4.02.2005
Papal Potpourri
update: Pope John Paul ll has died
I find it interesting that people are praying for John Paul ll to live; given the man's medical condition and age shuffling off this mortal coil seems sensible, dignified and timely.
I have been told the Pontiff spends six hours a day in prayer. The transition from embodied elderly man to Oneness with the Ground of our Being ought to be a snap for Pope John Paul ll.
At 84 years of age it seems to me that the Pope has had a full life in which he has done good. I was proud when he stood against the attack on Iraq. Bet Mr Bush doesn't mention that in any Whitehouse message concerning his passing. I hope his death is comfortable. All the crying confuses me a bit; as people of faith we are taught that our death is the gateway to Heaven, to fellowship with our God. Why is that sad? I understand about the hole left by the departed's lack of physical presence in our lives, I know that pain. But for believers he is approaching the reward for a life well lived.
I wish him a smooth journey.
I fear for the Church, for a further shift to the right, a shift fostered by John Paul ll...
A few quick links; a sort of Papal Potpourri.
So, who will the next pope be—a black, a Hispanic, an American, or a Jew?
No, it's not a joke. All four are real possibilities.
The biggest differences between the papal selection process now and the last time are demographic ones. Of the five countries with the biggest Catholic populations, only one (Italy) is European. Forty-six percent of the world's Catholics are in Latin America; there are more Catholics in the Philippines than in Italy. In 1955 there were 16 million Catholics in all of Africa; today there are 120 million.
Quoted from an interesting article touching on some possible successors to John Paul ll.
Brush up on "Papal Transition" using an article from the Jesuit weekly "America".
The Pope Blog will keep you up to date. (Link found at miss-information.net)
The Washington Post has a live stream from St. Peter's square.
"It Takes a Pope" Originally from “The Death of Pope Alexander VI,” Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 73, no. 433, pp. 120-125, June 1886. By Professor T.F. Crane.
4/02/2005
|
4.01.2005
Tom DeLay: All Around Fool
Check out Tom Delay's statement concerning Ms. Schiavo's travails:
Mrs. Schiavo’s death is a moral poverty and a legal tragedy. This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today. Today we grieve, we pray, and we hope to God this fate never befalls another. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schindlers and with Terri Schiavo’s friends in this time of deep sorrow
.
The highlighted phrase sure sounds like a threat. Senator Kennedy called him on it.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, called DeLay's remarks "reprehensible" and questioned whether he was advocating violence against judges who ruled against Schiavo's parents. "At a time when emotions are running high, Mr. DeLay needs to make clear that he is not advocating violence against anyone. People in this case have already had their lives threatened."
Senator Frank Lautenberg, (Democrat NJ) wrote DeLay a letter that strongly condemned his tone. I quote from the letter below.
I was stunned to read the threatening comments you made yesterday against Federal judges and our nation’s courts of law in general. In reference to certain Federal judges, you stated: “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”
As you are surely aware, the family of Federal Judge Joan H. Lefkow of Illinois was recently murdered in their home. And at the state level, Judge Rowland W. Barnes and others in his courtroom were gunned down in Georgia.
Our nation’s judges must be concerned for their safety and security when they are asked to make difficult decisions every day. That’s why comments like those you made are not only irresponsible, but downright dangerous. To make matters worse, is it appropriate to make threats directed at specific Federal and state judges?
You should be aware that your comments yesterday may violate a Federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §115 (a)(1)(B). That law states:
“Whoever threatens to assault…. or murder, a United States judge… with intent to retaliate against such… judge…. on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished [by up to six years in prison]”
Threats against specific Federal judges are not only a serious crime, but also beneath a Member of Congress. In my view, the true measure of democracy is how it dispenses justice. Your attempt to intimidate judges in America not only threatens our courts, but our fundamental democracy as well
Whether Mr Delay was refering "the wrath [of his fundamentalist] god" or was offering up a thinly veiled threat to gratify his co-religionists I don't know. What is obvious is the man is playing on this case for the benefit of he and his party.
4/01/2005
|
3.31.2005
Hate to Love
What does it take to get the three major religions that claim Jeruselem as a spiritual center to agree about something?
A goodly dose of intolerance and hate.
International gay leaders are planning a 10-day WorldPride festival and parade in Jerusalem this August, saying they want to make a statement about tolerance and diversity in the Holy City, home to three great religious traditions.
Now a number of leaders of the three faiths, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, are making a rare show of unity to try to stop the festival. They say it would desecrate the city and convey the erroneous impression that homosexuality is acceptable.
Christian and Muslim alike fear this event will call down God's wrath.
Muslim Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari voiced concern that the festival could draw down divine wrath akin to that which destroyed the biblical city of Sodom.
"God destroyed the city and we don't want this to happen to us. God will punish us if we allow this to happen," he said.
...California pastor Leo Giovinetti said hosting the 10-day World Pride event could bring divine retribution upon Jerusalem, citing the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorra as a precedent.
Mr Giovinetti is not speaking against the World Pride event out of intolerance.
He said, "I haven't come because I have hate for the homosexuals, I've come because I have love for the Jews…And I believe this is one of those moments where the Jews and the Christians can come together and truly be people of the Book, and make a united stand for what has always been known historically as a sin."
Mr Giovinetti seems to have left out his fellow fundamentalist homophobes, the Islamic monotheists. Go figure.
The aims of the event:
Jerusalem WorldPride 2005 will…
* Jerusalem WorldPride 2005 will make history in one of the world’s most historic cities. With the eyes of the world on them, the international LGBT community will bring a message of unity and reconciliation to people troubled by conflict.
* Jerusalem WorldPride 2005 will bring a message of dignity and acceptance to a city holy to three of the world’s great religious faiths.
* Jerusalem WorldPride 2005 will claim the rightful place of lesbians and gays in world history and culture.
3/31/2005
|
3.30.2005
Cohabitation Illegal?
...laws against cohabitation are still in place in Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia. Arizona and New Mexico decriminalized cohabitation in 2001, said Tom Coleman, executive director of Unmarried America, an organization that advocates for the rights of single people.
Are we in the twenty-first century?
This is clipped from yesterdays news:
WILMINGTON, N.C. - A former sheriff's dispatcher who quit her job after her boss found out she lived with her boyfriend is challenging North Carolina's law against cohabitation.
Debora Hobbs said she was told to get married, move out, or find another job after her boss found out about her living situation. The legal arm of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina filed the lawsuit Monday on her behalf.
The lawsuit seeks to abolish the nearly 200-year-old — and rarely enforced — law that prohibits unmarried, unrelated adults of the opposite sex from living together. North Carolina is one of seven states with such a law.
Convicted offenders face a fine and up to 60 days in jail.
Virginia is for lovers?
The state slogan can finally hold true, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down its antiquated fornication laws on January 14, 2005- unmarried people can engage in sex legally now. Oops, I said "unmarried people" technically the states anti-sodomy laws still stand; no oral or anal sex for anyone, married or not until the laws are challenged and struck down. "Heterosexual and not so creative singles can legally enjoy copulation" seems a more active summation.
As for variations on the missionary position:
...the justices noted that their ruling "does not affect the commonwealth's police powers regarding regulation of public fornication, prostitution, or other such crimes.
Land of the free...
3/30/2005
|
3.29.2005
Mesmerized by the News?
British mentalist Derren Brown confounds people on his TV show using what appear to be simple techniques, including hypnosis. A cabby that can't find a landmark- clearly in sight. A woman answering a payphone- and slumping dead asleep on a busy sidewalk. Pretty entertaining- and thought provoking.
Good the American public be as easily muddled through the use of what Brown considers simple and high tech techniques as well? Marketing experts are on the side of the corporate consensus builders.
His advice on clearly thinking in a pinch sounds like a primer on how to take in the "news" critically while in context it is a tool to thwart marketers. His web presence offers videos of his "paranormal" abilities and the commonsensical techniques he uses to affect them. Some techniques sound as familar as the evening newscast.
The trick is to detach yourself from the problem and see the context in which it operates. Much of the work can be done by separating yourself from the mental images you make when you consider a problem – 'stepping back' in your mind and seeing those mental pictures at arm's length.
When more complex problems in life are being considered, you want to be able to ask:
* What is everybody presuming to be true here?
* What is the box within which everyone is thinking?
* What are the unspoken rules to which everyone is adhering?
Then you can start to think outside the box, or throw a spanner in the works by not obeying the same rules as everyone else. This shouldn't be anti-social – you're not purposely going against the grain, just thinking independently of it.
The strategy used by many people is to remain too involved in the problem, too 'inside the box'. Rather than stepping back, they examine the problem from the inside. This brings the emotions to the fore and restricts the capacity for good decision-making.
The same people selling us toothpaste have sold us the current Administration and war(s).
More thought in this vein: "Cheney and Bush: using NLP to hoodwink America"
Today, we live in two worlds of news and information. One is "fact based," the other 'faith-based." In the former, we cling to a world of objective reporting and verifiable evidence even as we know how facts are skewed by media outlets with undisclosed agendas; in the latter, we only acknowledge facts that support our opinions and often don't let facts get in the way of a good argument.' '
Peruse Derren Browns explanations after watching his videos. Think for a bit.
There is more to our present political reality than meets the eye.
3/29/2005
|
3.28.2005
Interesting Reading
Interested in contemporary Catholicism? Read theologian Hans Kung thouhtful perspective in "The Pope's Contradictions".
Wonder how people who live in the Middle East percieve the US occupation of Iraq? "Iraq Enduring Plight" gives a Gulf residents point of view.
Take a read about US financed TV in Iraq that is dripping with psychological manipulation in "Lynch -Mob "Justice" Encouraged by U.S Financed Iraq TV"
"The Long Emergency : What's going to happen as we start running out of cheap gas to guzzle?" By James H. Kunstler- the title says it all.
3/28/2005
|
|
|
