Archbishop Burke vs Guiliani

Scott Richert explores the controversy. Excellent.

If Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination, we will hear dozens of reasons why Catholics should vote for him. Some will declare a vote for Giuliani a positive good, deciding that his support for the war in Iraq (and, more broadly, the “War on Terror") is more important than his position on abortion. Others will make the (dubious) argument that he’s still more likely to appoint pro-life judges than any potential Democratic candidate. Still others will tell us that, of course, Giuliani is hardly better than a Democrat, but the alliance of pro-lifers with the Republican Party ”necessarily places voters in the situation of in effect having to buy a whole political package”--even when that package now includes abortion “rights.” And finally, and most pathetically, we’ll be told that pro-abortion “conservatives” are our most faithful allies in the fight against “Cultural Marxism"--as if Rudy and his ilk aren’t Cultural Marxists themselves.

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The State as a False God

Here is an interesting article which emphasizes the very point I tried to make in Trianon and Madame Royale. When a nation systematically divests itself of God, according to the blueprint of the French Revolution, then the State becomes a god. And every false-god is a demon, as can be seen in the totalitarian regimes of the communist and fascist nations. The government becomes all-powerful and seeks total control over people's lives, their families and their thoughts. Is it happening here, in the USA? Slowly but surely, unless good men take action. God lives; He is not mocked. The article says:

In a distorted and perverted fashion, states have tried to satisfy the human craving for union with God. Every state provides people with a false unity with other people. There is almost no state on earth that is not a fictional unity of widely disparate groups and sub-societies held together by the state’s force and guile. Every state inculcates its own transcendent unity. It tries hard to maintain this fiction and it often succeeds. But what people feel deep down is hard to alter.

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No Christianity in Canadian Public Life

I found this interesting article via Spirit Daily. It reminded me of a book I read last spring called Bluebloods and Rednecks by Charles Anderson, which explores the nineteenth century political and social turmoils which made Canada different from America. It is a fascinating book and has been immensely helpful in my research for the novel about Daniel O'Connor. Mr. Anderson discusses some essential differences between Canadians and Americans in his preface. To quote:

In Canada, we like to think we have mixed the elements of modern democracy differently than have our American counterparts. The uniquely Canadian melange of values has traditionally given pre-eminence to peace, order, and good government. Canada has been the land of cultural mosaic rather than the melting pot....The collective good is valued in a manner not understood in the United States where society's emphasis is on individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Peace and order are wonderful things. Sometimes, however, it is important to take a stand on important moral, political and religious issues, even if that means stirring the pot and disrupting the peace and the order a little bit. Americans have a history of making such stands. Yes, sometimes there has been violence, much of which should and could have been avoided. But to make a stand when conscience rightly dictates it is the duty of every free citizen. Otherwise, one ends up with a government in which people of principle and religious belief are silenced. Share

Healthcare and Our Children

I recently saw a Catholic blogger refer to Congressman Ron Paul as a "kook." (I wish that certain "hired gun" apologists would stick to writing tracts and pamphlets.) In spite of such observations, Dr. Paul's reflections on the government control of our children's health care are worth taking into account, whether or not you agree with him on foreign policy. Yes, I realize that there are some cases in which medication benefits children with special needs. But the numbers of children on medication seem to be mounting. Do they ALL really need to be on drugs?

The congressman says:

This week Congress is again grasping for more control over the health of American children with the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Parents who think federally subsidized health care might be a good idea should be careful what they wish for.

Despite political rhetoric about a War on Drugs, federally funded programs result in far more teenage drug use than the most successful pill pusher on the playground. These pills are given out as a result of dubious universal mental health screening programs for school children, supposedly directed toward finding mental disorders or suicidal tendencies. The use of antipsychotic medication in children has increased fivefold between 1995 and 2002. More than 2.5 million children are now taking these medications, and many children are taking multiple drugs at one time.

With universal mental health screening being implemented in schools, pharmaceutical companies stand to increase their customer base even more, and many parents are rightfully concerned. Opponents of one such program, called TeenScreen, claim it wrongly diagnoses children as much as 84% of the time, often incorrectly labeling them, resulting in the assigning of medications that can be very damaging. While we are still awaiting evidence that there are benefits to mental health screening programs, evidence that these drugs actually cause violent psychotic episodes is mounting.

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Very Cool

The background of West Side Story. (Via LRC) Share

The Guardian Angels

Recta Ratio has some pictures and some thoughts.

And here are more reflections from Terry Nelson. Share

Paranormal Experiences

An interesting article. I read somewhere that "psychic experiences" are actually within the natural order and cannot be categorized with the mystical experiences of the saints. Many people throughout history have been born with clairvoyant gifts, such as the English Catholic writer Caryll Houselander. Such a gift is not good or evil in itself; it depends on how it is used. Of course, the church has always forbidden consulting mediums and fortune-tellers about the future, since we are supposed to live by faith, trusting in God. Share

The Passion of Saint Thérèse

In June of 1895, two years before her death, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face made an "Act of Oblation to Merciful Love." She expressed her gratitude to God for the grace of suffering: "Since you deigned to give me a share in this very precious Cross, I hope in heaven to resemble You and to see shining in my glorified body the sacred stigmata of Your Passion." (The Story of a Soul, trans. by Fr. John Clarke, OCD, p.277)

In the mental and physical sufferings that St. Thérèse experienced in the weeks preceding her early demise, she came to resemble her Crucified Spouse very much. As the tuberculosis consumed her body, a trial of faith and hope, in which heaven and eternity seemed closed to her, tortured her soul. The coughing of blood and persistent sore throat led to a treatment of painful cauterization with silver nitrate. Eventually, "gangrene ate away her intestines and she lost blood two or three times a day. Drinking only intensified her burning thirst. She had a terrible feeling of suffocation which could not be eliminated by the administration of ether. Finally, her bones protruded through her flesh to such an extent that, when she was made to sit upright to get some relief, it seemed to her that she was seated on iron spikes." (Complete Spiritual Doctrine of St. Therese of Lisieux by Rev. Francois Jamart, pp. 187-188) She confided to her sister, Mother Agnes of Jesus, that her pain was so intense that at times she was tempted to commit suicide: "What a grace it is to have faith! If I had no faith I would have inflicted death on myself without hesitating a moment!" (The Story of a Soul, p. 264)

On the afternoon of September 30, 1897, she entered into her agony. "Everything I have written about my desires for suffering," she gasped. "Oh, it is true just the same. I am not sorry for having surrendered myself to love. Oh, I am not sorry, on the contrary!" (The Story of a Life by Bishop Guy Gaucher, p. 204)

Nevertheless, Mother Agnes was so distressed by her sister's ordeal that she knelt before a statue of the Sacred Heart and begged for the grace of final perseverance for her little Thérèse. When the other nuns of the Carmel were summoned to the infirmary to support their sister with prayers in her dying moments, they saw her purplish hands holding her profession crucifix. Shortly after seven o'clock in the evening, the saint looked at the crucifix and breathed forth her last words: "My God, I love You!" After gazing a few moments with an expression of ecstatic joy at the statue of Our Lady, the beloved "Virgin of the Smile," brought from her childhood home, she died peacefully, her own face transfigured and smiling. On October 4, she was buried in the cemetery of the town of Lisieux. Only a few relatives and friends were present at the burial of the twenty-four year old nun. No one guessed that a storm of glory, a shower of miracles, was about to break forth. Share

The Bombing of Münster

Pro-life activist Joe Wall writes of the bombing of Münster during WWII. Share