Links for 08/31/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/links-083117
MGB:_Three 500 year floods in as many years is a sure sign of global warming. The question for Houston is whether to fight it with mitigation, such as levees or dikes or improved spillways or condemnation, to prohibit people from living in flood zones using eminent domain powers rather than allowing them to rebuild. Then the question is how much of Houston can be saved. If state power is not willing to do this, can federal power be used? Texas is prime beach front property, but global warming may soon move the beach. Do we subsidize moving just poor people and let rich people eat all of the cost? It sounds nice, but it would not be constitutional, even if Texas did allow land use regulation. Another failure for Libertopia. Is is a big enough failure for the voters to see it?

Cruz has become a laughing stock over his prior comments Sandy. Will voters notice this?

The voucher bill could not have worked without a tax increase. Hopefully the taxes increased will claw back some of the money voucher recipients are now paying for tuition. That is one key to passing such measures. The other would be allowing teachers in non-public schools to unionize. That is the Achilles heal of the Catholic Church on labor. This action may trigger a Blaine Amendment challenge, although prior case law in Illinois probably allows it. (Griffith v. Bower, 2001). It could be a vehicle for federal case law eliminating these provisions nation-wide.

Arpaio found that bigotry sells in politics, but only until he took it too far, losing both his office and his freedom. Trump litterally bailed him out, whch sadly does not hurt Trump’s brand but may peal off a few more votes in Congress to impeach or remove him. Neither thought they were at risk. Both were likely wrong.

Liturgical reform, indeed 'irreversible,' enables our best praise

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/liturgical-reform-indeed-irreversible-enables-our-best-praise
MGB:_The second collection should occur during the song after Communion, which should not start until the Blessed Sacrament has been reserved, at which point the congregation should be seated, regardless of whether the priest or bishop has. Indeed, one could argue that if the congregation has recieved the Sacrament, that they are it and we should not force our Lord to kneel. Clearly there is some work to be done in this area.

As for the singing. If the congregation is to sing, the choir must do something we know and like. Quit introducing new music. This is not top 40. It is amazing still that everyone sings the cchanted Our Father but not the song after Communion or the introductory song. When Christmas comes, however, everyone finds their voice for traditional carols.

Are we done reforming? Hardly. The Roman Missal’s prayers are in serious need of reform. If someone spoke to me like the Church prays I would think I was hearing from one of my unctuous Romany cousins or a street person. There is a difference between humility and trying to con God. We will also never go back to the silent congregation, even for the EF and the OF will always be around an Altar rather than stairing at the Icon of the Crucifix.

Links for 08/29/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/links-082917
MGB:_Garry Wills sees the naming of Peter as a nickname (Rocky, as in rocks in the head), whom he almost immediately calls Satan for suggesting that Jesus save his own life rather than sacrifice it in the Passion. The two cannot be separated. That the gates of Hades will not prevail is a sign of Peter being a change agent, not an agent of Orthodoxy. As far as who Peter is now, Barthalomew is as good a bet as Francis.

Cardinal Blase is the voice of compassion as well as reason, which is needed in a city with a neo-liberal mayor.

I will leave it to others about priests playing dress up. Still, I believe they are asexual, not gay.

I doubt Fallwell’s funders are outraged. They probably have use of the flophouse. One can only hope the next hurricane stops there before parking over Mar-a-Largo.

That’s two alt-right down, one to go. They all seem to look upon getting sacked as liberation. Time to liberate Stephen Miller.

Silence of Vatican's doctrinal congregation notable under Francis

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/silence-vaticans-doctrinal-congregation-notable-under-francis
MGB:_The good news is that the Inquisition is finally over and free thought finally reigns again. The bad news for lay theologisas is that the publishing spike that official censure brings is no longer available.

In Moldova, Gospel is alive and in action

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/moldova-gospel-alive-and-action
MGB:_On a day where Houston is drowning, why are you focusing on Modova? BTW, Spiritual but not religious is frequently associated with members of Twelve Step fellowships who have essentially followed the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (the 12 Steps) without having to join a church or even worship a specific God outside the fellowship (although some do return to their native Church). It is not a fad and without some sort of spiritual discipline, they are simply agnostic.

Trump vs. the politics that Christianity requires

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/trump-vs-politics-christianity-requires
MGB: Trump is unhinged. Christian charity deamans we get him the mental health care he needs, take away his twitter account, get him a TV that does not get FoxNews and find him a nice place to retire, say the federal penitentiary at Allenwood, so he can spend more time with his children. We can visit him if we like, as Christ commands in Matthew 25.

The real Christian politics would be drawing down the Pentagon, ending military occupations around the globe, legalizing drugs while medicalizing addiction and making treatment mandatory and most importantly, enacting a $1000 per month per child tax credit paid with wages or individual educational benefits.

Vatican II liturgical reform 'irreversible,' pope says

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/vatican-ii-liturgical-reform-irreversible-pope-says#c-2903042
This should end nostaligia for the old forms and remove any doubt that Francis is a Vatican II Pope. This is one of those issues where papal authority is of importance. He is not doing our moral thinking for us, but he is the keeper of our common Liturgy. Of course, it would be nice if he did something about the new English and Spanish translations.

Links for 08/24/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/links-082417
MSW:_Moore’s point is that the Democrats should be in striking distance in 2018. Let’s hope so, but better than President Pence, let’s impeach both of them and have President Pelosi.

I can see how a billionaire would be Paula White’s prosperity gospel savior. He is certainly not mine. This does show how right Spadro and Figuero are about American politics. I wonder how well they understand Roe itself? We need someone to explain it to pro-life Catholics.

If Trump keeps it up, Jamie Raskin’s sanity commission will pass both houses. We need to find something to demand his attention in the Situation Room enough to keep him indoors.

Leave poor Mrs. Mnuchin alone. She is not part of our Washington world and obviously did not thing Trumpworld was either. She and Steve made their money outside Washington, with Steve executive producing such films as Avatar. He is trying to bring some reality to tax reform, in the face of the incompetence of Cohn and Trump. I wish him well.

The ANES study is interesting. For a while a lot of us thought that the Bishop’s last minute abortion push mattered. Guess not, although I suspect the less frequent Mass attendees never hear it or avoid Mass because of it.

'America First' takes a hit with Trump's Afghanistan plan

https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/america-first-takes-hit-trumps-afghanistan-plan
MGB:_At first he claimed he was smarter than the generals, until he started hiring them as staff and had to face one of those famous Pentagon PowerPoint presentations designed to change the minds of presidents. His mind is easy to change, especially if the Chief of Staff reinforces the point. Hopefully the generals will run the occupation (the war was over quickly) and someone will negotiate our way out. It won't be Trump.

Afghanistan was not just about revenge. It was about trying to change their society in terms of how women are treated. Lest we forget, the Taliban drove a modernizing country backwards. A better way to help women is to give any woman or girl who wants to leave immediate US residency. At some point, the men will start behaving themselves.

Than answer is border change, by the way. Unite Afghan and Pakistani Pashtunistan, give the Uzbek and Tajik areas to the neighboring countries and create Baluchistan from what is left._We can withdrawal from all but the Pashtun areas until the radicals are decimated, especially al Zawahiri. When we get his head on a platter,we can leave.

Links for 08/22/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/links-082217

MGB:_O’Malley likely remembers persecution and is unwilling to stand with the persecutors, even when they claim victimhood. Still, the opportunity was lost to identify the victimizers as the capitalist class, which is likely paying the freight for the Nazis. Favorite Boston Sign: Losing Twice Wasn’t Enough? #1865 #1945

Newt is going to DoS Spouse School to learn to shut up. I pity his teachers.

As a Reds fan, I am glad the Vatican corrected its mistake, although some ecumenical sainthood may not be a bad thing.

The Senator from Arizona is overcoming is apt naming, although I suspect he has had a change in polling rather than a change of heart.

The bishops should confront racism more, but that should include confronting capitalism with its twin evils of oligopolistic pricing and oligopolistic wages. Anyone who claims a free market for either exists is either ill-informed or in the pocket of the capitalists. Interesting plug for Mr. Rogers out of Pittsburgh, but still nothing on capitalism. The protestors on both sides might even agree if the issue were framed in terms of ownership and control of the workplace. Of course, that may make the bishops nervous, since hierarchical capitalism copies Catholic Medievalism.

Sammons was not paying attention to the papacy of St. John Paul, who as a younger man was the chief Vatican II dissenter. That Vatican II is mentioned At all shows that Pope Francis is doing something right.

Cardinal Burke is inconsistent on 'constant teaching of the church'

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/cardinal-burke-inconsistent-constant-teaching-church
MGB:_Burke can correct his own remarks until he is blue in the face, but his opinion is just that, his opinion. He cannot correct the Pope or the Synod on the Family. Francis has a paradigm for his Magisterium that favors pastoral over legal approaches and essentially disregards the up-tight Magisterium of Papa Nono and Saints Pius and John Paul. If Burke wants to look silly, he can keep spinning his wheels, as can Chaput and DiNardo. It is not apostasy to make the hierarchy think. It is apostacy for them not to do so.

I strongly suspect that Burke is Asexual (mannerism and statements) and does recognize that his orientation affects his views on sexual morality and on Christ (who was not, despite their claims to the contrary that he led a detatched life).

Asexuals believe that their sexuality is a virtue and it may be for them, but it is not hetero or homonormative, i.e., healthy for the rest of us. It took Humanae Vitae for us to notice this and now we ignore the likes of Burke, but not Francis.

What to do about Burke? Out him and the other Asexuals in the clergy and do a reboot on Catholic sexual teaching and its asexual extremism. It is a rude and drastic step, so maybe a personal intervention by Church sponsored doctors would be a first step, but definitely discuss how asexuals have twisted doctrine to their own predilictions.

Trump made excuses for neo-Nazis, but we cannot

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/trump-made-excuses-neo-nazis-we-cannot
Donald Trump is the lead character in Being There, Chauncey the Gardener who likes to watch television.  In this case, FoxNews.  He seems to only watch Fox if he wants his truth.  If he watches any other news program or hears quotes, it is so he can argue with them.  As long as his fellow Fox viewers still like him, he considers himself a success.  As long as the pastors of those viewers endorse him, he feels holy, and sadly, there are such. More sadly, some are Catholic priests and bishops. They are the ones who should know better.  I don't expect it of Trump, who is simply a pathetic character.

Links for 08/17/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/links-081717
MGB: Richards needs a smarter strategy on abortion politics. It must not be done as an affinity issue. Instead, talk about Roe and why it was not wrongly decided as 14th Amendment Law. Point out why privacy decisions (there has never been privacy legislation - no abortion law) show collectively why the state's rights approach can never be supported because it is mob rule. It would also help if she backed huge increases in the child tax credit so that abortion is no longer economically necessary.
There needs to be consensus on that point with the left and right.

Spencer shows that even evil people tell the truth, even if they realize they have outed themselves.

Sadly, in the South, Catholic clergy sometimes don't make waves. The same KKK folks tend to still bomb Catholic Churches because they think the Pope is the anti-Christ.

Cardinal Sean is justifiably the senior leader of the American Church. Calling Nazi's pagan was a nice touch.

A deeper look at the controversy over converts who criticize the pope

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/deeper-look-controversy-over-converts-who-criticize-pope
MGB:_The converts blame Francis for taking care of a problem that started because Catholic women began leaving their marriages because they were not happy. Their daughters did the same thing. I have sad experience on this. Critics of A.L. are blaming the treatment for the pre-existing disease because it shatters their illusions about Church power. What do they want the Pope to do, excommuicate these women?

The converts want to stop modernity, especially around ordaining women. Seeing this pope thinking about female deacons is the start of the slippery slope they saw in Canterbury. Many of us cradle Catholics say it is about time. Hopefully they will bring sense to our debate on sex which been dominated by Asexuals since St. Paul. They came looking for Bing Crosby. Bing died a long time ago.

Some of them were Republicans who wanted their self-righteousness wrapped in a neat package. They found that Francis identifies with those of us who are objecting to pro-life Republican politics in our name when that politics is solely about elections and not progress for the unborn. We very much stand with the popes on economic and social teaching, which is the real cure for abortion, not the promise of sexual authoritarianism.

As for Newman, he was right the first time on Pio Nono. No council or synod should ever be abused like that. My mother was a convert. She loved the mysticism of the Latin Mass but went along with the changes. She died in the choir and going to adoration in her 80s. She found a home in the Church that she did not have growing up, even with the new Mass. Interesting contrast.

I stand with the cradle Catholics that speak and hope for change. That is not a bad thing, because the Church needs to grow, starting with recognizing that Asexuality is a thing and the extent to which its members have sucked the life out of Catholic teaching in this area.

Links for 08/15/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/links-081517
MGB:_Trump is just vomiting back what he sees on FoxNews, like any other angry old white man caught in their web of lies.

Anyone who knows the history of Confederate veterans and their reaction to the end of reconstruction, both locally and federally (the last by Wilson with Jim Crow) knows when and why the statues went up. You would think Trump would know more, since his father was in the Klan.

The Daily Mail hair swap is kind of childish. Also, not sure who came out worse.

Sadly, some converts come to us as a hedge against modernity, or worse as a refuge back into the misogyny of male-only ordination. Francis is surely scaring the Brits, who remember that female deacons were ordained first before any female priesthood. There will be few places left for them when we start going down this road. If Francis starts talking about differing sexual orientations, hetero, homo and asexual, we will know the end is near for contience, male ordination, celibacy and of asexuals asserting they are the perfect flowering of Catholic sexual morality, rather than the smallest sexual grouping. We are all not the same and that is OK.

We must welcome gays, lesbians as they 'were created to be'

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/we-must-welcome-gays-lesbians-they-were-created-be#c-2876530
MGB:_It is because Asexuals control the hierarchy and think only their sexuality, or lack thereof, is worthy. Because they are blind to the fact that they are a separate sexual orientation, they think we are all like them.

My father did not like the fact that I was, as he said, pro-queer (he did not know my brother is gay). I suspect that attitude was that he knew we could do nothing to gays but guilt them, but his type really minded those who were out and proud, not understanding that gay expression has no less right in the public space than straight objection (which for many is a function of their asexuality, not logic).

Catholic schools balance gay-straight alliance clubs with beliefs

https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/catholic-schools-balance-gay-straight-alliance-clubs-beliefs#c-2873637
Doctrine does not approve of persecuting gays, either in school or commerce, so there is no problem with these schools. The problem is that non-self-aware Asexuals believe that they chose celibacy and chastisty rather than it being a product of their own unconcious sexuality. Worse, they think it is the norm for Christianity and attempt to spread it to us. Such clubs are a way to start saying no. See more at http://xianleft.blogspot.com/2017/08/is-clergy-objectively-disordered.html

Conversation, listening essential for upcoming synod on youth, vocations

https://www.ncronline.org/news/theology/conversation-listening-essential-upcoming-synod-youth-vocations#c-2721285
MGB:_We need to pay careful attention to what we are teaching about sex. Are we attracting everyone, or just those who are asexual and uncomfortable with sexual attraction. We may using some bad bait. See more at http://xianleft.blogspot.com/2017/08/is-clergy-objectively-disordered.html

Hate, racism were on one side in Charlottesville, not many

MSW:_https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/hate-racism-were-one-side-charlottesville-not-many

MGB:_Trump is Chauncy Gardner. He believes what he sees on FoxNews, which showed angry demostrators on both sides. He does not have a deep knowledge of history, or why his racist supporters, which he emboldened as a birther against Obama, came out under his leadership. The alt-right wants life before civil rights  back, where Jim Crow united racism north and south and Confederate pride was honored in a gentlemanly struggle rather than a war to preserve economic advantage by the slave power. I wrote about this Saturday at  http://xianleft.blogspot.com/2017/08/removing-general-lee.html

DiNardo is as bad as Trump in pandering to his coalition, which includes the Republican right pro-lifers. DiNardo should know better. At least Cupich and Chaput did. Bravo, Philly!  GOP members of Congress also came out on racism, with no fear on how this effects the abortion coalition (which, of course, means it does not, as most right to life voters condemn alt-right racism). Most people reject Trumpism. It is a shame we linked the pro-life movement to it, even for a weekend in November. Could this weekend reverse this link? We shall see.

Pope says he's saddened by 'perfect' Catholics who despise others

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-says-hes-saddened-perfect-catholics-who-despise-others

MGB:_It is the hierarchist impulse that would rather have a perfect moral code than one that makes it easier to live life as a human being in the world today. The perfection of the Father was not perfect holiness, but perfect love. That should be our ideal. It is one we will never reach without the help of God. Perfect conduct is easy. Perfect love requires Christ. He is gentle and humble of heart. This is how we must be with our fellows. We must guide them to be fulfilled human, not angels, especially in sex.

Asexuality is one of many orientations in humanity. Those who are born to follow this path should not assume that the rest of us share these feelings. We will accept your non-attraction if you accept that yours is not the only path to holiness We won't even suggest reparative therapy for you. Just realize you did not chose asexuality, it chose you. Quit denying the rest of us priesthood because of it.

Evangelicals' audience request: Pope Francis, it's a trap

MSW:_https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/evangelicals-audience-request-pope-francis-its-trap

MGB:_If the Pope meets with Archbishop Chaput and the rabid Republicans in the Chruch’s Pro-Life and Organization for Marriage offices, he may as well take it one stop further and meet with the rest of the conspiracy of hate. He met with Trump. He can’t do worse. If Obama paved the way for anti-Christ, he has now certainly arrived in the White House.

Jesus came to dine with sinners, not the saved. He should meet with these guys and bring in Al Gore to talk to them about the environment. It would be blessed torture.

Links for 08/10/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/links-081017

MGB: Rev. Jeffress is the most disturbing kind of Dominionist.  Sadly, the Prosperity Gospel adhered to by the Donald probably has them consider the President a living saint. As far as Kim, the report on an imminent nuclear capability is fake news.

Ryan Ellis is an idiot.  There are no free market solutions to dealing with schools in need of money or unscrupulous bond traders that depend on the court to back their play.

The GOP hates the idea of raising the gas tax because Clinton did it (not even Obama). The best way from NY to Detroit now seems to be through Ontario.

Trinity Lutheran is likely the final nail in the coffin of the Blaine Amendments.  It is time for an out and out assault from Catholic school systems demanding funding.

I don't think converts are just upset about the Pope.  The synod itself was fairly unanimous in its views. I think some converts were craving doctrinal certainty. Unwise in a sect that is ripe for change.

Editorial: Time for dialogue on sexual ethics

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/time-dialogue-sexual-ethics
MGB:_The sexual piety in the Church started with Paul, who believed we must be pure of body for an upcoming end of days. We are still waiting for a special event that is likely more individual than communal. Sexual ethics must, therefore, be attuned to the ideals of human life, not some kind of angelic training period where dealing with the Church’s harsh doctrines are part of some kind of quest for personal perfection. Sexual ethics is for the now, not the eternal. Period. No more pietistic ethic.
We need to talk about the entire realm of sexual ethics, not just homosexuals (who, if they are created that way, and they are, are entitled to sexual expression), but also to singles (when is computer porn an outlet and when does it get in the way of having relationships and good sex) and the married (when is marital sodomy rape).
Where are immediate attention is needed, however, is on clergy and Continence. What does that practice say about how clergy views the married state and women as a whole. When you deconstruct it, it is not holy, it is rather ugly. Talk about it now and throw it on the ash heap of bad doctrine. When we ordain married men and women, straight and gay, the rest of this will work itself out rather quickly as long as Continence is repudiated. Note that I am not calling for dialogue. This is a demand for immediate action!

In secular age, 'Church, Faith, Future' shows path for Catholicism

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/secular-age-church-faith-future-shows-path-catholicism
MGB:_Should the Church be more secular? It depends. Some of my secular friends, which is the current term for atheistic, are so because of the abuses of the Church - not just the covering of child sexual abuse but in how the Church has politicized itself as the handmade of the reactionary movement. Some in the hierarchy seek, under the guise of religious freedom, religious power over both their employees and society.
Newsflash to the Chancery, if you think the woman going for your plumbing contract may be a lesbian, or you are sure because she talks about her wife, you may not reject her in our name for your bigotry. There is no moral reason to do so. You are being partisan puritans, not moral. You are not tainted by paying her to fix your pipes.
Humanism is not secular. A God that is not a Humanist has clay feet. Morality is about human life, not some angelic future. Moderism is not secular, it is about dealing with fact, whether in evolution or archeology. The story about Original Sin and Salvation must change, as well as homosexulaity and birth control. Democracy is not secular. It worked in the early Church and it will work in an age where Medievalism needs to be buried. These forces are not secular. They are a demand from inside the Church to change. Start with Continence, which is stoicism and bigotry, not purity and the rest of the reactionary artifice in the Church will fall away.
The Christian Left does not stop at the Church door. We do not grant the bishops sanctuary. We are coming inside to slap him in the face so he can receive the Holy Spirit (of Prophesy), whom he has been running from for too long.

Links for 08/08/17

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/links-080817
MGB:_Trump does not lose on style points, just basic sanity and knowledge of American law and government. There is a story of how General Dynamics got to build the C-5B, even though it did badly on the A. Reagan told the CEO at a cocktail party and the source slection was told to back him up.
In the 1930s people were grateful for a job and/or food. Ostentatiousness was looked down upon while many suffered. In modern times, race has become more visible as an issue because African-Americans, at least some of them, are doing better and whites won’t blame themselves for cutting services for the rest, especially white Clinton voters.
Activistst know 2018 is important, as much for Congress as governors. Getting the people to vote is another thing, especially in how we deal with abortion. Pluralism is not enough, we must defend Roe, demostrate why this can never be a state issue again and show how important Congress could be to this issue (indeed, it is the only place it could be an issue).
However flawed Hillary was, if she had been prepared for the Partial Birth Abortion question by reminding people that it was already illegal and that won’t be changing (because there are no such cases), concluding the movement is a fraud, then she might have won. She definitely would have with Booker or Patrick on the ticket. The Obama voters who said they only came out for him were not lying.
The White House will always be open the true Deplorables. I suspect Miller would call me a Cosmopolitan. I wear the term with honor.
Immigration has always been a GOP circular firing squad, pitting xenophobes against ethic businesses agaisnt capitalists who would buy slaves from coyotes. No way the Dems are letting this issue be settled.

No litmus test on abortion: a good sign for Democrats

https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/no-litmus-test-abortion-good-sign-democrats
MGB:_No one ever was kicking pro-life Democrats out of the party, so long as they were personally pro-life and not in favor of broad restrictions. This allowed pro-choice Catholics to argue that they were personally pro-life but respected the rights of their constituents who might want an abortion. Their personal stance stopped the local bishop from being able to attack them, although it did not stave off attacks from pro-lifers, which is street cred for pro-choice supporters. People wonder why Catholics are viewed as cagey?

 I prefer honesty. Pro-Choice politicians need to explain to the bishops and voters why Roe was rightly decided and why privacy rights (the right to be left alone by legislators) and Roe, as 14th Amendment law, was rightly decided and how to get around it with congressional action. Such action would likely leave us at the status quo and end the debate and all action on the issue. That would be worth the price of admission, which would end all hope of some miracle from SCOTUS.

'Do not trust in princes': the limits of politics

MSW:_https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/do-not-trust-princes-limits-politics
MGB:_The current tragedy of the commons is the Republican desire to win above all else, to control government for its own sake and to protect wealth and property rather than people. This is not really a new thing for conservatives, especially the southern variety, who took what was a system of indentured labor in exchage for transport and turned it into chattel slavery. It never really got better, it just changed labels. It is certainly not my Great Grandpa ”Dad” Allen’s Republican Party. Dad’s descendents are pretty much ashamed of what it has become. Unlike after 9/11, when the Democrats gave Bush a free hand, the GOP gave nothing to Obama in 2009 when the nation was again in crisis. This is a defect of character. Trump is but a more toxic symptom.
Of course, Democrats can be too cute for their own good, like when they did not act faster to change tax policy in 2009 because they wanted to embarrass the Republicans (they pulled victory from defeat only in 2013). The Immigration bill was a disaster if it had been passed, but they know it would not have been. Garland was also nominated to embarrass the GOP. No one in the Party really wanted him on the Court.
A Public Option would have decreased costs for normal patients and switching from unearned inocme payroll taxes on the rich to an expansion of the Hosplital Insurance Payroll Tax would have gotten both sides, except that enough Republicans would call that losing to ever get it enacted. While there may be no salvation in mortal men, it is still where you find a good political deal.

Archbishop backs transgender ban, but says human dignity must prevail

https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/archbishop-backs-transgender-ban-says-human-dignity-must-prevail
MGB:_The Archbishop is sadly mistaken. Being LGBTQ or straight, for that matter, is inate, not a choice. Until he understands that he is vicibly ignorant of the moral issues involved. He is also legally ignorant. Log Cabin Republicans v. United States will likely be reopened in the Central District of California if this issues becomes anything more than another of Trump’s insane tweets, which it likely will not be. The case was closed when DADT was repealed by law. Acting on the Twit’s tweet would surely cause the injuction to be reissued.

Links for 08/03/17

Links for 08/03/17: At Millennial, an interview with Eric LeCompte, the executive director of JubileeUSA, on building the kind of economy the Holy Father, and Catholic Social Doctrine more generally, calls for.

At Ameri...

MGB: While debt relief is a worthy goal, Catholic Social Teaching demands a living wage sensitive to family size and a more cooperative ownership structure (workers owning debt rather than owing it). For that, something more socialistic is required.

Some of what we do to oppose deportations causes them. When ICE can pick up aliens who are convicted of crimes from jail, they just get the arrestee. If they pick them up at home, they get the family. Not an improvement. If deportees were allowed to pick their next nation of exile, no one would have to go back to Salvador.

At Vatican II, some bit of American tolerance was accepted, especially on religious freedom, but it hardly americanized the Curia nor does it understand the right to privacy and how it is not just keeping things private. It means taking things out of majority rule that should not be left to it. The ultimate Americanism would be electing bishops again.

I presume a combat rosary saw service in Iraq or Afghanistan. While Mary loves all the troops, I am not sure that Mary the Palestinian Jew would approve of any foreign occupation by an imperialist power, speaking of that other kind of Americanism.

Sweeping claims flood Chaput's 'Strange Land'

Sweeping claims flood Chaput's 'Strange Land': Book Review: Archbishop Charles Chaput's new book, Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World, is strange indeed  —  full of relentlessly pessimistic, sweeping claims.

MGB:_The title is disrespectful to Robert Heinlein, who published a book by that name and who would not approve of anything said in this volume. I will take MSW’s advice and ignore the book, as if there was ever a chance I would read it anyway. If the Archbishop ever wanted to convince anyone that he should not be a Cardinal, this does it. Of course, he may be playing a long game and hoping that Francis will be done soon and will be replaced by a fellow Trad. I don’t see it. I suspect he is writing against the long ago debunked Americanist heresy, which is not about culture at all but about adapting doctrine to the circumstances of democracy. That does not seem a bad idea, especially if that includes electing bishops. Chaput would have had no chance. He may have decided this is as far as he goes, so like Burke is letting his freak flag fly. Someone in his curia should have stopped him, but he is as out of control as Trump.

Keep conversation going on Land O'Lakes, Catholic higher ed

Keep conversation going on Land O'Lakes, Catholic higher ed: Distinctly Catholic: The Land O'Lakes document and John Paul II's Ex Corde Ecclesiae may represent ends of the pendulum's arc. But that is how humans walk through history.

MGB:When Bishop Conley speaks of being unformed, he means unbrainwashed. When he says faith, he means loyalty. Land O Lakes did not destroy scholastacism, reality testing did. The Church thought it could say natural law with a nod and a wink toward papal authority and an educated Catholic laity would simply agree. You can have reason or authority. You can’t have both in same sentence. Faith is the courage to chase reason where it takes you, not to bracket it with the Magisterium.

Modernists are not to blame for the Church’s lack of creativity and stubbornness in dealing with the Eden myth in a world where evolution shows that there was no golden age of human perfection. The modern university did not doom the old thinking to irrelevance. It may be its salvation if you look at original sin as blame rather than an incident of disobedience and the Passion as a divine vision question to feel our human emptiness rather then an act of retribuation.

The Neuman Society harkens back to the day when the Church had religious power, especially cultural censorship. That has nothing to do with Land O Lakes. The affluent baby boomers and returning World War II veterans were never going to let culture be controlled by the Catholic Church. Federal funds simply had these students go to school and they brought themselves.

Ex Corde was yet another attempt at counter-revoution by a counter-revolutionary Pope. It was likely penned by his successor and will likely fall into disuse with Francis. Francis knows we need creativity, not loyalty, to keep the promise that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against us.

Links for 08/1/17

Links for 08/1/17: At First Things, Stephen Bullivant thinks I owe converts an apology for writing, “I am so tired of converts telling us that the pope is not Catholic.” Obviously, it is the fact that they a...

MGB:_The Pope is not Catholic enough is an old line. What the trad converts are saying is they were sure that the Church will never change and is somehow protected from error. The opposite is true. The Church has the Holy Spirit, which will prompt it to change when doing so is essential to the survival of the Church. Stubbornness about contraception and gays are not eternal values.

The stories of their latest success have them so entertained. The poverty of Francis is a fascination for its oddity. In the US, we worship success and think executive ability translates to political ability. I suspect that myth has now been destroyed. No more billionaire candidates.

Annett’s article follows the Outlook piece perfectly. I especially love where he calls the Trumpists in the Church relativists for their incipient fascism.

Chaput is right to be gloomy. He is one of the relativists. The closest I will come to reading his book is MSW’s review.

Broglio is happy for any bone that lets him join the culture war. Seeing tweet as truth is sad.