Category Archives: Reflecting on the news

Looking Heavenward

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While some are in a tail-spin looking to for economic hope somewhere, others are looking to the stars.  No not horoscopes; the real thing, those twinkling bits of heaven. “Space enthusiasts consider themselves lobbyists for mankind, and they argue that even science fiction has practical applications.”

“Much of the world is focused on the travails of the global economy. We’re bombarded by news of layoffs and foreclosures.” There is hope hovering above our heads. Those with their heads in the stars are “making an extra effort to look beyond our little planet.  They argue that this age of uncertainty is actually a good time to dream mankind’s biggest dreams. And they’re being encouraged by space-exploration proponents who are finding new ways to involve amateur astronomers.

Last month, the International Space Station, while docked with the shuttle Discovery, was visible to the naked eye. My wife found out the exact minute they would fly over our home in Michigan, and we brought our kids out to the driveway to watch. Sure enough, at the appointed time, a clear bright light arced across the sky 220 miles above us. We were all just wowed. It was an awe-inspiring respite from the challenges down here on Earth.

“We have forgotten the thrill of landing a person on another celestial body. Could there be anything more important than reminding ourselves of just how great we can be?”

Liberal View / Moral Monster

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Pope Benedict XVI must be doing something right because the press is crucifying him again.  Monsignor Raun writes, “On his way to Africa, the Pope was asked what the Church thought of AIDS and condoms.  Our Holy Father answered that the real answer was sexual morality, not pieces of plastic.  The press dubbed him ‘a moral monster’.”

The liberalized world and press avoid the Truth, especially on issues of life.  They prefer to propagandize, for the furtherance of liberal, secular, “progressive” agenda’s, which leave God out of such deliberations.  As if an investigation without Truth could be substantive.

“I suspect every abortion, every “compassionate” bit of euthanasia has the evil one stamping his foot in triumphant glee.” says the Anchoress.  In speaking of God’s influence and grace in the world, she submits that such grace is “subdued in  the world” when those “enthusiastic about subduing new life – of judging how much life there should be, and of what quality” play God.

Monsignor Raun makes a few points of his own:

1. Ten to twenty percent of the time, condoms don’t
work. For argument’s sake, let’s say they don’t
work 1 percent of the time. Would anyone say it
was moral to do something that there was a one-ina-
hundred chance of giving someone a deadly illness?
Would any sane person take such a chance
with their own life? (If there was a one-in-a hundred
chance that holy water could give you
AIDS, would any of you put your fingers in the
fount, or allow your children to do so?)
2. And the sad fact is that some people think they are
“invulnerable” if they wear a condom, and so they
are all the more promiscuous – all the more spreading
the possibilities of infecting others with the disease.
Condoms are the answer to AIDS for those people who
are only willing to do what it takes to stop this horrible
disease as long as sexual freedom is preserved – which
for liberal society has become the ultimate good in life.
If you don’t want to get sexually-transmitted AIDS, be
faithful to your spouse or live a chaste single life. This
and this alone, is guaranteed to be 100% effective. It is
also the moral teaching of Christ and His Church –
which is the Holy Father’s duty to teach. To teach anything
else is cruel, and to gamble with peoples lives.

And, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we have this:

To achieve the maximum protective effect, condoms must be used both consistently and correctly. Inconsistent use can lead to STD acquisition because transmission can occur with a single act of intercourse with an infected partner. Similarly, if condoms are not used correctly, the protective effect may be diminished even when they are used consistently. The most reliable ways to avoid transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), are to abstain from sexual activity or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner. However, many infected persons may be unaware of their infections because STDs are often asymptomatic or unrecognized.

The above report sounds like Russian Roulette to me.  Chastity is still the best policy, even according to disease control scientific and statistical reports.


No Intelligence – No Leaks

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Pursuing Holiness sees no intelligence = no leaks as the bright side.

The down side of President Obama’s questionable choice of  Leon Panetta, says J.G.Thayer:

But never in his storied career has he done anything that would even hint at an aptitude for intelligence.

Some of Panetta’s experiences and skills would certainly serve him well at the CIA. He would be good at making sure the Agency stays within its budget and uses its funding most efficiently. He would keep the Agency from getting too close to breaking laws. And his lengthy experiences in government would help him maintain good relations with other agencies and government bodies.

But those are all peripheral to the primary task of the CIA: to collect information, analyze it, and manage it to best uphold our national security.

We’ve seen, far too often, what happens when the CIA fails. The price is often paid in blood — American blood. “Failures of Intelligence” are often cited as the prime factors in the success of the 9/11 attacks. Such failures also lie at the heart of the the Saddam-WMD mistake. And now Barack Obama — for whatever reason — wants to put in charge of the CIA a man with literally zero experience in intelligence, espionage, and covert operations.

We need a Jack Ryan.


Signs of the Times

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The Great Leap Forward -Get ready!  Soon the posters will hit the billboards. Best seen in an exhibition and not along American highways or in our schools.

The Anchoress worries about mandatory volunteerism.  Our “Good Sister”

should worry.

“Moving Our Country from Democracy to Despotism,”

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A call to action delivered by Cardinal Francis George:

As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we are deeply concerned that such an action on the government’s part would be the first step in moving our country from democracy to despotism. Respect for personal conscience and freedom of religion as such ensures our basic freedom from government oppression. No government should come between an individual person and God–that’s what America is supposed to be about. This is the true common ground for us as Americans. We therefore need legal protection for freedom of conscience and of religion–including freedom for religious health care institutions to be true to themselves.”

Full text follows:

“Hello. I am Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I’d like to take a moment to speak about two principles or ideas that have been basic to life in our country: religious liberty and the freedom of personal conscience.

On Friday afternoon, February 27, the Obama Administration placed on a federal website the news that it intends to remove a conscience protection rule for the Department of Health and Human Services. That rule is one part of the range of legal protections for health care workers–for doctors, nurses and others–who have objections in conscience to being involved in abortion and other killing procedures that are against how they live their faith I God.

As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we are deeply concerned that such an action on the government’s part would be the first step in moving our country from democracy to despotism. Respect for personal conscience and freedom of religion as such ensures our basic freedom from government oppression. No government should come between an individual person and God–that’s what America is supposed to be about. This is the true common ground for us as Americans. We therefore need legal protection for freedom of conscience and of religion–including freedom for religious health care institutions to be true to themselves.

Conscientious objection against many actions is a part of our life. We have a conscientious objection against war for those who cannot fight, even though it’s good to defend your country. We have a conscientious objection for doctors against being involved in administering the death penalty. Why shouldn’t our government and our legal system permit conscientious objection to a morally bad action, the killing of babies in their mother’s womb? People understand what really happens in an abortion and in related procedures–a living member of the human family is killed–that’s what it’s all about–and no one should be forced by the government to act as though he or she were blind to this reality.

I ask you please to let the government know that you want conscience protections to remain strongly in place. In particular, let the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington know that you stand for the protection of conscience, especially now for those who provide the health care services so necessary for a good society. Thank you and God bless you.”

acertainslantoflight writing in Catholics in the Public Square reports the meeting of President Obama with Cardinal Francis George.  “The statement from the USCCB said: “The meeting was private. Cardinal George and President Obama discussed the Catholic Church in the United States and its relation to the new administration. The meeting lasted approximately 30 minutes.”

Private, yes, but one can guess that Obama’s attack on conscience issues in health related fields had to be in mind and mouth. The meeting followed by one day Cardinal George’s warnings of emerging “depotism” with the removal of conscience protection.

EWTN report here

Chaput Moving Catholics To Action

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What’s in a word?  Archbishop Chaput will tell you:

Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput delivered a speech on Saturday reflecting on the significance of the November 2008 election. Warning that media “narratives” should not obscure truth, he blamed the indifference and complacency of many U.S. Catholics for the country’s failures on abortion, poverty and immigration issues.

He also advised Catholics to “master the language of popular culture” and to refuse to be afraid, saying “fear is the disease of our age.”