Christians in this country just don't get it! They become three shades of indignant when the Separation of Church and State is abrogated to accommodate and promote Islam. They shouldn't be surprised. Secularists basically believe that arguments over religion are akin to a fight over who has the best imaginary friend. Unlike the Islamists, our secular leaders are not engaged in a religious war.

They simply want to maintain power by whatever means necessary.

Islam has proven itself as an aggressive and, in their eyes, unstoppable, historical force that leaves the Moslem people vulnerable to the most gross manipulations of the institutionally powerful. What does it matter to secularist power mongers if their subject all become converts to Islam? The only thing that matters to them is that the people remain subject. Islam may be a violent religion but it is not a dangerous one.

The only truly dangerous religion is Christianity. Christianity sets men FREE!

I don't often bleg (I dont even link to sites that do)

but this strikes me as a worthwhile effort and an effective tool.

A PRO_LIFE SHOPPING GUIDE


P.S. I'm thinking about revising my linking policy since more and more bloggers are bleggers.

* * * * A Bright and Glorious Morn * * * *

Long lay the world,
in sin and error pining,
Till HE APPEARED !
and the soul felt its worth...

Merry Christmas.

What's good for the goose...
Attack on Iraq Must Be Avoided, says Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Vatican secretary for relations with states.

With respect to America's unilateralist approach, he had this to say:
"A member of the international community cannot say: 'I will do this and you will help me, otherwise you stay home,'" he said. "If it were so, the whole system of international rules would crumble. The risk would spell a jungle. It could happen that tomorrow in a dispute with another state, a country could start saying: 'I am going to put things in order.'"

Archbishop Tauran used harsh words when referring to the threats coming from Washington to use the atomic bomb in response to Saddam Hussein: "It would be better not even to echo this hypothesis, as it seems so monstrous to me."

Worth Remembering . . .
More There is no law against that.
Roper There is! God's law!
More Then God can arrest him.
Roper Sophistication upon sophistication.
More No, sheer simplicity. The law, Roper, the law. I know what's legal not what's right. And I'll stick to what's legal.
Roper Then you set man's law above God's!
More No, far below; but let me draw your attention to a fact - I'm not God. The currents and eddies of right and wrong, which you find such plain sailing, I can't navigate. I'm no voyager. But in the thickets of the law, oh, there I'm a forrester. I doubt if there's a man alive who could follow me there, thank God....
Alice While you talk, he's gone!
More And go he should, if he was the Devil himself, until he broke the law!
Roper So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
More Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
More Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you - where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast - man's laws, not God's - and if you cut them down - and you're just the man to do it - d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.
Roper I have long suspected this, this is the golden calf; the law's your god!
More Oh, Roper, you're a fool, God's my god....But I find him rather too subtle....I don't know where He is or what He wants.
Roper My God wants service, to the end and unremitting; nothing else!
More Are you sure that's God? He sounds like Moloch. But indeed it may be God - And whoever hunts for me, Roper, God or Devil, will find me hiding in the thickets of the law! And I'll hide my daughter with me! Not hoist her up the mainmast of your seagoing principles! They put about too nimbly!
-- courtesy of First Judicial Circuit Public Defender Corporation

Some great insights on creating a culture of priestly vocations within our dioceses.

If you get the chance, visit my alter-ego at Prudential Judgment

Where is Mainstream Media When It Comes to Investigating Child Sexual Abuse

The Contrarian posts comments on So-Called CoverUps In a separate post,he notes:Catholics are bound to obey and remain in communion with wicked bishops even if, for whatever reason, the bishop is not deposed from his see by superior authority. The only exceptions to this rule, that I am aware of, are (a) that a Catholic is not obliged to obey a manifestly sinful command by a minister and (b) a Catholic is not obliged to obey or remain in communion with a bishop that publicly teaches manifest heresy.

Christian comments by a Christian Minister courtesy of A Catholic Blog for Lovers:
When lawyers, the courts, and the media all seem complicit in the cycle of vengeance and blood and no closure short of decapitation seems acceptable, then we have reason to worry about the climate for justice, mercy, and charity, and Salem in 1692 seems not so far removed in moral climate from Boston in 2002.

Also A Statement by the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Boston on Cardinal Law's resignation

Kevin Miller over at De Virtuibus points to this article by M. Novak

Providentially, it is better for the Catholic community that the worst abuses come to light now, all at once, so that no one will ever doubt how bad things have been, or fail to gauge their exact dimensions. One day, comparisons will be made with other institutions in Boston and elsewhere. Even if many recent procedures have been unjust, still, this is a wound that the Catholic community gave itself. It can be blamed on no one else...

Do you agree with me, that we all have reason to stand accused in our own consciences for our role in abetting, and refusing to confront, the "sexual revolution" of the last 40 years? It was not only the Catholic clergy that was at fault. So also were we, the laity.

May God have mercy on us all.

American Catholics seem to have sown the wind,
Perhaps it's appropriate that we reap the whirlwind.

For the first time in the course of this rebellion, I have been surprised by the response of the Church. Although, the Boston Globe claims (innocently enough) that this should not be seen as the first domino, the usual suspects seem to disagree.

I tremble for the Church in the United States. Of course, a part of my problem may be that observation has made me cynical. I don't believe that it was ever about the children, anymore than I believe the tea-pot tempest over Lott is about segregation. If it were about the children, we would be looking at secular institutions with as close and discriminating eye as we have turned on the Church

Without respect for Church Law or State Law, the end apparently is enough to justify any means
Reilly vows to uncover truth about sexual abuse
Reilly says he has evidence of coverup by archdiocese

This is how the story seems to be playing:
Reactions
For both Vatican and Law, time had run out
Victims see only a first step
Changing leaders is only the start
Church sexual abuse crisis will continue despite Law's resignation

Church looks to future free of scandal...but not of rebellion

On one side of the aisle, we have:

Statement by the president of The Linkup
Heroes amidst the scandal
Lay group votes to seek cardinal's ouster
Broken Vows
Roman Catholic Faithless

And on the other side of the aisle, we have:

The Pilot calls for healing
FaithfulVoice
848 refuse to join coup attempt

Or Perhaps Not

Reins of archdiocese handed to Brighton rector
Colleagues call new leader calm, consultative

Perhaps Grace will save us

As Pope John Paul II reminds us: "The world and history are not at the mercy of chance, chaos or blind necessity. They are governed by a mysterious God, who desires that humanity live in stability, through just and authentic relations."

The only unavoidable truth is that we are both the Body and Bride of Christ.

I guess that this makes it official:

Vatican Response on Possibility of Ordaining Homosexuals to Priesthood

P.S.Kevin Miller over at De Virtutibus also blogged on this.

I found the following remarks in his comments. I thought that they were worth quoting.

Note carefully: this is a prudential judgment, not a matter of doctrine. In other words, the letter does NOT say that there are theological reasons per se for not ordaining men with same-sex attraction.
Robert Gotcher

I do however want to add the following caveat:

Stating that this is Rome's prudential judgement is different from stating that it remains an area open to discretionary judgement. Canon law itself is based on the prudential judgment of Rome.

Will abortion-seekers need 'death warrants'?:Georgia legislator seeks to give unborn babies right to jury trial"

When I read the following, I couldn't resist highlighting this article: PA's New Anti-Hate Law

However, Raskin said the court has given two paradigms of speech that are not protected: a mob scene and someone graphically insulting someone else's mother in a bar.

I'm not sure why but I have a soft spot for Nigeria. A while back (actually several years ago), I picked up a bit of trivia about the relationship between Ireland and Nigeria. Apparently, Nigeria was one of the places to which a lot of Irish missionary priests were sent. Today, the Nigerians are returning the favor by supplying the Irish Catholic Church with numerous priests.

A second, but perhaps related, fact is that, now Ireland has become a land to which people migrate, its largest immigrant population is Nigerian.

Anyway, the following highlights are from Zenit:

Nigeria's Islamic Caldron

What Is Blocking Dialogue Between Muslims and Christians?

From Zenit: Cardinal Ratzinger Sees a Media Campaign Against Church

In the Church, priests also are sinners. But I am personally convinced that the constant presence in the press of the sins of Catholic priests, especially in the United States, is a planned campaign, as the percentage of these offenses among priests is not higher than in other categories, and perhaps it is even lower.

In the United States, there is constant news on this topic, but less than 1% of priests are guilty of acts of this type. The constant presence of these news items does not correspond to the objectivity of the information nor to the statistical objectivity of the facts. Therefore, one comes to the conclusion that it is intentional, manipulated, that there is a desire to discredit the Church. It is a logical and well-founded conclusion.