I love the Mass, imperfect as it is: Soul Seeing: Cobbled together as the Mass is, in my heart I know that the risen Christ is there among all of us imperfect Catholics and random sinners.
MGB:_I can see why magicism, with its questions of validity, is the rule of the day in the hiearchy and among Trads. In a magical paradigm, women can not be ordained for questions of validity (good magic). If you have a faith paradigm, there is no reason at all not to do so. I used to think it was just sexism, but I am changing my mind. That is also the reason behind Continence, which has poisoned the entire well of Catholic sexual theology.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Catholic identity at Catholic colleges is complicated
Catholic identity at Catholic colleges is complicated: Distinctly Catholic: There was nothing in the Land O'Lakes document that required or even warranted a loss of Catholic identity, but many schools saw precisely such a loss.
MGB:_Catholic colleges in the sixties and seventies were like many schools in their opposition to the Viet Nam war and their support of civil rights. Even Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa had civil rights protests and sit-ins. Is that a Catholic thing to do? Of course. Also a Christian thing to do. Was there a huge pro-life pressence? Not really. Central America attracted as much or more attention when I was a student in the early 80s.
I found the chapel to be well used and there were plenty of students who never went to Mass, whether it was because their parents had stopped at home or they were tasting freedom, I cannot say.
What still distinguishers Catholic schools are parietals. There were women’s and men’s floor or single sex dorms, sign-ins after 10 and guests were out by 2. While the rules agaisnt sexual activity were never enforced, they were still on the books. In graduate school, at American, there were no such rules and floors were co-ed. As for the student’s themselves, there was no marked difference in chastisty in either university (or Catholic U., where my R.A.’s girlfriend slept over most nights). Any ”Catholic identity” in this area was for show. I suspect it always has been. Prior generations simply had to be more creative in their fornicating.
MGB:_Catholic colleges in the sixties and seventies were like many schools in their opposition to the Viet Nam war and their support of civil rights. Even Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa had civil rights protests and sit-ins. Is that a Catholic thing to do? Of course. Also a Christian thing to do. Was there a huge pro-life pressence? Not really. Central America attracted as much or more attention when I was a student in the early 80s.
I found the chapel to be well used and there were plenty of students who never went to Mass, whether it was because their parents had stopped at home or they were tasting freedom, I cannot say.
What still distinguishers Catholic schools are parietals. There were women’s and men’s floor or single sex dorms, sign-ins after 10 and guests were out by 2. While the rules agaisnt sexual activity were never enforced, they were still on the books. In graduate school, at American, there were no such rules and floors were co-ed. As for the student’s themselves, there was no marked difference in chastisty in either university (or Catholic U., where my R.A.’s girlfriend slept over most nights). Any ”Catholic identity” in this area was for show. I suspect it always has been. Prior generations simply had to be more creative in their fornicating.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Can the church change its focus from rules to people?
Can the church change its focus from rules to people?: NCR Today: Pope Francis seems to be focusing on people and their needs, as the center of church decision making, while others seem to still be focused on a body of rules.
MGB: The same people who resist gluten free wafers (I had no idea hosts had gluten, usually without leaven it does not form) also say that women are not appropriate matter to say the Mass. I can appreciate rules to keep the celebration of the Mass universal, but there is no need to be small minded on either front. As for dogma, that is ancient and is true because was a Church we agreed to it being true (not because we had some actual knowledge of God). Moral rules are good as long as they make life more human - easier. They must also be based on reason, not authority because authority that ignores reason has neither, as we found with Humanae Vitae and calling gays intrinsically disordered. That is sophistry, not morality. Some Catholic practices should be suppressed, like Continence, which is a scandal against marriage and women.
MGB: The same people who resist gluten free wafers (I had no idea hosts had gluten, usually without leaven it does not form) also say that women are not appropriate matter to say the Mass. I can appreciate rules to keep the celebration of the Mass universal, but there is no need to be small minded on either front. As for dogma, that is ancient and is true because was a Church we agreed to it being true (not because we had some actual knowledge of God). Moral rules are good as long as they make life more human - easier. They must also be based on reason, not authority because authority that ignores reason has neither, as we found with Humanae Vitae and calling gays intrinsically disordered. That is sophistry, not morality. Some Catholic practices should be suppressed, like Continence, which is a scandal against marriage and women.
For 50 years, Catholic higher ed has followed Land O'Lakes roadmap
For 50 years, Catholic higher ed has followed Land O'Lakes roadmap: Distinctly Catholic:
MGB: When I was at Loras, which was diocesan rather than Order, I was surprised at how modern the teaching was on sexual morals (I heard second had) I was more conservative then and did not want to expose myself to taint, but eventually I learned to think for myself and grew out of the contradiction of natural law taught with papal authority. You can't have it both ways. My first exposure to the nature of the controversy was when Fr. Charles Curran was denied his mandatum by Cardinal Hickey (or in fear of him by the University) for teaching honestly about masturbation. Let's be clear, the issues on Catholic Academy are not about what is taught in Physics (not since Galileo) or Biology (the Church lost the creationism/Eden myth battle long ago), but in Theology/Religious Studies and the bishops v. the profession of academic theology. Exploring this in the age of Francis (and looking back at the age of John Paul and Benedict) will be interesting.
MGB: When I was at Loras, which was diocesan rather than Order, I was surprised at how modern the teaching was on sexual morals (I heard second had) I was more conservative then and did not want to expose myself to taint, but eventually I learned to think for myself and grew out of the contradiction of natural law taught with papal authority. You can't have it both ways. My first exposure to the nature of the controversy was when Fr. Charles Curran was denied his mandatum by Cardinal Hickey (or in fear of him by the University) for teaching honestly about masturbation. Let's be clear, the issues on Catholic Academy are not about what is taught in Physics (not since Galileo) or Biology (the Church lost the creationism/Eden myth battle long ago), but in Theology/Religious Studies and the bishops v. the profession of academic theology. Exploring this in the age of Francis (and looking back at the age of John Paul and Benedict) will be interesting.
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Links for 07/27/17
Links for 07/27/17: At Millennial, Robert Christian almost convinces me that Twitter is a good thing. Almost.
Purgatory Mates? Apparently the idea originated with W. H Auden. It is brilliant. I suspect I have more ...
MGB:_Twitter gives you potentially bigger networks, but only for the famous few. The rest of us will use Facebook and comment on popular blogs.
We have plenty of Purgatory Mates in the comment section of most NCR stories. We know the concept well.
Trump voters believe what he says, that in states where the popular vote for Clinton was high, fraudulent votes occurred. The reality is that any fraud came from voter intimidation in the five rust belt states Trump surprisingly won.
Church Militant was been reading Fr. Rick Heilman on manliness, as well as using a version of the Trump anti-PC line where not discriminating against women and others is somehow abrogating your rights to free speech. Not sure passing this idiocy on is worth our time. As to Irish Spring, do the manly men at Church Militant even bathe?
Purgatory Mates? Apparently the idea originated with W. H Auden. It is brilliant. I suspect I have more ...
MGB:_Twitter gives you potentially bigger networks, but only for the famous few. The rest of us will use Facebook and comment on popular blogs.
We have plenty of Purgatory Mates in the comment section of most NCR stories. We know the concept well.
Trump voters believe what he says, that in states where the popular vote for Clinton was high, fraudulent votes occurred. The reality is that any fraud came from voter intimidation in the five rust belt states Trump surprisingly won.
Church Militant was been reading Fr. Rick Heilman on manliness, as well as using a version of the Trump anti-PC line where not discriminating against women and others is somehow abrogating your rights to free speech. Not sure passing this idiocy on is worth our time. As to Irish Spring, do the manly men at Church Militant even bathe?
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
As Senate health care debate proceeds, nation takes two steps back
As Senate health care debate proceeds, nation takes two steps back: Distinctly Catholic: The effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has turned into a debacle of democracy, exacerbating the worst features of contemporary politics.
MGB:_A motion to proceed is usually done by unanimous consent. Blame McConnell for making voting on these a thing from his obstructionist days in the minority. As for Trump, he is socki puppet. He does not know procedure well enough to make these statements on his own. Pence might be coaching him, although the other likely source is National Economic Policy Director Gary Cohn, who in a kingdom of the blind has one eye.
Mitch does not want to pass this bill. He wants it considered and gone so they can fund the government. He will have to get by the disaster which is Cohn’s tax cut bill as well, so this is a prequel. He is putting out that skinny repeal will take only 50 votes. Not if someone raises the objection. If he does want to pass the bill, it would be to get it to Conference, but unless the Conference is bipartisan, the bill will eventually die.
Bipartisanship means replacing the unearned income taxes with a higher HI payroll tax or VAT, a public option and no Medicaid cuts, which would likely make Ryan balk. One last thing. Include undocumented workers too. That would be a Catholic bill and it would lower insurance costs too.
MGB:_A motion to proceed is usually done by unanimous consent. Blame McConnell for making voting on these a thing from his obstructionist days in the minority. As for Trump, he is socki puppet. He does not know procedure well enough to make these statements on his own. Pence might be coaching him, although the other likely source is National Economic Policy Director Gary Cohn, who in a kingdom of the blind has one eye.
Mitch does not want to pass this bill. He wants it considered and gone so they can fund the government. He will have to get by the disaster which is Cohn’s tax cut bill as well, so this is a prequel. He is putting out that skinny repeal will take only 50 votes. Not if someone raises the objection. If he does want to pass the bill, it would be to get it to Conference, but unless the Conference is bipartisan, the bill will eventually die.
Bipartisanship means replacing the unearned income taxes with a higher HI payroll tax or VAT, a public option and no Medicaid cuts, which would likely make Ryan balk. One last thing. Include undocumented workers too. That would be a Catholic bill and it would lower insurance costs too.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Links for 07/26/17
Links for 07/26/17: President Trump's popularity is on the wane, but is it enough? He won on the basis of 78,000 votes in three states and in all three of these, he is doing worse than he did on election day. And in ...
MGB:_There are no redux in presidential selection. Unless a disability commission is established by Congress, the VP and Cabinet would be required to suspend him, but then a 2/3rds majority of both houses is necessary to keep him from coming back. Impeachment is easier, but won’t happen until Muller’s report.
I hope the young bishops have gotten over being John Paul priests and have latched onto the example of Francis. It looks like these have, which scares bishops like Chaput to death.
I just don’t read First Things. Read the Christian Left blog instead.
The President of Poland got caught but has not changed. Vigilance is required.
MGB:_There are no redux in presidential selection. Unless a disability commission is established by Congress, the VP and Cabinet would be required to suspend him, but then a 2/3rds majority of both houses is necessary to keep him from coming back. Impeachment is easier, but won’t happen until Muller’s report.
I hope the young bishops have gotten over being John Paul priests and have latched onto the example of Francis. It looks like these have, which scares bishops like Chaput to death.
I just don’t read First Things. Read the Christian Left blog instead.
The President of Poland got caught but has not changed. Vigilance is required.
Trafficking, 'monstrous form of modern slavery,' killed immigrants in Texas
Trafficking, 'monstrous form of modern slavery,' killed immigrants in Texas: Distinctly Catholic: The victims had the document that mattered, the breath of life given to them by God, until that breath was extinguished by the the traffickers.
MGB:_At best, these potential slaves were bound for factory work (with low pay and poor conditions), as likely, work in fields and at worst work in the drug trade or prostitution (likely catering to undocumented migrants). My bet is that the person who is buying these people likes immigration law exactly the way it is, with a compliant workforce that can be deported if it demands humanity and a local sheriff that will track down runaways (undocumented migrants don’t get cars). At the heart, the problem is not immigration. It is capitalism. The driver knows who he was delivering to and who hired him. Getting the information from him should be no problem.
The Texas Catholic Conference is pathetic. To sell out immigrants for school cholice and abortion provisions (that likely will be overtruned) shows how much they are in the pocket of the Republican Party. The USCCB is as pathetic, but that is because Archbishop Kurtz is an arch-Republican. That is outrageous.
MGB:_At best, these potential slaves were bound for factory work (with low pay and poor conditions), as likely, work in fields and at worst work in the drug trade or prostitution (likely catering to undocumented migrants). My bet is that the person who is buying these people likes immigration law exactly the way it is, with a compliant workforce that can be deported if it demands humanity and a local sheriff that will track down runaways (undocumented migrants don’t get cars). At the heart, the problem is not immigration. It is capitalism. The driver knows who he was delivering to and who hired him. Getting the information from him should be no problem.
The Texas Catholic Conference is pathetic. To sell out immigrants for school cholice and abortion provisions (that likely will be overtruned) shows how much they are in the pocket of the Republican Party. The USCCB is as pathetic, but that is because Archbishop Kurtz is an arch-Republican. That is outrageous.
Monday, July 24, 2017
Links for 07/24/17
Links for 07/24/17: From the Wall Street Journal, the ultimate shell game: Senate Republicans plan to vote on a health care overhaul bill as early as tomorrow, but they are not sure which bill they will be voting on. The...
MGB:_Old Bull Democrats are scratching their heads in wonder. You never schedule a vote unless you know you can either win or accept the amendments from the other side (which they have not even asked for).
Elizabeth is correct. Nixon was a consument professional. Trump is not even good enough to be called a hack.
Unless there are metal detectors at the Wailing Wall, Abbas has a point. Symbolism is important in this conflict.
The Russians were our allies in World War II. Cold war vets might be upset, but not WWII (who have mostly passed). As for the investigation, the fact that the Russians were behind the DNC leaks is not news, we knew it when it happened. Unless someone reports that Trump made the decision to do it, it is insider news. The obstruction of justice as far as firing Comey and asking him to stop the Flynn investigation is debateable. The most that will happen from that is Censure. What Trump fears is information that proves how much of a crook he is, although even then his base just assumes that is true anyway. The main problem is that he is probably insane, but until there is real evidence of that from a doctor, our long national nightmare is likely to continue.
MGB:_Old Bull Democrats are scratching their heads in wonder. You never schedule a vote unless you know you can either win or accept the amendments from the other side (which they have not even asked for).
Elizabeth is correct. Nixon was a consument professional. Trump is not even good enough to be called a hack.
Unless there are metal detectors at the Wailing Wall, Abbas has a point. Symbolism is important in this conflict.
The Russians were our allies in World War II. Cold war vets might be upset, but not WWII (who have mostly passed). As for the investigation, the fact that the Russians were behind the DNC leaks is not news, we knew it when it happened. Unless someone reports that Trump made the decision to do it, it is insider news. The obstruction of justice as far as firing Comey and asking him to stop the Flynn investigation is debateable. The most that will happen from that is Censure. What Trump fears is information that proves how much of a crook he is, although even then his base just assumes that is true anyway. The main problem is that he is probably insane, but until there is real evidence of that from a doctor, our long national nightmare is likely to continue.
Contra Samuel Gregg on 'Civilta'
Contra Samuel Gregg on 'Civilta': Of all the responses to the Civilta Cattolica article by Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J. and the Rev. Marcelo Figueroa, “Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ec...
MGB:_Yes, Acton is part of the vast right-wing kleptocracy that has captured the fifth floor of the USCCB. I did not think anyone would be surprised at their pressence or the idiocy they resort to in service to their wealthy benefactors. Any natural law reasoning they propound is to serve their benefactors, just as Trad theologians serve the Holy See, rather than reason, in their sophistry. Francis has both groups perplexed. So does reason using evidence rather than first principles. Still, there is some evidence Francis does not seem to have seen.
About the review, Americanism can be two things. One is as heresy, which states that Catholic doctrine must be different in America because it is a free society. Actually, this is true when you are talking about how law is made and how abortion law cannot be made. That is a strenght, not a heresy, and it is a guard agaisnt phony natural law reasoning used to justify the reputation of the Holy See rather than find the truth.
The other Americanism is essentially neo-conservative foreign policy, which is more Roman Empire than Jesus. Justifying this type of Americanism, with its economic extensions over workers and resources, it the Catholic/Evangelical project. Using natural law to speak for power rather than speaking truth to power, is the kind of pathetic dogmatism that is fooling no one.
The Mass is different. It is an exercise in Faith, not Reason and is welcome to all who share that faith, as should be the Communion line, especially those who speak truth to power.
MGB:_Yes, Acton is part of the vast right-wing kleptocracy that has captured the fifth floor of the USCCB. I did not think anyone would be surprised at their pressence or the idiocy they resort to in service to their wealthy benefactors. Any natural law reasoning they propound is to serve their benefactors, just as Trad theologians serve the Holy See, rather than reason, in their sophistry. Francis has both groups perplexed. So does reason using evidence rather than first principles. Still, there is some evidence Francis does not seem to have seen.
About the review, Americanism can be two things. One is as heresy, which states that Catholic doctrine must be different in America because it is a free society. Actually, this is true when you are talking about how law is made and how abortion law cannot be made. That is a strenght, not a heresy, and it is a guard agaisnt phony natural law reasoning used to justify the reputation of the Holy See rather than find the truth.
The other Americanism is essentially neo-conservative foreign policy, which is more Roman Empire than Jesus. Justifying this type of Americanism, with its economic extensions over workers and resources, it the Catholic/Evangelical project. Using natural law to speak for power rather than speaking truth to power, is the kind of pathetic dogmatism that is fooling no one.
The Mass is different. It is an exercise in Faith, not Reason and is welcome to all who share that faith, as should be the Communion line, especially those who speak truth to power.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
New Ways Ministry list collects gay-friendly parishes
New Ways Ministry list collects gay-friendly parishes: The Field Hospital: Eligible parishes must welcome LGBT Catholics in a public way, but getting listed is an informal process: "People tell us," says New Ways Ministry's Francis DeBernardo.
MGB:_The crippling first teaching on Catholic sexual doctrine is Continence. It's disrespect for nature, marriage and women is the original sin at the root of a lot of bad teaching. Until this flawed piece of rubbish is burned, the Church has no legitimate place in teaching anyone about sex.
MGB:_The crippling first teaching on Catholic sexual doctrine is Continence. It's disrespect for nature, marriage and women is the original sin at the root of a lot of bad teaching. Until this flawed piece of rubbish is burned, the Church has no legitimate place in teaching anyone about sex.
Editorial: Complicity harmed church’s cultural standing
Editorial: Complicity harmed church’s cultural standing: We say: The distortion of Christianity in America for political purposes took hold in its latest form with the development of the religious right.
MGB:_The pursuit of relgious power (not religious liberty) got so naked that their moral authority on the same issues was damaged. Using abortion to get Trump elected has anyone who is anti-Trump believe abortion is simply political rather than a moral issue for them and therefore ignorable. Nice job, Cardinal Burke.
MGB:_The pursuit of relgious power (not religious liberty) got so naked that their moral authority on the same issues was damaged. Using abortion to get Trump elected has anyone who is anti-Trump believe abortion is simply political rather than a moral issue for them and therefore ignorable. Nice job, Cardinal Burke.
Friday, July 21, 2017
Chaput's rebuke illustrates the dualism that Civilta Cattolica criticized
Chaput's rebuke illustrates the dualism that Civilta Cattolica criticized: Distinctly Catholic: The Civiltà article attacked the Manichaean worldview separating people into good and evil camps. Archbishop Charles Chaput's critique of the article exhibits such a worldview.
MGB:_As I have stated before, Chaput conflates religious liberty with religious power, particularly the cultural power weilded by the Church in the 1950s and which started to crack in 1959, as documented by the book of the same name. That year censorship, with Catholic participation, went away and civil authorities stopped enforcing Catholic moral values. That is not a bad thing, unless you are a Catholic bishop with nostalgia.
Obama was no narcisist, whe was simply comfortable in his own skin. Trump, on the other hand, is a textbook example of this disorder and Chaput and some of his brothers (thank Heaven, not including my Cardinal) helped put him in. Speaking of Cardinals, Chaput cannot have missed that Rigali is over 80 and he has no red hat, but Chicago does. He can’t be liking Francis or his friends who wrote the article calling him out. He should use it as an examination of consciece rather than arguing with it.
If the left seems hostile, it is because the right is seeking power in our name too and we don’t agree, especially when they lie about their program for the unborn, which is about votes for the Republicans, not actually stopping abortion. MSW, call a lawyer. Roe was rightly decided based on 14th Amendment law. The Rule of Law is about process, not results, which is also why gay marriage was correctly decided.
MGB:_As I have stated before, Chaput conflates religious liberty with religious power, particularly the cultural power weilded by the Church in the 1950s and which started to crack in 1959, as documented by the book of the same name. That year censorship, with Catholic participation, went away and civil authorities stopped enforcing Catholic moral values. That is not a bad thing, unless you are a Catholic bishop with nostalgia.
Obama was no narcisist, whe was simply comfortable in his own skin. Trump, on the other hand, is a textbook example of this disorder and Chaput and some of his brothers (thank Heaven, not including my Cardinal) helped put him in. Speaking of Cardinals, Chaput cannot have missed that Rigali is over 80 and he has no red hat, but Chicago does. He can’t be liking Francis or his friends who wrote the article calling him out. He should use it as an examination of consciece rather than arguing with it.
If the left seems hostile, it is because the right is seeking power in our name too and we don’t agree, especially when they lie about their program for the unborn, which is about votes for the Republicans, not actually stopping abortion. MSW, call a lawyer. Roe was rightly decided based on 14th Amendment law. The Rule of Law is about process, not results, which is also why gay marriage was correctly decided.
Justice Scalia believed in a democracy where religious power could be used to define public morality, mostly at the state level. He had a puny view of the 14th Amendment, which protects us from the tyranny of a moral or Catholic majority. Scalia is gone and I doubt Gorsuch will replace him in that view. But even then, Roberts and Alito will not, so the whole strategy of voting Republican for President, no matter how flawed, is a fool's errand and Chuput does not like being called a fool.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Links for 07/20/17
Links for 07/20/17: Last night, the news media played into President Trump's hands, leading with his criticism of his own Attorney General Jeff Sessions. This morning, Sessions said he has not plans to resign. Of cou...
MGB:_Sessions was not about to resign. Like the rest of the inner circle, he knows how to cope with the madness of King Donald. Hopefully that extends to preventing Trump from actually hurting someone.
Not to Robbie George, no one is challenging Trump’s legitimacy (unless you can prove that enough people were kept from voting in the rust belt to sway the election rather than their staying home or are admitting that the Pro-Life efforts from the pulpit made the vote illegitimate, although even I would not go that far. Hillary could have fought back on that level rather than using abortion for her GOTV, which was counterproductive. The reality is that the left challenges the sanity and lack of preparedness and basic policy knowledge Trump brings to the job. Anyone who believes what is said by FoxNews has disqualified himself, but that makes him unqualified, not illegitimate. As for Cornel, he is a committed Green and provacateur. As for the age, it is more Inquisition than Diolectic and I am sure he is rooting for Torquemata aka Sessions.
MGB:_Sessions was not about to resign. Like the rest of the inner circle, he knows how to cope with the madness of King Donald. Hopefully that extends to preventing Trump from actually hurting someone.
Not to Robbie George, no one is challenging Trump’s legitimacy (unless you can prove that enough people were kept from voting in the rust belt to sway the election rather than their staying home or are admitting that the Pro-Life efforts from the pulpit made the vote illegitimate, although even I would not go that far. Hillary could have fought back on that level rather than using abortion for her GOTV, which was counterproductive. The reality is that the left challenges the sanity and lack of preparedness and basic policy knowledge Trump brings to the job. Anyone who believes what is said by FoxNews has disqualified himself, but that makes him unqualified, not illegitimate. As for Cornel, he is a committed Green and provacateur. As for the age, it is more Inquisition than Diolectic and I am sure he is rooting for Torquemata aka Sessions.
How does the Civilta Cattolica article challenge the left?
How does the Civilta Cattolica article challenge the left?: Distinctly Catholic: Self-criticism is hard, but necessary. And while the article examines extreme conservative elements, you can find some of the same attributes on the Catholic left.
MGB:_Non-violent action brings about eschaton. Black Lives Matter is an attempt, until the anarchists show up. Indivisible is a huge non-violent event, from the large marches to the demonstrations at congressional offices. If only our brothers in Palestine could do the same without being shot at. Stop with the false equivalency. Next.
It is true that Catholics will not speak out against the prospect that abortion is a women’s rights issue rather than simply a liberty issue (and there is a difference). The women’s rights side sees bodily integrity as the main concern, as well personal empowerment. The liberty issue is less radical. It simply recognizes that banning abortion is unworkable in the criminal law and, by the way, Roe was not wrongly decided. The 14th Amendment really does not protect the unbrn prior to viability and it is Congress, not the states, who can alter its terms.
Where we really differ from the pro-life movement is seeking funding for children AFTER they are born, from adequate government programs to an increase in the Child Tax Credit to living wage levels of $1000 per month per child (I hope the rest of the left jumps on). The right wing opposes such an increase as rewarding sexual behavior with their money. Excuse me, but didn’t God say be fruitful and multiply? (Of course, it was Marx who said to each according to their need. I am fine with that).
Bless the funding spent to counter the Organization for Marriage. OM has a bad argument, because gay families often have children or seek more, are sexually functional and like heterosexuals, perform the sacrament themselves (even without priests). OM practices bad theology and must be denounced at evert turn. Do you know what progressive groups without money are called? The Green Party.
The Apocalyptic impulse is a form of prophesy, which sees that God is the only hope of rescue from a corrupt age. Divine punishment is sure to come if gay marriage or legal abortion or allowed or if Trump is allowed to continue as President or if Medicaid is gutted so our future nursing home care becomes a Hell hole (and as single men, MSW, that is where we are headed, just to give you some skin in the game, your own). Ad hominem is hard to avoid with Trump, because it is his intellect and personality that are flawed, not his policies, which seem to change by the day.
As a libertarian socialist, I favor allowing cooperative employers to experiment with alternative delivery, which is true subsidiarity, but I also demand that they do so with adequate funding, as I demand with state level solutions. You can give states freedom to run Medicaid as they see fit without ending their entitlement. Ryan is using subsidiarity as a budget cutting tool. Shame on him and God bless Indivisible for stopping McConnell cold at every turn.
An examination of conscious is good, especially if it shows you are doing the right thing.
MGB:_Non-violent action brings about eschaton. Black Lives Matter is an attempt, until the anarchists show up. Indivisible is a huge non-violent event, from the large marches to the demonstrations at congressional offices. If only our brothers in Palestine could do the same without being shot at. Stop with the false equivalency. Next.
It is true that Catholics will not speak out against the prospect that abortion is a women’s rights issue rather than simply a liberty issue (and there is a difference). The women’s rights side sees bodily integrity as the main concern, as well personal empowerment. The liberty issue is less radical. It simply recognizes that banning abortion is unworkable in the criminal law and, by the way, Roe was not wrongly decided. The 14th Amendment really does not protect the unbrn prior to viability and it is Congress, not the states, who can alter its terms.
Where we really differ from the pro-life movement is seeking funding for children AFTER they are born, from adequate government programs to an increase in the Child Tax Credit to living wage levels of $1000 per month per child (I hope the rest of the left jumps on). The right wing opposes such an increase as rewarding sexual behavior with their money. Excuse me, but didn’t God say be fruitful and multiply? (Of course, it was Marx who said to each according to their need. I am fine with that).
Bless the funding spent to counter the Organization for Marriage. OM has a bad argument, because gay families often have children or seek more, are sexually functional and like heterosexuals, perform the sacrament themselves (even without priests). OM practices bad theology and must be denounced at evert turn. Do you know what progressive groups without money are called? The Green Party.
The Apocalyptic impulse is a form of prophesy, which sees that God is the only hope of rescue from a corrupt age. Divine punishment is sure to come if gay marriage or legal abortion or allowed or if Trump is allowed to continue as President or if Medicaid is gutted so our future nursing home care becomes a Hell hole (and as single men, MSW, that is where we are headed, just to give you some skin in the game, your own). Ad hominem is hard to avoid with Trump, because it is his intellect and personality that are flawed, not his policies, which seem to change by the day.
As a libertarian socialist, I favor allowing cooperative employers to experiment with alternative delivery, which is true subsidiarity, but I also demand that they do so with adequate funding, as I demand with state level solutions. You can give states freedom to run Medicaid as they see fit without ending their entitlement. Ryan is using subsidiarity as a budget cutting tool. Shame on him and God bless Indivisible for stopping McConnell cold at every turn.
An examination of conscious is good, especially if it shows you are doing the right thing.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Links for 07/19/17
Links for 07/19/17: At Salt & Light, Fr. Tom Rosica, CSB, explains that the book "Building a Bridge: How tha Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion and S...
MGB: Gay rights is not just about being nice or nudging gays toward a celibate life in the priesthood, it needs to be updated to deal with the fact that gay men do not chose their sexuality, it is innate. That being so, there is a right to use one's sexual gifts appropriately (although how that is in the hetro-world is changing as well - few wait for marriage). Many Catholics, if not a majority, accept gay marriage as right and just and even sacramental. It is time for the hierarchy to catch up.
The John Birch Society never went away and I have the racist e-mails from Birchers from 2008 to prove it. If the Kochs fund it, its neo-Bircher, from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to the Tea Party (the most of the Knights).
Rural areas who don't quickly create a single-payer plan before something happens to Obamacare deserve the Republican governments that probably refuse to do so.
The question is who told Trump to put into his remarks of that day the fact that dirt was coming on Hillary?
MGB: Gay rights is not just about being nice or nudging gays toward a celibate life in the priesthood, it needs to be updated to deal with the fact that gay men do not chose their sexuality, it is innate. That being so, there is a right to use one's sexual gifts appropriately (although how that is in the hetro-world is changing as well - few wait for marriage). Many Catholics, if not a majority, accept gay marriage as right and just and even sacramental. It is time for the hierarchy to catch up.
The John Birch Society never went away and I have the racist e-mails from Birchers from 2008 to prove it. If the Kochs fund it, its neo-Bircher, from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to the Tea Party (the most of the Knights).
Rural areas who don't quickly create a single-payer plan before something happens to Obamacare deserve the Republican governments that probably refuse to do so.
The question is who told Trump to put into his remarks of that day the fact that dirt was coming on Hillary?
Bishop Seitz's remarkable pastoral letter
Bishop Seitz's remarkable pastoral letter: Distinctly Catholic:
MGB: The bishop has firmly asserted that God is on the side of the migrants and not those who would terrorize and deport them and he is right. He went beyond arguing the point, although he did that well, and claimed eventual victory. The immigration debate has always been a fight within the GOP between the xenophobic racists, those who want to bring workers in under law and those who use the law to bring in workers and use their illegality to treat them like slaves. As long as the first exists, the third will thrive. The bishop has made it clear that the first is not a moral stance in the Catholic Church.
Of course, there will be those who say, but abortion! Legal abortion does not justify this because those who oppose legal abortion have no plan except to keep those voters in the GOP camp on immigration, taxes and accepting the plutocracy. To use a phrase from my home state of Texas, they are all hat, no cattle.
MGB: The bishop has firmly asserted that God is on the side of the migrants and not those who would terrorize and deport them and he is right. He went beyond arguing the point, although he did that well, and claimed eventual victory. The immigration debate has always been a fight within the GOP between the xenophobic racists, those who want to bring workers in under law and those who use the law to bring in workers and use their illegality to treat them like slaves. As long as the first exists, the third will thrive. The bishop has made it clear that the first is not a moral stance in the Catholic Church.
Of course, there will be those who say, but abortion! Legal abortion does not justify this because those who oppose legal abortion have no plan except to keep those voters in the GOP camp on immigration, taxes and accepting the plutocracy. To use a phrase from my home state of Texas, they are all hat, no cattle.
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Links for 07/18/17
Links for 07/18/17: At the Virginia Review of Politics, Michael DeFelice joins the ranks of those of us making the argument that Democrats need to reconfigure their abortion-on-demand orthodoxy or they will continue...
MGB:_Democrats need to not defend partial birth abortion but instead point out that it never existed. They need not defend abortion at all even on pluralistic grounds. Instead, they need to explain why Roe was rightly decided in the context of the 14th Amendment rather than in a natural argument and why this is a federal issue, not one where the states are competent to make law. Finish the argument by stating the people who make money and win elections off of the issue have to know these things, but keep lying to the masses for their own gain.
Lori will probably declare that cooperating with Native Americans is paganism, as is any action helping Democrats. He's just that kind of knee jerk GOPEon.
The Cardinal hits all the right points, although he should publicly toy with excommunicating suburban gun store owers who sell to city residents. That would be some real news.
MGB:_Democrats need to not defend partial birth abortion but instead point out that it never existed. They need not defend abortion at all even on pluralistic grounds. Instead, they need to explain why Roe was rightly decided in the context of the 14th Amendment rather than in a natural argument and why this is a federal issue, not one where the states are competent to make law. Finish the argument by stating the people who make money and win elections off of the issue have to know these things, but keep lying to the masses for their own gain.
Lori will probably declare that cooperating with Native Americans is paganism, as is any action helping Democrats. He's just that kind of knee jerk GOPEon.
The Cardinal hits all the right points, although he should publicly toy with excommunicating suburban gun store owers who sell to city residents. That would be some real news.
GOP healthcare overhaul goes on life support
GOP healthcare overhaul goes on life support: Distinctly Catholic: Even though two more senators announced their opposition to the current repeal-and-replace Obamacare bill, I remain worried that the Republican base will rise up and insist on action.
MGB:_A subsidized public option would give insurance companies a safety valve for dropping both really poor and really sick patients, lowering premiums while raising taxes. Taxes under the bill could be shifted from the top 2% to an across the board increase in the Hospital Insurance Payroll Tax or by converting HI to a full-blown Value Added Tax. Having only the rich pay is too cute by half and although repeal was taken out by McConnell, it would go back in conference. As for alternatives, when you tell Bernie Bot that your Obamacare policy and your Medicare plan through the same insurer are roughly equivalent, they get angry becauses their slogan does not work anymore. As for Cruz, what he is proposing already exists in Obamacare Bronze. I still prefer expanding the Uniformed Public Helth Service (like I got at NIH for my adrenal disease) to treat Obamacare, Medicaid and Medicare patients, although the big HMOs like their cusotmer base and doctors just where they are. The only change we really need is no-year appropriation of funds to everyone involved so the GOP can’t screw with the plan. I doubt that Trump will go with that or the bishops. The GOP larded the bill with Stupak language on abortion that will never see the light of day. At least this time the bishops aren’t being fooled.
MGB:_A subsidized public option would give insurance companies a safety valve for dropping both really poor and really sick patients, lowering premiums while raising taxes. Taxes under the bill could be shifted from the top 2% to an across the board increase in the Hospital Insurance Payroll Tax or by converting HI to a full-blown Value Added Tax. Having only the rich pay is too cute by half and although repeal was taken out by McConnell, it would go back in conference. As for alternatives, when you tell Bernie Bot that your Obamacare policy and your Medicare plan through the same insurer are roughly equivalent, they get angry becauses their slogan does not work anymore. As for Cruz, what he is proposing already exists in Obamacare Bronze. I still prefer expanding the Uniformed Public Helth Service (like I got at NIH for my adrenal disease) to treat Obamacare, Medicaid and Medicare patients, although the big HMOs like their cusotmer base and doctors just where they are. The only change we really need is no-year appropriation of funds to everyone involved so the GOP can’t screw with the plan. I doubt that Trump will go with that or the bishops. The GOP larded the bill with Stupak language on abortion that will never see the light of day. At least this time the bishops aren’t being fooled.
Living in Donald Trump's America
Living in Donald Trump's America: Young Voices: A man recently stopped my wife to ask whether she was wearing "Muslim garb." I feel as if I am starting to experience what it really means to live in today's America.
MGB:_The obsession with elitism started with resentment agaisnt the self-styled New York Jewish Elite. The Jewish was quickly left off and the concept became bi-coastal with Dan Quale’s use of the term Cultural Elite (presumably to include Holliwood and its Jews. The resistence to elitism spoke out for decency and family values, mostly because censorship does not focus group well. What the New York elite was known for was an avante garde sensibility that defied the censors, especially those resisting sexuality.
The elite was known to support women’s rights and gay rights, although they were not alone in this. Plenty of Catholics and High Church Protestants agreed with expanding freedom for those the mainstream would suppress, except that the mainstream no longer agreed with the so-called forces of decency, so censorship fell, Will and Grace topped the charts and support for abortion rights (if not abortion) became the majority view (and everyone seemed to look at porn and use contraception). Of course, in a 50% nation, majorities were slim and shifting and some states were decidedly non-elite in their attitudes.
The question arose, was there a compelling state interest for everything from regulating contraception to abortion to denying gays the right to marry. The Court concluded that these issues were private and that moral scorn, even by the majority, was not a compelling interest. It was the equivalent of yelling fire in a theater, not religious freedom. It was rather an attempt at religious power and therefore not protected or a counter-balancne against the liberty of others, most of whom were neither elite nor powerful, they just wanted the same dignity that others have. If supporting that dignity makes me an elitist, I wear the term proudly. Trump says he stands up for decency, but that is a very hard sell from the epitome of the New York elite.
MGB:_The obsession with elitism started with resentment agaisnt the self-styled New York Jewish Elite. The Jewish was quickly left off and the concept became bi-coastal with Dan Quale’s use of the term Cultural Elite (presumably to include Holliwood and its Jews. The resistence to elitism spoke out for decency and family values, mostly because censorship does not focus group well. What the New York elite was known for was an avante garde sensibility that defied the censors, especially those resisting sexuality.
The elite was known to support women’s rights and gay rights, although they were not alone in this. Plenty of Catholics and High Church Protestants agreed with expanding freedom for those the mainstream would suppress, except that the mainstream no longer agreed with the so-called forces of decency, so censorship fell, Will and Grace topped the charts and support for abortion rights (if not abortion) became the majority view (and everyone seemed to look at porn and use contraception). Of course, in a 50% nation, majorities were slim and shifting and some states were decidedly non-elite in their attitudes.
The question arose, was there a compelling state interest for everything from regulating contraception to abortion to denying gays the right to marry. The Court concluded that these issues were private and that moral scorn, even by the majority, was not a compelling interest. It was the equivalent of yelling fire in a theater, not religious freedom. It was rather an attempt at religious power and therefore not protected or a counter-balancne against the liberty of others, most of whom were neither elite nor powerful, they just wanted the same dignity that others have. If supporting that dignity makes me an elitist, I wear the term proudly. Trump says he stands up for decency, but that is a very hard sell from the epitome of the New York elite.
Monday, July 17, 2017
Links for 07/17/17
Links for 07/17/17: The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is considering giving new power to the DHS for the deportation of immigrants to be expedited. I warned everyone back at the beginning of the y...
MGB: Whether or not they can give DHS new power will depend on subsequent court challenges. They are already revved up pretty high and likely won't get the funding needed to do what they want. They should instead fund legal immigration to get rid of the backlog and watch people using the legal system instead.
I am agnostic over whether doping is a bad idea if everyone has the same access to it. Consider it research for stronger and faster soldiers.
A.L. is not going away soon. What scares the Trads is that it may replace their whole Magisterial paradigm where certainty is more important than charity. Corinthians 13 has something to say about that.
Dolan wants to be Pope. He is more an organization man than a pastor. I am surprised he is not under indictment in Wisconsin. It would not be good for his brand. Of course, reading St. Malachy and the Third Secret, I am not sure why anyone would want to be the pope after Benedict dies.
MGB: Whether or not they can give DHS new power will depend on subsequent court challenges. They are already revved up pretty high and likely won't get the funding needed to do what they want. They should instead fund legal immigration to get rid of the backlog and watch people using the legal system instead.
I am agnostic over whether doping is a bad idea if everyone has the same access to it. Consider it research for stronger and faster soldiers.
A.L. is not going away soon. What scares the Trads is that it may replace their whole Magisterial paradigm where certainty is more important than charity. Corinthians 13 has something to say about that.
Dolan wants to be Pope. He is more an organization man than a pastor. I am surprised he is not under indictment in Wisconsin. It would not be good for his brand. Of course, reading St. Malachy and the Third Secret, I am not sure why anyone would want to be the pope after Benedict dies.
Contra Fr. de Souza's criticism of 'Civilta'
Contra Fr. de Souza's criticism of 'Civilta': Friday, I wrote about the blockbuster article in Civilta Cattolica by Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J. and Rev. Marcelo Figueroa entitled “Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA...
MGB:_Is de Souza kidding? The fifth floor of the USCCB is a great place to look. The whole Religious Freedom effort is really about religious power. The panel of Catholic Bishops and Priests who fell into Valerie Jarrett’s trap and testified about contraception mandates, thus spawning the temr War on Women. The opposition to the Affordable Care Act and the acts of retaliation against Catholic Health when they helped it get passed. Priests should not lie like that, from de Souza to the bishops. I did not know that the Civitas authors were so close to the Holy Father. Now I get the anger. It is mostly fear and it is justified. They should consider themselves warned.
Sadly, on abortion, the left talks about pluralism when it should be educating Roe about the 14th Amendment, why part IX of the decision makes sense and what can and can’t be done as a result and especially why pro-life Democrats are playing with the devil.
MGB:_Is de Souza kidding? The fifth floor of the USCCB is a great place to look. The whole Religious Freedom effort is really about religious power. The panel of Catholic Bishops and Priests who fell into Valerie Jarrett’s trap and testified about contraception mandates, thus spawning the temr War on Women. The opposition to the Affordable Care Act and the acts of retaliation against Catholic Health when they helped it get passed. Priests should not lie like that, from de Souza to the bishops. I did not know that the Civitas authors were so close to the Holy Father. Now I get the anger. It is mostly fear and it is justified. They should consider themselves warned.
Sadly, on abortion, the left talks about pluralism when it should be educating Roe about the 14th Amendment, why part IX of the decision makes sense and what can and can’t be done as a result and especially why pro-life Democrats are playing with the devil.
Saturday, July 15, 2017
The Civilta article: FINALLY!
The Civilta article: FINALLY!: Distinctly Catholic:
MGB: Let me throw this out again to clarify. The question is not about the morality or legality of abortion. It is whether the Republican Party and the Pro-life movement are using the issue for political purposes without actually doing something about it. Come on GOPeons. You have Ryan, McConnell and Trump in charge and any abortion law they write will probably get Kennedy, Gorsuch, Roberts, Alito and Thomas to agree with. You can even use the nuclear option to stop the filibuster.
Do it already! I dare you. I double dare you!
You know in your hearts that they won't and you know why. Their wedge issue goes away and any moderates in your party will never, ever, vote Republican again, including the major donors.
If you don't think you are being scammed, you are not thinking. That goes doubly for MSW, who thinks that some how Roe will be repealed by SCOTUS (because Kennedy, Roberts and Alito have already said no to that option).
MGB: Let me throw this out again to clarify. The question is not about the morality or legality of abortion. It is whether the Republican Party and the Pro-life movement are using the issue for political purposes without actually doing something about it. Come on GOPeons. You have Ryan, McConnell and Trump in charge and any abortion law they write will probably get Kennedy, Gorsuch, Roberts, Alito and Thomas to agree with. You can even use the nuclear option to stop the filibuster.
Do it already! I dare you. I double dare you!
You know in your hearts that they won't and you know why. Their wedge issue goes away and any moderates in your party will never, ever, vote Republican again, including the major donors.
If you don't think you are being scammed, you are not thinking. That goes doubly for MSW, who thinks that some how Roe will be repealed by SCOTUS (because Kennedy, Roberts and Alito have already said no to that option).
Friday, July 14, 2017
The Civilta article: FINALLY!
The Civilta article: FINALLY!: Reading the blockbuster Civilta Cattolica article “Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A surprising ecumenism” (to say nothing of fielding the flurry of phone c...
MGB:_I would say that Church Militant will have a hard time living this down, but they are so self-justified and so tone deaf that they will ignore the warning and instead unleash an army of trolls on us all.
What Michael, and possibly Civitas, missed is the role the Pro-Life Movement plays in the Ecumenism of Hate which delivers both Evangelicals and conservative Catholics to the Republican Cause, how there is no real legislative agenda there, at least not a relevant one that goes beyond harassment and the occasional murder and that for the USCCB, this engagement was probably deliberate. I guess it beats being called the anti-Christ, but did the fifth floor have to sell their souls and start a war on women to do it?
MGB:_I would say that Church Militant will have a hard time living this down, but they are so self-justified and so tone deaf that they will ignore the warning and instead unleash an army of trolls on us all.
What Michael, and possibly Civitas, missed is the role the Pro-Life Movement plays in the Ecumenism of Hate which delivers both Evangelicals and conservative Catholics to the Republican Cause, how there is no real legislative agenda there, at least not a relevant one that goes beyond harassment and the occasional murder and that for the USCCB, this engagement was probably deliberate. I guess it beats being called the anti-Christ, but did the fifth floor have to sell their souls and start a war on women to do it?
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Links for 07/13/17
Links for 07/13/17: In the Las Cruces Sun-News, the story of Jorge Taborda, an immigrant grandfather who has sought refuge from immigration officials who have already deported his wife, at a Franciscan retreat center and...
MGB:_It is good that the Franciscans are granting sanctuary, but applying for asylum should happen when you enter, not when they are throwing you out. Only amnesty will help them and that won’t happen with this administration. Still, any undocumented migrant should have a fast track to a student visa and legalization if they went to an American high school (then H-1B, then a Green Card with admission of family members).
Will the optics of Trump with the Russians affect his supporters? I doubt it. If Joe McCarthy came back and held hearings on Russian sympathizers in the White House, they would not care. Then again, no one will be asking for their opinion should Muller release a report pointing the finger at Trump.
In the British system, doctors are gate keepers. They cannot unilaterally take you off life support, but they will respect your wishes rather than your family’s (including your same sex spouse). That is the case in the US. They are responsible to make sure you are not going to some quack for an alternative. In the extant case, they investigated the claims of the alternative providers and heard good things, so they are asking the courts to allow Charlie to go. Camosy and Winters, check the news and quit beating the pro-life drum on this. We are still a resurrection people who look upon death as meeting God.
MGB:_It is good that the Franciscans are granting sanctuary, but applying for asylum should happen when you enter, not when they are throwing you out. Only amnesty will help them and that won’t happen with this administration. Still, any undocumented migrant should have a fast track to a student visa and legalization if they went to an American high school (then H-1B, then a Green Card with admission of family members).
Will the optics of Trump with the Russians affect his supporters? I doubt it. If Joe McCarthy came back and held hearings on Russian sympathizers in the White House, they would not care. Then again, no one will be asking for their opinion should Muller release a report pointing the finger at Trump.
In the British system, doctors are gate keepers. They cannot unilaterally take you off life support, but they will respect your wishes rather than your family’s (including your same sex spouse). That is the case in the US. They are responsible to make sure you are not going to some quack for an alternative. In the extant case, they investigated the claims of the alternative providers and heard good things, so they are asking the courts to allow Charlie to go. Camosy and Winters, check the news and quit beating the pro-life drum on this. We are still a resurrection people who look upon death as meeting God.
Politicians should not be cherry-picking from the Bible
Politicians should not be cherry-picking from the Bible: Distinctly Catholic: I do not support religious tests for office, to be sure, but it seems to me we have a right to know something about a candidate's worldview.
MGB:_Voters can use any criterion they want, including the religion of the candidate. Presumably members of the electoral college can do that too (since theirs is mostly a ministerial role, although if a party’s electors en masse picked a different candidate because of religion, it might form a constitutional crisis. It is Congress, who counts presidential votes, who is prohibited from a religious test in qualifying a President, sitting a member or approving a federal officer.
I like JFK’s remark about the direction of prelates. It applies to Kathleen Sebelius, who was misused by Burke for P.R. purposes, as were all Catholic pro-choice politicians, although this does not get them out of their obligation to tell the Church where it has it wrong on Roe. As experts in law, they are honor-bound to speak up, if only to counteract caustic voices like Bill Donohue. They should also proffer a Catholic solution, like higher refundable child tax credits. Why are non-Catholics in the lead on this?
Proverbs is a very didactic book. It is why conservatives love it so, because they can take it out of context and use the advice of a father to a son to paternalistically scold the poor. No surprise Cruz would go there. A religious test, like avoiding sloth, also cannot be used to deny benefits. Call the ACLU!
MGB:_Voters can use any criterion they want, including the religion of the candidate. Presumably members of the electoral college can do that too (since theirs is mostly a ministerial role, although if a party’s electors en masse picked a different candidate because of religion, it might form a constitutional crisis. It is Congress, who counts presidential votes, who is prohibited from a religious test in qualifying a President, sitting a member or approving a federal officer.
I like JFK’s remark about the direction of prelates. It applies to Kathleen Sebelius, who was misused by Burke for P.R. purposes, as were all Catholic pro-choice politicians, although this does not get them out of their obligation to tell the Church where it has it wrong on Roe. As experts in law, they are honor-bound to speak up, if only to counteract caustic voices like Bill Donohue. They should also proffer a Catholic solution, like higher refundable child tax credits. Why are non-Catholics in the lead on this?
Proverbs is a very didactic book. It is why conservatives love it so, because they can take it out of context and use the advice of a father to a son to paternalistically scold the poor. No surprise Cruz would go there. A religious test, like avoiding sloth, also cannot be used to deny benefits. Call the ACLU!
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Links for 07/12/17
Links for 07/12/17: At the National Catholic Register, which is now an arm of the EWTN media conglomerate, an attack on Fr. Jim Martin, which doesn't really surprise, but I was surprised to learn that Professor Rober...
MGB:_Robbie and EWTN are using tactics worthy of Cardinal Rigali and Pius X, except this time they are on the outside and not operating the official Church informant network. They must not think Francis uses the same tactics, which says a lot about the Holy Father. Some Trad popes in the last few centuries would have excommunicated them by now.
Donald Junior loves Russia like any city slicker loves Rubes he can exploit. Looks like they had as much fun having their way with him.
Mass extinction is not a recent phenomenon. Species go extinct every year, it simply accelerates when a species establishes dominance, as man has. Warming and infrastructure have had an expected impact. As for the Delaware-sized iceberg, if it was already in the water, net displacement will not change much as it detaches and melts. If it had crashed into the sea just now, we would be right to be worried.
MGB:_Robbie and EWTN are using tactics worthy of Cardinal Rigali and Pius X, except this time they are on the outside and not operating the official Church informant network. They must not think Francis uses the same tactics, which says a lot about the Holy Father. Some Trad popes in the last few centuries would have excommunicated them by now.
Donald Junior loves Russia like any city slicker loves Rubes he can exploit. Looks like they had as much fun having their way with him.
Mass extinction is not a recent phenomenon. Species go extinct every year, it simply accelerates when a species establishes dominance, as man has. Warming and infrastructure have had an expected impact. As for the Delaware-sized iceberg, if it was already in the water, net displacement will not change much as it detaches and melts. If it had crashed into the sea just now, we would be right to be worried.
Why did Donald Trump Jr. lie?
Why did Donald Trump Jr. lie?: Distinctly Catholic: When Trump Jr. was given the chance to meet with a Russian bigwig, what in his background would have prepared him to assess the values at stake properly?
MGB:_While we can prove intent with the e-mails, both Trump and the Russian lawyer have their stories straight, and the whole scandal will yield nothing for the Russians from this administration, which serves them right. As for Trump, Jr., he was not corrupt as much as naive about the law and principles involved. He was a effing rookie, like his entire family. Manafort should have looked over the e-mails and cancelled the meeting, but in capitalism where he operates, you don't tell the boss's sons know. I suspect his being fired is probably the result of assuming that and letting them get into trouble. As for Jr. lying to the press, that is not false witness, that is also the way the game is played in politics. The media does not get a free look under the hood. There maybe evidence of collusion on the wiretapping but this won't be it. Flynn talking is it. He is a general. He will sing like a bird.
MGB:_While we can prove intent with the e-mails, both Trump and the Russian lawyer have their stories straight, and the whole scandal will yield nothing for the Russians from this administration, which serves them right. As for Trump, Jr., he was not corrupt as much as naive about the law and principles involved. He was a effing rookie, like his entire family. Manafort should have looked over the e-mails and cancelled the meeting, but in capitalism where he operates, you don't tell the boss's sons know. I suspect his being fired is probably the result of assuming that and letting them get into trouble. As for Jr. lying to the press, that is not false witness, that is also the way the game is played in politics. The media does not get a free look under the hood. There maybe evidence of collusion on the wiretapping but this won't be it. Flynn talking is it. He is a general. He will sing like a bird.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Links for 07/11/17
Links for 07/11/17: At Commonweal, John Gehring has an article that is thought-provoking but ultimately unsatisfying: If we see Neil Postman as prophetic, I worry that somehow Charles Chaput will seem more persuasive. Th...
MGB:_John is right about the analogy between Huxley and Orwell, although some of Trump and FoxNews fascism is quite Orwellian. Fox and Trump have coarsened society and have been helped in no small part from the tribalism of Chaput and the pro-life movement. Clinton should have focused there rather than on speaking directly in support of the pro-life cause. They voted for her anyway. Winning county by county won’t do much because most counties are not in play. Speaking the truth when others lie is where to begin. We can also Occupy Capitalism by bringing more democracy to the workplace, starting with employee-owned firms and moving outward from there.
As weasel worded as it is, the case will still support future cases overturning the Blaine rule, which keeps Catholic schools from being publicly funded. Education is a secular purpose. Anti-Catholic discrimination in delivering it cannot be justified.
We and the world surived Bush and we will survive Trump. Get ready for Apology Tour 2021.
MGB:_John is right about the analogy between Huxley and Orwell, although some of Trump and FoxNews fascism is quite Orwellian. Fox and Trump have coarsened society and have been helped in no small part from the tribalism of Chaput and the pro-life movement. Clinton should have focused there rather than on speaking directly in support of the pro-life cause. They voted for her anyway. Winning county by county won’t do much because most counties are not in play. Speaking the truth when others lie is where to begin. We can also Occupy Capitalism by bringing more democracy to the workplace, starting with employee-owned firms and moving outward from there.
As weasel worded as it is, the case will still support future cases overturning the Blaine rule, which keeps Catholic schools from being publicly funded. Education is a secular purpose. Anti-Catholic discrimination in delivering it cannot be justified.
We and the world surived Bush and we will survive Trump. Get ready for Apology Tour 2021.
Remembering Archbishop Quinn
Remembering Archbishop Quinn: “The Church is always her best at a funeral,” a priest once said to me. Yesterday, watching the obsequies for Archbishop John Raphael Quinn, the archbishop emeritus of San Francisco, I cou...
MGB:_No bishop likes to talk about vanity, it cuts too much to the quick. It is why Jesus gave example of the washing of the feet, and not just for annula commemoration. Of course, humility should not be considered a lack of courage and it took courage to ensure all partners, married or not, gay or straight, but it would have shown more to challenge the Church more directly on this. Christ would have. To go with the meal by the sea, sometimes the meal Christ must serve the apostles is crow. Bless the bishops who served up this latest portio for the Church.
MGB:_No bishop likes to talk about vanity, it cuts too much to the quick. It is why Jesus gave example of the washing of the feet, and not just for annula commemoration. Of course, humility should not be considered a lack of courage and it took courage to ensure all partners, married or not, gay or straight, but it would have shown more to challenge the Church more directly on this. Christ would have. To go with the meal by the sea, sometimes the meal Christ must serve the apostles is crow. Bless the bishops who served up this latest portio for the Church.
Monday, July 10, 2017
Links for 07/10/17
Links for 07/10/17: I was not at last week
MGB: I am quite sure the hard core trad bishops hated the prominent positions Tobin and O'Malley had, especially the ones who thought for sure they would have a red hat by now.
Putin got his original job because he was a sociopath. It has worked for him in his current position.
Francis is polite and will only say that he is simply not renewing a set term. The fact that First Things and the Cardinal protest shows they and he do not like the changes Francis is bringing and would want to obstruct them. As the Dolman of Elas once remarked at the survival of her tutor, "That is too bad." Of course, in this case, it is Francis who is Capt. Kirk.
MGB: I am quite sure the hard core trad bishops hated the prominent positions Tobin and O'Malley had, especially the ones who thought for sure they would have a red hat by now.
Putin got his original job because he was a sociopath. It has worked for him in his current position.
Francis is polite and will only say that he is simply not renewing a set term. The fact that First Things and the Cardinal protest shows they and he do not like the changes Francis is bringing and would want to obstruct them. As the Dolman of Elas once remarked at the survival of her tutor, "That is too bad." Of course, in this case, it is Francis who is Capt. Kirk.
Trump meets his new fan; Putin gets a new toy
Trump meets his new fan; Putin gets a new toy: U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than two hours during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, four times the originally scheduled 30 minutes. ...
MGB:_This was more of a meeting on conspirators than heads of state. I hope Muller has contacts in the intelligence services that can give him the tape. If he can and does, I hope they tell Trump. I am as curious about the Russian assessment of Trump. It won't be kind. I imagine the word bafoon is used. As for the Russians, they are at least now in league with the Russian Orthodox Church, so they have techically been "converted." How is that going? If you believe in basic human digity for gays, not so well (or very well if bullying is the cure for it).
MGB:_This was more of a meeting on conspirators than heads of state. I hope Muller has contacts in the intelligence services that can give him the tape. If he can and does, I hope they tell Trump. I am as curious about the Russian assessment of Trump. It won't be kind. I imagine the word bafoon is used. As for the Russians, they are at least now in league with the Russian Orthodox Church, so they have techically been "converted." How is that going? If you believe in basic human digity for gays, not so well (or very well if bullying is the cure for it).
Trump is unfit to be president of the United States
Trump is unfit to be president of the United States: NCR Today: On his second trip abroad, instead of defending our country, our values and our government, President Trump has gone on the attack.
MGB:_Trump is disabled. He has surrounded himself with sycophants who won't invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Luckily, Congress can create a commission to do so and the resolution is being considered. Margins are close enough so that a few dozen Republicans in the House and four in the Senate and pass the measure. That might get Trump to behave. As for his obstruction of justice, it probably arises to Censure, not impeachment. Either way, if he won't resign before a disability inquiry or impeachment, he should accept Censure for trying to impugn Comey, as well as replacing his staff with competent congressional staffers and closing his Twitter account. Of course, if there is a smoking gun on Russia, either the election or in prior violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, he needs to be removed. He won’t resign like Nixon. Too prideful. To get the votes, do it in 2019.
MGB:_Trump is disabled. He has surrounded himself with sycophants who won't invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. Luckily, Congress can create a commission to do so and the resolution is being considered. Margins are close enough so that a few dozen Republicans in the House and four in the Senate and pass the measure. That might get Trump to behave. As for his obstruction of justice, it probably arises to Censure, not impeachment. Either way, if he won't resign before a disability inquiry or impeachment, he should accept Censure for trying to impugn Comey, as well as replacing his staff with competent congressional staffers and closing his Twitter account. Of course, if there is a smoking gun on Russia, either the election or in prior violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, he needs to be removed. He won’t resign like Nixon. Too prideful. To get the votes, do it in 2019.
Friday, July 7, 2017
Links for 07/07/17
Links for 07/07/17: The tragic case of Charlie Gard continues to cause controversy, but most of it is healthy discussion. The always thoughtful Austen Ivereigh defends the doctors and the courts and think Charlie Ca...
There is no exerimental treatment. They are probably judge shopping. Sometimes children die and it is tragic. Grasping at straws simply keeps the child away from Heaven longer. I have no use for a pro-life movement that is more anti-death. We are a Resurrection people.
Chaput thinks he is saving gays from Hell. Their lives are not Hell in either this life or the next. Monogamous married gay sex by gay people is not sinful. Chaput and his ilk still think being gay is a sexual revolution style counter-culture choice. He is fighting for a way of life that rejects modernity and yearns for a more politically powerful Church and gays are in the way. That power is long gone.
There is something to be said for keeping artifacts from Daesh, as long as they don’t end up in your prvate collection.
Trump supporters at least realize their hero is an authoritarian. Sadly, they like it and think protests against such an idiology are bad. The fearsome thing is that not all of them are superannuated FoxNews vaiewers. I don’t think it is a new movement. Trump and other opposition to Obama simply gave them a voice. It will take time to shut them up.
There is no exerimental treatment. They are probably judge shopping. Sometimes children die and it is tragic. Grasping at straws simply keeps the child away from Heaven longer. I have no use for a pro-life movement that is more anti-death. We are a Resurrection people.
Chaput thinks he is saving gays from Hell. Their lives are not Hell in either this life or the next. Monogamous married gay sex by gay people is not sinful. Chaput and his ilk still think being gay is a sexual revolution style counter-culture choice. He is fighting for a way of life that rejects modernity and yearns for a more politically powerful Church and gays are in the way. That power is long gone.
There is something to be said for keeping artifacts from Daesh, as long as they don’t end up in your prvate collection.
Trump supporters at least realize their hero is an authoritarian. Sadly, they like it and think protests against such an idiology are bad. The fearsome thing is that not all of them are superannuated FoxNews vaiewers. I don’t think it is a new movement. Trump and other opposition to Obama simply gave them a voice. It will take time to shut them up.
Latin Mass decision gave rise to new divisiveness
Latin Mass decision gave rise to new divisiveness: Distinctly Catholic: Benedict XVI tried to assuage fears about its consequences, but his Summorum Pontificum, released 10 years ago today, opened a new battlefront within the church.
MGB:_The followers of the 1962 Mass think they are getting the Mass of St. Pius V. They really are not. Despite Pius’ injunction that not a word be changed, the Mass of St. John XXIIII is no more and no less the Mass of Pius as the Norvus Ordo (in either translation). The more troubling action by Benedict was allowing the reimposition of the old translation of the responses of the Norvus Ordo, which are not far (And with your Spirit) from the old form. As for the old form itself, I have no problem with nostalgia. I have friends who are in the Socieity for Creative Anachronism or are Civil War reenactors. Still, while I am tolerant, because the Mass when said is real, I fear it being turned into an historical curiosity or attempted counter-revolution (it won’t win as the latter).
MGB:_The followers of the 1962 Mass think they are getting the Mass of St. Pius V. They really are not. Despite Pius’ injunction that not a word be changed, the Mass of St. John XXIIII is no more and no less the Mass of Pius as the Norvus Ordo (in either translation). The more troubling action by Benedict was allowing the reimposition of the old translation of the responses of the Norvus Ordo, which are not far (And with your Spirit) from the old form. As for the old form itself, I have no problem with nostalgia. I have friends who are in the Socieity for Creative Anachronism or are Civil War reenactors. Still, while I am tolerant, because the Mass when said is real, I fear it being turned into an historical curiosity or attempted counter-revolution (it won’t win as the latter).
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Links for 07/06/17
Links for 07/06/17: Reuters reports on President Trump's speech in Warsaw today, in which he focused on the "will of the West." This was a Steve Bannon-style speech so maybe we can expect an updated version...
MGB: Trump is Bannon's sock puppet. If Trump survives his investigation with just a Censure, one of the concessions must be getting rid of Bannon (and the rest of the staff).
The only important question on Russia is whether Trump knew what Flynn knew and when. Flynn knows the answer and this keeps Trump up at night.
Donohue's screed hearkens back to the days of Catholic Religious Power, something that started to erode in 1959 and just keeps declining, now mostly with self-inflicted wounds. The bishops who suffer from nostalgia love their Bill. The inflexibility that this leaves them with puts them on the wrong sides of gay marriage, assisted suicide (even letting a poor child die) and women's ordination. The Church will survive but their POV won't.
Paprocki needs a refund from his undergraduate poli-sci teachers.
MGB: Trump is Bannon's sock puppet. If Trump survives his investigation with just a Censure, one of the concessions must be getting rid of Bannon (and the rest of the staff).
The only important question on Russia is whether Trump knew what Flynn knew and when. Flynn knows the answer and this keeps Trump up at night.
Donohue's screed hearkens back to the days of Catholic Religious Power, something that started to erode in 1959 and just keeps declining, now mostly with self-inflicted wounds. The bishops who suffer from nostalgia love their Bill. The inflexibility that this leaves them with puts them on the wrong sides of gay marriage, assisted suicide (even letting a poor child die) and women's ordination. The Church will survive but their POV won't.
Paprocki needs a refund from his undergraduate poli-sci teachers.
Labor unions are prophetic, innovative, pope says
Labor unions are prophetic, innovative, pope says: Distinctly Catholic: Pope Francis' speech to a delegation from the Confederation of Trade Unions in Italy was short but remarkable, using language that Democrats would be smart to imitate.
MGB:_In the past, the unions had a Democratic problem. They were so aligned with the Democratic Party that they would not even consider a plan to create private accounts from Social Security that would have invested solely in the firms their employees worked at nor, when the government was bailing out the car companies did the UAW demand a controlling share. At breakfast time, they would rather be the chicken than the pig. That is no way to Occupy Capitalism. Hopefully the Trump experience will wake them up to their role in and need to support worker ownership and control.
MGB:_In the past, the unions had a Democratic problem. They were so aligned with the Democratic Party that they would not even consider a plan to create private accounts from Social Security that would have invested solely in the firms their employees worked at nor, when the government was bailing out the car companies did the UAW demand a controlling share. At breakfast time, they would rather be the chicken than the pig. That is no way to Occupy Capitalism. Hopefully the Trump experience will wake them up to their role in and need to support worker ownership and control.
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Can Fr. James Martin's bridge hold up?
Can Fr. James Martin's bridge hold up?: Grace on the Margins: Martin's book Building A Bridge conveys accessibility and welcome. But for some, particularly longtime LGBT activists, some sections may read like fiction.
MGB:_This is mostly
the same argument we had last week with most of the same people. Here is a point
I have not made lately. Being anti-gay was an antidote to the Platonic ideal which
saw women as inferior and sex as for procreation with homosexual love as a purer
form. Women are now much more equal (although ordination would be a plus), so condemning
homosexuality is no longer needed.
I can understand why clergy fight so hard on this issue. Conceding to real natural law means that papally-approved natural law assured to be error free would fall. In this case, the natural order would be shredded as well as a concept (no more Catholic relativism). Finally, it would lead to the rethinking of everything sexual from masturbation to pre-marital sex, to continence and celibacy (both) to what they fear most - female ordination and parish elections for deacon administrators and elected bishops. They have finessed Masturbation and turn mostly a blind eye to cohabitation, but unless they start quietly blessing gay marriages (which Catholic hospitals now honor), they are about to eat a big bite of humble pie regarding the state of doctrinal formation. What are all the weak of faith who mistake certainty for trust in God to do?
MGB:_This is mostly
the same argument we had last week with most of the same people. Here is a point
I have not made lately. Being anti-gay was an antidote to the Platonic ideal which
saw women as inferior and sex as for procreation with homosexual love as a purer
form. Women are now much more equal (although ordination would be a plus), so condemning
homosexuality is no longer needed.
I can understand why clergy fight so hard on this issue. Conceding to real natural law means that papally-approved natural law assured to be error free would fall. In this case, the natural order would be shredded as well as a concept (no more Catholic relativism). Finally, it would lead to the rethinking of everything sexual from masturbation to pre-marital sex, to continence and celibacy (both) to what they fear most - female ordination and parish elections for deacon administrators and elected bishops. They have finessed Masturbation and turn mostly a blind eye to cohabitation, but unless they start quietly blessing gay marriages (which Catholic hospitals now honor), they are about to eat a big bite of humble pie regarding the state of doctrinal formation. What are all the weak of faith who mistake certainty for trust in God to do?
Links for 07/05/17
Links for 07/05/17: At RNS, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso on what the Lord Jesus would have to say to those Attorneys General who want to deport Dreamers. Bishop Seitz has become one of the foremost champions of the ...
MGB:_I had lunch with a friend who used to volunteer in El Paso helping immigrants. He said Juarez was the better town. Undocumented migration is the ultimate in capitalist dysfunction. Overcome capitalism and it is no longer an issue.
Mayors blame their city councils all the time, unless they serve on them. It's an important job if it leads to governor, although state senator is usually the stepping stone most people use for either Governor or Senator and the POTUS. Sadly, billionaire and President's child are now on the list.
Brava to these women. Widows also find solace, as do widowers. Sadly, only the last of these are allowed to become priests. Hopefully a lot of deaconess positions open up in Toledo for these women when this becomes a reality.
MGB:_I had lunch with a friend who used to volunteer in El Paso helping immigrants. He said Juarez was the better town. Undocumented migration is the ultimate in capitalist dysfunction. Overcome capitalism and it is no longer an issue.
Mayors blame their city councils all the time, unless they serve on them. It's an important job if it leads to governor, although state senator is usually the stepping stone most people use for either Governor or Senator and the POTUS. Sadly, billionaire and President's child are now on the list.
Brava to these women. Widows also find solace, as do widowers. Sadly, only the last of these are allowed to become priests. Hopefully a lot of deaconess positions open up in Toledo for these women when this becomes a reality.
Let Charlie Gard live!
Let Charlie Gard live!: Distinctly Catholic: The British baby
MGB: The courts did not say to choke him to death, they said to withdraw medical care and let nature and God take their course. We believe in eternal life, not in fetishizing physical life. The call to keep him alive at all costs is pro-life tribalism run amok. If there is a cure, bring it to England. I suspect the only cure they found is a friendly judge and everyone knows it. That Donald Trump agrees with MSW is a bad sign.
MGB: The courts did not say to choke him to death, they said to withdraw medical care and let nature and God take their course. We believe in eternal life, not in fetishizing physical life. The call to keep him alive at all costs is pro-life tribalism run amok. If there is a cure, bring it to England. I suspect the only cure they found is a friendly judge and everyone knows it. That Donald Trump agrees with MSW is a bad sign.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Links for 07/03/17
Links for 07/03/17: The editors of El Pais render their initial verdict on President Trump and it is more forceful and articulate than most gringo newspapers.
At the Washington Post, Benjamin Soskis asks if traditional ...
MGB:_No hablo. I do know enough to know they are calling him a joke and they are right.
We have taxes and philanthropy. Taxes help the poor with continuing maintenance. Philanthropy is a more refined, self-promoting civics. People will make monuments to themselves and their interests without tax breaks.
Expect the attack on evolution from De Vos or her supporters. I worry more about Perry trying to further slow research into fusion, which is the ultimate answer to carbon and fission reactors.
I doubt Trump did his own video editing. Give the name of the staff member who did to Mr. Muller. Trump is not only a fool, but a rich fool. I wonder how much he gave McMahon to take a dive?
At the Washington Post, Benjamin Soskis asks if traditional ...
MGB:_No hablo. I do know enough to know they are calling him a joke and they are right.
We have taxes and philanthropy. Taxes help the poor with continuing maintenance. Philanthropy is a more refined, self-promoting civics. People will make monuments to themselves and their interests without tax breaks.
Expect the attack on evolution from De Vos or her supporters. I worry more about Perry trying to further slow research into fusion, which is the ultimate answer to carbon and fission reactors.
I doubt Trump did his own video editing. Give the name of the staff member who did to Mr. Muller. Trump is not only a fool, but a rich fool. I wonder how much he gave McMahon to take a dive?
Where can we find a healthy patriotism?
Where can we find a healthy patriotism?: Distinctly Catholic: Both the "blame America first" crowd and the "America first" bullies fail to recognize the ever-deepening challenge to live up to the aspirations of our founding.
MGB:_The blame America first crowd is as libertarian as it is left. They defend Edward Snowdin and object to the drone bombing of American enemy combatants. They need to have a bit more empathy for the people trying to keep them safe. As for Israel, if it takes our money and proclaims are values, it should live them out. Bull Connor never pulled down the houses of civil rights workers or bombed women and children with the Air Force. Talking about empathy lacks among the neoconservatives like MSW.
If empathy is weak on the left, it is almost non-existent on the right when they look back on the 1950s when everyone knew their place, especially minority workers who were expected to toil quietly and politely. Their reaction to the first child of a Baby Boomer, who was a Boomer himself and was raised like one by his grandfather from the Greatest Generation is beyond embarrassing.
The average citizens who followed their lead have committed moral cowardice rather than patriotism in their selection of the following president. Defending him is not an act of moral courage, it is an endorsement of authoritarianism directed at ones least favorite people, usually the brown and black ones.
MGB:_The blame America first crowd is as libertarian as it is left. They defend Edward Snowdin and object to the drone bombing of American enemy combatants. They need to have a bit more empathy for the people trying to keep them safe. As for Israel, if it takes our money and proclaims are values, it should live them out. Bull Connor never pulled down the houses of civil rights workers or bombed women and children with the Air Force. Talking about empathy lacks among the neoconservatives like MSW.
If empathy is weak on the left, it is almost non-existent on the right when they look back on the 1950s when everyone knew their place, especially minority workers who were expected to toil quietly and politely. Their reaction to the first child of a Baby Boomer, who was a Boomer himself and was raised like one by his grandfather from the Greatest Generation is beyond embarrassing.
The average citizens who followed their lead have committed moral cowardice rather than patriotism in their selection of the following president. Defending him is not an act of moral courage, it is an endorsement of authoritarianism directed at ones least favorite people, usually the brown and black ones.
Cardinal Muller departs the CDF: What does it mean?
Cardinal Muller departs the CDF: What does it mean?: My colleague Josh McElwee reports this morning on the decision by Pope Francis not to reconfirm Cardinal Gerhard Muller for a second five-year term as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of t...
MGB:_It is very lucky, of course, that the replacement is a Jesuit. Hopefully he can bring some intelligence to the place and not try to bring back the bad old days of the Holy Office/Roman Inquisition. Some things in the Church are worth more debate than the CDF allows, especially in the area of natural reason.
MGB:_It is very lucky, of course, that the replacement is a Jesuit. Hopefully he can bring some intelligence to the place and not try to bring back the bad old days of the Holy Office/Roman Inquisition. Some things in the Church are worth more debate than the CDF allows, especially in the area of natural reason.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
A playground separating church and state
A playground separating church and state: Faith and Justice: The latest actions by the U.S. Supreme Court, including sending two cases back to the lower courts, are setting the stage for more cases on funding of religious schools.
MGB:_This case will be a useful precedent in overturning the Blaine Amendments that were aimed at not funding Catholic schools for entirely bigoted reasons. How this is done is important, however. Taxes must go up at local and state levels to pick up the slack. People who send their kids to Catholic school need to pay a bit more in taxes in exchange for that free tuition. Also, being gracious about unions would help the bishops argue for the money.
MGB:_This case will be a useful precedent in overturning the Blaine Amendments that were aimed at not funding Catholic schools for entirely bigoted reasons. How this is done is important, however. Taxes must go up at local and state levels to pick up the slack. People who send their kids to Catholic school need to pay a bit more in taxes in exchange for that free tuition. Also, being gracious about unions would help the bishops argue for the money.
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