This writer seems to understand the problem. Similar statements have been made by the last two Popes. Pope Benedict XVI is picking up the pace and frankness of this call to the faith in Europe.
Pyro
7/14/2006
7/11/2006
Aquinas on Marriage?
Found this interesting defense of marriage at this blog. It's modeled after St. Thomas Aquinas' writings.
Retaliation?
It's ok, they're just getting even.
What do islamic militants and the Western liberals have in common? It's always someone elses fault, usually your own.
I guess it's a matter of perspective if you're the oppressor getting what you deserve or a helpless victim who needs government assistance and can't be blamed for anything.
Pyro
What do islamic militants and the Western liberals have in common? It's always someone elses fault, usually your own.
I guess it's a matter of perspective if you're the oppressor getting what you deserve or a helpless victim who needs government assistance and can't be blamed for anything.
Pyro
7/10/2006
Test Tube Father
In case you weren't paying attention, the first mammals have been "reproduced" using artificial sperm created from embryonic stem cells. It is being hailed as a breakthrough that could help wipe out male infertility. How wonderful!! It really is a brave new world. There's no need for women or men having babies anymore, in fact, it will be preferred that they don't. In a laboratory scientist will be able to control all aspects of the future being. No more birth defects like freckles or flat feet. If a war is coming you just up the production of people for the fight. In fact, maybe people could be produced for the express purpose of being warriors!
The future's so bright I gotta wear shades.
What was it Paul VI said about reproduction?
Or how about John Paul II?
Pope Paul VI actually predicted that if people didn't embrace the traditional Christian teaching on contraception that four major things would occur. Those are... (thanks to Janet Smith from Univ. Dallas)
1. lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality
2. the man" will lose respect for "the woman" and "no longer (care) for her physical and psychological equilibrium" and will come to "the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer as his respected and beloved companion
3. widespread acceptance of contraception would place a "dangerous weapon... in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies (China's and other country's forced abortion programs when you have excess pregnencies)
4. Pope Paul's final warning was that contraception would lead man to think that he had unlimited dominion over his own body (we see this not only in sterilizations but in test tube babies and now cloning)
Pyro
The future's so bright I gotta wear shades.
What was it Paul VI said about reproduction?
Or how about John Paul II?
Pope Paul VI actually predicted that if people didn't embrace the traditional Christian teaching on contraception that four major things would occur. Those are... (thanks to Janet Smith from Univ. Dallas)
1. lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality
2. the man" will lose respect for "the woman" and "no longer (care) for her physical and psychological equilibrium" and will come to "the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer as his respected and beloved companion
3. widespread acceptance of contraception would place a "dangerous weapon... in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies (China's and other country's forced abortion programs when you have excess pregnencies)
4. Pope Paul's final warning was that contraception would lead man to think that he had unlimited dominion over his own body (we see this not only in sterilizations but in test tube babies and now cloning)
Pyro
Good News From Iraq
The Iraqi government has requested that the UN revoke American forces immunity from the Iraqi legal system. This is in light of recent crimes that some soldiers have been accused of. I see this as a positive thing, not throwing our citizens at the "mercy" of the Iraqi courts, but that they must be close to being able to stand on it's own if they are ready to do something like this.
Pyro
Pyro
7/09/2006
Sonar settlement
Seems that our submarines will be able to use active sonar after all in the excercises off Hawaii. The whales aren't innocent in this whole thing however. I remember on one patrol when a whale rammed my submarine after hitting us with his SONAR.
Pyro
Pyro
Inconceivable!!
Looks like Mexico has encountered the same situation with their leftists that Washington encountered in the last Gubernatorial election. Some people just can't accept losing. Why is it when liberals/leftists lose an election they refuse to acknowledge that their views/positions are what the voters were rejecting? The same thing happens with failed school levies, the teachers and their cronies come out with all types of statements asserting that the voters just didn't understand. Boo Hoo!! They can't believe for a second that their ideas and plans are what the voters reject. It's like that line from the movie "Princess Bride" when Vizinni keeps saying "Inconceivable!" whenever something he doesn't like happens and finally Inigo replies "You keep on using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means."
Pyro
7/05/2006
odds, texas hold em, 4th of July, virginity
Why is it that if a person is taking a test and there are two possible answers and the person guesses at the answer, they usually get it wrong? It should be a 50-50 chance of getting it correct but, it never works out that way. In the Navy we had a saying, we called it 50-50-90. When you had to come up with an either/or answer, you had a 50-50 chance of being wrong 90% of the time.
I was playing Texas Hold'm over my Independence Day vacation. I entered a tournament with my Dad and brother at the local Indian casino. It was a horrible tournament with lots of dumb rules. I made the final table and was playing very well. Suddenly, my 50-50-90 curse struck! I was in early position and went all-in (ten times the blind) with pocket Kings, I was called by the small blind who had pocket 9's. Everyone else folded. I had about a 90% chance of winning. I lost when he flopped a third 9. Bad luck is one thing, but for that guy to even give me any action was crazy. I don't mind being unlucky, but to be unlucky against someone who doesn't know how to play or bet just drives me up the wall. Two days later we had the annual family Hold em tournament. It's a friendly family game between uncles, brothers, dads, cousins, nephews, aunts, moms, grandparents/children. A nice relaxing game that pays the top three at a 50-30-20 rate. The champion pocketed about $120.00. I went from being chip leader to being out because of two bad beats. Both times the person (my nephew) filled an inside straight to beat my better hand. The second time he got runner runner!! I'm cursed! But it was fun, I don't mind losing to family, and he was pretty happy.
The temperature was 100+ in the shade every day. We spent lots of time sitting under shade drinking Corona's and eating barbeque. The kids had a blast playing in water all day and running around "Grandmother's". Bed time was usually 11:00 pm, that was when the kids finally got tired. Also, 11:00 pm was when the temperature finally got below 90 degrees. My boy and his cousin, who is about a year older, made their first independant trip to the local convenience store together. The store is in sight and about 3 blocks away. My brother and I sent them on a mission with the wagon. They were to retrieve 10 bags of ice. We gave them about $5.00 more than the price of the ice and told them they could do what they want with the change. They came back 30 minutes later with 10 bags of ice, 3 bags of marbles, a bag of water balloons, and a bag of chips. They were very pleased with themselves. We were pleased with them also.
Finally, I was presented with the temptation of getting in to a theology debate over the perpetual virginity of Mary. My folks have a friend who, as I understand, was raised Catholic but is now in some type of Pentacostal style church. She had a question for my Dad regarding the subject because she was reading a book that stated Catholics believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary. She was simply wondering if the book was accurate. I was called over to field the question. (GETTING SIDETRACKED HERE) You see, since my reversion to the Catholic Church, which involved lots of study of doctrine and theology, I can't be around my family without being asked faith/doctrine questions. Some of my relatives refer to me as "St. Pyro" or " The Deacon". I guess because of how serious I am about practicing the Catholic faith. Sometimes I'm asked questions because there is a sincere desire to understand, sometimes it's because the questioner wants to have a debate. In the past I enjoyed feeding either motivation. Now I choose not to debate, though I want to with every fiber of my being. But I do answer the seeking information questions (END OF SIDETRACK). So this person asks if the perpetual virginity of Mary is a true Catholic doctine. I told her that it was, and that it wasn't just Catholic "doctrine" but that it was Orthodox doctrine as well. I even informed her that Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers professed it. She then countered with the "fact" from Scripture that Mary had other children (in fact Scripture never discusses Mary having other children, it refers to some other individuals as being the "brothers/bretheren" (english translation) of Jesus). I mentioned that two of the four "brothers" were named elsewhere in scripture as the sons of a different Mary and Clopas or Alphaeus. I began to explain the correlation between the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant and Mary as the New Testament "fulfillment" of the Ark of the Covenant. She wasn't interested and stated that as a faithful Jewish woman she would have done her duty and had other children with her husband. I then disengaged and ended with restating that what she read in her book was accurate and that yes Catholic teaching was that Mary was a perpetual virgin.
It's difficult to address any question about theology without first exploring the topic of authority. Does authority exclusively reside in individual interpretation of Scripture? Is authority shared between a divinely established ecclesial heirarchy and Scripture? Is it possible for an individual to be wrong in their personal theological conclusions derived from studying Scripture? Is it possible for a divinely established ecclesial heirarchy to be wrong when declaring theological truths? Exactly what did Jesus mean when he said "...the Spirit... will guide you into all truth..." John 16: 13.
I understand the difficulty with Mary. When I was away from the Church, I learned to have difficulty with Marian doctrine and the Communion of Saints. For me, I had to understand from where authority came. Only after a person gets a firm understanding of authority can they begin to fully explore all of God's revelation. To fully understand authority requires a trip through Christian history. It's not enough to read what is accepted now by (some) Christians as authoritative Scripture. A person needs to understand how the earliest Christians viewed Sacred Scripture. How they lived their faith life. How they operated in community. How they cooperated with eachother. How they interacted with those outside their communion. How they recognized and dealt with error within the communion of believers. And what they meant when they wrote things down, such as the Apostle's Creed.
Curiously, my folk's friend didn't dwell long on Scripture. She sidestepped the fact that some of the examples of Jesus' "brothers" were elsewhere in Scripture referred to as children of different parents. She began using the extra biblical argument that as a good Jewish wife she would have been having lots of additional children with Joseph after Jesus' birth.
Since I didn't want to argue I didn't try to help her explore the inconsistancy with her tactic. As good Jews, why would Jesus and Mary and John have set up that unorthodox arangement for her care after Jesus' death? Where and when exactly did the duty of a wife in the covenant (old and new) get changed from being fruitful and open to life, to practicing artificial birth control to limit the size of a family? I'm glad she's open to viewing faith matters through the wide lense of cultural conditions, historical context, Scriptural exegisis, and doctrinal continuity. But there needs to be consistency in such things.
When a person looks back through history and researches the pedigree of certain doctrines and beliefs they begin to see just how "Catholic" the Church was since the beginning. And they see just how innovative recent Christian traditions are when they profess things such as Mary and Joseph having many other children.
Blessed Mary, ever virgin, pray for us and lead us to your Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Pyro
I was playing Texas Hold'm over my Independence Day vacation. I entered a tournament with my Dad and brother at the local Indian casino. It was a horrible tournament with lots of dumb rules. I made the final table and was playing very well. Suddenly, my 50-50-90 curse struck! I was in early position and went all-in (ten times the blind) with pocket Kings, I was called by the small blind who had pocket 9's. Everyone else folded. I had about a 90% chance of winning. I lost when he flopped a third 9. Bad luck is one thing, but for that guy to even give me any action was crazy. I don't mind being unlucky, but to be unlucky against someone who doesn't know how to play or bet just drives me up the wall. Two days later we had the annual family Hold em tournament. It's a friendly family game between uncles, brothers, dads, cousins, nephews, aunts, moms, grandparents/children. A nice relaxing game that pays the top three at a 50-30-20 rate. The champion pocketed about $120.00. I went from being chip leader to being out because of two bad beats. Both times the person (my nephew) filled an inside straight to beat my better hand. The second time he got runner runner!! I'm cursed! But it was fun, I don't mind losing to family, and he was pretty happy.
The temperature was 100+ in the shade every day. We spent lots of time sitting under shade drinking Corona's and eating barbeque. The kids had a blast playing in water all day and running around "Grandmother's". Bed time was usually 11:00 pm, that was when the kids finally got tired. Also, 11:00 pm was when the temperature finally got below 90 degrees. My boy and his cousin, who is about a year older, made their first independant trip to the local convenience store together. The store is in sight and about 3 blocks away. My brother and I sent them on a mission with the wagon. They were to retrieve 10 bags of ice. We gave them about $5.00 more than the price of the ice and told them they could do what they want with the change. They came back 30 minutes later with 10 bags of ice, 3 bags of marbles, a bag of water balloons, and a bag of chips. They were very pleased with themselves. We were pleased with them also.
Finally, I was presented with the temptation of getting in to a theology debate over the perpetual virginity of Mary. My folks have a friend who, as I understand, was raised Catholic but is now in some type of Pentacostal style church. She had a question for my Dad regarding the subject because she was reading a book that stated Catholics believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary. She was simply wondering if the book was accurate. I was called over to field the question. (GETTING SIDETRACKED HERE) You see, since my reversion to the Catholic Church, which involved lots of study of doctrine and theology, I can't be around my family without being asked faith/doctrine questions. Some of my relatives refer to me as "St. Pyro" or " The Deacon". I guess because of how serious I am about practicing the Catholic faith. Sometimes I'm asked questions because there is a sincere desire to understand, sometimes it's because the questioner wants to have a debate. In the past I enjoyed feeding either motivation. Now I choose not to debate, though I want to with every fiber of my being. But I do answer the seeking information questions (END OF SIDETRACK). So this person asks if the perpetual virginity of Mary is a true Catholic doctine. I told her that it was, and that it wasn't just Catholic "doctrine" but that it was Orthodox doctrine as well. I even informed her that Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers professed it. She then countered with the "fact" from Scripture that Mary had other children (in fact Scripture never discusses Mary having other children, it refers to some other individuals as being the "brothers/bretheren" (english translation) of Jesus). I mentioned that two of the four "brothers" were named elsewhere in scripture as the sons of a different Mary and Clopas or Alphaeus. I began to explain the correlation between the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant and Mary as the New Testament "fulfillment" of the Ark of the Covenant. She wasn't interested and stated that as a faithful Jewish woman she would have done her duty and had other children with her husband. I then disengaged and ended with restating that what she read in her book was accurate and that yes Catholic teaching was that Mary was a perpetual virgin.
It's difficult to address any question about theology without first exploring the topic of authority. Does authority exclusively reside in individual interpretation of Scripture? Is authority shared between a divinely established ecclesial heirarchy and Scripture? Is it possible for an individual to be wrong in their personal theological conclusions derived from studying Scripture? Is it possible for a divinely established ecclesial heirarchy to be wrong when declaring theological truths? Exactly what did Jesus mean when he said "...the Spirit... will guide you into all truth..." John 16: 13.
I understand the difficulty with Mary. When I was away from the Church, I learned to have difficulty with Marian doctrine and the Communion of Saints. For me, I had to understand from where authority came. Only after a person gets a firm understanding of authority can they begin to fully explore all of God's revelation. To fully understand authority requires a trip through Christian history. It's not enough to read what is accepted now by (some) Christians as authoritative Scripture. A person needs to understand how the earliest Christians viewed Sacred Scripture. How they lived their faith life. How they operated in community. How they cooperated with eachother. How they interacted with those outside their communion. How they recognized and dealt with error within the communion of believers. And what they meant when they wrote things down, such as the Apostle's Creed.
Curiously, my folk's friend didn't dwell long on Scripture. She sidestepped the fact that some of the examples of Jesus' "brothers" were elsewhere in Scripture referred to as children of different parents. She began using the extra biblical argument that as a good Jewish wife she would have been having lots of additional children with Joseph after Jesus' birth.
Since I didn't want to argue I didn't try to help her explore the inconsistancy with her tactic. As good Jews, why would Jesus and Mary and John have set up that unorthodox arangement for her care after Jesus' death? Where and when exactly did the duty of a wife in the covenant (old and new) get changed from being fruitful and open to life, to practicing artificial birth control to limit the size of a family? I'm glad she's open to viewing faith matters through the wide lense of cultural conditions, historical context, Scriptural exegisis, and doctrinal continuity. But there needs to be consistency in such things.
When a person looks back through history and researches the pedigree of certain doctrines and beliefs they begin to see just how "Catholic" the Church was since the beginning. And they see just how innovative recent Christian traditions are when they profess things such as Mary and Joseph having many other children.
Blessed Mary, ever virgin, pray for us and lead us to your Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Pyro
6/28/2006
Early Independence Day
Because of my work schedule and because I will be away for the holiday, I must do my Independence Day post early. Please forgive my prematurity (I think I just made that word up). I am very fond of my country. For all her flaws she is the greatest country in history. First, let us remember the cost of liberty.
Revolutionary War - 4,435
War of 1812 - 2,260
Mexican War - 13,283
Civil War (Union) - 364,511
Spanish-American War - 2,446
World War I - 116,516
World War II - 405,399
Korean War - 36,574
Vietnam War - 58,209
Gulf War I - 382
War on Terror (Includes
those killed on 9-11-01) - 5,859
* all causualty numbers were taken from official DOD sources here and here. September 11, 2001 casualty numbers were taken from here. I subtracted 19 from the 9-11-01 numbers because I chose not to include the terrorists in the total.
And now some quotes from our first president...
"I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them."
"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
George Wasington, 1732-1799
Commander, Continental Army
President, United States of America
Happy Birthday America!!
6/27/2006
Morning "News" on CBS
I guess I'm not to smart. About two weeks ago I was sitting here at the computer in the morning with the Today Show on in the background. This morning I had a CBS program (Early Show) on. Their first two stories were typical of MSM "news". First, the anchor reported two facts. The congress was one vote away from passing legislation that would support a Constitutional amendment which restricted burning the American flag. The second was about the leaking of American activities by the New York Times regarding the tracking of overseas financial transactions in order to combat terrorism.
I won't even get in to how I feel about both of those topics. They made the report and then cut to their Washington correspondent live in front of the White House. The correspondant assured all the viewers that there was no substance or sincerity to either issue and that it is all simply midterm election posturing. And in regards to the info leak, it was simply the administration making a lot of noise regarding an issue that is their only strongpoint. Please...! either the Bush Administration is wrong in the war on terror or their right, you can't have it both ways CBS!
This all reminds me of the scene from the Wizard of OZ when Toto pulls back the curtain revealing the secret of the "Wizard". And the "Wizard" shouts, "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain"!! in other words, don't believe the facts of what you see, believe in the fantasy with which you are presented.
Pyro
6/26/2006
New Jerusalem?
This interesting article discusses an evolution in Arab/Muslim thought regarding the city of Jerusalem. It seems that Muslims are putting the revisionist history process to work. Just as leftists and other extreme liberals have done in the United States regarding the Christian influence on America's founding documents. This is nothing more than poisoning the well on a grand scale. Isn't it interesting how significant tradition is in a culture? Books and other written histories are always being manipulated, invented, or discredited. But tradition, because it is a thing that lives with a people, a thing that has a memory, is much more difficult to defeat. Just as all sincere people [poisoning the well ;-) ] "know" that the United States' founders and founding documents are Christian in orgin, everyone "knows" that the Jewish (Judah's tribe) people lived in Jerusalem where they had their Temple.
Pyro
Pyro
6/23/2006
Foster Parents Union
It seems that State foster parents are the latest group to feel the need to resort to organizing in to a union. The interesting thing is, most of the foster parents I know are committed Christians who do foster parenting out of Gospel charity. Most unions walk lock step with the Democracts. Will this lead to a union that is mostly conservative in practice? I don't know, but I wish them luck against the State and the leftist/sucular elitists who run the DSHS offices. I know two foster parents very well and over the last 10 years the training they have to attend has become inundated with crap from the Gay lobby. It's pretty disgusting. Isn't it ironic that the gays are some of the loudest complainers of "legislating morality"? Anyway, unionizing is always done in response to poor treatment. What has changed for foster parents in the last 10 years except for a State DSHS that has careened off to the mucky swamp that's left of the road?
Pyro
Pyro
6/20/2006
Mel Gibson's new movie, APOCALYPTO
I just watched the trailer for Mel's new movie Apocalypto. The movie is set in Mayan times and from what I can gather, has several storylines. One storyline follows a group of Mayans who are competing in a tournament of a Mayan game that is a cross between soccer and basketball. From watching the trailer I believe that the bigger storyline is the fall of the Mayan empire, or at least the fall of a certain group from power within the Mayan empire. It looks to me as if the movie will be awesome. If you like Mel's typical genre of movies, then this will definately be a must see. I think Mel is making a commentary on modern times with this film. There is a caption during the trailer that reads "A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within". This is a Will Durant quote. My mind races as I plug in all the current situations which this quote indicts. Christiandom and the splintering of her children in to competing factions. Western society with it's gangreous limbs and diseased heart swallowing all manner of poison in the disorded desire to consume all that presents itself as nourishment. American liberals and conservatives and their reinterpretation of the founding documents, and the intent of the document's writers, in a misguuided desire to lend historicity and authority to the current philosophical errors of modernism.
On whatever level you decide to view the film, it should be an enjoyable exerience.
Pyro
On whatever level you decide to view the film, it should be an enjoyable exerience.
Pyro
Another Beheading
It appears as if the Islamists have brought more non-Muslims to "justice". The remains of the two American soldiers from the 502 Infantry Regiment who were missing have apparantly been found by American forces. My question is this: is all this violence being perpetrated by Muslims in the name of Allah simply a case of a rogue group using "God" as their justification and recruiting tool for seeking power and riches? Or is the end goal of Islam really world domination, subjugation, and conversion by any means necessary?
Pyro
Pyro
6/17/2006
Happy Father's Day
Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there!
As with the Mother's Day post, I wanted to incorporate some Byzantine style iconography here.
6/15/2006
Religion of Peace
Why were those Muslim terrorists plotting to do an attack in Canada? I mean, if you listen or watch much MSM reports, you get the impression that the only reason there are terrorist attacks is because they are retaliating for wrongs committed by Westerners against Islam. Isn't Canada the Westernmost member of the European Union? Don't they march lockstep with the left leaning cultural elitists who seem to think that everything would be better if everything was tolerated? Visit this website to get a perspective you won't hear from NBC, ABC, CNN, or The New York Times on the Jihad against the West and the War on Terror.
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