More on the state of academia

A world-renowned expert in animal bone identification has lost her position at the University of Victoria (UVic), she believes for telling school kids politically incorrect facts about polar bears.

Zoologist Dr. Susan Crockford is routinely hired by biologists and archeologists in Canada and abroad to identify the remains of mammals, birds and fish. She has helped catalog museum collections, and assisted police with forensic analyses. But UVic students will no longer benefit from her expertise, and her ability to apply for research grants has come to a screeching halt. In May, the Anthropology Department withdrew her Adjunct Professor status, depriving her of a university affiliation.

Crockford describes her expulsion as “an academic hanging without a trial, conducted behind closed doors.” After being renewed unanimously in 2016 for a three-year term, her adjunct status was not renewed the next time around.

Crockford is the author of a popular blog, polarbearscience.com, as well as five books about these animals. Polar Bear Facts and Myths has been translated into four languages. She says that, contrary to the claims of environmental activists, polar bears are currently thriving and are at no risk of extinction from climate change.

Informing the public of these plain facts now appears to be unacceptable to UVic. After 15 years, Crockford was advised in May that an internal Appointment Reappointment Promotion and Tenure (ARPT) committee had “voted not to renew your Adjunct Status.” No reasons were provided. Having undergone hip surgery in the interim, Crockford is only now going public.

When contacted by the National Post recently, UVic spokesman Paul Marck refused to say how many people were on the ARPT committee, how many voted against Crockford, or how many were zoologists in a position to make an informed decision about her abilities.

The position of Adjunct Professor is unpaid. In exchange for mentoring students, sitting on thesis committees, and delivering occasional lectures, adjuncts gain official academic standing and full access to library research services. When asked what safeguards ensure that adjuncts can’t be excommunicated merely for expressing unpopular ideas, spokesman Marck declined to respond, citing provincial privacy legislation. In his words, the university doesn’t disclose “information about internal processes. We must respect the privacy rights of all members of our campus community.”

In this case, the university is not protecting Crockford’s right to privacy. Instead, it is using a privacy smokescreen to protect members of a committee who have decided to purge an adjunct professor without reason or explanation.

Read the rest here.

Greek Archdiocese requesting Constantinople to consider second marriages for several priests

The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America met in New York on October 15-16 under the presidency of Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, dealing with a number of issues, including the organization of Synodal Committees, clerical discipline, the possibility of electing a new vicar bishop, the ongoing construction of the St. Nicholas shrine at Ground Zero, and much more. 

In particular, according to the official communiqué published by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Synod “Examined the petitions of three clergymen who have requested to enter into holy matrimony in the second instance and decided to formally extend a request to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.” 

The Patriarchate of Constantinople, to which the Greek Archdiocese belongs, made serious waves last year when it decided to allow second marriages for priests in the event they are widowed or abandoned by their wives, given that the decision contradicts the long-standing canonical tradition of the Church. 

The decision even contradicts the resolution on marriage approved by the Council of Crete in 2016 that was presided over by Patriarch Bartholomew himself. 

Each case is to be judged individually by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the service of the second marriage is to be a low-key event for a close family circle. 

There are several ecumenically-received canons of the holy Orthodox Church deal with clerical marriage: 

Read the rest here.

Some things are not covered by oikonomia.

New York in the 90's

Greek recognition of the OCU... maybe not?

While media reports have stated that the Bishops’ Council of the Greek Church resolved to recognize the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” on Saturday, drawing on Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos’ statements to the press, two prominent hierarchs of the Greek Church say this is not true. 

Both Metropolitans Seraphim of Piraeus and Seraphim of Kythira, both of whom have addressed the Ukrainian issue several times before, have issued statements in the wake of Saturday’s session, stating that the issue of recognizing the OCU was not put to a vote and that the hierarchs simply reaffirmed the Holy Synod’s earlier decision. 

Read the rest here. 

If you are getting a sense of ecclesial whiplash, join the club.

Important: Greek Orthodox Church Recognizes Ukrainian Schismatics

Multiple sources are reporting that the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece (distinct from the Ecumenical Patriarchate) has voted to formally recognize the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine. This is likely to have the effect of throwing gasoline on a fire. Moscow is all but certain to break communion with Athens and I would not be surprised if the Serbs also break communion with both Athens and the EP.

Sad News

Greece has its first crematorium.

New York gun case to move forward

This morning [yesterday] the Supreme Court issued more orders from last week’s private conference – the first regularly scheduled conference since the end of June. As expected, the justices did not add any more cases to their merits docket for the term, but they did deny review in over 1,000 cases.

One of the most closely watched orders today was the justices’ denial of New York City’s bid to dismiss the challenge to a now-repealed restriction on transporting guns outside city limits. The justices agreed to review the case in January, setting the stage for the Supreme Court’s first ruling on the scope of the Second Amendment in nearly a decade. But in July the city urged the justices to remove the case from their docket, arguing that changes to the city’s rule and to state law rendered the case moot – that is, no longer a live controversy. However, the court went ahead and scheduled the case for oral argument in December, deferring consideration of the city’s motion until last week. Today the justices made clear that the case will move forward: They rejected the city’s request to dismiss the case as moot immediately, instead announcing that the “question of mootness will be subject to further consideration, and the parties should be prepared to discuss it.”

Source.

Trump is in trouble

I noted in an earlier post regarding the rising level of support for impeachment that the president would be in trouble if his support from within the GOP began to erode. That now appears to be happening.

According to a new poll, support for the impeachment inquiry has jumped to 58% with 49% supporting his removal from office. Translated into plain English; a solid majority of Americans believe there is legitimate reason to at least discuss removing the President of the United States from office on the basis of corruption and abuse of power. Near half believe he should in fact be removed.

But the bombshell in these numbers is that a statistically significant number within his own party appear to have finally had enough. A quarter or more of Republicans support the inquiry and almost one in five want him removed. Let's set aside for now the actual prospects of his removal from office, which I continue to think are very low. Unless these numbers change, drastically, Trump's chances of re-election now appear to be going from poor to somewhere near 'I'm not seeing how he can pull it off.'

The bottom line is that Trump's can't win reelection with these numbers. He has to claw back support from within his own party or he will get buried in the general election. I won't say it's impossible. He's pulled off some crazy political upsets before. But when you have a large chunk of your own party supporting your impeachment...

Source

News from Europe

Archdiocese of Russian Churches of Western Europe officially received into Moscow Patriarchate

Greek hierarchs to gather in extraordinary session to consider Archbishop’s proposal on Ukraine

Dear Senator Romney

I didn't vote for you in 2012. I was wrong and I apologize.

Eric Zemmour’s Blockbuster Speech

...Progressivism: the religion of progress, a form of millenarianism that makes a god of the individual and a sacred and divine right of even his most capricious desires.

Progressivism is a form of deified materialism that sees men as undifferentiated and interchangeable beings without sex or origin, beings that, like so many Legos, have been entirely constructed and may thus be deconstructed at will.

Progressivism is a form of secularized messianism, as were Jacobinism, communism, fascism, Nazism, neoliberalism and the ideology of human rights.

Progressivism is a revolution. Indeed, you may recall that our dear President titled his campaign book, Révolution. A revolution that can tolerate no obstacle, no delay, no qualms. Robespierre taught us that the wicked must be killed. For Lenin and Stalin. the good were to be killed, too.

The progressive society that values freedom is deadly to freedom. There is no freedom for the enemies of freedom. Saint-Just’s cry is still on the agenda. Since the Enlightenment, since the French Revolution, since the October Revolution and all the way up to the Third Republic and its radical freemasons, all the way till today, it’s always been the same progressivism: freedom is for them, not for the others. They alone can appreciate and exercise freedom. They alone are worthy of freedom.

...To serve this tyrannical power and impose its diversitarian ideology upon us, as my friend BockCôté aptly calls it, a system of propaganda has been created that brings together television, radio, film and advertising, to say nothing of the watchdogs of the internet. It has proven so effective that it makes Goebbels look like a humble artisan and Stalin a timid novice.

Read the rest here.
HT: Dr Tighe

More than 100 priests sign letter critical of the Kremlin

The article sounds mildly sensational. But sadly they are right about one thing. This is not a common occurrence and the ROC is far too cozy with a thoroughly corrupt government. There is a great deal to admire in the Russian Church. But let's not be blind to their shortcomings.

The Mets Fire Mickey Callaway

Details.

I am getting tired of this never ending history of failure. It's time to get serious about job performance, and the lack thereof.

pour encourager les autres

Eat Less Red Meat, Scientists Said. Now Some Believe That Was Bad Advice.

The evidence is too weak to justify telling individuals to eat less beef and pork, according to new research. The findings “erode public trust,” critics said.

Details.

My take... a hundred years from now we are all going to be fertilizing a well manicured lawn somewhere. Obsessing about this sort of thing is pointless. All things in moderation and enjoy life.

Polls suggest public support for impeachment growing

They are not yet at 50%, but in the space of roughly a week, support for impeachment has jumped from the high 30% range into the 45%+  range with some variation depending on who was doing the polling and how the questions were worded. But in every case support for the president is dropping and the number favoring impeachment has risen. In particular the president should be worried about erosion of support from within his own party. If he loses more than 10% of self identifying Republicans he will be in deep trouble going into the general election. Unlike in 2016 when Democrats were not very enthusiastic about their candidate and many stayed home, every indication suggests they will be highly motivated in 2020. Trump can't afford to lose many of his supporters.

Details.

Fearing a resurgent and aggressive Russia, Sweden is rearming

...Like most European nations, Sweden cut its military spending sharply after the cold war ended, from about 2.5% of GDP in 1990 to barely 1% by 2010; equipment was scrapped and bases were closed down. The shipyard on Muskö was sold off to German engineering company Thyssen Krupp.

But the occupation and annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 “changed things completely”, Granholm said. “It showed that this is what Russia does to its smaller neighbours. Now it is proving a difficult and long-term task to rebuild the armed forces.”

Swedish defence company Saab bought out Thyssen Krupp in June 2014, after some arm-twisting that involved mass recruitment of Krupp’s staff and a dawn raid by the defence ministry on Krupp’s shipyards in Malmö, ostensibly to rescue military secrets.

A few months later, Stockholm was gripped with panic after an alleged Russian mini-submarine was spotted in its waters, reviving memories of a Soviet nuclear sub that ran aground in Karlskrona in 1981, sparking a decade of high-profile submarine scares.

The submarine hunt of 2014, details of which still remain unresolved, saw opinion polls swing towards Nato membership for Sweden and presaged the first of several boosts to defence spending. For the first time in more than two decades, the Swedish government embarked on a sustained expansion of the defence budget, pledging to increase spending from 43bn Swedish crowns (£3.5bn) in 2016 to 50bn in 2020.

Other recent moves to strengthen Sweden’s military preparedness include bringing back conscription, and a leaflet delivered to every household explaining what to do in case of a nuclear attack.

Read the rest here.

The Secular University: Enemy of the Church

In Search of the Effective Lower Bound

The Fed is no longer talking about zero-bound but effective lower bound. What's the difference? Where is it?

Read it here.

Irish Bishop Backs Female Priests as Diocese Votes to Ordain Women

KILLALA, Ireland (ChurchMilitant.com) - An Irish bishop has committed himself to a specially devised delegation process for ordaining female priests after 69% of Catholics in his diocese voted in favor of the ordination of women.

The vote was part of a "listening process" initiated by Bp. John Fleming of the Killala diocese in north Mayo and west Sligo, after an analysis of clergy numbers indicated that the 22 parishes of the diocese would be served by three to six priests by 2037.

One thousand and five hundred people across the diocese were surveyed on a range of questions as part of Bp. Fleming's "Placing Hope in Faith" project. The feedback was processed by the Institute for Action Research and turned into proposals that were voted on by a representative diocesan assembly.

The 300-strong diocesan assembly, which included delegates from the 22 parishes, voted on a range of issues, while 120 people participated in 10 focus groups, in the second phase.

Eighty percent voted in favor of women deacons, 69% supported women priests, 85% supported married priests and 81% cast their ballot supporting married priests returning to active ministry.

The assembly also voted 86% in favor of changing the Church's teaching on homosexuality to reflect the inclusion of all people regardless of sexual orientation, marital status or family status.

Read the rest here.

Vatican City Under Pius XII

A somewhat rare film documentary from 1941 (before the US entry into the war) made by the same people who did the Time Marches On newsreels. Oh how times have changed.

UK: The radical proposals that Labour will debate

• Green New Deal (Zero carbon by 2030)- Show me the money
• Abolish Private Schools- In the finest tradition of class warfare
• Four Day Work Week- With no loss of pay 
• Abolition of Immigrant Detention Centers- Because Britain needs millions of illegal immigrants from cultures highly resistant to assimilation 
• Compulsory purchase of empty houses with rents linked to local incomes- Private property? Whats that?
• Give workers 1% of company stock every year for an as yet undefined period- Is it still red baiting if your favorite color really is red?

Details.

Church Planting in the 21st Century

It's been all over the internet but for those who may have missed it, the pagan moonbats playing at religion have struck again.

Union Theological Seminary has students confessing to plants

Stalin’s 5 Year Plan for Economic Mass Murder

What the Hapsburg Empire Got Right

...While few people were willing to stand up for the old empire after four years of world war, a century later scholars are rethinking its legacy, eager to assert its multifaceted attributes and surprisingly progressive institutions. Stretching from today’s western Ukraine to Switzerland and from the Czech Republic’s northern border with Germany down Croatia’s Adriatic coast, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy had no internal borders, one currency, two parliaments (in Vienna and Budapest), 11 officially recognized peoples/languages and almost as many religions, including Yiddish-speaking Jews, Bosnian Muslims and a variety of Orthodox Christians and Protestants to complement its Catholic majority. Formed and reformed through six centuries of feudal alliances, dynastic marriages, wars and Great Power bargains, the Hapsburg Empire was on its way to becoming a modern multinational state by the late 19th century. The army accommodated linguistic diversity in its regiments, schooling was available in different languages, and the bureaucracy was multilingual.

Although institutional changes for more political inclusivity and democracy moved slowly in the conservative monarchy, by 1907 the Austrian Parliament was elected by universal male suffrage, and a participatory public sphere was thriving. Hapsburg citizens were hardly living and working in isolated ethno-national enclaves. To this day, the turn-of-the-century architecture of train stations and other public buildings attests both to the population’s mobility and to the vast empire’s economic vitality. The similar layout of Central European cities is another visual reminder of a shared past.

The “outdated” old monarchy also produced a remarkably rich and innovative cultural life. In 1900, its multiethnic capital, Vienna, the world’s sixth-largest city, was home to such international luminaries as the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, the composer Gustav Mahler, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, the painter Gustav Klimt, the Nobel Prize-winning peace activist Bertha von Suttner, the Zionist leader Theodor Herzl, the architect Otto Wagner, the feminist/freethinker Rosa Mayreder and the writers Stefan Zweig and Arthur Schnitzler.

Read the rest here. 

Dr. A.B. Mohler: Can Christians Use Birth Control?

The effective separation of sex from procreation may be one of the most important defining marks of our age–and one of the most ominous. This awareness is spreading among American evangelicals, and it threatens to set loose a firestorm.

Most evangelical Protestants greeted the advent of modern birth control technologies with applause and relief. Lacking any substantial theology of marriage, sex, or the family, evangelicals welcomed the development of “The Pill” much as the world celebrated the discovery of penicillin — as one more milestone in the inevitable march of human progress, and the conquest of nature.

At the same time, evangelicals overcame their traditional reticence in matters of sexuality, and produced a growth industry in books, seminars, and even sermon series celebrating sexual ecstasy as one of God’s blessings to married Christians. Once reluctant to admit the very existence of sexuality, evangelicals emerged from the 1960s ready to dish out the latest sexual advice without blushing. As one of the best-selling evangelical sex manuals proclaims, marital sex is Intended for Pleasure. Many evangelicals seem to have forgotten that it was intended for something else as well.

For many evangelical Christians, birth control has been an issue of concern only for Catholics. When Pope Paul VI released his famous encyclical outlawing artificial birth control, Humanae Vitae, most evangelicals responded with disregard — perhaps thankful that evangelicals had no pope who could hand down a similar edict. Evangelical couples became devoted users of birth control technologies ranging from the Pill to barrier methods and Intrauterine Devices [IUDs]. That is all changing, and a new generation of evangelical couples is asking new questions.

A growing number of evangelicals are rethinking the issue of birth control–and facing the hard questions posed by reproductive technologies. Several developments contributed to this reconsideration, but the most important of these is the abortion revolution. The early evangelical response to legalized abortion was woefully inadequate. Some of the largest evangelical denominations at first accepted at least some version of abortion on demand.

Read the rest here.

[Dr. Mohler is an ordained minister and President of the Southern Baptist Convention.]

The traditional teaching of the Orthodox  Church on ABC is... no. In fact the Church generally will not marry those who do not want, or who are not ready for a family. In recent years there has been some movement towards a very limited tolerance based on economy (oikonomia) for specific situations such as when a family already has as many children as they can support and/or take care of or where serious health risks may attend pregnancy. Though even then the Church teaches that the ideal response is sexual abstinence. But acknowledging the reality that not all couples can live a life of complete continence this concession is sometimes made. Usually it must be discussed with your spiritual father in confession. When ABC is used it must never be abortificiant or involve self mutilation. This generally places the burden on the husband.

Unfortunately, and especially in the West, some of the Orthodox jurisdictions have in practice become quite lax on this point. And it must be admitted that among the laity, respect for the traditional moral teaching of the Church is generally no better than among other Christian denominations including Roman Catholicism which is even stricter and admits no exception at all. Which is to say that it is widely ignored.

Real US debt levels could be a shocking 2,000% of GDP

• Total US debt including all forms of government, state, local, financial and entitlement liabilities comes close to 2,000% of GDP, according to AB Bernstein.
• The biggest potential load comes from entitlements, but is being pressured from rising levels of federal government debt as well.
• The warnings about potential debt hazards come as the total federal debt outstanding has surged to $22.5 trillion.
• A debt reform advocate says now is the time for the U.S. to tackle the issue, before recession hits.

Read the details here.

Brexit and Boris Johnson

For those not keeping up on the news from the UK, here is the latest. Three years after the British people voted to leave the EU, Brexit is on life support. After Theresa May finally resigned and Boris Johnson won the Conservative leadership contest it looked like Britain was at along last going to exit the EU at the end of October. But the opponents of Brexit who have been plotting to obstruct, and ultimately kill it, have finally won what looks like the decisive battle. With the aid of about twenty Tory MP's who defied a three line whip, the remainers were able to strip the government of power over Brexit and then passed a law over the government's objection ordering it to seek yet another delay in Brexit. At this point that may require revoking article 50. 

In response, Johnson quite rightly stripped the rebel MPs of the whip, effectively expelling them from the party. But he now finds himself the head of a minority government, humiliated by the Commons and deprived of all authority to carry out the mandate of the British people. Indeed, the government stands compelled by law to act in a manner completely contrary to its stated policy and the democratically expressed will of the nation.

This, it must not do.

The only honorable course is for the government to resign. He should announce his refusal to accede and lead the Conservative party into opposition. On Monday morning he should go to the Queen and surrender his seals office advising Her Majesty to invite Mr. Corbyn to form a government.

Those individuals and political parties who have orchestrated this premeditated and calculated attack on British democracy should be required to bear full responsibility for it. And in the next general election this should be the sole issue placed before the people. 

Republicans move to nix primaries in show of support for Trump

The GOP has become a political cult.

Details.

An Orthodox Monk on the Modern Catholic Church: “Busy Dissolving All Memory of the Past”

Read it here.
HT: Dr. Tighe

This is not intended as a polemical post and I would encourage readers to approach it as a reflection on how the Orthodox East views the current crisis in the Western Church. Some of what is written may cause some discomfort, but setting aside the very real doctrinal differences between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, I suspect that many Catholics will find themselves in agreement (perhaps reluctantly) with some of the observations made.

I think the comments at the linked website are worth reading. A few are unfortunate, but many make good points.

GAS!

It's a little past 2AM and I made some phone calls and found a Shell station that just got an emergency shipment in. I now have enough to get me to the Georgia state line or very close.

Dorian... boo hiss. 

(Update) Well that looks like a waste of a good night's sleep. Prayers for those up north now in the cross hairs.

Ray Dalio: The Three Big Issues and the 1930s Analogue

Not going to try and excerpt this one. For those with an interest in economics, it is an interesting read.

Read it here.

Wisdom!

Let us attend.

The Sultan of Pranks and 'Bunga Bunga'

And now for something a little lighter...

Julia Yost: Catholic-haters have just convicted an innocent man

By a 2-to-1 vote, an Australian appellate court this week dismissed George Cardinal Pell’s appeal of his conviction on five counts of “historic” child sexual abuse. For Pell’s supporters, the decision can hardly be surprising. Given the way things had gone, a just outcome would have come as a shock.

Prosecutors accused Pell of surprising two choirboys who were guzzling communion wine in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral immediately after Mass one Sunday in 1996. The cardinal was charged with forcing the boys to fellate him while he was still vested in archbishop’s robes.

The allegations were utterly implausible — for several reasons well-established by the defense at trial.

The cathedral’s communion wine was kept locked in a safe, for starters, and Pell couldn’t have left the post-Mass proceedings without his absence being noticed; witnesses attested this never happened. Likewise, the choirboys couldn’t have left the post-Mass proceedings without their absence being noticed; witnesses attested this never happened, either.

Plus, the sacristy would have been bustling with activity. As witnesses testified, Pell was never alone in the cathedral while vested for Mass but always accompanied by at least one assistant. The security arrangements and layout of the cathedral, and the respective locations of the cardinal and the choir, would have made it impossible for the abuse to occur as alleged. Nor is it physically possible to expose one’s genitals while vested in an archbishop’s robes.

Before he died in 2014, one of the two boys denied that he had “ever been interfered with or touched up” — by anyone. All this led 10 out of 12 jurors at Pell’s first trial to vote to acquit. Yet at the retrial, the jurors ignored the enormous weight of exculpatory evidence and voted in December to convict him amid a climate of media-driven anti-Catholic hysteria.

As the dissenting appellate judge was to conclude, the sole accuser’s wholly uncorroborated testimony “contained discrepancies, displayed inadequacies and otherwise lacked probative value.” Oh, well.

Read the rest here.

As I stated in my earlier post on this subject, I'm not sufficiently familiar with all of the evidence to express an informed opinion. But an awful lot of people whose judgement I respect have come down hard on this case.

Comment moderation is on

Sorry for any inconvenience, but while I am truly sympathetic to the unique trials of his existence, the wave of comments from Jerome the Vampire were not germane to the topics of the various threads he posted on. Hopefully this will just be a temporary speed bump. However, if you should notice that I am suddenly only posting at night...

The Archons are at it again.

These people must truly love causing scandal.

Details

For the record...

Cardinal Pell's conviction has been upheld on appeal. I am not sufficiently familiar with the details of the case to express an informed opinion. However, a number of people that I respect have grave misgivings about the matter.

Brexit Secretary signs order to scrap 1972 Brussels Act - ending all EU law in the UK

The 1972 Act is the vehicle that sees regulations flow into UK law directly from the EU’s lawmaking bodies in Brussels.
The announcement of the Act’s repeal marks a historic step in returning lawmaking powers from Brussels to the UK. We are taking back control of our laws, as the public voted for in 2016.
The repeal of the European Communities Act 1972 will take effect when Britain formally leaves the EU on October 31.
Speaking after signing the legislation that will crystallise in law the upcoming repeal of the ECA, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU Steve Barclay said:

This is a clear signal to the people of this country that there is no turning back - we are leaving the EU as promised on October 31, whatever the circumstances - delivering on the instructions given to us in 2016.

The votes of 17.4 million people deciding to leave the EU is the greatest democratic mandate ever given to any UK Government. Politicians cannot choose which public votes they wish to respect. Parliament has already voted to leave on 31 October. The signing of this legislation ensures that the EU Withdrawal Act will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 on exit day.

The ECA saw countless EU regulations flowing directly into UK law for decades, and any government serious about leaving on October 31 should show their commitment to repealing it.

That is what we are doing by setting in motion that repeal. This is a landmark moment in taking back control of our laws from Brussels."

 Source.

Kamala Harris Promises To 'Disarm Violent Hate' by Seizing Guns From Bigots

Sen. Kamala Harris (D–Calif.), who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, says that if elected she will push legislation that would authorize federal courts to issue gun confiscation orders against people who express opinions that may indicate an intent to commit a hate crime. These "domestic terrorism prevention orders" would "temporarily restrict a person's access to guns if they exhibit clear evidence of dangerousness," including "violent racist threats or anti-immigrant manifestos."

Harris' plan to "disarm violent hate" is pretty vague, so it's hard to say whether it would be consistent with the First Amendment. If the bill she imagines would merely create a federal "red flag" law focused on a subset of people deemed a threat to others, that would be bad enough, since these laws generally give short shrift to due process. But her description of the problem she is trying to address suggests that constitutionally protected speech might by itself be enough to suspend someone's Second Amendment rights.

"From El Paso to the Tree of Life Synagogue, and from Poway to Mother Emanuel Church," her campaign website says, "one thing is clear: Guns are the weapon of choice for domestic terrorists and perpetrators of hate crimes….Whether it's violent racist threats or anti-immigrant manifestos, signs of impending violence are often evident before tragedy strikes." While that may be true in retrospect, it does not mean that all racists, nativists, white supremacists, or anti-Semites who express their views online, or even a significant percentage of them, are bent on mass murder.

Read the rest here.

Danger: The Greek Church may be preparing to recognize the Ukrainian schismatics

While the Orthodox Church of Greece has yet to make any official decision regarding the Constantinople-created “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU), new information indicates that that the hierarchs are strongly considering recognizing the schismatic structure. 

Moreover, Constantinople’s continuing pressure could lead to a schism among the 20 ruling monasteries of Mt. Athos. 

The OCU was created in December and granted a tomos of autocephaly by Constantinople in January, but has thus far failed to achieve recognition by any Church other than Constantinople. Several branches of Orthodoxy, including the Serbian Church, the Polish Church, and the Orthodox Church in America have rejected and explicitly referred to the OCU as schismatics. Several others have expressed serious concerns and called for a pan-Orthodox council to resolve the ongoing issue. 

Certain hierarchs of the Greek Church have effectively recognized the OCU for themselves: Several have already concelebrated with representatives of the OCU, and an archimandrite from the Metropolis of Demetrias and Almyros was even released to become a “bishop” in the OCU. There have been no reports of any of these hierarchs being reprimanded or sanctioned by the Greek Synod in any way. 

However, the most influential voice in the Greek Church in favor of recognizing the OCU, has been His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos, an internationally-recognized theologian. Met. Hierotheos has not served with the OCU, but has written several essays detailing his view of the prerogatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and arguing that the Greek Church (and, in fact, no Local Church) has no right to object to what Constantinople has done. The OCU must be accepted, he writes, until a pan-Orthodox council can take up the matter. 

Read the rest here.

California To Become Yugoslavia

It is hardly a controversial opinion to state that the United States is disintegrating. To be more precise: the ties that bind us together as Americans are fraying, and even dissolving. I don’t believe that this is going to result in the political disintegration of America, as in the Civil War, but I could be wrong about that. The forces of disintegration grow stronger, and there are no counterforces of any potency. The media love to bang on about how Donald Trump is dividing the country by practicing racial politics, and they’re not entirely wrong about that. But I submit to you that nothing Donald Trump says will have remotely the impact that the State of California is about to have through revising its public education curriculum to fill it with Social Justice Warrior content, particularly on race.
The Los Angeles Times reports:

In actions that would affect more than 6.5 million California students, state lawmakers are poised to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement in high school and at Cal State universities, raising the stakes for a team of educators drafting the model curriculum, those who are arguing for changes to it, and also for critics — who see an academic field dominated by one-sided, insular political correctness and separatism.

More:

The high school requirement — the first such in the nation, according to a legislative analysis — appears to have broad backing among Sacramento lawmakers and beyond. A separate bill, mandating an ethnic studies class for every Cal State student, has drawn a mixed reaction at campuses. Although there is wide support for ethnic studies courses, some Cal State faculty and administrators strongly oppose a state requirement. The public’s chance to comment on the model curriculum closes Thursday.
“California is committed to getting this work right,” Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the state Board of Education, said in a letter to the Los Angeles Times. “We will not accept a curriculum that fails to address difficult issues in a way that promotes open-mindedness and independent thought — skills our students need to understand vital societal and civic forces.”
At its core, supporters say, ethnic studies classes teach students how to think critically about the world around them, “tell their own stories,” develop “a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and inclusion” and engage “socially and politically” to eradicate bigotry, hate and racism. This description, from the draft of the model curriculum, is meant to guide California K-12 educators in creating coursework whether or not the new graduation requirement becomes law.
Among those who say the proposed curriculum falls short of its lofty goals is Williamson M. Evers, a research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution , based at Stanford.
“Instead of an objective account of the history of ethnic groups and their current situation, this is a biased portrait emphasizing suffering and victimization, serving as a kind of road map to create ideological activists based on racial identity,” Evers said. “Will you be graded on having the politically correct answers?”
Among other things, Evers objects to the association of capitalism with forms of oppression. He also is put off by the academic language that has grown up around the field, which employs such terms as “herstory” and “hxrstory” to replace “history.”

The curriculum’s supporters don’t deny that it’s politicized:

Read the rest here.

Report: OCA to go under Constantinople (dubious)

Details here.
HT: Dr. Tighe

This is so implausible that I had to check to see if it wasn't April 1st on some obscure calendar. Alas not. That said, I am highly dubious and would encourage this rumor be taken with a very large grain of salt pending further development.

There are far too many reasons why this is unlikely to happen. The history of the relationship between the OCA and the EP has been chilly... at best. The OCA has strong historical, cultural and canonical ties with the Russian Church. Given the current schism between Moscow and Constantinople, such an act might well end in a break in communion with the OCA's mother church. Indeed the OCA would almost certainly have to recognize a schismatic entity in Ukraine. (That would have me packing my jurisdictional bags and heading for the door.) A huge percentage of the OCA's membership is of Russian decent. I don't think they would put up with such a move. And lastly the idea that the OCA has been engaged in secret negotiations of this sort is astonishing at the very least. If true, I think it would infuriate both the rank and file clergy as well as the laity.

For these and so many other reasons, this strikes me as simply incredible in the classical sense of the word.

Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez May be in Trouble

A list of political donors to AOC's reelection campaign show almost none from within her own district. Only ten(!) residents of her district have been named in required FEC filings. It needs to be noted that the FEC only requires donations of $200 and up to be listed, but this is still a shocking report.

In my view this represents her failure to remember Tip O'Neil's famous maxim that "all politics is local." While the self proclaimed socialist Congresswoman has become the darling of the hard left, and standing between her and a television news camera has been reportedly dangerous to one's health, there remains a serious question. What has she done for the people of her district? Aside from saving them from the horror of thousands of good paying jobs that Amazon was going bring, I can't think of anything.

Details

Trump may have just blinked in China trade war

• Some influential voices on Wall Street are saying Trump blinked in the latest exchange with China and showed just how much pain the U.S. could tolerate. China may use that to its advantage.
• “Tell me why Xi should not continue to wait out The World’s Greatest Negotiator, who keeps ‘dealing’ with himself?” says Jim Chanos, founder and managing Partner of Kynikos Associates.
• Markets rallied on the announcement by the U.S. Trade Representative office that certain items were being removed from the new China tariff list and others would be delayed until mid-December.

Details.

Trump's decision to stand up to China's abusive trade practices is one of a handful of subjects where I have supported him. But there have always been three serious weaknesses. First, although both the US and China have significant national debts, China's is less than half that of the US as a percentage of GDP. Secondly Xi does not have to face reelection by the people of the People's Republic. Trump does have to face reelection and if the economy tanks it would seriously damage his prospects. And lastly there is Trump's temperament which is mercurial on a good day.

Xi understands all of this and has no reason to rush into a deal that would be disadvantageous to China when he can afford to sit back and wait to see if November 2020 brings some improvement in the political landscape.

Chinese troops reported massing on the border of Hong Kong

The only thing surprising here is that Bejing has let things go for as long as they have.

Chinese propaganda outlets warned on Tuesday that protesters in Hong Kong are “asking for self-destruction,” as they released a video showing military vehicles amassing near the border of the city.

Meanwhile, the city’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, told the news media on Tuesday that “lawbreaking activities in the name of freedom” were damaging the rule of law and that the Asian financial hub’s recovery from anti-government protests could take a long time.

Her comments came after Beijing said widespread anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous city showed “sprouts of terrorism,” and such violence must be severely punished, “without leniency, without mercy.”

Hong Kong’s airport reopened Tuesday early morning after airport authorities canceled all flights on Monday, blaming demonstrators’ disruption to regular operations. Another sit-in is expected to take place at the airport, a major global hub, on Tuesday.

Despite that reopening, Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific said it had cancelled over 200 flights to and out of the airport for the day, according to its website.

The protest at the airport, while disruptive, was largely peaceful. That’s in contrast to Sunday night, where protesters appeared to have thrown Molotov cocktails at police stations around the city and dozens of protesters were arrested.

Read the rest here.

Violence is Coming for Us

A brief reflection on violence in our culture by Fr. Josiah Trenham.

Jeffrey Epstein and the shadow of 1963

Not since Jack Ruby gunned down Lee H. Oswald has there been a death so likely to fuel conspiracy theories.

While I can understand the explosion of conspiracy theories over this, my gut says that Occam's razor applies. It is far more likely that one or more people dropped the ball and Epstein was able to kill himself. But in situations like this, truth and facts quickly become meaningless. There is a certain percentage of the population with a predisposition to conspiracy theorism who have long since decamped to their own "24" alternate reality, and they aren't coming home. But when things happen that look so bloody awful, it can push otherwise reasonable people into that dark alternative universe, at least when dealing with the given subject. The murder of President Kennedy being a prime example.

Video from the 2019 Democratic Socialists of America Convention

You can't make this stuff up and it is impervious to satire.

HT: Rod Dreher

The end of an era

Harland and Wolff, one of Britain's last and most famous ship building companies is bankrupt.

France is Sinking into Chaos and Authoritarianism

• President Macron never says he is sorry for those who have lost an eye or a hand... from extreme police brutality. Instead, he asked the French parliament to pass a law that almost completely abolishes the right to protest and the presumption of innocence, and that allows the arrest of anyone, anywhere, even without cause. The law was passed.
• In June, the French parliament passed another law, severely punishing anyone who says or writes something that might contain "hate speech". The law is so vague that an American legal scholar, Jonathan Turley, felt compelled to react. "France", he wrote, "has now become one of the biggest international threats to freedom of speech".
• The main concern of Macron and the French government seems not to be the risk of riots, the public's discontent, the disappearance of Christianity, the disastrous economic situation, or Islamization and its consequences. Instead, it is climate change.
• "The West no longer knows what it is, because it does not know and does not want to know what shaped it, what constituted it, what it was and what it is. (...) This self-asphyxiation leads naturally to a decadence that opens the way to new barbaric civilizations." — Cardinal Robert Sarah, in Le soir approche et déjà le jour baisse ("The Evening Comes, and already the Light Darkens").

Read the rest here.

For only the second time in her life...

The elder of my two sisters has bought a car, a 2019 Honda Civic. The last time was 1990. Yes, she paid cash both times.

Indian Parliament Outlaws Triple Talaq

India's Parliament yesterday gave final passage to The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 (full text) (bill summary). The bill now goes to the President for his assent. The new law outlaws "triple talaq", the procedure under which a Muslim husband divorces his wife by uttering the word "talaq" three times to her.  The law makes talaq (including in written and electronic form) illegal and provides for a fine and up to three years in prison for anyone declaring talaq. It also allows award of child custody and subsistence to a wife against whom talaq has been invoked. The bill replaces a presidential Ordinance issued earlier this year.  In 2017, India's Supreme Court held that triple talaq is invalid and ordered the government to consider appropriate legislation on the mater. Rediff and Reuters report on the bill.

From Religion Clause

Filioque (again)

FTR, the latest defense of the Filioque coupled with a call for the Orthodox to "come home" can be found here. Please leave any comments there.

Boris Johnson's First Appearance in the Commons as PM

I think he held up well in the more than 2.5 hours of questions and commentary. And yes, I did get the feeling that he was already campaigning in the next general election.

Quote of the day...

In their childish and vain attempt to attract the people, the modern clergy give socialist programs the function of being schemes for putting the Beatitudes into effect.

The trick behind it consists in reducing to a collective structure external to the individual an ethical behavior that, unless it is individual and internal, is nothing.

The modern clergy preach, in other words, that there is a social reform capable of wiping out the consequences of sin.

From which one can deduce the pointlessness of redemption through Christ.

- Nicolás Gómez Dávila

Russia's Total Gold Reserves Top $100 Billion As Central Bank Adds Another 600K Ounces In June

 
(Kitco News) - Russia’s gold reserves topped the $100 billion mark in July as gold prices rose and the country’s central bank continued to buy the yellow metal, according to the bank’s latest press release.

The Russian central bank bought another 597,000 ounces or 18.67 tonnes of gold in June, which put the total gold holdings at 2,208 tonnes as of July 1 ?r $100.3 billion, the Russian central bank said in the latest data release.

At the time of writing, August Comex gold futures were trading at $1,417.10, down 0.69% on the day.
Moscow has been actively buying up gold this year, adding more than 96 tonnes since the beginning of 2019.

Source.

Johnson takes the helm

Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have sparked numerous comparisons, including their choice of barbers.

Boris Johnson has been appointed Prime Minister of the UK. A man who is almost as controversial within his party as he is outside of it, inherits one of the thinnest parliamentary majorities in modern British history. His first act in office appears to be to replace around two thirds of the cabinet. In fairness, at least five ministers announced they were unwilling to serve under him. But his appointments strongly suggest most of those would have been replaced in any event. In this Johnson seems to have forgotten one of Churchill's maxims about political rivals. He often said he preferred them in the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in.

Having vowed that Britain will leave the EU on 31 October come hell or high water and refusing to rule out a no deal Brexit, it remains to be seen how this will happen when it is clear that the Commons is generally opposed to a no deal departure. Given where things are, my guess is that Boris will steam ahead at full speed, adopt a very tough line with the EU, who will in turn tell him very politely where to get off. He will then place a no deal Brexit before the House which will in turn vote it down.

I see Johnson as a placeholder who does not enjoy the full support of his own party. The EU knows this and they know that they have little to fear by defying Britain at the moment. The Tories are bitterly divided and if Johnson's government falls over this issue I don't see anyone who could succeed him with the solid support of such a fractured party, in such a fractured House. The only solution, one that neither the Tories nor Labour really want, is another general election. Both of the two main parties are divided by Brexit with only the Liberal Democrats united in their unequivocal pro Remain stand. (We shall ignore for the moment the SNP, fiercely opposed to the breakup of the European Union, while fiercely fighting for the breakup of the British Union.)

All the same, with Parliament effectively deadlocked on the only issue that anyone has been talking about for the last three years, a general election seems inevitable. My guess is early Fall.

The Catholic Case for Communism

“It is when the Communists are good that they are dangerous.”

That is how Dorothy Day begins an article in America, published just before the launch of the Catholic Worker on May Day in 1933. In contrast to the reactions of many Catholics of the time, Day painted a sympathetic, if critical view of the communists she encountered in Depression-era New York City. Her deep personalism allowed her to see the human stories through the ideological struggle; and yet she concluded that Catholicism and communism were not only incompatible, but mutual threats. A whole Cold War has passed since her reflection, and a few clarifying notes are now worthwhile.

Communists are attracted to communism by their goodness, Day argued, that unerasable quality of the good that can be found within and outside the church alike, woven into our very nature. It might have been an easier thing to say back in 1933, when American communists were well known to the general public for putting their lives on the line to support striking workers, but it was also the kind of thing that could land you in a lot of trouble, not least in the Catholic Church.

By affirming the goodness that drives so many communists then and now, Day aimed to soften the perceptions of Catholics who were more comfortable with villainous caricatures of the communists of their era than with more challenging depictions of them as laborers for peace and economic justice. Most people who join communist parties and movements, Day rightly noted, are motivated not by some deep hatred toward God or frothing anti-theism, but by an aspiration for a world liberated from a political economy that demands vast exploitation of the many for the comfort of a few.

Read the rest here.
HT: Rorate Caeli

How long are orthodox Catholics going to put up with this crap? I am thinking it's time for the pitchforks and torches. I don't want to sound holier than thou because God knows we have our own problems. But rampant heresy at every (and I do mean every) level of the Church is not one of them. For all our problems we Orthodox have a long and glorious history of shouting "heresy!" at one another and breaking communion. Sometimes the reasons may look silly, but then I look at what's going on across the Tiber, and I am reminded that there are worse things than schism.

Russo-Sino joint military air exercises spark strong protests from Tokyo and Seoul

MOSCOW/SEOUL (Reuters) - Russia carried out what it said was its first long-range joint air patrol in the Asia-Pacific region with China on Tuesday, a mission that triggered hundreds of warning shots, according to South Korean officials, and a strong protest from Japan.

Read the rest here.

Worth a read

Christendom, but why?

Please leave your comments there.

1519-2019: Art Through Time - 500 Years of Portraits

Father Dimitrios: The Orthodox Monk Who was a British Spy

A fascinating and somewhat disturbing story.

Read it here.

Ray Dalio: Paradigm Shifts

This is a longish read and may be somewhat dry for those not interested in economics and or investing. However, I believe it worth the time.

Read it here.

Quote of the day...

An elderly Chicago lady recently claimed, “If Jesus Christ were alive today, he would be ordaining women.”

To which I replied, “Jesus Christ is alive today, and he is not doing it.”

-Fr. Pat Reardon (via email)

A lesson in humility

From here.

A Definitive Response to the “Female Priests” Issue

Even though I am an Orthodox Christian and not a Roman Catholic, I was very disappointed when I read Meg Catanzarita’s assertion that Jesus Christ would desire there to be “women priests.” I believe that, through the Holy Apostles, Jesus Christ had the entirety of the Christian faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). So, I too “cannot ’not’ respond.”

Her boasting of being educated in Catholic institutions from grade school to college does not prove her point. We have countless clergyman and scholars with far more impressive pedigrees that disagree with her. That does not make them right either. We can all enlist people with “educations” in support of “our” side, but this does not get to the heart of the matter: “What would Jesus do?,” as she asks.

Thankfully, we know what Jesus would do, because He is God and still speaks to us today in the Scriptures and the Church, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim 3:16). These Scriptures tell us that Church leaders must be able to hold “fast the faithful word as he has been taught” (Titus 1:9). So, whatever the “correct” answer to the “women priests” question is, we cannot have one answer this year and another answer the next.

So, what is the answer? The Scriptures contain not a single example of a female priest. Instead, Saint Paul teaches that, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man” within the Church (1 Tim 2:12). Whenever he gives requirements for priests and bishops, he is explicit that they must be men (1 Tim 3:1-2 and Tit 1:6-7). We know we are not misunderstanding Paul, because the entire ancient Church until recent times has always taught this, starting with Saint Clement of Rome. He is the Church’s third Pope and we still have a letter of his that reaffirms a male priesthood.

Those with novel new ideas like Catanzarita would have been condemned by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. He did not say vainly, “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).

Read the rest here.

Puerto Rico’s Bankruptcy Plan Is Almost Done ...

...And bondholders are going to get screwed.

For the benefit of those w/o a subscription here is a summary of where things look to be heading.

* Pensioners are being treated as having first claim on the territory's resources, ahead of bond holders. This appears to contradict PR's constitution and laws.
* Under the current proposals, 61 percent of the retirees would keep receiving their full pensions and none will receive less than 91.5%.
* Bond holders will receive no more than 64 cents on the dollar. Many will receive less.
* The board intends to declare bonds sold in 2012 and 2014 unconstitutional and effectively null and void.
* Bonds issued before 2012 will be honored at 64 cents on the dollar.
* Those issued in 2012 would be offered only 45 cents on the dollar. And those issued in 2014 only 35 cents on the dollar in a take it, or leave it and get nothing settlement offer.
* Lawsuits are expected to challenge the basis for the settlement. But many bondholders are expected to take what they can, given that the recent Detroit bankruptcy essentially followed the same pattern of putting pensions ahead of bondholders.

Thoughts: If this goes through and survives the court challenges it's going to send a signal that municipal bonds are nowhere near as safe as hitherto believed. It will almost certainly encourage states in serious fiscal trouble like Illinois to try the same thing. And my guess is the bond market is going to have to recalibrate it's risk reward ratio for municipal bonds. All of which means that municipal bonds at all but the highest credit ratings, could take a hit in their market valuation. And that hit will also be felt by those seeking to borrow money who are suddenly going to find that their legal guarantees are being viewed with skepticism by potential lenders demanding higher yields for their paper.

Thank you

I deeply appreciate the messages of condolence posted on the blog and sent privately. As the period of mourning winds down I will be resuming blogging.

Memory Eternal!

My step sister Jan died this afternoon following a brief illness. There will be no blogging before the second half of July.

Prayers please

My step sister Jan was recently diagnosed with a grave illness. Over the weekend she was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. Her condition has been deteriorating rapidly. Jan is a Roman Catholic by conversion. Your prayers are deeply appreciated.

D Day as it was reported live on NBC Radio

NBC Radio June 06, 1944.

Traveling

Little or no blogging until mid June.

Roy Moore wants to run again for the US Senate

The ONLY man in the entire state of Alabama who could lose a Senate seat to a pro-abortion Democrat is looking for a re-match. I am pretty sure that the only people hoping Roy will throw his hat in the ring are every Democrat in the entire country and the full run of late night television comedians. Did I just repeat myself?  Even Don Jr. (not the brightest bulb on the tree) thinks it's time for Roy to "ride off into the sunset."

Details.

Morgan Stanley says economy is on ‘recession watch’ as bond market flashes warning

Wouldn't be surprised. After roughly nine years of economic expansion and the longest running bull market for which we have records... we are due. That said, the future is not predictable. And if we do in fact go into a recession, it may not be as extreme as the 2007-09 one. Still, for those who are worried about their investments, the best advice is to remain diversified across multiple asset classes, index where possible and be wary of over-weighting specific investments or asset classes. Given the crazy run up in stock prices over the last decade, I'd take a deep breath if my portfolio was stock heavy and consider rebalancing into more conservative assets.

Details.

Fearing Supreme Court Loss, New York Tries to Make Gun Case Vanish

WASHINGTON — A couple of weeks ago, the New York Police Department held an unusual public hearing. Its purpose was to make a Supreme Court case disappear.

In January, the court agreed to hear a Second Amendment challenge to a New York City gun regulation. The city, fearing a loss that would endanger gun control laws across the nation, responded by moving to change the regulation. The idea was to make the case moot.

The move required seeking comments from the public, in writing and at the hearing. Gun rights advocates were not happy.

“This law should not be changed,” Hallet Bruestle wrote in a comment submitted before the hearing. “Not because it is a good law; it is blatantly unconstitutional. No, it should not be changed since this is a clear tactic to try to moot the Scotus case that is specifically looking into this law.”

David Enlow made a similar point. “This is a very transparent attempt,” he wrote, “to move the goal post in the recent Supreme Court case.”

The regulation allows residents with so-called premises licenses to take their guns to one of seven shooting ranges in the city. But it prohibits them from taking their guns to second homes and shooting ranges outside the city, even when the guns are unloaded and locked in containers separate from ammunition.

The city’s proposed changes, likely to take effect in a month or so, would remove those restrictions. Whether they would also end the case is another matter.

Until the Supreme Court agreed to hear the dispute, the city had defended the regulation vigorously and successfully, winning in two lower courts. In inviting public comments on the proposed changes, the Police Department said it continued to believe the regulation “furthers an important public-safety interest.”

Read the rest here.

Memory Eternal

Liberal UMC Leaders: “We Cannot Affiliate” With Traditionalist United Methodists!

In a remarkably quick turn from the recent “unity, unity” rhetoric, a notable group of liberal United Methodists leaders, from Alaska to Florida to Germany, has declared in no uncertain terms that they “cannot” remain in the same church with Christians who support the traditional standards of the United Methodist Book of Discipline. And they are apparently not sure whether or not they can continue to tolerate the presence of Methodists who have not yet settled what they believe about matters related to homosexuality and transgenderism.

Read the rest here.

Francis urges Chinese Catholics to submit to state church (updated)

The Red Pope strikes again.

(Update) And then there is this. I am not a fan of Breitbart at all, but in this case I think they have done a much better job of noting the relevant message here than the mainstream press/media. Which once again, is studiously ignoring those occasions when the pope sounds like either a Unitarian Universalist, or just a babbling idiot.

Report: Greek Church released Archimandrite Epiphanius to schismatic Ukrainian Church

No official confirmation from the Greek church, but if true this would be a serious development. Allowing your clergy to be consecrated a bishop by another "church" would certainly be seen as a specie of formal recognition of that entity. To date no canonical Orthodox church, excepting the EP, has recognized the schismatic OCU.

Details.

NPR Memo Instructs Writers How to Frame Abortion Debate

After reading a “guidance reminder” posted last week by NPR, it’s become even more obvious why those in favor of abortion and those opposed to it are increasingly at odds with one another.

Mark Memmott, supervising senior editor of standards and practices for NPR, put together the guide after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed into law the most stringently pro-life legislation in the country and not long after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a bill into law barring abortion after a heartbeat is detectable, which usually occurs around six weeks into pregnancy.

The style guide makes one thing abundantly, painstakingly clear: NPR writers are to go out of their way to make sure it never, ever sounds like the collection of cells inside a mother’s womb is a human life.

Perhaps the most absurd — and absurdly bias — rule in the NPR manual is the injunction against the word “unborn,” which journalists are to avoid like the plague, according to Memmott, because it “implies that there is a baby inside a pregnant woman.”

“They’re fetuses,” he lectured. “Incorrectly calling a fetus a ‘baby’ or ‘the unborn’ is part of the strategy used by antiabortion groups to shift language/legality/public opinion.” (Just FYI: Even the Mayo Clinic refers to fetuses who have, according to Memmott, not yet turned into humans as babies.)

The moratorium on the sinister words can only be lifted “when referring to the title of the bill.” The fact he used the word “strategy” only to refer to those opposed to abortion should be telling, as if there’s a clandestine plan by pro-lifers, but those who support abortion are just trying to protect some inalienable right.

Read the rest here.

Fr. Theodore Zisis on the Greek Church and the Situation in Ukraine

 For the first time, the Constantinople Church has found itself isolated from the other autocephalous Churches, due to its anti-canonical and anti-conciliar actions in granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian schismatics.

Thus, it itself has placed under doubt its accepted coordinating role as a unifying factor and driven its hitherto proven and effective ecclesiastical politics into complete failure. It all began with the incomplete, truncated representation of the Body of Christ at the pseudo-council in Kolymvari, Crete.

In our previous articles we noted the unavoidable danger arising for the Grecophone leaders of many Local Churches (Alexandrian, Jerusalem, Cypriot, Greek, and Albanian) of falling into the temptation of following ethnophytelistic criteria, supporting the Greek first-throne Church. This would in fact mean falling into the heresy of ethnophyletism, which was condemned by the Local Synod of Constantinople in 1872 due to the Bulgarian ethnophyletistic demands of the time.

Unfortunately, such criteria dominate amongst a significant part of the Grecophone clergy, theologians, and specialists in canon law who place patriotism and ethnic origins higher than the national integration of all Orthodox into one body of the Church of Christ, Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all (Col. 3:11).1

Thus, it is clear as God’s day that the Constantinople Church’s interference in the Russian Orthodox Church’s jurisdictional territory, to which the Ukrainian Church has belonged for over three centuries since 1686 with total and uncontested recognition by all the Local Churches and even the Ecumenical Patriarchate itself (as scholarly research into the historical and sacred canonical aspect demonstrates), is anti-canonical.2 However, despite this fact, today we have a planned attempt by researchers to present a different picture that favors the supposedly existing jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch over the territory of Ukraine, and what is worse, a jurisdiction that supposedly allows it to independently grant autocephaly without the agreement of the entire body of the Church, expressed in a conciliar and pan-Orthodox manner.

This newly-proclaimed ecclesiology is trying to represent the Ecumenical Patriarch not as the “first among equals” (primus inter pares)—and thus expressing and accepting decisions on a par with others—but as the “first without equal” (primus sine paribus), ruling in the papal-monarchical manner. Its apotheosis is the Ecumenical Patriarch’s completely self-willed “restoration” of the Ukrainian schismatics without meeting the conditions stipulated by the sacred canons, namely public expression of repentance and their re-ordination or re-consecration.

In the case of the Ukrainian schismatics, even worse and unthinkable from the ecclesiological and pastoral point of view is that they are not returning to the bosom of the canonical Church that has existed for centuries, which is led by Metropolitan Onuphry, and from which they broke off. But Patriarch Bartholomew has instead created a parallel jurisdiction on the same territory and a new synod, and thus has become the initiator of a schism with painful consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for Universal Orthodoxy.

Read the rest here.

Ugghh

Kremlin Is Spending $43M to Renovate Imperial Mansion for Orthodox Patriarch, Media Reports

The World is Going Mad

And California appears to be one of the epicenters for this madness.