T-shirt seen at the Gathering of Nations Pow-Wow in Albuquerque:
Sure You Can Trust the Government: Ask an Indian
T-shirt seen at the Gathering of Nations Pow-Wow in Albuquerque:
Sure You Can Trust the Government: Ask an Indian
in Anti-Semitism, Uncategorized 1 Comment
David Ben Gurion observed that where there are two Jews, there are three opinions.
One Jewish web site agrees:
Although Jews have excelled in many different sports, only one sport truly has a claim as being the Jewish national sport. Soccer? Dreidel? No. The Jewish national sport is…arguing!
Jonathan Kay in the National Post reports the opinions of a Moslem in Egypt:
Ever wonder how Jews took control of the U.S. government, the international banking system and the entire world economy? If so, please direct your attention to www.memritv.org, where you can watch footage of a televised interview with archeologist Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Segueing deftly from a discussion of the failed Jewish revolt against Rome, Dr. Hawass brings the discussion into the modern age: “For 18 centuries [the Jews] were dispersed throughout the world,” he declares. “[Then] they went to America and took control of its economy. They have a plan. Although they are few in number, they control the entire world … The reason is that they are always united over a single view. They always move together, even if in the wrong direction. We [Muslims], on the other hand, are divided. If even two Arab countries could be in agreement, our voice would be stronger.”
But truth be told, Dr. Hawass’s flattery is off the mark. As The New York Times’ David Brooks wrote last week, argument is Israel’s national sport. The same acrimonious spirit runs through the Diaspora. After all, what anti-Israel protest is complete without a bunch of left-wing middle-aged Jewish women wailing about the sins of Zionism?
The disagreements are intra-familial:
Dr. Hawass doesn’t seem like the type who goes in for inter-faith bread-breaking. Too bad, because I’d love to watch the man’s jaw drop when my Chomskyite cousin Melvin and I assail one another viciously from opposite ends of the Seder table. No doubt, Dr. Hawass imagines such family gatherings to be miniaturized versions of a Bilderberg Conference, at which we all pledge fealty to Zionism, neo-conservatism and who knows what else. The truth is that politics and foreign affairs are as divisive within the Jewish community as without — with endless bickering being the only constant.
But as is well known, the Elders of Zion have retired. Bernie Madoff (the anti-Semites poster boy) did them in. Now they argue about which restaurant in Miami has the best early-bird special.
in demography, Uncategorized 3 Comments Tags: birth rates, prayer, Worldwide Values Survey
Focus (April 11, 2009) in “Fructbarer Glaube” (not on-line yet) reports on the birthrate in Switzerland in 2000.
Children per woman according to religious membership
2.79 — Hindu
2.44 — Moslem
2.06 — Jewish
1.62 — Eastern Orthodox
1.42 — Buddhist
1.41 — Roman Catholic
1.35 — Protestant
1.24 — Jehovah’s Witnesses
1.11 — No religious association
The Worldwide Value Survey (1986-2004) correlated the number of children and the frequency of prayer
Number of children — Frequency of Prayer
1.48 — Never
1.61 — Seldom
1.86 –- Many Times Times a Month
2.24 — Many Times a Week
We have six children. I say grace at meals, morning and evening prayers (brief) and the Rosary. If Europeans would resume praying, they might not die out.
in Uncategorized No Comments Tags: Baltimore, letters of marque, privateers
Many Baltimore fortunes were built on captured British ships. The Baltimore Clipper was built to run fast and function as a privateer. The idea has been revived. The National Post reports
U.S. lawmaker says Somali piracy has an age-old solution: “Letters of marque” empowering private citizens to chase the seaborne scoundrels from the oceans.
Republican Representative Ron Paul and a handful of conservative theorists say it’s time that the U.S. Congress used the technique, pioneered by European powers in the 18th century as a way to wage naval warfare on the cheap.
Major shipping companies should accept a “go at your own risk” approach and not expect government help when they transit through pirate-infested waters, Mr. Paul said this week in a video posted on the public Internet site YouTube.
“I don’t think just because people go into these dangerous waters that our army and navy and air force and everything has to follow,” he said, adding that letters of marque would allow merchant ships to sail armed.
“I think if every potential pirate knew that this would be the case, they would have second thoughts, because they could probably be blown out of the water rather easily if those were the conditions,” said the Texas lawmaker.
The U.S. Constitution explicitly allows Congress to issue such letters, in effect giving private parties a license to fight hostile seaborne forces like pirates, in theory without fear of being branded pirates themselves.
Typically, the arrangement offered privateers no reward from the government except a share of the booty recovered, taking all of the risk and attendant costs off the books of frequently cash-strapped global powers.
Some famous beneficiaries included Henry Morgan, famed explorer Francis Drake, as well as William Kidd — who stands as an example of the shadiness of the practice, having been hanged in London in 1701 for piracy and murder.
Lacking a potent navy of its own, the U.S. government relied on such letters in the young republic’s early days, notably in the War of 1812 against Britain, and never signed the 1856 Declaration of Paris outlawing the practice.
During World War II, Washington issued a letter of marque enabling the civilian-operated airship Resolute to patrol for submarines.
But even some modern supporters, like the free-market boosting Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) in Washington say the concept needs updating to offer a viable solution to Somali piracy.
“It’s the type of free-market solution to a real problem that Congress should consider but hasn’t in any serious way,” said CEI senior fellow Eli Lehrer, who urged Congress “to revisit the concept.”
If the letters were issued to private pirate hunters rather than used as a way to allow merchant vessels to arm themselves, it would raise the obvious problem of how to reward them: Somali pirates, unlike their Hollywood colleagues, aren’t known for treasure chests piled high with gold.
The U.S. government stepped around the problem after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by placing a multi-million-dollar bounty on the heads of top al-Qaeda terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.
“Issuing letters of marque are one way to foster the protection of American citizens abroad without requiring an American military presence in foreign territory,” said CEI policy analyst Michelle Minton.
“If international governing bodies fail at the task, which repeated pirate attacks seem to indicate, the U.S. government should do something,” she said in a statement last week.
For Mr. Paul, however, the goal is reducing what he describes as US overinvolvement abroad.
“Overall, I think it [Somali piracy] raises questions about our foreign policy and once again, I think foreign intervention leads to all kinds of problems,” he said.
in Liturgy, Uncategorized No Comments Tags: Liturgy
In 1912, a member of the Church and Religion Forward Movement complained that trained choirs were replacing congregational singing and were becoming a form of religious entertainment. He added
What is worse than that is this: That in this tendency to aestheticism, we have brought within the pale of the church—may we blush for it—a kind of vaudeville. We have brought instrumentalities that have no rightful place there, that are a disgrace to the church. Thank God the time has come when a righteous public opinion has risen to smite this method of interpreting the dignity and the message and the glory of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We must away with these things. We must have within the church the things that are decent and well-ordered, whether they are interpreted through a beautiful liturgy or a dignified, extemporaneous service.
Hear, hear! Because all too often I have to hear a celebrant who obviously missed his vocation as a Las Vegas night club host and musicians who couldn’t make it in the club scene.
in Moral Theology 5 Comments Tags: Mel Gibson, rigidity
Mel Gibson’s wife has filed for divorce. His behavior over the years has been provoking both his alcoholism and his remarks that she would not be saved because she was an Anglican. Gibson himself belongs to a schismatic group so the latter remark was especially puzzling.
I have observed over the years that individuals and societies that are overly-rigid tend to self-destruct in a spectacular way. Individuals tend to adopt some ultra –rigid form of their religion. It is misleading to call this form fundamentalist or conservative, because one can conserve one’s beliefs and traditions and adhere to the fundamentals of one’s faith without being rigid.
I think that people become rigid because they fear the chaos that they sense in themselves, and adopt rigidity as a defense against it. I was told the story of one Anglo-Catholic priest who had screaming fits if an altar boy made a slight mistake in the ritual. The priest was obviously gay and was trying hard not to give in to his desires, and felt that the slightest deviation or laxity would lead to chaos.
Northeasterners have resented the implication that they are less moral than the Bible Belt. The Northeast has a low divorce rate; the Bible Belt has a high divorce rate. Northeasterners are much more tolerant of sex before marriage; teenagers in the Bible Belt disapprove of sex before mirage and run off to Gatlinburg for a quickie marriage, which is then followed by a divorce.
A stable society (or personality) can tolerate much more diversity than an unstable can.
The Northeast is much more stable (and also older and more female) than the Bible Belt, which upholds strict standards in a defense against the chaos of human passions.
Rigidity is often accompanied by brittleness, and leads to spectacular downfalls. Such downfalls are not the result of hypocrisy, but of an attempt to control chaos by rigid and unbending rules. Such an attempt doesn’t work very well; a person of inner virtue and strength and stability will not worry so much about minor things, but will trust himself to do the right thing in normal circumstances.
Die Welt reports:
Spam-Mails fressen so viel Strom wie Millionenstadt
Spam gobbles as much electricity as a city of millions
(2.4 million, to be exact, as the Germans like to be). Spam: Umweltschmutzer!
in demography, Germany 2 Comments Tags: birth rate, Germany
Misleading statistics indicated that Germany’s birth rate was rising because of new, generous government polices. But the statistics were misleading. Despite lavish benefits, the German birth rate continues to drop. Der Spiegel reports
On Tuesday, though, the German Federal Statistical Office released preliminary figures for all of 2008, and the news is not pretty. Rather than the heralded rise in births, 2008 saw a 1.1 percent drop in the birthrate — or 8,000 fewer children for a country already worried about its growing demographic crisis.
Allan Carlsson has observed that it is not possible for a government to buy children. At best government policies can encourage people to have children earlier, but polices will not increase the number of children.
Sectors of Germany, right and left, want to encourage women to enter and to stay in the work force. The number of working-age Germans is dropping rapidly. Business wants a larger work force to keep down wage demands, and therefore wants women in the work force. Egalitarians who want men and women to have identical life-patterns therefore want women in the work force. But it is hard to have a replacement birthrate when women have the pressure of a career.
A crown of thorns crowns Him, Who is the King of Angels.
He is wrapped in the purple of mockery, Who wrapped the heavens with clouds.
He is buffeted with blows, Who freed Adam in the Jordan.
He is transfixed with nails, Who is the Bridegroom of the Church.
He is pierced with a lance, Who is the Virgin’s Son.
We worship Your Passion, O Christ, Show us also Your glorious Resurrection.
in clergy sex abuse scandal, Icons, Uncategorized 1 Comment Tags: Maundy Thursday
Ubi Caritas et amor, ibi Deus est
A new commandment (mandatum) I give to you, love one another, as I have loved you.
But the beloved disciple, reclining on Jesus’ breast, asked, who it was who would betray him. The one who dipped his hand in the dish with me is the one, Jesus answered. Judas took the morsel, in a demonic parody of the Eucharist, and instead of Jesus, the devil entered into him.
The deepest shadow falls over the instituion of the Eucharist: it is the seal of love and the occasion of betrayal. So I fear shall it shall ever be in the Church: Jesus will be betrayed by those whom he has chosen to be close to him.
in Icons 1 Comment Tags: Judas, Spy Wednesday
Today is Spy Wednesday, because Judas was spying out an opportunity to betray Jesus, as he would do with a kiss.
I often wonder whether Judas thought Jesus would escape as he had before, no harm would have been done, and Judas would have been thirty silver pieces richer. When Judas realized that his plan was not working out and that he had inadvertently betrayed Jesus to his death, he was overcome with horror and killed himself. Perhaps.
in Mexico, Uncategorized 3 Comments Tags: Mexico, Santa Muerte, St. Death
Sometimes one wonders about absolute freedom of religion:
From CNA:
Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, warned this week about the “terrorist” nature of the call for a “holy war” against the Catholic Church by the leader of followers of “St. Death.”
David Romo Guillen, leader of the devotion to “St. Death,” especially popular among drug traffickers and criminals, called for a “holy war” against the Catholic Church after the Mexican Army destroyed several places of worship it suspected to be criminal hideouts, especially in the northern part of the country.
“Only terrorist or fundamentalist leaders call for holy wars, like Bin Laden or the Taliban. It’s a shame that Mr. Romo makes himself equal to the Taliban or a terrorist by calling for a holy war,” said Father Valdemar. After the destruction of the suspected hideouts, Romo blamed the military’s actions on the Catholic Church, because several bishops had warned against the devotion and called it un-Christian.
This Monday, the followers of St. Death, led by David Romo, protested outside the Cathedral of Mexico City, bearing pictures of the “White Child,” the name they have given to St. Death, represented by a skeleton dressed in a white tunic or sometimes in a wedding gown.
in Icons No Comments
Notice the hats on the right. Jews were required to wear these during the fourteenth century.
in abortion, Moral Theology 5 Comments Tags: Catholic laxity, Gallup poll
The Gallup poll I cited below is puzzling. Why should Church regularly-Church-going Catholics be laxer in their attitudes to morality than regularly-Church-going Protestants?
The Church regards Tradition as the source of revelation. Tradition is That Which is Handed Over, tradere, and includes Scripture. Scripture is part of the life of the Church, and is to be understood as the Church understands it. I think even Protestants would see the logic of this view of Tradition, although they would place greater emphasis than Catholics do on Scripture as the norm of faith.
When moral questions arise, a Catholic should consult revelation, as interpreted by the magisterium. But what is the magisterium? Some regard it as the pope and the bishops who are in union with him. Others would include theologians. Before Vatican II, there were few disagreements about moral question in the Church, usually on rare cases.
In practice Catholics did not consult Pope, bishops, or theologians, but the prelist in their parish or what they read in Catholic publications. Again, before Vatican II there were few disagreements about morality. Anyone in the clergy would give basically the same answer to a question about morality. There were minor differences, and Catholics were taught you could follow any reputable opinion if there were differences. These usually concerned disciplinary questions, such as the requirements of fasting.
But after Vatican II total chaos ensued. The Catholic Theologian Society issued a book that could not bring itself to condemn any sexual practice including adultery and swinging. André Guindon, who taught in a seminary and wrote a book extensively used in catholic seminaries, claimed that the main problem with pedophilia was the fuss the parents made (all discussed at length in my book).
Especially in the area of sexuality, a Catholic during the past 40 years could find a priest who would countenance or even advocate any imaginable (and many unimaginable) sexual practice. With this multitude of voices, Catholic, being human beings who are therefore adverse to curbs on appetite, chose to follow the voices promoting laxity, with the results that the poll shows.
Protestants, more accustomed to consulting Scripture directly, did not undergo this revolution. Although liberal Protestant theologians attempted to undermine the moral teachings of Scripture, they had to deal with the unchanging words on the page, which still carry divine authority for many Protestants.