Great Quote From Michael Moore...

Here is a quote from a column he wrote in USA Today. He is speaking to republicans about republicans. He says, "Our side [the democrat side] is full of wimps who'd rather compromise than fight. Not you [republican] guys...Hanging out around the convention, I've encountered a number of the Republican faithful who aren't delegates. They warm up to me when they don't find horns or a tail."

Interesting...

Apparently communists endorse Kerry...I bet Ossama would too.

Softening The Hurt

My grandmother sent me letter to the editor that she clipped from a local newspaper back in South Dakota, I thought it was worth reproducing here.

"I had to write this letter solely for hte moral of it.

I cannot count how many people I have heard say, "I am pro choice."  This makes me sick in my heart.  How can anyone believe that a choice could ever be that of killing a baby?  I have been blessed with two adopted children and know many more.  I do not know the circumstance that caused the conception of these children, I do know what joy they have brought me and our family and other families and the great blessings we would have missed had their natural mothers thought abortion was their choice.

So I would like to know, how the people who believe that it would be better to kill a baby than give it life, even if it was conceived from the horrible act of rape, would make it better?  They are forgetting that from the rape God has blessed them with the greatest gift He could give them, that is the figt of new life.  If they are unable to take care of that gift, instead of killin it, they can pass it on to one of the thousands of couples who would take it and love it and care for it and ask God to bless the natural mother of their child every day.

Would not that help soften the memory of their original hurt more than adding another memory that will hurt them?

Ah Yes,,,The Side Effects...

Have you ever seen a commercial for some sort of medication hear them recite the side effects and then wonder to yourself why anyone in their right mind would take this pill. Here is a little parody of that situation.

Now to relate that to morality here is a quote telling what some of the side effects of the pill range From high blood pressure to blood clots², to heart attacks³, to migraine headaches, to menstrual problems after you quit taking the drug, hormonal contraceptives (the pill, Norplant, and Depo-Provera etc) can wreak havoc on a woman's body. It is no coincidence that the rise in breast cancer followed ten to fifteen years after hormonal contraceptives first became readily available⁴. It is also no coincidence that many women who have been on the pill for years and now want children, find they are now infertile⁵. Infertility has become a national epidemic, with couples spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying desperately to conceive. Unethical doctors continue to become wealthy prescribing contraceptives and then treating the side effects.

You can read the whole article on the harmful effects of contraception here.

Secular Humanism

A couple people who have commented and implied that they don't quite know what secular humanism is. I found a webpage that does not exhaust the definition and beliefs of secular humanists, but it is concise and easy to understand. Check it out here.

Words of Wisdom From One Of My Readers

When will we wake up to the fact that the secular humanism taught in our public schools is as much of a religion as Christianity? It is a clash of philosophies, complete with goals, value systems and acceptable behaviors. One is centered on man as the measure of all things while the other believes that man must transend himself to understand himself and finds as his/her source...God.

Which one is the truth? I think that history has answered that one. A society berift of God inevitably self destructs, and has repeatedly done so over an over again throughout history.

You cannot avoid the truth of the philosophic and logical proofs of God's existence. We may not understand all of the mysteries involved, but we can certainly understand the classic proofs of his existence and the testimonies of his revelations.

Consecration of The Altar of Sacrifice

As noted earlier I was one of the deacons for the consecration of the Altar of Sacrifice for the college Chapel here at Kenrick Seminary. Here are some pictures:

Here the altar has been annointed and incense is being burned on it. I am on the left of the Archbishop.

Here I am singing the Gospel.

And here His Excellency is preaching...check out that mitre...how very POD.

And here the Archbishop offers the gifts for the first time upon the newly consecrated altar. In this picture I am on the right.

To see all the pictures click here.

Deacon Assignment

Well, it's offical. Yesterday during a meeting with Archbishop Raymond Burke he gave me my letter of assignment for weekend ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. I wil be assigned to Queen of All Saints Parish at Oakville. It is a large parish with lots to do, and it has a school too.  I am very excited to go there. Please keep me in your prayers as I begin this ministry, and if you are in St. Louis on any weekend just stop on by for Mass.

Here is a link to the parish.

In other news related to Archbishop Burke, I will be serving as deacon as he dedicates a new altar for the College Chapel later this evening. For you liturgy nuts we will also be celebrating the stational Mass of the Bishop, which these days is a rarety. I hope to have pictures of the ceremony soon.

Good Thing The Church Isn't a Democracy

The Theology of The Body

Here is a great starting point if you want to learn more about Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body, but don't want to read the whole book here is a great article.  Here is a little quote:

What’s wrong with the world today is we no longer understand what it means to love. So often what we call love in our culture is nothing but a man and woman or two men or whoever using one another for our own selfish pleasure.

The opposite of love, for the Pope, is not hatred. The opposite of love is to use someone as a means to my own selfish end. This is not some abstract theology-we know this to be true. When somebody uses us, treats us as a thing rather than as a person, we feel violated...

If we knew how valuable sex was, we would have a world of men and women who are willing to make all the sacrifices necessary to love rightly.

If men and women lived this vision, it would be a world of peace, a world of harmony. Not without difficulties, because living this vision is very difficult. But if men and women really took it up despite the challenges, there would be no such thing as war, divorce, AIDS... The world would be a culture of life, a civilization of love.

You can read the whole article here.

What Has Our Society Come To?

You know that society is on a toboggan slide to hell when you can actually buy pimp and ho costumes for you children.  It's just another symptom of how pagan our society has become.

On The Use of Contraception

Compliments of Fr. Matthew:

By Janet Smith at catholiceducation.org, "Contraception, Why not?"

... Let me just give this little anecdote. I have a friend who has seven brothers and sisters. They were all raised Catholic and very few of them are practicing Catholics now and all of them are contraceptors except one couple. The couple that is not contracepting but using Natural Family Planning, had four children, all planned, etc. The other couples, again, have no children, all contracepting, two income households, lots of disposable income, lots of time for romance and fun. And one night the eight of them were having a very open discussion about their sex lives. And all of the women, the contracepting women, were complaining that they felt that they were just being used in the sexual act. They felt that this was just one more thing that was expected of them and they felt used. And the men were complaining. They were complaining that they had been reduced to begging for sex which they found demeaning and that they were engaging in sex with a woman who just wasn't all that engaged. She might just as well be watching TV. And they're having this conversation and the couple using Natural Family Planning, were looking at each other quizzically and saying, “What are they talking about? Is sex not interesting? Is sex not as interesting as TV? Begging for sex? I don't know what this is all about. We're doing just fine.”

Now, if you were to look at these couples: The contracepting couples — two incomes, fitness clubs, designer clothes; the couple with the four children — getting pudgy, gray, financially stressed, not as much sleep, etc. Which couples are having a satisfying sex life? It's amazing, but it's the opposite of what one would expect. And I think there's something there, in Natural Family Planning, that causes this kind of closeness and love between a couple that is really the heart and soul of what makes sex good. It's not having a designer body and designer clothes and lots of disposable income. That won't buy you a good sex life. It's really trust and love and tenderness and really knowing and communicating with the individual with whom you are having sex. And that's what Natural Family Planning brings about.

It Speaks for Itself

Con Artists?

Are some democrats purposely trying to decieve us about who they are and what they are about?  James Fitzpatrick says yes and offers reasons why.  Here is a little quote from his article:

"I have been waiting for someone to provide validation for the irritation I experienced when watching the recent Democratic convention. My wait is over. A prominent Democrat has come forward to corroborate my suspicions about the con-job being carried out by the likes of John Kerry, John Edwards and the Clintons.

It is a revealing and pivotal moment. To achieve victory at the polls, Democrats like John Kerry and Hillary and Bill Clinton — who cut their ideological teeth in the 1960s anti-war movements — are willing to cover up who they are...One thing should be clear: Americans deserve an explanation for what is behind this new image being pushed by the Democrats. Why are they wrapping themselves in the flag and traditional values these days, in spite of all the years they spent giving people like Michael Lerner the impression that they were on his side? Who is being conned? Him or us?"

Read the whole article here.

A Couple of Good Quotes

From the academic dean of my seminary:  "All the saints are theologians, and only the saints are theologians."

From my history professor:  "Religion is taught in public schools...it's called anti-Catholicism."

The Voice of Tolerance...Yeah Right.

The following was written to a pro-family housewife who dared to voice her opinion about a play that portrays two homosexual men naked (which in Chicago - where it is playing - is illegal) by a man who is for tolerance and free speech.  Apparently he is only tolerant of those who believe what he believes and is in favor of free speech as long as the person is saying the same thing he is saying.  Here goes the quote"

"Seriously, you are a fat stupid housewife. How dare you pretend to determine the artistic value of anything outside your fabulous, home-cooked meatloaf. Leave the literary discussions to people who aren't completely brainwashed by Jesus. (By the way, you do realize that not all Americans are Christian, right?)

"The fact of the matter is this — you're a moron. Take your psychotic Christian values and move to Utah. In Chicago, people are open minded, intelligent, and accepting — accepting of other religions, other sexual preferences and other ways of thought. You automatically make me into a pervert by defending free speech. There is nothing 'obscene' about [name of play], at least not determined by your precious 'court.' The play has appeared in venues across the country. The only people that have a problem are people that would never see the play anyways.

"Honestly, I don't even care about this.play. I've never seen it and I probably never will. Your stuck up, holier than thou attitude drives me insane. How dare you determine what we can or cannot see.

"You and your fellow Christian housewives have to accept the fact that young, vital people like me are the ones that will inherit this world, and we reject your values and we reject your ignorant religion. (You don't hear about too many Buddhist monks molesting young boys, do you? Interesting.)

"It's also interesting that you reject a Supreme Court justice's ruling because you disagree with his viewpoint on other, completely unrelated topics. The Supreme Court defines the law, stupid!"

Surely this man is the epitome of tolerance and free speech.

The Reality of Abortion

"At midnight, my ex-partner knocked on the door to check if I was all right. ... I went to the bathroom and as I was sitting there, I just felt something slip out of me as if I had just given birth. I looked in the toilet and saw this lump that seemed to have a bone in it. So I showed it to my former partner."

The couple realized they were looking at the face of their unborn child, seeing the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. The tiny head measured no more than 4 centimeters.

"We just broke down and cried at what we were seeing. We couldn't believe it," Chambers sobbed to the paper.

I find it amazing that anyone could think that people can actually think that someone has a right to kill their own child.  It's just plain diabolic.

Haven't We Been Saying This All Along?

Yet another study shows that the use of contraception causes an increase in STD's.  Read about it here.

Happy Birthday

Today marks the first birthday of this blog.  It's been fun.  Lets keep it going for another year.

Sick and Wrong

Yeah, lets debase ourselves to help others get over their debasement. Nice logic.

Just For Fun

I Can't Believe This...No, Actually I Can...And It's Pathetic

Domenico Bettinelli:  Deal Hudson, publisher of Crisis, announced today that he was stepping back from being a political adviser on President Bush’s campaign because reporters at an unnamed liberal Catholic publication are trying to dig up dirt on him. Remember this is what Hudson says. I have no reason to doubt him, but these are only vague allegations so far.

Gee, what national liberal Catholic publication with reporters on staff would be interested in using dirty tactics against a conservative Catholic friend of the president? I’m not naming any names, but it is a short list.

It’s one thing to disagree on politics and even the faith. But to engage in such purely mean-spirited and uncharitable mud-slinging against, not your main target, but a proxy is pretty low. It would be one thing if the incidents in Deal’s past had some bearing on the controversies of today (such as examining whether a particular bishop had certain skeletons in the closet that made him susceptible to blackmail by a pervert priest), but they apparently don’t. It looks like the idea is to discredit Hudson so that he can’t be any aid in helping the President garner the crucial Catholic vote.

Schwarzenegger Causing A Big Splash

An angry businessman sued by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for marketing bobblehead dolls in his likeness says he will now market "Arnie" urinal cakes.

He has announced plans to launch fresh Schwarzenegger products this month, including "a new line of Schwarzenegger urinal cakes and urinal screens often found in men's restrooms".

Schwarzenegger's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment on how the Governor would react to his image being relegated to the bottom of a urinal.

Mr Edgell says that the Arnie product line-up will also include a Schwarzenegger "Girlie-Man" bobblehead doll, featuring the imposing Governor and former Mr Universe bodybuilder wearing "a pink dress, lipstick and eye make-up".

Read the whole article here.

Like The New Template?

It's a new school year so I said to myself, "What the heck...maybe I should get a new template."  Let me know what you think in the comments box.

A Good Guide To Right Reason and Logic

"In logic, as in life, it is the obvious that most often bears emphasizing, because it so easily escapes our notice," McInerny argues in this pithy guide to applying logical thinking to everyday life. Modeled after Strunk and White’s indispensable handbook, The Elements of Style, McInerny’s primer offers valuable counsel on making a clear and effective point. He calls attention to the tremendous importance that language holds in the crafting and presentation of an argument, advising readers to "make your words as precise and sharply focused as possible" and to keep arguments, or at least their essential purpose, simple. Readers need not have a background in philosophy to follow McInerny’s remarkably comprehensible explanation of the methods used to construct a valid case, including the syllogistic argument, the conjunctive and disjunctive arguments and the conditional argument. The author also dedicates considerable discussion to the sources and the principal forms of illogical thinking, from such common ruses as begging the question and using tears as a diversionary tactic to the more ethically questionable ad hominem strategy, in which a person ignores an argument and attacks his opponent’s character instead. McInerny recommends that people hone their logical thinking skills by using them in real life situations, but perhaps one of the best ways his audience can learn to clearly express their views is by examining the crisp, articulate writing in this slender but richly informative guide.

Some of the people who debate on this blog might want to check this book out to improve their abilities.

Things Will Be Slow For A Few More Days

Still unpacking and organizing...

I'm Famous...Sort Of...

This blog has been made reference to in the Denver Post.  Check out the article here.

The Coming Few Days

Things will be pretty quiet around here the next couple of days.  I am packing up and heading back to St. Louis for school.  I will hopefully be able to post some things, but don't get your hopes too high.  See you soon.