Cold Chills

Here is a quote from an article in the National Review by Fr. Robert Siroco of the Acton Institute .

The subject of the quote is the request by the Moloch Obama administration to Georgetown University that they cover any religious symbols be covered in the hall in which the President was speaking, the the acquiescence of the Georgetown University officials.  I couldn't agree with Father more.  it is saddening and horrifying to me--not that the president asked, but that the University complied.


"At the request of the White House, officials at the university placed cover over the letters IHS — the Greek abbreviation for the name of Jesus....Think of it: A Catholic university was willing to cover up the name of Jesus, hide it from the cameras, because the president of the United States was coming and asked them to do so. The fact alone gives me chills."

And not just a Catholic University, but a Jesuit run University--the Society of Jesus.  For shame.

 

A Bit More on the Iraqi Christian Extermination

Washed in the Blood of the Lamb

Theodore Dalrymple on What the New Atheists Don't See

I have just run across a very thoughtful article in the City Journal on the topic of the various vituperations and imprecations cast a believers of all sorts by the newest crop of atheist authors (Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris).
Written as it is by a man of letters who is not himself a believer, I found it to be especially credible, reasoned and thoughtful.

Dalrymple addresses some of the more strident and shocking claims of this group of authors. The most shocking idea I met with in the review, having not--I will admit--read the book in question was Harriss' idea that one must consider the wisdom of killing people because they entertain a certain belief. I mean here that he feels, owing to "the link between faith and behavior" that such an idea might be a good one. Gee, and we thought Diocletian was long dead.

We are accustomed, in the United States and the rest of the Western World, to say that whatever we have to suffer in the cause of our faith is of the "mere inconvenience" category of things. Or at least is confined to subtle job discrimination and family insults. I believe that most sane persons of any philosophical bent or belief system would still decry the idea of genocide --but maybe a day will come when that is no longer true, and even we in the West will be able to earn the crown of a "red martyrdom" rather than a "white" one. To say I rather hope not certainly doesn't capture the sick, sinking feeling I had when reading that the idea had been offered forth in End of Faith.

Anyhow, go and read the Dalrymple Article.http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_oh_to_be.html There's a lot more to it than that bit of sickening info (I guess I've got to start reading these vituperative books, just to know what's up) and I found the article so well written, that I expect to be looking back for more of his thought and reviews.

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A Poster of Controversy

the Blog of Lon has a very interesting and controversial post regarding how Jesus' actual teachings are or are not followed by those who call themselves Christians.

Look at the poster and think about it. Where do you stand here? The actual post has excellent comments, some of which get close to my thoughts here, without actually getting there. Here goes.

I know that Jesus loves each of these people with an everlasting love, and that he died to save them. What greater service could there be than that? However, he never condoned evil or endorsed or served the causes of those who do evil. Look at all of his interaction with the Pharisees. Look at the cleansing of the temple. Yet even this is service, because to tolerate evil inanother does not do them any service of love, but is in itself sin.
Jesus, who truly loves Osama bin Ladin (but who abhors all evil) would never serve him in any way which enabled him to continue in falseness. Rather, He died for him, and calls out to him to turn away from evil and do good. To me, the image is an apparent contradiction, but really the deeper one goes, the more one can see that it is not so. It is just hard for people to get past the rather shocking image.

It is so hard for us to accept the idea that God loves passionately the one whom we hate. And we must not hate--but that does not translate to endorsing, accepting or "serving" evil

So while I find the image controversial and thought provoking, I don't find it offensive or dissonant in the way which many seem to.

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And in Contrast.....

Please read A Martyr's Letter To His Girlfriend
This is a letter from Bartolome Blanco Marquez, a young martyr of 1930's Spain, who perished in the religious persecution of the time.
Here you will find all that is lacking in so many modern relationships. What a touching, true and lasting love this young saint has for his beloved.

More Dark Evidence that Cohabitation Outside of Marriage Does Not Work

An associated press article appearing today by David Crary details the "dark underbelly of cohabitation".

From the article:

"..many scholars and front-line caseworkers interviewed by The
Associated Press see the abusive-boyfriend syndrome as part of a
broader trend that deeply worries them. They note an ever-increasing
share of America's children grow up in homes without both biological
parents, and say the risk of child abuse is markedly higher in the
nontraditional family structures.

"This is the dark underbelly of cohabitation," said Brad Wilcox, a
sociology professor at
the niversity of Virginia. "Cohabitation has
become quite common, and most people think, 'What's the harm?' The harm
is we're increasing a pattern of relationships that's not good for
children."

The report goes on to say that, according to a Missouri study, children living in households with unrelated adults are almost 50 times as likely to die of inflicted injuries as children living with their biological parents.

Of all families with children, nearly one third of them now live in one-parent families--29 percent.

It is so sad to me that what some of us had only considered old-fashioned and unduly restrictive we have ignored to our everlasting grief. Our God is a wise parent; would that we return to being wise children.

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