Throwback Thursday: Printing Press

Gutenberg's Printing Press: CYAN (Catholic Young Adults of Newfoundland)

Interesting information

The Truth About Daycare - NC Register

Definitely agree - daycares are nothing but early indoctrination stations.

Telling Government to do something ISN'T charity

You can argue whether or not the government has a positive impact on our society. But what cannot be argued from a Catholic perspective is that demanding the government do something isn't charity. Again, one could argue that we should try to influence the government to do the "right thing" but that doesn't fulfill your obligation to be charitable.

Of course, a much superior way of helping people rather than wasting your time demanding some faceless institution do it, is to just get off your lazy behind and go out there and help someone. In fact, this traditionally worked much better. Think about it. Say your brother is on hard times, tell me what's preferable:

A) Going out with a placard demanding higher social assistance or EI payments? Writing letters to MPs telling them about your brother? I mean most people don't even do that much but just assume.

B) Inviting your brother to live with you while he gets back on his feet, helping pay his bills, and also helping him find a job, driving him around etc.

Obviously B is much superior. But people don't even bother to lift a finger to help their neighbor or family member anymore. I hear the stories all the time. People will say "my mom needs help" "my brother needs help" but they don't even consider helping that person themselves.

You might be thinking, but how can I personally provide medical care? I'm not a doctor. Well maybe instead of wasting time you could have spent more time making money or had a better paying job and then you could afford these services (assuming you live in a free society where this is legal unlike Canada). I find people don't take personal responsibility anymore. They just offload it onto everyone else.

So instead of wasting countless hours trying to get the government to do something, follow one of the corporal works of mercy and help someone out yourself!

Canada's healthcare system is immoral

Just another example of Canada's immoral healthcare system. One of the only countries where seeking private healthcare is ILLEGAL. It's immoral if you are not allowed to take care of yourself or others.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-veteran-norwegian-denied-care-camp-hill-1.3611528

Harambe the Gorilla killed: A Catholic response

Harambe the Gorilla was killed the other day at the Cincinnati zoo after a kid fell in. The gorilla didn't seem to really be doing much in terms of threatening the boy but was nonetheless shot by security personnel fearing the beast would kill the boy.

Now of course the keyboard warriors of the world are all up in arms, demanding justice for this animal. I like animals. I think the silver back gorilla is an amazing creature and very interesting to watch. But no animal is equal in value to a human being. On one of the Youtube channels to which I subscribe, the guy said we should have let whatever happen to the kid because the gorilla is more valuable since there are fewer gorillas than people.

But this attitude is anti-Christian. Christ did not die to save gorillas or any other non-human animal. Sure, Harambe seemed peaceful enough, but an ape that size can kill a child in an instant. Would every be praising slow-acting security guards who let that happen? I doubt it.

Catholicism's pre-eminent theologians, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine did not even think animals had any rights per se. The only reason we had a moral imperative to treat animals in a non-cruel way, according to these thinkers, was if there was a danger the cruelty could carry over into our relationship to humans. It wasn't because the animals were so special.

Since animal souls do not survive death, they do not have eternal value. God created them to serve humanity, not the other way around. While some people bemoan the fact that there are 7 billion humans, we are not vermin or a parasite or a disease, but in fact, each one of us is loved by God, even those who hate humans.

When I see animals and nature, I am awed by God's greatness. But I can never forget that only we can spend eternity with God in heaven. Incidentally, the Christian viewpoint about animals is similar to atheists' view of human beings, i.e. we are just one of many species and deserve no special attention. Also, life is about obtaining pleasure whatever the cost, and human life is expendable if it serves the greater good. Atheists will point to the inquisition or the Crusades as examples of Christians not valuing human life, but in a "good" day atheistic regimes of the 20th century could cause more harm than those two Christian events combined, assuming they were exactly as they are popularly caricatured to have been.

It's sad that Harambe had to be killed, but it's better to kill 1000 gorillas than to let one boy die.

Taylor Marshall is Worried about Pope Francis - So are Many Others

Prominent Catholic Writer Taylor Marshall: “I feel dizzy as a Catholic”.

 

Taylor Marshall, a well-known Catholic writer, with popular books, blogs, and webcasts, says since the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, he has been dizzy as a Catholic. He clarifies, “I’m not sick to my stomach. But I’m dizzy.” In a nice way, he says he has to pray 10 times harder for Pope Francis, recognising the dangers.

 

And he’s right. For traditional and observant Catholics, Pope Francis has been a cause for concern. He is something of a loose cannon. He makes random, off-the-cuff comments all the time which lead to huge amounts of ambiguity, which the media uses to its advantage to promote its progressive agenda. Many traditional Catholics immediately jump in to defend what the pope says, no matter what. I get the feeling that they would defend literally anything he says, never criticizing it, even in its delivery, and automatically blame the media for distorting it.

 

I get that the media distorts what the pope says, but to uncritically endorse everything the pope says is imprudent, in my opinion. The pope is only guaranteed infallibility in matters of faith and morals when speaking ex cathedra. That doesn’t preclude him saying things that make no sense, are ambiguous, or downright wrong. It’s also my opinion the pope should recognize the power his words have and that not everyone understands infallibility and he should thus be very sparing in making public statements. Maybe he should consider issuing only official statements as opposed to commenting, off-the-cuff, on controversial issues from airplanes.

 

I think the pope is trying to reach out to the public, however I think this is a bad strategy. Although he has been faithful on many topics, on others it seems he is trying to offer an olive branch by issuing vague and unclear statements to placate progressives. Recently he made a shocking statement comparing l.S.l.S. trying to spread its power to Jesus sending forth the twelve apostles. Again, maybe he just meant lslam in general  is a religion seeking converts like Christianity but this obviously leads to confusion, if not anger. I believe a review team of orthodox priests or bishops would help greatly in avoiding this incidences.

 

I can see why Taylor Marshall feels fearful about this papacy. All traditional Catholics do. Catholicism has a brand. If you ask a person on the street what Catholicism means, they will (hopefully) say people observing a high moral standard, unity in belief, nuns wearing habits, large families, going to confession, and other stereotypes. In movies, the Church is usually portrayed as a place people go in times in turmoil, where they can sit silently and pray when Mass is not underway. The church is always portrayed as having traditional architecture, along with statues, holy images, and incense. Gregorian chant is sung. These things are important because they set the Church apart, they turn our gaze to heavenly things. People enter a unique and sacred realm.

 

Instead of trying to be “hip” or unnecessarily controversial or edgy, the Church and the pope should draw upon the immense treasury of Catholic teaching and writing from the past two millennia. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and it might be a good idea for the current pope to speak publicly a little less. Let’s all pray for Pope Francis.