Archive for the ‘catholic’ Category

Jimmy Carter Apologizes to Israel!?!? Another Festivus Miracle!

Posted: December 23, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, internet/free speech, opinion/news
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Here is a story I never expected to be reading:

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter has apologized to the American Jewish community for ‘stigmatizing Israel’ and asked for forgiveness for his actions, the JTA reported on Monday.

“We must recognize Israel’s achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel,” Carter wrote in a letter to the JTA.

“As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so,” Carter wrote, referring to the prayer said on Yom Kippur in which Jews ask God for forgiveness for any sins.

As you know I’m a big fan of confession, but I’ve never expected this one.

Who says miracles can’t happen on this magic day of Festivus?

I guess he wanted to preempt the traditional airing of grievances but I as said last year, I have teenagers, every day is for the airing of grievances.

Happy Festivus to all who celebrate it and have a nice day to everyone else.

Update: I’m no expect of Jewish Theology but I know a bit about Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. I’m a bit bothered by the reactions on this thread where I found the Carter story. Remember the rules:

I would remind all Christians of this little prayer that you likely pray every day:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. Matt 6:9-13 emphasis mine

The next two verses are even more blunt:

If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. Matt 6:14,15

Every time you say the Our Father (of you prefer the term The Lord’s Prayer) and you choose not to forgive you are condemning yourself. Christ was very explicit here. He meant to be. This is not an optional doctrine. These are the rules.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the presence of one’s enemies will not make hell any more bearable.

Update 2: Speaking of grievances…

Isn’t that nice. Oh, in a not-at-all related story, Jimmy Carter’s grandson is running for Congress {incorrect see update 3 DTG} in a Georgia district that has a significant (at least for Georgia) Jewish population.

“Hey, I am really sorry for all that anti-Israel stuff I have been doing for years and years. I am also really sorry that I left that Holocaust thing out of my book on Israel and all the other things. Yeah, really sorry about that. Have you met my Grandson Jason, he is running for Congress and he really likes Jews.”

That gives an interesting twist to the story.

Update 3: Jumping in Pools says he is running for state senate rather than congress, Creative Minority report’s point remains. My thanks for the heads up and the correction. He did however leave his comment informing me of this at this post on St. Joseph instead of here.

The American Papist is wrong and right at the same time

Posted: December 22, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, oddities, opinion/news
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…concerning this story:

Last July, as you may remember, Christians in the Indian state of Orissa were subjected to severe persecution. A 22 year old nun was burnt to death, an orphanage in Khuntpali village was burnt down by a mob, another nun was gang raped in Kandhamal, mobs attacked churches, torched vehicles, and destroyed the houses of Christians. Fr Thomas Chellen, director of the pastoral centre that was destroyed with a bomb, had a narrow escape after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire. All together, more than 500 Christians were murdered, and thousands of others were injured.

In an extraordinary development, a herd of elephants has travelled some 300Km to attack villages that were the worst persecutors of the Christians, leaving Christian homes untouched. See: Elephants attack in Orissa exactly one year after persecutions

Details are here:

The American Papist asks some interesting questions:

1. Who authorized posting this story as “news”?
2. Is it really a Christian sentiment to hope that our persecutors are being savaged by wild animals?
3. Is there any corroborating evidence to confirm that, as claimed, Elephants are rampaging villages?

These are all legit questions both concerning the event itself and the point about not having schadenfreude over the troubles of our foes, but he also says something that I found odd.

This is a terribly strange story.

Let’s take the idea that this is happening as started as given, why is this a strange story?

Biblically, in both the old and new testament there are precedents for this type of thing.

In more recent times two particular stories come to mind the first involves the order founded by St. Katherine Drexel during the rise of the Klan in the 20’s:

(1922) The Klu Klux Klan in Beaumont, Texas threaten to tar and feather the white pastor at one of Drexel’s schools and bomb his church. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament began to pray, and days later a tornado destroyed the Klan’s headquarters, killing two members, including the “wizard.” They never bother the nuns or the pastor again.

If you want something with fewer casualties but the same “coincidental” effect we need go no further back then a few months ago…to August 21st. To Wit:

The inverted Cross atop Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis dangled from the steeple on Wednesday following a rare downtown twister as the ELCA Churchwide Assembly was in legislative session across the street at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

let me remind you of the details:

Consideration of the proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality document was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, August 19, at 2:oo p.m.

According to the website of the Central Lutheran Church located across the street from the conference center, where the assembly was in session, the tornado passed through downtown Minneapolis near CLC at, you guessed it, approximately 2:00 p.m…

One blogger posted this quote:

“We trust that the weather is not a commentary on our work,” said the Rev. Steven Loy, who was helping oversee the convention.

That Blogger? The American Papist.

We are Christians, we believe in Miracles. As I’ve said before concerning Holy Communion:

as for transubstantiation the physics are identical to the physics of parting the Red Sea, Of Jonah and the Whale, the Feeding of the 5,000 and Peter’s healing of the cripple. Miracle of God. There is a long history of that kind of thing.

As a person who has been an eyewitness to at least one Miracle in person I’ve never understood why believing Christians have no problem believing all those other miracles but not Transubstantiation.

A Catholic should not find anything like this strange an an atheist really has to wonder about the odds. I think a firm belief in mathematical theory and probability really can really complement the Holy Spirit when it comes to convincing the doubtful.

As for what should happen assuming this report is correct? The Christians should take advantage of God’s grace offered and aid their now suffering persecutors, thus being living examples of God’s mercy and combined with the Chrism of the Holy Spirit produce conversions of both belief and action.

Something like this is also a source of temptation, first of “Spiritual Pride” and self righteousness, and secondary in terms of celebration. Both are deadly sins and are hard to resist, particularly if you have been the victim of the initial persecutions. Remember these words from Screwtape #6

The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary…

…All sorts of virtues painted in the fantasy or approved by the intellect or even, in some measure, loved and admired, will not keep a man from our Father’s house: indeed they may make him more amusing when he gets there

It’s important to remember this when tempted. The presence of an enemy will not make hell any more bearable.

Update: GirdyorLions links, thanks

The Brittany Murphy business reminds me of my cousin Bill

Posted: December 21, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, opinion/news, personal
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…My cousin Bill was 4 years younger than me. He was a diver and built like a rock. Like Ms Murphy he was at the height of health. And out of nowhere he just dropped dead.

It struck me particularly, not because we were really close, or the empathy I felt for his parents as any parent does with their child (of any age) dies, but because I have overweight and older. It seemed unreal to me that he would what just dropped dead when I am still alive.

It reminds me of one of the greatest sermons I’ve ever heard, it was at the Latin Mass at Immaculate Conception. The priest went over and over talking about people who suddenly died and stressed the importance of the sacrament of confession. The priest stressed two phrases that have really stuck in me:

We are not promised the next morning.

It is a terrible thing to fall under the judgment of a Just God.

One should not let worry prevent one from living life, but a smart person will keep these two phrases in mind.

After all Ms. Murphy was young, fit and well off, yet she wasn’t promised that next day.

NOTE: As I neared the end of this post I noticed this:

Brittany Murphy’s husband, Simon Monjack, told hospital staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center he did not want an autopsy performed on his deceased wife, multiple sources tell TMZ.

We’re told, however, despite Monjack’s wishes, the L.A. County Coroner’s office will perform an autopsy on Murphy. As we first reported, Murphy went into cardiac arrest this morning and could not be revived.

This suggests that there might be more to this than meets the eye. Time will tell. Doesn’t change the main point of the post.

Playing the mindless optimism card

Posted: December 19, 2009 by datechguy in catholic
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Yesterday I was talking with my son about the way he thinks about various things.

When I asked what his perception of me was, he said God had blessed me with mindless optimism and naivete.

A great example of this happened yesterday. I already commented on Stacy’s big announcement when it occurred to me that this is exactly the best time for people to mend fences. If I was in a dispute with someone on another matter and someone had a positive announcement in that vein I would send polite congratulations.

It’s that type of civility that is the first step to making things right. God constantly gives this kind of small blessing to man, a simple way to get back into his good graces by (particularly at Christmastime) to show some small kindness to his fellow man.

So I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I checked Charles blog to see if he had reacted to RSM’s announcement.

Instead, of course there was an attempt to portray him as a Nazi.

I was very disappointed but anyone with sense would have known better (that’s just about everyone else).

You may laugh but that same optimistic view of man is the one God maintains of us. The willingness to forgive and to give yet another chance to take the right path.

May we all have a little of that at Christmas time and enough to keep us the rest of the year as well.

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