Links for 08/12/15 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 08/12/15 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I am sure the Archbishop wants us all in confession for our politics.  See what I said on Kuyper and cheap grace.  He wants cheap forgiveness, but the problem is that we are not the ones in error.  HE IS!  He needs to go to confession, as well as any hospital personnel that ever turned a domestic partner, now spouse, out of their spouse’s hospital room.  His Penance is to celebrate gay weddings in his diocese and hire gay married staff, treating them with full dignity.



Unless  Kasich starts to condemn capitalism as it now is practiced, he could only be the Pope’s choice in the GOP and only as the lesser of many evils.  In reality, I suspect Francis is feeling the Bern!



People can believe what they want, but they have to follow employment law when it comes to treating spouses with equality – whether employers, justice of the peace, or tax collectors.  Cake bakers too.  They are not implicated in what they perceive as sin – which is not the marriage – that’s a bumper sticker – but the sex.  The latter is none of their business, even if you are selling lubricants.  That is even the Catholic objection, but it does not yet realize it lost at Lawrence v. Texas.  Too late now, gay sex in private is a matter the legislature cannot touch, period.  That is the real argument and the constitution is very clear in the 9th Amendment.  We cannot force gay Catholic or other religious marriages, although one can argue with a straight face that gay unions where functionality and an exchange of vows exist are indeed sacramental.  It is, however, up to the members of each Church to force the clergy to behave correctly.  And yes, there are ways and they should be pursued. In short, Rusty and Ryan and Robert are all wrong.

Abraham Kuyper, Part III | National Catholic Reporter

Abraham Kuyper, Part III | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: To continue, I like that Kuyper attacked the smugness of the saved – back when Calvinism was fresh and new, Paul was taken literally and one had show deeds  as a proof of personal salvation.  This obsession with going to Heaven rather than building the Kingdom of God on earth has dogged Christianity for millennia, but it is perhaps worst in some Calvinists, although the advocates for frequent confession do come in a close second.  Note that the latter are Catholic Trads.



Note that predestination is one of those moral positions that assumes God is an Ogre whose arbitrary nature is part of the deal.  Gotta disagree with that, including when such stances are used by the pro-life movement – which is where Calvin and the bishops meet.  Kuyper hits the social nature of election right on the head, too, then and now, Catholic and Protestazant.



The ultimate discussion of predestination is found in Christianity, the First 3000 Years by Anglican priest and historian Diarmaid MacCulluch.  It simply sings.



On the unity thing, Christ also said that those who are not against me are with me.  Those who exclude such people are violating unity, not the dissenters.  Kuyper’s way of dealing with individuals reminds me of Francis too, who will even be nice to Burke when Burke is not apparently deserving of it.



Any ecumenicist should read this book, especially those in the pro-life movement and especially because it will make them squirm.



On the Sphere Sovereignty quote with Christ calling everything “Mine!”  No, that is a misunderstanding.   He does so not to desire to turn us all to angels, but to have us live as happily human (and humanistic as He is) in this life.  Live like the next life is none of our business just yet and you will “risk impurity” just exactly where it is appropriate.

Abraham Kuyper, Part II | National Catholic Reporter

Abraham Kuyper, Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I would call Kuyper a Christian Democrat rather than a Calvinist (though he was one), due to the use of the term by others who have more in common with social Darwinism than Darwin himself (how ironic is that?) Still, there was something rotten in the workplace and Kuyper was as attuned to it as the Internationale and the Georgists. His participation in and incorporation of an anti-revolutionary party is interesting. The way revolution was really held at bay was mass consumerism. Time and again, if you throw higher wages at workers they de-radicalize. My bet was that this was not the intent of the ARP, but it was the result.



Sphere Sovereignty is what Kuyper is known for. If only some of the fundamentalists would honor it. Or the USCCB. Of course, each might say that to the Supreme Court. As good as Sphere Sovereignty sounds, all things really are connected – if only because they all affect the people. I am a person always, whether a person shopping, working, praying or studying. Everything affects everything and one day it will all be rationalized into a whole, hopefully a whole that is democratic. Sphere Sovereignty is only necessary when you don’t trust the common people and they must have elites appointed over them, in which case spheres make sense, especially when you source sin as the font of human suffering, rather than simply relating sin to a punishing God Ogre – would that this concept had died in that era!

Abraham Kuyper, Part I | National Catholic Reporter

Abraham Kuyper, Part I | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Kuyper is the spiritual Godfather of the Christian Democratic movement. The Center for Public Justice is the presence of that movement in the United States. While it is unapologetically Calvinist, it is not the same kind of Calvinism practiced by the Southern Baptist Convention. Essentially, Kuyper saved Calvinism from selfishness and its adherence to capitalism and materialism in all things. Of course, that means he is also no social democrat. I wonder how he would react, however, to the existentialists. Probably the same way. I also like the quote about Modernism. He is right about that and the Trads are oh, so wrong in their pursuit to call all change error. The term addiction to doubt is not meant to apply to agnostics, but to uncompromising Trads – with their gold and red markers.



The rejection of the Holiness movement is interesting as it relates to those who would use the law to force social holiness on those they approve of, as well as the same practice in the Churches (both Evangelical and Catholic). There was no cheap grace for Kuyper, and I doubt he would have much nice to say about frequent confession and the Catholic preoccupation with the state of grace, usually over sexual matters. His work seems to point to Grace as the essential element of both initial and continuing salvation. Note to MSW. Kuyper talked about the Holy Spirit, not the Church, as the giver of grace.



The Reformed movement is fascinating and I suspect we will be discussing more of it tomorrow. Indeed, the entire Emergent Church is the latest fruit of this vine.

Links for 08/07/15 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 08/07/15 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Religious Liberty as lately discussed is an attempt at religious power over religious employees and society at large. It does not pass the smell test.  That goes doubly true for FADA, which would privilege religious groups over individuals.  We tried that in the 1950s and grew out of it.

Kirsten Powers does not understand the rule of law.  A baby may exist earlier than legally recognized, but that is because recognizing first trimester embryoes is too complicated for the law to deal with once due process and privacy enter the picture. That is not a Democratic view, its law.

The GOP's First Debate: Who Won & Who Lost? | National Catholic Reporter

The GOP's First Debate: Who Won & Who Lost? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Anyone who did not watch won the debate, although judging by his performance, I suggest Trump's loved ones use this as an occassion to get him into treatment for Bipolar Disorder - Type I.  His ranting is Mania.

The winner is the one the press says won.  That story won't be gelled until the middle of next week.  Still, until people start racking up delegates, its largely entertainment, so FoxNews did win.

Links for 08/06/15 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 08/06/15 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Paul VI did much for the Church and defended papal power well, which usually gets someone canonized - although John Paul the Great was a doubter at Vatican II and would probably not allow a canonization to go forth.  More's the pity.  Humanae Vitae will not be regarded 100 years ago as anything but bad biology, although that does not seem to matter - Pius X and his band of informers would never be canonized today.  Pius XI likely deserves it.

Archbishop Wenski is the right man in the right place, with a knowledge that he and his flock will not be able to tread water when Miami becomes part of the Gulf of Mexico.

The IRS was never going to revoke tax exemptions for Churches on gay marriage.  Of course, this does not prevent the Department of Labor from going after those Churches who essentially abuse gay married employees. The new religious freedom (really religious power) regulations were long expected to be non-controversial.  The GOP attained its prize, the Senate, so you won't hear about them again. Get ready for a new war on women to be declared by NOW any time soon.