St Paul, Minnesota – National Shrine of St. Paul

Attending the wedding of a friend, I paid my first visit to St. Paul this past weekend.

I found St. Paul to be a delightful city: clean, pleasing to the eye, easy to get around, distinctly urban, yet maintaining a small town feel. I found myself wishing I had more than two days to visit.

While there, I also learned that no trip to St. Paul is complete without a visit to the beautiful Cathedral of St. Paul (recently designated by the Holy Father as the National Shrine of St. Paul):


(Photo: T.J. McGovern - http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc21562.php)

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Now for a little self-disclosure:

I have an unusual hobby when traveling. Each time I travel to a new place, I search out and visit the Catholic cathedral (the home church of the local Catholic bishop).

I am not sure exactly how this practice came to be. I love the grandeur and beauty of traditional Church architecture, and the cathedrals I have visited each been beautiful in their own unique way. Yet many churches, not just cathedrals, can lay claim to grandeur and beauty. So what is it that attracts me to cathedrals?

I think what draws me is the visible and concrete reminder of the authority the Church as vested in the local bishop. This authority is, of course, symbolized by the bishop’s chair or “cathedra” visibly present in the sanctuary of each of each cathedral (and set aside for use only by the bishop).

Now back to Minnesota:

Over the years, I have visited cathedrals all over the world (though, alas, not in Italy), and the Cathedral of St. Paul is as impressive as any I have seen. Absolutely spectacular both inside and out.

Since we were visiting the Cathedral on a Sunday, we were able to attend mass which was a special treat. Afterwards, we spent a good hour touring the inside of the Church.

To top off our special day, as we were leaving, a large procession of seminarians from the St. John Vianney seminary arrived as we were leaving. They had pilgrimaged to the Cathedral to mark the begin of their school year. The presence of these young men joyfully singing hymns as they approached and then entered the Church was inspiring.

LifeSiteNews: "NH Court Orders Homeschooler into Public School to Expose Her to Different Faith Views"

Does anyone feel confident that this sort of thing will not become more common as we move forward to the future? I certainly do not.

(By the way, if you are homeschooling and have not yet checked out the information and services offered by the Home School Legal Defense Association, you should check out their website here.)

From LifeSiteNews.com:

An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney asked a New Hampshire court Monday to reconsider its decision after it ordered a 10-year-old homeschooled girl to attend public school in order to remedy the girl's lack of exposure to "a variety of points of view" in matters of faith.

Although the marital master making recommendations to the court agreed the child is "well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising, and intellectually at or superior to grade level" and that "it is clear that the home schooling...has more than kept up with the academic requirements of the...public school system," he nonetheless proposed that the Christian girl be ordered into a government-run school after considering "the impact of [her religious] beliefs on her interaction with others." The court approved the order.

"Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children. In this case specifically, the court is illegitimately altering a method of education that the court itself admits is working," said ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons of Hampton.

"The court is essentially saying that the evidence shows that, socially and academically, this girl is doing great, but her religious beliefs are a bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews. This is a step too far for any court to take."

The parents of the child divorced in 1999. The mother has home-schooled their daughter since first grade with curriculum that meets all state review standards. In addition to home schooling, the girl attends supplemental public school classes and has also been involved in a variety of extra-curricular sports activities.

In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the guardian ad litem involved in the case concluded, according to the court order, that the girl "appeared to reflect her mother's rigidity on questions of faith" and that the girl's interests "would be best served by exposure to a public school setting."

It was also concluded that "different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief...in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs."

Marital Master Michael Garner reasoned that the girl's "vigorous defense of her religious beliefs to [her] counselor suggests strongly that she has not had the opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view," and then recommended that the girl be ordered to enroll in a government school instead of being home-schooled...

Notable Quote(s) - Eric Holder - Attorney General of the United States

Two quotes from Eric Holder, our current Attorney General and deputy Attorney General under President Clinton:

EARLY in 2002, Eric Holder, then a former deputy attorney general, said on CNN that the detainees being held at Guantánamo Bay were “not, in fact, people entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention,” particularly “given the way in which they have conducted themselves.”

Six years later, declaring that “Guantánamo Bay is an international embarrassment,” Mr. Holder said, “I never thought I would see the day when ... the Supreme Court would have to order the president of the United States to treat detainees in accordance with the Geneva Convention.” Source

Obama Administration Goes After CIA interrogators

(Michael Ramirez - Investors Business Daily)

National Guard Recruiting Ad - Citizen Soldiers

Following up my previous National Guard post, here is another recruiting ad that I like, particularly the way it evokes continuity with the past.

This one has cast interviews at the end.

Archbishop Chaput - One of our finest bishops!

Having followed his career and read his writings for years, I believe that Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver is one of our finest bishops.

His teaching emphasis in recent years has been on the role of Catholics in the public and political life of the nation, and includes his recently released book: Render Unto Caesar. (You can find information about the book here.)

If you are interested in learning more, Patrick Madrid has posted an excellent profile of the Archbishop, including some great quotes. I recommend that you take a look.

Bishop D'Arcy reflects on the Notre Dame - Obama Commencement scandal:

This past Spring, Bishop John D'Arcy (Fort Wayne/South Bend), spoke out publicly in opposition to the University of Notre Dame's decision to honor President Obama at its commencement ceremony.

Now, Bishop D'Arcy, in a piece in America magazine, provides a more extensive reflection on the controversy:

As summer plays itself out on the beautiful campus by the lake where the young Holy Cross priest, Edward Sorin, C.S.C., pitched his camp 177 years ago and began his great adventure, we must clarify the situation that so sundered the church last spring: What it is all about and what it is not about.

It is not about President Obama. He will do some good things as president and other things with which, as Catholics, we will strongly disagree. It is ever so among presidents, and most political leaders.

It is not about Democrats versus Republicans, nor was it a replay of the recent general election.

It is not about whether it is appropriate for the president of the United States to speak at Notre Dame or any great Catholic university on the pressing issues of the day. This is what universities do. No bishop should try to prevent that.

The response, so intense and widespread, is not about what this journal called “sectarian Catholicism.” Rather, the response of the faithful derives directly from the Gospel. In Matthew’s words, “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good works, and glorify your heavenly Father” (5:13)... Continued

Cash for Clunkers ends today. What a farce.

The Cash for Clunkers program ends ends today at an approximate cost to the US taxpayers of $3 billion.

Can someone explain to me why the federal government has a right to give away taxpayer money so that people can buy new cars?

And, why is the rebate only for people who could buy a car this summer? I bought a new car last summer and traded in a clunker. Where's my $4,500? The arbitrary nature of the program doesn't seem fair, if you ask me.

But, at least it helped the automakers, right? Maybe. Or, maybe not. As Frank Ahrens of the Washington Post notes:

...it's unclear whether the program has actually robbed demand from the future, which means GM and Chrysler -- still on wobbly legs -- could face a serious sales decline next year...

On a more positive note, at least we can feel good that the tax money we paid to Uncle Sam in April has proven to be so popular when given away for free!

After all, as Joe Biden says, paying taxes is "Patriotic."

Are you feeling "Patriotic" today?

President Obama is pushing the most significant "misrepresentation" of the health care debate

While President Obama has been accusing health reform critics of dishonesty, Robert Robb, a columnist for the Arizona Republic, argues that it is the President himself who has been pushing the most significant untruth of all.

To blunt criticism, Mr. Obama has been promising Americans that if they like their current health insurance, they will be able to keep it under his plan. However, Robb notes that, under the provisions of the plan, Mr. Obama's assertion is true only in the short-term:

...The most consequential misrepresentation in the health care debate is when Obama and other supporters claim that if people like their doctor and their insurance plan, they will get to keep them. The reason for the heavy stress on that reassurance is the belief that health care reform that jeopardizes what people currently have isn't going anywhere.

The promise is false, however, even by the terms of the committee bills. Existing plans are grandfathered in, but only for five years. After that, they have to meet the new federal mandates, whatever they turn out to be. In the interim, they can accept no new enrollees.

More fundamentally, the Obama reforms completely scramble the health care market. There will be new governmental mandates, huge new individual subsidies and different tax treatments. What employers will offer after everything is scrambled up and resettles is entirely unknowable.

Simply put, the health care coverage people currently have would be subject to considerable change. An honest health care debate would acknowledge that.

Full article

Rasmussen: Support for President Continues Downward Slide

Support for the President continues to fall dramatically.

From Rasmussen:

Graphic 1:

Graphic 2:

Notable Quote - Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell on the Obama Administration's approach to governing:

...What they are trying to do is create an America very unlike the America that has existed for centuries — the America that people have been attracted to by the millions from every part of the world, the America that many generations of Americans have fought and died for.

This is the America for which Michelle Obama expressed her resentment before it became politically expedient to keep quiet.

It is the America that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright denounced in his sermons during the 20 years when Barack Obama was a parishioner, before political expediency required Obama to withdraw and distance himself.

The thing most associated with America — freedom — is precisely what must be destroyed if this is to be turned into a fundamentally different country to suit Obama's vision of the country and of himself.

But do not expect a savvy politician like Barack Obama to express what he is doing in terms of limiting our freedom.

He may not even think of it in those terms. He may think of it in terms of promoting "social justice" or making better decisions than ordinary people are capable of making for themselves, whether about medical care or housing or many other things...

Source

To this day, no one has been able to explain to me how someone (i.e. Mr. Obama) can spend the whole of his adult life associating with, and being mentored by, leftist radicals who despise what the United States has traditionally stood for, yet still maintain a mainstream value system and a traditional view of our country.

This idea, after all, is the whopper that millions of Americans bought into last November.

Now we are all paying the price.

Weekend Humor - Stretching after Jogging

I chuckled when I came across this video at Aussie Coffee Shop:

Correspondence - I sent this letter to my local Borders bookstore today

I sent this letter to the manager of my local Borders bookstore today:

Dear [redacted],

My family and I have been loyal Borders customers since your store opened a little more than seven years ago.

One of our most frequent (and enjoyable) activities as a family has been our regular trips to your store. Our young boys love to make their way to the children's section to look through the books and pick out a few favorites. Then, they sit on the floor and look through their selected books, before heading over to the cafe for a snack. Most visits we allow them each to pick out a book to purchase.

We are working diligently to raise our boys properly, a difficult task in today's culture which seems to seek out and celebrate the worst in human attitudes and behavior. Up until our most recent visits, we believed our trips to Borders were an ally in our efforts on this front.

You can imagine my dismay, as we were making our way across your main floor the other day, to see prominently displayed amidst your bestsellers a book titled, "Skinny Bitch." Lest the moment be viewed as an aberration, I note that a couple weeks ago, while en route to the elevator, we passed the discount shelves, where a book titled "Dictionary of Bullshit" was staring us in the face.

I am concerned about bringing my family to Borders if my children are going to be confronted with vulgarity as they walk through your store. How am I supposed to undo the damage of my young son seeing, in plain view on your shelves, words that are vulgar and disrespectful?

Certainly there is another way. Can such books be placed behind the front desk or in an out-of-the way corner (perhaps a section labeled "adult" or "over-18" or "parental warning")?"

In the meantime, I will need to consider whether continued trips to your store are in my family's best interest.

Respectfully,

[Mr. H]

National Guard Recruiting Ad - Warrior

Not your traditional recruiting ad:

Archdiocese of Chicago: Catholics Come Home!

I am delighted to see the Archdiocese of Chicago is going to be implementing the Catholics Come Home campaign that has been so successful in the Southwestern U.S.

The Archdiocese has set up a website (here) with details regarding the implementation of the program with which it hopes to persuade Catholics who have drifted away to return to the Church.

The first phase of the program is to run a series of TV commercials on local television. The ads were produced by the non-profit organization, Catholics Come Home, Inc. (their website has more details here).

Their best known TV Ad, called EPIC, appears below. I found this video incredibly moving the first time I saw it. The ad provided me with a powerful reminder of why I am proud to be Catholic.

Stop the Abortion Mandate

To help support this nationwide effort, visit the Stop the Abortion Mandate website here.

From the website:

Some Quick Talking Points on the Current Healthcare Legislation

• Piecemeal implementation of the Freedom of Choice Act through healthcare legislation amounts to every American being forced to fund abortions, a mandate that every insurance plan cover abortion, and an increase in abortion clinics across the country.
• If the the new healthcare law does not clearly state that abortion is excluded, abortion automatically becomes a minimum required benefit for all public and private healthcare plans. Specific language must be written into the healthcare bill that excludes taxpayer funds from paying for abortions.
• Abortion is not healthcare, as the pro-abortion organizations would like Americans to believe, and it should not be mandated under any health insurance plan, especially one that Americans will be forced to subsidize.
• If unamended the Obama healthcare restructuring bill will be the most massive abortion expansion since Roe v. Wade.
• Empirical data shows that when abortion is a covered service, there are more abortions.
  

Kourtney Kardashian Rejects Abortion and Instead Chooses Life

I never thought I would be posting an excerpt from People Magazine, but...

Kourtney Kardashian, whose family is known for their reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, recently found herself unexpectedly pregnant.

She seriously considered aborting the child and recounts to People the difficult and emotional struggle leading up to her decision to keep her baby:

..."I looked online, and I was sitting on the bed hysterically crying, reading these stories of people who felt so guilty from having an abortion," she recalls. "I was reading these things of how many people are traumatized by it afterwards."

After scouring the Internet, Kardashian says she started to realize that an abortion wasn't an option for her. "I was just sitting there crying, thinking, 'I can't do that,' " she says. "And I felt in my body, this is meant to be. God does things for a reason, and I just felt like it was the right thing that was happening in my life."

Kardashian says she did some intense soul-searching. "For me, all the reasons why I wouldn't keep the baby were so selfish: It wasn't like I was raped, it's not like I'm 16. I'm 30 years old, I make my own money, I support myself, I can afford to have a baby. And I am with someone who I love, and have been with for a long time"...

In the end, a piece of advice from her doctor pushed her toward life:

..."My doctor told me there is nothing you will ever regret about having the baby, but he was like, 'You may regret not having the baby.' And I was like: That is so true. And it just hit me. I got so excited, and when I told Scott he was so excited...

Kudos to Kourtney, her doctor, and her boyfriend (who also pushed her to keep the baby).

Our Lady of Guadalupe - Image Cannot Be Explained by Science

What if God periodically gave us real-world, physical evidence of his existence, and we as a world missed or discarded the signs?

Take for example the Apparition of our Lady at Guadalupe:

...physicist Aldofo Orozco told participants at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe that there is no scientific explanation for the 478 years of preservation of the tilma on which the image appears.

According to Orozco, all cloths similar to the tilma that have been placed in the salty and humid environment around the basilica have lasted no longer than 10 years. In contrast, Orozco said, “The original Tilma was exposed for approximately 116 years without any kind of protection, receiving all the infrared and ultraviolet radiation from the tens of thousands of candles near it and exposed to the humid and salty air around the temple.”

The fabric, according to Orozco, is made from fibers of the agave plant. The back side of the fabric is rough and coarse, while the front side is as soft as silk.

He also mentioned two of the miracles associated with the tilma.

The first occurred in 1785, when a worker accidentally spilled a 50% nitric acid solvent on the right side of the cloth. “Besides any natural explanation, the acid has not destroyed the fabric of the cloth; indeed it has not even destroyed the colored parts of the image,” Orozco said.

The second miracle was the explosion of a bomb near the tilma in 1921. Orozco recalled that the explosion broke the marble floor and widows 150 meters from the explosion, but “unexpectedly, neither the tilma nor the normal glass that protected the tilma was damaged or broken.” The only damage near it was a brass crucifix that was twisted by the blast...

(Source: National Catholic Register)

Bishop Finn Encourages Pro-Life Volunteers

On Sunday, Bishop Finn (Kansas City-St. Joseph), one of my favorite bishops and a stalwart defender of life, addressed a gathering of pro-life volunteers.

While I encourage you to read the whole speech (here), here are some noteworthy excerpts:

Excerpt 1:

...What a beautiful mission we have: to bear witness, even to the point of some suffering, to the truth of the innate value of human life, and the dignity of every human person. In persevering in this sacred work we bring glory to the Eternal Father who has created us, to His Son Jesus who lifted up our flesh in the Incarnation, and redeemed us through His own dying and rising. We want to be moved and docile to the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies us for a supernatural work – dare we say it?, a BATTLE wherein we already know the final outcome – namely, that Christ has indeed already conquered sin and death, and life will be victorious!

Be careful of this last point, the “battle.” There are some who don’t want you to know we are in a battle, even while they themselves never cease to attack. Friends, when we do get attacked and clobbered, then let us know that Christ has gone before us. He told us, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world’” (Jn 16:33)...

Excerpt 2:

...What we believe – what has been entrusted to us about life - must be taught. We must be patient and persevering teachers of these basic truths, in what we say and how we act. We somehow have to get across, first and foremost, that there is such a thing as objective truth; that there is such a thing as right and wrong. This is no easy task in a culture of “choice;” in a society that values a kind of personal dogmatism – whatever I think is true, is “true” FOR ME! This becomes very threatening when those who have a voice can determine what happens to those who do not. Even within the community of believers, we must be careful of the notion of “subjective conscience,” because an ill-formed conscience can give license to destructive tendencies within our lives, and can even cause people to neglect, or take advantage of others – particularly those who are vulnerable. We must teach, and we have a Holy Mother, the Church, from whom we take our lead...

Excerpt 3:

...we must act against what is clearly evil. We must take this responsibility. It is possible to commit sins of omission where there is grave responsibility. The US bishops, for more than thirty years have held a strategic principle that Roe v. Wade must be overturned. Why is this? Because it is a grave evil that has become a fundamental element of law in our country. It must be opposed. We always seek to do it legally, but with the fervor of American freedom, and the fiery insistence born of the Holy Spirit. We must overturn unjust laws. Obviously and with great urgency, we must change a law that exposes human life to the terror of abortion. It seems a long road. Progress is so slow. Through many courageous and hard-fought battles we have put in place – particularly in the States – some small but important limits on abortions: waiting periods, parental notification requirements, use of ultrasounds, alternatives counseling, etc. We have also been able to establish limits on tax dollars used for abortion, and conscience protection for individuals and, for example, for our Catholic Health Care institutions.

Before I go further, it is very important to note: We, the Catholic Church, continue to do MORE than any other private institution – bar none – to support life at every stage. We do more to help the poor, the sick, the hopeless, certainly women in difficult pregnancies and those with young families. We will never stop doing these things. We must not. We will do them out of a conviction about the dignity and value of every human person, and out of a motive of love of Christ. But these things are NOT enough! We have to stop evil where we can. We must defeat or overturn destructive laws. As private citizens, we have to support elected officials who support life and defeat or remove those who boldly declare a pro-choice, anti-life agenda.

Because the efforts to dislodge what is evil are so arduous – we know that evil will not give up without a fight; It shouldn’t surprise us that certain groups – even those under the banner of “Catholic,” have set a different agenda, one that while supporting a public work of assistance to those in need, nonetheless chooses not to address unjust and destructive laws that take their daily toll of thousands of human lives. They seem to tolerate and even support, at times, a program that systematically continues its clearly declared strategy to remove all limits on access to abortion. They say, “Let us forget about Roe v Wade – concede it, because we have not yet been able to defeat it. … Let such evils run their course. We will try to do some good and this will be enough.”

I assure you, evil and selfishness looks for us to drop our guard. The Freedom of Choice act has not been enacted; but piece by piece all its elements are finding their way into our law. The efforts that had been won painstakingly over the last generation – limits on abortion that can be shown, statistically, to reduce the number of abortions in our country by hundreds of thousands per year - are today being nullified. We must do much charity, much work in mercy, and develop more safety nets for those who are in need. But, at the same time, we must work for the change of what is unjust. Our first call is to provide and protect justice – and the primordial human right is life – for those who are most vulnerable, who have no voice of their own. We will act with respect and we will not ever, ever, resort to violence, but we must not cease to work actively against evil, anymore than we would abandon the initiatives of active charity that mark the work of Jesus Christ. You and I must do these things. I am counting on you!...

Woodstock - Forty Year Anniversary - The Real American Heroes Were Not in New York, But in Vietnam

During those famous four days in 1968, while 400,00 spoiled young people were getting high, fornicating, and running around naked, 109 American patriots serving in Vietnam made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The New York Post tells the story:

NEWSWEEK described them as "a youthful, long-haired army, almost as large as the US force in Vietnam." One promoter saw what happened near Bethel (nearly 40 miles from Woodstock), NY, as an opportunity to "showcase" the drug culture as a "beautiful phenomenon."

The newsmagazine wrote of "wounded hippies" sent to impromptu hospital tents. Some 400,000 of the "nation's affluent white young" attended the "electric pot dream." One sympathetic chronicler recently described them as "a veritable army of hippies and freaks."

Time gushed with admiration for the tribal gathering, declaring: "It may well rank as one of the significant political and sociological events of the age." It deplored the three deaths there -- "one from an overdose of drugs [heroin] and hundreds of youths freaked out on bad trips caused by low-grade LSD." Yet attendees exhibited a "mystical feeling for themselves as a special group," according to the magazine's glowing essay.

The same tribute mentioned the "meaningless war in the jungles of Southeast Asia" and quoted a commentator who said the young needed "more opportunities for authentic service."

Meanwhile, 8,429 miles around the other side of the world, 514,000 mostly young Americans were authentically serving the country that had raised them to place society over self. The casualties they sustained over those four days were genuine, yet none of the elite media outlets were praising their selflessness.

So, 40 years later, let's finally look at those 109 Americans who sacrificed their lives in Vietnam on Aug. 15, 16, 17 and 18, 1969...Continued

Kansas Catholic: Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles--The Ground Breaking of the Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, one of several new tradition-oriented religious orders that provide hope for the future of the Church, has broken ground on a new monastery complex.

Kansas Catholic has details (and photos!) at the below link:

Kansas Catholic: Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles--The Ground Breaking of the Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus

Political Correctness Run Amok - Fort Dearborn Massacre now to be called "Battle" of Fort Dearborn

A bizarre editorial from the Chicago Sun Times:

Can we just say something? It was a massacre. It really was. No getting around it.

Defenseless women were killed. Children's heads were bashed in. Scalps were taken. A man's heart was eaten.

But can we say something else? It was also a last-gasp struggle for liberty, for a way of life, for survival.

A people who had lived on the land for eons were being destroyed -- shoved farther and farther west, slaughtered by federal troops, decimated by European diseases, roped off, penned in and banished.

For about 150 years, we have called it the Fort Dearborn Massacre. That's what most of us were taught in grammar school.

Now, as of this weekend, we are asked to called it the Battle of Fort Dearborn. Historians and Native American groups pushed hard for the change to a more neutral name, which they say allows for a more enlightened understanding of what actually went down that day.

We could not agree more. This is a case, if ever there was one, where one man's massacre was another man's freedom fight.

The Battle of Fort Dearborn is, of course, ancient history by Chicago and American standards, but how we write the story of that day is enormously relevant to here and now.

It is a test of our nation's ability to interpret its past not only through the eyes of the victors -- white European settlers -- but also through the eyes of all of the other groups that compose the American whole. In a nation of so many races and ethnic groups, studying history by means of triangulation is the only way to go.

This weekend, after much debate and study, the Chicago Park District is naming a tiny patch of green at 18th Street and Calumet Avenue the "Battle of Fort Dearborn Park." The park marks the spot where, on Aug. 15, 1812 -- 197 years ago -- the battle was fought...Continued

Let me get this straight. The editors open by saying yes, the event was indeed a massacre, but then go on to argue that the use of the term "massacre" neglects the context of the broader struggle and is insensitive to the plight of the Native Americans.

Huh?

Is it me, or does this whole thing drips with relativism.

Women and children brutally slaughtered, and we should not call it a "massacre?" It is now a "battle?"

Now, in contrast, the "Battle" of Little Bighorn is aptly named (even though it had attributes of a massacre), because only combatants were involved, but this event is very different as the editors themselves acknowledge.

So why the change? Here is the money quote:

In a nation of so many races and ethnic groups, studying history by means of triangulation is the only way to go.

What? Are they kidding? This may be the most ridiculous statement I have ever seen in print.

Call me old-fashioned, but I thought the purpose of the discipline of History, and indeed of all academic fields, is the pursuit of TRUTH!

Weekend Humor

(Source: Michael Ramirez, Investors Business Daily)

Remember the Poor - Part 2

Many of us in the industrialized world have spent the last 12 months worrying about a return of the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, for many others around the world, the Great Depression is their reality.

One of my favorite charities, Food for the Poor, has put together a powerful pictorial comparison of famous images of the Great Depression alongside present-day images of the poor.

To view the slideshow, click here.

Remember the Poor - Part 1

In Haiti, many children are forced to eat dirt:



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Are you concerned about poverty in Haiti, the Caribbean, and Latin America? Want to help? Click here, to learn more about Food for the Poor, one of my favorite charities.
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Another Letter to Notre Dame

In response to my recent post on the letter I sent to Notre Dame in response to a fundraising letter, a fellow ND classmate of mine (Class of 1991), sent me a copy of a letter which he recently sent to Notre Dame.

His letter (name withheld):

Notre Dame Annual Fund
1100 Grace Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556

Re: Why I am not contributing to the Annual Fund

Dear Sir / Madam:

Until this year, I have been a regular contributor to the university and often have arranged for an employer match of my gift. I rarely apply for football tickets, so my support has been based on gratitude for the education received and support of the university's mission. I will contribute nothing to Notre Dame this year or for the foreseeable future. This is a source of grief to me.

The reasons behind this decision relate to the Obama commencement affair and all that it revealed about the values that drive many at the university. At every step leading up to, through, and beyond the commencement, representatives of the university said and did exactly the wrong thing to witness to Church teaching in our hostile culture.

I understand the university values the exchange of ideas and that it has been one of the means of assimilating Catholics into American life. Those goals have tensions and at times reasonable people will disagree about how best to reconcile those tensions. At some point, however, accommodation becomes collaboration.

If the university cannot maintain its Catholic identity in its pursuit of academic prestige, then it betrays its founders, its supporters, and all who remember for whom the school was named.

Sincerely,

(name withheld )

If you would like to help in the fight to restore the Catholic identity of the University of Notre Dame, you can:

1. Check out and support the Sycamore Trust. Click here for their website.

2. Check out and support the wonderful on-campus initiative, the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life. The website is here.

3. Join the Facebook Group Pro-Life Alumni and Friends of Notre Dame which can be found here.

Notable Quote - Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI:

...the Word of God is the foundation of everything, it is the true reality. And to be realistic, we must rely upon this reality. We must change our idea that matter, solid things, things we can touch, are the more solid, the more certain reality. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount the Lord speaks to us about the two possible foundations for building the house of one's life: sand and rock. The one who builds on sand builds only on visible and tangible things, on success, on career, on money. Apparently these are the true realities. But all this one day will pass away. We can see this now with the fall of large banks: this money disappears, it is nothing. And thus all things, which seem to be the true realities we can count on, are only realities of a secondary order. The one who builds his life on these realities, on matter, on success, on appearances, builds upon sand. Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, it is as stable as the heavens and more than the heavens, it is reality. Therefore, we must change our concept of realism. The realist is the one who recognizes the Word of God, in this apparently weak reality, as the foundation of all things. Realist is the one who builds his life on this foundation, which is permanent. Thus the first verses of the Psalm invite us to discover what reality is and how to find the foundation of our life, how to build life....

Excerpt taken from:

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
AT THE OPENING OF THE 12th ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS Synod Hall

Monday, 6 October 2008

An aging veteran fights to keep the memory of V-J Day alive

Today is the 64th anniversary of the Japanese surrender which ended World War II.

A moving story from the New York Times:

A retired postal worker, living not entirely at peace in an adult community called Leisure Village West, recently sent remember-the-date notes to large newspapers and television networks, then followed up with calls that often bounced to voice mail. The 14th of August; remember the date.

He was not asking so much as he was demanding.

Friday is the 14th of August: a dog day to many but always V-J Day to some, including this man, Albert Perdeck. It is the 64th anniversary of the surrender by Japan to end World War II. Attention must be paid, he says with urgency. He is 84.

“Last year, 2008, there was no mention of this on the news,” reads his handwritten note to The New York Times. “I am requesting to have the day remembered by your in-depth reporting.”

In addition to “V-J,” as in Victory over Japan, his note contains other abbreviations, including “P.T.S.D.,” as in: “The 17 months I was in combat still causes terrible flashbacks and nightmares of the mutilated bodies I helped to recover” ... Continued

Feds target Belmont Abbey College for its refusal to cover contraceptives in its health plan

Catholic college Belmont Abbey is in trouble with the federal government for refusing to provide coverage for contraceptives as part of its employee health coverage.

It is hard to believe, but the school is actually being accused of sexual discrimination by the federal government.

My friend John, at his blog Lunch Break, has an excellent post on this situation as well as some fascinating background information related to the "pill" and its affects on women. Be sure to check it out here.

In Defense of Palin's Health Care Comments

There is an interesting and thought-provoking piece defending Sarah Palin's comments posted over at Pajamas Media.

The author, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, argues that the real health care debate (and the real source of public anger) is not rooted in the details of the plan, but in the big-picture philosophy that drives the bill:

...Americans on both sides of the debate are looking at the guts of the bill, sure, but more than that, they are seeing the debate as philosophical. That is, those in favor of the public option, those who support the president, believe that health care is a right like clean air and water. They believe the collective should pay for the health care of the less fortunate. If that means cutting some services, rationing, and cutting costs on a few, to serve the whole, so be it. On the other side of the debate, those who support a free-market solution to the health care challenges see the public option as an intrusive, taxpayer-funded way to give a vast, unaccountable bureaucracy far more power.

Sarah Palin rightly sees the debate in philosophical terms. The American people do, too. People are arguing over this and that provision, but the reason there is a depth of feeling on this issue is because people perceive that health care legislation would be a fundamental shift in the nature of what it means to be an American.

President Barack Obama fights for soft European socialism. Governor Sarah Palin fights for free-market American individualism.... Full post is Here

Palin Defends "Death Panel" Comment

Challenged by President Obama in his recent "townhall" meeting, Sarah Palin has issued a defense of her "death panel" comment. Her defense which appears below is quite persuasive and well worth a read.

Jill Stanek provides further context in a post noting that the authors of the controversial section (Section 1233 of the proposed bill HR 3200) are well-known advocates of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Put all the pieces together (including this post on the views of Obama's health advisors), and it paints a troubling picture.

Palin's Defense of her "death panels" comment:

...Section 1233 authorizes advanced care planning consultations for senior citizens on Medicare every five years, and more often “if there is a significant change in the health condition of the individual ... or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long-term care facility... or a hospice program." [3] During those consultations, practitioners must explain “the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice,” and the government benefits available to pay for such services. [4]

Now put this in context. These consultations are authorized whenever a Medicare recipient’s health changes significantly or when they enter a nursing home, and they are part of a bill whose stated purpose is “to reduce the growth in health care spending.” [5] Is it any wonder that senior citizens might view such consultations as attempts to convince them to help reduce health care costs by accepting minimal end-of-life care? As Charles Lane notes in the Washington Post, Section 1233 “addresses compassionate goals in disconcerting proximity to fiscal ones.... If it’s all about alleviating suffering, emotional or physical, what’s it doing in a measure to “bend the curve” on health-care costs?” [6]

As Lane also points out:

Though not mandatory, as some on the right have claimed, the consultations envisioned in Section 1233 aren’t quite “purely voluntary,” as Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.) asserts. To me, “purely voluntary” means “not unless the patient requests one.” Section 1233, however, lets doctors initiate the chat and gives them an incentive -- money -- to do so. Indeed, that’s an incentive to insist.

Patients may refuse without penalty, but many will bow to white-coated authority. Once they’re in the meeting, the bill does permit “formulation” of a plug-pulling order right then and there. So when Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) denies that Section 1233 would “place senior citizens in situations where they feel pressured to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign,” I don’t think he’s being realistic. [7]

Even columnist Eugene Robinson, a self-described “true believer” who “will almost certainly support” “whatever reform package finally emerges”, agrees that “If the government says it has to control health-care costs and then offers to pay doctors to give advice about hospice care, citizens are not delusional to conclude that the goal is to reduce end-of-life spending.” [8]

So are these usually friendly pundits wrong? Is this all just a “rumor” to be “disposed of”, as President Obama says? Not according to Democratic New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Chairman of the New York State Senate Aging Committee, who writes:

Section 1233 of House Resolution 3200 puts our senior citizens on a slippery slope and may diminish respect for the inherent dignity of each of their lives.... It is egregious to consider that any senior citizen ... should be placed in a situation where he or she would feel pressured to save the government money by dying a little sooner than he or she otherwise would, be required to be counseled about the supposed benefits of killing oneself, or be encouraged to sign any end of life directives that they would not otherwise sign. [9]

Of course, it’s not just this one provision that presents a problem. My original comments concerned statements made by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy advisor to President Obama and the brother of the President’s chief of staff. Dr. Emanuel has written that some medical services should not be guaranteed to those “who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens....An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.” [10] Dr. Emanuel has also advocated basing medical decisions on a system which “produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated.” [11] ....

Palin's Full Post here.

Fighting for the Catholic Identity of Notre Dame

The Sycamore Trust is asking for help:

NOTRE DAME, IN - As we have noted before, the Fellows of the University, the ultimate repositories of authority, are charged by the University’s Statutes with maintaining the Catholic identity of the University. We understand they are to hold a special meeting on August 21st, presumably at least in part because of the Obama episode. An aspect of that unhappy affair that is especially worrisome is the strong faculty support of the honoring of the President. As we have regularly emphasized, it is the secularization of the faculty that is the ultimate cause of the outward signs of the University’s loss of Catholic identity.

We have, accordingly, sent to the Fellows a letter in which we summarize the results of our study of the University over the past several years with a special focus on the faculty issue. Our principal point is that both the Fellows and the Board have a fiduciary obligation to see to it that enough committed and qualified Catholics are hired so that the Mission Statement requirement that Catholics predominate is met. This is not, we insist, discretionary. It is obligatory. If that duty is discharged, there will be no need to worry about repellant events such as The Vagina Monologues or the Queer Film Festival or breaches with the Church such as those we have seen over the past several years.

Please examine our letter and, if you agree, let the Fellows know right away, and also tell them what you think about the conferring of honors upon President Obama. If enough draw attention to our letter, the Fellows will have good reason to examine it. And if enough speak of the Obama episode, it will be evidence that this is not a matter that can safely be ignored on the supposition that it will soon be forgotten.

The contact information for the Fellows is displayed on our website. Some can be reached only by postal service. The time is short. We urge you to act now.

We will be in touch with you again with a similar recommendation and the necessary information with respect to the Board of Trustees in advance of its fall meeting.

Here is what we wrote:

We write as officers and directors of Sycamore Trust to summarize the principal findings of our several years’ study of issues relating to the Catholic identity of Notre Dame and to urge that the Fellows take the action these findings show to be necessary... (read full letter)

If you would like to help in the fight to restore the Catholic identity of the University of Notre Dame, you can:

1. Check out and support the Sycamore Trust. Click here for their website.

2. Check out and support the wonderful on-campus initiative, the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life. The website is here.

3. Join the Facebook Group Pro-Life Alumni and Friends of Notre Dame which can be found here.

Correspondence: A Letter to Notre Dame

In response to a fundraising letter I received from the University of Notre Dame this week, I sent back the following letter:

August, 11, 2009

To: The University of Notre Dame Development Office

I will not be giving any donations to the Annual Fund in light of the University's decision to honor President Obama at Commencement.

This honor was awarded in direct defiance of the 2004 guidance given by the US bishops. Mr. Obama is arguably the most prominent and powerful abortion advocate in the world. For a Catholic university to honor him as such was disgraceful.

I will reconsider my decision to withhold donations to the Annual Fund when the following developments have occurred:

1. Fr. Jenkins has publicly apologized, resigned, or been replaced as University president, AND
2. The University has undertaken a clear change in direction by fully embracing its Catholic identity in all its endeavors.

In the meantime, I will redirect my donations to other worthy causes.

Respectfully,

(Mr. H)

Class of 1991

If you would like to help in the fight to restore the Catholic identity of the University of Notre Dame, you can:

1. Check out and support the Sycamore Trust. Click here for their website.

2. Check out and support the wonderful on-campus initiative, the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life. The website is here.

3. Join the Facebook Group Pro-Life Alumni and Friends of Notre Dame which can be found here.

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Addendum: I have posted the letter of another ND alumnus here.