Vatican paper decries abuses at gay-rights rally

Apparently, "tolerance" is a one way street. Oh yeah, the "tolerance" proponents hate Catholicism and that whole pesky right and wrong thing. Ahhh, relativism... I got this article from here at Catholic World News Rome, Mar. 13, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano has denounced the March 10 rally staged in downtown Rome in support of same-sex unions, saying that the demonstration was staged “by those who demand recognition from others, but do not demonstrate respect for others themselves.” L’Osservatore Romano called attention to the many demonstrators who insulted Catholics and mocked Church teaching during the rally. The paper went on to observe that many demonstrators brought young children, “the fruit of previous relations or of in-vitro fertilization.” These little children, L’Osservatore charged, were “abused in order to create the image of a family.” Despite the strident rhetoric of many participants in the rally, the leading parliamentary supporter of homosexual rights, Franco Grillini, insisted that the rally had been “an example of sobriety, composure, enthusiasm, and political action.”

Standing on My Head: The Tightrope of Tolerance and Tyranny

Standing on My Head: The Tightrope of Tolerance and Tyranny Father Dwight Longenecker has an outstanding blog. He is a Catholic priest, converted to Catholicism when he was an Anglican priest. His blog is fabulous. Check this post out. Definitely worth adding to your blog list.

Pro-life not "Social Conservative"

The US presidential election is more than a year away, but we are already starting to hear the rhetoric. I was reading two news articles today. This one that describes pro-lifers as social conservatives and this one on some vulgar women who label us as religious conservatives. The problem is that the "pro-choice" fanatics use these labels, and the media follows right along. Sorry simple minded media folks, this labeling is wrong. I am pro-life, but I also want universal health coverage. I believe in easy access and extremely low cost higher education. I believe in anti-discrimination. I believe in preferential treatment for the poor. How is this "conservative?" The thing is, the definition has come to rest on one set of issue "life issues," with abortion being the leading issue (but includes euthenasia and fetal stem cell research). I have always thought abortion was wrong, but labeled myself as pro-choice for a time. I came with an argument that people believe differently, and that we must respect their beliefs. After all, since we Catholics have been well persecuted for our beliefs, I thought that we should not do the same to others. There is a certain logic here, but it falls apart when extended outside of the abortion debate. This logic rests on a faulty assumption - that all perspectives are legitamate. This is wrong. You see, Hitler believed that Jews weren't fully human. The Nazis believed that Jews (and others) were less than human. Hitler and the Nazis were wrong, just as abortionists are wrong. If I want to be consistent with my "pro-choice" logic, I cannot condemn any genocide that is based on a belief that the "other guy" is less human. Because while it is wrong for me, heck it is just a choice for the other guy. This moral relativism is ludicrous, but too many have been lulled asleep. I refuse to accept this. Genocide is wrong. The casual and massive murder of any group is morally ludicrous.Hitler killed about 10 million people as undesirable in the holocaust. We have killed more than 44 million in the US alone via abortion. Sorry, pro-life isn't conservative - it is logically consistent. The murder of human life is wrong. No selfish "belief" can alter that.

What color hat do you wear?

Click on picture to see a larger image. I am back from Atlanta, and things went well there. It was good to see a couple of old friends, and the presentations went very well. Finishing the work needed for this trip has been a definite weight off of my shoulders. I have been thinking about some issues and would love your perspective. I want to state something that I see as a plain fact. All people are not equal. I think that the concept of equality before the law (i.e., the law treats all as equal) is a good concept for running a justice system, but in terms of the rest of life...I don't think it is a good concept. Not everyone is smart. Not everyone is athletic. Not everyone is good looking. Not everyone is creative. Not everyone is good with numbers. Not everyone is insightful. Not everyone is good natured. Not everyone is right. Because of our relativistic approach in society, we end up acting as if anything and everything is AOK. All people are equal, all ideas are equal, all perspectives are equal. I say bologna! I wish I was more artistic than I am. I am just not. Some people just can't get up in front of a group to speak - I am pretty good at it. In some circumstances or for some purposes, creativity is what is required. Other times, certain leadership skills may be the right trick. It is good that people are not the same. You know what else, pretending that everyone is the same is silly. The same is true for ideas, If one person says the sun rises in the East and another the West, there is not compromise to be had. If one person says Christ rose from the dead, and another says he did not - there is no equality of perspective. There is a phenomenon in education where people are overly concerned about self-esteem. They won't give spelling tests because it makes kids who can't spell feel bad. You see, some kids actually have an easier time with spelling, but calling this out defeats the perspective of equality and may make some kids feel bad because they struggle with spelling. This would be hilarious if it wasn't so dangerous. Self esteem isn't something you need to protect so it doesn't get damaged - it is something that you earn through success. We should be giving children opportunities to develop their talents not fragile egos propped up with delusional self-esteem. Have you ever noticed that everyone says they are a "good person." Look at our world, heck just look at our society. How can we claim to all be good and have the homeless we do, or the high percentage of people in jail, or the uninsured, or all the people below the poverty line, or prejudice, etc. If we were all good, we would solve these problems - heck we would really care about them. Instead, when it comes to elections, what do we hear about? When is the last time anyone asked what we are going to do about the homeless in politics? Good people? Hmpf. Here is my opinion - we are not all good. I don't think there are a lot of evil people out there either, if by evil we mean those who seek to intentionally do harm. But there are too many who will not do anything for someone else if it requires any effort or sacrifice. Good is not the absence of evil - it is a positive manifestation of love that requires effort and sacrifice. If most people aren't good and aren't evil, what are they? Just selfish. Think about the old westerns. The good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats. I think most people wear grey hats. They are neither good nor bad - merely selfish. What color hat do you wear? Tags: relativism, equality

Forgive me Father for I have sinned...

Click on picture to see a larger image. I was on Sacred Space(one of my favorites - the link is in the side bar), and they had some thoughts today that seemed to hit home. So I'd like to share part of it. Here is part of what they wrote: "...When God looks at me, he desires me and is saying: You are desirable. I made you good. I want you. God sees me as his daughter or son, whom he loves. He says: You are mine. His gaze says: I delight in you. Can I accept this gaze of love? Or do I run back into disapproval of myself?...." I went to confession today - we all go as a family (poor Mike has to wait for us - he starts second grade this year, so not too much longer until he can do more than wait). I felt that giddy feeling afterwards, when your soul is all fresh and clean. I don't know if others have that feeling, but when I make an honest confession - I feel liberated (and loved)! Anyways, the quote above got me thinking.... I know EXACTLY what this is like! I had been going to confession once a year (or so) for some time. None of them were as full as they should be, and I should have gone more often. Why was I falling down here? Some of it was pride (what do I need a priest for, I can go straight to God). Some of it was that I didn't want to confess certain things. Why? Because I didn't forgive myself. I disapproved of me. The funny thing is, a lot of people who know me would be surprised at that. When I was in the corporate world, I was seen as confident. Some would have said I could stand a little humility (and they would have been right). But at the same time, I did not seek forgiveness, because I wasn't able to forgive myself. I am not sure of the exact relationship between this self-disapproval (unworthiness, shame, etc.?) and pride - but I see a connection. What do you think? I really would like your opinions. Whatever the answer to the connection, I do know this. I finally had a fabulous confession - I laid it all out on the line. I even wrote things down because I wanted to get it all out and have an absolutely clean start. But it required two things: 1. I had to set aside my pride, and humble myself before God, and the priest that stands in for Christ and the body of Christ (that is all of you). Once I humbled myself, I could seek out God and ask for forgiveness. The other thing I had to do, was believe I was worth forgiving. THAT is the connection to the quote above. I think that doing both, humbling myself and believing I was worthy, were two sides of the same coin - I was greater than I feared in God's eyes, and less than I pretended in my own. When I made my confession, I said my greatest sin was my pride. I acted as if I knew better than the Church, I didn't really need a pries to confess all my sins, I knew what was sinful and what was not. But I was afraid to admit this! As I reflect on how I feared bearing my soul (and being vulnerable) in prepping for that confession and how I avoided having that true confession for such a long time, I have to ask why. In the end, it is exactly what the quote above said. Yes I was sinful, but it was my inability to forgive myself that led to a growing rift between me and God. And from that rift, grew my pride (which is a poor substitute for God's love). The feeling I had after that confession was unbelievable. I wanted to run out and do my penance immediately. I was filled with joy. I wanted to dance and sing, do things for others, tell people about God, write blogs and leave encouraging comments for others. :) I am happy to say, that I felt the same exuberance today, even though it had only been a little longer than a month since my last confession. Letting God love you, and loving him back is pretty darn good! God's love, and that fresh clean soul feeling... you just can't beat it! Thank you Lord for confession! Tags: Christianity, Catholicism, Pride, Unworthy, Confession