Creative Minority Reader: April 2009

Romney a "Winner" and Palin a "Loser?"

The Washington Post is seeking to bury Sarah Palin once again. Surprise. Surprise. Conservatives 4 Palin makes some strong points arguing the other way:

Chris Cillizza writes for the Washington Post:
The Alaska governor has struggled mightily to balance her national ambitions with her current job. From the "she's is/she's out" mishandling of her attendance at a Republican party event is Washington to the decision by her fundraiser to step aside, the first 100 days have been an unmitigated disaster for the former vice presidential nominee. (And that's without even mentioning the whole Levi Johnston debacle for which we give Palin, a mother first, something of a pass.) Palin is rapidly becoming the butt of jokes among GOP operatives; she may not care but remember how powerful the chattering class is in the Invisible Primary. To win her party's nomination in 2012, Palin need to recruit some top tier talent and, right now, she would struggle to convince anyone at that level to sign on.
Oh, so Palin is becoming the butt of jokes among the beltway GOP establishment? How disappointing! I am sure Palin really wants their support and loyalty. They have done such a great job throwing her under the bus after the last national election...

I Thought Pro-Lifers Were Unpopular

We're told over and over that abortion will always be with us because it's only a tiny minority that want to see it made illegal. But it's simply not true. Check this out at Southern Appeal: This is music to my ears:
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted March 31-April 21 among 1,521 adults reached on landlines and cell phones, also finds public opinion about abortion more closely divided than it has been in several years. Currently, 46% say abortion should be legal in most cases (28%) or all cases (18%); 44% believe that abortion should be illegal in most (28%) or all cases (16%).

Not Gardasil?

I'm going to have to research this further. Very interesting stuff from Party of 9:

The following is new information about this vaccination.

Drug company puts young lives at risk
I’m usually not the kind of person to say "I told you so." But in this case, I’m more than happy to make an exception.

Two years ago, I wrote an article called "A Virus that Causes Cancer?" In it, I discussed the then-new vaccine Gardasil, which helps protect women against the HPV virus, a sexually transmitted organism that can lead to cervical cancer. Several states were in the process of mandating the vaccine — for girls as young as 11 — under intense pressure from Merck’s lobbying efforts.

The Great Experiment

We are living in a Democrat's dream. God help us.

The press lost any integrity it may have still had during this past Presidential election, but imagine for a moment that Bush's twin daughters went to some swanky private school where school choice allowed 2 underprivileged children to attend (Bush's daughters attended public school btw). Then imagine that under his administration this program was shut down and these two underprivileged children were thrown out of that swanky school and forced to attend a miserably failing public school.

I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, one of the press would have asked about that in a prime time press conference with the President...

Liberal's Favorite Bible Verse?

So which verse do you think is a liberal fave? Come on. You know. Take a guess. Alright. Big Blue Wave has the answer:

"Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged." The real meaning of that verse
The most misunderstood verse of the Bible, and the one that leftists love to quote the most is Matthew 7:1, which is traditionally rendered as:

Judge not lest ye be judged.

Lefties like to use that verse because they think it validates the erroneous assumption that Jesus approved of liberal moral relativism.

In fact, Jesus nothing of the kind. And his warning about judgement is not a prohibition against all judgements, but a warning against certain kinds of judgement.

Video: Contraception & Abortion Killing Us

Illuminating and distressing video at Patrick Madrid's site. Check it out:

More Proof that Contraception & Abortion Are Killing Our Culture

For years, I've been giving lectures at parishes and conferences warning about the dire demographic consequences we are going to experience as a result of the blight of contraception and abortion. Here's a good depiction of what I've been saying, with a twist.

No Laetare Medal This Year

Amy has the story:

Catholic News Service has just tweeted...twittered...that John T. Noonan will be speaking at Notre Dame's graduation "in lieu" of awarding a medal...

(Noonan was awarded the Laetare Medal in 1984)

From the Notre Dame Press Office:

Judge John T. Noonan Jr., the 1984 recipient of the Laetare Medal, has accepted an invitation to deliver an address in the spirit of the award at Notre Dame's 164th University Commencement Ceremony on May 17. His speech will be in lieu of awarding the medal this year.

Toomey Can't Win?

This great post from Jim Geraghty is like "The Sixth Sense" of political posts. Well...kind of. I mean it's got a surprise ending.

All of This Has Happened Before . . .

Look, there's a lot of evidence that Pat Toomey is way too conservative for the seat he's running for, and just doesn't have a chance to win.

Stuart Rothenberg writes, "Republicans should be concerned about Toomey's ability to hold together the GOP coalition, as well as whether he can appeal to blue-collar voters."

The Wall Street Journal followed him on the campaign trail and noticed the lack of response, writing, "A few people accept his brochure at the door; at other homes, there's no response at all."

Ace vs. JPod: Cage Match

Ace takes on the burgeoning conventional wisdom on the Specter issue. It's really quite good:

What on Earth is JPod Talking About?

I like John Podhoertz. He's a Guiliani type of blue state conservative, by which I mean he often disagrees with social-cons but is usually not insulting or disrespectful about it, and, when he is on the orthodox conservative side of things, he's tenacious and with us all the way. (For disclosure: He's also friendly to me in our very sporadic email exchanges, though I've never met him.)

But I don't know what the hell he's talking about here. Or, to be more precise: I know exactly what he's talking about. I just have no idea how this applies to the Specter situation.

If I ever start a garage band I'm going to call it "Bumping the Paradign." It's a great phrase by Fr. Z. (You don't think he'll make me pay royalties do you?) But more importantly, His Excellency Most Reverend Thomas Tobin, Bishop of Providence, has something to say on gay marriage. Fr. Z has it along with his own comments:

His Excellency Most Reverend Thomas Tobin, Bishop of Providence, has something to say in the Rhode Island Catholic.

The usual methods of social re-engineering include what I call "creeping incrementalism". You start slowly, not trying to attain everything you aim for in one fell swoop, but rather strive merely to bump the paradigm a degree or two in the direction you want it to go. Eventually, what seemed once to be inconceivable comes to be remotely possible, then plausible, then probably a good idea, and then obligatory.

There is an phrase in Latin… in finem citius... things go faster toward the end.

Forcing Doctors to Kill

Anyone who doesn't think we're going to be focrcing doctos to partake in assisted suicides in the near future just hasn't been paying attention. Mary Meets Dolly has more:

Everyone wants freedom of choice. It has been a rallying cry for nearly four decades. If only those who cry the loudest about choice actually cared about making sure people have choices.

First, it was the freedom for women to choose abortion. It is their bodies, they should decide. But making it legal to "choose" was not enough. Now millions of Americans who believe that abortion is a great evil have no choice but to support it with their tax dollars.

Then it was the freedom of scientists to choose destroy human embryos for medical research. Science needs to have choices if it is going to progress after all. But legally allowing scientist to choose what kinds of stem cells they want to work on is not enough. Now millions of Americans who believe that destroying human life for research is a great evil have no choice but to support it with their tax dollars.

No Such Thing as Virginity?

Seeing virginity as good is harmful to young girls?

Jessica Valenti, founder of the vaguely pornographic sounding Feministing.com, has decided that there is no such thing as virginity in America's young girls and the Today Show is entirely pleased with itself to give her a national TV venue from which to say so. Never mind how silly it all sounds.

On April 22 Valenti and Today pushed the idea that sexually active girls should not be thought of as a problem, that an expectation of virginity is harmful, and that religion is a baneful influence on young women today. Valenti says that if young men can have their sexual exploits given a wink and a nod, then so should the sexual activity of young girls...

A Torturous Equivalence

I thank Erin Manning for writing this because this whole line of argument attacking Mary Ann Glendon was driving me crazy. I was working on a post on this but I'm...like...30 IQ points short to write anything as good and definitive as Erin did. Check it out:

Here and there in the Catholic blogosphere, the discussion about Mary Ann Glendon's decision to refuse the Latare Medal from Notre Dame continues.

One theme that has sprung into being keeps cropping up rather regularly, almost as if left-leaning Catholics were receiving talking points from somewhere--but as everyone knows, only right-wing conservatives get talking points; liberals are all highly independent thinkers who just happen to reach the same conclusions within moments of each other, which makes it convenient for them to post the same thoughts on multiple Internet conversations all at once. This theme goes as follows:

•Mary Ann Glendon was ambassador to the Holy See during the Bush administration.
•The Bush administration condoned torture.
•Mary Ann Glendon did not resign her position.
•Therefore, Mary Ann Glendon wholeheartedly approves of the intrinsic evil of torture, and her refusal to accept the award from Notre Dame is a purely partisan act.
•Thus, Catholics who were already inclined to applaud ND for honoring Obama may continue to do so in perfectly good conscience.

17 Years Old

Great post at Mary's Aggies about what 17 year old's can and can't do. Short, effective and sadly true:

At 17 years old you can NOT:

•Drink alcohol
•Vote
•Sign for a loan
•Buy cigarettes
•Join the military without parental consent

Why Twitter is Sooo Dangerous

This is hilarious. Check it out. But the moral of the story is be careful what you put on this world wide interweb thingy:

Witness someone ruin a “Fatty Cisco Job” with a single post on Twitter, and become an overnight Internet sensation.

A potential Cisco applicant tweeted this earlier today:

Cardinal Francis George on Obama

Looks like everyone is realizing that Obama isn't pro-life. Definitely worth a read at the Inforum blog:

And following his decisions and proclamations since coming into office…..

Cardinal Francis George, President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of Chicago, has reasoned that President Obama is on the wrong side of history.

“I think he has his political debts to pay, and so he’s paying them.”

Cardinal George said his conversation with the president was polite but substantive.

Movie Review: Let The Right One In

I heard of this movie but there's some freaky subtext to it. It's getting rave reviews. Read the argument in the combox too.

The movie, Let The Right One In, starts with a 12 year old boy named Oskar who looks to be on the path of becoming a cereal killer. Oskar is a vulnerable boy and is mercilessly harassed by bullies. Oskar's cereal killer type fantasies come from a desire to get revenge and gain freedom from the bullies. A young girl, Eli, moves into Oskar's apartment complex along with an elderly man. The girl turns out to be a vampire and the elderly man kills people for blood to keep Eli alive. Eli and Oskar become friends and through their relationship Oskar is able to grow and defend himself against the bully. The closer the relationship between Eli and Oskar becomes the more healthier Oskar seems to get. The old man get's caught. Eli kills the bullies and Oskar takes on the new role that was left void by the old man's death.

Assassination Plot Against Pope?

From Patrick Madrid

As Pope Benedict's long-awaited visit to Israel nears, a new worry has emerged in the Israeli press about what some security experts fear will be an attack on the Holy Father during his stop in Nazareth.

Continue Reading >>>>

Maybe You Should Get Married

The argument for marriage from Pundit and Pundette:

And maybe sooner rather than later. That suggestion from a sociologist who has studied the subject.

There's been chatter in the blogosphere of late about the benefits of marriage and babies. RS McCain takes a radical view and proposes that marrying young is a good thing, and that Christians might want to take the words "be fruitful and multiply" to heart. My response here.

Now, from yesterday's Washington Post, a secular argument for earlier marriage: Say Yes. What Are You Waiting For? by Mark Regnerus. (On the same page is an account of the decision to marry 'early' -- age 26 -- from an editor of Self magazine. More on that below.)

Obama Scolds Teleprompter

This would be funny...if he weren't President! Check out the video:

Obama got ahead of himself during his speech on the swine flu outbreak this morning.
He stopped and told the TelePrompter to "speed up":

Worst Poll...EVAH!

This one doesn't surprise me at all yet somehow I'm still disgusted:

The AP is trumpeting this bombshell today...AP Poll: After Obama's 100 days, U.S. on right track

Wow! More Americans believe that the US is on the right track today (48%) than on the wrong track (44%).

Really?...No. Only 18% of those polled consider themselves Republican. Bill Mitchell discovered this latest polling outrage:

Are You A Single Issue Abortion Zealot?

Definitely worth reading the whole thing at Insight Scoop. Here's a key graph:

There is an even more profound aspect which needs to be emphasized: freedom negates and destroys itself, and becomes a factor leading to the destruction of others, when it no longer recognizes and respects its essential link with the truth. When freedom, out of a desire to emancipate itself from all forms of tradition and authority, shuts out even the most obvious evidence of an objective and universal truth, which is the foundation of personal and social life, then the person ends up by no longer taking as the sole and indisputable point of reference for his own choices the truth about good and evil, but only his subjective and changeable opinion or, indeed, his selfish interest and whim.

Anglican Humpty Dumpty

Fr. Longenecker's blog Standing on My Head is becoming one of the must read Catholic blogs:

Comparing the Anglican Communion to Humpty Dumpty has many apposite connections. First of all, it's a bloated, pompous old thing. Secondly it is famous for sitting on the fence (or in Humpty's case--the wall) on every matter. Never a right or a wrong. Always a way to compromise: that's Anglicanism.

Last summer Humpty the Dumpty had a great fall. And now, apparently all the king's horses and all the king's men (or the queen anyway) are trying to put Humpty Dumpty together again.

They think by some sort of administrative structure they can maintain the communion.

Joan Chittister on Dissent

Thanks to Rochester Catholic for reading Joan Chittister so I didn't have to because he discovered this priceless gem. Go check it out:

Joan Chittister’s analysis of the Church’s “institutional decline”:

Doing more of the same — and doing it bigger and better — is always a quick-fix response to institutional decline. But it is, at best, a short-lived cure. In its attempt to regain control after the chaos of the Reformation, the church managed to stop time and halt renewal for over 400 years. Then, primitive communication systems conspired to separate and isolate the visionary elements of geographically disparate and far-flung populations.

But those days are gone forever. Now the Internet, blogs, VOIP, and social-networking sites are fertile spawning grounds for new ideas, for ideas we don’t want to hear, for ideas that are continually disrupting the past, for thinking groups of Christians who are beginning to organize themselves.

Now the task is no longer to suppress dissent; it is to keep up with it...,

Finding Rest

This is so true.

The comments to my last post reminded me of an interesting moment I had in my recent interview with Nona Aguilar for the National Catholic Register. She surprised me when she asked about something I'd never really tried to articulate before: what the biggest changes are in my daily life since my conversion. We ended up having a long discussion about the countless ways my day to day life is different now, but when she initially asked me the question I was caught off guard, and just blurted out the first thing that popped into my mind.

"I can sleep at night," I replied.

I was surprised by my own answer. I'd never thought much about it until the words left my mouth, but one thing that is really different about my life since becoming a Christian is that I no longer struggle with the chronic insomnia that plagued me for years before my conversion.

Anti-Catholic LA Times?

"If they just let schoolteachers marry this would never happen." I guess that doesn't have the same punch as some other slogans, huh? But there's got to be a reason to explain the discrepancy in the coverage the LA Times gives to the Church. Could it be that the LA Times is anti-Catholic?

Check out the following two stories:

1. A former Catholic priest comes forward Monday (4/20/09) to claim that another priest abused him as a teenager nearly 30 years ago. (The accused priest has no other similar public complaints and denies the allegations against him.)

2. A former school teacher was sentenced Wednesday (4/22/09) after pleading no contest to eight felony counts, including having sex with two girls under the age of 16. The man "admitted to having intercourse with the girls, performing oral sex with the teens and taking extremely explicit nude photographs of his victims -- including pictures of him with one of the girls - before sending the images over the Internet."

Now it's quiz time! To which story did the Los Angeles Times devote two generous color photos and a 640-word article? Which story did the Times totally ignore?

Margaret Sanger = Thomas Jefferson

It must be fun and a little scary to live in a logic-less world like Hillary Clinton:

Margaret Sanger = Thomas Jefferson. Well, duh!

The good thing is that the racist, xenophobic, classist convictions of Margaret Sanger just might be slowly creeping into the mainstream. I mean...slowly. Every time Hilary Clinton professes her love for Sanger, another opportunity pops up to make the point.

At the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fielded questions from three congressmen who asked her about abortion.

New Jersey representative Chris Smith asked Clinton about her praise of Planned Parenthood founder and eugenicist Margaret Sanger at a Planned Parenthood awards banquet in Houston last month. He also asked her if "the United States' definition of the term reproductive health or reproductive services or reproductive rights includes abortion?"

Jesuit University Not a Catholic School?

This is so disturbing from Our Sunday Visitor. Read the entire thing.

If you work for the Jesuit University of San Francisco, no matter which USF health insurance you choose, it will pay for an abortion, sterilization, artificial contraception and some infertility treatments. And that is unlikely to change anytime soon, despite a report here earlier this year.

The USF Faculty Association president, Elliot Neaman, said today that if the university tries to remove the abortion benefit, it would file an unfair labor practice complaint.

Whether abortion involves the killing of a child is “not relevant,” Neaman told OSV. “You are mixing up morality and contractual obligations,” he said.

John Kerry, Catholicism and Abortion:

John Kerry says America needs a pro-life Vatican ambassador. How about a pro-life Senator?

The U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican position remains open, but even “pro-choice Catholic” John Kerry seems certain that a pro-life candidate is a necessity for that post.

From the USA Today:

Kerry said: He did not recommend Caroline Kennedy to be U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Kerry believes an abortion-rights supporter should not be in that post, to avoid offending the Holy See.

A Witness for Human Life (and Notre Dame)

Human life is sacred. To act against that in any way is anti-Catholic and anti-human. That's why this Notre Dame scandal is so awful. But this says it better than I could:

Earlier this evening Bill McGurn (former White House speechwriter, WSJ columnist, former NR-er . . .) gave a beautiful speech on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. But then, that is only to be expected. Bill and his wife are beautiful people who live what they believe, and they believe in being witnesses to their faith and loving human life.

In his speech tonight, at his alma mater — hosted by the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture and the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life — Bill said:

tonight our hearts carry a great sadness. But we do not come here this evening to rally against a speaker. We come to affirm the sacredness of life. And we come with a great hope: That a university founded under the patronage of Our Lady might be as consistent in the defense of her principles as the President of the United States has been for advancing his. In a nation wounded by Roe … in a society that sets mothers against the children they carry in their wombs … we come here tonight because however much our hearts ache, they tell us this: Our church, our country, and our culture long for the life witness of Notre Dame.

Sold Like Livestock

I can be cruel. I know it. Sometimes I say things I shouldn't and even do things I shouldn't. But typically after I gather myself I apologize. But I never cease to be amazed with the sustained cruelty which with some people treat others. Sustained cruelty is something else entirely. There's something inhuman about it. It is cause for prayer and action. I found this story via Pewsitter.

While North Korea thumbs its nose at the world by reportedly resuming its nuclear program, launching satellite rockets and detaining two U.S. journalists, millions are suffering famine, imprisonment, torture and even death inside the hermit country.

Bang Mu Sun, a North Korean female defector who was sold three times in the sex-trafficking ring that flourishes on the Chinese-North Korea border, says North Korean women are called "pigs." She says: "I was sold like livestock three times. I realized that there was a world where human beings were bought and sold and that people could show such cruelty and shamelessness.

This is Hilarious

This is the Jester at his best. I love it:

I am producing a movie on Ron Howards family. In the movie based on my research I say his father was a drug pusher and his mother is a prostitute and that Ron Howard engages in S&M. All of the portrayal of Ron Howard and his family in my movie and the prequel I am doing later will be highly negative. I will present the Howard family as something totally based on lies and question whether his parents really were his parents in the first place. I will also attack his fans for being foolish enough to be a fan of him considering his background. My hero will follow clues that prove this evidence

Now of course this is just a movie so people should not be upset about my portrayal of the Howard family at all. It is just entertainment people - only a fool would take my claims seriously.

Forbidding to Marry

This is a truly great essay on marriage by R.S. McCain over at Hot Air. It really had me thinking.

For me, being pro-marriage, pro-family and pro-life is more than a political position. My wife and I have six kids ranging from age 5 to 19, and you can imagine how challenging this has been on a journalist’s pay. (Never mind a blogger’s pay.) But as my late father advised me long ago, “Son, if you wait to have kids until you can afford to have kids, you’ll never have kids.”

This is Incredibly Sick

Read this at Jammie Wearing Fool, go throw up, cry, throw some pillows, scream out your window and then come back to read more because by the time you do those things something else outrageous will have happened.

While they're busy removing this, they need to remove the idiots who thought this was a good application for an iPhone.

This is just sick.
Apple yanked a despicable iPhone application from its online store today, putting to bed the "Baby Shaker" program that directs users to simulate infanticide.

The 99-cent download brings the image and sound of a crying baby to the phone. Then after the user's vigorous shaking, the crying stops and red x-marks cover the baby's eyes, gleefully marking its death.

There's a stop watch at the top of the screen to time the user.

The Climate Change Guild

You've got to check this out just for the image that LarryD photoshopped. It's hilarious- if only for how poorly it's done. And then if you haven't seen the video of environmentalists freaking out and crying over a tree you've got to see it:

To reduce my carbon footprint in commemoration of this austere and venerable Earth Day holiday, I'm using green font and typing very slowly.

What better way to recognize Earth Day than by having three midgets from the Climate Change Guild sing you a welcoming song?

Euthanasia Kits

Well, you knew it had to come to this, right?

What's creepier? The fact that our culture is seeking to treat the sick among us like racehorses with broken legs, or that euthanasia is being addressed in such casual terms in a forum like Time Magazine? This, from the article glibly titled "Foolproofing Suicide with Euthanasia Test Kits":
When someone with a terminal illness decides to end his or her life by overdosing on barbiturates, they may hope the drugs will lull them into a peaceful and permanent sleep. But if the drugs have passed their expiration date or lack a sufficiently lethal concentration, the would-be suicide victim may actually survive — risking an array of complications including coma, reduced physical functioning and the opprobrium of disapproving friends and family.

Newsflash: Christians Normal!

Liberal kid gets book deal to attend Jerry Falwell's Liberty University and is shocked...shocked to find that Christians are pretty normal:

Liberal infiltrates Falwell’s school, shocked to find Christians “normal.” I’m not sure whether to laugh at him for being surprised, sneer at him for treating Christians as if they’re some lost civilization worthy of anthropological study, or congratulate him for what seems to have been a genuinely earnest effort to understand. It’s like that ABC set-up to “prove” that sports fans are homophobic — but in a good way.

Bishop D'Arcy Statement to the Faithful

Found this via Pewsitter concerning Fr. Jenkins and the Notre Dame scandal:

STATEMENT TO THE FAITHFUL
From Bishop John M. D’Arcy
April 21, 2009

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Recently, Father John Jenkins, CSC, in a letter of response to Bishop Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix, who had written him, critical of the decision to invite President Obama to speak and receive an Honorary Degree of Law at Notre Dame, indicated that it was his conviction that the statement Catholics in Political Life (USCCB) did not apply in this matter. Father Jenkins kindly sent me a copy of his letter, and also at a later meeting, asked for a response.

In an April 15th letter to Father Jenkins, I responded to his letter.

Ahmadinejad Thugs Call Wiesel 'Zio-Nazi'

This is sick and reveals all you need to know about the threat we face. Gateway Pundit has the video:

Disgusting! Ahmadinejad Thugs Harass Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel-- Scream "Zio-Nazi" at UN Durban II Event. Sick!... Ahmadinejad's entourage harassed Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel-- Called him a "Zio-Nazi" at UN Durban II Conference in Geneva:

Book Review: Death of a Pope

I'm always in search of my next book. The Curt Jester got his paws on this new novel and tells us it's worth a read. Check him out:

There are not exactly too many books that could be subscribed as a ecclesiastical thriller. The new book by Piers Paul Read called "The Death of a Pope" is certainly part of that small genre, but not limited by that.

The novel starts with a trial for a laicized priest who had been working for an international Catholic charity and had been arrested for trying to buy nerve agent. The plot builds from there in the last weeks of Pope John Paul II's life and it follows a serious threat as you might expect from the thriller genre. The main characters follow a range mainly along a faithful Catholic and lapsed/liberal Catholic divide that includes a Cardinal, priests, a reporter, and various personnel from security agencies.

Anti-Human Chic

I saw an ad for "Life After People" on some cable channel and thought who the heck would be interested in such a thing. But there is truly something anti-human afoot. National Review has more to say:

When Aldous Huxley wrote his prophetic 1932 novel, Brave New World, he envisioned a dystopian future in which mankind would become, in the words of bioethicist Leon Kass, “so dehumanized that he doesn’t even realize what has been lost.”

Huxley believed we would evolve into a society steeped in radical hedonism — where drugs would be used to erase every negative emotion and promiscuity would be not just common but the norm. He also saw us as becoming profoundly utilitarian and eugenic, depicted in his novel by genetically engineered babies being decanted through a cloning-type process rather than being born, and then propagandized rather than educated, so as never to question the existing order. Huxley’s Brave New World is a society without families, without the old and sick — who are done away with rather than cared for — and without real purpose other than experiencing transitory pleasure.

Iran Expanding the Photoshop Gap?

Maybe Israel should bomb Iran's PhotoShop lab after they bomb the nuclear plant. Hot Air has the story but be sure to follow the links to see the actualy photos:

Haaretz has discovered why the Iranians spend a miniscule amount of money on national defense, as Barack Obama once claimed during the presidential campaign. Instead of building actual systems, they just copy photos of other nations’ weapons and claim them as their own. Tehran’s official news agency announced the release of a new drone, but it bears a very, very, very close resemblance to someone else’s — and you’ll never guess who:

I Missed Same Sex Hand Holding Day?

What's wrong with Jesuit universities?

This week, from March 30 to April 3, Xavier University, the Jesuit, Catholic institution in Cincinnati, is hosting “Queer Week” on campus. Events are being sponsored by the club Xavier Allies. The Xavier website describes the week of activities as a time “to embrace and celebrate the use of queer as an inclusive, unifying socio-political term for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, straight, transsexual, intersexual, gender queer, or anyone else who supports the equality of all identities and expressions.”

Ron Howard Plays Victim

Ron Howard is acting like a weenie. That's the best way to say it. He mocks the Church, attacks it, attempts to belittle Christ, and then plays victim. Give me a break. Ignatius Insight Scoop has more:

When it was announced, years ago, that Ron Howard—a one-time television thespian turned movie director whose roles as Richie Cunningham and Opie Taylor endeared him to millions of fans—would direct The Da Vinci Code, it surprised some people. I was asked repeatedly, in the course of giving talks about Dan Brown's infamous novel, why sweet Ronnie would direct a movie that was based on a nearly endless list of falsehoods about the Catholic Church (not to mention those about Italian art, medieval architecture, and much more). Some folks, apparently, did not understand that one's role as a boy does not make the man.

Now Howard has penned an apologia, aimed mostly at The Catholic League, on The Huffington Post, and it reveals, I think, why the Howard-Brown "creative" marriage is a match made in, uh, Hollywood heaven.

BBC: Is the Pope a Liability?

Fair and Balanced Beeb goes after the Pope in just about every way imaginable. The Hermeneutic of Continuity has the story:

James Preece, who writes Catholic and Loving It volunteered to go on the BBC programme "The Big Questions". (iPlayer link here for a few days.) To give you an idea of the moderation and balance so characteristic of the BBC, here is my transcript of the intro from Nicky Campbell:

Well! It's been a week of celebrations for Pope Benedict: he was 82 on Thursday and today is his fourth anniversary as Pontiff. Not everyone's celebrating. Our first Big Question is: "Is this Pope a liability?"

Obama Saves Star Trek

It's sad to think that movie critics are just failed political writers who secretly pine to one day be big important news writers. This reviewer of the new Star Trek movie wins the award for the most out of left field complimentary reference to Obama since...at least the past three days:

Is there something in the tea over there, or do British movie critics imagine commentary on American politics is actually part of their job description?

Two years ago I noted how at least two British reviewers, James Christopher and Leo Lewis, panned "Spider-Man 3." Christopher lamented the "Sunday School morality" and "the inevitable flash of the American flag" while Lewis labeled as "disappointing... the inability of the director, Sam Raimi, to end the romp without a fleeting shot of the American flag."

Today, Times Online reviewer Debra Craine decidedly to timidly go where other hacks have gone before. From the penultimate paragraph from Craine's April 21 review of the upcoming "Star Trek" prequel (h/t separate e-mail tips from NB readers Jake Mathon and Charles Lovell):

Miss California Will Pray for Perez Hilton

Miss California might be a pretty remarkable woman. Check this video out at Gateway Pundit:

Perez Hilton called Miss California Carrie Prejean a dumb b*tch after she told the audience during the Miss USA Pageant that she was against gay marriage. Perez Hilton, a judge at the contest, admitted this cost her the crown.

Today Carrie Prejean said that she was praying for Perez Hilton:

+Robert J. Carlson To St. Louis

From St. Louis Catholic

The Holy See announced today that the Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, Bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw, MI, has been chosen to succeed Archbishop Raymond L. Burke as Archbishop of Saint Louis.

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Jen F. Figures out She Knows Nothing

This is funny and right on from Jen at Conversion Diary. It's easy to think you have all the answers when you don't know anything:

Some of the comments to this post got me thinking about what, if anything, I miss from my pre-kid days. The travel? Nah. Living in a little loft downtown? No. Being able to sleep in on weekends? Certainly not, I relish every waking moment with my precious children, even if it's first thing in the morning! (I'm lying. I do miss that one.)

Anyway, the events of the past 24 hours have made me realize that there actually is one thing that I really, really, miss about my life before children:

CNN's Cover Up

You know what's funny. I don't even see the irony of journalistic organizations stifling free speech anymore.

Unhinged CNN reporter Susan Roesgen is on “vacation” after scrapping with Tea Party protesters last week, but her bosses are still hard at work trying to stifle Tea Party voices of dissent. As many of you know, CNN forced the takedown of behind-the-scenes video shot by Andrew Marcus of Founding Bloggers and posted to YouTube. Founding Bloggers has sent and published an open letter to the cable network requesting that the video (which has aired on other TV networks without retribution) be restored:

Requiescat in Pace Sister Mary Alan

For anyone enamored with high school basketball, the story of St. Anthony's in New Jersey is a miraculous one. I was saddened to read that Sr. Mary Alan passed away. Hers was an amazing life. Please check it out:

When St. Anthony's encountered financial trouble in the 1990s, Sr. (Mary Alan) Barszczewski took action. With Sister Felicia Brodowski by her side, the two would travel into Manhattan to knock on the doors of Fortune 500 companies and ask for donations. Together, and with the help of Hurley, they have raised more than $1 million annually for the school.
"She believed that all kids, even poor kids, deserved quality," said Kathleen Staudt, director of development at St. Anthony. "That's why she fought to keep the school good."

Great Conversion Story

Patrick Madrid has a great story about a young woman's information highway back to Rome:

This is the true story of a young woman who abandoned the Catholic Church of her upbringing and careened through a spiritual wilderness for years. With stops at abortion, contraception and Evangelical church-hopping, she was finally guided back home to Christ's Church and His sacraments by, of all things, the signposts on the information superhighway.

A cradle Catholic, I'd spent my early years in an Irish-American ghetto in inner-city Boston. Here, during the pious '50s, I'd developed an awed fascination with Catholic culture. I loved its mysterious milieu: the statues, votive candles and stained glass...the Latin hymns, May processions and novenas...the dimly-lit churches filled with incense during High Mass and Benediction. I eagerly read Lives of the Saints, borrowed from the public library's bookmobile. And like many little girls of that era, I dreamed of becoming a nun.

The World Forgets on Remembrance Day

This is true. And I'm heartbroken over it. Europe has embraced the new Nazis. Europe no longer believes in itself, has forgotten its Christian roots, and is withering. And it is the Jews who will suffer first. But it won't stop with them.

April 21, 2009 is Yom Hashoah Day, the day of remembrance. Please light a special Yellow Candle, if you have one, or any yahrzeit candle. Click on the above link and watch the video until the end. To think that Europe has once again submitted to (embraced) this century's Nazis and cowers in the face of Islamic denial of the holocaust is ample proof that Europe died in the last World War. America just provided life support for an already brain dead carcass.

Ahmadinejad at Anti-Racism Conference?

The terrorist leader of Iran speaks at the UN Racism Conference. Hilarity ensues. Needless to say, all he did was attack the Jews:

Ahmadinejad Blasts Israel & Denies Holocaust at UN Racism Conference. As expected, the UN racism conference turned into a Jew-bash today. Several nations walked out after Ahmadinejad attacked Israel as a racist state and denied the Holocaust during his speech today.

Here is the latest report from the Iranian Republic News Agency:

NYC Wants Fast Food Free Zones?

Jammie Wearing Fool wonders if making McDonald's illegal might not be the way to go:

I have a better idea. How about keeping idiotic NYC council members away from television cameras?
A New York City councilman wants to keep school kids away from fast food -- or at least keep the fast food restaurants away from them.

Councilman Eric Gioia is unveiling a proposal that would prohibit fast food restaurants from being within one-tenth of a mile of a school. The idea comes after a study this month found students whose schools are within easy walking distance of fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese.

Quoting A Fictional Thomas More

From the Fire comes an interesting point.

I recently watched the Dr. Doug Kmiec and Dr. Hadley Arkes debate that happened a month ago at Villanova. One of the debaters, Dr. Kmiec, engaged in one of my most disliked pet peeves; quoting the fictional St. Thomas More.

I really enjoy the movie a Man for All Seasons, as well as the play, but there is a problem with it; it is not real. The acting and characterization are excellent but St. Thomas More did not actually say many of the statements in the movie.

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Alcuin Reid on the Usus Antiquior Journal

Please take a look at an interview over at NLM with Alcuin Reid on the forthcoming scholarly liturgical journal, Usus Antiquior.

There is a great deal of excitement and interest in the forthcoming scholarly liturgical journal, Usus Antiquior, and with that interest there are questions from people about it, both in terms of the character of the journal, as well as practical questions pertaining to its publication, or even the possibility of submitting contributions.

Accordingly, it seemed that an interview with the editors of the same journal, Drs. Alcuin Reid and Laurence Hemming, might be helpful for those interested in learning more about the journal, including where things presently sit in relation to the planned launch date.

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Losing the Culture War?

Maggie Gallagher of The Corner seems to think we're losing the culture war but we don't have to:

Steve Schmidt says the problem with the GOP is too many religious voters.

Funny this is the Democrats' view too.

Democrats are engaged in a highly sophisticated outreach strategy with the same basic message point: the GOP is not the natural home for religious people. Prolife Catholics can support Obama. The public things you see are only a small part of the money being flooded into penetrating religious peoples' intellectual networks to reduce effective opposition to sexual liberalism by disaffiliating their leaders from either the GOP or from their traditional stands on morality (cf. Rick Warren).

Beauty on the Inside

We've all seen the Susan Boyle video on Britain's Got Talent but check out this hometown column on her.

Susan Boyle's story is a parable of our age. She is a singer of enormous talent, who cared for her widowed mother until she died two years ago. Susan's is a combination of ability and virtue that deserves congratulation.

So how come she was treated as a laughing stock when she walked on stage for the opening heat of Britain's Got Talent 2009 on Saturday night?

The moment the reality show's audience and judging panel saw the small, shy, middle-aged woman, they started to smirk. When she said she wanted a professional singing career to equal that of Elaine Paige, the camera showed audience members rolling their eyes in disbelief. They scoffed when she told Simon Cowell, one of the judges, how she'd reached her forties without managing to develop a singing career because she hadn't had the opportunity. Another judge, Piers Morgan, later wrote on his blog that, just before she launched into I Dreamed a Dream, the 3000-strong audience in Glasgow was laughing and the three judges were suppressing chuckles.

To The Woman Who Sat Behind Me at Mass

This is great because I've heard so many similar words from strangers who cynically comment on the size of my family. Suzanne from Blessed Among Men writes what I wish I said:

To the Woman who Sat behind Me at Easter Mass.

I heard you. I know you meant for me to hear you. I pretended not to hear, but I did hear you say to your friend, "I look at all these boys and sure they're cute, but then I think of my Jonny (not his real name) and say just she wait until they're thirteen. She'll be sorry then."

I want you to know that I don't think I will be sorry then.

Fun Link O'The Day

Go over to Man With Black Hat for some Rockin' good fun in Liverpool Station. Guaranteed to bring a smile to you face.

Congressman: "We Are a Christian Nation."

Congressman Frank Lucas, writing at Red State, contradicts Obama and is worried about the direction the administration is taking:

I was disturbed to discover that President Obama requested the religious symbols in Gaston Hall, most notably the inscription “IHS” that symbolizes the name Jesus, at Georgetown University be covered during his economic address earlier this week. This follows his comments in 2007 that America is “no longer a Christian nation.” While the President continues to quote the scripture and reference his faith, it seems the White House is subtly attempting to remove God from our every day lives.

Abp Chaput: Journalism a Vocation

We talk a lot at CMR how the media doesn't treat Catholicism fairly, either through ignorance or enmity. Archbishop Chaput seems to have noticed as well. Hugh Hewitt has more:

""Journalism is a vocation, not a job." That quote is from Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput's talk to journalists at a Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life in which he discussed the obligations of journalism professionals to accurately report the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The transcript of the forum is here.

Gallows Humor In Defense of Unborn

I found this very interesting article over at Michael Hirsh (I spelled it right this time). It is, ostensibly, about force in defense of the unborn but does so by including some very surprising history. Well worth the read.

Is Catholic Church a Terrorist Organization?

Fox News Steve Doocy asks Napolitano if the Catholic Church could be a terrorist organization since they protest abortion? Ed Morrissey has the video:

The Napolitano walkback begins. Sort of, anyway. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano gives the standard non-apology apology, the “I’m sorry if anyone was offended” statement. She does a reverse Truman towards the end, though, when she refuses to say that she approved the warning her own department issued, saying she was “briefed” but didn’t sign off on it. Think she’s building her defense for the House Committee on Homeland Security?

Napolitano at one point challenges the Fox anchors to “read the report,” and winds up with egg on her face when they respond:

It's Funny 'Cause It's True

How would the media have reacted to the whole pirate thing if Bush were still President?

So, after President Obama ordered sharpshooters to shoot four untrained, teenage Somali pirates who had been drifting in a lifeboat for four days, the press declares it a success. AP says it was a “big win” for Obama. UPI says he “passed his first test” as Command in Chief.

Now let’s imagine that this took place six months ago under President Bush. Here are the headlines we’d be reading:

1.The War on Terror’s Fresh, New Face - NY Times
■Somalia - Glassy-eyed from lack of sleep and food, the four Somali pirates were barely able to hold their weapons up as sharpshooters took aim at their amydylas. Some of those involved in the operation questioned the President’s approach. “They weren’t a threat to this ship” one soldier said on condition of anonymity, “I think we could have resolved this without firing on them.”

Benedict the Assasin

Diogenes is great:

"PELL RIDES PAPAL BANDWAGON OF DEATH" claims the Sydney Morning Herald's David Marr, registering his displeasure with the Cardinal's endorsement of Catholic teaching. "That's one hell of an Easter message," he adds, in a sniff. It would appear that Marr's paschal theology owes more to the Easter Bunny than to Saint Paul:

A Brave (And Gross) New World

From Apoloblogology.

[In college] I remember pondering questions such as, "when science comes up with ways to replace every human body part incrementally with mechanical parts, at what point does the person cease to have a human soul?", "is it immoral to murder a child zombie?" and "should that lady in The Good Son have let go of Elijah Wood or Macaulay Culkin?"

However, never in our wildest imaginations could we have come up with something as disturbing and ethically befuddling as what one greiving mother is trying to accomplish:

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Archbishop Dolan's Homily

I didn't know you had to go through Emmaus to get to New York City. Amy has more:

"This is about Him and about Her"

"This is all about Jesus and his Bride, the Church."

The text is here - from the Archdiocesan website - but is very slow loading. So I think it's there, although I can't be sure.

If you heard it, you know that in his homily, Archbishop Dolan centered on what Pope Benedict has been working so hard to communicate and reknit - our understanding of the relationship of Jesus to His Church - that one cannot know Jesus without the Church, and that in the Church, Jesus is alive

ReplaceJenkins.com

Well, this was only a matter of time. I wish it wasn't necessary but it might just be. Thanks to Jester for the heads up on Twitter:

ReplaceJenkins.com is a national effort consisting of Notre Dame graduates and financial supporters. We feel strongly that the University should not honor President Barack Obama given his well known commitment to abortion in the broadest possible context. Father Jenkins’ decision to honor President Obama directly violates the 2004 US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ directive on Catholics in Political Life and is offensive to all Catholics. That decision, together with other poor decisions over the years, calls into question Father Jenkins’ judgment and leadership. Although we love Notre Dame, our conscience requires that we withhold all financial support from our University until such time as Father Jenkins is replaced as Notre Dame’s President with someone who will be more loyal to the teaching of the Catholic Church.

CDF To Investigate Radical Nuns

From Damian Thompson

One of the worst things about American Catholicism are its "liberated' feminist nuns, who long ago decided that the Magisterium was too restricting for them, and that if they couldn't be priests they could at least swan around like them, issuing bossy diktats about "being Church".

How satisfying, then, to learn that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is launching a "doctrinal assessment" of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a stronghold of the finger-wagging, right-on sisterhood.

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A Priest's Beautiful Death

From Deacon's Bench

This one hits especially close to home.

During the Triduum, I received word that my in-laws' pastor in Maryland had died moments after celebrating the Mass of the Lord's Supper. He was 55.

For his flock, the tragedy added new meaning to the days that followed.

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ht to Carina

Now It's Xavier University

Has just about every Catholic college gone crazy or do they just feel emboldened to be themselves because of Notre Dame?

Xavier University in New Orleans, a Catholic institution, has announced plans to honor pro-abortion political commentator and activist Donna Brazile at commencement on May 9, 2009.

“Given New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Hughes’ strong condemnation of Notre Dame’s honor of pro-abortion President Barack Obama, it is surprising and saddening that Xavier University would honor a prominent figure opposed to Catholic moral teachings,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, whose petition at NotreDameScandal.com has surpassed 263,000 supporters.

From Atheism to Christ

The actor (and sometime blogger) Mark Shea found this great story about the writer A.N. Wilson's trip from atheism to Christianity. It's a great read:

Wow! A.N. Wilson returns to faith in Christ--and does a fine job of summarizing the thoroughly adolescent conformity of the Christ-mocking Chattering Classes who manufacture British culture.

God bless his gutsiness for telling the truth.

The Triumph of Beauty

David Alexander has some good commentary of the Susan Boyle (Britain's Got Talent) video.

Most people are not really bad or evil, just incredibly lukewarm, and easily swayed by the opinion of the crowd. So it was with the audience of a television show in the UK known as "Britain's Got Talent" (similar to our "American Idol"). They laughed when a 47-year-old woman, a rather plain-looking spinster from from West Lothian, Scotland, stood in front of a skeptical crowd -- and that's putting it rather mildly -- and said she wanted to be a professional singer like Elaine Paige.

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This is Pretty Funny

I think it's said that insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome. Well, the New York Times might just be insane.

And they say journalists don't know enough about religion. Whatever gives people that idea?

Three corrections from the New York Times:

Fr. Z Fisks Kmiec

Fr. Z just rips apart Doug Kmiec's latest. It's so right on that for a moment I actually felt a little sorry for Kmiec for being so dismantled in public but then I regained my sanity.

Doug Kmiec again - worse and worse. Doug Kmiec again with my emphases and comments.
Father John Jenkins, the president of the University of Notre Dame, probably yearns for days past when the only angry messages waiting for him related to rehiring head football coach Charlie Weis for a fifth season after Weis’ dismal 6-6 performance in 2008.

G'town Removes the Holy Name For Obama

Wow! Dawn Eden has the remarkable story the Georgetown removed the name of Jesus in advance of Obama's economic speech at the university!

And so it came to pass, beneath Gaston Hall's beautiful painting of Morality, Faith, and Patriotism, with gold letters on the wall behind him spelling the Jesuit motto "Ad majorem Dei gloriam"—"To the greater glory of God"—Obama shared his prosperity gospel at the nation's oldest Catholic university.

But there was one thing missing: Jesus' name.

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Scariest Post of the Day

All right. I'm taking bets. When will the outlawing of Christianity occur in the EU? Five years? Ten? Fifteen? LarryD from Acts of the Apostasy has some evidence that you might want to check out before guessing:

The juggernaut of P.C. continues to steamroll through Europe - this time in the form of a new EU draft discrimination directive that seeks to promote "equality" but will in effect legislate bias against faith and conscience.

Am I Too Catholic?

This is a question I think everyone has had cross their minds at one point. Danielle Bean does great with it over at Faith and Family Live:

A reader wrote me recently with this question (I’ve edited out some specifics):

“Am I too Catholic? Having never really lived a Catholic family life, I have been struggling to understand, live, and teach the Catholic faith in our little family.

Sometimes, I feel like I’m a fundamentalist in my beliefs because I am so very different from my friends and family. For example, Harry Potter (won’t let my kids read it), pop music (sometimes I’ll change the channel because of the lyrics), beer commercials (because of the scantily-clad females or the innuendos), etc. ... Am I being too fundamentalist in my views?

Society Without God is Hell on Earth

It's funny. Religious people constantly have to listen to remarks about the Crusades and anti-abortion violence. But if we dare bring up atheism as a source for Nazism and Communism we're told that we're way off the mark.

“A Catholic German bishop has come under fire for his remarks condemning atheists. In a sermon given on Easter Sunday, the bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa, warned of rising atheism in Germany. ‘Wherever God is denied or fought against, there people and their dignity will soon be denied and held in disregard,’ he said in the sermon. He also said that ‘a society without God is hell on earth’ and quoted the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky: ‘If God does not exist, everything is permitted.’

Marilyn Chambers R. I. P.

By Francis Beckwith

This morning I was greeted by a headline that the porn star, Marilyn Chambers (56), was found dead on Easter Sunday. Her obituary was written as if she had actually accomplished something. She was, of course, in her own way a “community organizer.” So much so that ten years ago then-mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, declared a “Marilyn Chambers day.”

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Those Crazy Palins'

I thought the media sunk to bottom during the campaign but they've apparently gotten their shovels out and are intent on inventing new lows, especially when it comes to the Palins'.

OK, before we even get into the latest banal attack on Governor Palin's extended family perpetrated by the McClatchy newspaper chain, I would like to ask a few questions about "Those crazy Palins: Todd's half sister indicted in break-ins."

Has McClatchy ever had any headlines like this: "Those Crazy Kennedys"? After all, there is a wealth of craziness with that demented clan. Or since we recently had Obama's half brother denied a visa to England over his rape charges -- not to mention his illegal immigrant aunt -- how about a headline like this: "Those Crazy Obamas"?

SSPX Cleaning House?

From Rorate Caeli

After a series of extremely confrontational public letters to Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX), Father Basilio Méramo was finally informed of the decision of the Superior General to expel him from the ranks of the Fraternity.

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Consensual Child Porn?

Remember the good old days when you could point to something that was happening and you'd explain to everyone that this could lead to something really bad. Well it seems the really bad has taken up permanent residence in the U.S. This latest outrage is simply...well...the latest. The Other McCain details it:

First gay marriage, now this:
The Vermont Legislature is considering a bill that would legalize so-called "sexting" between teenagers.
Sexting refers to the exchange of explicit photos and videos via mobile phone. Under current laws, participants can be charged with child pornography, but lawmakers are considering a bill to legalize the consensual exchange of graphic images between two people 13 to 18 years old.

Easter Pagans

In some people’s hands, a little bit of information is a dangerous thing. ht to Mark Shea.

In some people’s hands, a little bit of information is a dangerous thing. At World Net Daily, Richard Rives of Wyatt Archaeological Research (an outfit that claims Noah’s Ark was found in 1987) lets all of us poor, benighted fools know that we are just closet pagans–because we celebrate Easter:

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Divine Fire?

Speaks for itself. Via Divine Ripples

The miraculous appearance of the Holy Fire occurs every year on Holy Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem. Holy Saturday is the day before Orthodox Pascha, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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79% Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead

Pretty interesting number from Rasmussen. The next question should be "Does this have any effect on your life?":

As Christians gather to celebrate Easter this Sunday, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 88% of adults nationwide think the person known to history as Jesus Christ actually walked the earth 2,000 years ago. That’s up five points from a year ago. Today, 5% disagree and 7% are not sure.

Eighty-two percent (82%) also believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God who came to Earth and died for our sins. Another 10% think otherwise and 8% aren’t sure.

Nearly as many, 79% believe the central claim of the Christian faith--that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Only 10% say they do not believe the first Easter resurrection really happened, while 11% are not sure.

The Difference of This Current Pope

From Rorate Caeli comes a statement from the Moscow Patriarchate.

Moscow, April 6, Interfax - Refusal of Pope Benedict XVI to use politically correct language and offer compromise on traditional issues of Christian ethics has gained support of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"The difference of this current Pope from his predecessor is that this Pope never watches for political correctness in his statements..

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Thy Will Be Done

Here's something I definitely need to be reminded of:

The Agony in the Garden has always been a powerful meditation for me.

“Not my will but thine be done.” The call of the Christian life is to make those words our own. It is a call to unite ourselves to Christ weeping in the garden and to realize that surrendering our will to our Father’s is not merely a good idea, but absolutely crucial.

Throughout the struggles in my life I have worked to achieve that surrender, and failed much more often than I’ve succeeded.

Marriage: A Hill to Die On

Why is it important to fight this fight right now:

Back in the 1970s, William F. Buckley Jr. was invited to debate feminist author Germaine Greer at the Oxford Union, but found that he and Greer were unable to agree on the wording of the resolution to be debated. After a long exchange of trans-Atlantic telegrams, Buckley in exasperation cabled his final proposal: "Resolved: Give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile."

In that simple phrase, Buckley summed up a basic truth about the conservative instinct. Over and over, we find ourselves fighting what is essentially a defensive battle against the forces of organized radicalism who insist that "social justice" requires that we grant their latest demand.

Identical Headlines Nationwide!

Doug Ross did a great job on researching this post how the media are operating in lockstep.

The following headlines have appeared in newspapers within the last 24 hours. This is not an inclusive list:

Gay Activism vs. Religious Freedom

Karen Hall was asked for examples of how gay activism and religious freedom are on a collision course. Well, she's got examples:

Those with eyes to see don't need to be told that gay activism and religious freedom are on a collision course. But there are many who won't realize that until it's too late. I was asked for examples, so here they are. (The Constitution -- what's left of it -- will be effectively trumped by The One's "Hate Crimes" legislation, so don't bother explaining how it or the Bill of Rights will save us.)

Levi Johnston Open to Modeling or Acting

The Palin's should be glad they avoided this guy marrying into the family:

Continuing their fame-seeking behavior, the Johnstons appeared on CBS' Early Show with Maggie Rodriguez today.

Levi Johnston stated during the interview that perhaps all the publicity he's getting will lead to a modeling or acting job, which he's "open to".

Bishop Sample on Notre Dame

Francis Beckwith has the story:

Alexander Sample is a fellow 1978 graduate of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. My friend is now the Bishop of the Diocese of Marquette (Michigan). (How cool is that?). I am proud to say that Bishop Sample has added his voice to the growing number of American Catholic bishops strongly disapproving of the University of Notre Dame's decision to award President Obama an honorary doctorate of laws as well as to have him deliver the commencement address at its May 17 graduation exercises. Bishop Sample writes:

Hoping For End of Christian America?

Sanity from the Ivy League? Yup. Cornell Professor William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection writes a great piece on why everyone should not hope for an end to Christian America. A great piece.

Newsweek magazine's cover proclaims The Decline and Fall of Christian America, while the article inside the cover proclaims The End of Christian America. The substance of the article doesn't really prove the headline, but the goal of whichever editor wrote the headline is clear: The undeniably Christian nature of this country is coming to an end, and that's a good thing.

The Newsweek headlines are consistent with the pervasive hostility of the liberal media, legal, artistic and entertainment elites towards Christianity in general, and any concept of this country being a "Christian Nation." Mocking Christianity and the Christian foundation of this country is not just acceptable, it is a path to fame. Mock Islam, and you may get killed; mock Judaism, and you will be criticized; but mock Christianity, and you will get a show at an art gallery, an award from a civil liberties union, and bragging rites at a DailyKos convention.

Paul Ryan 2012?

R.S. McCain seems to think that Paul Ryan, a Catholic conservative congressman, is a good fit for 2012. My favorite line is when describes Ryan as a "good-looking Irish kid who's got "telegenic" like I've got "crazy."

(A quick warning to those who care-there is some "language" on the site):

Yeah, it's easy to see why Ryan's a rising star for the GOP. C'mon, ladies: Those blue eyes? That thick hair? That aw-shucks grin?

A dude like that could tempt Cynthia Yockey. Oh, what the heck -- he could tempt me.

This was one of my basic insights into the massive fail of Crazy Cousin John. Even without his RINO deviations, Maverick had the problem of being old, short, grumpy and, worst of all, bald.

The Birth of the Black Legend

Joseph Fromm of Good Jesuit Bad Jesuit writes about the fabrication that Pope Pius XII ignored the plight of the jews during the holocaust. Guess who started the rumor. It was the commies. I knew it!:

The "black legend" of a pope who was a friend of Hitler and a supporter of totalitarian regimes was not born, as is often maintained,
in Jewish circles, in response to the presumed silence of Pius XII on the Holocaust, but in the communist world, in the period during which, shortly before the end of the second world war, the division of the world into two opposing blocs was approaching, one under Soviet influence and the other under that of the United States.

Letting the Little Ones Come to Us

What is it they say? Don't ask a question you don't want to hear the answer to. From Minnesota Mom.

Yesterday I thought it would be fun to interview the children. I hauled out the video camera and one by one, I asked them questions pertaining to how well they knew the momma while the others waited their turn upstairs.

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Where In The World Is Wilton?

From Michael Hirsh

Dear Archbishop Gregory:

During the election you were generally silent concerning the qualifications of now President Obama. After the election, you heralded his win as a source of hope and even opined that it might open the door for a black pontiff. I did not see one time where you pointed out his unabashed support for eugenics and unrestrained abortion. As a result, approximately one half of those that identified themselves as Catholic voted for him. Episcopal silence led many to conclude that voting for this man had no impact on their soul. Indeed, it appears that many were sheep without a shepherd.

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Univ. of Maryland: Porn In, Prayer Out

Well. Strike the University of Maryland off the possibilities of colleges my children can attend. By the time they're ready we may be forced to do a homeschool college. I'll set up a tiny campus next to the swing set.

The University of Maryland recently decided that prayer is not allowed during commencement addresses, but pornographic films are allowed on campus. University officials cited “academic free speech” as the reason to allow the film. Occurring nearly simultaneously, both incidents have garnered extensive media coverage. The question is, will the media question the University’s inconsistency in applying First Amendment principles?

Vermont Legislature OK's Gay Marriage

This time it wasn't even the courts. It was the legislature overturning the Governor's veto. Hot Air has the story and a poll on what to do about it at their site. Check it out:

The first state to do so the old-fashioned way, i.e. legislatively, instead of by court ruling. It was close in the house but they got it done:
The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.
The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

Who's Behind Pro-Notre Dame Site?

Nice Deb knows who's running the pro-Notre Dame website that supports the honoring of Barack Obama:

Guess who’s behind it?

Tom Mattzie, the founder of the “We Support Notre Dame,” is a political activist and a key leader of George Soros funded MoveOn.org, the radical far left smear website.

School Choice Study Repressed

Truth doesn't matter. Whatever gets Obama more votes does:

It would have been helpful to know about a Department of Education study on D.C.’s school choice initiative before the Democrats — beholden to teachers unions allergic to competition — voted to starve the innovative program benefiting poor, minority children in the worst school district in the nation.

Somehow, the results of the study conducted last spring didn’t surface until now. And that’s a damned shame. The Wall Street Journal reports:

New Obama Advisor: Pope Is 'Discredited'

Here's the next in-your-face from Obama to Catholics from Newsbusters:

Here’s another story that underlines how ludicrous the media have been in insisting Barack Obama was a natural choice for traditional Catholic and evangelical Christian voters: CNSNews.com correspondent Fred Lucas reports Obama finished stocking the advisory committee of his faith-based initiative with a bang: one new selection was Harry Knox, director of the "religion and faith program" of the gay-left Human Rights Campaign. Just last month, Knox described Pope Benedict XVI and certain Catholic bishops as "discredited leaders" because of their opposition to same-sex marriage.

A Little Kiwi Lunacy

This is ridiculous.

From the DailyMailOnline: Tesco Tells Farm To Stop Using Sheepdogs Because They 'Stress' The Flock

Sheepdogs herding a flock may be a familiar farmyard scene, but it could soon be confined to the past if bosses at Tesco have their way.

The supermarket chain has told its major supplier of lamb to stop using dogs, which it claims cause stress to the animals.

Weigel: Calumny and The Cardinal

All I need to say is George Weigel wrote this for NRO. Weigel is always worth reading:

It would be difficult to imagine a more mindless misrepresentation of the right relationship of church and state in these United States than that proffered by the Chicago Tribune on April 3, in a vicious editorial and accompanying op-ed column attacking the local Catholic archbishop, Cardinal Francis George.

God Doesn't Make Mistakes

A podcast interview with two Catholic Dads. Good stuff and Faith and Family Live:

On this week’s podcast (click here to listen or click on the player above), I have the pleasure of interviewing two faith filled Catholic fathers.

Steve Moser is the composer behind the amazing song “God Doesn’t Make Mistakes” and has enjoyed a career full of musical accomplishments and a personal conversion journey into the Catholic Church. Learn about how the birth of his daughter Anna inspired the writing of this incredibly pro-life song.

The Cake

This one really hits home for me and we're Pokemon nuts in this house:

What was requested was a Pokemon cake.

Or Star Wars, if Pokemon was unavailable.

So last Wednesday, which in my universe, is plenty far ahead of a Friday party deadline, thanks, we went on the journey to find the cake.

First stop was Publix on Overton. We looked through the book. No Pokemon or Star Wars. Then to Wal Mart - same story.

(Of course you are thinking...Why didn't she just make a cake and put Pokemon gear on top of it? Because I wasn't thinking, that's why. I probably could have done just that, I know.)

Teach The Children Well

Many Christians have focused their energies on "taking back the public schools" while sending their children there. But what they got was children who had fallen from their faith and adopted the secular attitudes of their teachers. This is an interesting piece from R.S. McCain. I'm going to look into this myself because there's a part of me that says we shouldn't give up on public schools but there's no way I'd send my kids there. So go take a look.

For once, Kathleen Parker has a clue. She quotes Ray Moore of Exodus Mandate:
I was alerted to the Deace-Minnery interview by E. Ray Moore -- founder of the South Carolina-based Exodus Mandate, an initiative to encourage Christian education and home schooling. Moore, who considers himself a member of the Christian right, thinks the movement is imploding.
"It's hard to admit defeat, but this one was self-inflicted," he wrote in an e-mail. "Yes, Dr. Dobson and the pro-family or Christian right political movement is a failure; it would have made me sad to say this in the past, but they have done it to themselves."

Building a Religion - O Style

The video's pretty scary, actually. Not "boo" scary but scary in the sense like "hey look our President is setting himself up as a messianic leader and robbing us of our freedom" scary. Yeah, that kind. Jim Treacher has the video:

Michael Hussey created this video and uploaded it to Youtube last year. For some reason, they put an age restriction on it, so you have to sign into your Youtube account and verify your age before you can watch it. This video doesn't have any profanity or naked people or violence, so presumably it's the sociopolitical content they find offensive. I just uploaded it again under my account, so you might still be able to watch this embed by the time I post this.

Why Did Jesus Ride A Donkey?

Why Did Jesus Ride A Donkey? Canterbury Tales has the answer.

Prior to entering Jerusalem, Christ instructed his disciples to acquire for him a donkey (in Matthew's Gospel a donkey and a colt).

Why did Jesus ride an ass? There are four reasons.

Continue Reading >>>>

100% Christian and Muslim?

They defrocked her just because she said she was a Christian and a Muslim? Those oppressive Episcopalians. When will they get into the 21st century?

"Both Religions Say There's Only One God..." But only one of them claims Mohammed is his prophet.

Can someone be both "100 percent" Christian and Muslim simultaneously? Recently defrocked Episcopal priest Ann Holmes Redding of Rhode Island thinks so.

And no, I'm not kidding. Here are the juiciest excerpts from the story, which originally ran in the Christian Post:

Iowa Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

There's a lot of great websites and blogs but The Corner sports some really fine minds dealing with the big issues. I don't always agree with every writer but when it comes to getting real insight into an immediate issue like the Iowa Supreme Court overturning the gay marriage ban, you get insights that you can't get anywhere in the mainstream media:

The lawless judicial attack on traditional marriage and on representative government continues. Today the Iowa supreme court ruled unanimously (7-0) that a “state statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.” Amidst the opinion’s 69 pages of blather, there are two key assertions (and they’re nothing more than that):

Hell and The Depression

Fr. Longenecker wonders if disbelief in Hell causes recessions. Normally, I'd ask if the padre had been into the sherry but I must tell you the logic seems pretty strong:

Sorry for another thought about hell, but I've been wondering on the connection between the modern disbelief in hell and the financial crisis.

If you believe in hell you believe that you have to pay what you owe. There will be a reckoning. There's no free lunch. If you don't believe in hell you think you're going to get away with it. You can have what you want without paying for it and you can run up your debts and never really have to pay.

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