Monday, May 09, 2016
Friday, May 06, 2016
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
How bad is it in Venezuela?
The situation in Venezuela has become so bad that even soldiers are struggling to support themselves.
Over the weekend, six members of the Venezuelan military were detained by local authorities for stealing goats, the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported Sunday.
It said the soldiers confessed to stealing the goats and said they did
it to feed themselves, since they had no food left in their barracks.
"It's not a good sign when your military doesn't have enough food, and when the military has been relegated to guarding and protecting food lines," said Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Economic Growth Initiative at the Atlantic Council. "This is endemic of the problems going on across the country."
Venezuela has been hard hit by food shortages, a dizzying inflation rate of about 181 percent and a collapse in the price of oil — its most critical export.
Read the rest here.
"It's not a good sign when your military doesn't have enough food, and when the military has been relegated to guarding and protecting food lines," said Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Economic Growth Initiative at the Atlantic Council. "This is endemic of the problems going on across the country."
Venezuela has been hard hit by food shortages, a dizzying inflation rate of about 181 percent and a collapse in the price of oil — its most critical export.
Read the rest here.
Monday, May 02, 2016
Disaster: Historic St. Sava Cathedral in New York is Destroyed by Fire on Pascha
The
New York Fire Department said it received the first report of the blaze
at the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, on West 25th Street
between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas in the Flatiron
district, shortly before 7 p.m. It grew to a four-alarm fire that took
168 department personnel to tame, fire officials said.
It
was not clear if anyone was at the church when the fire started,
officials said. The priest had left before the blaze began to go on a
bicycle ride after an Easter luncheon that stretched into the late
afternoon and capped several busy days of religious celebrations,
officials said. A caretaker who arrived after the fire started was
treated for smoke inhalation but was not hospitalized, they said.
Frank
Gribbon, a department spokesman who was at the scene on Sunday night,
said the blaze did not appear to be suspicious. He said the department
would investigate the cause, but cautioned that the amount of damage
could complicate that effort.
“There is so much damage you can’t find the point of origin,” he said, adding, “The whole roof is a wooden truss. It’s gone.”
Read the rest here.
Bright Week
The icon for Bright Monday
Bright Week and the forty days of Pascha (Easter) are a period of celebration as we rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In recognition of this we observe certain customs, and relax various disciplines as an expression of this joy. To whit there is no fasting until the second Wednesday following Pascha. Penitential disciplines of any kind are a no no during Bright Week as we are feasting with the Bridegroom. This is true even in monasteries. While monastics will keep their abstinence from meat, they too will be feasting on fish, cheeses and sweets.
In our church temples the royal doors will be open throughout Bright Week, even during liturgies.
Sunday, May 01, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
What Christ Accomplished on the Cross
The Orthodox dogma of our redemption—which includes
the doctrines concerning Christ’s incarnation, death
and Resurrection—is the chief dogma of our Faith,
together with the dogma of the Holy Trinity. I have been
especially contemplating and reading Patristic writings on
this subject for a few years now. It is a vast subject. In
this lecture I will try to outline its main points in a
linear and chronological fashion. I will speak about the
state of man before the Fall and after the Fall, and then
speak about how Christ saved us from the consequences of
the Fall through His incarnation, death and Resurrection.
Finally, I will summarize all the present and future
accomplishments of Christ’s redemptive work.
Read the rest here.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Vatican Radio: Anglicans and Catholics discuss recognition of ministry
Catholic and Anglican theologians have been meeting together near Rome to discuss ordination rites within the two communions, as well as the significant ecumenical implications of Pope Francis’ recent document ‘Amoris Laetitia’.
A meeting of the Malines Conversation group took place from April 17th to 22nd at Rocca di Papa, south of Rome, culminating in an ecumenical evensong celebrated by Archbishop Arthur Roche of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
A communique issued after the encounter said the theologians from seven different countries discussed “contemporary and historic ordination rites” and the developments that have taken place in both communions since Pope Leo XIII declared Anglican orders to be “null and void”.
To find out more about the conversation and about prospects for progress in the dialogue, Philippa Hitchen spoke to one of the Catholic participants, Fr Tony Currer of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
Read the rest here.
A meeting of the Malines Conversation group took place from April 17th to 22nd at Rocca di Papa, south of Rome, culminating in an ecumenical evensong celebrated by Archbishop Arthur Roche of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
A communique issued after the encounter said the theologians from seven different countries discussed “contemporary and historic ordination rites” and the developments that have taken place in both communions since Pope Leo XIII declared Anglican orders to be “null and void”.
To find out more about the conversation and about prospects for progress in the dialogue, Philippa Hitchen spoke to one of the Catholic participants, Fr Tony Currer of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
Read the rest here.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Encyclical on just war theory ‘plausible’, says Cardinal
Cardinal Peter Turkson, the head of the Pontifical Council for
Justice and Peace, has called for a “broad and deeply felt” debate on
the question of just war theory and said a papal encyclical on the issue
was possible. He also said that proposals to drop the concept of just
war were “legitimate”.
Cardinal Turkson spoke to the Sunday Times after a conference sponsored by Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace movement, and the Vatican’s justice and peace office, earlier this month. At the conclusion of the conference participants called for the Catholic Church to renounce its just war doctrine and for Pope Francis to write an encyclical on nonviolence and “just peace.”
In a closing statement, attendees at the conference said that too often the doctrine had been used to justify and endorse military action rather than prevent it.
Cardinal Turkson said he hoped “the debate on these issues, now as pressing as ever, will continue.”
Read the rest here.
Cardinal Turkson spoke to the Sunday Times after a conference sponsored by Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace movement, and the Vatican’s justice and peace office, earlier this month. At the conclusion of the conference participants called for the Catholic Church to renounce its just war doctrine and for Pope Francis to write an encyclical on nonviolence and “just peace.”
In a closing statement, attendees at the conference said that too often the doctrine had been used to justify and endorse military action rather than prevent it.
Cardinal Turkson said he hoped “the debate on these issues, now as pressing as ever, will continue.”
Read the rest here.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
A Liberal Catholic's Complaint on Amoris Laetitia
His thesis on the synod of the family is perfect in every way - except the vital topic of communion for divorced and remmarieds.
Still they argue, argue, argue. Yes he did; no he didn't. He can; he can't. What exactly did Pope Francis intend to convey by chapter eight of his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia? Conservatives say Pope Francis cannot have meant that "divorced and remarried Catholics could be admitted to Holy Communion in certain circumstances", as many have interpreted the document, because that would be plain contrary to long-standing Catholic practice sanctioned by the magisterium.
But that would have meant that he too is a conservative, and we know he is a liberal. We are free to interpret his words in the light of that. But why the uncertainty? Why couldn't he have spelt it out with a simple statement such as the one above? Was he under pressure, for instance facing threats of resignation from senior cardinals in the Vatican, so he had to create a smoke screen so everyone could claim a victory? How does that help the rest of us, or at least those of us who aren't conservative curial cardinals? He has created confusion precisely where there needs to be clarity.
Read the rest here.
HT: Dr. Tighe
Still they argue, argue, argue. Yes he did; no he didn't. He can; he can't. What exactly did Pope Francis intend to convey by chapter eight of his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia? Conservatives say Pope Francis cannot have meant that "divorced and remarried Catholics could be admitted to Holy Communion in certain circumstances", as many have interpreted the document, because that would be plain contrary to long-standing Catholic practice sanctioned by the magisterium.
But that would have meant that he too is a conservative, and we know he is a liberal. We are free to interpret his words in the light of that. But why the uncertainty? Why couldn't he have spelt it out with a simple statement such as the one above? Was he under pressure, for instance facing threats of resignation from senior cardinals in the Vatican, so he had to create a smoke screen so everyone could claim a victory? How does that help the rest of us, or at least those of us who aren't conservative curial cardinals? He has created confusion precisely where there needs to be clarity.
Read the rest here.
HT: Dr. Tighe
The Twenty Dollar Bill
I see that some people are getting a little bent about what they perceive as politically correct tampering with our currency. I however, view things somewhat differently. A homicidal and racist sociopath, who was also coincidentally the founder of the modern Democratic Party has been bumped from the $20 bill in favor of a black female gun toting Republican.
Problem?
Problem?
Barack Obama breaks promise to call Armenian killings ‘genocide’
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama declined Friday to call the 1915
massacre of Armenians a genocide, breaking a key campaign promise as his
presidency nears an end.
Obama, marking the upcoming Armenian Remembrance Day, called the massacre the first mass atrocity of the 20th century and a tragedy that must not be repeated. Yet he stopped short of using the word "genocide," a phrase he applied to the killings before he became president in 2009.
"I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed," Obama said.
Armenian-American leaders have urged Obama each year to make good on a pledge he made as a candidate in 2008, when he said the U.S. government had a responsibility to recognize the attacks as genocide and vowed to do so if elected. Obama's failure to fulfill that pledge in his final annual statement on the massacre infuriated advocates and lawmakers who accused the president of outsourcing America's moral voice to Turkey, which staunchly opposes the genocide label.
"It's a Turkish government veto over U.S. policy on the Armenian genocide," Aram Hamparian, head of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in an interview. "It's like Erdogan imposing a gag rule very publicly and an American president enforcing that gag rule." He was referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Read the rest here.
Obama, marking the upcoming Armenian Remembrance Day, called the massacre the first mass atrocity of the 20th century and a tragedy that must not be repeated. Yet he stopped short of using the word "genocide," a phrase he applied to the killings before he became president in 2009.
"I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed," Obama said.
Armenian-American leaders have urged Obama each year to make good on a pledge he made as a candidate in 2008, when he said the U.S. government had a responsibility to recognize the attacks as genocide and vowed to do so if elected. Obama's failure to fulfill that pledge in his final annual statement on the massacre infuriated advocates and lawmakers who accused the president of outsourcing America's moral voice to Turkey, which staunchly opposes the genocide label.
"It's a Turkish government veto over U.S. policy on the Armenian genocide," Aram Hamparian, head of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in an interview. "It's like Erdogan imposing a gag rule very publicly and an American president enforcing that gag rule." He was referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Read the rest here.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Realism and Islam
Our leaders cannot comprehend what is going on, either when a whole Western civilization loses its faith and moral standards or when Islam reawakens to the implications of its own faith and its vision of world conquest.
Political realism, long associated with Augustine, constrains us to consider what Machiavelli later recommended to us—namely, to look at what men “do” do and not at what they “ought” to do. This advice would be more persuasive if, in fact, some men did not do what they ought to do or others do what they ought not to do. Both sides usually persuade themselves that they ought to follow their convictions. Machiavelli thought that if men did what they “ought” to do they would not survive the onslaughts and cunning of those who did what they had power to do whatever they could do. However, Augustinian realism did not, as in the case of Machiavelli, justify this careful look at what men “do” do as a reason to deny the distinction between good and evil so that any means could be used to accomplish their purposes.
The “realistic” look was “realistic” for Augustine precisely because good and evil were included in the look itself, in the reality as seen. To see and act on the reality of good or evil is to see reality in its fullest dimensions. Practical truth, in terms of acting according to an accurate description of what is there, is the first principle of realism as well as of political action. Thus, Maritain could rightly maintain in the Augustinian tradition that “justice, brains, and strength” need not be separated. They belong together. Or, to refer obliquely to Lord Acton, the lack of power can also corrupt absolutely. Not to possess and use responsible power in defense of what is right is itself an evil, a cowardice.
With this background in mind, we recall recent events from “9/11”, the bombings in Spain, England, Mumbai, Bali, Fort Hood, San Bernardino, twice in Paris, Lahore, and Brussels, not to mention the persecutions and beheadings in Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Libya, Somalia, Chad, Syria, and the Sunni/Shiite inner-Muslim battles. What is the most plausible way to judge such continuing violence and its origins? To make this assessment, we have to acknowledge that Islam, in principle, is actually and potentially violent throughout its entire history. The basic reason for this method is obedience to the Law of Allah, not love for violence itself.
On the basis of evidence and theory, we cannot conclude from the fact that Islam is a “religion” that therefore it is not “violent” or is so only by abuse of its own founding. It is possible to be a religion and to espouse violence. (Were this not so, we would have to exclude many key passages on the Old Testament itself.) We cannot obscure what is there and affirmed to be there by Muslims themselves. Realism means that we can and should call what happens by its proper name. It also means that, if we cannot or will not make this proper naming, we are not realistic. We will inevitably suffer the consequences of our failure to state the truth of what is there.
These things are said not to promote counter violence against Muslims or to justify Muslim violence against others. Rather it is to respect Islam’s insistence that all those inside and outside of its enclosure be subject to the law of the Prophet. Whether we like it or not, this vision of world rule that is proper to Islam can only be called “religious” in nature. It is rooted in and promoted as a worship of the god called Allah. Not to take this wording seriously is unrealistic. The Muslims who claim that they can read their religious texts as if such violence is not advocated and justified may be applauded for trying to mitigate the historic record. But the fact is that those who see this violence as essential to the religion have the better side of the argument and are the better witnesses to what historic Islam stands for.
Read the rest here.
HT: Dr. Tighe
I can't believe the author is a Jesuit!
Political realism, long associated with Augustine, constrains us to consider what Machiavelli later recommended to us—namely, to look at what men “do” do and not at what they “ought” to do. This advice would be more persuasive if, in fact, some men did not do what they ought to do or others do what they ought not to do. Both sides usually persuade themselves that they ought to follow their convictions. Machiavelli thought that if men did what they “ought” to do they would not survive the onslaughts and cunning of those who did what they had power to do whatever they could do. However, Augustinian realism did not, as in the case of Machiavelli, justify this careful look at what men “do” do as a reason to deny the distinction between good and evil so that any means could be used to accomplish their purposes.
The “realistic” look was “realistic” for Augustine precisely because good and evil were included in the look itself, in the reality as seen. To see and act on the reality of good or evil is to see reality in its fullest dimensions. Practical truth, in terms of acting according to an accurate description of what is there, is the first principle of realism as well as of political action. Thus, Maritain could rightly maintain in the Augustinian tradition that “justice, brains, and strength” need not be separated. They belong together. Or, to refer obliquely to Lord Acton, the lack of power can also corrupt absolutely. Not to possess and use responsible power in defense of what is right is itself an evil, a cowardice.
With this background in mind, we recall recent events from “9/11”, the bombings in Spain, England, Mumbai, Bali, Fort Hood, San Bernardino, twice in Paris, Lahore, and Brussels, not to mention the persecutions and beheadings in Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Libya, Somalia, Chad, Syria, and the Sunni/Shiite inner-Muslim battles. What is the most plausible way to judge such continuing violence and its origins? To make this assessment, we have to acknowledge that Islam, in principle, is actually and potentially violent throughout its entire history. The basic reason for this method is obedience to the Law of Allah, not love for violence itself.
On the basis of evidence and theory, we cannot conclude from the fact that Islam is a “religion” that therefore it is not “violent” or is so only by abuse of its own founding. It is possible to be a religion and to espouse violence. (Were this not so, we would have to exclude many key passages on the Old Testament itself.) We cannot obscure what is there and affirmed to be there by Muslims themselves. Realism means that we can and should call what happens by its proper name. It also means that, if we cannot or will not make this proper naming, we are not realistic. We will inevitably suffer the consequences of our failure to state the truth of what is there.
These things are said not to promote counter violence against Muslims or to justify Muslim violence against others. Rather it is to respect Islam’s insistence that all those inside and outside of its enclosure be subject to the law of the Prophet. Whether we like it or not, this vision of world rule that is proper to Islam can only be called “religious” in nature. It is rooted in and promoted as a worship of the god called Allah. Not to take this wording seriously is unrealistic. The Muslims who claim that they can read their religious texts as if such violence is not advocated and justified may be applauded for trying to mitigate the historic record. But the fact is that those who see this violence as essential to the religion have the better side of the argument and are the better witnesses to what historic Islam stands for.
Read the rest here.
HT: Dr. Tighe
I can't believe the author is a Jesuit!
The Great Schism: When The Catholic And Eastern Orthodox Churches Split
Now it's time for a regular segment Words You'll Hear. That's where we
try to understand stories in the news by parsing some of the words
associated with them. Today's word is schism. We expect to hear that
word this week as Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, and
Patriarch Bartholomew, head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, traveled to
Greece to meet over the plight of refugees. But that meeting raises the
question of why there's an Eastern and Western church to begin with.
That divide is called the great schism. To help us understand this, we
invited Monsignor Paul McPartlan to stop by our studios. He's a
professor of systematic theology and ecumenism at the Catholic
University of America...
Read the rest here.
This is really a rather unfortunate piece.
Read the rest here.
This is really a rather unfortunate piece.
Monday, April 18, 2016
ROCOR Holy Synod on the Proposed Texts for the Great and Holy Pan-Orthodox Synod
To the Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Venerable Monastics and Pious Faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia:
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
In light of the welcome publication of the documents to be considered by the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council, scheduled to take place on Crete from 16-27 June 2016, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia has undertaken to examine these texts, together with a multitude of other Hierarchs, clergy and laity who are doing the same as preparations for the Council continue, and to communicate with our God-preserved flock and others the manner of suggestions we are proposing, since the documents of the Council are the cause of interest and questioning to very many. We are reminded, in this as in all things, of the words of the Lord to the Holy Apostle St. Peter, when He pronounced that the future shepherd’s work would be to feed My sheep (John 21:17); and likewise that the food for those who love Him is to diligently preserve what Christ has taught them: If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15), and If a man love me, he will keep my words (John 14:23).
It is with zeal for such divine commandments that the whole plenitude of the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church seeks to apply the counsel of the Righteous Solomon: incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2), scrutinizing the documents that have been made available to us with humility, diligence and obedience. This task is undertaken in a spirit free from fear or worldly worry, since we fervently trust that God Himself is ever the helmsman of the Church, and as He has guided her through the many centuries to our day, so He will continue to guide and preserve us now and until He comes again. Rather, we offer reflections on a few of the texts as a means of conjoining our thoughts to those of many others who are working for the good of all our inter-Orthodox endeavours, including His Holiness the Patriarch and those members of our Russian Orthodox Church who labour with him in these preparations.
While certain of the documents—which have been prepared by the Pre-Conciliar Conferences for the Council’s consideration, but which are of course not final texts and are necessarily preliminary—do not give rise for concern in our reading, and indeed contain elements of useful clarification (for example, the document “Autonomy and the Means of Proclaiming It”), the employment in others of ambiguous terminology, a lack of theological precision, and ecclesiological language foreign to the sacred tradition of the Church, demand commentary that may lead to their correction. This is most notably the case in two documents: “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World”, and “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World”; and a few issues arise also with the procedural text entitled “Organisation and Working Procedure of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church.”
Read the rest here.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
In light of the welcome publication of the documents to be considered by the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council, scheduled to take place on Crete from 16-27 June 2016, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia has undertaken to examine these texts, together with a multitude of other Hierarchs, clergy and laity who are doing the same as preparations for the Council continue, and to communicate with our God-preserved flock and others the manner of suggestions we are proposing, since the documents of the Council are the cause of interest and questioning to very many. We are reminded, in this as in all things, of the words of the Lord to the Holy Apostle St. Peter, when He pronounced that the future shepherd’s work would be to feed My sheep (John 21:17); and likewise that the food for those who love Him is to diligently preserve what Christ has taught them: If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15), and If a man love me, he will keep my words (John 14:23).
It is with zeal for such divine commandments that the whole plenitude of the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church seeks to apply the counsel of the Righteous Solomon: incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2), scrutinizing the documents that have been made available to us with humility, diligence and obedience. This task is undertaken in a spirit free from fear or worldly worry, since we fervently trust that God Himself is ever the helmsman of the Church, and as He has guided her through the many centuries to our day, so He will continue to guide and preserve us now and until He comes again. Rather, we offer reflections on a few of the texts as a means of conjoining our thoughts to those of many others who are working for the good of all our inter-Orthodox endeavours, including His Holiness the Patriarch and those members of our Russian Orthodox Church who labour with him in these preparations.
While certain of the documents—which have been prepared by the Pre-Conciliar Conferences for the Council’s consideration, but which are of course not final texts and are necessarily preliminary—do not give rise for concern in our reading, and indeed contain elements of useful clarification (for example, the document “Autonomy and the Means of Proclaiming It”), the employment in others of ambiguous terminology, a lack of theological precision, and ecclesiological language foreign to the sacred tradition of the Church, demand commentary that may lead to their correction. This is most notably the case in two documents: “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World”, and “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World”; and a few issues arise also with the procedural text entitled “Organisation and Working Procedure of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church.”
Read the rest here.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Monday, April 11, 2016
The Grandaddy of All Contested Conventions: The Great Klanbake of 1924
The pundits are all talking about the Republican Convention of 1880.
That's not the historical precedent that worries me. In 1924 the
Democrats showed up in NYC, in the middle of a heat wave (long before
AC) with the Ku Klux Klan comprising the largest block of delegates, and
all hell broke loose....
Many historic precedents of contested conventions can be cited, but the most contested of all was without question the Democratic Convention of 1924. By the time convention delegates convened in New York City on June 24, there was ample evidence that the Democratic party was deeply divided. As the leading quipster of that day, Finley Peter Dunne (“Mr. Dooley”), wrote, “The Dimmycratic Party ain’t on speakin’ terms with itself.” Former president Woodrow Wilson’s son-in-law (and Treasury secretary), William Gibbs McAdoo, and the governor of New York, Al Smith, had squared off over the main issues, with a generous portion of personal animosity thrown in. Each held enough delegate votes to prevent the other from being nominated. At that time the Democratic party labored under the requirement of a two-thirds nominating majority, and it was clear neither Smith nor McAdoo could achieve it.
To make matters worse, the hot-button social issues of the day were enmeshed in religion and evoked a white-hot fervor on all sides. Prohibition, immigration, and the KKK were the issues, and there appeared to be no room for compromise. The convention opened with an explosive floor fight over the party’s platform. Record-setting temperatures outside produced what reporters called “furnace-like air in the draped hall that kept fans and straw hats waving vigorously.” By the third day the Washington Post was reporting “Delegates in Fist Fights on Floor Over Klan.”
Al Smith and his anti-prohibition forces had the whiskey flowing, while McAdoo and his pro-prohibition delegates piously called for divine retribution against the “big city wets.” Former secretary of the Navy and veteran Democratic warhorse Josephus Daniels wrote from the convention to the folks back home in North Carolina: “This convention is chock full of religion. It eats religion, dreams it, smokes it.” He warned the Democrats not to forsake “the denunciation of Republicans for religious warfare among themselves.”
After endless wrangling and grandstanding, the convention staggered to the adoption of a platform that was noteworthy only for its failure to confront the big issues. Nothing of substance was said about prohibition, immigration, the League of Nations, or the KKK. It did make a gracious acknowledgement of President Harding’s recent death; but even that was contested. The original wording stated, “Our Party stands uncovered at the bier of Warren G. Harding. . . . ” But the prohibitionists insisted on substituting “grave” for “bier,” lest some of their supporters back home take offense.
Read the rest here.
Many historic precedents of contested conventions can be cited, but the most contested of all was without question the Democratic Convention of 1924. By the time convention delegates convened in New York City on June 24, there was ample evidence that the Democratic party was deeply divided. As the leading quipster of that day, Finley Peter Dunne (“Mr. Dooley”), wrote, “The Dimmycratic Party ain’t on speakin’ terms with itself.” Former president Woodrow Wilson’s son-in-law (and Treasury secretary), William Gibbs McAdoo, and the governor of New York, Al Smith, had squared off over the main issues, with a generous portion of personal animosity thrown in. Each held enough delegate votes to prevent the other from being nominated. At that time the Democratic party labored under the requirement of a two-thirds nominating majority, and it was clear neither Smith nor McAdoo could achieve it.
To make matters worse, the hot-button social issues of the day were enmeshed in religion and evoked a white-hot fervor on all sides. Prohibition, immigration, and the KKK were the issues, and there appeared to be no room for compromise. The convention opened with an explosive floor fight over the party’s platform. Record-setting temperatures outside produced what reporters called “furnace-like air in the draped hall that kept fans and straw hats waving vigorously.” By the third day the Washington Post was reporting “Delegates in Fist Fights on Floor Over Klan.”
Al Smith and his anti-prohibition forces had the whiskey flowing, while McAdoo and his pro-prohibition delegates piously called for divine retribution against the “big city wets.” Former secretary of the Navy and veteran Democratic warhorse Josephus Daniels wrote from the convention to the folks back home in North Carolina: “This convention is chock full of religion. It eats religion, dreams it, smokes it.” He warned the Democrats not to forsake “the denunciation of Republicans for religious warfare among themselves.”
After endless wrangling and grandstanding, the convention staggered to the adoption of a platform that was noteworthy only for its failure to confront the big issues. Nothing of substance was said about prohibition, immigration, the League of Nations, or the KKK. It did make a gracious acknowledgement of President Harding’s recent death; but even that was contested. The original wording stated, “Our Party stands uncovered at the bier of Warren G. Harding. . . . ” But the prohibitionists insisted on substituting “grave” for “bier,” lest some of their supporters back home take offense.
Read the rest here.
British Muslims becoming a nation within a nation
British Muslims are becoming a nation within a nation, the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has warned.
Commenting on a ground-breaking survey, Trevor Phillips said we are “in danger of sacrificing a generation of young British people to values that are antithetical to the beliefs of most of us, including many Muslims”.
He called for a new, tougher approach to integration and the abandonment of “the failed policy of multiculturalism".
Read the rest here.
Commenting on a ground-breaking survey, Trevor Phillips said we are “in danger of sacrificing a generation of young British people to values that are antithetical to the beliefs of most of us, including many Muslims”.
He called for a new, tougher approach to integration and the abandonment of “the failed policy of multiculturalism".
Read the rest here.
Thursday, April 07, 2016
The Coming Train Wreck
Yes, the big Wisconsin story is Ted Cruz’s crushing 13-point victory.
And yes, it greatly improves his chances of denying Donald Trump a
first-ballot convention victory, which may turn out to be Trump’s only
path to the nomination.
● He was opposed by a very popular GOP governor (80 percent approval among Republicans) with a powerful state organization honed by winning three campaigns within four years (two gubernatorial, one recall).
● He was opposed by popular, local, well-informed radio talk show hosts whose tough interviews left him in shambles.
● Tons of money was dumped into negative ads not just from the Cruz campaign and the pro-Cruz super PACs but from two anti-Trump super PACs as well.
And if that doesn’t leave a candidate flattened, consider that Trump was coming off two weeks of grievous self-inflicted wounds — and still got more than a third of the vote. Which definitively vindicated Trump’s boast that if he ever went out in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shot someone (most likely because his Twitter went down — he’d be apprehended in his pajamas), he wouldn’t lose any voters.
The
question for Trump has always been how far he could reach beyond his
solid core. His problem is that those who reject him are equally
immovable. In Wisconsin, 58 percent of Republican voters said that the prospect of a Trump presidency left them concerned or even scared.
Read the rest here.
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Sorry for the dearth of posting lately
It's been a little busy around here. Hopefully I will get a little free time in the near future.
Saturday, April 02, 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Trump would be least-popular major-party nominee in modern times
If Donald Trump secures the Republican presidential nomination, he
would start the general election campaign as the least-popular candidate
to represent either party in modern times.
Three-quarters of women view him unfavorably. So do nearly two-thirds of independents, 80 percent of young adults, 85 percent of Hispanics and nearly half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
Those findings, tallied from Washington Post-ABC News polling, fuel Trump’s overall 67 percent unfavorable rating — making Trump more disliked than any major-party nominee in the 32 years the survey has been tracking candidates.
Read the rest here.
Three-quarters of women view him unfavorably. So do nearly two-thirds of independents, 80 percent of young adults, 85 percent of Hispanics and nearly half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
Those findings, tallied from Washington Post-ABC News polling, fuel Trump’s overall 67 percent unfavorable rating — making Trump more disliked than any major-party nominee in the 32 years the survey has been tracking candidates.
Read the rest here.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
"Error" Keeps Sanders off D.C. Ballot
Both Sanders, a senator from Vermont, and front-runner Hillary Clinton submitted their paperwork and the $2,500 fee in advance of the March 16 deadline.
But due to a clerical error, the D.C. Democrats did not notify the Board of Elections until March 17, according to WRC-TV in Washington.
A challenge, filed by a D.C. voter, will keep Sanders off the ballot until the issue is resolved. The challenge is expected to be heard by the Board of Elections in early April.
Read the rest here.
Legalize It All: How to win the war on drugs
In
1994, John Ehrlichman, the Watergate co-conspirator, unlocked for me
one of the great mysteries of modern American history: How did the
United States entangle itself in a policy of drug prohibition that has
yielded so much misery and so few good results? Americans have been
criminalizing psychoactive substances since San Francisco’s anti-opium
law of 1875, but it was Ehrlichman’s boss, Richard Nixon, who declared
the first “war on drugs” and set the country on the wildly punitive and
counterproductive path it still pursues. I’d tracked Ehrlichman, who had
been Nixon’s domestic-policy adviser, to an engineering firm in
Atlanta, where he was working on minority recruitment. I barely
recognized him. He was much heavier than he’d been at the time of the
Watergate scandal two decades earlier, and he wore a mountain-man beard
that extended to the middle of his chest.
At the time, I was writing a book about the politics of drug prohibition. I started to ask Ehrlichman a series of earnest, wonky questions that he impatiently waved away. “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
Read the rest here.
HT: MG
At the time, I was writing a book about the politics of drug prohibition. I started to ask Ehrlichman a series of earnest, wonky questions that he impatiently waved away. “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
Read the rest here.
HT: MG
Monday, March 28, 2016
Report: Catholic Priest Crucified by ISIL on Good Friday
Details are sketchy and the reports appear to be mainly coming from the Austrian press/media who got the news from Cardinal Schönborn. While no formal confirmation has yet come from the Holy See, it has been rumored for a while that ISIL was planning on doing this.
Source
Update: The Indian Government is throwing cold water on the report. Let us pray they are right. Source
Source
Update: The Indian Government is throwing cold water on the report. Let us pray they are right. Source
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Memory Eternal: Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN
Friday, March 25, 2016
Former Pope Benedict XVI said to be "slowly fading"
Rome (AFP) - Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is
"slowly, serenely fading" but remains "very lucid", his personal
secretary said in an interview published Thursday.
In 2013, Benedict became the first head of the Catholic Church to resign in seven centuries, amid speculation he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, unable to cope at the top of an institution beset by scandals.
He said he no longer had the strength of mind or body to carry on, but his health appeared to improve after he stepped down and moved into a former convent in the grounds of the Vatican.
"In April, Benedict XVI will be 89 years old. He's like a candle which is slowly, serenely fading. He is serene, at peace with God, himself and the world," said Gaenswein.
Read the rest here.
Some Rare Good News for Investors (and bad news for Wall Street)
Any day now, the U.S. Department of Labor is expected to finalize new rules that would change the way financial advisors are allowed to give advice to their clients.
The controversial changes are meant to reduce the conflict of interest among broker-dealers and financial advisors who advise consumers on how to invest their savings. And the rules would apply to both major firms like Fidelity and Vanguard as well as smaller independent ones. As it stands, broker-dealers receive commissions based on the products they sell their clients, which critics say creates an inherent conflict of interest. Under the new rules, broker-dealers would be required to act in their clients’ best interest rather than encouraging money moves that directly benefit the broker’s bottom line. The fancy word for this is “fiduciary duty.”
Read the rest here.
The controversial changes are meant to reduce the conflict of interest among broker-dealers and financial advisors who advise consumers on how to invest their savings. And the rules would apply to both major firms like Fidelity and Vanguard as well as smaller independent ones. As it stands, broker-dealers receive commissions based on the products they sell their clients, which critics say creates an inherent conflict of interest. Under the new rules, broker-dealers would be required to act in their clients’ best interest rather than encouraging money moves that directly benefit the broker’s bottom line. The fancy word for this is “fiduciary duty.”
Read the rest here.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
The British View the War of 1812
...By contrast, the British historiography of the War of 1812 has generally consisted of short chapters squeezed between the grand sweeping narratives of the Napoleonic Wars. The justification for this begins with the numbers: Roughly 20,000 on all sides died fighting the War of 1812 compared with over 3.5 million in the Napoleonic. But the brevity with which the war has been treated has allowed a persistent myth to grow about British ignorance. In the 19th century, the Canadian historian William Kingsford was only half-joking when he commented, “The events of the War of 1812 have not been forgotten in England for they have never been known there.” In the 20th, another Canadian historian remarked that the War of 1812 is “an episode in history that makes everybody happy, because everybody interprets it differently...the English are happiest of all, because they don’t even know it happened.”
The truth is, the British were never happy. In fact, their feelings ranged from disbelief and betrayal at the beginning of the war to outright fury and resentment at the end. They regarded the U.S. protests against Royal Navy impressment of American seamen as exaggerated whining at best, and a transparent pretext for an attempt on Canada at worst. It was widely known that Thomas Jefferson coveted all of North America for the United States. When the war started, he wrote to a friend: “The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us experience for the attack of Halifax the next, and the final expulsion of England from the American continent.” Moreover, British critics interpreted Washington’s willingness to go to war as proof that America only paid lip service to the ideals of freedom, civil rights and constitutional government. In short, the British dismissed the United States as a haven for blackguards and hypocrites.
The long years of fighting Napoleon’s ambitions for a world empire had hardened the British into an “us-against-them” mentality. All British accounts of the war—no matter how brief—concentrate on the perceived inequality of purpose between the conflict across the Atlantic and the one in Europe: with the former being about wounded feelings and inconvenience, and the latter about survival or annihilation.
Read the rest here.
HT: MG
The truth is, the British were never happy. In fact, their feelings ranged from disbelief and betrayal at the beginning of the war to outright fury and resentment at the end. They regarded the U.S. protests against Royal Navy impressment of American seamen as exaggerated whining at best, and a transparent pretext for an attempt on Canada at worst. It was widely known that Thomas Jefferson coveted all of North America for the United States. When the war started, he wrote to a friend: “The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us experience for the attack of Halifax the next, and the final expulsion of England from the American continent.” Moreover, British critics interpreted Washington’s willingness to go to war as proof that America only paid lip service to the ideals of freedom, civil rights and constitutional government. In short, the British dismissed the United States as a haven for blackguards and hypocrites.
The long years of fighting Napoleon’s ambitions for a world empire had hardened the British into an “us-against-them” mentality. All British accounts of the war—no matter how brief—concentrate on the perceived inequality of purpose between the conflict across the Atlantic and the one in Europe: with the former being about wounded feelings and inconvenience, and the latter about survival or annihilation.
Read the rest here.
HT: MG
The Price of a Life in Europe
21 years after being charged, eleven years as a fugitive then a five year trial followed by eighteen months for the judges to deliberate on the verdict, today the International Criminal Court in the Hague convicted Radovon Karadžić of Genocide and directly ordering the murder of 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica.
The court promptly sentenced him to 1.8 days in jail... for each victim.
He now has 30 days to file an appeal which lawyers expect to take between three and five years to hear and between another year and two years for the judges to adjudicate.
I personally think the definition of Genocide has has been so watered down that it is almost meaningless these days. But there is no question that the premeditated murder of 8,000 people ranks as a great war crime and atrocity.
Long time readers of this blog will know that I am no fan of capital punishment. But I have always recognized certain rare exceptions. This is one of them. In any civilized society, following such a conviction, Mr. Karadžić would have been given enough time to dictate his will and confess to a priest before being marched to the gallows.
This is a perversion of justice.
The court promptly sentenced him to 1.8 days in jail... for each victim.
He now has 30 days to file an appeal which lawyers expect to take between three and five years to hear and between another year and two years for the judges to adjudicate.
I personally think the definition of Genocide has has been so watered down that it is almost meaningless these days. But there is no question that the premeditated murder of 8,000 people ranks as a great war crime and atrocity.
Long time readers of this blog will know that I am no fan of capital punishment. But I have always recognized certain rare exceptions. This is one of them. In any civilized society, following such a conviction, Mr. Karadžić would have been given enough time to dictate his will and confess to a priest before being marched to the gallows.
This is a perversion of justice.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
A 95 Year Old Mystery of the Sea Solved
Click to enlarge
The USS Conestoga left the Navy yard at Mare Island, Calif., on Good Friday, 1921, bound for Pearl Harbor, with a complement of 56 sailors.
It cleared the Golden Gate at 3:25 p.m. and steamed into the Gulf of the Farallones in heavy seas. Conestoga was a rugged oceangoing tug that had once hauled coal barges for a Pennsylvania railroad.
But 17 years after its launch in Baltimore, it had undergone hard use and had a reputation as a “wet boat,” one that shipped water easily.
At 4 p.m. that day, as the San Francisco light ship recorded big waves and gale-force winds, Conestoga passed Point Bonita and was not heard from again.
Wednesday, 95 years later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Navy announced that the wreck has been found a few miles from Southeast Farallon Island, just off the California coast.
The announcement came at a morning ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, attended by relatives of the lost sailors.
Read the rest here.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Friday, March 18, 2016
How U.S. Foreign Policy Made 2015 the “Worst Year in Modern History for Christian Persecution”
2015 was the “worst year in modern history for Christian
persecution,” according to Open Doors, a human rights organization that
has been documenting the persecution of Christians since 1955.
According to its latest data, more than 7,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2015 — almost twice as many as in 2014. In addition, more than 2,400 churches were attacked, damaged or destroyed — again, more than double the number of the previous year.
In the words of Open Doors’ CEO, David Curry:
Who or what is behind these
unprecedented levels of persecution? Some of it is related to the
tendency of non-Western nations to associate Christianity with the “hated West.”
Four are Communist nations — Vietnam (ranked #20), Laos (#29), China
(#33), and North Korea (#1), where “Christianity is not only seen as
‘opium for the people,’ as is normal for all communist states, it is
also seen as deeply Western and despicable,” notes the report. Three are
reclaiming their religious heritage in contradistinction to what is
portrayed as a depraved West — Hindu India (#17), Buddhist Bhutan (#38)
and Myanmar (#23). And two — Mexico (#40) and Columbia (#46) — are
fueled by organized crime and drug cartels.
“Islamic extremism” is cited as the source of persecution for the remaining 41 nations that make the list of 50 worst persecutors of Christians. North Korea aside, the rest of the eight nations where Christians experience the worst form of persecution (“extreme persecution”) are all Islamic. In 35 nations, Islamic extremism “has risen to a level akin to ethnic cleansing” of Christians.
Read the rest here.
According to its latest data, more than 7,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2015 — almost twice as many as in 2014. In addition, more than 2,400 churches were attacked, damaged or destroyed — again, more than double the number of the previous year.
In the words of Open Doors’ CEO, David Curry:
The 2016 World Watch List [which ranks the 50 nations where Christians
are most persecuted] documents an unprecedented escalation of violence
against Christians, making this past year the most violent and sustained
attack on Christian faith in modern history. … This research has
concluded that after the brutal persecution of Christians in 2014, 2015
proved to be even worse with the persecution continuing to increase,
intensify and spread across the globe. … The level of exclusion,
discrimination and violence against Christians is unprecedented,
spreading and intensifying.
“Islamic extremism” is cited as the source of persecution for the remaining 41 nations that make the list of 50 worst persecutors of Christians. North Korea aside, the rest of the eight nations where Christians experience the worst form of persecution (“extreme persecution”) are all Islamic. In 35 nations, Islamic extremism “has risen to a level akin to ethnic cleansing” of Christians.
Read the rest here.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
On the Eve of the Great Fast
Please forgive me for any offense I may have caused, especially through anything written on this blog.
Barring something very urgent there will be no blogging until after Clean Wednesday. I wish everyone a blessed fast.
Barring something very urgent there will be no blogging until after Clean Wednesday. I wish everyone a blessed fast.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Ted Cruz'a Weird Father
I didn't know he was a Dominionist. Seriously bizarre theological heresy that. Nor did I realize that he left the Catholic Church after his divorce and remarriage.
HT: Rod Dreher who has a piece up on this via an email tip from Dr. Tighe.
Wednesday, March 09, 2016
Patriarchate of Bulgaria: On the Pan-Orthodox Synod and the Appearance of Heresy as a Gift from God so that Orthodoxy can be proclaimed.
The Church of Christ is not of this world but is founded by the Holy Trinity so that she might serve in the world; that she may be penetrated with the truth of Christ, that she may sanctify and lead one back again to God. In this sense, the Church coexists with all phenomena in different epochs of human history, including also that of the pluralism of opinion, one of the characteristic scars of the time in which we live. This pluralism, however, is not inherent in the Orthodox faith and in its dogmatics, just as diversity of opinion is not intrinsic to God, in Whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning (John 1:17).
Certainly, the Holy Orthodox Church does not deny freedom of human thought, but attempts to direct this freedom in a salvific direction. This way, in connection with confirmed and true Church teaching, many personal theological opinions arise—for example, the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa on the "garments of skin," the interpretation of St. Filaret (Drozdov) on the petition "For the peace of the whole world, the well-being of the Holy Churches of God and the union of all," the position of Fr. Sergey Bulgakov on the "feminine principle" ("Sofia") in God. Over time, mass heretical communities are also appearing and are frequently privileged through political protection. But this cannot, in some way, weaken or violate the holiness of the Church and her uniqueness, neither can it deny her creed, her sacred tradition, and her holy scripture.
Today the entire Orthodox world is excited about the upcoming Holy and Great Council, which is planned for June 2016 on the island of Crete. Various expectations and positions, apprehensions and hopes, are being expressed.
Right now the community of the Church is exchanging and discussing a host of letters, petitions, documents, and epistles. Everyone is expressing his view in accord with his internal feelings. But in as much as no person is infallible, and in as much as none of us is more great or wiser than the teachings of the Church that have been confirmed in the Ecumenical Councils throughout the centuries, personal bias should give priority to the true, eternal, ubiquitous, and unanimous confession of the Orthodox faith.
This is essential for all of us in as much as it is not theoretical theology, theological "diplomacy," or the cultural and social activity in the Church that are the means for the eternal salvation of our souls, but our trueness before God, humility, faithful love, and life in His Spirit and His truth, in Him Himself, Who is absolute Truth. It is not possible for any of our particular, variable, and self-servingly adjustable "truths" to save our lives.
It has always been a gift of grace for the Church when heresies appear and intensify, in as much as she has thereupon formulated and reconfirmed the pure teachings of holy Orthodoxy. Such is the case today—different heresies and sects, including the heresy of ecumenism, allow the Church to express its unchanged and principled position through its archpastors, pastors, theologians, and laity, which is just as beneficial for us, Orthodox, as it is for the non-Orthodox.
Read the rest here.
Certainly, the Holy Orthodox Church does not deny freedom of human thought, but attempts to direct this freedom in a salvific direction. This way, in connection with confirmed and true Church teaching, many personal theological opinions arise—for example, the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa on the "garments of skin," the interpretation of St. Filaret (Drozdov) on the petition "For the peace of the whole world, the well-being of the Holy Churches of God and the union of all," the position of Fr. Sergey Bulgakov on the "feminine principle" ("Sofia") in God. Over time, mass heretical communities are also appearing and are frequently privileged through political protection. But this cannot, in some way, weaken or violate the holiness of the Church and her uniqueness, neither can it deny her creed, her sacred tradition, and her holy scripture.
Today the entire Orthodox world is excited about the upcoming Holy and Great Council, which is planned for June 2016 on the island of Crete. Various expectations and positions, apprehensions and hopes, are being expressed.
Right now the community of the Church is exchanging and discussing a host of letters, petitions, documents, and epistles. Everyone is expressing his view in accord with his internal feelings. But in as much as no person is infallible, and in as much as none of us is more great or wiser than the teachings of the Church that have been confirmed in the Ecumenical Councils throughout the centuries, personal bias should give priority to the true, eternal, ubiquitous, and unanimous confession of the Orthodox faith.
This is essential for all of us in as much as it is not theoretical theology, theological "diplomacy," or the cultural and social activity in the Church that are the means for the eternal salvation of our souls, but our trueness before God, humility, faithful love, and life in His Spirit and His truth, in Him Himself, Who is absolute Truth. It is not possible for any of our particular, variable, and self-servingly adjustable "truths" to save our lives.
It has always been a gift of grace for the Church when heresies appear and intensify, in as much as she has thereupon formulated and reconfirmed the pure teachings of holy Orthodoxy. Such is the case today—different heresies and sects, including the heresy of ecumenism, allow the Church to express its unchanged and principled position through its archpastors, pastors, theologians, and laity, which is just as beneficial for us, Orthodox, as it is for the non-Orthodox.
Read the rest here.
Chinese Military Buildup in S. China Sea Raises Alarm
HONG
KONG — When the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and four other
American warships sailed into the South China Sea last week for what
were described as routine exercises, the message was clear: The United
States is the dominant military power in the region and plans to keep it
that way.
But numerous Chinese naval ships were operating nearby, the United States Navy
said, noticeably more than in past years. A Chinese officer told the
state-run news media that the ships were there to “monitor, identify,
follow and expel” foreign vessels and aircraft, depending on how close
they came “to our islands.”
The
encounter, which passed without incident, was the latest episode in a
wary standoff between the United States and China over two contested
island chains known as the Paracels and the Spratlys.
Since
taking office three years ago, President Xi Jinping has used the isles
to expand China’s military footprint in the region, taking one step
after another to build and equip outposts far from the Chinese mainland over protests from its neighbors and from Washington.
Read the rest here.
Sunday, March 06, 2016
Swedish group wants 'legal abortions' for men
Men should have the same right as women to decide not be parents, according to a controversial new proposal from the Liberal Party’s youth wing in western Sweden (LUF Väst).
Men who don’t want to become fathers should be permitted to have a “legal abortion” up to the 18th week of a woman’s pregnancy, say the young liberals.
The cut-off date coincides with the last week in which a woman can terminate a pregnancy in Sweden.
“This means a man would renounce the duties and rights of parenthood,” LUF Väst chairman Marcus Nilsen told The Local.
By signing up for a “legal abortion” then, a man would not have to pay maintenance for his child, but neither would he have any right to meet the child.
Read the rest here.
HT: T-19
Men who don’t want to become fathers should be permitted to have a “legal abortion” up to the 18th week of a woman’s pregnancy, say the young liberals.
The cut-off date coincides with the last week in which a woman can terminate a pregnancy in Sweden.
“This means a man would renounce the duties and rights of parenthood,” LUF Väst chairman Marcus Nilsen told The Local.
By signing up for a “legal abortion” then, a man would not have to pay maintenance for his child, but neither would he have any right to meet the child.
Read the rest here.
HT: T-19
Saturday, March 05, 2016
Dallas has a Saint!
See the story from Rod Dreher.
Friday, March 04, 2016
Political correctness devours yet another college
On Saturday, two members of Bowdoin College’s student government will face impeachment proceedings. What heinous transgression did they commit? Theft, plagiarism, sexual assault?
Nope. They attended a party where some guests wore tiny sombreros.
Two weeks ago, some students threw a birthday party for a friend. The email invitation read: “the theme is tequila, so do with that what you may. We’re not saying it’s a fiesta, but we’re also not not saying that :).” The invitation — sent by a student of Colombian descent, which may or may not be relevant here — advertised games, music, cups and “other things that are conducive to a fun night.”
Those “other things” included the miniature sombreros, several inches in diameter. And when photos of attendees wearing those mini-sombreros showed up on social media, students and administrators went ballistic.
College administrators sent multiple schoolwide emails notifying the students about an “investigation” into a possible “act of ethnic stereotyping.”
Partygoers ultimately were reprimanded or placed on “social probation,” and the hosts have been kicked out of their dorm, according to friends. (None of the disciplined students whom I contacted wanted to speak on the record; Bowdoin President Clayton Rose declined an interview and would not answer a general question about what kinds of disciplinary options are considered when students commit an “act of bias.”)
Read the rest here.
Left-wing Fascism continues its sweep of American university campuses.
Thursday, March 03, 2016
Episcopalian Priest Aborted Her Baby So She Could Finish Divinity School
Abortion advocates across the nation are trying to send the U.S. Supreme Court a message: Women need abortions to be successful.
This insulting notion has been the underlying theme of dozens of stories pro-abortion women have submitted to the high court ahead of its hearing on a Texas pro-life law, which has been credited with saving more than 10,000 babies’ lives. The law is responsible for closing abortion clinics that could not guarantee they could protect the health of Texas women.
The latest pro-abortion story to be highlighted in the mainstream media is that of the Rev. Anne Fowler, an Episcopal priest from New England, who said her abortion allowed her to finish divinity school and become a priest.
Here is her story, according to an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court:
Read the rest here.
The English language contains no words or expressions that can adequately describe this kind of undiluted evil.
This insulting notion has been the underlying theme of dozens of stories pro-abortion women have submitted to the high court ahead of its hearing on a Texas pro-life law, which has been credited with saving more than 10,000 babies’ lives. The law is responsible for closing abortion clinics that could not guarantee they could protect the health of Texas women.
The latest pro-abortion story to be highlighted in the mainstream media is that of the Rev. Anne Fowler, an Episcopal priest from New England, who said her abortion allowed her to finish divinity school and become a priest.
Here is her story, according to an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court:
Read the rest here.
The English language contains no words or expressions that can adequately describe this kind of undiluted evil.
In Defense of Western Rite Orthodoxy
In recent years, some Orthodox jurisdictions in the
United States and Great Britain have accepted whole
parishes that converted from Anglicanism or Catholicism to
Orthodoxy. These few parishes have the unique distinction
of providing Orthodox services in the "Western
Rite"—high Church services somewhat rewritten
to adapt to the Orthodox cycle of services. A deacon of
the Orthodox Church, Eastern Rite speaks in defense of
this practice:
For over a century, the question of the Western Rite within the canonical Orthodox Church has been one of tremendous debate. Many Orthodox Christians of Western ancestry find within it a home, an answer to their deepest longings for a “rebaptism” of Western Christianity, and an opportunity to draw Western Christians back into the fold of the True Church. Others see the Western Rite as something foreign, misleading, and dangerous. These see the Western Rite as an innovation, and even (possibly) heretical.
What, though, are we Orthodox, to think of the Western Rite? Is it dangerous and wrong, or is it holy and good? What is the substance of the objections which well-intentioned Orthodox people have, clergy and laity alike? In what follows, I will look at several frequent arguments which are utilized in the opposition to the use of the Western Rite. I will examine them, and will answer them, not only from a Western Orthodox perspective, but also with honest evaluation from Eastern positions.
I will apologize here at the outset for the blunt, and possibly even polemical nature of much of what is said here. However, as our culture quickly descends into a politically correct world, where no one says what he or she actually means, bluntness is sometimes needed to make a firm point. Forgive me, a sinner, for the sake of Christ.
Read the rest here.
For over a century, the question of the Western Rite within the canonical Orthodox Church has been one of tremendous debate. Many Orthodox Christians of Western ancestry find within it a home, an answer to their deepest longings for a “rebaptism” of Western Christianity, and an opportunity to draw Western Christians back into the fold of the True Church. Others see the Western Rite as something foreign, misleading, and dangerous. These see the Western Rite as an innovation, and even (possibly) heretical.
What, though, are we Orthodox, to think of the Western Rite? Is it dangerous and wrong, or is it holy and good? What is the substance of the objections which well-intentioned Orthodox people have, clergy and laity alike? In what follows, I will look at several frequent arguments which are utilized in the opposition to the use of the Western Rite. I will examine them, and will answer them, not only from a Western Orthodox perspective, but also with honest evaluation from Eastern positions.
I will apologize here at the outset for the blunt, and possibly even polemical nature of much of what is said here. However, as our culture quickly descends into a politically correct world, where no one says what he or she actually means, bluntness is sometimes needed to make a firm point. Forgive me, a sinner, for the sake of Christ.
Read the rest here.
Wednesday, March 02, 2016
Vatican newspaper publishes arguments for allowing women to preach at Mass
The Vatican newspaper has published essays suggesting that women should be allowed to preach at Mass.
Under existing canon law, only priests and deacons are authorized to preach at Mass. But in a special section of L'Osservatore Romano dedicated to women's role in the Church, three writers call for a re-examination of that policy.
"This topic is a delicate one," acknowledges Enzo Bianchi, the founder and head of the Bose ecumenical community; "but I believe it is urgent that we address it." He says that allowing women to preach would be "a fundamental change in their participation in Church life."
Sister Catherine Aubin, a Dominican theologian, adds an observation that women have been effective evangelists throughout the history of the Church, and today are regularly invited to lead spiritual retreats. Sister Madeleine Fredell remarks that she is allowed to preach in Lutheran churches, and says, "I believe that listening to the voice of women at the time of the homily would enrich our Catholic worship."
Source.
Under existing canon law, only priests and deacons are authorized to preach at Mass. But in a special section of L'Osservatore Romano dedicated to women's role in the Church, three writers call for a re-examination of that policy.
"This topic is a delicate one," acknowledges Enzo Bianchi, the founder and head of the Bose ecumenical community; "but I believe it is urgent that we address it." He says that allowing women to preach would be "a fundamental change in their participation in Church life."
Sister Catherine Aubin, a Dominican theologian, adds an observation that women have been effective evangelists throughout the history of the Church, and today are regularly invited to lead spiritual retreats. Sister Madeleine Fredell remarks that she is allowed to preach in Lutheran churches, and says, "I believe that listening to the voice of women at the time of the homily would enrich our Catholic worship."
Source.
The Long Shadow of 1912
Sunday, February 28, 2016
The Governing Cancer of Our Time
We live in a big, diverse society. There are essentially two ways to maintain order and get things done in such a society — politics or some form of dictatorship. Either through compromise or brute force. Our founding fathers chose politics.
Politics is an activity in which you recognize the simultaneous existence of different groups, interests and opinions. You try to find some way to balance or reconcile or compromise those interests, or at least a majority of them. You follow a set of rules, enshrined in a constitution or in custom, to help you reach these compromises in a way everybody considers legitimate.
The downside of politics is that people never really get everything they want. It’s messy, limited and no issue is ever really settled. Politics is a muddled activity in which people have to recognize restraints and settle for less than they want. Disappointment is normal.
But that’s sort of the beauty of politics, too. It involves an endless conversation in which we learn about other people and see things from their vantage point and try to balance their needs against our own. Plus, it’s better than the alternative: rule by some authoritarian tyrant who tries to govern by clobbering everyone in his way.
As Bernard Crick wrote in his book, “In Defence of Politics,” “Politics is a way of ruling divided societies without undue violence.”
Over the past generation we have seen the rise of a group of people who are against politics. These groups — best exemplified by the Tea Party but not exclusive to the right — want to elect people who have no political experience. They want “outsiders.” They delegitimize compromise and deal-making. They’re willing to trample the customs and rules that give legitimacy to legislative decision-making if it helps them gain power.
Ultimately, they don’t recognize other people. They suffer from a form of political narcissism, in which they don’t accept the legitimacy of other interests and opinions. They don’t recognize restraints. They want total victories for themselves and their doctrine.
Read the rest here.
Politics is an activity in which you recognize the simultaneous existence of different groups, interests and opinions. You try to find some way to balance or reconcile or compromise those interests, or at least a majority of them. You follow a set of rules, enshrined in a constitution or in custom, to help you reach these compromises in a way everybody considers legitimate.
The downside of politics is that people never really get everything they want. It’s messy, limited and no issue is ever really settled. Politics is a muddled activity in which people have to recognize restraints and settle for less than they want. Disappointment is normal.
But that’s sort of the beauty of politics, too. It involves an endless conversation in which we learn about other people and see things from their vantage point and try to balance their needs against our own. Plus, it’s better than the alternative: rule by some authoritarian tyrant who tries to govern by clobbering everyone in his way.
As Bernard Crick wrote in his book, “In Defence of Politics,” “Politics is a way of ruling divided societies without undue violence.”
Over the past generation we have seen the rise of a group of people who are against politics. These groups — best exemplified by the Tea Party but not exclusive to the right — want to elect people who have no political experience. They want “outsiders.” They delegitimize compromise and deal-making. They’re willing to trample the customs and rules that give legitimacy to legislative decision-making if it helps them gain power.
Ultimately, they don’t recognize other people. They suffer from a form of political narcissism, in which they don’t accept the legitimacy of other interests and opinions. They don’t recognize restraints. They want total victories for themselves and their doctrine.
Read the rest here.
Christian student expelled for opposing gay marriage
A Christian postgraduate student has been
expelled from his course, effectively ending his chances of a career as a
social worker, for voicing opposition to gay marriage in a Facebook
discussion.
Felix Ngole, a
38-year-old father of four, expressed support for Kim Davis, the county
clerk from Kentucky in the US who was jailed for refusing to issue
marriage licences after the introduction of same-sex unions in September
last year.
He argued that homosexual activity is against the teaching of the Bible, quoting a verse from Leviticus describing it as an "abomination".
The post, from his private Facebook account, was part of a discussion thread in which other users voiced their opinions on all sides of the debate. It was not until two months later that he was summoned to a disciplinary hearing at Sheffield University after a fellow student complained about his post. He said he was initially not even told what he was accused of doing. He was eventually told that it involved breaching social work guidelines on "personal conduct" and "bringing the profession into disrepute".
Read the rest here.
He argued that homosexual activity is against the teaching of the Bible, quoting a verse from Leviticus describing it as an "abomination".
The post, from his private Facebook account, was part of a discussion thread in which other users voiced their opinions on all sides of the debate. It was not until two months later that he was summoned to a disciplinary hearing at Sheffield University after a fellow student complained about his post. He said he was initially not even told what he was accused of doing. He was eventually told that it involved breaching social work guidelines on "personal conduct" and "bringing the profession into disrepute".
Read the rest here.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Pope calls Italy’s foremost abortion promoter one of nation’s ‘forgotten greats’
February 25, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) -- In a February 8 interview with one of Italy’s most prominent dailies, Corriere Della Serra, Pope Francis praised Italy’s leading proponent of abortion – Emma Bonino -- as one of the nation’s “forgotten greats,” comparing her to great historical figures such as Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman. Knowing that his praise of her may be controversial, the Pope said that she offered the best advice to Italy on learning about Africa, and admitted she thinks differently from us. “True, but never mind,” he said. “We have to look at people, at what they do.”
At 27, Bonino had an illegal abortion and then worked with the Information Centre on Sterilization and Abortion which boasted over 10,000 abortions. There are famous photos of Bonino performing illegal abortions using a homemade device operated by a bicycle pump. Arrested for the then-illegal activity she spent a few days in jail and was acquitted and entered politics.
When she was appointed Italy’s foreign minister in 2013 there was a general outcry from life and family leaders at the appalling situation.
Responding to the Pope’s praise of Bonino, pro-life leaders in Italy expressed disbelief. “How can the pope praise a woman that is best known in Italy for practicing illegal abortion and promoting abortion?” commented Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, who was until last year the head of the Rome office of Human Life International.
Read the rest here.
This Pope is an unmitigated disaster.
ANAXIOS!
At 27, Bonino had an illegal abortion and then worked with the Information Centre on Sterilization and Abortion which boasted over 10,000 abortions. There are famous photos of Bonino performing illegal abortions using a homemade device operated by a bicycle pump. Arrested for the then-illegal activity she spent a few days in jail and was acquitted and entered politics.
When she was appointed Italy’s foreign minister in 2013 there was a general outcry from life and family leaders at the appalling situation.
Responding to the Pope’s praise of Bonino, pro-life leaders in Italy expressed disbelief. “How can the pope praise a woman that is best known in Italy for practicing illegal abortion and promoting abortion?” commented Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, who was until last year the head of the Rome office of Human Life International.
Read the rest here.
This Pope is an unmitigated disaster.
ANAXIOS!
Grand Imam of al-Azhar denounces Episcopal Church bishops for being un-Christian
The Grand Imam of the al-Azhar in Cairo has denounced the bishops of the
Episcopal Church of the USA for endorsing gay marriage saying the
innovation was contrary to the clear words of Scripture. Speaking at the
University of Syarif Hidayatullah in Indonesia this week Sheikh Amhed
el-Tayeb asked American Christians whether their actions were faithful
to Christ. Sheikh el-Tayeb, held to be the highest Sunni religious
leader and Islamic jurist in the Muslim world, also denounced US
government policy of pressuring less developed nations to adopt its
views on homosexuality in return for foreign aid. He further stated
liberal church leaders in the US were complicit in this blackmail by
giving moral sanction to an immoral agenda. “Unfortunately some Heads
of Churches in the United States accept same-sex marriages. I wonder
what is left of the Bible in those Churches. And what will they say in
front of Jesus, peace be upon him", Sheikh el-Tayeb said in a question
and answer session, according to a spokesman for the university.
Speaking at a question and answer session at the School of Theology at
the University of the South on 11 Feb 2016, the chairman of the Anglican
Consultative Council, the Rt. Rev. James Tengatenga, said that in the
eyes of many African and Asian religious leaders, the Episcopal Church
was an arm of US foreign policy. Dr. Tengatenga said the heavy handed
approach taken by the State Department under the Obama Administration in
advancing gay rights in Africa, Asia and the Middle East was resented
as a colonialist intrusion into the affairs of independent states. The
retired Malawian bishop said it was not uncommon for local activists in
Africa to be undermined by the well-intentioned but misguided support
from overseas groups, often leading to the unfortunate outcome of a
hardening of attitudes against gays and lesbians.
Source.
You just can't make this stuff up.
Source.
You just can't make this stuff up.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Ceterum censeo Trump delendum esse
Donald Trump’s victory in South Carolina proves that in 2016, the GOP has split into two. There is the Trump party. And there is the not-Trump party.
In raw terms, the Trump party isn’t especially strong. Voting has concluded in three states. The results there and all kinds of polling on favorability among Republicans suggests he’s got a natural ceiling between 35 and 40 percent. An AP poll conducted this week says 60 percent of GOP voters—60 percent!—have a negative view of Trump.
This is the not-Trump party.
And yet, in that same AP poll, 86 percent of Republican voters say they think Trump can win in November. In light of their dislike, Republicans appear to be making a depressing concession to the dark reality of the present moment—the same dark reality with which everyone who is not in Trump’s thrall is grappling.
With apologies to Shakespeare, Trump is the Colossus of 2016, bestriding the narrow election while other candidates walk under his huge legs and peep about, seeking a little media attention.
The not-Trump party doesn’t want him but to its members and to everyone else he is beginning to seem inescapable.
So what does the not-Trump party do now?
Everybody knows what needs to happen. The GOP field needs to consolidate so that the not-Trump party can speak with one voice, back one candidate, and knock him over.
But that’s not going to happen...
Read the rest here.
Donald Trump is probably going to win the GOP nomination. But with one exception, I see no reasonable possibility of his winning the general election. (If Hillary is indicted all bets are off.). With Trump as its nominee the GOP is likely heading for a once in a generation electoral shellacking. He is going to be the Republican George McGovern.
In raw terms, the Trump party isn’t especially strong. Voting has concluded in three states. The results there and all kinds of polling on favorability among Republicans suggests he’s got a natural ceiling between 35 and 40 percent. An AP poll conducted this week says 60 percent of GOP voters—60 percent!—have a negative view of Trump.
This is the not-Trump party.
And yet, in that same AP poll, 86 percent of Republican voters say they think Trump can win in November. In light of their dislike, Republicans appear to be making a depressing concession to the dark reality of the present moment—the same dark reality with which everyone who is not in Trump’s thrall is grappling.
With apologies to Shakespeare, Trump is the Colossus of 2016, bestriding the narrow election while other candidates walk under his huge legs and peep about, seeking a little media attention.
The not-Trump party doesn’t want him but to its members and to everyone else he is beginning to seem inescapable.
So what does the not-Trump party do now?
Everybody knows what needs to happen. The GOP field needs to consolidate so that the not-Trump party can speak with one voice, back one candidate, and knock him over.
But that’s not going to happen...
Read the rest here.
Donald Trump is probably going to win the GOP nomination. But with one exception, I see no reasonable possibility of his winning the general election. (If Hillary is indicted all bets are off.). With Trump as its nominee the GOP is likely heading for a once in a generation electoral shellacking. He is going to be the Republican George McGovern.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Quote of the day...
"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian..."
-Pope Francis responding to a question about Donald Trump's views on immigration.
-Pope Francis responding to a question about Donald Trump's views on immigration.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Justice Scalia's Funeral
It's going to be at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. Given his staunchly Traditionalist Catholic faith, he used to drive for hours to attend the pre-Vatican II Mass, one wonders if his Requiem Mass will be celebrated using the old rites.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Caricatures
If I wanted to do a satirical rif on the occasional nutty convert to Orthodoxy that we all hear about (but happily is not all that common) there is no way I could have equaled the commentary of Mr. R Michael Warren, a sampling of which can be found here. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure he is serious.
My response can be found near the bottom of the com box.
Update: It has been suggested in a comment that this may be a "false flag" propaganda stunt. I am compelled to admit that the thought had crossed my mind as well. As a rule I have little use for conspiracy theories, but the commentary of Mr. Warren is so over the top and nutty, that it fits like a glove with the caricature that anti-Orthodox Catholics like to paint. Honestly I have never encountered this level of unvarnished polemical idiocy even among the most rabid Old Calendarists. Who knows.
My response can be found near the bottom of the com box.
Update: It has been suggested in a comment that this may be a "false flag" propaganda stunt. I am compelled to admit that the thought had crossed my mind as well. As a rule I have little use for conspiracy theories, but the commentary of Mr. Warren is so over the top and nutty, that it fits like a glove with the caricature that anti-Orthodox Catholics like to paint. Honestly I have never encountered this level of unvarnished polemical idiocy even among the most rabid Old Calendarists. Who knows.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Pope invites divorced, remarried Catholics to Vatican audience
ROME — As the countdown builds toward a major document in which Pope
Francis is expected to address the controversial issue of Communion for
divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, the pontiff has invited a
group of divorced and remarried believers to a private audience.
While the outreach certainly confirms Francis’ interest in better pastoral care for divorced Catholics who have remarried outside the Church, it doesn’t quite tip his hand in terms of which way he may be leaning on the Communion debate.
Francis invited a diocesan group in Italy that started a program to reach out to those who are in what the Church calls “irregular unions.” A date has not been set.
Read the rest here.
While the outreach certainly confirms Francis’ interest in better pastoral care for divorced Catholics who have remarried outside the Church, it doesn’t quite tip his hand in terms of which way he may be leaning on the Communion debate.
Francis invited a diocesan group in Italy that started a program to reach out to those who are in what the Church calls “irregular unions.” A date has not been set.
Read the rest here.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
ROCOR and the "Catholic Church of the East" - It's not looking good
OK, it is all over the web. And since it has been the topic of discussion on multiple recent posts on this blog... here is the latest, less some of the more salacious details. The hoped for reception of the self identified Catholic Church of the East into Holy Orthodoxy has hit a major speed bump and is now in doubt. Metropolitan Hilarion is directly involved and dealing with the situation.
Let's keep the comments classy and avoid unnecessary gossip. Prayers for all involved would be appreciated.
Let's keep the comments classy and avoid unnecessary gossip. Prayers for all involved would be appreciated.
Tuesday, February 09, 2016
Is Ted Cruz Eligible to be President? No - Says U of Chicago Law Professor
With Ted Cruz the victor of the first contest of the GOP nominating calendar, we can no longer avoid the question mischievously posed by Donald Trump: Is Cruz ineligible to be president? Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father. The Constitution says that only a “natural born citizen” can be president. Is Cruz a natural born citizen? (You may recall that before he attacked Cruz on this front, Trump spent months flogging a ludicrous version of this critique against President Obama, who was actually born in the United States, unlike Cruz.)
The words natural born citizen, and their original meaning at the time that this constitutional clause was crafted, go a long way to answering this question. In founding-era America, like today, a person could be a citizen by virtue of birth on American territory; a citizen by virtue of a statute that granted citizenship to him at birth; a “naturalized” citizen, meaning one who entered the country as an alien but later obtained citizenship via a process determined by law; and a foreigner.
A natural born citizen cannot be a foreigner. Foreigners are not citizens. A natural born citizen cannot be a person who was naturalized. Those people are not born citizens; they’re born aliens. Most important for the purposes of the Cruz question, a natural born citizen cannot be someone whose birth entitled him to citizenship because of a statute—in this case a statute that confers citizenship on a person born abroad to an American parent. In the 18th century, as now, the word natural meant “in the regular course of things.” Then, as now, almost all Americans obtained citizenship by birth in this country, not by birth to Americans abroad. The natural way to obtain citizenship, then, was (and is) by being born in this country. Because Cruz was not “natural born”—not born in the United States—he is ineligible for the presidency, under the most plausible interpretation of the Constitution.
Read the rest here.
The words natural born citizen, and their original meaning at the time that this constitutional clause was crafted, go a long way to answering this question. In founding-era America, like today, a person could be a citizen by virtue of birth on American territory; a citizen by virtue of a statute that granted citizenship to him at birth; a “naturalized” citizen, meaning one who entered the country as an alien but later obtained citizenship via a process determined by law; and a foreigner.
A natural born citizen cannot be a foreigner. Foreigners are not citizens. A natural born citizen cannot be a person who was naturalized. Those people are not born citizens; they’re born aliens. Most important for the purposes of the Cruz question, a natural born citizen cannot be someone whose birth entitled him to citizenship because of a statute—in this case a statute that confers citizenship on a person born abroad to an American parent. In the 18th century, as now, the word natural meant “in the regular course of things.” Then, as now, almost all Americans obtained citizenship by birth in this country, not by birth to Americans abroad. The natural way to obtain citizenship, then, was (and is) by being born in this country. Because Cruz was not “natural born”—not born in the United States—he is ineligible for the presidency, under the most plausible interpretation of the Constitution.
Read the rest here.
Saturday, February 06, 2016
US Court of Appeals Strikes Major Blow for Civil Liberties
In a major victory for gun rights advocates, a federal appeals court on Thursday sided with a broad coalition of gun owners, businesses and organizations that challenged the constitutionality of a Maryland ban on assault weapons and other laws aimed at curbing gun violence.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said the state's prohibition on what the court called "the vast majority of semi-automatic rifles commonly kept by several million American citizens" amounted to a violation of their rights under the Constitution.
"In our view, Maryland law implicates the core protection of the Second Amendment -- the right of law-abiding responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home," Chief Judge William Traxler wrote in the divided ruling.
Provisions that outlaw these firearms, Traxler wrote, "substantially burden this fundamental right."
Read the rest here.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said the state's prohibition on what the court called "the vast majority of semi-automatic rifles commonly kept by several million American citizens" amounted to a violation of their rights under the Constitution.
"In our view, Maryland law implicates the core protection of the Second Amendment -- the right of law-abiding responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home," Chief Judge William Traxler wrote in the divided ruling.
Provisions that outlaw these firearms, Traxler wrote, "substantially burden this fundamental right."
Read the rest here.
Friday, February 05, 2016
Delaware judge: priest-penitent privilege may be unconstitutional
A Delaware superior court judge has questioned the constitutionality of a state law that protects the secrecy of sacramental confession.
State law mandates the reporting of suspected child abuse except in cases covered by the attorney-client privilege and conversations “between priest and penitent in sacramental confession.”
Ruling in a case involving the failure of elders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to report child abuse, Judge Mary M. Johnston said that if “priest,” “penitent,” and “sacramental confession” are interpreted narrowly, then the law is unconstitutional because its “effect would be to advance certain religions over others.”
If, however, the law were interpreted broadly to include confidential conversations in which members of any religious body express sorrow for their deeds to their religious leaders, then a ruling that the law is unconstitutional could be avoided, Judge Johnston said in her January 26 decision.
“A broader reading may be justified because the terms at issue are neither defined nor upper case,” she added.
Source.
State law mandates the reporting of suspected child abuse except in cases covered by the attorney-client privilege and conversations “between priest and penitent in sacramental confession.”
Ruling in a case involving the failure of elders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to report child abuse, Judge Mary M. Johnston said that if “priest,” “penitent,” and “sacramental confession” are interpreted narrowly, then the law is unconstitutional because its “effect would be to advance certain religions over others.”
If, however, the law were interpreted broadly to include confidential conversations in which members of any religious body express sorrow for their deeds to their religious leaders, then a ruling that the law is unconstitutional could be avoided, Judge Johnston said in her January 26 decision.
“A broader reading may be justified because the terms at issue are neither defined nor upper case,” she added.
Source.
Statement from Metropolitan Hilarion regarding the Conversion of the "Catholic Church of the East" to Orthodoxy
Over the past several months, the leader of an independent church movement called the "Catholic Church of the East," the former Archbishop Ramzi Mussalam, has begun a remarkable transition: to bring his entire movement, of over 60 parishes, into the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). The former archbishop was received into the Orthodox Church and ordained a deacon and priest with the encouragement and blessing and by the hand of Metropolitan Hilarion, ROCOR’s First Hierarch. The former archbishop is now Hieromonk Elias. Father Elias grew up in the Scranton area of Pennsylvania as a communicant of the Polish National Catholic Church, in which he was ordained to the priesthood.
The process of Orthodox catechization has now commenced, with the gradual reception of the former clergy and faithful of the "Catholic Church of the East" into Orthodoxy, with their regularization within the canonical embrace of the Orthodox Church. It is expected that this will be a long and complex process but one of that will bear an abundant spiritual harvest. A number of parishes have already been received: St. Irene Church in Pittston, PA; St. Ann Church in Pottsville, PA and St. Mark Church in Milford, CT.
Let us welcome these people with joy and do all that we can to help them integrate into the Orthodox community. Let us give thanks to God that He has led Fr. Elias and his faithful people into Orthodoxy.
Source
Thanks to blog reader Thundercat for the link.
The process of Orthodox catechization has now commenced, with the gradual reception of the former clergy and faithful of the "Catholic Church of the East" into Orthodoxy, with their regularization within the canonical embrace of the Orthodox Church. It is expected that this will be a long and complex process but one of that will bear an abundant spiritual harvest. A number of parishes have already been received: St. Irene Church in Pittston, PA; St. Ann Church in Pottsville, PA and St. Mark Church in Milford, CT.
Let us welcome these people with joy and do all that we can to help them integrate into the Orthodox community. Let us give thanks to God that He has led Fr. Elias and his faithful people into Orthodoxy.
Source
Thanks to blog reader Thundercat for the link.
Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill to Meet in Cuba on February 12
Moscow, February 5, Interfax - - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All
Russia will meet with Pope Francis on Cuba on February 12, Metropolitan
Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Synodal Department for External
Church Relations, told a press conference in Moscow on Friday.
"The issue of the persecution of Christians will be central in this meeting," the metropolitan said.
He said the patriarch and the pope will discuss issues relating to bilateral relations and international policy. The meeting will comprise a meeting in person at the international airport in Havana and will lead to the signing of a joint declaration.
"This meeting will become the first meeting in history and it will mark an important stage in the relations between the two Churches. The Moscow patriarchate and the Holy See want this meeting to become a sign of hope to all people of good will and it causes Christians to pray much for the upcoming meeting to yield good results," the hierarch said.
Metropolitan Hilarion said the problem of the actions taken by Greek Catholics (Uniates) in Ukraine has not been resolved in the relations between the two Churches, specifically, "the destruction by the Uniates of three dioceses of the Moscow patriarchate in Western Ukraine, the transfer of the center of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from Lviv to Kyiv, the persistent desire of this Church to give itself the status of patriarchate, the spread of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to the traditional lands of Eastern and Southern Ukraine, and the support of schismatics by the Uniates."
"The situation that now develops in the Middle East, in Northern and Central Africa and in some other regions, where extremists are carrying out true genocide of Christian population, requires urgent measures and even closer interaction between the Christian churches," he said.
"In this tragic situation, there is a need to set disagreements aside and unite efforts to save Christianity in these regions where it is being subjected to the toughest persecution," he said.
The metropolitan said it was stated from the very beginning that the meeting should take place on neutral territory, and that the patriarch did not want the meeting with the pontiff to take place in Europe "because the difficult history of division and conflicts between Christians is associated with Europe."
The fact that the patriarch is visiting the countries of Latin America at the same time when the pope is visiting Mexico provided an opportunity "to hold a meeting in the New World, which we hope will turn over a new page in the relations between the Churches," the metropolitan said.
Source
Wow. I did not see this coming.
"The issue of the persecution of Christians will be central in this meeting," the metropolitan said.
He said the patriarch and the pope will discuss issues relating to bilateral relations and international policy. The meeting will comprise a meeting in person at the international airport in Havana and will lead to the signing of a joint declaration.
"This meeting will become the first meeting in history and it will mark an important stage in the relations between the two Churches. The Moscow patriarchate and the Holy See want this meeting to become a sign of hope to all people of good will and it causes Christians to pray much for the upcoming meeting to yield good results," the hierarch said.
Metropolitan Hilarion said the problem of the actions taken by Greek Catholics (Uniates) in Ukraine has not been resolved in the relations between the two Churches, specifically, "the destruction by the Uniates of three dioceses of the Moscow patriarchate in Western Ukraine, the transfer of the center of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from Lviv to Kyiv, the persistent desire of this Church to give itself the status of patriarchate, the spread of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to the traditional lands of Eastern and Southern Ukraine, and the support of schismatics by the Uniates."
"The situation that now develops in the Middle East, in Northern and Central Africa and in some other regions, where extremists are carrying out true genocide of Christian population, requires urgent measures and even closer interaction between the Christian churches," he said.
"In this tragic situation, there is a need to set disagreements aside and unite efforts to save Christianity in these regions where it is being subjected to the toughest persecution," he said.
The metropolitan said it was stated from the very beginning that the meeting should take place on neutral territory, and that the patriarch did not want the meeting with the pontiff to take place in Europe "because the difficult history of division and conflicts between Christians is associated with Europe."
The fact that the patriarch is visiting the countries of Latin America at the same time when the pope is visiting Mexico provided an opportunity "to hold a meeting in the New World, which we hope will turn over a new page in the relations between the Churches," the metropolitan said.
Source
Wow. I did not see this coming.
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
Iowa
The GOP: It's a three man race now. Everyone else can go home. Trump got schlonged by Cruz but is hardly out. The (un)civil war within the right wing of the party is likely to continue. Meanwhile it looks like the GOP establishment have finally found their candidate.
The Democrats: Hillary is in trouble. She needed a win badly and she ended with a statistical tie. Sanders is very likely going to win comfortably in New Hampshire which means he now has the momentum. Efforts to declare Clinton's nomination inevitable or to convince the left wing of the party that Sanders was a pipe dream have categorically failed. That said, South Carolina comes after NH and the deep South is not likely to be friendly territory for a self described socialist, even among Democrats.
The Bottom line: This is likely going to be a long and bruising campaign season in both parties.
The Democrats: Hillary is in trouble. She needed a win badly and she ended with a statistical tie. Sanders is very likely going to win comfortably in New Hampshire which means he now has the momentum. Efforts to declare Clinton's nomination inevitable or to convince the left wing of the party that Sanders was a pipe dream have categorically failed. That said, South Carolina comes after NH and the deep South is not likely to be friendly territory for a self described socialist, even among Democrats.
The Bottom line: This is likely going to be a long and bruising campaign season in both parties.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Venezuela is on the brink of a complete economic collapse
The only question now is whether Venezuela's government or economy will completely collapse first.
The key word there is "completely." Both are well into their death throes. Indeed, Venezuela's ruling party just lost congressional elections that gave the opposition a veto-proof majority, and it's hard to see that getting any better for them any time soon — or ever. Incumbents, after all, don't tend to do too well when, according to the International Monetary Fund, their economy shrinks 10 percent one year, an additional 6 percent the next, and inflation explodes to 720 percent. It's no wonder, then, that markets expect Venezuela to default on its debt in the very near future. The country is basically bankrupt.
That's not an easy thing to do when you have the largest oil reserves in the world, but Venezuela has managed it. How? Well, a combination of bad luck and worse policies. The first step was when Hugo Chávez's socialist government started spending more money on the poor, with everything from two-cent gasoline to free housing. Now, there's nothing wrong with that — in fact, it's a good idea in general — but only as long as you actually, well, have the money to spend. And by 2005 or so, Venezuela didn't.
Read the rest here.
The key word there is "completely." Both are well into their death throes. Indeed, Venezuela's ruling party just lost congressional elections that gave the opposition a veto-proof majority, and it's hard to see that getting any better for them any time soon — or ever. Incumbents, after all, don't tend to do too well when, according to the International Monetary Fund, their economy shrinks 10 percent one year, an additional 6 percent the next, and inflation explodes to 720 percent. It's no wonder, then, that markets expect Venezuela to default on its debt in the very near future. The country is basically bankrupt.
That's not an easy thing to do when you have the largest oil reserves in the world, but Venezuela has managed it. How? Well, a combination of bad luck and worse policies. The first step was when Hugo Chávez's socialist government started spending more money on the poor, with everything from two-cent gasoline to free housing. Now, there's nothing wrong with that — in fact, it's a good idea in general — but only as long as you actually, well, have the money to spend. And by 2005 or so, Venezuela didn't.
Read the rest here.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
An Update on" Bishop" Ramzi R. Musallam
Updating this previous thread which attracted much commentary...
Metropolitan Hillarion has confirmed that Fr. Elias (Ranzi Musallam) is in fact a priest (not bishop) in good standing with the Russian Church Abroad. He was brought in by Metropolitan Jonah. Apparently the news story contained a number of inaccuracies.
Metropolitan Hillarion has confirmed that Fr. Elias (Ranzi Musallam) is in fact a priest (not bishop) in good standing with the Russian Church Abroad. He was brought in by Metropolitan Jonah. Apparently the news story contained a number of inaccuracies.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Great & Holy Council Moved to Crete - Will Convene on June 19
Via Interfax
God preserve us from bored bishops who decide to convene a Great Council without a compelling reason. We can leave that sort of thing to the Romans.
God preserve us from bored bishops who decide to convene a Great Council without a compelling reason. We can leave that sort of thing to the Romans.
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And that’s fine with me.
Both Trump and Cruz (who I had very reluctantly supported because… he isn’t Donald Trump) are damaged goods. They have both been enthusiastically rolling in the mud and behaving like 3rd graders. Neither has a snowball’s chance in the hot stinky bad place of beating the wicked witch in November.
So who might the convention turn to in this unpleasant situation?
Despite all the talk of drafting Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney, I don’t see it. They are unpopular with the tea party crowd and if you are going to deny the nomination to the two men who actually arrived in Cleveland with a serious number of delegates then you need to show some consideration for the angry voters that sent them there. And there is no shortage of sound conservative alternatives out there that I think would be acceptable to both the establishment and the right wing of the party.
Here are a few that have come to mind as possible nominees from a brokered convention…
Sen Jeff Sessions of AL
Sen. John Thune of SD.
Former Sen. Tom Coburn of OK (I have always really liked him.)
Sen. Tim Scott of SC (the only African American Republican in the Senate)
Gov. Nikki Haley of SC
Gov. Greg Abbott of TX
Former Gov. Haley Barbour of MS (He is conservative to the core but also has cordial relations with the GOPe)
I doubt any of these people would be perfect. But I do think most would be acceptable to both the establishment and more ideological elements of the party. And most importantly all have strong conservative credentials and I feel confident that they could thump the wicked witch in November.
If either Trump or Cruz is the nominee I will skip that line on the ballot or vote for Gary Johnson.