Casting Stones

Jimmy Akin does a great job of clearly describing the details of the case that is the focus of the recent sex abuse hysteria.

It is still fascinating to me that publications like the New York Times can spiral downward into the realm of tabloid sensationalism, hardly conducting legitimate research or verifying sources - editors of high school newspapers appear to have higher standards. As Akin notes, the NYT ultimately shoots itself in the foot by providing links to some primary source documents that pertain to the case. Savvy readers of the sources can come to their own conclusions, after sifting through the mud that serves as unbiased reporting in NY.

As disturbing and frustrating as some facts of the case are, and as tempting as it is to bury one's head in the sand and pray that the articles and hysteria just go away, it is ultimately important that Catholics do two things: (1) Pray for everyone involved in the scandal, from abused to abusers to Catholics with the courage to speak out against the mistreatment of the Pope and (2) Make ourselves as knowledgeable about the case as possible because when others ask you about the facts or make rude comments, which they will, we need to be armed and ready.

Let me end by saying that I in no way condone any misconduct on the part of the Catholic Church, especially where the abuse of its youngest members are concerned. I do take umbrage, however, at the way in which so-called journalists, New Atheists, and others of a similar stripe rabidly snatch at any and all things negative that can be associated with the Church and boldly broadcast them as "fact." You can practically hear them giggling with glee at the thought that they contributed to the witch hunt that may finally take down the monolithic Catholic Church.


Also:

• A Woman's Place offers some good articles on the NYT and their litany of lies
• Scroll down for Father Z's continued commentary on the hysteria
• Father Longenecker lets Dick Dawkins in on the debate
• The Curt Jester reminds us of Psalm 52

Food for Thought, on a Meat-Less Friday

• "Detachment is supposed to be painful." 
• "Detachment from things gives us the freedom we need to follow Christ.  Goods are only the means." 
• "Less is more. Everything added to Jesus dilutes him."

A Sampling of Sowell

First, Thomas Sowell on the fickle American memory and what it means for Democrats' success.

And second, Sowell on the phrase "Garbage in, garbage out."


Does anyone else just love this guy? I mean, look at those glasses!

FYI, Congressman Stupak

As Richard Doerflinger notes over at The Catholic Thing, an executive order from President Obama is not enough to ensure that the health care bill doesn't use federal funds for abortions:

"According to [decades of federal appellate rulings], such health legislation creates a statutory requirement for abortion funding, unless Congress clearly forbids such funding. That is why the Hyde amendment was needed in 1976, to stop Medicaid from funding 300,000 abortions a year. The statutory mandate construed by the courts would override any executive order or regulation ... Only a change in the law enacted by Congress, not an executive order, can begin to address this very serious problem in the legislation."

Wow. No one saw that coming. Except maybe Mr. Stupak...?


Also:

• William Saunders asks why we need an executive order when the Dems and the President told us the bill excludes federal funding for abortion... 

"My mom says average people are the most special people of all. And that's why God made so many of them." - Michael Scott

Betty Draper, World's Greatest Mom

I can only hope to be half as awesome a mom as Betty Draper. Minus the drinking and smoking during pregnancy, of course.

See Betty's Guide to Parenting.

Mmmmmm Dispensation....

Rejoice meat-loving, practicing Catholics!

Turns out the Solemnity of St. Joseph falls on a Friday this year (next Friday, to be exact) as the blogger over at Whispers in the Loggia is quick to point out. So, thanks to Canon 1251, which says that "abstinence from meat is to be observed... unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday," looks like we can all celebrate St. Joseph the way he was meant to be: with a steak.

If you're stuck for some culinary ways to rejoice (with or without meat), check out this post over at Catholic Cuisine. Scroll down to find the recipes for St. Joseph and enjoy!

From:	Brian Burch - CatholicVoteAction
Date sent	03/09/2010 09:03:38 am
Subject:	Are You Ready to Pay?
Dear CatholicVote Member, See the picture to the right? That building is Planned Parenthood’s newest abortion “super center” opened last month in Houston, Texas, and is the largest abortion facility in the western hemisphere. The massive 78,000 square foot facility also includes a surgical wing to provide late-term abortions. Why is this significant? Because if President Obama’s healthcare bill passes, your tax dollars could help fund this “community health center” and others like it. President Obama has set March 18 as the date for a final House vote on the Senate pro-abortion healthcare bill. Speaker Pelosi is giving pro-life Democrats and Republicans no chance to amend the pro-abortion Senate healthcare plan. It’s take it or leave it. In addition to other loopholes, their plan includes as much as $11 billion over 5 years for “community health centers” including Planned Parenthood clinics like the one in Houston.  Enter the Stupak 12 Rep. Bart Stupak and a coalition of pro-life Democrats are now standing in the way. These courageous representatives have vowed to vote against any legislation that does not explicitly exclude taxpayer funding for abortion providers, or insurance companies that provide abortion. Without these votes, the healthcare “reform” legislation might not pass. CatholicVote is working feverishly to stop this legislation from going forward. We were told yesterday that the pressure being placed on these pro-life representatives is overwhelming. They are hearing from their pro-abortion colleagues and pro-abortion groups that stand to profit from this legislation. But have they heard from you? Can you place at least 2 calls to any of the representatives listed below? Tell them that millions of people are counting on them to do the right thing. Tell them to stand strong. And tell them you will support them in any way you can. Finally, tell them you are praying for them. Let's make sure they hear from the Catholic vote. Sincerely, Brian Burch, President CatholicVoteAction.org There are no restrictions in the Senate bill on how the money for Community Health Centers can be spent. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius would be empowered to funnel cash to organizations like Planned Parenthood. Is this the kind of healthcare reform that you want? Here is a partial list of those who need to hear from you: Jerry Costello (IL) (618) 233-8026 (202) 225-5661 Kathy Dahlkemper (PA) (814) 456-2038 (202) 225-5406 Joe Donnelly (IN) (574) 288-2780 (202) 225-3915 Steve Driehaus (OH) (513) 684-2723 (202) 225-2216 Brad Ellsworth (IN) (812) 465-6484 (202) 225-4636 Marcy Kaptur (OH) (419) 259-7500 (202) 225-4146 Dale Kildee (MI) (810) 239-1437 (202) 225-3611 Jim Oberstar (MN) (218) 727-7474 (202) 225-6211 Charlie Wilson (OH) (740) 376-0868 (202) 225-5705

The Great Angel Debate

My husband has been having a discussion on another Catholic blog and on his own site about the existence of angels. You can read Zach's post about his side of the debate on Civics Geeks. The friend with whom Zach was originally having this debate comments by saying:

Indeed one cannot be a Catholic and not believe in angels.

Now, the fact that you can't be Catholic and pro-choice I get. And agree with. But this? Ridiculous.

Rejecting angels is in a real way rejecting Christ.

Quite a charge, Zach.

The Bible tells us that there is a very real war being waged, and it worries me that professed Catholics could be so lukewarm about the existence and the nature of the enemy. It is terribly dangerous to see the opposition as simply "deep evil" rather than spiritual beings seeking nothing short of our utter despair and the resignation of our souls.

I don't see it as an either/or. I believe in deep evil that seeks our utter despair and the resignation of our souls; in short, death. I think I take evil much more seriously than people who simply believe in "angels" and "demons" and "possession" and all that. Such people rarely actually identify evil in the world. War? Just part of life. Poverty? We will always have the poor with us. And so on. Evil is not named as evil by the very people who profess to believe in the "demonic."

"For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).

I love this passage and believe every word of it. It's an important verse for Christian radicals. Dig a little deeper and you will find that this is NOT about "angels" or "demons."

And, lest someone be swayed by these comments, here is my response:

Firstly, according to the Fourth Lateran Council, belief in the existence of angels is a dogma of the faith. God "by His almighty power created together in the beginning of time both creatures, the Spiritual and the Corporeal, namely, the Angelic and the earthly, and afterwards, the human as it were a common creature, composed of spirit and body." As Peter Kreeft says in Catholic Christianity, his companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Angels are not mythical but real. They are not an optional addition to the Catholic faith...The life of Christ especially is surrounded by their work (see Catechism 333)" (51). He continues: If the devil is [and by extension, angels are] not real, the Bible lies (see I Pet 5:8), and Christ was a fool, for he certainly believed in demons and in Satan (see, for instance, Luke 10:18)" (52). So, to reject angels is in a very real way to reject Christ, or to at least claim intellectual authority over Him. If, for some reason, you are a Catholic who isn't compelled by dogmas of the faith, the revelation of God, or the testimony of Jesus Christ, ask yourself this: if you believe in God who is an invisible and purely spiritual Being, why would you refuse to believe in angels? if one purely spiritual being can exist, why not another?

Additionally, I'm confused about your statement that you "believe in deep evil that seeks our utter despair and the resignation of our souls." Evil isn't a "thing," because it wasn't created by God. In the way that darkness is a lack of light, evil is a lack of good. It is a turning away from the goodness of God. This turning away is a choice, thus there must be a chooser. As with human free will, angels have the capacity to choose evil (turn away from God), and to tempt and oppress humans (as demons). This is not so much an
argument for spiritual beings as it is an argument against your idea of evil itself seeking our souls.

Finally, I sincerely hope that you don't actually mean that you "take evil much more seriously than people who simply believe in "angels" and "demons" and "possession" and all that." This would be assuming the moral highground over the Church, Tradition, and Jesus Christ.

The Wisdom of Sowell and Lincoln

I just love Thomas Sowell. His articles are always so clear and concise, filled with citations and common sense. He begins this one, Stimulus or Sedative?, with a quotation from another logical thinker, Lincoln:

Abraham Lincoln once asked an audience how many legs a dog has, if you called the tail a leg? When the audience said "five," Lincoln corrected them, saying that the answer was four. "The fact that you call a tail a leg does not make it a leg."

That same principle applies today, says Sowell. The fact that politicians call something a "stimulus" does not make it a stimulus. The fact that they call something a "jobs bill" does not mean there will be more jobs.

 Sowell continues by arguing that the so-called stimulus bill has had the opposite effect of its name, instilling little to no confidence in the private sector. The result? Money dumped into the economy isn't encouraging the American people to spend. Keep reading here.

My Mother's Worst Fear For Me....

Here's an interesting factoid that arrived in my inbox from BabyCenter.com:

A Russian woman holds the record for having the most children. Between 1725 and 1765, she was pregnant 27 times and had 69 children.

Thy Will Be Done, or Multiple Things I've Been Meaning to Post About

..It wasn’t the Lord’s path for me and I have no regrets.

If only we could all be so trusting and selfless! 


Read Kristin Holum's, now Sister Catherine's, story here.

 ----

As my brother-in-law said, "Meat always tastes best on Fridays."

----

Hmmm, considering forwarding this to all the friends and family inquiring about when I'll be returning to work...

"The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, has highlighted the importance of a mother in the home caring for her family and has suggested economic compensation or tax reductions for those women who choose to do this... He observed, 'The self-realization sought by the woman in a job, in a career, in social success has as a cost the renouncement of the marriage and children.' "

----
I can't help but see a connection between these two quotations:

“The human person is a being which does not become itself automatically. Nor does it do so simply by letting itself be carried along and surrendering to the natural gravitational pull of a kind of vegetative life. It becomes itself always and only by struggling against the tendency simply to vegetate and by dint of discipline that is able to rise above the pressures of routine and to liberate the self from the compulsions of utilitarian goals and instincts.” Pope Benedict XVI

"For two of the most perfect and powerful means to becoming a saint are Eucharistic adoration and frequent Holy Communion - not because they are liturgically correct, and not because they are psychologically useful, but because Jesus Christ the saint-maker is present in the Eucharist as He is nowhere else in the world. And wherever He is present, He is active. Even when He waits patiently in the Tabernacle, disguised behind the appearances of a little wafer of bread, He is acting. ('Waiting' is an action too.)"  Peter Kreeft

Let us pray that we can be always active, always struggling against the tendency simply to vegetate.