Wow, I Wish I Never Left New England

According to various news reports, Boston has promised to warn citizens of any zombie invasions.  Given my natural tendancy to look over every building in preparation of a zombie attack this is quite good news for me.  So, DHS, where’s your contigency plan?  Get the story here.HT to bodhran man.

 

Being Catholic Without Being Catholic

When joining the Church more than four years ago I was shocked to silence at how many Cradle Papists I would encounter who hated the Catholic Church for, well, acting like the Catholic Church.  It made no sense to me as a Protestant-turned-Agnostic why someone would remain as a Catholic while demanding that the Catholic Church cease in its Catholicity and begin to resemble the local Unitarian Community.  When asked what they wanted to Catholicism to be, the response was nearly always, “A Church that appeals to more people,” to which Carl Olson in his latest post, correctly pointed was a way of saying, “In a way that appeals to me.”  The fact remains that many Westerners still want a personal God who will not be so personal.

The Church may lose some appeal to the masses, but that is something that the Church is quite used to.  I am more than sure that St. Ignatius was caring little about popular opinion as he was being dragged to Rome to be consumed by lions, and I know that many martyrs were little stricken by their unpopularity in the Colosseum.  The modern mindset sees the measure of a good religion by how many attendants it attracts and how good it makes the attendants feel.  Numbers, however, have nothing to do with the measure of any faith, any less do they have anything to do with ideas.  The only thing that matters is if it is true, and on this measure we weigh the entire universe of thought.  My true statement to a child that he will burn his hand on the hot stove takes in no consideration the child’s sincere desire to touch the stove but the truth of the matter.  I may, as an adult, allow the child the will to touch the stove and feel the pain, but again the truth is set regardless of any emotions in the situation.  Perhaps, if I ascribed to the Oprah doctrine, I would not coddle the young one and assure him that his positive thinking will overcome the heat from the stove, but then I am in falsehood, no matter how well intentioned the falsehood.

 

I Think I’m A Bit Frightened…

Machines To Match Man By 2029.

“Humanity is on the brink of advances that will see tiny robots implanted in people’s brains to make them more intelligent said engineer Ray Kurzweil.”

 

The Day Will Come…

…when I will cease to write about politics.  However I have some advice for Ron Paul supporters, and other supporters whose candidates are a bit of a long shot.  I understand that it is frustrating when your suit isn’t getting the support they deserve and the irritation of the having to fight an uphill battle with the media.  I was a little crazy once, and was idealistically part of the Libertarian Party for quite  a length of time and certainly recall the irritation of getting nowhere in campaigning.  Nonetheless, how you respond to the calamities of politics is what will help you save face.  With that I offer one bit of advice to fight the good fight and still keep the image: don’t be whiny, and don’t play the victim. 

Win or loose, politics is a messy business that offers few joys.  Your candidate may loose the caucus, and if you whine about it you shall loose all future support in a rebound.  Likewise, the victim-complex is a particularly annoying trait that has not worked well for underdogs in the past and is unlikely to work in at this point.

St. Thomas More, pray for us!

 

My Summation of Iowa

“For my part, I would have no executions except by the mob; or, at least, by the people acting quite exceptionally. I would make capital punishment impossible except by act of attainder. Then there would be some chance of a few of our real oppressors getting hanged.”

-GK Chesterton

 

Merry Christmas Blogsphere!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas and enjoying every bit of the holiday season!

 

I Thought This Was A Parody.

And to think that South Carolina outranks Oregon in public education!

 

Government Incompetence? Who Would Have Thought!

In a newly released CIA report the world learns what many of us have already figured out, namely that the CIA and other agencies failed us when it came to al-Qaida and in the prevention of terrorist attacks. “The agency,” the report states, “and its officers did not discharge their responsibilities in a satisfactory manner.” Unfortunately, this is a further blow to the hyper-competent view of the federal government that seems to gain so much credence to the thousands of conspiracy theorists and radical socialists alike. Odd, it seems, that so many people still breathe relief when governing authorities choose to take on more responsibilities when it is unable to even accomplish its most basic of responsibilities like building roads and protecting its people from foreign attacks.

Get the story here.

 

This Could Get Fun…

I sometimes wonder if the only reason we haven’t had too many cheesy spy flicks as of recent is because real life is too silly to be believed.  President Putin, who from day one looked like the archetypal 007 villain, has announced that he will be resurrecting cold war long range bomber exercises in a joint program with Beijing (source); this news is on top of headlines such as “Russian Youth Group Encourages ‘More Sex’ To Save the Motherland,” and Nashi’s continued influence in spreading Nazi like propaganda to Russian youth.  To make matters more comical, our leaders continue to downplay what’s going on while our media keeps us in a constant state of fear over some plant going extinct.  Yet, a shining light does come to us from the Third Rome that may very well bring much hope to all the world.

The Russian Orthodox Church has always had the reputation of being closed off and arrogant, and some may see this as deserved given its actions over the past few decades.  However,  the Church’s resilience in oppression has always been respectable and its continued actions are getting some attention.  The Russian Church Outside of Russia and the Patriarch of Moscow are now back in communion, which you should read about here.  Likewise, it’s reported that ties between Moscow and Rome are improving and there are even talks of a meeting between the two leaders.  Russia is a good news/bad news nation, let’s keep such a rich and beautiful nation in our prayers!

 

Anybody Not Using Their Backbone?

Apparently, Bishop “Tiny” Muskens lost his.  Get the story here.