Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Obama marks beginning of Ramadan, but is strangely silent about Lent

At the beginning of Ramadan, a Muslim month of fasting, Obama made a special announcement commemorating its start. His speech was geared toward American Muslims and those outside the country. However, Obama made no similar speech concerning Lent, the Christian season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Why would Obama pay special attention to Islam, while ignoring his own alledged Christianity?

This question becomes even more mind boggling when you consider the fact that a whopping 78.4% of Americans call themselves Christian, while just a very tiny group call themselves Muslim - just 0.6%, not even 1 percent of the population. There are more Buddhists in the US than Muslims.

If Obama had paid any attention to the Christian time of fasting, perhaps this would not be a big deal, but Obama probably didn't even know it existed. Many have questioned whether Obama is really a Christian in the first place. He vehemently says that he is, but where does the evidence point? Between Easter and his inaguration, Obama and his family missed church services for 11 straight weeks. While in Turkey, Obama declared that the United States is not a Christian nation. We all know Obama's record on life issues, valuable to all serious Christians.

Why does Obama go out of his way to mark the beginning of a Muslim month, while ignoring the Christian season from which many believe it is derived. Just as Mohammed took most of his new religion from Christianity and changed it to suit his needs, he also took the practice of Lent and turned it into Ramadan.

Now, in a country where almost four fifths of the population consider themselves Christian, while only 3/5 of 1% consider themselves Muslim, Obama decides to commemorate Muslims and ignore Christians. This would be the equivalent of being the key note speaker at a World War II conference attended by 130 veterans, then during your speech you congratulate the head waiter on his 15th wedding anniversary but completely ignore everyone else in the conference and mention nothing about the veterans or the war.

If Obama really is Christian, I think it's about time he try to prove it!

Note to The Tablet: 'Liberal Catholicism' is a flawed concept

This is really a great article which needs to be read. It's quite short, but sweet and to the point. The basic theme is that there is no such thing as liberal Catholicism. The Church is quite clear on her teachings and doctrine will not change. Worth a read!

Note to The Tablet: 'Liberal Catholicism' is a flawed concept

Joffé defends biopic of Opus Dei founder

There is a new movie out about the founder of Opus Dei, who is now a saint in Heaven. People seem to be upset that the maker of the movie did not portray Jose Maria Escriva in a bad enough light. I have a suspicion that people are objecting not so much to the historical inaccuracy but with Opus Dei's teaching on mortification and the primacy of the Church. Check out the full article below:

Joffé defends biopic of Opus Dei founder

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy dies

In very sad news, the brother of the first and only Catholic US President, and very famous Senator Ted Kennedy has died. He was 77. Please see the story below:

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy dies

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Anniversary of Galileo's telescope and the old canards are back

The Galileo case is a favorite among anti-Catholics and anti-Christians. They believe it shows the Church's record of anti-science and her hatred for rationality. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Galileo was a strong Catholic who happened to be an astronomer. He was very popular in his day. He made friends with many top Vatican officials, even the future pope. He was well respected. His theory of heliocentrism was nothing new. Copernicus, a loyal Catholic cleric, had pioneered the theory several decades prior. Galileo attempted to further his research in this field.

At the time when Galileo was proposing his theory, another theory, proposed by Ptolemy many centuries prior, was very widely accept by scientists. The theory was that of geocentrism (the Sun revolving around the Earth). This was the dominant view in the scientific community, not just the religious community.

Galileo made several wrong moves when it came to his presentation of his theory. He demanded that church officials accept it as true, even though it was far from proven. Galileo even wrote a book in which he put the popes words and theories into the mouth of a character named Simplicio (similar to Simpleton). Obviously this was very insulting.

The Church said that until a theory can be proven, it should not be presented as fact. This was very wise, especially considering that several aspects of Galileo's theory proved wrong. For example, he believed the Sun was the centre of the universe, whereas we now know that the Sun also moves around an orbit at an even faster rate than the Earth.

The Church was not against, and certainly not against astronomy. In fact, many churches used their tall towers as planetary observatories. Many of the first astronomers were Catholic and even religious. The first person to propose the big bang theory was Fr. Lemaitre, a Catholic monseigneur (high ranking priest).

Many want to say the Church has always been against science, but this is simply untrue. Monks were responsible for transmitting practically everything we know of ancient Greek and Roman science and culture. Gregor Mendel, a priest, discovered the field of genetics. The first European universities were founded by popes.

The Galileo Case is a favorite among anti-Christians because the lies surrounding it have become so well-accepted. I would suggest you do your own research and find the truth.

Cardinal Newman Society > News

Cardinal Newman Society > News

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Utah gets Catholic-themed radio station - KIFI - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Jackson WY - Weather News Sports-

This is great news. Although Utah is very much associated with Mormonism, Catholicism is also quite large in Utah, representing 10% of the population, the largest non-Mormon group of Christians in the state. Over 60% of the population is Mormon, so this radio station should hopefully have an impact and many will come to the Catholic faith.

Utah gets Catholic-themed radio station - KIFI - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Jackson WY - Weather News Sports-

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Mickey Rourke thanks God and Catholic faith for 'second chance'

I think this is a great article. Mickey Rourke always seemed like such a tough guy in movies. Now he is crediting his life to his Catholic faith, saying without it he would have committed suicide. Check out the full article:

Mickey Rourke thanks God and Catholic faith for 'second chance'

Man struggling with same sex attraction or homosexual feelings gives himself to Christ's Church

I just read a great story of a man named John Heard, from Australia, which sharply contrasts the typical "I'm a Catholic, but I disagree on........" story, and instead is a story of true love of God and his Church. This man puts his love of God first, as we all should.

You can read the full article at:
http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=61f61385-bf87-48aa-929c-0a2e21a80232

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Make Us Worthy of the Promises of Christ

Same-sex Attracted Catholic Puts Faith First

Published: August 25, 2009
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Monday, August 24, 2009

Wisconsin requiring Catholic institutions to provide contraception coverage

Religious freedom is being taken away quite blatantly in Wisconsin. How long will it take before other states follow? Imagine forcing a Jewish butcher shop to sell pork, or forcing a Jehovah Witness hospital to perform blood transfusions. Catholics, who really helped build the United States, believe contraception is immoral. Many contraceptives cause abortion by chemicals. An embryo is sometimes destroyed with contraception. Plus, Catholics believe it violates human sexuality and hurts relationships. This of course has been proven by information on contraception use. But what's a little forcing people to violate their consciences among friends, right? Next thing on the agenda is to force pro-life doctors to perform abortion. After that we might as well get used to the catacombs again. Goodbye freedom, welcome oppression.

Wisconsin requiring Catholic institutions to provide contraception coverage

Does our society hate itself?

Something rather amazing has occurred. Recently I have been pondering whether we as a society have started to hate ourselves, and the closer we come to "us", the more we despise it. I wondered that question even today. Then I happened to come across, by chance, and without searching, an article written by Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI on Europe's self-hatred. Part of what he says is the following:


My last point is the religious question. I do not want to enter into the complex discussions of recent years, but to focus on only one aspect that is fundamental for all cultures: respect for what the other holds sacred, and in particular respect for the sacred in the highest sense, for God, something that we can legitimately suppose to find even in one who is not disposed to believe in God. Wherever this respect is denied, something essential in a society is lost. In our present-day society, thank God, whoever dishonours the faith of Israel, its image of God or its great personalities, is fined. Whoever scorns the Koran and the basic convictions of Islam is fined, too. Instead, with regard to Christ and to what is sacred for Christians, freedom of opinion seems to be the supreme good, and to limit this would seem to threaten or even destroy tolerance and freedom in general. Freedom of opinion, though, finds its limit in this, that it cannot destroy the honour and the dignity of the other; it is not freedom to lie or to destroy human rights.

The West reveals here a hatred of itself, which is strange and can be only considered pathological; the West is laudably trying to open itself, full of understanding, to external values, but it no longer loves itself; in its own history, it now sees only what is deplorable and destructive, while it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure.

It seems Cardinal Ratzinger was thinking the same thing I am now. Is this idea of self-hatred plausible? I think we just need to look at the evidence around us to find the answer.

As Ratzinger points out, there is this overwhelming need to be politically correct when it comes to other faiths. We must say all the right words, even use the right pronunciation. Nothing negative can be said of another religion, even if it's true. But when it comes to Christianity, and specifically the Catholic faith, anything goes.

A good illustration of this is an incident which happened to me several years ago. A lady at work very much lost her cool in an email to me after I had sent her an innocent message say I am Christian. Her response said vile and angry things about priests and the church, she even blasted the Bible and Mary. Her anger knew no bounds but were not spurred by anything I said. However, sometime close this to incident, this same lady corrected me hastily and with bitterness when I called what Jewish men wear on their heads a skull cap. She snapped at me and said "It's not a skull cap, it's a yamulke!" Her reaction was visceral. I felt as if I must have said something extremely offensive. It's important to note that this lady is a Christian (or former Christian) and indicated that she wanted to marry in a church.

It's rare to find someone who identifies as Christian and will stand up for Christian beliefs. You are much more likely to find people who identify as Christian or Catholic, but nonetheless feel it appropriate to bash their religion. It's common to hear people say things like "I'm Catholic, but I believe women should be allowed to have abortions if they want, and they should be allowed to be priests." People will say they are Catholic but believe gay people should have the right to marry or that they think contraception is fine.

If you have watched any television lately, you will notice something. The media will gleefully bash the Catholic Church on her stance on abortion, female ordination, contraception, married clergy, and any other issues. Comedians will constantly make crude jokes about pedophile priests, or to mock the Holy Father. If you are offended by this or object to this, you are condemned as a tight wad who doesn't know how to have fun. But if you even stated something that was factual about another religion you would be in the hot seat. Whenever there's a terrorist attack, media reporters and politians will bend over backwards to emphasize that Islam is in fact peaceful. Do we see these same reporters making sure to indicate that the vast (98% or more) or priests are faithfully celibate and wouldn't hurt a fly? Of course not!

How often do you turn on the TV and hear that HALF of all AIDS patients in Africa are receiving direct care from Catholic Aid organizations? I didn't even know abou this until I did some research. Of course you will hear about the pope being opposed to condoms in Africa.

You may hear the fictitious story about how the Catholic Church bullies its way into India to forcefully converts people against their wills. But do you hear the actual information that although only 2% of the population of India is Christian, a whopping 22% of hospitals are run by the Catholic Church? I doubt it.

The Catholic Church is the largest charitable organization on the planet, but you are far more likely to hear about the inappropriate behavior of one of her 500,000 priests before you ever hear that important stat. As professor Philip Jenkins says, Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice.

The bottom line is the Catholic Church has done far more for the benefit of humanity than all other organizations combined. We ought to be very proud of our Christian heritage and understand that sharing it with others is helping them. We need to stop being ashamed of ourselves and start to realize the real contribution our faith has made to the world. But at the same time, we needn't be surprised by the persecution. Jesus promised we would be persecuted because of our belief in him. Any time we are persecuted, let us think of that as Christ's promises being fulfilled.

Amnesty International Slams Nicaragua for Abortion Ban

Amnesty International Slams Nicaragua for Abortion Ban

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Sunday, August 23, 2009

Opposition to gay marriage: not an exclusively Christian position

I find people often characterize the debate on same sex marriage as a progressive, liberal, and even society-at-large vs. Christianity issue. Christian beliefs on homosexuality are characterized as bigoted, intolerant, hateful, and homophobic. Many often assume that other religions are much more lenient on the issue and either take a pro-gay stance or none at all. But after doing some research, I discovered that far from being hateful to homosexuals, Christianity, and specifically the Catholicism were probably the most understanding.

Every religion I found, especially the largest ones, were all against homosexual activity and condemned it in various ways. Here's a sample of some of the condemnation:

- Orthodox and Conservative Judaism are strongly opposed to homosexual activity and many Biblical references refer to this as being evil.

- Islam completely condemns all homosexual activity.

- Zoroastrianism is against homosexuality and says: "The man that lies with mankind as man lies with womankind, or as woman lies with mankind, is a man that is a Daeva [demon]; this man is a worshipper of the Daevas, a male paramour of the Daevas"

- Ancient Hindu law books from the 1st century onward characterize non-vaginal sex as impure.

- Buddhism refers to homosexuality as a deviant behavior

- In 2005, the world's highest Sikh religious authority described homosexuality as "against the Sikh religion and the Sikh code of conduct and totally against the laws of nature," and called on Sikhs to support laws against gay marriage.

- In Jainism, marriage is the only place in which sexual activity is appropriate, and homosexual acts give bad karma.

- Taoism is about yin and yang, male and female, and it believes sex must be complementary in order to bring harmony.

But if you think there are religions that do not have an issue with homosexual activity, you're right. The one religion I found that had no problem with homosexual activity is neopaganism. Surprise, surprise.

Catholicism has one of the most compassionate positions with regards to homosexuality. First of all, the Church does not regard same-sex attraction in itself to be a sin, like many Christian denominations do. They only regard acting or lusting on these attractions to be sinful. For someone to simply consider themselves "homosexual" would not be sinful.

Secondly, the Church recognizes it as a struggle, or cross to bear, and considers it in a similar way as it does with other sexual temptation, such as adultery, fornication, masturbation, etc. The Church believes these can all be gravely sinful.

The point is, the Church does not wish to gay-bash. She simply recognizes that a person is most happy when he or she fulfills his or her nature. A man is designed to be with a woman, a fact which is obvious from our biology. Homosexual relationships do not fulfill the deepest desires of a person's being. Violence is much higher in gay relationships than in heterosexual relationships. Children grow up happiest and healthiest in a home with a mother and a father. There are many reasons why a marriage must be between a man and a woman and that sex is reserved for marriage.

Let us pray for those who struggle with the cross of same-sex attraction, that they may find Christ's healing.

Friday, August 21, 2009

New York - US Jews Protest Catholic Salvation Text -- VosIzNeias

I'm always a little confused by these types of stories. In this report, it says some Jews are angry because the Bishops' Conference has declared that Christians must share their faith with everyone, including Jews and share with them the Truth about Jesus Christ. Christians have been doing this since the beginning. Jesus was a Jew, and he taught his message and preached to everyone, including Jews. He revealed himself as the Son of God. Obviously if we believe Christ is the Son of God and that he has an important message for the world, we would want to share it.

I don't understand how these groups suddenly think these statements are shocking. It reminds me of when the Pope said condoms aren't the solution to AIDS, and everyone was shocked. Do they not realize the Catholic Church has been teaching this since its beginning (against contraception)? The Catholic Church has also been teaching the conversion of all people since its start. None of this is new.

It always seems like these groups are surprised that the Church is maintaining a constant teaching on various issues.

Check out the article:

New York - US Jews Protest Catholic Salvation Text -- VosIzNeias

Obama's 'gay marriage' doublespeak (OneNewsNow.com)

This is a really great article. One shocking part was that the author mentions how Obama is trying to present a new gospel and message from Jesus, where Obama claims Jesus supported gay activities and that references against homosexuality in the New Testament were somehow "obscure". This is a very common sense article which needs to be read.

Obama's 'gay marriage' doublespeak (OneNewsNow.com)

Céline Dion Pregnant with Embryo Frozen for 8 Years

In my last post about Céline Dion and her new pregnancy, I wondered if the embryo with which she is pregnant was one that she froze over 8 years ago. Turns out it is. See the article below:

Céline Dion Pregnant with Embryo Frozen for 8 Years

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Céline Dion pregnant again - but is it moral?

Céline Dion, 41, is apparently pregnant again with her husband, 67 year old René Angélil. Her first child was born in 2001 when she was 32, and was conceived using fertility treatment. It is unclear exactly what fertility treatment was used, however her last child was conceived via in-vitro fertilization, and shortly afterward she said she had frozen an embryo for later, so the child could have a "twin".

Is the child she is pregnant with now, that child from over 8 years ago? There are many immoral things happening here, including in-vitro fertilization, freezing embryos, etc. But just think about this from a practical point of view. If this is the embryo from 8 years ago, that could mean the child with whom Dion is pregnant with now could be the twin of the 8 year old. In that case, they would be twins separated by 8 years. Does this not sound absurb.

Of course, all children are gifts from God, despite how they were conceived. However, conception has to be done morally. A good example I hear one time was if a couple was infertile, so the man, unbeknownst to the wife, had sex with a prostitute, she got pregnant, then he adopted the child and raised him as his own. The method of conception was immoral (having sex with a prostitute and violating wedding vows) but the child himself is not immoral or bad or evil.

People need to realize that children are gifts from God, not personal rights!

Let us pray for all those with difficulty conceiving that they may choose licit and valid ways to give birth.

Céline Dion pregnant again

Dead N.L. woman 'angel' to rescued girl's family

There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend, says the Lord. This is a truly amazing story. It is sad but also shows amazing bravery and love. And it's from my home province, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Dead N.L. woman 'angel' to rescued girl's family