Been a while since I did any fisking. This, though, cries out to heaven for it. Mark Shea points out a speech by Howard Dean (available in full here.) It’s from January 21 of this year.

You know we all have our reasons for running. I'm running because I don't like extremism, and I think extremism has taken over our country.

The use of the word “extremism” has become commonplace, yet the charge is almost never substantiated with an actual example of something extreme that’s been done. Note that there’s no “extreme” action on the part of the current administration described anywhere in the speech, though Governor Dean saiys and apparently has done several things that are suitably described as extreme.

I'm going to talk to you as a governor and as a doctor tonight, but I was thinking as I was listening to the four speakers how much is at stake. It's not just abortion rights or reproductive freedoms. Title IX is under attack by this administration and I think if one of us doesn't win, next thing girls won't be able to go to school in America, you watch.

On the scale of “extreme”, I’d say that the slander that the administration would prevent girls from going to school if a Democrat isn’t elected would be substantially more extreme than a modification – not even a revocation, just a modification -- of the 30 year old Title IX.

Now Vermont is the promised land for you folks. I'm the governor, I was the governor up 'til last week. I served on the board of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for five years. When I became governor I had to resign because all--we contracted all our family planning services through Planned Parenthood in Vermont. We do not hearken to the term "partial birth abortion" in my state because because partial birth abortion is like the word quota. The President used it six times last night. It's a code word. It's designed to appeal to people's fears, to divisiveness. Partial birth abortion is the same thing.

“Partial birth abortion” is non-technical language to include the procedures described in CPT codes 59812 through 59857 when those take place late in pregnancy. It’s common for folks who don’t have a medical background to refer to medical procedures in non-technical terms. But so it is with the left, the use of properly descriptive terms is more offensive to them than are the atrocities they describe. “Quota” is a particular way of trying to attain affirmative action goals, and an especially bad one. Fortunately it isn’t common Juxtaposing “partial birth abortion” with “quota” indicates that Governor Dean finds late term abortions and affirmative action to be of similar importance and that the terms to describe them are more important than the practices themselves. Both practices seem sacred to the far left. Even Roe v. Wade didn’t go so far as to require late-term abortion. Of course they’ve “grown” beyond that.

The truth is I went and checked and tried to figure out, because I was running against a conservative person the last two times I ran. I checked, because I knew this would come up, how many late, third trimester abortions had been done in the state of Vermont in the last four years. The number was--. Zero. This is an issue about nothing; it's an issue about extremism; it's an issue about appealing to people's fears. It is the wrong thing to do and people who use the term partial birth abortion are leading an America in a bad place.

If there have been no third-trimester abortions, then why is it extreme to ban them? Wouldn’t it be on a par with prohibiting, say, pedestrians from traveling more than sixty miles an hour? Wouldn’t the ban better be described as pointless than extremist? What of places other than Vermont? After all, Vermont has a substantially different demographic trend than most other states. Are there third-trimester abortions in, say, New York? On the other hand, would it not be extreme to fight vigorously to preserve a theoretical right that no one has exercised? That would particularly apply here when such putative right is not established by any recognized statutory or case law.

They are trying to divide us people of conscience; it is the wrong thing to do.

What functioning conscience would dictate that the destruction of a child’s life is somehow morally preferable to “divisiveness”? There is a significant divide between those who believe in the sanctity of human life and those who do not. Failing to recognize that division is simply dishonest.

It's no more honorable for the President of the United States using the word quota, because he knows it divides us by race and use of the word partial birth abortion divides us by conscience.

“Dividing by conscience” – that is recognizing moral imperatives - is substantially more honorable than dispensing privileges to people based on their ethnic origin, no? Isn’t it more honorable than dividing a child’s head from the rest of her body?

There are many good people who on moral grounds are opposed to abortion. I respect them.

Then you must also respect that those who oppose abortion on moral grounds are duty-bound to do something about it. That would mean that those who oppose abortion are not “extremists” or “divisive”. That would make most of this speech an instance of highly dishonest propaganda. Of course silencing those who oppose abortion on moral grounds would fairly be characterized as “extreme” even “totalitarian”.

I do not respect the people who defend the throwing of bombs and murders of doctors however.

Pro-lifers also don’t respect the use of violence. This is, at best, disingenuous. It would be interesting to see how many acts of violence against abortionists are in fact performed by agents provocateurs.

And some of those exist in our very administration, people who have not stood up against violence; they thought it would be better for their political careers if they didn't say too much about it. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, last year, who refused to allow the banking bill to go through 'cause it outlawed terrorism at abortion clinics. That is a shameful act and the American people ought to be ashamed of that.

I can’t find anything that lends credence to Governor Dean’s attack on Congressman Sensenbrenner. None of the versions of the banking bill that I’ve seen include anything about abortion clinics. Needless to say, there’s little reason to include abortion clinics in a bill that addresses banking. There are also a number of other possible reasons for opposition to a bill. If there is something to substantiate Governor Dean’s claims, though, I’d be interested to see it. If, on the other hand, this is a fabrication, it is itself a shameful act.

Let me tell you a story. As many of you know I'm a doctor. I'm an internist, and I take care of all ages pretty much from five to 105, and one time I was sitting in my office, and it was not unusual for young kids to come and talk to me because I knew the whole family, and one time a young lady came into my office who was 12 years old and she thought she might be pregnant. And we did the tests and did the exam and she was pregnant. She didn't know what to do. And after I had talked to her for a while I came to the conclusion that the likely father of her child was her own father. You explain that to the American people who think that parental notification is a good idea. I will veto parental notification.

Mark nailed this one. If a 12 year old is pregnant, there are some serious problems going on and it would be incumbent on Governor Dean to have reported this act of child abuse. If he hasn’t, then it’s a big fat lie.

In Vermont we don't have parental notification bills, but you know what, 85 percent of all minors that seek an abortion bring their parent with them voluntarily. It is the right thing to do. When I was practicing medicine, if a young lady came to me and she was pregnant, I'd sit with her in her office and the first thing I'd do is try to convince her she ought to tell her folks, 'cause I know her folks; I usually treated them too. And sometimes she'd even say, I don't dare, I don't dare. My father'll kill me. In a small percentage of the cases that's true, and that's why we don't want the government telling us how to practice medicine.

If parental notification is “the right thing to do”, then why is a law mandating it bad? Most laws have exceptions in them and there’s no way that a parental notification law wouldn’t have an exception for cases where the girl has a bona fide fear for her safety. Could it be that Governor Dean opposes any restrictions at all on access to abortions because he’s an extremist? Now you say you don’t want the government telling you how to practice medicine? Guess what, he who pays the piper calls the tune. If you succeed in attaining a greater degree of socialized medicine, the government will be dictating a great number of practice decisions. Sure, it may still be legal to kill the patients who aren’t the ones paying you, but your other practice decisions won’t be your own. Which is more important to you?

Abortion is connected to civil rights, because the government is so impressed with itself in promoting individual freedom they can't wait to get into your bedroom and tell you how to behave. And I don't think, as a physician--people ask me what's your position on abortion. It's very simple; it's a single sentence. The practice of medicine is none of the government's business and they ought to stay out of it. This is a private relationship, this is a private relationship between the physician, the patient and whoever the patient chooses to involve in that position.

The first six words are right. Abortion is connected to civil rights. Is there any civil right more fundamental than that to life? I’d have to answer ‘no’. The government has many more things to do than to restrict sexual behaviors. To suggest otherwise is phenomenally dishonest. If the practice of medicine is none of the government’s business, then why do you support socialized medicine, which makes it entirely the government’s business?

If you become pregnant unexpectedly and it's an unwanted pregnancy, you have three choices. And you have to live with those choices for the rest of your life. You can give that baby up for adoption, and you can talk to women who have done that and they wonder for the rest of their lives what, where that child might be and what might have become of that child. You can have the baby and keep that child. Sometimes that works out. Sometimes with 14- and 15-year olds it doesn't work out very well. A teenager who has a child below the age of 18 has an 80 percent chance of being on welfare for the forseeable future. We can do better than that.

Why is abortion better than adoption? Bueller? Anyone?

And the last choice is to have an abortion. And for those who have had abortions that is also a very difficult decision, and also a decision that you will wonder about for the rest of your life. This is an extraordinarily difficult decision; it's certainly a decision that has to be lived with by the patient for the rest of your life, and what in the world can the government be thinking about for the president of the United States and nine old folks on the Supreme Court, five of whom are so far to the right that we can't see them any more, what in the world, what in the world can they be thinking that they have the right to decide the life a young woman who has the choice of adopting, keeping or aborting. They have to live with that decision for the rest of their life. President Bush can go cut brush on his ranch in Crawford and not give it a second thought.

Actually many of those who choose to abort will have to live with that decision for ever – even long after they’ve shaken off the mortal coil and followed their child(ren) into the grave. It’s sad indeed that some see the murder of infants as virtuous.

Just got back from the Mass for Dylan (followed by lunch). Thanks to all who joined their prayers.

Yikes!

The Smoking Gun has a synopsis and a transcript of a 1977 interview with Arnold Scharzenegger. It is not for the easily offended. I hope the actor has grown up and foresworn this weltanschauung: "the point is that I do what I feel like doing". And yes, Bustamante's current support of the racist MeCHA is worse. He, though, makes no claim to being moral.

Last night I attended a friend’s son’s birthday party. The little fellow turned 8. Watching him and his friends, I saw all sorts of nearly forgotten behaviors from my own childhood. Amazing to see how much the little guy has grown up over the past could of years.

Of course the birthday boy has plenty of his father’s mannerisms. In ways conscious and unconscious, he imitates his father, sometimes very well indeed. So should it be with us and our heavenly Father. Particularly in echoing the English prayer “Thou art the God whose property is ever to have mercy”.

May God grant me grace to put aside childish things and imitate Him.

Prayer alerts

Just found out that Abp. Charles Chaput had to have knee surgery on Monday. He’s expected to return to work next week, but will face lots of rehab.

Tomorrow at 11:30 mountain time, Mass will be said for the intention of one of St. Blog’s own – Dylan of More Last Than Star. As you may know, he’s been hospitalized for some time and is not having an easy time of it. If you have the chance, please join your prayers for him.

Huzzah!

Another Denverite in St. Blog's: Oro et Laboro.

Mark Shea has a brief post criticizing the notion that the Church should be more like a business in which he links to an interesting article on the constant broadening web that entangles other businesses with the pr0n industry.

In business school, there’s inevitably talk about ethics. Most of it’s framed in terms of Enron, the Ford Exploder – er, Explorer – or similar glaring wrongs. There hasn’t been a peep about, say, GM’s involvement as a major vendor of pr0n. Actually there’s been no mention of pr0n at all, and only one brief mention of prostitution, where the point of contention was on spread of infectious diseases, rather than the basic immorality of prostitution in general.

What one acquires in business school is largely a set of tools. Just as a hammer can be used for building a house or to bash in someone’s skull, the business tools can be used to further any number of goals.

As the broader society sheds more and more of the vestiges of the Judeo-Christian morality on which it is built, there comes a point when it becomes impossible to criticize behavior that is objectively seriously wrong. The wag had it nearly right when he said that the liberal’s only compunction in learning that an 18 year old girl was making pornographic films is to make sure that she be paid at least minimum wage. I say nearly right as I’d guess that most liberals would want to be sure that contraception with an abortion backup would be provided as “employee benefits”.

Starting to think over predictions for the upcoming NFL season. Made me look back to see how my baseball predictions have gone – all in all, not too bad. (Since there’s still some season left, I’m not penalizing for teams who are out of projected position by less than two games, as there’s plenty of time to make up the difference.)

NL West – only difference is that I had the Rox third and Dodgers fourth – a reverse of what happened.

NL Central – the top three teams are all within two games of each other, the others are in line (though the Pirates fire sale may push them down in the standings by the end of the year).

NL East – I had the Fish fourth, rather than second, but they’re in a cluster of teams within two games of each other. The others are in order.

AL West – The A’s did much better, and the Angels much worse, than I had expected.

AL Central – I had the Royals at the bottom – they’re in second, but falling. The Twins and White Sox are within two games of each other. I had the Twins first and still think that’s reasonable.

AL East – I flipped the bottom two teams.

Three of my projected division leaders (SF, Atlanta and the Yanks) have commanding leads. One (Seattle) is tied for the lead in its division. The Twins and Cardinals are in tight races. One of my two wildcard projections (Philadelphia) is in the thick of the race. The Angels are the only team I had projected for the playoffs that is pretty much out of the race already.

Of course baseball’s much easier to predict than football. Part of that has to do with the length of season. One upset in baseball is about .617% of the season’s results. One upset in football is 6.25% of the season’s results. With that caveat, watch this space for NFL predictions. (Or don’t. Suit yourself.)

Making the best of a bad situation

Amy Welborn mentions the sad removal of sacred items from the cathedral in Rochester, New York. Gerard Serafin also mentioned it. It occurred to me that it would be good if a faithful Catholic in that area purchased the items and donated them to a parish that either (a) was constructed in the unfortunate late 20th century style or (b) had traditional items amputated. I don't think it would be feasible for me to purchase and transport, say, the confessionals, but someone in the area could.

One thing we all can do is pray that the items don't end up in the possession of someone who will profane them.

Another brick in the wall

I don't often talk about Kathy Shaidle's relapsed catholic, though it's a site I read from time to time. I've taken quite an interest, though, in her ongoing difficulties with Google's ad program.

Background: Google asks bloggers to add a bit of code that posts ads on their blogs, the blogger gets a little something for clickthroughs. The clickthrough payments don't apply to PSAs for charities, but just for actual ads for commercial products. From time to time, and more often than not on the heels of a post that might be taken as something other than enthusiastic support for all things fabulous and queer, Miss Shaidle's ads are pulled and replaced with PSAs. The reason given was that her site was "potentially negative". Her ads vascillate between commercial (and potentially remunerative) ads and the PSAs.

There's been some further commentary about this at Chez Shea where, in rejecting Mark's request to enter the Google ad program, Google said that "the ads would not provide a valuable experience for your site's users or our advertisers". Apparently they don't believe (a) that Catholics are likely to buy things or (b) that anyone wants to sell things to Catholics.

This morning I clicked through the link on Kathy's site to offer Google comments on the ads. I mentioned that it was disappointing that they displayed only PSAs and they would do well to consider that the audience for Kathy's site is much less likely to be offended by reading posts that are congruent with faith than by the primness that finds matters of faith to be too dangerous to mention.

No mas

I have been an enthusiastic proponent of Denver's rail system. Not any more. This morning I waited twenty minutes for the train, choosing not to get on the one train that went to a destination far from my own. When the proper train finally arrived, there was not room on it for me. Of course this was during morning rush hour.

A few months ago, after expressing the government-suported monopoly's financial difficulties, they eliminated the trains that had once served only the City of Denver, and made all trains run to somewhere between the extreme southern suburbs and rural parts of the state*. Prior to that change, there were trains roughly every ten minutes, most of which -- even the Denver-only trains -- were SRO by the time they got to my stop. As a result of the change, those who want to board trains in Denver often can't. I had suggested that they'd do well to remove one-third to one-half of the seats from the trains to increase passenger capacity and thus allow city-dwellers to continue riding. Of course the suggestion was ignored.

I hereby invite the board of the RTD to go fly a kite somewhere between the extreme southern suburbs and the rural parts of the state -- preferably near a herd of wild bison.

*The trains having a lower cost in terms of operator labor per passenger mile and roughly equivalent energy and maintenance expense than the more favored diesel busses. The rail cars and tracks themselves are more expensive than busses, but that's a sunk cost.

The road goes ever on and on, and whither then I cannot say

During the recent absence, I took a trip to the rural southeast. My wife had a business trip early in the week and wanted me to come down for a few days to meet an old family friend who had moved out there. I had long used various subterfuges in attempting to avoid this very meeting, but found myself fresh out of them.

They (our host and his wife – third marriage for both, each have some adult offspring scattered about, but no kids in the home) live near the top of a large hill with a view of a few valleys to one side and the thickly forested hilltop to the others. No evidence of human activity could be seen out the windows other than the incidentals of this particular house. For about the last ten miles en route, the cell phone had no reception. Of course we missed a turn and had no way to contact our host for some time. Eventually we found the place, little worse for the wear.

For the most part our host displayed fine hospitality, but on a few occasions he went out of his way to pontificate. He’s actually more opinionated than even I am, but nearly every opinion (and all of the most important ones) are the opposite of mine. He’s a wealthy man, yet claims to be a socialist at heart. In this, as in many of his fundamental beliefs, his wrongness is surpassed only by his zeal. Almost none of his thoughts go unexpressed and most of his expression is emphatic, loud and boisterous.

I eventually figured out why he was an old family friend. My wife’s family had long taken an interest in the children of the neighborhood atheists in hope of being a good influence on them and to be sure that this particular child (who could easily have been the neighborhood bully) would have a friendly disposition toward my better half and her brother. It was heartening to see how impressed he was with my wife’s late father – a deeply religious man – even though he couldn’t yet bring himself to admit the reasons for his admiration.

Though the house we stayed in was large, we were really in quite close quarters with our hosts the whole time we were there. The outdoor conditions were oppressively hot, humid and loud (from cicadas), so there was little chance of sitting on the deck or taking a little stroll. Once we arrived, we pretty much stayed in the house or in tighter quarters yet. We took a scenic drive on Saturday afternoon then, after a stop of about two hours back at the house, took a trip to town to go to dinner. The dinner was as fine as you’d find in a large city (and about as pricey), but it took about two hours each way to get there!

The trip wasn’t without its highlights:

gastronomic delights (our host is a bit of a chef at heart);
reading several Father Brown stories on the plane;
meeting our host’s dogs – especially the puppy; and
getting home again.

Oh yeah, on the five hour trip back to the airport, stopped to get a bite of lunch (a very good lunch at that, thank you very much) and had a pleasant surprise. In Colorado, I’m generally a good deal more rotund than most men between the ages of, say 30 and 60, and just a bit taller than average. In the rural South, I was substantially thinner than most such men and considerably taller. It’s quite pleasant to be one of the thinnest folks in a large group when you’re accustomed to being the opposite!

Nanny State Alert!

Dom Bettinelli mentions a new governmental concern -- the health hazards of incense. Saw a TV news report that breathlessly reported that swimming pool drains were responsible for ten deaths in the US over the past ten years and then went on to proclaim the necessity of modifications to every swimming pool in the country. Now I don't mean to show dishonor to those who died, but one must ask when the cure is worse than the disease. Clearly the maniacs in Europe who find incense to be a health threat are worse than anything incense could do.

Better late than never, I hope.

A few days ago my attention was kindly directed to Times Against Humanity -- it's a site worth checking out.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Still don’t know what I was waiting for . . .
Every time I ‘d think I’d got it made,
I’d find the taste was not so sweet

Strange days indeed. Changes abound.

Home – my better half’s on a business trip again and in a couple days I join her in the rural southeast – not exactly my ideal habitat.

School – final semester started Monday. What a weirdly early time to start fall semester, eh? Then again, Denver Public started Monday too. We always used to start on the Wednesday before Labor Day, which was nice since the first two weeks of school would be short weeks and ease everyone into the routine. August 18 is a bit too soon for that sort of thing.

Work – yesterday was my boss’ last day. At first when he told me he was leaving, I almost thought he was joking. No news yet on whether they’ll fill the position or view the attrition as a cost savings. Of course his duties devolve to me. Also there’s a real severe tightening of internet access. It isn’t worm-related either – just the filtering. New Advent, for one, was blocked by the filter which told me that I could access it if I’d submit a form to the IS department explaining why it was a job-related necessary site!

St. Blog’s -- everyone’s gone . . . to the moon -- well, lots of folks are largely abstaining from posting anyhow.

Yet more brilliance from the great minds that brought you socialism and the band ABBA

a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=5&u=/nm/20030818/od_nm/sweden_army_dc">Budget Squeeze Prompts Swedish Army to Go 9-To-5. So if you want to take over the country, you'd do best to strike at about 5:05 pm on a Friday before a holiday weekend. That way you'd have time to get all the weaponry functional before the soldiers show up for work.

From the test here, link courtesy of Fr. Jim of Dappled Things:

Your personality type is INFJ.

Introverted (I) 86% Extraverted (E) 14%
Intuitive (N) 91% Sensing (S) 9%
Feeling (F) 65% Thinking (T) 35%
Judging (J) 73% Perceiving (P) 27%

Note that if some of your results are near 50%, then you may not fall 100% into one personality type. For example, if you are an ENFJ but your Feeling and Thinking are almost 50/50, then you would more accurately be an ENxJ.

Same general result I've had lots of times. This one came out more E and P than most. I live on the edge.

They made my point for me.

One of my frequent gripes about our society is that many institutions (particularly in mass media) promote hostility to laws. Usually they don’t promote hostility to all laws, but to selected ones. Still, that has the overall effect of reducing the public’s respect for the law and for moral standards in general. The laws most likely to be shunned are the prohibitionist laws (whether the prohibition of alcohol, marijuana, tobacco or any other number of recreational substances) and traffic laws.

Last night there was a commercial for some SUV. In the commercial, kids were making cars for a soap box derby. One kid made his as a replica of the prized SUV. As the race began, all the kids but the protagonist hurried to get down the road. The star took a short cut off the road, nearly running over another kid on one pass, then cutting off the leader to win the race.

So here it is, the vehicle for those of you who want to bully, cheat and take what rightfully belongs to someone else. I’d suggest that in the sequel, someone dig a moat on the off-road course so the next cheater gets his comeuppance.

Sensible, except when fuddled

In a comment at Chez Shea last week, I took issue with Mr. Shea's characterization of Andrew Sullivan as "Sensible about the War and Bush, Hopelessly Fuddled about Catholicism and Sex". I've long thought there are two other men (an atheist and an agnostic) that fit that description much better.

Today's essay by Steven den Beste, Europe's future, is a remarkable demonstration of the author's clarity of thought and expression when he speaks of topics where he has some background knowledge. Stephen Green is likewise a good writer on some topics. He's funny as all get-out too. Sadly, he's bought the dominant culture's lies about human sexuality. Since neither are Catholic, I don't really expect them to have a strong understanding of Catholic moral theology. Sure enough, they end up being fuddled about Catholicism and sex.

Still, neither of these men go out of their way to impose their own beliefs on others. They're fundamentally American in that they recognize the right of others to live their own lives in accordance with the dictates of their own consciences. Sullivan doesn't recognize that right. He wants everyone to live according to the dictates of his conscience -- even to the point of demanding that the Church abandon its foundations to embrace his preference. He's not fuddled. He's a bright enough fellow to have grasped what the Church teaches. He's knowingly trying to destroy a basic precept of the Church. That's evil.

So how does Sullivan's insistence on the morality of homosexuality differ from Christianity's disapproval of homosexual behavior? In this day and age, the Church does not have the power to impose its doctrines with criminal or civil law. Christianity is non-compulsory. Sullivan and his confreres seek to make the acceptance of homosexuality completely mandatory with force of law. It ties in pretty closely with the ossified state described in Mr. den Beste's analysis of Europe. It's completely reasonable that the homosexual activist community be described as "brownshirts" with all that entails. Also any Catholic worth his salt knows that the Church's moral teachings come from God Himself. They aren't matters where people of good will may differ. There's a reason we have "commandments" rather than "suggestions".

Huzzah!

I got mentioned by a Whapster. (Well, what would be a better term for a contributor to The Shrine of the Holy Whapping? Remember, “shriner” is already taken. Whapnard? Whappithecus? Whapp-a-doodle?)

In all good seriousness, it’s worth taking a look at what an architecture student has to say about two of Denver’s better churches: Holy Ghost and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. I almost wish I could have got his impression of this one, which I’d say isn’t in quite the same category. Maybe next time.

The Feast of the Assumption is well nigh upon us. Last August, John da Fiesole recommended this means of celebration and the Assumption homily I heard was on the importance of earnestly celebrating, not just noting, the principal feasts of the Church. I may not get a swizzle, but there will be a good bit of celebration.

This morning I saw a disturbing sign on a storefront: “Iced Tapioca Drinks”. That’s wrong in so very many ways.

Carbon-datalbe Assertions

If you've had a crummy day, just be glad you didn't have to write the letter "Carbon-datable Assertions" as part of your job.

Today's example in favor of large-scale disenfranchisement of the functionally illiterate

Denver to vote on stress plan. Some Democrat read that the U. S. Constitution calls on the U. S. government to "ensure domestic tranquility" and decided that meant that the city government should find ways to help citizens manage stress. I suggest rounding up the dumbest people in town for use as pinatas. /sarcasm

A few years ago, I bumped into a celebrity family at my late mother-in-law’s parish. She didn’t care much for the parish, but was enough of a traditionalist that she wasn’t going to go to a parish other than the one where she lived. I went several times and am confident that I wouldn’t be Catholic if all Catholic parishes were like it. To coin a phrase, it’s amchurch in excelsis. What parish is it? St. Monica’s, home of Martin Sheen and a prominent “Gay and Lesbian Outreach” that shares basically nothing with Christian morality. The celebrity family? The Arnold Schwartzeneggers. (BTW, the Schwartzenegger-Shrivers smiled and waved as I helped two invalids into the car. Arnold himself is not particularly big – I’d be surprised if he’s 5’9”. His wife is a wraith. They dote on their children.) Anyway, if people are upset that a good Catholic like Arnold could have such bad politics, it’s worth looking at his parish home.

\Video Meliora pointed out this great quote:

”in today's America you can be an adulterer, a liar, a sodomite or most anything really -- just not a hypocrite. So the lesson is, work to conform your conscience to your actions rather than the other way around. Life is so much easier that way.”

--Mike Petrik

Once again we see that objective morality is discounted by our society and only the subjective consonance between the individual’s stated ideals and their behavior is viewed as having value. Of course I fall flat on both counts – I do way too much of what I know to be wrong. May God grant me the grace to retain what conscience I have, rather than to sell it out for the sake of avoiding being seen as a hypocrite.

Friday Five

1. What's the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country? New York, last week.

2. What's the most bizarre/unusual thing that's ever happened to you while traveling? Umpiring an impromptu baseball game by the side of the road on the Alaska Highway in 1972 while waiting for road construction.

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go? Italy, first Rome then Milan, Assisi, Venice, Florence . . .

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car? Plane. I like to get there quickly.

5. What's the next place on your list to visit? Rural eastern Tennessee in a couple weeks to see my wife’s atheist friends. (Not my choice of locations, in case you hadn’t guessed.)

In my protestant days, summer was a particularly uninspiring time. Just the long slog of “Sundays after Trinity”, later known as “Sundays after Pentecost”. Neither special celebrations nor better hymns broke the monotony.

Here are just a few highlights of the Catholic Church’s August celebrations:

St. Alphonsus Ligouri, founder of the Redemptorists, exemplar of charity and obvious influence on St. Blog’s own Gerard Serafin;

St. John Vianney, patron saint of diocesan priests and tireless confessor – priests don’t hear so many confessions today because there isn’t sufficient demand, let’s do what we can to change that;

St. Xystus II and companions, martyred by the civil authorities for holding true to the Gospel rather than conforming to what’s popular;

St. Dominic, founder of a rather impressive order (have you met any Albigensians lately?);

St. Clare, founder of another impressive order;

St. Maximilian Kolbe, missionary and martyr of Auschwitz;

St. Pius X, promoter of frequent reception of the Eucharist as the “surest path to Heaven”;

St. Rose of Lima, pioneer of holiness in the western hemisphere;

St. Monica, paragon of patient endurance and persistence in prayer;

St. Augustine, who reminds us “our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee”;

The martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, another instance of caring more about truth than about conforming to society;

Two events connected with our Lady:

Our Lady of the Snows, an early miraculous apparition, the fruits of which remain even today; and

The Assumption, the seal of our Lord’s special love for his dear mother;

And one event of our Lord’s own life:

The Transfiguration, the great manifestation of Christ’s glory, so easily misunderstood by disciples ancient and modern.

There’s one more commemoration that I find important, but this year it isn’t observed due to falling on a Sunday, that of my patron St. Lawrence, the outspoken deacon who spoke of the great wealth of the Church. What a rich Church indeed!

Shrine of the Holy Whapping

Shrine of the Holy Whapping is a great site. You probably already know about it, but you really should check it out anyway.

Paucity in posts this week is brought to you by a sinus infection. It's amazing the things that can so knock one for a loop.

One of the best things to occupy your time while you're laid up is to play Minesweeper. Best time for today, 163 seconds on expert. Still quite a bit short of my all-time record, but that way I still have something to shoot for.

They've off and done it.

May the Lord have mercy on their souls.

I hope that the Christians in ECUSA take this is as a sign to end the schism of Henry VIII.

BTW: the Reuters story's last sentence includes a phrase that's just what you'd expect from them: "a proposed liturgy allowing clergy to bless same-sex marriages".

As I mentioned, we were delayed in returning from New York last night. Consequently, I read what parts of the Times as were available in the lobby of the decrepit terminal at La Guardia.

Two articles from the same page really struck my attention.

First was another broadside about Mel Gibson’s The Passion. The same gripes seen lots of places so far and the same irascible refusal to wait and see the finished product when it is complete. It becomes an even bigger issue in conjunction with the other article on the page.

This one was so worthy of attention that I saved a page to facilitate exact quotes. It was a review of The Magdalene Sisters. Astounding.

TMS is a fictional story set in the Magdalene laundries of Ireland. They were religious workhouses for girls and women. They were probably somewhat too strict to start with and there is no doubt that some girls and women suffered horrible abuse there. These instances are a major focus of the film. Here are some choice bits from the review:

The moral horror of the Magdalene laundries is that the abuses the perpetrated were not the outgrowths of simple sadism, or even of unmindful ness, but of a belief that they were intended for the victims’ own good. It is difficult to understand now that even in my childhood, people who were neither insane nor stupid believed in a literal hell fire, a torment that was physical and spiritual and went on for all eternity.

No anti-religious bias at the Times, eh? So what’s changed since the childhood of this Mary Gordon that now only people who are either insane or stupid would believe in one of the basic beliefs of Christianity?

Their abuse was hidden from the world by a wall of long-skirted, veiled Brides of Christ, who were themselves incarcerated: if it was good enough for them, why wasn’t it good enough for ordinary sinners?

Well, no one was really incarcerated. The nuns were there in fulfillment of their vows. The workers could be released at any time on the request of a male relative. Apparently many of the girls and women spent relatively short periods of time in the laundries. It is worth remembering that many, if not all, reasons that women were sent to the laundries were illegal activities.

One of the most arresting scenes in the film is the one in which Sister Bridget, the Mother Superior, watches, in tears, while Ingrid Bergman, as Sister Benedict in “The Bells of St. Mary’s”, weeps while she prays. We can see Sister Bridget’s image of herself: rapt in her romance with the Divine, able to endure any hardship on earth for her Lover in heaven. The image was easily accessible to one type of Catholic imagination, for which the nun, in her consecrate [sic] virginity, was the only vessel in which femaleness could safely be contained without the contamination of sexuality.

There’s a grave misunderstanding about the Church’s teachings on sex. It usually boils down to: the Church says that what I want to do sexually is bad, therefore it hates sex. This is an inversion of the truth. Instead, the Church recognizes the immense value of human sexuality and, as such, wants people to use it appropriately. If that means foregoing adultery, masturbation, the one-night-stand, contraception, abortion, pornography, prostitution, orgies, bestiality, “intergenerational love” or other unspeakable distortions of the sex drive that grip someone’s imagination, then so be it. If the Church really believed that sexuality were corrupting, we’d be Albigensians and there’d be not very many of us. Most people are called to the married life and a full sexual expression within their own marriage. Most of the women who were sent to work in the laundries were sent there because of the sexual sins of themselves or of others. Those who lived responsible sex lives (and who did not face the double injustice of being raped and blamed for it) had little to fear.

There is a cruel irony in choosing Magdalene as the patroness of the laundries’ punishing enterprise. Jesus’ dealings with Mary Magdalene are saturated with forgiveness; there is no hint of punishment. Magdalene, the prostitute*, pours perfume over Jesus’ feet and dries them with her hair.** He gives here a place of honor – it is Judas who objects, and it is after the incident with Magdalene that he decides to betray Jesus.*** In the Gospel of [St.] John, Magdalene is the first to see Jesus after the resurrection.

So if the instances of abuse are a major focus of the film and not its only focus, what else is there? Reflexive hostility to any serious approach to morality, at least from the review. It’s as adamant as Andrew Sullivan, and right in the same camp. There’s an old saying that if the law’s against you, you argue the facts; if the facts are against you, you argue the law and if both the law and the facts are against you, you should holler and pound on the table. So it is with the libertines who pretend that the only functional morality is to discard objective morality.

*There is substantial disagreement that Mary Magdalene is in fact the reformed prostitute.

**That’s repentance. Probably the goal of the “punishment” was to bring the girls to repentance. It’s not necessarily the best way to do it, but it’s a valid goal since one cannot be forgiven of something without first repenting of it. Repentance is worth a great deal indeed. We know that St. Mary Magdalene was repentant for whatever sins she ever committed, and she was honored with being the first to see our Risen Lord. We don’t know whether or not Judas repented.

***It was also after the healing of the centurion’s child, but there’s no evidence to support this assertion that Judas betrayed our Lord either out of jealousy over the attention He gave Mary Magdalene or out of upset at His mercy to Roman.

What a long, great trip it's been.

Not much I can say about the last little vacation will do it justice.

When my wife was just a little girl (in New Jersey), she became fast friends with a neighbor girl named Rita and they’ve stayed friends through everything thereafter. Rita married a very successful businessman in New York. We’ve seen them in New York on several occasions and always marveled at his generosity.

Friday was a “big” birthday for Rita, but as far as she knew it was to be a quiet weekend at their beach house. To her knowledge, there would be only four guests present (one sister with her husband and two children). Thursday she was surprised and delighted to come back from errands and see a dozen of her relatives, all of whom were staying for the weekend.

Throughout Friday and Saturday more family and friends came at odd intervals. Friday night featured a dinner out for seventy. Saturday featured a clambake for about the same number (lobsters, clams, mussels, steaks) complete with a talented singer. Never seen anything like it. Enjoyed the shellfish along with a steak, red wine and a cigar.

Only glitch in the trip was a four-hour delay in our westbound flight last night.