On the one hand, we have the Freedom From Religion boors, sending off lawyer letters like a Gatling gun with the purpose of intimidating Christians — their target always seems to be Christians — into silence about their faith in public places. And on the other hand, we have that same FFRF, suing the federal government to force the IRS to “monitor” pastors for possible violations of the law in their sermons. Enter Mayor Anise Parker of Houston, stage left.... Read more
Ebola is the disease that won’t be contained. Today, the World Health Organizatin issue its more dire prediction so far. Unless huge improvements in control measures, the number of victims could reach 20,000 by November. WHO also revised the mortality rate, saying that 70% of those who contracted the disease will die from it. This is an increase from the previous estimate of a 50% mortality rate. The paper, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine also... Read more
Kathy Schiffer brought this to my attention. Then I discovered that the Blaze had also covered it. It seems that the Freedom from Religion Foundation is not only opposed to praying in schools, it also opposes pictures of praying. In one of their usual trivial harrassments of ordinary people going about their lives, the Freedom from Religion Foundation sent one of their lawyer letters to an Oklahoma City school, demanding they remove a poster of two toddlers with hands... Read more
The Vatican is already trying to calm things down. The Synod issued a summary document of the speeches and debate which have taken place in the Synod so far. They called it the Relatio post disceptationem, which probably added to the confusion. If they had just titled it the Official Minutes of the Synod Thus Far, it would have gone a long way toward keeping reactions from going off like bullets in a campfire. But they didn’t. They called it... Read more
I’ve put together a set of comments from the various cardinals about the on-going Synod of the Family. I think it’s best right now to let them speak in their own words, rather than try to interpret what they mean. One thing that seems apparent is that there is a wide gap between the Cardinals of the developing world and those from the wealthier nations. Cardinal Burke German Bishops Cardinal Napier on Polygamy Cardinal Tagle Poor Families... Read more
I’m haven’t been writing about the Synod on the Family because I don’t have a clue what’s really happening. The quotes from various bishops are confusing, to say the least. They’re also disturbing. That’s what happens when the press gets their hands on public statements. It isn’t usually a deliberate thing on their part. It’s more a function of what occurs during a game of gossip. Did you ever play gossip? The way we did it when I was... Read more
This video is a couple of weeks behind the curve, but it still contains information that we need to know. Read more
Note: I published this post a few years’ back. It seemed apt to republish it today. “Crazy People” The folder with this name sits on my hard drive. Whenever I get an email that merits the title, I drag it into the “Crazy People” file. After 16 years in public office, the file has swollen to gigs of nutty emails that most likely would embarrass their senders if they read them today. I have a theory that people... Read more
Over at Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta published a post concerning a couple of ominous notes received by an atheist leader at an “atheist church.” Public Catholic reader Lark brought this to my attention and asked me to comment on it. I have zero problems saying that the nutso practice of putting threatening letters in people’s mailboxes is not only a federal crime, it is wrong. There’s a lot I don’t know about this note-in-the-mailbox scenario. According to Mr Mehta’s post,... Read more
You can buy a copy of Trusting God with St Therese here. Does news of ISIS, the Ebola virus and the Synod on the Family fill you with anxiety? Are you downcast and disheartened by the unraveling of our society and its descent into amoral self-destruction? Maybe your problems are closer to home. Do you worry about your children’s friends? Are you caring for a sick child or an elderly relative? Does it seem that you’ll never make enough... Read more
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