Traditional Orders of Nuns Have Record Number of Vocations

Soldiers of the Culture War: ". . . take the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:17.

Traditional orders of nuns are having a record number of vocations. Full story here. They include a Harvard graduate who gave part of her commencement address in Latin! In an interesting post, an Evangelical Protestant blogger at Christianity Today admits that she admires young Catholic nuns.

Too Busy To Blog!

"The law is a jealous mistress and requires a long and constant courtship."
Justice Joseph Story (1829).

Since returning from vacation, I have been too busy practicing law to blog. I hate to admit that behind my religious facade, I am one of the Devil's Advocates by profession. One of my law professors once told a class that "All of you entered the legal profession of your own free will, so we know where you will go to when you die. But, oh, well, the company's better there anyway."

I guess that is an awful quote when you think about it. However, after hitting it hard last week and this week, I think it might be true. Of course, hell may be being sentenced to go to Court for eternity . . .

Saint Robert Bellarmine

Today, September 17th, the Church honors Saint Robert Bellarmine.

Celebrating the King James Bible

As a Bible carrying Fundamentalist Southern Baptist, I grew up reading and hearing the majestic cadences of the King James Bible. Here's a great article about the 400th anniversary of the translation.

Teaching Islam in the Public Schools

I wonder what would have happened if public school students were taken on a field trip to a Catholic Church, given a Catechism lesson, and invited to participate in the Mass?

Our Lady of Sorrows

Today, September 15th, the Church honors Our Lady of Sorrows





Yesterday, September 14th, the Church celebrated Holy Cross Day.

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that He might draw the whole world to Himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow Him; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Protestant Land Experience

On Friday of last week, Mr. & Mrs. Bad Catholic visited “The Holy Land Experience” in Orlando, Florida.

Like on many other subjects, the Bad Catholic has mixed feelings about this park. The Holy Land Experience was originally created by Zion’s Hope, Inc., a Protestant missionary organization which specialized in witnessing to Jews. Zion’s Hope, Inc. was founded by the Reverend Marvin Rosenthal, a Baptist minister who was reared as an Orthodox Jew and converted to Christianity as a teenager. In 2007, the park was acquired by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). (1)

The park’s founding by Messianic Jews explains why all of the staff energetically greet the visitor with the word “Shalom!” The visitor enters The Holy Land Experience through the “Gates of Jerusalem” into what can best be described as the Bible according to Walt Disney. If Epcot Center had a world showcase display for ancient Israel, it would be The Holy Land Experience.

The centerpiece of “Jerusalem” is the Temple. The Temple, like all the rest of The Holy Land Experience, is a stage for Biblical based live action performances. In the “Shofar Theatre” we watched Jesus save the woman taken in adultery. The production appeared to be well done and well acted by professional actors. The actor who plays Jesus was particularly impressive.

The central production at the Holy Land Experience is the Passion Play. The Holy Land Experience’s Passion Play was well acted, tasteful and powerful. The violence and horror of crucifixion is skillfully evoked. The staff did the best that it could to make the Passion Play a prayerful experience. In this they were thwarted by the crowd. People were noisy, taking pictures, and one fellow was chastised by a member of the staff for happily munching on Holy Land Nachos while watching the death of the Savior.




My quibbles with The Holy Land Experience began when we first arrived and listened to a talk from a park “historian” about the Garden Tomb. As professor Branham says in her Harvard Divinity Bulletin article: “The Orlando passion culminates at a replica of the so-called Garden Tomb, the site in Jerusalem regarded by many Protestant Christians as the place of Jesus’ burial, in preference to the quite different Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the structure widely held by Catholic and Orthodox Christians to be the tomb of Christ.”(2)

According to The Holy Land Experience’s “historian” there’s no doubt that the Garden Tomb was the place where Christ’s body was placed. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is conclusively ruled out as being the site. Tourists are told that there is no doubt that the Garden Tomb was the tomb of Christ.

Since I worship a risen Lord who isn’t in a tomb, I was able to overlook this since it doesn’t matter which empty hole in the ground Our Lord rose from. But The Holy Land Experience’s historical errors didn’t end there. During the Passion Play, the actor playing Pontius Pilate loudly condemned Jesus “in the name of Augustus Caesar.” Of course, the problem with this is that Tiberius, not Augustus, was the Emperor of Rome when Jesus would have been crucified.

The worst part of The Holy Land Experience was the Evangelical Protestant version of Church history presented in the Scriptorium. Professor Branham’s description is still accurate:

“During the hour-long walking tour of the Scriptorium, guests encounter more than a dozen time periods and geographical settings crafted to support the history of Bible production. Guests are greeted by a lifelike talking “animatronic” figure of the Bible translator John Wycliffe. There’s a Babylonian courtyard dominated by a recreation of the impressive Ishtar Gate to give a palpable context to the clay cuneiform tablets in the exhibit. Visitors travel from an ancient rotunda echoing with “the voices of the prophets” to Egypt’s historic Library of Alexandria to view ancient papyri; from an early church bindery from Constantinople to Gutenburg’s fifteenth-century print shop in Mainz, Germany, including a working replica of his revolutionary printing press; from William Tyndale’s ransacked workshop in Cologne to London’s vast Metropolitan Tabernacle, a scene of nineteenth-century evangelical preaching; and from a simple prairie church on the plains of the American Midwest, where guests learn about missionaries to a rotunda for the tour’s finale, featuring major biblical personalities in an impressive laser show where tablets of the Ten Commandments are etched atop Mount Sinai. The lights go out and an enormous cross hangs suspended and illuminated overhead. Finally on their way out, Ex Libris, the Scriptorium’s book shop, offers guests an extensive selection of Bible and history related merchandise. . . . the Scriptorium represents the Protestant antidote to gesture, sacrament, and action in its presentation of words, ideas, and personal faith.” (3)

As one would expect, according to the Evangelical Protestant version of history, although Catholic monks copied the Bible during the “Dark Ages,” it was all written in Latin and they wouldn’t let the common people read it until Brother John Wycliffe, Brother William Tyndale and Brother Martin Luther came along and overturned all that evil tradition and got back to the Bible alone.

The message is definitely that the Bible created the Church. The inescapable conclusion from The Holy Land Experience’s version of history is NO BIBLE, NO CHURCH. Of course, we know that this is exactly backwards. As Father Joseph Nolan has said “What many evangelical Christians do not seem to understand is that the Bible found it’s existence within the context of a living community. That community’s lived beliefs - written down - formed the New Testament. In other words, the Bible did not create the Church; rather, the Church - that early community of believers - created the Bible.”

After a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Mary Queen of Universe, which should be the first thing the Catholic visitor does in Orlando, between trips to Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World, The Holy Land Experience is worth a day. Just take the Protestant view of history with a grain of salt.



1. Branham, Joan, The Temple That Won’t Quit: Constructing Sacred Space in Orlando’s Holy Land Experience Theme Park, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Autumn, 2008.

2. Ibid. p. 25.

3. Ibid. p. 28-29

Everybody Will Be Infamous for 15 Minutes

Andy Warhol once said that television would make everybody famous for 15 minutes. The world wide web and instant communications merely amplify that effect.

For instance, why is the entire world, from the State Department to the Vatican, worried about the doings of some insignificant small congregation of whacked out Fundamentalists in Gainesville, Florida?

This just goes to show that in the modern world, if you want to get noticed, just do the most outrageous thing that you can think of and put it on the internet and call the TV stations.

The global reaction to Preacher Terry Jones' "Burn the Koran Day" just incourages others who want to get noticed to do equally outrageous things. The thought that these Goobers burning a couple of books in Florida can cause a global reaction is scary.

I taught Criminal Justice at the college level for about four years before returning to full time law practice. I used to enjoy pointing out to my students that the reason there are so many conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination is that it is comforting to think that something as monumental as the murder of a President was the result of an organized group with a master plan. It's comforting to believe that it was the Mafia, or the Communists, or the C.I.A. or whoever.

What's scary is the hard fact that one idiot with a cheap rifle can change the course of world history.

Let's hope that the Koran burners get their 15 minutes of fame and that everybody forgets about them.

Episcopus Stupidius

A great post from Creative Minority Report.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today, September 8th is the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Islamization & Sharia Law

Great post at Abbey Roads about the creeping Isalmization of the West.

Bad Catholic Reading

The Bad Catholic has a new review of an old book. Read the Bad Catholic review of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair at The Eclectic Reader.

Evidence of Satantic Influences

Two good editorials from The National Catholic Register about the presence of Satanic Evil. Read them here and here.

What We Have To Look Forward To

What we have to look forward to in the New World Order.

Freedom of Worship Vs. Freedom of Religion

Archbishop Chaput explains the difference. Great post at Tea at Trianon.

It's Official: Stephen Hawking Says There is No God!

Well, folks, it's true. We're all wasting our time with all this God and religion stuff. We might as well stay home Sunday and watch TV in our underwear. And, oh, by the way, life is totally meaningless and the universe is purposeless. It's great that we could finally clarify that.

Physicist Stephen Hawking has written a book saying that it is definite that the physical universe sprang from nothing out of the Big Bang and God had nothing to do with it. So Everything came from Nothing. Well, a reasonable belief at last!

Read the article from the UK Telegraph here.

British Atheist is Troubled By Anti-Catholic Rhetoric

A British Atheist is troubled by the Anti-Catholic rhetoric which is heating up in England over the Pope's visit.

Obama's Religion

What's Obama's true religion? Interesting article from the American Spectator.

Fascinating!

The problem of criminality in Observant Jewish Communities. Fascinating!

The Church is the Heretic of the New World Order

Great speech by the Archbishop of Denver. Thanks to Acts of Apostasy.

Teens Are Becoming "Fake Christians"

An interesting article about the watered down version of Christianity now current among some young people.

SAINT AUGUSTINE

Today, August 28, the Church honors Saint Augustine.

Free Speech and Religion

A controversial pop music artist is facing trial for heresy and possible prison time for saying that the beliefs of the state religion in that country are not true. Is this Iran or Saudi Arabia? Nope - POLAND. Read all about it here.

THE ATHEIST HYMNAL

Benedictine Chant

Some great chants from some Benedictine monks in Ireland.

The Credit Crisis Explained

This video is one of the best things I have seen to explain how we got to where we are in the American economy. Short Answer: It's called GREED!

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

SAINT MONICA

Today, August 27, the Church honors Saint Monica the mother of Saint Augustine.

BRIGHTON ROCK

In trying to catch up on my reading, I just finished Graham Greene’s classic Brighton Rock first published in 1938. The Heart of the Matter left me unsettled, but I really don’t know what I think about this book.

The title refers to hard candy sold at the beach in the town of Brighton in England. Brighton Rock is the story of a teenage gangster named Pinkie Brown, his hapless girlfriend Rose, and a busybody named Ida Arnold. Sound like a bizarre plot? Well, Brighton Rock is a bizarre book.

The plot of Brighton Rock is readily available elsewhere on the internet so I won’t bother everyone with it here. What I want to focus on are the much heralded theological aspects of the novel. Brighton Rock is considered to be one of Greene’s “Catholic Novels,” the others of which are The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair, and The Power and the Glory. Although Greene habitually throws in some reference to the Church or Catholicism in his thrillers and “entertainments,” like the daughter who goes to Catholic school and says her rosary in Our Man in Havana.

Greene has said that when he started writing Brighton Rock he intended it to be a conventional thriller or detective story, hence the exciting opening chapter which describes a chase and a murder. The novel’s famous opening line sets the stage for what follows:

“Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.”

Hale is indeed murdered. At Hale’s sparsely attended funeral, the Anglican priest mouths the platitudes of modern religion of the “I’m OK, You’re OK, God’s OK” type:

‘Our belief in heaven,’ the clergyman went on, ‘is not qualified by our disbelief in the old medieval hell. We believe,’ he said, glancing swiftly along the smooth polished slipway towards the New Art doors through which the coffin would be launched into the flames, ‘we believe that this our brother is already at one with the One.’ He stamped his words like little pats of butter with his personal mark. ‘He has attained unity. We do not know what that One is with whom (or with which) he is now at one. We do not retain the old medieval beliefs in glassy seas and golden crowns. Truth is beauty and there is more beauty for us, a truth-loving generation, in the certainty that our brother is at this moment re-absorbed in the universal spirit.’

It astounds me that Greene was already able to poke fun at New Age babble like this in the late 1930's. This kind of stuff sounds good but has no real content. This is not a religion that a person will give his life for.

Ida Arnold, who was a woman that Hale picked up in an attempt to avoid being killed, becomes obsessed with finding Hale’s killer and bringing him to justice. Ida represents the modern person. She has no religious beliefs to speak of, she just believes in “right and wrong.” However, Ida finds no fault in anything which brings her pleasure. Ida sees nothing wrong with casual sex, for instance. “It’s natural” she says, and there’s nothing wrong with it.

“She wasn’t religious. She didn’t believe in heaven or hell, only in ghosts, ouija boards, tables which rapped and little inept voices speaking plaintively of flowers.”

So while “the good guys” in this novel are not religious, “the bad guys” are very religious. Hale’s killer Pinkie was reared as a Roman Catholic, sings parts of the Mass to himself, and believes in all of the doctrines of the Church. Outside of the fact that Pinkie is also an evil psychopathic killer, he’s not a bad bloke.

Pinkie believes in Hell and knows that when he dies in a state of mortal sin that he will certainly go to it. In the back of his mind, Pinkie hopes that he’ll be able to make a confession and be granted absolution before his death. If Pinkie dies and goes to Hell in the meantime, well, as they said in The Godfather, it ain’t personal, it’s just business.

Pinkie kills Hale for being involved with the murder of the gang leader Kite. Then he kills a member of the gang named Spicer so that Spicer can’t talk. Pinkie seduces the hapless Rose, a 16 year old waitress in a greasy spoon who can give incriminating testimony against Pinkie, and convinces her to marry him.

Rose is also a Roman Catholic. Before their civil marriage ceremony, Rose goes off to confession but then realizes that marrying Pinkie in a civil ceremony outside the Church is a mortal sin so it doesn’t make any difference anyway. Rose and Pinkie are very moral in a bizarre kind of way. Rose knows that Pinkie is a murderer, but makes a conscious decision to go to Hell with him.

Although neither Pinkie or Rose believe that their civil marriage is valid in the eyes of God, they refrain from sex until they are married. In fact, Pinkie has a revulsion of the entire idea of sexual intimacy from listening to his parents make love through the thin walls of a poor tenement apartment. Pinkie says that listening to his parents in their bedroom disgusted him so much that he swore he would become a priest. However, when the time comes on the wedding night, Pinkie overcomes his disgust and does his duty.

Since Rose is convinced that she is going to Hell by living in sin with Pinkie anyway, she is ready to commit the ultimate mortal sin by taking her own life when Pinkie asks her to. Rose winds up throwing the gun she is supposed to kill herself with away and Pinkie accidentally splatters acid all over his face (in grim preview of where his soul is headed) before he plunges over a cliff and dies to avoid capture by the police.

If any of the above makes sense to you, then you may be either (1) a deranged lunatic, (2) a Graham Greene fan, (3) a Catholic, or (4) all of the above.

Greene seemed to be obsessed with mortal sin and damnation. This led George Orwell to famously opine that Greene apparently viewed Hell as an exclusive high class nightclub open only to Catholics.

I can’t really say that I enjoyed reading Brighton Rock, but it certainly provided much food for thought. Graham Greene was a one of a kind author. It may just be that Brighton Rock is a great work of literature.



Pinkie & Rose in a film version of Brighton Rock



Graham Greene

Religion in the Modern World

From the G.K. Chesterton TV show on EWTN.

Living Without Money

What's it like to live without money. One man in Britain is trying it.

Saint Bernard, Priest, Monk, and Doctor of the Church

Heathen Valley

Heathen Valley, first published in 1962 by the noted playwrite Romulus Linney, is a beautiful book which deserves a far wider readership than it has enjoyed.

The novel is the story of Episcopal Church Deacon William Starns who is sent by the Anglican-Catholic Bishop of North Carolina to establish a mission in the far reaches of the Appalachian Mountains.

The book traces Starns life from his early childhood until his death. Starns was born in poverty in the Mountains, becomes a drifter, kills a man, goes to prison and escapes, and finally is hired by the kindly Bishop as a janitor in the Cathedral Church in Raleigh. After being rescued from alcoholism by the Bishop, Starns undergoes a profound conversion experience. After an experienced Episcopal minister and his wife fail in establishing a Mission Station in the mountains, Starns is ordained as a Missionary Deacon to the mountain people. Eventually the Bishop attempts to found an Anglican Religious Order at the Mission Station.

There is much human drama in this novel which is well written and beautifully told. There are also many horrific episodes and some graphic depictions of sexuality. The descriptions of the Mountain culture and the natural beauty of the Appalachia are wonderful.

For Anglican groupies, the novel also deals with the Evangelical verses Anglican Catholic divide in the Episcopal Church. The novel is very loosely based upon the real story of North Carolina Episcopal Bishop Levi Stillman Ives who eventually left the Episcopal Church and converted to Catholicism. The character of Starns is based upon Deacon William West Skiles who established the Valle Crucis Mission Station in Western North Carolina in the 1850s.

Heathen Valley is a great work of literature which deserves to be read.

Factions Within Anglicanism

Anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows that, because of his former Protestant affiliations, the Bad Catholic is an aficionado of all things Anglican. Here's a fascinating post about the Anglo-Catholic vs. Evangelical divide in Anglicanism.

Saint John Eudes

The Real Agenda

Mark Shea has a great post about the real agenda behind the push for legalized gay marriage.

The World Is Turned Upside Down! Howard Dean is Making Sense!

I guess based on this interview Howard Dean is one of the people who oppose the mosque at Ground Zero that Nancy Pelosi wants investigated.

The Survivors of 9/11 on the Mosque

I guess that me and all of these people in this video are part of the opponents of the Ground Zero Mosque that Speaker Pelosi wants investigated.

It is absolutely incredible that the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House, and the Mayor of New York just don't care what these people and the majority of Americans think.

The other night I watched the movie "The Stoning of Soraya M." Everyone in this country should watch this movie and learn what it really means when the Iman says he wants America to be Sharia compliant. I suppose they can dig the stoning pit in Central Park.

Father Barren Comments on Anne Rice Leaving the Church

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for Us Sinners!

Icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos.

Tommorrow, August 15th, is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Coming Soon To a Tax Return Near You!

Eucharistic Bouncers?

Some Churches have found it necessary to have a "Eucharistic Bouncer" at Mass to make sure that someone is not trying to take an unconsumed host out of the Church in order to desecrate it. Read the full story from the Crescat.

State of Louisiana vs. Benedictine Monks

The State of Louisiana is prosecuting a group of Benedictine monks for the "crime" of making caskets.

The Holy Father Says God Calls Us All To Be Saints

What's an Ocean?

The title is a reference to my earlier post quoting my Homeboy JOE G. on Fundamentalist Evangelicals. Along the same lines, the Deacon's Bench has a post about Catholic teachers being fired by a Fundamentalist Protestant school because they don't belong to "a Bible believing Church." Sure there's an Ocean . . .

Saint Clare of Assisi

Saintliness is not Silliness

This is a great homily:

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Edith Stein was born of Jewish parents in 1891, becoming an influential philosopher following her extensive studies at major German universities. Following her conversion to Catholicism she became a major force in German intellectual life, entering the Discalced Carmelites in 1933. Sister Teresa Benedicta was arrested by the Nazi regime on August 2, 1942, along with all Catholics of Jewish extraction, and transported by cattle train to the death camp of Auschwitz where she died in the gas chambers that same year.

PRAYER: Lord, God of our Fathers, You brought Saint Teresa Benedicta to the fullness of the science of the cross at the hour of her martyrdom. Fill us with that same knowledge; and, through her intercession, allow us always to seek after You, the supreme truth, and to remain faithful until death to the covenant of love ratified in the blood of Your Son for the salvation of all men and women. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Confession

For the last three months, I have actually managed to go to Confession once a month. I was going to write a post about it when I read this post by Elizabeth Esther and found that she had already said everything that I wanted to say about confession and said it much better than I could.

Response to Protestant Criticism of the Veneration of Our Lady and the Saints

The blog Young, Evangelical and Catholic has a great post about responding to Evangelical Protestant criticism of praying to Saints.

Militant Anti-Catholic Protestants

My friend JOE G. says this about militant Anti-Catholic Fundamentalist Evangelical Protestants: Arguing with people like this is like arguing with a person who has never seen the ocean and is convinced that the largest body of water in existence is a small pond. You come back from the ocean and tell them "LOOK, I'VE SEEN IT, IT'S HUGE!!! IT'S THOUSANDS OF TIMES THE SIZE OF YOUR SMALL POND!" And they say "oh sure," and are convinced that you're crazy.

Saturday Evening Blog Post

Check out my friend Elizabeth Esther's Saturday Evening Blog Post.

The Transfiguration of the Lord

Religious Liberty Under Attack

The Pope's New Book

Traditionalists Watch Out: Altar Servers Visit Rome and Girls Outnumber Boys

In a gathering of altar servers in Rome, the girls outnumber the boys.

Meanwhile in the Muslim World . . . .

While U.S. Federal Judges rule that rule that people have a "constitutional right" to sexual immorality, in Dubai a British woman has been arrested for not wearing enough clothes in public.

It strikes me as odd that the same people endorsing gay marriage, abortion on demand, etc. are the same people who will want to allow Sharia law to be imposed in this country based on respect for "cultural diversity" and "political correctness." (Witness the New Jersey Judge that ruled that it was OK for a Muslim man to beat and rape his wife, because under Islamic law he believed he was allowed to do it.)

What do they think will happen to them when the Islamic Religious Police take over?

Looking for a Miracle, Don't Use Your GPS

The Deacon's Bench has a great post about Pilgrim's to Lourdes being misdirected by GPS systems to a small village called "Lourde" about 57 miles away.

More Tyranny from the Judiciary

The left wing judiciary continue on their campaign to destroy Western Civilization.

Federal Judge calls 7 million California voters stupid and prejudiced.

IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK!

Clergy Under Stress

The New York Times reports that members of the clergy "suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could."

Sounds like lawyers. Read the whole thing here.

Nancy Pelosi Refuses to Say that the Baby Jesus had the right to life.

Nancy Pelosi apparently thinks that the Blessed Mother had a "right" to abort the Word Made Flesh in her womb.
Great post on this at Creative Minority Report.

Disorderly Conduct Charges Dropped Against Student for Praying Outside Abortion Clinic in Chicago

The City of Chicago dropped Disorderly Conduct charges today against a college student who was arrested for praying the rosary on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic. Read the full story from the Thomas More Law Center.

The War Against Christianity

Today I read two articles about the continuing legal war by secular society to abolish Christianity.

Christianity Today has an article about the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision which upholds the decision of Hastings Law School to ban the Christian Legal Society from campus because of its "discriminatory policies" of only allowing members that share its statement of faith.

"In his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito castigated the majority opinion as political correctness run amok.

'The proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express 'the thought that we hate,' he wrote. 'Today's decision rests on a very different principle: no freedom for expression that offends prevailing standards of political correctness in our country's institution's of higher learning. . . . Brushing aside inconvenient precedent, the Court arms public educational institutions with a handy weapon for suppressing the speech of unpopular groups - groups to which, as Hastings candidly puts it, these institutions 'do not wish to . . . lend their names(s).' . . . I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that today's decision is a serious setback for freedom of expression in this country."

Justice John Paul Stevens' concurring opinion leaves no doubt where the secular left categorizes those of us holding orthodox Christian beliefs on sin: "The harshest criticism came from Stevens, who compared CLS's requirements - which include a bar against 'unrepentant homosexual conduct' - with groups that 'may exclude or mistreat Jews, blacks, and women - or those who do not share their contempt for Jews, blacks, and women. A free society must tolerate such groups. It need not subsidize them, give them its official imprimatur, or grant them equal access to law school facilities."

The Bad Catholic can only assume that Justice Stevens, Ginsberg, Kennedy, et. al., would characterize the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Mormon Church and other religious groups that believe that homosexual acts are sinful are "hate groups" that society must "tolerate." Obviously, such people should be ostracized from society. People who hold beliefs like this should not be allowed to hold law licenses anyway. They definitely should be banned from the law schools.

The other article of interest was in L'Osservatore Romano and concerned the case of Lautsi v. Italy in which the European Union's Court of Human Rights ruled that the display of the crucifix in Italian schools violated human rights.

The Vatican's official paper has no illusions as to the ultimate goal of the secularists:

" . . . in reality, religious liberty is gradually being reduced to merely freedom of faith, that is, the freedom to believe in something or not and this only in your own personal life. It is a mistake, however, to believe that faith is independent of religion. One is internal and the other is external, making the two complementary. To limit religious freedom (because religion would have no social legitimacy) in order to protect freedom of faith (as pure expression of human transcendence) would mean, for example, that prayers and family catechism would be forbidden within the family unit itself because of the invasion on the autonomy of the religious conscience of the child. If this were the standard, parents would have very few chances to transmit their faith to their own children. The same goes for society. If religion is removed from society, faith will be removed from the hearts of generations."

The article quotes Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion who minces no words:

"Militant secularism, quickly gaining in numbers in modern Europe, is also a pseudo-religion with its own solid doctrinal tenants and moral norms, its own cult and symbols. As with 2oth century Russian Communism, it also lays claims to a monopoly on world views and remains intolerant of competition. This is why leaders of contemporary secularism react uncomfortably to religious symbols and wince when God is mentioned. . . . Contemporary militant secularism, like Russian Bolshevism, views itself as a Weltanschauung destined to replace Christianity. Hence, it is neither neutral nor indifferent toward Christianity; rather it is openly hostile to it."

We must pray deeply.
IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK!

What I've Been Reading

The new Bad Catholic book report is ready at The Eclectic Reader.

Jesus Stops Armed Robbery

A store clerk in Florida told an Armed Robber, "I know you're going to do whatever you're going to do, but let me share my Jesus with you first." The guy left without taking a cent. Full story from Matthew Warner at National Catholic Register and Fox News.

Anglican Attitudes to Sanctity

(With thanks to the blog Catholic Church Conservation that I stole this from.)

Archbishop Wuerl On Religious Freedom

I went looking for a great speech by a Catholic Bishop on religious freedom and I found one.

People of Faith Must Stand Together Against the Culture of Death

Freedom of Religion

Mormon Church Elder Dallin Oaks. Why can't some of our Catholic Bishops give a sermon like this?

Freedom of Religion

The Bad Catholic is no big fan of Mormonism, but everything that this guy says is right on the money.



"We must obey God rather than men." Saint Peter

IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK!

Freedom of Religion vs. Freedom of Worship

"We must obey God rather than men." Saint Peter



IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK!

Civil Disobedience

"We must obey God rather than men." Saint Peter



IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK!

Fake Episcopal Nun Scams Donors

Read the full story from the New York Post.

New York Parish Declines to Sell Property to Islamic Group

Full story from Yahoo News.

Russian Government Promotes the Orthodox Church

The Russian Government is actively promoting the Orthodox Church. Read the full story from Yahoo news.

Fewer Spaniards Are Catholic

A survey says that fewer people in Spain identify themselves as Catholics. Full story from Yahoo news.

Vanishing Nuns

Due to the "culture crisis," i.e. the fact that modern Western Society is pagan and hostile to Christianity, several orders of nuns in Cambridge, England are facing possible extinction. Read the full story here.

Israel Threatens to Cut Off Water To Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Municipal authorities in Jerusalem are threatening to cut off water for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Read the full story from Asia News.

Catholic Instructor Re-Hired by University of Illinois

The Catholic Instructor fired by the University of Illinois for teaching Church doctrine in a class on Catholicism has been offered his job back.

Prayer Prohibited At Supreme Court

The Supreme Court police prohibited a teacher and her students from praying on the grounds of the Supreme Court building in Washington saying that it was "illegal." Full story from the Alliance Defense Fund. IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK.

Federal Judge Rules that a Public University may expell a student for her Christian Beliefs

Some troll of a Federal District Judge has ruled that a University in Michigan was justified in expelling a college student from a counseling program because she refused to counsel homosexuals based upon her religious beliefs.

Folks, it won't be long before they are ruling that just holding an orthodox Christian belief on sin is enough to deny a person a professional license in all professions.

Think about what you will do when you are denied a professional license, denied a job or a promotion, or your children are denied an education because they are Catholic. Think it can't happen in America? It's already happening. Jesus promised us persecution. It's here. Read the full story here.

THE ACTIVE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE U.S. HAS BEGUN.
IT'S LATER THAN WE THINK!

Barcelona Bans Bull Fighting

The region of Catalonia in Spain has passed a law banning bull fights. What in the world would Ernest Hemingway think about this? Read the full story from Yahoo.

The Anglican Church Really Has Gone to the Dogs!

A dog was served Holy Communion in an Anglican Church in Canada. Since the Eucharist obviously has little or no meaning for these people, what's the point of going to Church at all? Why not just meditate and love all beings? I'm so numb I don't think that anything can shock me anymore. Read the full story at the Aggie Catholic.

College Student Thrown Out of Counseling Program Because of Orthodox Christian Beliefs

A college student in Augusta, Georgia has been thrown out of a counseling program because her Evangelical Christian views of homosexuality as a sin is "inconsistent with the couseling profession."

The girls professors demanded that she complete a "remediation plan" which was designed to eliminate her beliefs. Among other things, the professors demanded that the student attend a "Gay Pride Parade." When the girl refused to do these things, she was thrown out of the program.

The Alliance Defense Fund has filed a lawsuit on the student's behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Read the whole thing here.

As I said in an earlier post today, its later than we think. I can't help but wondering if there would have been a different result if the student had been a devout Muslim instead of a Christian?

Judge Applies Sharia Law in New Jersey

A trial judge in New Jersey ruled that a Muslim man had no criminal intent when he forced his wife to have sex with him against her will. According to the learned judge, the man lacked criminal intent because under Islamic law a wife is not allowed to refuse her husband's demand for sex. Fortunately, a New Jersey appeals court has reversed this decision. Read the full story from Jihad Watch.

When American judges make rulings like this, our country is already half gone. It's later than we think.

What the Pope is Doing During his Summer Vacation

Wild Nights of Gay Priests

An Italian magazine has done a "tell all" article about sexually active gay priests in Rome who say Mass by day and party at night. In response the Vatican has called for the resignation of all such priests.

The secular world doesn't seem to get it that the problem is not these men having a homosexual orientation but their sinful lifestyle in violation of their vows. It would be just as bad if a priest were actively fornicating with a woman. The problem is SIN not SEX.

We are all sinners and we must cling to the sacraments, especially Confession, and we must pray for each other as we struggle with our spiritual weakness and the attacks of the Evil One.

Fascinating!

The Pertinacious Papist reports that an exorcism prayer said by priests at an abortion clinic had immediate results. Fascinating!

Christians Prosecuted for Evangelizing to Michigan Muslims

Read the full story here.

Anglican Muddle

The BAD CATHOLIC remains nostalgic about his former religious affiliation and is fascinated by all things Anglican. Father Dwight Longenecker has an excellent post about the current muddle in the "C of E."

Change: Yes They Did It To Us

Red State.com reports that new tax regulations in the Health Care law will require businesses to file 1099 reports on any vendor with which it does more than $600 worth of business. This will result in a massive paperwork burden for small businesses and a tremendous new burden on the IRS. Read the whole thing here.

Spiritual Warfare

An important post from the blog Abbey Roads has the text of a letter from the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina to a group of nuns regarding same sex marriage.

The Teachings of the Catholic Church are "Hate Speech"

A professor at the University of Illinois has been fired for "hate speech" for publicly saying that he agrees with the teachings of the Catholic Church on homosexuality. This is a taste of things to come. Since the teachings of the Catholic Church are "hate speech," how long can it be before simply being Catholic will be akin to being a member of the KKK?

Read the full story at the American Papist.

Saint Maria Goretti

Today is the feast day of Saint Maria Goretti.

Dubai Says Airport Scanners Violate Islam

Full body scanners at airports violate Islamic law and will not longer be used in Dubai. Read the full story here.

PILGRIMAGE TO THE SHRINE OF SAINT FLANNERY

The BAD CATHOLIC recently had occasion to be in Milledgeville, Georgia. As you may know, Gentle Reader, Milledgeville was the antebellum capital of the State of Georgia. Along with visiting the Old Governor's Mansion and the Old Statehouse and riding by the famous Central State Hospital, which at one time was the largest mental hospital in the world, I also made the pilgrimage to Andalusia Farm, the home of Flannery O'Connor.

The people who have opened the house and farm to the public are doing the best they can, but many of the outbuildings of the dairy farm run by the O'Connors are in very bad shape. Much work needs to be done in the main house and on the grounds as well. I am sure that donations would be appreciated.

I very much enjoyed my visit. Like other visitors, I was struck by the fact that whereas 50 years ago Andalusia Farm, which is located five miles outside of Milledgeville on the road to Eatonton, was out in the middle of nowhere, now it is surrounded by Walmart, fast food restaurants, strip malls, car dealerships and motels. (As an aside, Eatonton is the home of another famous Georgia author, Joel Chandler Harris of Uncle Remus fame). The curator at Andalusia, Mr. Craig Amason, is very friendly and an expert on all things Flannery.

Miss Mary Flannery's bedroom on the first floor, which needs a paint job, shows the spartan conditions under which the stricken young writer lived and worked. There is a simple bed, a crucifix, some bookcases, a typewriter, and a pair of crutches. Flannery would write for several hours every morning and then in the afternoon she would read, write letters and enjoy the menagerie of animals including her famous peacocks. As I walked up to the house, I was delighted to see a peacock in a pen displaying his fabulous tail feathers.

I also went to the Saturday vigil mass at Flannery's Church, Sacred Heart Parish. This small 19th century structure is much unchanged from its original appearance. I was delighted to see what I presume are the pre-Vatican II statutes of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph flanking the altar and the intact marble altar rail. When I visited, there were young people standing outside waiting for the priest to open the doors to the Church to go to confession before mass, and the exposition of the blessed sacrament and recitation of the rosary were well attended. The Church was packed for mass. I can report that Catholic Christianity is alive and well in Middle Georgia.

Even though it's summer, there seemed to be plenty of students from Flannery O'Connor's alma mater, Georgia College and State University (formerly Georgia Women's College) still in Milledgeville. My tour guides at the Governor's Mansion and the Old Capitol Building were both history majors at Georgia College.

If anyone out there goes to Milledgeville, the place where the locals hang out downtown is a bar and grill across from the Georgia College campus called The Brick. The food is excellent, the beer is on tap, and the service from some very attractive young waitresses is outstanding. (Like Andy Griffith said "My wife told me I could look at the pretty girls so long as I never touched nary a one of 'em. So I've had to do an awful lot of lookin' to make up for that one disability.")

Flannery, history, worship and girl watching all in one trip. Can't do any better than that. It might make a good short story, don't you think?

4th of July Special Presentation

Since its the 4th of July I thought I might as well embed this video too. I always loved this song and the John Wayne movie. In thinking about the sacrifices of the men and women of the American armed forces today and in the past, I think that a lot of politicians are going to have a lot to answer for on Judgment Day. To quote Rambo, "Why didn't you let us win?"

Independence Day

Daughters of Zion

Here are my good friends and Christian sisters Margie Guyton and Ranie Brown who perform as the "Daughters of Zion." Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Amen.