrine
authority.

It's true that in social conversation we don't ordinarily invoke those
differences, but rather politely share with one another at the level of
the Gospel accounts. We also work together against the secular tsunami
that threatens all Christianity. But if the Catholic Church is right the
entire Protestant movement is a kick in the teeth to Christ. If the
Protestants are right the Catholic Church has no reason to exist.

There are good reasons to have an apologetics group restricted to
Catholics. St. Anselmo is a place where Catholics hone their apologetic
skills, discussing particular strengths and weaknesses among one another
within an entirely Catholic environment. There are several groups in which
Catholics and Protestants engage one another as the essence of their
ongoing conversation, but St. Anselmo is not that kind of group.

As regards AHC I can speak only for myself. From my perspective it's not
at all a question of a free flow of ideas, but which ideas will freely
flow.

Orémus pro invicem,
Marty

Marty Barrack
Apostolate Web Site: http://secondexodus.com
Marian Catechist Web Site: http://mariancatechist.com


Association of Hebrew Catholics Discussion Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AssocHebrewCatholics

St. Anselmo Catholic Apologetics Discussion Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StAnselmo/"

# posted by Squach : 10:43 PM   |  0 comments

"It's very easy for these puffed up experts to say the Church is 'lying,' because they know they cannot defend their 'safe sex' sham. The fact is that the condom is not 100% effective. A study quoted in the November/December 1999 issue of Family Planning Perspectives (which is NOT a pro-life publication) notes that 'consistent use of condoms provides protection from HIV. The level of protection approximates 87 percent...'"

I figure that's 13% of users a year. That's safe? I'd rather not play Russian roulette thank you very much.

"Denver, Colorado, USA -- In a move which has ramifications and also eweifications for sheep consumption worldwide, vegetarian Greek restauranteur Bud ("St. Romanos the Melodist") Atheniki drew one step closer to offering tofu gyros in his Denver-based chain of vegetarian Greek restaurants, Athenian Gardens. His three different recipes for tofu gyros were made available for taste-testing at five of the 134 restaurants of the chain. 'As soon as we discover which the customers like the best, we will make that available at all of our restaurants,' informed Atheniki."

Oh my.

"With due respect to that estimable evangelical magazine, one issue of Christianity Today does not a revolution make. But it may be something more than a straw in the wind that CT devotes a good chunk of an issue to a symposium on the question, 'Is Birth Control Christian?' Everybody knows that this has been a big question among Roman Catholics, and much disputed since the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae. But some evangelical Protestants are now beginning to ask whether they (or their grandparents) didn't go along too readily with the lifting of Protestant inhibitions about contraception that began back in the 1930s. According to the magazine's survey, nine out of ten CT readers who are married have used some form of contraception, and in the case of 37 percent of couples at least one spouse is sterilized. Now, it seems, people are having second thoughts.
The editors note that all participants in the symposium are agreed 'that children are a blessing from the Lord. Unfortunately, it is easy to forget that truth when the technological nature of birth control makes fertility seem like a disease that needs to be cured. And when the prophets of overpopulation make children seem like parasites on a withering planet. And when the harpies of radical feminism make childbearing seem like a roadblock on the highway to economic justice.'"

I'm not sure why I chose this passage, but i was at the FT site and I was looking through the old issues . . . there are some real gems in there. This PS is def worth the read. But so are all of them. Cant's someone publish a book, maybe with the articles by topic or something?

I just got new First Things in and I thought i'd share a couple of good foods for thought. If that's a metaphor.

"A sure sign of our loneliness was the near-total absence of any genuine political discussion or debate within the univerity, whether in graduate seminars, public lectures, or less formal settings. All graduate students 'knew,' to take the most obvious and telling example, that 'conservitism' (rarely defined or actually discussed) was pathalogical and thus hideous and dangerous; this assumption ended up setting the ground rules . . . . My gut sense was that the culture of the univerity didn't have the strength to accomidate any serious challenge to the dominant liberal stantpoint. In this regard, Jean Bethke Elshtain's recent remark about the kind of self that has acompanied 'the triumph of the therapeutic culture' is apt; it is, she says, a 'quivering, sentimental self that gets uncomfortable very quickly, because this self has to feel good about itself all the time. Such selves do not make good arguments, they validate one another.'" -- Eric Miller, "Alone in the Academy"

I think the example from my life would be when me and Jon argue, we can go at it for hours pulling completely opposite positions sometimes, agreeing on other points, and be tight afterwards. Others, however, are so unwilling to consider other viewpoints besides their own that they ridicule anything else, despite claims of openmindedness. True openmindedness requires honesty and a search for truth, whereas much modern liberalism is often about a feeling good. Why we should feel good is less often addressed, I think, nor is the nature of good itself.

"All this being said, is it possible that untutored viewers will come away from the film with the distinct impression that "the Jews" killed Jesus? It is more than possible. The same impression is more than possibly gained by the Gospel accounts, especially the Fourth Gospel . . . . If the untutored viewer of The Passion of the Christ comes away thinking that "the Jews killed Jesus," the fault is not with the film. The fault is with the many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, who do not understand the inescapably Jewish matrix of the story of salvation. For that failure, Christian teachers bear the chief responsibility." -- Fr. Neuhaus

Movies don't kill people, people kill people. It's not the movie's fault. It's my fault. For not living these words:
Jn:4:22: "You adore that which you know not: we adore that which we know. For salvation is of the Jews." (DRV)

"It is a strange argument that a society is certified as democratic when it has policies that can only be established by antidemocratic means" -- Fr. Neuhaus

Also present is an excellent exchange between Martin Rhonheimer and various readers about the Church's complicity in the Holocaust expanding on his article "The Holocaust: What Was Not Said." My deepest apologies to anyone if my attempts to correct the anti-Pius XII stuff floating around there have distorted the truth.

Dominus vobiscum.

I know some people like it, so I though I'd give it some eyeball space. I'm not sure why, I use Opera myself. Buy Opera!

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