Crossing Nineveh

American Catholic Leadership Has Sold Its Soul to the State

2012-02-13T15:17:00.000-05:00

Paul A. Rahe

Perhaps the most important half-hour in media, in some years, occurred this afternoon from about 1:45 PM to 2:15 PM (ET) on Rush Limbaugh's show. He read with gusto and salient comment, significant portions of an essay by Hillsdale College professor Paul R. Rahe titled "American Catholicism' Pact with the Devil". You can read the entire essay in all its brilliance at the link in the last sentence. Rahe (a Catholic) says with historical and current depth what I've been fond of saying: Abortion is a problem that is at the foot of the American bishops. Had they been doing their job as moral leaders and not being mute dogs, abortion would not be the law of the land and it would be rare.

Rahe points out that the current contraception debate is what the American Catholic Church leadership has fostered and it's come home to bite. Here are a few paragraphs from Rahe's piece that appears on the conservative website RICOCHET.

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Cardinal Bernadin

In my lifetime, to my increasing regret, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States has lost much of its moral authority. It has done so largely because it has subordinated its teaching of Catholic moral doctrine to its ambitions regarding an expansion of the administrative entitlements state. In 1973, when the Supreme Court made its decision in Roe v. Wade, had the bishops, priests, and nuns screamed bloody murder and declared war, as they have recently done, the decision would have been reversed. Instead, under the leadership of Joseph Bernadin, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago, they asserted that the social teaching of the Church was a “seamless garment,” and they treated abortion as one concern among many. Here is what Cardinal Bernadin said in the Gannon Lecture at Fordham University that he delivered in 1983:

Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed worker.
Consistency means that we cannot have it both ways. We cannot urge a compassionate society and vigorous public policy to protect the rights of the unborn and then argue that compassion and significant public programs on behalf of the needy undermine the moral fiber of the society or are beyond the proper scope of governmental responsibility.

This statement, which came to be taken as authoritative throughout the American Church, proved, as Joseph Sobran observed seven years ago, “to be nothing but a loophole for hypocritical Catholic politicians. If anything,” he added, "it has actually made it easier for them than for non-Catholics to give their effective support to legalized abortion – that is, it has allowed them to be inconsistent and unprincipled about the very issues that Cardinal Bernardin said demand consistency and principle.” In practice, this meant that, insofar as anyone pressed the case against Roe v. Wade, it was the laity.
I was reared a Catholic, wandered out of the Church, and stumbled back in more than thirteen years ago. I have been a regular attendee at mass since that time. I travel a great deal and frequently find myself in a diocese not my own. In these years, I have heard sermons articulating the case against abortion thrice – once in Louisiana at a mass said by the retired Archbishop there; once at the cathedral in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and two weeks ago in our parish in Hillsdale, Michigan. The truth is that the priests in the United States are far more likely to push the “social justice” agenda of the Church from the pulpit than to instruct the faithful in the evils of abortion.
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Protestantism: No Moral Bark in the HHS Mandate Debate

2012-02-11T07:19:00.001-05:00

Why the Protestant teaching of "Faith Alone" is Dangerous Ground.

Summary: Protestants can only argue the Constitutional side of the HHS Contraception Debate; they have no moral integrity to argue the moral side or what they have taught verbally, and practiced for decades

Here's the simple explanation of why Obama-Pelosi-Sebelius-and-Progressives (OPSP) think they are not violating Christian principles by mandating free contraception to all Americans.

They believe -- literally -- what Protestants have taught, that salvation is by FAITH ALONE (Sola Fide). While Protestants technically refer to Faith Alone in the concept of initial justification, it sounds to the ill-informed that it is the bedrock of Christian life -- that Christian principles are acts of the mind and not of the body.

Sola Fide became the banner cry of Protestants in objection to what they falsely believed was the teaching of Catholicism (that we are saved only through and by our works). Catholicism never taught that, but because of some misled bishops and at least one pope at the time of Luther and Calvin, the political emphasis was in the "works" direction. That caused Luther to rebel, something the Catholic Church does not fault him for. Calvin was a different sort. See footnote [1].

Now, most Protestants do not practice what they preach. They preach "Faith Alone" but they don't practice it. Out of their love for Christ they do good works. Plenty of them. They will argue that their "faith" informs their "life" or daily behavior.

This distinction between faith and works is an important distinction in the current political debate about OPSP's mandate for free contraception to all Americans. The mandate's philosophy (and thus the philosophy of OPSP, is that Christianity is a "faith only" proposition. That is, it only exists in the mind. In other words, OPSP believe what Protestants have been saying out loud since the founding of the country: Our faith is what we do mentally, not what we do outwardly.

So, it is logical to OPSP that mandating a "work" should have no impact on the Christian "faith" -- because Christians are really just "faith alone" -- their religion is one of the mind -- it's just a psychological state -- a mental trick -- and it really has no effect on the physical realm -- or works. To OPSP Christianity is a private matter -- what you do in your home or church -- and it should have no place in the physical, material realm. They ask, "Isn't that what faith alone means?"

But OPSP cannot say that to the "practicing" and "knowledgeable" Catholic [2], who have consistently taught that faith informs the works that we do. Catholicism has always taught that faith and works are inseparable -- two sides of the same coin. And that is why in the current debate it is Catholicism that leads the charge against the OPSP attack. Only the the Catholic Church has the moral integrity to do so. Protestants can only argue the Constitutional side of the issue; they have no moral integrity to argue the moral side or what they have taught verbally, and practiced for decades -- that religion is just a mental act (faith alone) and that contraception is morally okay.

See also my post on Humanae Vitae 17.

[Footnote 1] What upset Luther doesn't explain the other Protestant rebellions against the Church, e.g., Calvin's or Henry VIII's lust for power. Calvin's thirst was for spiritual control, Henry VIII's was for political control.

[Footnote 2] There are really very few "practicing" and "knowledgeable" American Catholics. Most have been Protestantized. Kathleen Sibelius, in fact, baptized a Catholic is now denied communion because of her political practice of supporting abortion and contraception. Catholic bloggers think Pelosi will soon be excommunicated since she has repeatedly fulfilled the canonical requirements of such an action over her support for abortion and contraception and other progressive, immoral policies. But, when the bishops get up the backbone to do what the Church requires, is another thing.

Humanae Vitae (via the Holy Spirit) to the Rescue

2012-02-10T23:41:00.003-05:00

The caption says: I TOLD YOU SO

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY PROTESTANT FAMILY WHO ARE CONVINCED CATHOLICISM IS WRONG AND ONLY THEIR CHURCH IS RIGHT.... even when they change churches because they don't like what their pastor was teaching.(*)

Dear Family,

I trust you are paying attention to this very important moral battle for the soul of our nation. You may be thinking that the Religious Liberty enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution is being trampled upon by Obama and his minions.

But there is a more important battle being waged. It is a battle for the souls of men and women, young and old, and those unborn as predicted by Pope Paul VI in 1968.

In 1968, the lone and very unpopular voice of Pope Paul VI wrote a REAFFIRMATION of Church teaching about artificial birth control and contraception in all its forms. The instrument was his Encyclical Letter OF HUMAN LIFE, (or in Latin the first words of the letter... Humanae Vitae.) No other Church agreed with the Pope, and EVERY other Church, especially those that had no respect for Catholicism) CHANGED their stance on birth control and allowed it. This was only one of many ways that moral relativism creeped into Christianity. But not so in Catholic teaching. Yes, many Catholics embraced Protestantism in practice. But the Church as a teaching institution protected by the promise of Christ in the Gospels, never caved.

In 1968 Protestants and secularists laughed and ridiculed the Pope for his prophecies of the natural consequences that would beleaguer the world if artificial birth control was allowed. In section 17 of Humane Vitae he wrote (and I'm paraphrasing):

1. The road to infidelity in marriage will be opened wide.
2. There will be a general lowering of public morality.
3. Men would finally lose respect for the woman... and use "her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected an beloved companion."

Then the second paragraph of that section (17.2) reads this way, 44 years ago:

"Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power (contraception) passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law.... Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife."

At the time theologians (even Catholic theologians), physicians, sociologists, and all manner of other experts advised the pope to loosen the strings of the Church's teachings on contraception. But the Pope, being protected by the Holy Spirit (Christ's explicit promise) from promulgating doctrine in error, wrote Humane Vitae, and once again the Holy Spirit protected the Church from teaching error. (Mt 16:18-19, John 16:12-13, John 20:22-23)

And this past week we see it fulfilled, yet again.

And it is the only Church that has never reversed any teaching from the time of the Apostles. If you think it has changed, then you don't know the teachings of the Church but have listened to the misrepresentations of others who would marginalize the Church for their personal gain.

This is why so many of us are Catholic. We'd rather be members of a Church that has proven its infallibility by NOT changing moral teachings, (even under intense pressure to do so), than to become moral relativists, like the rest of christian culture.... even the Orthodox. Truth does not change. Natural Law does not change. Christ does not change. What is true is NOT up to us to decide.

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* Ray Guarendi is right. There is a new atheism in the U.S. It comes from Christians who say, "There is a God. And he's just like me."

Santorum, Bella, and Natural Law

2012-02-08T09:40:00.000-05:00

Ivan Strenski, a progressive blogger questioned (in a nice way), Rick and Karen's Santorum decision to get pregnant late in life and bring Bella into the world. The original article by Ivan is HERE. The first comment to the post was by "hsmom" who called Ivan's thinking "erroneous at best... and illogical." Hsmom's comments were good. But I felt the need to go further.

Ivan was being honest. He didn't understand how Santorum's "legalistic" behavior to Catholic teaching was good, because it brought such "suffering" into Bella's life. Ivan's logic is typical of many in the world. The only reality they understand is the one they can see and feel right before them at the moment.

Here are my two responses:

Ivan. Please consider:

A. Catholicism's teachings are based on 5,000 years of observing human history and how human experiences reveal what works and doesn't in the universe, i.e. natural law. The Catholic assumption is that life and the universe of reality is ultimately ordered, sophisticated, and benevolently intelligent. Although we cannot know everything, what we do know must be followed if we are to live a life approaching happiness, purpose and meaning. The doctrine is not arbitrary but is the faith's best interpretation of what is true, universally, for all human beings, regardless of our state in life. Or, what is good, true and beautiful.

B. Thus, Santorum, like other well-informed Catholics (and few Catholics are well-informed about their faith), is not being "legalistic" to an arbitrary rule, but rather a trust in 5,000 years of wisdom acquired by Judea-Christian understanding about what works in the long run, not just what we see before our eyes (c.f. Bella Santorum). There's a direct analogy to standing on the edge of a cliff and deciding to believe in the effects of gravity. If you trust what experience and scientists tell you, you'll step back from the cliff. That is not legalism in the pejorative sense. But it is following a rule (legalistically) that ensures your greater security. That is what the Church attempts to do under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

C. The problem with human kind is something called "sin" or (to put it in less theological terms) the willful, knowledgeable disobedience of a law of nature. Natural law exists in the physical as well as the psychological realms. Sin is like stepping off that cliff when you've been told that doing so is going to hurt. When pride tells us that we're going to do what we want and screw the theologians and historians and scientists.... then we or others get hurt.

D. Your assumption is that YOU know what is better for Bella, Rick, and their world, than what God (or Providence, or Natural Law) has ordained to occur in their life. And your solution to what you perceive is Rick's problem (a sick child that "suffers") requires that Rick and his wife step off a cliff that they have been clearly warned will cause them harm in ways that you and they cannot conceive. Rick and his wife trust in the wisdom of the ages, not just what they see before their eyes. Rick and his wife understand that they don't understand everything, and what they see is not necessarily what is true when confronted with all of reality, if they could see and understand it. You comments assume that what you see is all there is to understand. But I don't think that intellectually you really believe that.

E. Lastly, we don't want the innocent to suffer. But because our pride-filled propensity to sin (e.g. ignoring natural law when we know better) suffering is a part of the moral world in which we live. Blame pride and ego. But God in his mercy and grace brings meaning out of that suffering, even by the innocent. Christ, innocent in all ways, suffered and died a cruel death for the salvation (in the eternal afterlife) for all of us. Just as a soldier gives his life for his comrades; a willful suffering for the benefit of others. We have no idea how huge Bella's suffering may be, nor do we have any idea how huge and meaningful her suffering is. But to enact one of your solutions would be to bring suffering of a sinful sort, and such disobedience is always like walking off that cliff saying," I am smarter than gravity." This is where we trust God for the short time we are on this earth. For there is eternity to face. This is but a training ground for what is beyond.

Second comment to Ivan:

Ivan,

Not to belabor this, but perhaps this, too, is worthy of your consideration: Your solution to Bella's implied suffering, is that the Santorums should have contracepted, or aborted. On the "contracepted" see my earlier post. But on the "aborted" you imply that killing Bella in the womb would be less "suffering" (and therefore a good) than letting her live and "suffer." (My earlier post hoped to argue that "suffering" is not a bad thing, ,but there's more to the argument that suffering can be good. See below.) By extension, if you believe Bella in the womb is a human being, you must also believe that killing a sick child is better than letting her live. And by extension, the same would apply to all adults who are suffering. Would you now care to define "suffering" in terms of when it should prompt suicide or murder? Trusting in the Church's teachings will save you from these sort of dilemmas.

Is suffering good or bad? Suffering is the result of sin... a bad thing, even when that suffering occurs to a "good" person. The suffering may not be the result of the person's weakness or sin, but rather is the result of humankind's sinful, weak, and imperfect condition... that is, our propensity as a group to ignore what we know (or sometimes don't know) about the nature of reality. This understanding applies to tsunamis as well as adultery, although it may take longer to explain the former than the latter. ) The suffering of a person who has sinned (ignored natural law) should inform the person about what not to do next time if she wants to be happier. On the other hand, suffering by the "innocent" is a call to their lives to pray and offer up their lives as a lesson in helping others to care for others. Thus, Bella is put into the Santorum's life as an "object lesson" that will draw the Santorums and all of us who "watch" the Santorums, how to care for others. Humanity is about caring for others. The dependent around us (like Bella) fulfill a great purpose in teaching those of us who are not so dependent, to care for others. Thus, we the healthy and proud, can be brought low and humbled (in a good way), because others need us to care for them. As human beings we need to learn to care for others. Life is about relationships. Bella teaches us all these great lessons. And by extension, we just might learn that God looks on us as we look on Bella--from God's perspective, we (the "normal") are far from healthy and we need a great deal of help. We are dependent on God's grace, if not his forgiveness, then just to breath and live. For the complexity and sophistication and intelligent benevolence of nature sustains us.

Success Down Under with American Media

2012-02-07T19:32:00.001-05:00

One of Nineveh's Crossing consistent customers is Fr. Adrian Head from South Australia. Fr. Adrian pastors three parishes: St. Vincent de Paul in Cleve (pictured at right), Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cowell, and Sacred Heart in Kimba.

Fr. Adrian stays active as an evangelist, too. He's always ordering copies of several of our Catholic apologetic DVDs movies and related media to give away. No one gives the DVDs back to him, so he has to buy another. Recently he asked me to special order a Kindle Fire for him before they were on sale in Australia. It arrived safely.

Recently he wrote:

One day I will send you a list of the movie DVDs that I tend to buy. These are doing so much good here in this parish. I was talking to a loyal parishioner who with his wife visited their daughter in England and went around Europe and he said that the amount of religious practice there is often very low.....whereas our small parish of Cleve - including three other small towns - compares very favorably. I am lucky to be in such a lovely parish and I can see young ones and young marrieds growing spiritually with some help from me and from the valuable books and DVDs on the faith and spirituality. Something which has come into prominence in the world now is the Amazon.com Kindle and Audible and it is putting bookstores in Australia out of business, except those that offer assistance in downloading books onto the Kindle. Another thing that amazes me is the interest in Natural Family Planning among my parishioners, even the younger ones, and I am able to help this along with good materials, particularly from the WOOMB organisation that Drs John and Evelyn Billings began with such great success.

White House Misrepresents Its Own Contraceptive Mandate

2012-02-03T20:58:00.000-05:00

The Obama administration, to justify its widely criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, has posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1). In what follows, each White House claim is quoted with a response.

Read USCCB's statement

The Forgotton Man - McNaughton Painting Video

2012-02-03T20:40:00.000-05:00

Fr. John Riccardo on KNOWING JESUS

2012-02-03T19:16:00.001-05:00

Here is Fr. John Riccardo's 35 min sermon before the weekday congregation at Kensington Community Church, the Protestant Church that produced the DVD, Common Ground that we distribute.

Father John Riccardo at Kensington 5/28/11 from Kensington on Vimeo.

Photo Caption Contest at Nineveh's Crossing

2012-01-22T23:13:00.004-05:00

We're having a photo captioning contest at Nineveh's Crossing.

See current entries HERE.

Nineveh's Crossing is offering $100, $50, and $25 worth of free Nineveh's Crossing product for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in a photo-captioning contest. You don't have to buy anything to win. Here are the rules.

1. By email, submit a jpeg photograph of anything you want with a caption that depicts some creative, entertaining and /or metaphoric aspect of Catholic-Christianity. (We are not looking for literal declarations of faith, e.g. a cross with the caption "Jesus Saves".) And it would be nice if the photo had a story. For example:

MY PHOTO STORY and CAPTION: After returning from delivering packages to the post office, something my cat (Skitty) sees me do every day-- leaving her alone in my home-office, she crawled into the plastic mail carrier and took up residence as if to say, "take me with you next time." Here's the picture and a caption that represents the ironic nature of culture's criticism of the Church, but the Church's ubiquitous presence and universality.

They put me in this box, but if they take me to the

Post Office I might be found anywhere in the world.

2. Send the image to "sales@ninevehscrossing.com" along with the picture's story and caption... and of course your name and contact information.

3. You must use a photo that you own (e.g. took) or have copyright permission to use. Say that in your email to protect us if we publish it.

4. We may post all the images we get and their captions, but we're not obligated to.

5. Deadline for entries is June 1. Award coupons of $100, $50, and $25 for Nineveh's Crossing product will be issued by June 15, 2012. The coupons will have no cash value.

6. By submitting the photo and caption you give us permission to use your entry in our emailings and website, but you retain the ownership of the photo.

7. We are under no obligation to award prizes or post anything if we don't like anything that was submitted.

Metaphors and Worship

2012-01-08T23:49:00.081-05:00

Assumption Grotto Sanctuary, Detroit, decorated for Christmas

Because of my work in the motion picture industry with stories and screenplays, I can never get enough of metaphors and similes. They are the magical and mystical ingredients in stories that convey truth. Stories told with metaphors are always more powerful than didactic presentations, because metaphors require the mind to engage the soul and the emotions to understand. Metaphors work best because pictures are instantly worth a 1,000 words, and visuals force the audience to internalize and personally identify with the emotional context of a character's decisions that advance the story. That connection drives memory and motivations... often to change.

In Cahtolicisim, I am struck by the rich metaphor that the Church provides — that is, the physical accrutiments we see IN the physical Church buidling, especially during Mass.

And to go one step even further, during an orchestral Mass such as those celebrated at Assumption Grotto under the able baton of the parish priest, Fr. Eduard Perrone, the experience involves the metaphors of hearing and stirs the emotions, memories, and behaviors even more deeply.

Perrone Rehearses Orchestra and Choir

Over Christmas I traveled across town three times to experience Fr. Perrone's first orchestral mass—the first that he's composed. I've been to many Masses that he's conducted with members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestral and their normally expert choir, accented by professional soloists, composed by the greats of history. But this was Fr. Perrone's first... of many to come...some of us hope. It was ... breathtaking in many ways. As Ray Long, Jr (who works for Perrone as weekday Mass organist, and who leads the Gregorian schola) remarked, "You can tell the music was written by a priest, who knows what's actually going on in the mass."

Indeed, I remarked to Fr. after the second celebration, "You've convinced me that every Mass needs bass drums and tuba." He laughed, but he knew what I meant. If you pay attention to what goes on in Mass, you may connect my comment to the place in the singing of the Creed where reference is made to the resurrection of Jesus. It is theologically a bombastic concept, and Perrone brings it off that way with the metaphor of music, particular with bass drum canon hits and tuba blasts. After the very slow and dirge-like "burial" moment, the resurrection strikes the congregation -- and we jump from our seats, as if rising from the dead (sleep.) More bass drum and tuba moments, please.

The third Mass this orchestral Christmas, Fr. Titus Kieninger was the chief celebrant and he delivered a terrific homily, that focused on how the physical elements of the Mass, and the music, contribute to metaphorical communication of what the Mass is all about. I'll share that next, and insert my observations about storytelling, metaphors, and the value to Christianity that such worship celebrations bring to humanity.

(To Be Continued.)

New Years Resolution - Fr. Eduard Perrone

2012-01-03T09:27:00.002-05:00

Fr. Eduard Perrone in Grotto's pulpit

Several times each year Pam and I will travel across Detroit to Assumption Grotto parish for one of Fr. Eduard Perrone's majestic orchestral masses, complete with full orchestra, choir and pipe organ in the second oldest church in Detroit. Many of the principals and soloists are professionals. I have always said they are better than what the pope experiences in St. Peter's. The last two Sundays I've gone to hear the premiere and second performance of his Mass to the Mother of Jesus. The mass will be repeated for the third time January 8 at Noon. It is magnificent. And, of course, it's the Tridentine Mass, in Latin, with all the bells, smells, and glory you'd come to expect... or should.

What follows is a posting from Diane Korzenlewski's Assumption Grotto Blog regarding Fr. Perrone's suggestion of a New Years Resolution for his flock. Please visit Diane's blog for extraordinary photo essays of the events at Grotto.

Now, here's Diane and Fr. Perrone:

In his January 1, 2012 column, Fr. Eduard Perrone, pastor of Assumption Grotto, pitched a rather interesting resolution for 2012 to parishioners. His pastoral guidance, spoken from the heart of a shepherd, helps those burdened with various worries these days. He puts before us a spiritual response to adversity that is time-tested and one familiar to the saints. You can read it here, copied from the Pastor's Descant column in the Grotto News for January 1, 2012.

Listening in on many a tabletalk conversation in recent weeks I’ve noted some apprehension over the prospects for this new year. Though there are indications that there may be an economic upturn (calculated just in time to sway votes) there is concern over what may befall us in the aftermath of that surge. (I speak here about economics, a subject I would best keep silence about, no doubt.) The fears I hear expressed however have not so much to do with financial security as with things of greater concern. While there has always been talk of how deserving we are of God’s chastisements–doubtless true–there is worry that we now may be reaching the limits of God’s patience and headed for a time of real trial.

I have never been a proponent of panic, of conspiracy, or of the immanent consummation of the world. The reasons for my reticence to advocate such positions are reasonableness and confidence in Divine Providence. It’s clear however that we, as a people, seem to be ever more capable of outdoing ourselves in wickedness. For those who delight in being at peace it’s not a good time to be living. There’s altogether too much to cause us to be disturbed. The agitation of the world is threatening to invade the serenity of our souls. Being deeply grounded in faith and hope, with a solid spiritual regimen of life, is the way to counteract these unsettling menaces to our Christian life.

There is a proposal I would like to make to you this new year. Being your pastor, your spiritual guide, I should protect you, teach you and give you goods for your souls. I therefore would like you to take on a practice this new year as a means of imploring God’s blessing on our parish and on you, my parishioners. It is this: that everyone elect to do one act of penance every week during the year 2012–an act in addition to any penitential acts which may already be one’s practice or which the season (viz., Lent) may dictate. This would mean that, if everyone cooperated, there would be fifty-two penitential deeds done by each person in the parish by the end of the year. The motive for these would be exactly what they have always been historically: to avert God’s punishments and to obtain the divine favor.

There is a proposal I would like to make to you this new year. Being your pastor, your spiritual guide, I should protect you, teach you and give you goods for your souls. I therefore would like you to take on a practice this new year as a means of imploring God’s blessing on our parish and on you, my parishioners. It is this: that everyone elect to do one act of penance every week during the year 2012–an act in addition to any penitential acts which may already be one’s practice or which the season (viz., Lent) may dictate. This would mean that, if everyone cooperated, there would be fifty-two penitential deeds done by each person in the parish by the end of the year. The motive for these would be exactly what they have always been historically: to avert God’s punishments and to obtain the divine favor.

What I mean here is not that everyone should do some strenuous, excessive penance (which would appeal subtly to pride and thus be harmful), but something every week that may be rather simple but yet pleasing to God. I’m thinking of something of the kind of making a one hour adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every week; or, of eating at one meal during the week only half portions; or, of denying oneself the purchase of something, directing the savings as alms. I have in mind acts that are of their nature penitential, that is, which cause a little voluntary discomfort, rather than some other good deeds, because the purpose of these is to be spared of what our sins rightly deserve. Also, I am not asking that in every week the same penitential deed needs be done. There’s a great variety of these which can vary on different weeks, and they could be done on a different day of the week, from one week to the next.

You may recall that when the people of Nineveh, from the rulers down to the beasts, did penance God was favorably disposed to them and averted the punishment He had intended to inflict on them. The biblical expression is that God “repented” of the evil He had planned to do to them. Our Lord Himself admonished us, saying that if we would not do penance we would perish. These words suggest to me the program I am asking all my parishioners to adopt this new year.

But, can I bind you, that is, obligate you to do this? I can bind you–to borrow Saint Paul’s expression–only by the bounds of charity, that is, by the pastoral concern I have for your good. I do not want to impose on you any obligation other than to work diligently for the salvation of your soul. What I am suggesting is a means to that end. But I have a hunch that since I, your pastor, am the one doing the asking, it carries the weight, if not of strict obligation, of serious deliberation.

In brief: I am asking every parishioner to do some one secret thing (speaking about it would rob it of merit) every week for this entire new year in reparation for sin–something in addition to whatever disciplines he may ordinarily observe. The reason for this is to beseech the Almighty to protect us, each and every one, this new year and to withhold His “avenging hand” (that too is a biblical expression) from meting out to us what our sins deserve. Will you be “with the program”?

Happy New Year!

Fr. Perrone

Alan Boss - Divine Opinion Movement Nominee

2011-12-05T20:02:00.001-05:00

Alan Boss trying to sell his book.

Okay, I'm going to start naming names. Astrophysicist Alan Boss is hereby nominated Divine Opinionator and a member of the Divine Opinion Movement. I am assuming something risky in this—that the news media quotes people accurately. Here's the news item (my underlines) and [brackets].

NASA announced a major milestone in the quest for life in the universe Monday: The discovery of another planet close enough to the sun it orbits to potentially support life.

Called Kepler-22b, the planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth and about 600 light-years away. And it orbits in the "habitable zone," [notice the quotes] the region of space just far enough from a star that liquid water could exist on the planet's surface -- a discovery could have profound implications in the quest for alien life, said Alan Boss, an astrophysicist with Carnegie Melon University.

“This discovery supports the growing belief that we live in a universe crowded with life,” Boss said. (Read more.)

The parameters that allow human life on Earth are astonishing precise. Vary anyone of several dozen just 0.1 to 1% and life disappears. Dr. Boss's planet is NOT something we can see or measure much of anything except perhaps the gravitational pull, which is perhaps 2.4 times that of Earths. Traveling at the speed of the Space Shuttle (17,500 mph) to get to Keppler-22b would take over

688 million years.

And between low earth orbit where the International Space Station orbits, NO LIFE has been discovered ANYWHERE... but Dr. Boss is claiming that something 600 light years away, of which we know nothing, indicates that the universe is "crowed with life."

Why would he do that? Well, he's trying to sell his book by the same name, and get more money for research. The more planets he finds (or thinks he's found, or convinces others that he thinks he's found) the more research grant money he gets. Of the 300+ rocks he thinks he's found in the universe, there are 10x that many asteroids between Jupiter and Mars... and of the ones we've seen through a telescope, they all look like cratered iron ore.

He thinks his opinion is divine. I can tell you I won't be buying his book.

Divine Opinion Movement

2011-12-05T06:50:00.000-05:00

I wish someone with more influence than I would declare an intellectual war on the "Divine Opinion Movement." This is the group that can say idiot things and claim they're rationale. Example: Along comes the LGBT claiming the Salvation Army is bigoted (therefore don't give to the needy) because of its "selective interpretation of the Bible" (regarding marriage) when it's the LGBT that selectively interprets the Bible and is bigoted toward Christians of good will. I want to ignore these people but wish the news media would ignore them first.

Then there's a comment by Sagalla1 on my YouTube channel regarding the 8-min short about Alex Jones, the Pentecostal minister who came into the Catholic Church with 55 of his former church members. The comment is this: "Pentacostal (sic) Methodists in the Catholic Church? What's next, Hindus????"

People like this commenter never cease to amaze me. Sagalla1 is evidently a fan of Charlie Sheen, who froths outrageous thoughts about 9/11 being a conspiracy and then uses his craziness as the reason someone should take him serioius. Huh!?

This is the real downside of public media and free speech. Anyone can say anything and the world takes notice, like I'm doing now. The problem is, there's so much out there, spurious comments like this one will never stop it. I think the only solution is to reintroduce the study of logic and fallacies back into Jr. High and High School and make them mandatory for 4 years. Then, maybe, in a generation sanity might return to "civilization" ... or maybe we could license journalists and bloggers to pass a logic and fallacy test... let's include government officials and advertisers while we're at it. There is definitely a downside to "free speech" when the Divine Opinion Movement matters.

Introducing Jesus -- Steve Harvey Style

2011-11-24T11:18:00.000-05:00

This is nothing new to the Internet, but I recently came across part of a Steve Harvey comedy routine. Although it is hardly comedy, it is entertaining in an important way. It connects emotionally, (See FIRST ENTERTAIN.) Since blog embedded videos do not always work so smoothly, here's the link to a version of the video still allowed by the copyright holder:

http://vimeo.com/6582814

Steve does a masterful job. It's not just about the words, but it's also the presentation. And if you're Catholic you have to love the line about "His mother" in the middle. If you're into personal Christian evangelism, this would be a great thing to memorize, far better than somethings that come under that moniker. Below is the transcript:

If I had the pleasure of bringing out Christ,
This is just how I would do it.
It ain't got to be the way you would do it.
You may not think it's just right.
But this is how I would do it:
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is my honor to introduce a Man who needs no introduction.
His credits are too long to list.
He has done the impossible time after time.
He hails out of a manger in Bethlehem Jerusalem by way of Heaven.
His Mother is still head-lining in the Catholic church today.
His Daddy is the Author of a Book that has been on the best-seller list since the beginning of time.
He holds the record for the world's greatest fish fry.
He fed five thousand hungry souls with two fish... five loaves of bread.
He can walk on water, turn water into wine, no special effects, no camera tricks.
He has a headshot on every church fan across the country.
Even before the kings of comedy He was hailed the King of all kings, Ruler of the universe, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, The Bright and The Morning Star.
Some say He's the Rose of Sharon, and some say He's the Prince of Peace.
Get up on your feet. Put your hands together and show your love for the second coming of the one and only...

"Oh, Wow! Oh, Wow! Oh, Wow!"

2011-10-31T05:36:00.000-04:00

Being an Apple, Inc. fan, my businesses have always used Macintosh technology, as long as it was around. So, I'm a fan of Steve Jobs. After his death, reading the various accounts of his personal life and relationship with employees and family, she seems a true enigma. His sister, author Mona Simpson, was by his bedside with other family members when he died, and this is what she reports where her brother's last words:

Before embarking, he’d looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them,” she recalled. “Steve’s final words were, Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.

Did he catch a glimpse of heaven and St. Peter's gate? Did he, in those final moments, confess and believe in Christ's redeeming mercy? Seems like that's possible. We don't know, but we can hope, as the Church does about all that die.

Marolyn Ford's Miracle of Sight

2011-10-07T11:26:00.000-04:00

Marolyn Ford called me this morning. I did not know her before she called. She's a public inspirational speaker, author, singer, and the wife of a Baptist pastor in Memphis. She was looking for outlets for her books and CDs and was curious about our production capability. As we talked for about 20 minutes, mostly about production issues regarding books, she said there were a couple videos about her miracle of sight on YouTube. (It's below, embeded in this post. If it doesn't play well, double click on the image and you can watch it directly on YouTube.) It's so good, I called her back. She said it was produced by a man who works for TBN. The combination of great content, a great inspirational speaker, and a great production, makes this short video exceptional. Watch it and then I have a few more things to say.

Please pass this on.... the video link at least. Too few people have seen this video for its quality and message. Here's the link you can put in
an email: http://youtu.be/JfCDTJq9uGE

Did you notice her words at the end where she says the doctor told her that medically she was sill blind, although she could see perfectly? That's a definition of a miracle because it involves other dimensions of time and space that we usually do not have access to, except by supernatural providence. I just finished reading Padre Pio: The True Story biography by C. Bernard Ruffin. I recommend this particular "Revised and Expanded Edition" of St. Pio's life because, although it is published by Our Sunday Visitor (a Catholic publisher), Ruffin is a Lutheran cleric.

Pio of Pietrelcina (Wikipedia)

Consequently, while very thorough 185,000 words (448 pages, including 28 pages of footnotes and indexes), it is most notably objective and not triumphant in tone. In other words, even the skeptic would take what is reported here seriously. It even documents the immoral abuses toward Pio by Vatican officials. And what is reported is miraculous. Mostly notable are the miracles reported that have no medical explanation....meaning that medical examinations say the person should NOT be able to see or walk, etc, when in fact, the person is seeing, hearing, or walking. This is what the Vatican looks for when proclaiming a Saint (in part) and is one reason why Padre Pio (1887-1968, proclaimed saint 1999 by John Paul II, who had met Pio) became a saint so quickly after his death. Indeed, Ruffin is so objective that he places two Appendixes in the back that I think should be forwards. One is an explanation of how the Vatican goes about the process of proclaiming a person a saint, and the second is a short biography of Ruffin and how he came to write the book. Read these first.

Well, Marolyn Ford is not Padre Pio. She's not a Catholic, mystical, bi-locating, Capuchin priest from Italy. But the doctors at the Mayo Clinic are mystified how Marolyn can see. A true miracle. Prove of the supernatural dimensions that I believe we will "live" in when we get to heaven. Can't wait.

Empty Ritual or Breath of Life?

2011-09-28T10:09:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Pam and I were in St. Louis for a conference. Early Saturday morning we walked from the conference hotel to the St. Louis cathedral that stands next to the St. Louis arch.

It was a weekday Mass attended by only several dozen of those in the downtown area, probably to work on the weekend. Like most weekday Masses it was short and succinct. And like most succinct observances there would be reason for a non-Catholic visitor to marginalize the service as perfunctory and empty ritual, as if those of us there were automatically going through the motions. Such criticism from non-Catholics (and I was guilty of this as a Protestant years ago) seem justified. Many times I have criticized Catholics for going through the motions without the right disposition of heart. The catechism, indeed, says that without the right disposition of heart, the sacraments lose part of their effect. Christian faith, after all, is not only God's work, but man's work, too. We have free will and we must exercise it to find salvation.

Yet, there is a mysteriousness about life that does not all depend on our disposition or our conscious free will. That "mysteriousness" can be referred to as "natural grace." This is not what the Church refers to as "grace," "supernatural grace," or "habitual grace." These latter terms imply a supernatural quality of goodness that comes to an individual from God that leads toward their salvation. What I mean by natural grace is that goodness of creation and our bodies that leads to life. As I participated in Mass that Saturday morning I was struck by how the Mass, like many other rituals in Catholicism, can be so severely misunderstood. (Perhaps because they are so affective and effective as stalwarts of Christianity the evil one finds ways to put questions in the minds of others of their goodness.) Countering that line of criticism, here are the three things that came to mind as I sat in the oldest U.S. cathedral West of the Mississippi.

1. Ritual, to be effective and life-giving, does not have to be a conscious effort. Although, the more conscious effort we put into it, the more effective and life-giving it will become. During Mass, the allegory that was brought to mind was breathing. We do not think about taking a breath. It is an automatic, unconscious mechanism that if it did not occur we would cease to live. The Mass is like the Church breathing. Although I think that to most priests and participants it is neither automatic nor passe (see point 3). But even if it was passe, grace would still flow through the celebration of the Word ("My Word does not return to be void," says God), and through the prayers, and the remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection in communion. That the Mass is celebrated nearly EVERY day of the year, in EVERY parish across the world, results in millions of "breaths" of Christians each day. The average human takes in a breath about 28,000 times a day. There are over 400,000 priests worldwide that celebrate Mass every day -- some do so alone, most do so in community with other believers. Whether done without thought (hard to do) or with forethought, that is a lot of breaths that keeps the church alive.

St. Louis Cathedral Inside following Mass

2. But it is impossible to participate in any ritual without willful and intentional forethought and purpose. Walking back to the hotel from the St. Louis Cathedral that morning I began to list all the conscious and willful decisions I had made to get to Mass, assuming (falsely) that I had done nothing but sit empty-minded on the pew during the service. First, when Pam said to me (as I laid in bed), "We could make it to the 7:30 AM Mass at the Cathedral," I immediately got out of bed, saying, "Let's do it." Second, I got dressed. Third, we left the hotel and walked, taking hundreds of purposeful steps. Fourth we came into the Cathedral building, climbed the stairs, opened the door, and genuflected toward the tabernacle. Fifth, we sat in reverence and awe and prayed for God to be with us. In other words, I could not have even gotten to Mass without a long series of macro and micro decisions to get me there. That is hardly an empty effort, regardless of how passe or quick the Mass celebration was. And then, during Mass, even if my mind was wandering (which it wasn't) it would be hard to stand-up, sit-down, kneel, walk to the priest, take communion, etc. et al without consciously being involved. I suppose one reason we stand-up, sit-down, kneel, walk, verbally respond, and bow, so much in Mass is to be sure we're paying attention. It's hard to sleep through a Mass, as my father-in-law sleeps through most Protestant Church sermons.

3. I was again reminded of the fallacious criticism by non-Catholics (especially evangelicals) that Catholics go through "vain repetitions" in their observance of their faith. That morning I thought, "Should we consider breathing and walking as vain repetitions?" Catholic critics make the mistake of thinking of "repetitions" as being wrong, when they should concentrate instead on the "vain." Certainly Christ did not fault the widow who badgered the king for his favor. Christ said that if we besiege the thrown of God he will likewise give us what we ask for... even if it's not what we need. But the real fallacy of this protesting criticism is that the criticizer cannot read the individual's mind. The critic will see and hear me saying a Rosary, and it sounds painfully repetitive. But what is seen and heard is only a small portion of what's occurring in the spiritual realm. What is seen and heard is simply a pacing mechanism that is repeated almost automatically (and that's not all bad) while the mind and spirit contemplate one of the 20 mysteries of Christ. We put ourselves (spiritually and mentally) in a Biblical event and try to imagine what we might learn about one of 20 virtues associated with the mysteries. Likewise during Mass, a skeptic would see me staring forward or downward for most of the Mass and could easily conclude that I was in a canonical state, my mind dulled over and inactive. But just the opposite is true. At least for me. Does the mind wander to non-spiritual things and the business of the day ahead. Sure. But a moment later I have to stand up, and involve all six of my sense in taking communion. That is sure to change a few things.

Yes, the Mass is like breathing. We need to do it everyday.

Immigration: God's Law or Man's Law

2011-09-28T08:53:00.002-04:00

I've been told that the immigration policy for our neighbors to the South is different for those from Europe. If you're from Europe and you have a U.S. work permit, you can bring your family. Not true if you're from Mexico. So migrate workers from the South must leave their families behind. This is why Catholic bishops oppose the U.S. Immigration policy. The bishops believe that God's rules about the integrity of the family trump a U.S. Immigration law that keeps them apart.

What is mysterious to me is why conservative pundits become inflamed over "illegal immigrants" regardless of their reason for being here. They often reinforce the term "illegal" as if U.S. law was equivalent to what is morally just. Yet, these same pundits say that "legal" abortion is wrong. They rhetorically uphold the immigration law, but they have no qualms of dismissing the abortion law. In terms of abortion they will rightfully side with God and say abortion is morally wrong, but when it comes to separating families from the South, they uphold man's law and ignore God's.

It's time we put God above our government's laws and policies. We don't hesitate to do this with many issues, why can't we do it with the immigration policies? I think Rick Perry is right when he defends the in-state college tuition rates for illegal immigrants. The better educated people are, the less they will turn to crime and welfare. I suspect that the portion of the expensive for the education (which the state may bear) is far less than the expense would bear if those same individuals were to turn to crime or welfare fraud. Perry is also right that those that oppose his rule to help educate those from Mexico have no heart.

Here's another way to stage the argument. Which would you rather have, an educated illegal immigrant, or an uneducated citizen? In the long term, the U.S. and the individual will fare far better with an educated populace, legal or otherwise.

As Christians our first obligation is to God, and if the law doesn't contradict God's laws then we can support the law. But to side with U.S. policy or law without consideration of what is universally and morally right, is egregious.

At the same time I'd wish people like those in the photo to the right could read or listen a bit more closely to the debate. I've not heard any pundits or officials voice ANY concern about immigrants who are here legally, especially full citizens, regardless of race. Why are these people confusing the debate? Their protest only serves to inflame the irrational, create noise, and derail honest and just debate over the moral issues.

Lastly, I wish the bishops and conservatives and others who debate the issue would use more precise terms other than "immigration reform." Reform" can take all sorts of paths and directions. We just don't want reform, we want a justifiably moral reform.

Tax the Rich: The Grand Economic Fallacy

2011-08-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

There's a fundamental economic fallacy posited by the Obama administration and certain other politico pundits and many Democrats that is plain idiocy. It's that taxing the rich solves our economic woes.

There's a discussion going on HERE at LinkedIn that finally makes plain how stupid this is. My contribution, albeit simple by comparison, was this:

That the rich horde money, at least in the United States, is a gross fallacy. I wish someone would do a simple study and list where the rich put their money when they make it. Here's a short list, and please note that everything on this list, benefits the "working" class (as if the rich are not working...another fallacy) and benefits the government when the tax the working class income. (1) the rich build large houses (they hire construction teams and materials. (2) the rich buy material goods (the working class designs, manufactures, transports, sells, delivers, installs, and maintains those goods). (3) the rich invest their extra money in corporate stocks and government bonds (all which allow companies to invent, design, build, sell, distribute goods -- every step of which employes the working class). (4) the rich leave a small portion of their income in bank accounts (which the banks use to pay their employees, and invest in corporate and government bonds, which, likewise go to employ people and get taxed as income. the rich do not horde their money. They spend and invest it. And every dollar that is spent or invested employs and gets taxed. Bingo! You have economy expansion.

Michael D. Greaney, CPA, MBA, (Director, ESOP Admin Svcs, Equity Expansion International, Inc.) post says it even better at the above link.

Please pass this on. We really need to kill this silliness that the rich are somehow evil for knowing how to generate wealth. Oh, that the poor would learn the the same techniques. It has little to do with repression and everything to do with freedom.

A Choleric in a Phlegmatic World

2011-08-23T08:05:00.000-04:00

My relatives claim they don't understand me. I'm mostly choleric in temperament. They say I blow-up without any warning. I claim there's plenty of warning if they'd stop ogling their navels and take some Christian responsibility for the state of a culture and world busting at the seams. My conclusion is that all of the men and some of the women in my extended family are phlegmatic or sanguine, and so I'm expected to be like them. A phlegmatic temperament (calm and unemotional) is the "Christian ideal" in many sectarian environments. Infact, 100 years ago, a choleric or melancholic temperament would be considered evil.

I wasn't made to be calm and unemotional when everyday I am made aware of families and individuals who are being destroyed due to substance and physical abuse, suicide, murder, poverty, and the greed and power-thirst of political leaders that repress and imprison their people. As Christians we're called to be salt and light to a hurting world, and every morning we have to ask ourselves "What does that mean I should do today? How should I live and conduct my life so to change a hurting world? How do I make use of my gifts and skills to change what is bad for good?"

There are many answers to those questions as there are individuals in the world. But what frustrates and irritates me to righteous anger at times is the laze-faire, calm and unemotional attitude that so called Christians exhibit when they get together for social gatherings. There are many such events in my life. In my immediate extended family there are six families with 20 some individuals. If you count birthdays, anniversaries, and special events, there is an event every week of the year that is cause (for some) for celebration I am often invited (because I'm married to phlegmatic-sanguine woman that everyone loves) to these family gatherings. All of the individuals claim to be Christian and are active in their churches (all Protestant except Pam and me.) And what is the conversation like at one of these gatherings? Here's the top subjects:

a. The beautiful cakes and fancy dishes the women (and one man) made.

b. How cute the kids smiles and antics are.

c. What life was like back in up-state New York in 1920.

d. The weather.

e. Pictures and video of the last time everyone got together.

f. The beautiful matching outfits some of the kids are wearing.

g. How to assembly and play with the new toys the kids just got.

h. What happened on the last trip to the beach or pool.

i. The next party.

There is no discussion about spiritual, social, or political issues that might change the world for the better. (Well there is one man who wants to do away with the Federal Reserve and use gold to buy groceries.) The only prayer I've ever heard at one of these events is the polite prayer before the meal. The only Scripture is the brief pause before opening the plethora of Christmas presents that occupy the net 10 hours of time. (Okay, there is the children's Christmas pageant staged with costumes that also occurs on or near Christmas, but with no current social reference.) But none of these things flow over into the current state of affairs of our world, or what anyone is doing outside the care and well-being of their immediate family... aside from asking for money for a annual, guilt-assuaging mission trip.

Where are the on-gong projects and passion for the things of God OUTSIDE our families celebratory care and well-being? Privately, within these families there are the prayers, and there is the instruction about many things Christian, but where and how does that bleed over into our gatherings as Christians. Should we not be:

a. Holding prayer vigils for the hurting families and people we know?

b. Engaging in discussions about the state of our efforts, projects, and sacrifice of resources for evangelizing a world who needs the truth?

c. Sharing what life was like during revivals in our country's history?

d. As a group making and packing up food to take to an unfortunate family?

e. Discussing the current social and political state of affairs and brainstorming solutions of how we as Christians should act and live to change things?

f. Getting together to make clothes and quilts for families that have no family to give them such things?

g. Take truck loads of the toys laying around our house to those kids who have none?

h. Using a trip to the beach or resort to plan an intervention to change the social, political culture?

i. Discussing the best and worse ways to evangelize people who don't want to or have not heard the Gospel message or the benefit of being a Christian?

j. Training ourselves and kids in group activities to be cultural influencers for Christian values, or to improve our skills other than to sit around and eat cake?

k. Discussing significant books, essays, speeches and action to be taken to make a difference?
l. Invite missionaries and evangelists, or social activists into our gathers to talk to us about their work and to recruit us in their sacrificial efforts?

m. Take field trips with the whole family to cultural events (not to sports events but to art exhibits et al) where our minds and souls can be up-lifted to higher values and achievement?

n. Invite family members who have accomplished something noteworthy to share with the group their preparation, work, and results, to inspire us to do similar things?

Now, perhaps some of these things happen when I'm not around. More than one person in my family has told me they don't want to discuss spiritual matters with me... because they're Protestant and I'm Catholic and my assertive personality gets in the way of what they believe. (They are their own infallible source of truth. Ironic isn't it?) One Thanksgiving after dinner as we were all sitting around a living room, I entered a discussion about how the near-adult daughter of one family needed to search around, and in the words of my daughter, for "a church to attend that matched her beliefs." It was pure moral relativism, and no one else saw the moral ineptitude that was on display or being passed on to the next generation. It stirred my anger that the values the discussion was promoting within Christian ranks was atheistic in origin.

I have long held that it is the fallacies of Protestantism that have allowed grave sins like contraception, abortion and euthanasia to be so prevalent in our legal system. We are way down the slippery slope. 100 years ago no Christian Church (protestant or otherwise) would have allowed contraception. Today they all do, except the only church that hasn't changed it's definition of truth or how its determined. If Protestants weren't so inclined to following their own beliefs the moral state of our society would be much different. When I see that thinking spread in my own family, out of the mouths of my daughter and son, I need to speak up, and not softly so as to be politely be told "well, dad, we don't believe that... (so shut up)". On our recent Northern Michigan sail trip we were sailing up the St. Mary's River on our way to Sault Saint Marie and on our right was the prominent St. Joseph's Island. When I pointed out to our Protestant adult children on board that the Catholic missionaries in the 1500's had named most of these land masses and cities, I was met with a sudden, dead silence. I had breached the peace by citing fact.

I was brought up in a family with preachers and missionaries who frequented our house. The discussions at the time (albeit we were Protestant) were always about the state of the Church, Evangelism, or Missions in the far flung parts of the world.

Maybe it's because I'm too choleric and verbal about my faith in a phlegmatic world. I am easily angered at the passivity and negligence paid to spiritual matters in our family gatherings, especially when everyone claims to be Christian. I suspect it's a deep prejudice of all things Catholics. I am still stung as I recall not too long ago when my father-in-law and children accused me, behind my back, that I had brainwashed my wife, Pam, into being Catholic. They have never apologized for coercing my wife into a pastor's study and trying to prevent her from becoming Catholic, while I was out of town on business. They call Pam a saint, but they totally ignore the truth she holds silently within her. That angers me. Truth cannot be bottled up without serious negative consequences not just in our family, but in those parts of society that my family will grow up to affect and effect. Am I wrong to feel responsible? Some would say yes, and the solution is to ignore it. But I see no logic in ignoring what is morally wrong, inept, and dangerous to culture. While should anyone tolerate what is wrong. They don't tolerate what they see is wrong in me. I am reminded of the Old Testament Priest Eli's punishment at the hand of God for not disciplining his adult sons. Eli as a high priest, and his sons where priests as well, active in the synagogue and teachings things by example that were morally wrong. Eli said nothing. But God had the final word. (1 Samuel 2:27-36).

Our lives are short. There is much work to be done. Who will do it? Who can sleep long with so much hurt around us, and who can spend their days making fancy deserts, and wrapping birthday presents, and playing at the beach when the world is busting at the seam?

The Blues According to the Gospel - AL JACQUEZ

2011-08-15T17:22:00.007-04:00

Al Jacquez Meet one of the acclaimed voices and song writers of Americana Blues and Soul. I guarantee you've never heard anything like this on any Gospel radio station, but you should have. Al has been singing these gospel tunes in some of the smokiest blues and soul clubs from NY to LA. Finally, after years with several bands and labels, and encouragement from guys like me, he's stacked his best on a CD that's only available here and at his live concerts. This album is not even on iTunes. THE BLUES ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL.

Please lick on the link and go this Al's webpage at Nineveh's Crossing and listen to the mp3 samples and read his bio. Then come back here and let us know what you think in the com box.

And please tell your friends. We have to help this guy sell CDs and make a living, and write some more of this great music. You can sing to it, dance, and cry to them. Remember that name, Al Jacquez. But his CD today. Spread the Word.

New Testament Shuffle
Comin' Home
Rubin Stacy
Train is Comin' Closer
How Did I Get Here?
Desperate Measures
Spreadin' the News
Six Days o' Sinnin'

Arguing in Cicles

2011-06-15T11:35:00.000-04:00

Catholic Lane is publishing my Logic-Apologetic-Autobiography series, "Trying to Fly With One Wing." Today is Part 16: Arguing in Circles. True stories continue to baffle me.

Images in Catholicism....Idolatry?

2011-06-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

Dr. Henry Ede Eze's new book IMAGES IN CATHOLICISM...IDOLATRY? Discourse on the First Commandment with Biblical Citations is now for sale at Nineveh's Crossing.

The book confronts the misunderstanding among some Protestants and other non-Catholics who are still caught up in the iconoclast heresy of the 8th and 9th centuries. You can read more about the book and the table of contents via the above link, or click on the book's image at right.

Well written, easy to read, and concise, the book comes complete with full Biblical citations at the end of each chapter. This will be a valuable addition to any Christian library.

Clicking the image will NOT make you an idolator. Promise. But it may make you more informed about the images used throughout Christianity and their God give purpose.

Attention So Called "Atheists"

2011-05-25T07:36:00.000-04:00

As I've posted before, I find "atheism" an irrational concept, especially since those that wear it's badge claim they do so because of "reason."

A few days ago on my Moral Premise blog I wrote about Jessica Hagy 's INDEXED project, where she uses index cards to symbolize mathematical concepts with Venn Diagrams and Graphs. Occasionally she produces a Venn diagram or graph that touches eloquently on the conflict of values that we use in creating stories, which is what the Moral Premise book is all about. One of her examples is here:

If you search through Ms. Hagy's work on INDEXED, you'll find some diagrams that suggest her religious faith in God or His benevolence has passed through a serious trial and has not been properly explained or redeemed. She's confused about some things. Mathematics is a wonderful discipline, but it still does not answer (as science does not) the "why" of the human condition. As I posted in the footnote to my other posting:

I call all atheists "wannabes" because logically they have no rational basis for declaring there is no God. To do so, they would have to be omniscient... an attribute assigned to the essence that knows all things perfectly without error or contradiction. You can't claim something does not exist when your knowledge of the universe and reality is microscopically small. I'll accept agnostic, but not declarations. Every human discipline offers only a spec of knowledge of what is potentially possible. Science and theology are no exceptions to this. Some of what was known as universal truth by science 100 years ago, today is bunk... and the thousands of Protestant Christian faiths that all disagree with each other suggests a similar uneasiness. I'm Catholic for a host of reasons, not the least of which the Church does not claim to have all the answers. It has always embraced mystery as a tenet. That there is mystery in the universe/reality, is what makes stories, in part, work. We are bounded by time and space. Stories working through our imagination allows us to see reality from a perspective that transcends space and time.

I wrote that on May 20, and sent the link to Ms. Hagy. Today, May 25, she posted this:

Bless her seeking soul.

12 Reasons Why the Wedding of William and Catherine is a Metaphor of Gratuitous Virtue

2011-05-05T13:23:00.005-04:00

A HUGE AUDIENCE INDICATES TRUTH

My statistical and informal research over the years has shown a strong correlation between the size of mass audiences and the truth of the program's embed moral premise. While most of what I do involves motion picture analysis (c.f. MoralPremise.com) the same findings apply to live television events, news programs, and any other kind of mass communication.

The N.Y. Times estimated that 2.5 BILLION people worldwide tuned-in to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William Arthur Philip Louis and commoner Catherine Middleton. Nielsen said that only 23.7 million Americans got up early to watch. Counting those of us who watched the Internet videos of the event (CNN has a good HD Five Part Video series), that number will be higher. If you'll allow me the correlation to make a point, the 2.5 billion viewers relates to a one-day box office total of $7.5 billion, at only $3/ticket. (The U.S. average theater ticket is closer to $8 each.) Let me repeat: That's the equivalent of $7.5 Billion at the box office "in one day." Hollywood and the NFL have met their match.

According to Nielsen Wire: "Broadcast of Super Bowl XLV on FOX had an average audience of 111 million viewers, surpassing last year’s Super Bowl, and thereby breaking the record, yet again, for the most watched television program of all time in the U.S."

AVATAR (2009) is the recent king of box office has a $2 billion worldwide box office grip as the highest grossing film of all time (but measured over many months). At a $3 per ticket price that's 667 million seats, 27% of the one day wedding estimate.

Comparing these numbers directly is unfair. But hopefully my point is obvious. With such a large -- no, make the HUGE audience there had to have been something phenomenally morally true regarding it. Only something true, good, and beautiful attracts number like that. 

Thus, the various pundits who mocked Kate and William's Royal Wedding as a waste of time and money on egos and national pride are frankly focusing way too much on the hair sprouting from their noses. Yeah, rating jealously is no doubt part of the problem. For as smart as the pundits claim to be, especially conservative "Christian" pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, they totally miss the massive positive moral kick the Christian wedding demonstrated to the plethora of cultures and societies around the world. This was Christian P.R. unmatched by even Billy Graham and John Paul II.

DISCLAIMER

Many will dismiss the wedding and the pomp because they are distracted by what they see are morally objectionable factors: (a) William and Catherine were living together (and supposedly fornicating) before the wedding; (b) Elton John and his gay partner were invited and sitting in the Abbey in clear shot of a television camera; (c) Westminister Abbey, now, is not a church structure but a chapel used for the Royals; thus it's not a Christian community; (d) The Archbishop of Canterbury (Roland Williams), the Anglican bishop that has refused to discipline homosexual priests and bishops under this purview, presided; and (e) The whole affair was Anglican, i.e. The Church of England under the head of the Queen, not the Pope or someone like the Pope, but a monarch, who is still practicing the political rebellion of Henry VIII.  

BUT...

...all of that does not negate the manner of presentation, the words that were spoken, or the purpose of the entire event. The audience was not present or watching on television to celebrate fornication, homosexuality, Anglicanism, or even the Queen's headship of the Church of England. The audience was there to celebrate a Christian Wedding. That a Christian Wedding occurred in the midst of such disclaimers, and that most of the people watching were not-Christian but from a multitude of other religious beliefs, was astounding.

No, the media didn't cover the wedding because it was Christian. They covered it because of the pomp and the personages involved. The reason people watched, however, is because they subliminally understand that a Christian Marriage is the most truthful reflection of how we are designed to live together as a human community. The presentation of William and Catherine's wedding properly presents the glory and glamor of Christian Marriage -- especially among cultures and societies (America included) that otherwise dismisses Christianity or marriage.   

THE REASONS

The reasons the wedding was so popular was that it properly communicated (metaphorically and literally) the goodness, the beauty, the truth, the pomp, and the glory of Christian Marriage. Here are my reasons why that is true.

1. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

The "Lord Jesus Christ" was invoked many times in word, symbol, and visuals.  

2. THE TRINITY WAS PRESENT

"God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost" was invoked many times in prayers, in blessings, invocations, gestures, and hymns. 

3. IT WAS CHRISTIAN

The entire service was Christian in context, location, pattern, words, vestments, gestures, and by title of those that led the service. It wasn't the Queen that pronounced them man and wife, nor a justice of the peace, but the Archbishop of Canterbury. And importantly the service began with these words:

Dearly Beloved; we are gathered here in the sight of God and in the face of this congregation to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony -- which is an honorable estate, instituted by God Himself, signifying to us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and His church....

Look at the picture above. It's a metaphor for Christ and his Church in all its glory. And the world looks on.

4. CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE WAS...

...defined, pronounced, blessed and invoked. How many pastors would love to have Elton John and his gay partner sit through a sermon on the true meaning and definition of Christian Marriage? Well, I doubt that any could do it under normal circumstances. But it happened during William and Catherine's wedding.

5. THE HIERARCHY OF THE FATHER WAS HONORED

Catherine was walked down the aisle by her father who stood by her side during the entire ceremony until the couple was wed.

  6. ALL THINGS WITH DIGNITY, ORDER, CIVILITY, LOVE

Everything about the event, its preparation, its execution, the behavior of the crowds, the police, and especially the attendants, relatives, bridesmaid, footmen, honor guards, butlers, et al was a perfect role model of dignified, patient, and courteous behavior. The British set the benchmark for the rest of us about the importance of good manners.  

7. CELEBRATION OF CHILDREN AND FERTILITY

The large number of ring-bearers and flower girls celebrated the importance of children in a marriage. And the photo (below) is hopefully a omen that the marriage will be fertile. Especially noteworthy is the prayer in the middle of the service for the couple's fertility and off-spring. That may be a hold-over for kings needing heirs. But it has significant meaning in any Christian marriage.   (Is that Henry VIII in the background with his face obscured by the chandelier? These official pictures were taken in the throne room.)

8. A METAPHOR FOR CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

Matthew 25 speaks of the anticipation and preparation that is necessary for the glorious return of Christ to claim his spotless bride. The emphasis is on the preparation of the virgins and the bride to be ready and beautiful for the ceremony of being wed with Christ. I'm not extending the metaphor literally to William and Catherine, but certainly the anticipation and the preparations for their wedding metaphors how Christians need to anticipate and prepare for the Church's wedding with Christ. And the results will be even more glorious than William and Catherine's wedding -- if that's possible.

This point bears another. Look at the picture above of Catherine and her beautiful dress. Please note that the attention in most of the pictures of the wedding, including the television coverage, like the picture above, is on the BRIDE. Yes, the Royal power is with the future King, William. She's but a commoner. But it's the spotless, beauty of the bride that we all yearn to see and celebrate. That is the proper metaphor for Christ and Us, His church, His bride. We strive as a people to be as beautiful in our relationship to Christ, as Catherine is in the photo above.   

9. THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN WAS HONORED

Cleaning the Westminster Icon Prior to the Wedding

For Catholics Mary is the queen of heaven. Yes, Mary was first a commoner like Catherine. But like Catherine, Mary is honored for her beauty and she is brought into the 'Royal' family. She is the perfect human creation of her Son. It is because of her Son that we pay attention to her... much as it's because of William that we pay attention to Catherine, the future Queen. Thus, Mary, through Christ, is made Queen of heaven.

Our Lady of Czestochowa

Early in the ceremony I caught glimpses of two icon paintings attached to rear pillars of the Abbey. They face the rear as people enter. The one on the right appears to be an icon of St. Joseph. The one on the left is unmistakeably a representation of the famous Polish icon Our Lady Czestochowa (The Black Madonna).  [As it turns out I have been informed that the two icons by the Russian painter Sergei Federov, are of the Virgin 'Hodegitria' ('She who points the Way'), and Christ 'Pantocrator' (the All-Ruling Lord'). The resemblance to Czestochowa may be only because all such icons look similar to me.]

Not much attention was paid to this painting, usually in the background, UNTIL, at the end of the service the orchestra played and the congregation sang the British National Anthem, GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. The words are supposed to be about the Queen of England, or King as it may be from time to time. But the words also apply to the Queen of Heaven, Mary, metaphorically and literally, all three verses do this. And the television director understood that. Watch the broadcast videos. At the moment they begin to sing the words GOD SAVE OUR GRACIOUS QUEEN... the camera, on a tall crane, at the back of the Abbey adroitly and very purposely moves in close on Our Lady of Czestochowa until the icon nearly fills the screen. Only at the end of the song does another camera zoom in on Queen Elizabeth, who properly is the only one in the room not singing. But the emphasis on Mary must of been exciting for the Polish Cathoilcs that were watching.  

10. AUTHORITY DULY NOTED

In Catholic thinking, as it should be in all Christian thinking, there is something important called authority. Protestants largely ignore this aspect of the Gospel. But indeed there is a hierarchy in heaven and it's reflected here on Earth as well. Christ and the writers of the Epistles remind us to honor and pray for those in authority over us, and to obey their bidding as long as it is morally licit, even to the point of carrying a cloak an extra mile. The day's events surrounding William and Kate's wedding reeked of authority, from the Queen to the footmen, from the cross bearers to the Archbishop, from the men and boy's singers and orchestra to their conductors, from the crowds of people to the unarmed police who held them at bay and marched them forward in peace. Because of this respect for authority the day was an orderly, happy, beautiful occasion. On this wedding day, the world watched and saw the goodness, the truth, and the beauty that can come when people respect and obey proper authority with dignity. Take note, world. (And in writing that I'm including world leaders who are not proper or respectful of their citizens.) 

11. SPLENDOR, POMP, BEAUTY, HONOR

The wedding of William and Catherine demonstrated to the world the splendidness of marriage and civilization when things are done properly, with honor, dignity, and in order, for the right reasons in the pursuit of what is good, true, and beautiful. Indeed, I think, the whole world should take a lesson from the British in this.    

[I can't help but note, in the juxtaposition of history, of the difference between the palace that the Royals LIVE in, and the so called "mansion" that OBL DIED in. Compare the pictures some time, which should tell the world that there's a vast difference between Western Christian civilization and the anarchy of the Mid-Easter Islamic radicalism. It's not a matter of oppression. It's a matter of respecting and following natural law. Imagine the size of the the pride or deception that ignores the obvious and embraces the lie.]

12. GRATUITOUS VIRTUE — A GOOD THING

The wedding of William and Catherine revealed that there is a gratuitousness that is good —Christian family values. It was on full display Friday, April 29, 2011. Indeed!

How to improve your Marriage.

New book from Dr. Ray Guarendi

MARRIAGE: Small Steps, Big Rewards

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Christian Priorities - Scandal

2011-04-05T10:25:00.001-04:00

This is not unique to Catholicism, bu it still bugs me. The Sunday before the Superbowl these two easels with their signs showed up in the lobby of our parish.
This comparison of the attention given to spiritual matters, vs. leisure matters within the Church, by Church leaders, is repulsive. It is a great example of why pagans don't take Christianity seriously. The biggest reason for not becoming Catholic, is not what the faith teaches, but simply the priorities demonstrated by other Catholics. This is also true of Christians in so many other denominations. While there are many examples of pure evil and hatred toward the things of God and Christ, a good deal of the spite is self-induced. These signs remained in the lobby of our parish for two weeks. They stood only feet apart. Yet the difference in their presentation was miles apart and created a scandal.

Being in the media business I know that presentation matters. The presentation (per se) becomes a unavoidable metaphor. The presentation is the non-verbal that communicates the intended value and attitude of the presenter. These posters clearly indicate to all that see them that football and parties are much more important to this congregation than studying about the faith through the Life in the Spirit Seminars.

In Memory of Lauren Myers

2011-03-24T10:07:00.001-04:00

A VALIANT, BRAVE, AND GRACEFUL SOUL

Lauren Myers (1948-2011)

Many of you will remember LAUREN MYERS, the Episcopalian Bible instructor who graced the table with Alex Jones, Steve Ray and others for our recording of  A DINNER WITH ALEX JONES as part of the NO PRICE TOO HIGH DVD and television special that has been seen on EWTN, CatholicTV, The Miracle Channel, and other networks, many times over the past years. Lauren left for heaven yesterday, with her family at her side, after an 11 year battle with cancer.

We asked Lauren to participate in our dinner recording because of the gracious and intelligent bridge she represented between Catholicism and Protestantism. Her stage presence was always confident and pleasant. And who can forget her wonderful British brogue that always raised the bar for the rest of us pretending to be diplomats. She was our role model. Here are a few words from her husband and my friend, Garrett.

After a valiant, brave and graceful eleven year battle with cancer, Lauren slipped away painlessly this morning with daughter Kate, son Nick, daughter-in-law Ashley, our priest and friend Steve Kelly, our dog Scooter and me by her side. Lauren was a remarkable woman.

I was so fortunate to spend 28 years with her, raise a terrific family together and create so many friendships and memories. Lauren got to meet and spend time with our first grandson Matthew these last few weeks before she passed on, which was a great joy and blessing for her.

Lauren faced her long cancer battle as she faced everything, with grace, courage, intellect and complete faith in the Lord. She was always more concerned about other people's welfare and comfort than her own regardless of her suffering.

We will have a viewing for Lauren on Friday the 25th and a glorious funeral to celebrate Lauren's life on Saturday. The viewing will be from 3 to 8 PM at AH Peters funeral home at Vernier and Mack Ave in Grosse Pointe, MI. There will be an obituary for Lauren on the funeral home site at: http://ahpeters.com/

The funeral will be at St. John's Episcopal Church in Detroit on Saturday, 26 March at 11 AM. St. John's is near Comerica Park at Woodward and the Fisher expressway. There is free parking in the parking lot behind the church.

Sometime in the coming weeks, I'll be going to England to hold a memorial service for Lauren with her family and friends there.

We have been aware of and fully appreciate our friends' and families' prayers and support for Lauren, myself and our family through these difficult times.

Thank you. Garrett Myers

Garrett has remarked from time-to-time how people have told him they saw Lauren on TV. Yesterday he remarked about how she is somehow memorialized in the program. She was at her best that night...even though we didn't finished shooting until after midnight.

Unaware that she was passing at that very hour I was entering her name in Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) as a member of the television cast of the program. I don't think that was coincidental.

Pray for us Lauren. We'll miss you... but we'll see you "later," God willing.

Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D.
Nineveh's Crossing

Here's the Obituary:

Lauren Gillian Myers, March 23, 2011 age 62

Lauren, wife of Garrett Myers, the only child of Colonel Anthony G.T. and Patricia Shave, died at home surrounded by her loving family, having courageously survived eleven years with breast cancer.

Lauren was a British citizen and lived in England, Germany, Malaysia and France before moving to the United States with her husband Garrett in 1982. Earlier, she worked in London as managing director of a London-based international public relations firm and then at the military electronic firm Racal Decca.

Lauren was a dedicated mother, devoted Christian, wonderful cook and consummate artist—sewing, drawing, crocheting, knitting, singing and writing. She was also passionately committed to her chosen charities.

As an involved parishioner at Christ Church Grosse Pointe and Saint John's Episcopal Church in Detroit, she completed the Bible Study Fellowship program twice, taught classes and served as an Alpha Program leader. She was a member of the Daughters of the King Fellowship and Episcopal Church Women.

Extended family and friends will fondly remember Lauren for her remarkable love and compassion, intellect, grace and poise. She is survived by her husband of twenty-eight years, Garrett, children Kate, Nick (Ashley), stepchildren Jeff (Kim), and Andy (Christine), and her grandchildren Matthew, Adam, Aaron and Alex. Lauren is also survived by her parents Anthony and Patricia Shave of Surrey, England.

Visitation will take place at A.H. Peters Funeral Home in Grosse Pointe Woods on Friday, 25 March 2011 from 3:00-8:00. A funeral mass will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church on Woodward and the Fisher Expressway on Saturday 26 March 2011 at 11:00 AM.

In Lauren's memory, donations can be made to Local Motion Green in Grosse Pointe (http://www.localmotiongreen.org/) to support their mission of making information available on avoiding cancer causing substances and/or St. John's Episcopal Church.

THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE - finally

2011-03-19T09:36:00.000-04:00

Grassroots Films

THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Now Available at Nineveh's Crossing

90min. DVD documentary + extras.

We've waited years for this to be released... and now we can sell it. I had a small part in it's creation, having traveled to St. Francis house for a couple days, watching an early edit, doing some (Moral Premise) story consulting with Joe, Charles, and Mike (and they took my advice....good story arc, guys, it works), and providing the footage of India that you'll see in the film.

The Human Experience will provide generations with something to talk about... the meaning of life and suffering. This is a great DVD to buy for people, or show to people, who have experienced suffering or tragedy in their lives. Joe and Charles, Mike and the other guys have made their mark on the world with their break-through FISHERS OF MEN (we still sell a lot of those DVD's as well), And now this, a feature length adventure, has truly established them as cultural influencers. High Praise for their foresight, dedication, perseverance, and proclamation of truth. Keep it up, fellas.

BTW: I still remember fondly the meals I shared with you guys on the picnic tables next to the St. Francis ballpark. Glad to see the picnic tables and the "ballpark" in the film, as well. Com'on Jeff, let him pitch. (Stan Williams)

Click Any Image or HERE for

More Info, to ORDER, and Trailer

In a world fraught with hostility and violence, an altruistic group of young men endeavor to understand the true essence of the human spirit by visiting forgotten souls such as homeless New Yorkers, Peruvian orphans and isolated Ghanaian lepers. By spotlighting heart warming stories from around the world, this uplifting documentary shows viewers that every single person, no matter his or her lot in life, is beautiful.

Incorporates insightful commentary from: Anna Halpine, Dr. William Hurlbut, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Dr. Alveda King, Rev. Richard Neuhaus.

Through word of mouth, The Human Experience has been viewed by more than 100,000 people at over 250 screenings in 115 cities worldwide. With standing ovations as the norm and sold out shows at select Harkin's Theatres, the film has won over 30 film festival awards and accolades.

Click Any Image or HERE for

More Info, to ORDER, and Trailer

Al Jacquez

2011-03-16T12:50:00.000-04:00

I'm writing the business plan to a movie titled A DAUGHTER'S HOPE. It's the theatrical version to the effort a couple years ago we called TIGER'S HOPE. In the fall of 2009 we were a month from principal photography when our funding was pulled and we shut down. Now we're getting ready to try again. In the process I was editing into the BP bios for some of the key personnel. One is AL JACQUEZ who hopefully will play the husband of our protagonist. In the movie, as in real life, JAKE is sort of a rock star that never got the recognition he still deserves.

Al was the lead vocal for SAVAGE GRACE that years ago opened for the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Three Dog Night, The Who, Rod Stewart, Jethro Tull, Credence Clearwater Revival, John Sebastian, The Allmann Brothers, Grand Funk and others.

His current band is MEASURED CHAOS (Blues, Soul, and Rock 'n Roll). We've caught several of their shows locally and really like the music and Al out front. Last year, out in L.A., they shot a music video for one of my favorite tunes titled LIVIN' THE DREAM. Here's the embedded Youtube link. If it hangs up playing, double click on the picture and you'll get better "reception" directly on YouTube.

Check out SAVAGE GRACE's album "ONE NIGHT IN AMERICA" on iTunes. Al sings lead on most of the cuts. The "COMIN' HOME" cut is a song about love for a woman and love of/for Jesus. That's Al belting it out.

Al attends Northridge church in Plymouth, MI and often gets to sing during their extravaganzas. This next video is from their Christmas program a few years back. It's JOY TO THE WORLD.

Horrific Deaths Bring Meaning to Work

2011-02-22T12:08:00.001-05:00

HORRIFIC DEATHS OF SVQUEST CREW BRING MEANING TO OUR WORK AT NINEVEH'S CROSSING

(L to R) Scott and Jean Adam are dead along with their crew Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, murdered by their Somalian pirates. The U.S. Navy captured 15 of the pirates and 4 four others.

The meaning of that headline on FoxNews this morning was significant for me and the Church. I had connected to him (at a distance) because they were involved in four of my passions: Sailing, International Evangelization, Pacifica, and Scott's connection to media.

The Adams where Catholic lay missionaries, who, in retirement decided to sail around the world and to give their trip extra meaning they filled their 57-foot pilot house sloop (SV QUEST) with hundreds of Bibles as extra ballast and delivered them to hard to reach places. Their extensive SVQUEST adventure website is here.

I have long dreamed of traveling to Pacifica and following the sea-track of my missionary ancestor from the London Missionary Society, John Williams. And the sail boat we purchased ten years ago was selected because it could take us there. My ancestor, John Williams, was one of the first western missionaries to the South Pacific. It was John Williams who introduced much of Pacifica to Christianity and the Bible. He was martyred on the beach of Erromanga, Dillion's Bay, New Hebrides, Nov 20, 1839. (New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu.) Scott and Jean were martyred for what they did, just like John Williams, and indeed there were political ramifications in both killings.

The Lost Angles Times reports they were active parishioners at St. Monica Catholic Church. Their love for the Bible and film (Scott was involved in television production) was probably behind one of Scott's decisions to enroll at Fuller Theological Seminary where two of my academic-film acquaintances were his professors - Dr. Robert Johnson and Dr. Craig Detweiler who were quoted in an CNN article this morning

When they were first kidnapped (adult-napped would be a better term) I thought wouldn't it be glorious if their boat got to the Somalia coast, and their Bibles were unloaded and distributed. And what if because of that they were killed, but the nation of Somalia was brought to Christianity... just like what happened to John Williams. Now there's a story. Time will tell. Certainly when St. Paul was shipwrecked on Malta the island, to this day, is significantly Christian, and Catholic I understand.

OUR INTERNATIONAL MISSION

We have long been engaged in shipping Nineveh's Crossing product throughout the world. We have distributors of some of our product in Ireland, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. We have shipped individual product to pastors and lay people in those countries plus throughout the U.K. and Europe, and to South Africa, a few Arabian countries, and of course Mexico and Canada.

We have also been thrilled to see our programs aired internationally on networks like TBN and EWTN. But today, we agreed to yet another milestone. We are shipping the digital masters to our best selling product COMMON GROUND: What Protestants and Catholics Can Learn From Each Other to SAT-7, the Cyprus based television network where they will translate the program and broadcast it into the Mid-East countries in Arabic, Farsi, And Turkish. So, please pray for them as they do that, that they get a good Catholic theologian to oversee the work.

The great thing about satellite is that it's harder for government s to cut them off. Millions of satellite dishes cover apartment buildings.

Thank you for your prayers and support in buying our product. We do not get donations, so product sales is how we support the work.

Blessings.

Stan Williams

God, Science, Creation and Liberals

2011-02-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

On a Fox News Article about bias against Christians at UC DAVIS, we find this argument in the com box. It is the classic "Watchmaker" argument, but wonderfully updated. It'd be a wonderful text to memorize.

Joseph 'the-alien' King 12 minutes ago
Regarding God and Science:

"Science" is the interpretation of God; this is why it always falls short of the proverbial mark. Within the jurisdiction of science, we have to update analytical theories all the time; conversely, with God, there is no updating, modification, or tweaking -- for obvious reasons. Science KNOWS that God is there; it's just too RETARDED and POMPOUS to admit it. Mathematically, everyone knows that God exists because it is programmed into us, literally! We are all unanimous in accepting the notion that a Microsoft Windows Operating System cannot magically materialize out of NOTHING; the probability is far beyond the parameters of logical acceptance. Well, science knows that the human body contains trillions of cells; moreover, the profoundness of this resides within the fact that just ONE of those trillions of cells contains more information than in an entire Microsoft Windows Operating System. If science fervently asserts that a Microsoft Windows Operating System cannot randomly - and magically - manifest out of nowhere, why is the hand of God so farcical? Furthermore, because science propagates the notion that we are all here because of chance, it must be true, as well, that a Playstation 3 can endure the same earthly, magical, chance-based manifestation. This is, of course, NOT TRUE because we all know that something as 'complex' as a Playstation 3 and Windows OS has one cardinal attribute in common: a CREATOR. To put this into further perspective, it is impossible for a single can of PEPSI -- as it is, with the text, logos, and all -- to magically materialize out of NOWHERE, and science knows this, just as well as all of us here. Well, with this information, it would be the dumbest characterization in history to assert that life is the most complex thing and then declare that it occurs by chance, at the same time -- while, also affirming that the Mona Lisa painting could never perform a random manifestation by chance. Well, ultimately, it's because science KNOWS that God exists, but most *scientists* and self-designated "intellectuals" are far too shortsighted, myopic, and blatantly arrogant to feel as if there is a superior, superlative intelligence at the helm of all things. They have a fervid, unfettering disdain for God because of pride and anger. They're proud because they want to maneuver within the likeness of God; they're angry because *all attempts* to encompass and replicate God's ubiquity, capacity, and omnipotence are met with perpetual, epic FAILURE.

Ralph McInerny and the Wisdom of Fiction

2011-01-30T11:05:00.000-05:00

From Daniel McInerny at his blog HIGH CONCEPTS a eulogy of this prolific father, Ralph McInerny, perhaps the most prolific Catholic author of fiction, non-fiction, and philosophy of the last few hundred years. Click HERE for the entire post at Daniel's blog.

=======

In Dante and the Blessed Virgin my father articulates a truth that served as one of the most formative principles of his life as both philosopher and writer of fiction. That truth concerns what he follows Aristotle in calling “poetry,” Aristotle’s name for the genus of storytelling, of fiction. About storytelling, my father says this in Dante and the Blessed Virgin:

We become involved in stories because their characters are in some way ourselves. They are our better or worse selves, but not too much the one way or the other. We follow an imagined version of the choices that make up any human life, choices that matter. We are what we do, and characters in a story reveal who they are by their actions and choices. In real life, bounders succeed and the innocent suffer; they do in fiction, too, but the story makes sense of that in a way real life never does. Any story worth reading again will tell us something about the human condition we recognize as true” (21).

Read entire post.

An Open Letter to Christian Publishers and Producers about ENTERTAINMENT

2011-01-11T08:50:00.014-05:00

Dear Christian writers, producers, publishers, artists, and other talent with a message to get out.

INSPIRE OR EXPIRE

As a producer, publisher and distributor of media products I am constantly approached by authors, artists and their representatives to assist them in either producing, publishing or distributing their products.

In the last few days I have been approached by five of these well-meaning individuals. One wanted me to make a movie about his idea, another wanted me to sell her music CD, a publisher wanted me to sell their book, and two others wanted me to produce videos to compliment their books. I have turned down all. One reason is that I have limited resources and cannot be engaged with everything that comes my way. But most of the time the idea is not good enough to engage customers so that the effort will turn a profit—a necessary "evil" in order to create jobs, support human dignity, and fund charitable efforts.

The books that I received for review have "inspired" me to write this blog. "Inspired" is in quotes because although the topics of the three books meet fundamental needs in society and are well-written they are emotionally (visually) unappealing. Yet, all three books supposedly target the lay reader or general public. Two of the three have attractive covers. But as soon as the books are cracked we are inundated with dry, long, explanations that only philosophers and theologians might appreciate. They are void of visual appeal and emotional engagement. In short there is no entertainment value.

It is very sad and frustrating to come upon great ideas (such as these books represent) that are so poorly executed by their publishers. You must be both inspired in the creation of your works (products) and you must also inspire the products use. If you don't, your efforts and your work will expire without effect.

DESIGN TO EMOTIONALIZE

Something needs to be said about the state of most religious products that are "designed" to educate. They don't. Well meaning intentions are not sufficient, just like prayer is no substitute for talent or effort. As a Christian, in addition to inspiration (from the Holy Spirit or otherwise), you need both talent (natural or acquired) and effort (passion plus perseverance) to accomplish something good. Prayer alone results only in religious mediocrity. The mind must partner with the body -- the spiritual and psychological must be fully engaged with the physical realm. The WHOLE person must be involved in creating the product and in using the product. Anything less is just that -- less.

Now in religious circles (especially orthodox Catholic and Christian circles) the term "entertainment" is nearly an anathema. There is this connotation that anything that entertains is probably evil. Well, folks, get over that misconception. You need to understand what "entertainment" is really about at both the cognitive and subconscious levels. Yes, it can be mindless enjoyment or escape. But remember this when you're thinking that, the "mindless" fun WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR A LIFETIME.

Does that give you a hint at what you may be missing as a communicator and educator of ideas? You want people to remember things (and perhaps practice those things) for a lifetime. To do that you need to create an adrenalin rush that burns your brain's synapses in a pattern that allows later recall. Without that emotional participation of the body, your audience will never remember a thing.

A simple way of explaining that is this: The user MUST first BE INTERESTED in the product for purposes of achieving a PERSONAL GOAL. In all successful stories the protagonist must have a physical goal or the story is lost on the audience. (TMP.) That is also true of our personal stories, our lives. People without goals becomes useless if not dangerous to society. In our publications and mass media efforts such a goal related interest must be evident to the reader on the surface of a product for a person to even consider it. But it must run much deeper for them to buy it and continually use it and not let it sit on the shelf. Below is a slide from one of my workshops. It's the Alison Fisher Purchase Funnel. We use it in story structure to explain romantic comedies. But it was conceived to help marketers and producers understand the buyer's perspective of the purchasing process.

For many marketers just the exchange of money for product is the producer's main goal. Whether they use the product is of a lesser concern. But for religious educators the physical purchase is not nearly as important as the internal application. So, if you're selling a book that you hope will change how a person relates to their spouse, you will not be satisfied unless a changed life results. Actual acquisition of the book is only one step to your end goal. So for religious publishers the "PURCHASE" in the funnel above has a deeper meaning. "Buyer commitment" means use and application.

What is instructive about the funnel for a creator of products is that the deeper you drill down into the funnel, the more emotionally involved you need the buyer to be. And I'm suggesting that emotional involvement means "entertainment value" and that means "SENSUAL."

SENSUALIZE

"Sensual" -- ah, another anathema term in Christian publishing. Well, let me properly (not popularly) define it for you. Human beings are fundamentally sentient beings. "Sentience" is the ability to feel or perceive. We do that through our senses. Can you name all SIX of them. Yes, humans have SIX physical senses. The more of them you employ in your products as a communicator, the better you will communicate -- especially with men who need both ears and both eyes to connect their left and right brains. (That was not a slam, it's true.) Okay, what are the SIX senses: Seeing, Hearing, Feeling, Smelling, Tasting .... and Balancing (most of us have an inner ear that allows us to stand, sit, walk and climb.) It's important to include this kinesthetic sense (which includes not just the inner-ear but the thousands of nerve endings that control our muscles to orient our body in space) because it is that ACTIVE sense which allows us to physically participate and do the good works God calls us to. It's also a lot harder to fall asleep when you're walking, running or jumping -- although I manage to have nearly perfected it as of late.

In real life all those senses are used, which is why "experience" is the best teacher. I like movies a lot because they involve many of the senses all at once, and can come close to simulating real life. In the Catholic Mass, Communion is the ultimate communication method. It requires the use of all six senses. Books create a special challenge because they are mostly passive. (The iPad and its derivatives are changing that.) But how does a book entertain, or emotionally engage? Here is a shorthanded list of what a good book can do to emotionally engage the reader:

1. Content - Relevant, Readable, Witty
2. Visuals - Bold, Colorful, Frequent
3. Layout - Logical, Varied, Spaced
4. Typography - Structured, Variety, Characterized
5. Binding - Secure, Easy, Protective

So, with that long introduction, to further reinforce my point, below is a cross-posting from my Moral Premise Blog titled FIRST ENTERTAIN. Does this apply to you?

===========================

FIRST ENTERTAIN

There's an adage in Hollywood, and similar industries, that says: "FIRST ENTERTAIN."

Successful entertainment, to me, is defined as emotionally engaging audiences so that they're willing to buy a ticket.

For me, the term "entertain" has an emotional element and a training element. (I'm sure this is NOT the word's etymology, but humor me.) Successful entertainment always emotionally engages your audience, AND it passes onto them some true moral message usually hidden in the subtext. (For the girl on the right that truth is "Never, ever believe your mom when she says, 'Trust me, you'll love it.'")

So, we have something that is emotional (E) and we have a training element (TRAIN). That gives us E-TRAIN. Also there is the idea that both the emotional and the training enter into the person's consciousness and become ingrained. The key word there is ENTER.

So successful entertainment ENTERS into a person EMOTIONALLY and TRAINS them about something true. First ENTERTAIN.

Okay, Okay, so TRAIN and TAIN are not the same. Let me s t r e t c h it for ya. TAIN rhymes with STAIN, and good entertainment leaves behind a stain.... no, no, you potty head... a stain in your brain—a memory. (Geez! I can't take you anywhere.) Another way to understand it is that ENTER-TAIN is a lot like INNER-TRAIN. That is, something is "entertaining" because it has the ability to train our memories. The reverse is also true: if we want to train our memories there must be some emotional involvement, some entertainment. Memories do not "stick" without adrenalin burning some synapses together in our brain.

The long of this short post is that successful communication has three components. It must ENTERTAIN, and for it to do that it must be MORALLY TRUE (at a psychological, spiritual, or subliminal level), and it must EMOTIONALLY ENGAGE (it must be be a visceral simulation of life).

That is what stories do better than a thrill ride at an amusement park, and what stories do almost as good as real life experiences (life's best teacher), but with out the physical danger.

(And you can believe the little girl above would feel a lot safer at the movies. Real life does have its drawbacks, especially when your mother is C R A Z Y!)

Atheism and Miracles: Is It Really About Evidence?

2010-12-09T18:37:00.005-05:00

Miracle, Fluke, or Not Enough Data?

My friend, Dave Armstrong, whose Catholic apologetic books we sell at Nineveh's Crossing, maintains a very active apologetic blog at Biblical Evidence for Catholicism. The link you just passed, connects to Dave's report of an interesting ocassion when he was the guest of 15 atheists who tried to poke holes in his Catholic thinking. I guess it was a friendly dialogue, and not a typical angry debate as such occasions seem often to be.

The center of their discussion was whether or not miracles have occurred in the past or can occur. In particular they were discussing the Resurrection of Christ. This particular group, and one person in particular (DagoodS) found it difficult to discuss the plausibility of miracles because the group defined a miracle as an event that defied or broke the laws of nature. Dave pointed out that unless the group could get off it's "no miracles allowed" mind-set, there was no chance to have an intellectual discussion regarding the possibility of miracles. That is, the firm bias of "miracles are impossible" prevents any intellectual investigation into the possibility of the same. It's like saying, "I choose not to believe in it, therefore it doesn't exist." My anti-Catholic children will say to me, "That's not what I believe" ... as if their ability to believe or not was the criteria for reality.

The Atheists' Beef with Miracles

DagoodS put his "beef" this way. I'm editing to pull together his salient comments:

As to naturalistic presupposition [regarding miracles]…I agree that is a difficulty for the [Christian] apologist to [objectively] discuss the Resurrection. Alas, it is part of human make-up. We all have biases. As a naturalist, I am going to look for a natural explanation. As a theist, [the Christian would look] for a supernatural explanation.

Many apologists...appear to claim the evidence (for the Resurrection) is sufficient to ... convince a naturalist. In those situations I try to explain why the evidence is not enough. Why we have legitimate (often un-addressed) concerns regarding the evidence claimed.

If I can interpret and expand for DagoodS (he can correct me):

Producing evidence in favor of miracles is not sufficient because the atheist will have legitimate concerns about the evidence.

Of course this is short hand, but is it the whole argument? Because it sounds like DagoodS is shutting the door before there's even a knock on it. It sounds like this:

Any evidence presented in favor of miracles would be illegitimate because the evidence is flawed...and we don't even have to test the evidence to know it's flawed.

Such is the character of prejudice and fallacious argumentation. The fallacy has two names in material logic: (1) Ignoring the counter evidence, and (2) Denying the counter evidence. Under the color of logic the atheist claims "I don't see it, therefore it must not exist."

Ah, there is the rub...and the solution.

Miracles and the Laws of Nature
The problem atheists have with miracles should be the same problem Christians have with miracles. The common definition is fallacious: An event that breaks one or more laws of nature. Such a definition, if not pure arrogance, is a fallacious assumption. What follows in an explanation.

Let's start with one of Dave's favorite priests, Fr. John Hardon. In his Modern Catholic Dictionary (Eternal Life Publishing, 1999) he has this definition:

MIRACLE. A sensibly perceptible effect, surpassing at least the powers of visible nature, produced by God to witness to some truth or testify to someone's sanctity.

I don't expect atheists or skeptics to accept Fr. Hardon's definition. I provide it here for Catholics to help them see the fallacious nature of their definition. To understand why the common miracle definition is wrong, let's parse Fr. Hardon's definition. Note he says, a miracle is:

Something that is "sensibly perceived." That is, a miracle is not a vision or a dream that one or only a few see. A miracle is something that is commonly witnessed by everyone present at the time.
Is an "effect" - that means it is physical, not an "affect" which refers to the psychological state of a person.
The event or effect surpasses our understanding of the powers of visible nature. That is the miracle APPEARS VISIBLY to contradict the laws of nature.
It is produced by God (not mankind)
It has a higher moral purpose. It's not just eye-candy or entertainment.

The important concept in Fr. Hardon's definition that applies to the current issue, is that the miracle visually appears to break the laws of nature.

Knowledge

As physicist (in part) and a Christian (hopefully, not in part) I have never believed that miracles need to break a natural law. The concept of "breaking a natural law" is that a contradiction has occurred. Natural Laws, however, are understood to be immutable and not exist in contradiction with one another -- something cannot be both TRUE and FALSE. Science would look at an apparent contradiction in nature and call it a paradox. That is, we just don't have all the knowledge about what is happening. Until we have most of the data we might call the event a phenomenon...and theologians and people of faith might call the phenomenon a miracle. I submit, therefore, that miracles, which happen in the natural world, are paradoxes, not contradictions. (BTW: The term contradiction is used in logic, for propositional statements that, to our thinking, are both true and false at the same time. )

In other words, when we "SEE" a contradiction we are mistaken, it is a paradox. The laws of nature cannot be broken, but they can be misunderstood.

Worlds in Collision

My thinking about miracles is informed by Worlds in Collision, a controversial book by Immanuel Velikovsky, in part, about the Plagues of Egypt (Moses). Velikovsky hypotheses that the miracles of the plagues were actually the natural result of Earth's collision with the tail of a comet. He explains them all as paradoxes. That does not make them less miraculous.

Another example is the fictional (but logical) account of the protagonist in "A Yankee in King Arthur's Court" who knows a solar eclipse is about to occur and uses it to his advantage. But such an event seems like a miracle or magic to the less knowledgeable characters around him.

Then there are the scientific and mathematical discovers of physical dimensions beyond the three physical dimensions (length, height, and depth) and the thing we call the dimension of time, although we can only perceive a dot along the time line, and not a full linear dimension as we do a ruled line on a piece of paper. We cannot directly perceive the ten dimensions of space, but String Theory suggests they exists for certain mathematical and scientific observations to be true. Take for instance the spectrum's red-shift observations of deep space objects that indicate the objects are moving away from us a tremendous speed. That movement is not in the three dimensions of space as we perceive it, but is on the surface of a 4th-dimension that is ever expanding. We see the effect but we can't see the dimension.

The existence of this 4th-dimension easily explains how Christ can seemingly appear to walk through a wall in the Upper Room, or how the Apostles and Christ can be appear to be transported instantly from one place to another. Or how the Red Sea is apparently parted. In all of these instances the laws of the natural universe are not broken, but rather we are allowed to physically experience what is always there. It's as if I go from bright sunlight into a dark room. For a while I can see nothing, until my eyes adjust, and then I see everything that has always been there. It's not a miracle. Things do not suddenly appear out of nothing.

All such "miracles" do violate our current understanding of Newtonian three-dimensions of space and time, but they obviously don't need to violate the laws of the universe when completely understood.

Monkeys and Witchcraft

This throws a monkey wrench into the atheist's arguments about needing "legitimate" evidence to "unanswered questions." In effect the atheist is demanding omniscience of the universe of knowledge. He is claiming to be, ironically, God. He/she is either claiming to know all or are expecting God to provide all knowledge. But that is something he/she will never have (unless they are "lucky" enough to get to heaven). Arrogance that they are important enough to have such knowledge cuts them off from God, who demands that we trust him for what our minds are too small to understand. "Now we see through a glass darkly." Their illogical demand to be "god-like" in terms of knowledge (either now or at sometime in the future) cuts them off from the revelations that only faith and inform them about.

Did you see the "typo?" It wasn't. That last "and" was to be a "can". (See what mistakes and knowledge can impart?) Something does not make sense (like my last sentence) until new data is provided (it's a "can") suddenly makes sense. All human history is filled with such examples, especially in the history of science. What mankind thought was witchcraft of the 18th century is today "modern medicine" or "medical miracles."

Thus, the atheist, by his claim of of omniscience (there IS no God), and by his demand, "I need to know all to believe," errors on two fronts. If he's honest, he "knows" he is not perfect, and that he is fully capable of making a typo.

Science Assumes Order

This leads "naturally" to the role of Christian Faith, without which few scientific discoveries would have been possible. Faith is irrevocably tied to scientific discovery because science assumes there is a natural order, to be discovered. The universe is not random or chaotic. That order fulfills a mystical purpose is the scientists assumption. That supposition allows science to use syllogisms to construct hypotheses, and then use logic to test them. The correct syllogisms lead to constructive universe, not a destructive one. Without faith in a higher entity that designed and maintains the order, there is no purpose of the universe, and thus no order.

Atheists are Logical Cowards

But we are sidetracked by all this talk of the need for evidence. What is really going on is this: Atheists hide behind the color of logic and evidence for fear of confronting the moral code of a just and gracious God. Atheism is a cowardly way to avoid natural law -- the natural moral code -- of the Creator. It's really not about evidence. Thus, the atheist isn't saying, "There are no miracles." or "There is no god," as if he was omniscient on that point. But he can say, and he has full right to it: "There is no God -- I will obey." Ah! Now that's evidence that makes logical sense.

The Books Are IN

2010-12-06T19:06:00.000-05:00

I can't write much, there's too much to do. I have over a hundred books to ship tomorrow -- pre-orders for what finally arrived today. My video editing salon smells like a printing plant. Although packed in 139 boxes the 2,500 copies of WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE are still drying, after a 6 week journey by rickshaw, container ship, rail and truck -- from Malaysia to Michigan. I conceived this book over three years ago, and I'm thrilled with how it came out. Thanks to Dr. Ray for helping it become a reality. It's the best looking and most readable educational book about Catholicism available anywhere. You bet I'm biased. See our inside the book and our specials HERE. Please tell your priests and religious education directors that we offer 50-60% discounts for quantity purchases for students. We ship around the world. Tomorrow I have orders going out to Australia, the UK, and San Juan, and there are already three copies in South Africa.

First Skid Off the Overseas-Transport Truck

Boxes stacked in the video edit salon -- warehouse is full.

WCRB Ready for Fulfillment

In Praise of Being Alone - Tanya Davis

2010-12-02T20:12:00.004-05:00

Tanya Enjoying Being Alone

Here's a great video in praise of being alone -- not hooking up, not being married, not joining a religious order -- but being alone. Years ago I wrote an article titled "Eight Reasons for Being Single". It was in defense of being celibate, whether lay or religious, it doesn't matter. I'll post it under the video that is really wonderful to watch. It features poet Tanya Davis, who reminds me of our daughter, April... also a poet. The production is very good, as well. Enjoy.

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7X7sZzSXYs

Eight Great Reasons To Be Single and Celibate
Written in 2002 and published on Catholic Exchange
Copyright 2002, © Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D.

A recurring objection to the Catholic priesthood is the requirement of remaining single and celibate. Our culture tends to look on singleness as a curse rather than a potential blessing. To bring some balance to the dialogue, here are eight great reasons to be single. As a Catholic you’ll find some of these reasons interesting, if not ironic, because they do not come from the pen of a celibate Catholic theologian, monk, or priest cloistered in a Mongolian monastery. Instead, they come from a Protestant-Evangelical minister, John Piper in his book RECOVERING BIBLICAL MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD. John is married to Noel and together they have four children.

1. Marriage in not the final destiny of any human being.

Christ reminds us in Mark 12 that in heaven there will be no marriage, but we will be like the angels in heaven. If our ultimate goal is heaven, as opposed to marriage, then we must see that our ultimate state is as an angel who is not married.

2. Jesus Christ, the most fully human person who ever lived was not married, and he never once had sexual intercourse.

Modeling our life so completely after Christ’ singleness of life and purpose...in the words of Luci Swindoll “leads into a wide world of wonder and freedom and joy and love.”

3. The Bible celebrates celibacy because it gives extraordinary opportunity for single-minded investment in Ministry for Christ.

An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs —how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world —how he can please his wife.

An unmarried person cherishes his or her freedom for flexible scheduling and for the ability to take risks that you could not take if you were a husband, wife, mother or father. The single life-style enables one to get the most out of the time God gives for His work. One missionary said, “One of my chief delights is that I don’t have to fit my ministry around a family schedule. I don’t have to be home at a certain time each night. My time is the Filipinos’ time.”

4. The Apostle Paul and a lot of great missionaries after him have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of God as Jesus. (c.f. Mt. 19:12)

Ada Lum, a single woman working with an Evangelical mission in S.E. Asia tells of sitting next to a nun while flying from Rome to Munich. Ada was impressed by the youthful enthusiasm of this nun who had been in the mission fields of the Philippians for 30 years and spent part of that time in a political jail. For the first time this single Evangelical missionary, who had considered marriage, saw the plain gold ring that most nuns wear, inside of which was inscribed, “Wed to Christ.” To the Evangelical the concept was new and exciting. Imagine being married to the creator of the universe.

5. The Apostle Paul calls singleness a gift from God.

“I wish that all men were [single] as I am. But each man has his own gift from God." (1 Corinthians 7:7) Although God created all of us for relationships we can have many healthy and fruitful relationships without marriage.

6. Jesus promises that forsaking family for the sake of the kingdom will be repaid with a new family, the Church. (Mark 10:29-30)

Singles have discovered the hundreds of family members in the body of Christ. April, our single daughter who is now 28, always wanted to have a lot of children. She thought she could only do that through marriage. But April is not married, yet she has a rich relationship with 20 children that she nurtures and calls her own where she teaches elementary school. We are regularly inundated with pictures and stories about “her kids” which have in turn become our grandchildren.

7. God is sovereign over who gets married and who doesn’t. And He can be trusted to do what is good for those who hope in Him.

The Psalmist says, “no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Psalm 84:11). Ann Kiemel Anderson wrote this poem: Jesus -- if this is Your will -- then YES to being single. -- In my deepest heart, I want to marry, -- to belong to a great man -- to know that I am linked to his life -- and he to mine.-- following Christ and our dreams together.-- But you know what I need.-- If I never marry, -- it is YES to you.

8. Mature manhood and womanhood are not dependent on being married.

We are either man or woman by nature. God gives us sexuality and a temperament to match. Who we are is based on his creation, not on our vocational decision. We are not made more fully man or woman by being married, or having sex, or having children. Your role as a single person is different than as a married person. But, don’t confuse your role with your sexual identify. Regardless of marriage, you are a full creation, with unique and particular passions, gifts, skills and talents. God, through Christ and the Church, has promised you a full life. All you have to do is respond to his call and say yes.

Yoga Jesus

2010-12-01T08:44:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I recevied this comment from a person who had heard about our new book "What Catholics Really Believe" on the radio, checked out our website, and wrote us the following:

I...thought the book was just what I should get for a family member who has very little understanding of the faith. However, the picture on the front is just too weird for me to consider buying it. It reminds me of the pictures that the yoga people have of their "saints". The picture of Christ that you chose has that same look. I'm sure the book is great but the cover is a turn off.

I wrote back:

Thank you for your opinion. You might consider that the yoga people adopted pictures of their leaders that purposely looked like Christ because he was so revered.

Of course I don't really know this. Other responses later came to mind:

a. "But you know that the picture on our book is Jesus. Right?"

b. "If Jesus looked like Uncle Fred whom I hate, would I also hate Jesus?"

c. "Do all men with long hair and a beard look the same?"

d. "Jesus and Yoga masters do have somethings in common... they're Eastern mystics who didn't have a razor or many friends who were barbers.

Then, I wondered, what if this person is right and if all the Yoga masters looked like the cover of our book. That would be, ah, strange. So, I decided to do an image search on Yoga Masters, and came up with the images below. I suppose some people would see a resemblance. Which looks more like Jesus?

And what if our book cover looked so much like Yoga masters that Yoga people started buying it and reading it? Would that be bad? Would we get sued for impersonating Yoga Masters? I can see the headlines now: "CATHOLIC PUBLISHER SUED FOR DEPICTING YOGA MASTERS AS JESUS... OR THE OTHER WAY AROUND...THIS REPORTER ISN'T SURE."

Ah, but then I found it. Yoga Jesus... in marble no less. Yep, that's Jesus alright. Well, okay, it's just a statute for you iconoclasts out there. It's not REALLY him. The website that has this picture claims:

The final marble statue which is of Jesus just arrived last week from India. Our line of masters or gurus is 5 deep (Jesus, Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Yukteswar and Paramhansa Yogananda) and Jesus holds pole position as you can see from Yogananda’s comment above. He is viewed by Yogananda devotees worldwide as a great Master of yoga.

Okay, so, I suppose this does look like Jesus.

GUILTY!

Let's buy these books and save all these Yoga masters.

The Pope, the Palins, and the Pursuit of True Happiness

2010-11-30T10:07:00.000-05:00

Kathryn Jean Lopez in the National Review threads common themes from the Pope, the Palins, George Bush, Dan Quayle, the Pill, the Condom, and Katrina. Thank you Ms. Lopez, great thinking, great writing. It's HERE.

Considering the backdrop of eternity somethings are probably not coincidence. One of those might be the release on the same day of Peter Seewald's long form interview with Pope Benedict XVI, Light of the World, and Palin's American By Heart.

FREE SHIPPING TILL CHRISTMAS

2010-11-29T16:51:00.000-05:00

As has been our past practice, we are offering free shipping on all domestic-economy orders Dec 1 - 25, if you order through the website. We also have some of the MARYCHRISTMASS bumper stickers left over and will be shipping one free on every order.

New Book - Three Years - BEAUTIFUL!

2010-10-20T09:04:00.001-04:00

2,500 copies of our new book WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE is in boxes in a shipping container somewhere in the Pacific Ocean aboard the container vessel NYK Argus v.49E42 headed for Los Angeles. Then it's customs and transport to Michigan for warehousing and sale. A few dozen preliminary copies are being sold to some anxious customers and sent out to reviewers and our wholesale customers as samples.

This unique volume, three years in the making, has the following features:

Edited for early teens through senior adults
Full dialogue text from Dr. Ray and Fr. Fete's television series.
Study questions for classroom or home study use.
Comprehensive Answer Guide by apologist-author Dave Armstrong , one of the most accessible writers in America today.
127 Full color photographs by Fr. Gene Plaisted, OSC, of topical stained glass windows from churches around the world.
Ecclesiastical approval for publication was granted by The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, May 20, 2009.
52 Sidebar definitions of often misunderstood terms
Flex-binding, that allows the book to lie flat on a study table
Comfortable size (8.5" x 6.5") and unique flexibility for holding in hands
Table of Contents with color keyed page-edge tabs.
Each unit is shrink wrapped to guard against cover wear and moisture.

NATURAL LAW and then there's "natural law"

2010-10-04T23:48:00.000-04:00

Just got my absentee ballot for the November election. If you're over a certain age in MI you don't have to stand in line for an hour to vote. I plan on voting next week. As I scanned the ballot I saw a few candidates for the NATURAL LAW party.

Now, if you've read much of my stuff, you know I'm a Natural Law kind of guy. But I had not idea that the practical applicaiton of "natural law" could be perverted so much until I read this on Wikipedia:

The Natural Law Party (NLP) was a United States political party affiliated with the international Natural Law Party. It was founded in 1992 and mostly dissolved in 2004. Leading members of party were associated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, leader of Transcendental Meditation movement.

I think I see where this is going.

The party proposed that political problems could be solved through alignment with the Unified Field of all the laws of nature through the use of the TM-Sidhi program. Its other policies were uncontroversial.

This is funny stuff. Who wrote this? SNL?

"Natural Law" referred to "the ultimate source of order and harmony displayed throughout creation."

I like that. Catholicism is based on Natural Law... but this isn't the same. The question is how do you know what those natural laws are?

Harmony with Natural Law could be accomplished by the practice of Transcendental Meditation and more advanced techniques. Due to scientific studies of these techniques, it considered this to be a science-based approach.

The NLP proposed that a government subsidized group of 7,000 advanced meditators known as Yogic Flyers would lower nationwide stress, reduce unemployment, raise the gross national product, improve health, reduce crime, and make the country invincible to foreign attack. Hagelin called it a "practical, field-tested, scientifically proven" solution.

Unbelievable. But it gets better.

TM would be taught to the military, to students, in prisons, and to ordinary citizens. Hagelin predicted that implementation of the program would result in $1 trillion in savings from reduced costs for medical care, criminal prosecutions and prisons, national defense, and other government expenses.

Catholicism would do this if everyone just went to confession once a year. Just teach people to live a morally chaste life and you've got it. Anybody got any ideas on how to do that? .... don't tell me, TM.

Slogans included: "Only a new seed will yield a new crop", and "bring the light of science into politics". Catchphrases included: "prevention-oriented solutions" and "conflict-free politics".

Love that last one, "conflict-free" politics. Would it really be politics, then?

2010-10-04T09:06:00.001-04:00

LITURGY TO CULTURE

I have given up trying to articulate my many thoughts on this topic... at least until the mind melds in such a way that I can make sense. In the meantime, my good friend and editor a Catholic Exchange, Mary Kochan, sent me a link to an interesting and well written review of sociologist PHILIP RIEFF life work by David Lewis Stokes. I'll quote a bit then give you the link:

In antiquity the ideal of what it was to be truly human was to become either hero or sage. In the Middle Ages it was to become a saint. In our own time the best we can hope to become is — well-adjusted.

By the end of the 19th Century Jesus had ceased to be an apocalyptic rabbi or the God-man, and had become our primary therapeutic figure: Jesus is now the One who cares.

In 1965 Rieff’s “Triumph of the Therapeutic” was received as the work of a brilliant and urbane sociologist. Now with the posthumous publication of “Sacred Order/Social Order” — a three-volume meditation on art, history, religion and culture — we find ourselves confronted by a contemporary Jeremiah, who doesn’t hesitate to pronounce our most cherished cultural orthodoxies as “deathworks.” Rieff is a prophet of such subversive power that he’s sure to be sentenced to our equivalent of being hanged, drawn and quartered: He will be catalogued, shelved and ignored.

Whatever our own fate, we do well to commend Rieff to God. But may his soul, at least for the time being, never rest in peace.

Rieff's Search for a Way Beyoond our Therapeutic Culture

Nine Principles of Loving Discipline for Parents

2010-09-21T18:54:00.001-04:00

by Dr. Ray Guarendi

Here are nine principles of loving discipline to remember and practice. They are sure to improve your home life.

1. Discipline is love in action. Loving Discipline is teaching at the most gentle hands a child will ever experience—a loving parent's. Discipline now, and the world will not have to discipline your child later.

2. Good discipline is grounded in good sense. It always has been. It always will be. New and improved parenting theories are new, but aren't always improved, and sometimes, are much worse than time-tested methods.

3. Good parents make mistakes and learn from them. Disciplining in fear of mistakes only erodes your self-confidence; and self-confidence is crucial to taking the hard but best stance.

4. Strong discipline isn't complicated. It's founded upon a few basics, and the will to persevere with those basics. Discipline is easy, if you're willing work hard at it.

5. Discipline is action, not talk. Discipline with consequences, and you'll discipline less. Discipline with words, and you'll discipline more. Action discipline leads to calmer and quieter discipline. Wordy discipline leads to louder and meaner discipline.

6. All discipline interacts with a one-of-a-kind object—a child. Some kids require one-tenth of the average amount of discipline. Some kids require ten times the average. Regardless, good parenting is parenting up to the very level required. Do what it takes for as long as it takes. Your child deserves no less.

7. Kids are built to misbehave. It's in their essence. It's who they are. Expect misconduct for years. Expect to discipline for years. Time will reward you and your children.

8. Humans resist discipline—some a little, some a lot. Children are just better at resisting discipline than most. It's a fact of human nature what we often fight what is good for us. Resist your child's resistance. As he matures, he'll better understand and accept.

9. Good parents are misunderstood. Really good parents are really misunderstood. No longer is it only the children who question and accuse good parents, now it is other adults who should know better. Strong parents face a lot of opposition these days. Not because they are wrong, but because they are right. Stand strong. Reality always wins and it is on your side.

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The BETTER PARENT DVD

Dr. Raymond Guarendi is a father of ten, a clinical psychologist, author, public speaker and Catholic radio talk show host. These "Nine Principles of Loving Discipline" are the basis for Dr. Ray Guarendi's 90-minute comedy television special, "You're a Better Parent Than You Think" presented before a S.R.O. crowd at a Catholic Home School Conference. The DVD version of the special, along with Dr. Ray's other parenting resources, can be ordered at http://www.DrRayDVD.com which features a free booklet plus a 20% discount on Dr. Ray's Television Special Packages. You can also call Nineveh's Crossing for a catalog of Dr. Ray's parenting and Catholic apologetic books, CDs, and DVDs — 877-606-1370.

2. Culture is Made Up of Repeats

2010-09-20T14:11:00.005-04:00

We had just docked our sailing ketch at a Great Lakes village in the North Channel of Ontario. A local businessman we had known from a previous cruise was sitting in our cockpit visiting. Since our last visit to the area we had become Catholic and I asked John if he knew where the local Catholic Church was so we could attend Mass the coming Sunday. He chuckled and said he should, since his mother had been the organist at the parish his whole life. When we suggested we attend Mass with him the next day, a Sunday, he shook his head and said. "No thanks. It's too boring for me. It's the same thing, every Sunday, nothing ever changes."

We did go to Mass the next morning. John's mom was at the organ, but, of course, John wasn't there.

John's complaint is similar to what Pam and I heard growing up as Protestants. As Evangelicals we were proud that our church didn’t keep repeating the same boring service Sunday after Sunday like Catholics did with the Mass. Or so we had been told. Had we known that Mass was usually celebrated everyday we would have been surprised seven times over. No, our worship was much superior, we didn't have any of that mind-numbing liturgy, we had (drum roll, please) an "Order of Service."

Ironically, the "order" never changed. The order consisted of: a hymn, the pastor's prayer, another hymn, a responsive reading (from the back of the hymnal), special music, the offering, a sermon, a final hymn, and a closing prayer. As youth we jokingly called this the Free Methodist liturgy. But it was not liturgy, even thought there was a pattern that was repeated — religiously.  We rationalized that although the order was the same the hymns, prayers, Scripture, and sermons always changed. Little did we know how much more there was to liturgy.

As Catholics, the liturgy is not just the order of the various events in the service but the repeated use of gestures, smells, tastes, and the repetition of physical actions like standing, sitting, kneeling, bowing and genuflecting. Altogether the Catholic liturgy is a barrage that stimulates all six of our physical senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and balance.)

Culture originates and develops from the repeated public practice of individuals. So both our Evangelical and Catholic experiences in regular public worship, have a profound effect on culture, simply because the patterns are repeated, and the content within the patterns is true.

To the extent that we repeat ritual actions and words in Christian liturgy the associated values naturally and organically seep from us and becomes part of the larger culture. We bow to Christ out of respect, and we nod our respect to those in secular authority over us. We eat and drink Christ's body and blood with great reverence, and so during a regular meal we act with careful reserve and respect to others eating with us. Proper etiquette in society has as one of its sources the rubrics of the liturgy. In Mass we repeated learn to sit quietly and listen, which prompts us to sit quietly and listen to our boss, or parents, or spouse. When we repeatedly enter God's house we don't run or yell, but control our actions out of respect for someone greater than we. So, we get in the habit of acting the same way when we enter a place of business or another person's abode.

Thus, the more we are exposed to the on-going repetition in liturgy of the sights, sounds, words, actions, smells, and actions toward God, the more likely we are to repeat the same in our daily live with others. And the more Catholics (and other Christians) do such things, the more we repeat them for others to see and hear. In that way repetition creates a culture that comes from our experience in the liturgy.

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Photo Copyright, Diane M. Korzeniewski, OCDS, used with permission, taken at Assumption Grotto Catholic Church Detroit.

Liturgy to Culture: 1. LIFE IS MADE UP OF FORMS

2010-09-13T10:57:00.007-04:00

There is a direct correlation between what individuals and groups do on a repeated basis, and what the culture of the society becomes.

If people in a metropolis repeatedly drive their cars to and from work at the same time of day, then as a metroplex society we learn to tolerate a culture of traffic jams. That along with the daily inhaling of vehicle exhaust and the honking of horns, create a fast-paced and high-strung culture.

In rural society similar but different regular events create a different culture. There slow moving hay wagons, beet trucks that dump their loads, and cattle crossing the road combine with the inhaling of organic smells and mooing of bovines to create a mellow culture.

Two families lived across the street from each other. The Libbys, like "freedom" loving people everywhere, never went to church on Sunday mornings but spent the time polishing their new Vette. But the Lentils, like clockwork and peas in a pod, were in the habit of putting on their Sunday best clothes and at 9:45 AM on Sunday mornings piled into their faded blue van and headed off to church. Of course, after a few years the Vette started to lose it's luster, the elbow grease started to mix with arthritis, and the Lentils kids seemed to do better in school and get the better jobs. The Libby's starting to go to church, too.

What we do on a regular basis, for whatever reason, can become the form and the habit of our life. When we do those things in public for others to see, we perform a "liturgy" which broadly defined is a public service, duty, or work. If we perform those liturgies on a regular basis that result in long-term desirable results, we create patterns and forms for others to follow. Our liturgy creates culture.

George W Bush Welcoming Troops Home

2010-08-19T10:46:00.005-04:00

This man still knows how to lead. God Bless him, and our heroic troops.

Anne Rice's "Christianity"

2010-08-17T16:28:00.004-04:00

This is my third post in a row about Anne Rice and the conversation about her relationship with Christ and Christianity. This is a short discussion on linguist fallacies, with quotes from Anne Rice's website and links to a few other things.

I find this topic intriguing because as a part time logician the use of words is critical to good communication. Misusing words, or misunderstanding the words used, results in a slew of linguistic fallacies. The fallacies that most often confuse the debate between Catholicism and Protestantism are equivocation, distinction without a difference (what I call difvocation); and strawman. But Anne Rice has succeeded in using the same with Christian milieu in general and not particularly one institution toward another. She's lumped them all together. Which is easy to do considering the fallacious nature of so much of the communication in Christianity, even out of the Catholic hierarchy.

Equivocation occurs when the same word is used by two parties but the two parties have underlying definitions that are different. When an Evangelical Protestant claims to be "saved" it means something much different to a Catholic, who would reserve the term to mean their arrival for eternity in heaven. The term comes from the concepts of "Equal Vocalization".

Difvocation is the opposite of Equivocation. I coin it from the concepts of "Difference in Vocalization." When two different words are used but they have essentially the same meaning, but two or more parties claim there is a difference, there tends to be an argument over nothing.

Strawman is when an opponent raises an objection to someone or something by citing a false claim about it, and then striking it down. The argument is not real; it is made of straw.

All three of these fallacies are evident in the statements below that Anne makes. And when Christians and non-Christians try to interpret what she says, more of the same miscommunication occurs. Or worse, just because someone else is confused doesn't mean we need to politely respect their ignorant and misinformed opinion. Why should anyone be tolerant of evil or ignorance? Doing so is like asking people to put on blinders to be led around by the blind. (You don't want to act superior, do you? This person is blind, don't make them feel bad just you can see. Be humble. Pretend you're blind, too. It's okay to fall down and hurt yourself; think how the blind person feels.)

Now, don't get me wrong. I like this woman, her romantic instincts, her boldness, her writing, and her marketing savvy -- a lot...to say nothing of the fact that she married a man named "Stan." She can't be all that bad. I think, however, she's instinctively brought to the forefront a fabulous marketing scheme that has involved both her old fans, her confused fans, and her Christian fans. She's better at marketing her own books than her publisher, I think. And at the forefront of that expertise is controversy.

But the mistake she makes, in the long run as a writer, is that she has scarified honest communication about truth for hype. She is ultimately, as all authors are, most interested in what is true. If she doesn't seek truth in her writing, readers will stop reading her. Thus, she has herein stumbled. What I discovered in my own research and is revealed in The Moral Premise, applies to all story telling, not just movies. Perhaps she doesn't realize this at first, but eventually she must. I hope.

From Anne's website, AnneRice.com:

Anne's Statements Regarding Christianity as Posted:

For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being "Christian" or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to "belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten ...years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.
07/28/10

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I'm out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of ...Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.
07/28/10

My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.
07/29/10

I quit Christianity in the name of Christ on this page so that I could tell my readers I was not complicit in the things that organized religion does. I never dreamed others would be so interested, or that they would feel the need to talk about their own religious struggles. But they do. And the public conversation on... this is huge, and I think important.
08/08/10

A Bit of Analysis:

First, her beef is with organized religion, which is different than her persistent claim to still be a follower of Christ. She says "I quit being a Christian" and then says "I am a follower of Christ". This is difvocation. There is no historically difference; nor is there today in the usage of those two words/phrases. She can be justified (to some degree) in saying, "I quit being a named member of any organized Christian body, such as the Catholic Church." Even most of us in the Catholic Church can understand that sentiment, although not for the reasons she later states. I've had my run in with bishops and find some egomaniacs and not worthy of the office. But that doesn't seperate me from being a Christian, or a member of the Church. Because Judas was an Apostle did the other 11 leave Christ? (Well, shortly there after ten of them did leave Christ, for a time, but that had nothing to do with Judas. Indeed, In John 6:66 we read that many left Christ... but that had to do with protesting the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine of communion. )

Second, let's take the terms "anti-gay," "anti-feminist," "anti-life," and "anti-Democrat." [I'll leave "anti-artificial birth control" and "anti-secular humanist" for another time. There is less misunderstanding of these latter terms, although what I say next may apply to them as well.] These are examples of equivocation, or can be. Being gay or homosexual can refer to a person's moral disposition (in theological terms concupiscence) or it can refer to an active life style lived without remorse. The Catholic Church is pro gay in the first definition, but anti-gay in the latter definition, just as it is loving and embracing of all sinners who recognize and seek redemption from any moral weakness.

The same can be said of the other phrases, but perhaps with some clarifications. There are as many different kinds of "feminism" as there are pant-suit designers. (Fewer every year.) A feminist in the classic sense is anyone that considers women equal to men in intelligence, ability, and dignity. Jesus Christ fits that mold. Jesus was a feminist. He talked with women and protected them when no other man would. There are "radical feminist," on the other hand, who think women are the same in their primary physical characteristics and should have masculine physical identities, including he "right" to use urinals. I don't think the "Christians" Anne is upset with have a corner on the market for being for the former or against the latter. Women are different from men in primary and secondary gender characteristics and both should be celebrated for their values to each other and society.

With regard to the "anti-life" and "anti-Democrat" designations, I cannot guess what she means, but it seems the same sort of identifications and linguistic fallacies apply.

In short, there are very specific group of people, perhaps true bigots, whom she is upset with, or whom she seems to be upset with, and to make such general statements seem out of her character.

All of her statements, however, do easily embrace the strawman fallacy, and that this is so obvious is probably the reason Christianity Today published a short interview with her without comment. The confusion of terms and identity is gross, not subtle. She criticizes perhaps the Catholic Church, but she over generalizes (another fallacy) all of Christianity, with it tens of thousands of belief systems. Certainly there are Christian organizations who believe as she would want them to believe, who call themselves Christians and a part of Christianity. Yet, she rejects them as well. Very strange behavior for an author. Who knows maybe this will start yet another Protesting denomination, the Church of Anne Rice.

It is a false understanding, and therefore a "strawman argument," to say of Catholicism that it is anti-any human being, and particularity "anti-life." It's easy to say that the Catholic Church does not endorse a number of planks in recent Democratic platforms, especially in regard to abortion and artificial birth control. But there's no general logic (as she claims it) that applies to the concept of being Democrat.

Oh, one more -- "anti-science." Dang this is strange. Catholicism (and thus Christianity) established science. What many of us Catholic scientist types object to is how many in the science community have become political and irrational, throwing out the scientific method and ignoring clear scientific evidence that refutes their political agenda. Last I checked the Vatican was the only established religion that has a working cosmological observatory. And the hosts of world-renowned Nobel prize winners who were Catholic is astonishing. Indeed, Christian's who are scientists have an discover advantage over atheists. The atheist believes in random disorder, and the Christian believes that the universe follows an understandable order and structure imbued by benevolent intellignece. When a scientists makes a hypothesis to test, he or she assumes an order that can be known. By definition every scientists that makes a hypothesis based on past patterns and knowledge is proclaiming there is an intelligent design(er) to the universe. To discard the benevolent intelligence behind nature is to make one incapable of forming a hypothesis. Q.E.D.

Moral Relativism

That Anne is embracing moral relativism is almost too obvious to even mention. If she is a follower of Christ then she either must follow what Christ taught which included a number of charters to individuals to lead a Church infallibly. That she certainly does not understand. It may well be that she's hanging around with, was hanging around with, a lot of protesters in both the Protestant and Catholic resistance. Such friends can be very confusing. Pray that she sees, and begins to understand the difference between what people do, in the name of Christ (as she is even doing), and what Christ has commanded in the infallible charter He gave his Apostles that those that followed.

Anne, there's a huge difference between what people of "faith" do and what the Church infallible "teaches." The biggest mistake you can make is saying, "I love Christ and guess what, He taught exactly what I believe."

Anne Rice, Catholicism, and Dave Armstrong's Defense

2010-08-11T12:48:00.006-04:00

Is Anne just a marketing genius, or has senility set in. And yet the juxtaposition of vampires and Catholicism has some intriguing and "novel" possibilities.

Last week when the news broke about Anne Rice "leaving Christianity but still embracing Christ," I wrote that I thought someone had hijacked her Facebook blog. We had enjoyed all three of her post-vampire Christian books and I had read some of her vampire fare. And the announcement and other words attributed to her do not sound rationale.

For you that don't know, Anne Rice is the popular author of "The Vampire Chronicles," and other such books from which several successful motion pictures have been made. She's a master at marketing as much as writing, with a personal staff larger than her publisher employs on her behalf.

A few years back she returned to the Catholicism of her youth. Her re-conversion made headlines in both vampire and Catholic/Christian circles. After her re-conversion she swore off writing vampire novels although she still justified their promotion because they honestly chronicled her journey in the dark looking for the light. Indeed her later vampire stories are about her vampire protagonists searching for redemption, something they cannot find by virtue of the story genre to live eternally as the damned. They are cursed monsters needing salvation. Viewed from that perspective there's value in Anne's books that came out of her period of atheism.

SIDEBAR - CATHOLICISM, VAMPIRES, AND ZOMBIES

The juxtaposition of Catholicism and vampire lore has some intriguing story potential. I've been involved as a consultant on a movie project that examines the "origin" and eventual redemption of vampires one step further than Ms. Rice's effort. The movie effort attempts to correlate the vampire's thirst for blood with the Christian's thirst for Christ's real presence in the blood of The Eucharist. The image of a vampire drinking human blood in search for life -- juxtaposed with a Catholic drinking Christ's redemed blood in Mass seeking eternal life, is poignant to say the least. In John 6:53-56 we have these shocking words of Christ:

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. (Jesus)

So shocking was this teaching that many of Christ's followers left never to follow Him again (John 6:66). Historians suggest that Jewish law which forbade eating meat that was bloody, was the reason so many found this teaching repulsive.

It's not without purpose that Vampires (human blood suckers) and Zombies (human flesh eaters) are the two most popular horror genre in film. There are a lot of confused Catholics out there looking for meaning to the ritual of the Mass. Catholic teachers have done a poor job explaining it so it's up to filmmakers, I guess.

Allow this sidetrack to continue for another paragraph. Jon Springer is the Catholic horror filmmaker form St. Paul, MN. Back in 2003 he produced a short B&W film called LIVING DEAD GIRL. The film begins with the typical zombies going crazy, biting people, and turning them into the living dead, walking around town looking for another human to bit and spread the curse. But then, this particular zombie girl comes upon a strange man standing on the street corner. It's Jesus. She attacks, taking a bite out of his arm. She, rather than He, falls to the ground. And a moment later she's resurrected as back to normal, healthy human, again. The message is clear. Society, in general, is like the living dead. But when we take a bite of Christ, and make him (literally) part of our life, we find life. It is Christ's flesh and blood that gives life.

BACK TO SCENE - ANNE RICE AND DAVE ARMSTRONG

Anne followed her re-conversion by three wonderful Christian books. "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" was her first person telling of 7-year old Jesus' trip with his family from Egypt back to Roman occupied Galilee. "Christ the Lord: Road to Cana" was the first person telling of 32-year old Jesus' beginning of his public ministry. Both are great reads, I recommend them, highly. During this time Anne also wrote a personal book about her childhood as a Catholic youth in New Orleans, her lapse into atheism with famous husband and intellectual Stan Rice, and then her reconversion to Catholicism. It's titled "Called Out of Darkness". The book is most valuable for her description of Catholicism through the eyes of a young girl in romantic and mystical New Orleans.

Then, suddenly it seemed, a week ago, Anne announced that she's given up Christianity and the Catholic Church... but she still loves Jesus Christ. (Huh!?)

Her reasons were the typically, trite, irrational tripe about being fed up with hypocrites and transferring their misguided comments and lifestyles on the whole of Christian thought and philosophy. Or, in her case, misunderstanding Church teaching about loving sinful persons at all costs but hating the sins that such persons commit. Anne's son is a gay homosexual author. And as she should, she loves her son. But she can't seem to separate the sin of humankind from the teachings of Christ and his Church. Or, as Dr. Ray Guarendi says in his popular DVD, WHY BE CATHOLIC? the scariest religious position today is not the atheist, or new age, or other fringe groups, but the mainstream Christian who says, "I love God, and he's just like me."

Now, this is a "smart" woman, or so I thought. Well, upon her "anti-Christianity" announcement (or "deconversion") , the blogosphere was awash with stories, praise, condemnations, Monday quarterbacking, and debate about this "turn of events". Especially of interest is the strange and irrational reasons this celebrated author gives for rejecting Christianity but still embracing Christ. Frankly, I still think her Facebook page has been hijacked (because I expect more intelligence from her), but evidently she appeared on The Joy Behar Show in person to discuss this whole thing. (Joy Behar... makes "sense.")

ENTER DAVE ARMSTRONG

Dave Armstrong (and wife, Judy), is a friend(s) and author of a number of fine books on Catholic apologetics that I sell on Nineveh's Crossing, and one I'm editing for publication. Dave was not familiar with Anne Rice, but he caught wind of her "reasons" for "leaving Christianity" and... well, Dave can't turn down an easy Internet post when Catholicism can be defended. (It'll be a chapter in a future book of his, no doubt.) His website was perhaps the first Catholic apologetic website in the world (goes back to the mid-1990s), and he's making a writing career out of the fodder. Dave's writing is thoroughly organized, accessible, smart, and relevant. I've hired him several times to write material for Nineveh's Crossing (our study guides all have his touch).

So, Dave did his usual thorough job at refuting the several irrational arguments against Christianity and Catholicism that Anne takes, and posted a thorough defense of Catholicism and Christianity on his blog. . You can read his initial blog entry in a post titled: The Deconversion of Novelist Anne Rice: Straw Men, "Baby/Bathwater" Mentality, Sexual Liberalism, and an Irrational Held, Apologetics-Free Faith LINK HERE

Then the drama sets in. Anne reads Dave's post, or part of it, and writes on her Facebook blog:

Here's a rather critical, and well written discussion of my leaving organized religion for Christ.

And then she gives a link to Dave's post (as I have give you above)

Within 24 hours Dave is besieged by comments (pro and con) on his blog, as is Anne on her Facebook page. Dave has posted some of the comments at his post: Anne Rice's Facebook Followers Irrationally and Intolerantly Attack Yours Truly for Criticizing the Lack of Adequate Reasoning for Her Deconversion. LINK HERE

All of this I'm very happy about... for Dave and for Catholicism. There's nothing like controversy to get people thinking or talking about what is true.

And there's nothing like Dave's very clear, easy to read defense of the faith. I can only hope that Anne (and thousands of others) take Dave's arguments to heart, and perhaps read a few of his books. All of which are on sale (15% off) at Nineveh's Crossing, naturally. HERE: http://www.ninevehscrossing.com/DALibrary.php

Best to all of you.

Stan

Anne Rice's Blog is Hijacked

2010-07-31T13:55:00.001-04:00

Anne Rice's blog's claim of her "deconvesion" from Christianity is one of the most stupid explanations of not being something I have ever read. She claims she's done being a Christian and at the same time saying she loves Christ. It would make sense if she'd disclaim and trash the hypocrites in Chrisianity, but that is not what these posts are saying. It's as if someone has hijacked her blog.

I have read a great deal of her writings both before and after her reconversion to Catholicism. And nothing in these recent posts of hers makes any logical sense. It's almost as if she had someone close to her write these posts who is totally ignorant of Christian doctrine and most of all Catholic teaching and wants to lash out. I heard recently that she was bedfast with illness. Perhaps her her delusion or incapacity someone is taking advantage of her blog. Time will tell.

For anyone of her "intelligence" to create such obviously inaccurate strawman arguments is childish if not adolescent. She's lauded for her research in the many books she's written. So, it's hard to figure that she's done no research into Christian or Catholic teaching before she came back to it. Is she so dumb as to listen to "Christians' on the fringe and embrace their ideology as if it was an accurate reflection of Christian or Catholic theology?

If you claim to love Christ, Christ says "You will obey me." Christ also said to his Apostles, the first Church elders, "He who is against you, is against me." People have a choice, they can choose to follow God's will as expressed by the moral teachings of the Church Christ left in charge, or they can be their own little God.

The quote most open to question, if it came from her at all is this:

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life.

As a simple critique, let's stick with Catholic Christianity since Protestant theology is all over the map on these issues.

Christianity teaches us to love gays, but not their sexual perversion. We are to love those that hate us. Christianity is not "anti-anybody" but it is "anti-sin."

The most renowned feminist (moderate, not radical) was Jesus. He gave women their status of equal value to men before Western laws did. Christianity is "feminist" at its core, as long as you eliminate the fringe of the feminist movement that think women should use urinals.

Christianity isn't against birth control when used naturally, but it is against disrupting the natural working of marriage and life. It is a contraction to be FOR artificial birth control and FOR life. Why? Because artificial birth control can induce abortions of an embryo.

Christianity isn't anti-Democrat, although it is against some of the planks in the current Democrat platform, like the right to abortion. But Church teaching steers far clear of anything that is political. It's just that politics and state laws sometimes infringe on the God given human rights and the dignity of life.

Christianity may be against "secular humanism" if by that term she is referring to a philosophy that expressly excludes God. The Church is an articulate support of humanism in it s Christian form.

Christianity invented science. The Vatican is the only faith with an astronomical observatory active in research. It's the "secular humanism scientists" and their egos that dislike God that claim Christianity excludes science. All the great science discoveries of the past came from practicing Christians and most of those were Catholic. And don't get me into the Gallieo controversy; that was a person thing, not a doctrine thing--dig below the surface to understand that. Truth comes by FAITH AND REASON the Church has proclaimed all its existence. REASON includes science by definition.

And her final salvo, "I refer to be anti-life". Right. Who really wrote this? Not anyone with a brain larger than a walnut.

Anyway, I don't want to take anymore time to do again what my good friend Dave Armstrong has done wonderfully. Check out his detailed analysis of this with all the links you could want. GREAT JOB DAVE.

Entitlement Programs Need Some "Behavior Modification"

2010-07-22T09:31:00.001-04:00

"Spend-Spend-Spend" is the mantra typically bandied about by fiscal conservatives to describe pro-entitlement liberals. The rationale often cited to justify entitlement programs is that it's the Christian thing to do. The government is simply trying to meet the needs of the disadvantaged, so the argument goes. Christians who are staunch Democrats argue that the rich have an obligation to house, feed, and care for the poor. It's what Jesus would do; and there are plenty of Bible verses and even Catholic social teaching texts to back it up. But keeping the argument at that shallow depth is fraught with logical fallacy and danger.

The situation government usually finds itself in reminds me of Dave Lewis Crawford's song "BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION BLUES" about a little girl whose parents drop her off at grandma's house for the weekend, and the kid is spilled rotten. One of the verses goes like this:

She'll have Cheese Puffs for breakfast
and Gummy Worms for lunch
She's gonna have chocolate cake for supper
Drink up all of that fruit punch
She can wear a hundred dresses
She can do her grandma's hair
She can run the remote control
And She can sit in any chair
She'll be princess for the weekend
Mom and Dad won't have a clue

You can imagine how to modify the lyrics for government spending.

The problem is that while we as citizens do have a Christian (or human) duty to care for those that can't care for themselves, there is the little problem of how we define terms like "disadvantaged" or "poor." We must also examine the term "help."

I've heard that employment suddenly rises where unemployment benefits run out. Now there are some folks that are just unemployable. I have a friend that seems normal, graduated from a prestigious engineering school with honors, is kind, and smart. But he's mentally unstable and can't keep a job. But there are many who as long as there's a check coming in that allows them to be lazy, they will. And then there's the "help" in the form of cash that can be spent for DVDs, alcohol and lottery tickets instead of food. When a Child Protection Services agent enters a home to investigate child abuse, the first thing they look for is "food." "What is the priority in this home?" she's asking. Is the home secure (is the roof patched), is there plenty of food (are the pantry full), and are the inhabitants dressed in a clean, protective clothing.

Our little girl visiting her grandmas is like a lazy citizen running to the government for "help." The kid doesn't need help, she needs some behavior modification, which is just what she gets when the weekend is over.

It's a long short ride from her grandma's house today
Now she's got to get used to not getting everything her way
There'll be no cheese Puffs for breakfast....
She's got those coming home from grandma's
Behavior Modificationary Blues.

Dave Armstrong's 150 Reasons I'm Catholic

2010-07-15T23:03:00.000-04:00

I'm publishing a book; "Dave Armstrong's 150 REASON'S I'M CATHOLIC." We're months away from sending it to the printer. But I advanced the cover design because we need to print new "catalogs" (actually just a 3 fold brochure), and I wanted Dave's book in it. Rather than write a long post about this, which I would not have done until the book was out, Dave did it for me. So, H E R E' S DAVE.

http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2010/07/150-reasons-im-catholic-book-covers-and.html

If you think the cover at right is strange, wait until you see the Protestant version... Dave has an image at the bottom of his blog.

FAMILY TIES Meets CARIAD in Lake St. Clair

2010-07-05T12:48:00.000-04:00

We've been sailing in the Great Lakes out of Detroit for about 10 years aboard our 41-ft ketch FAMILY TIES. Our good friends Garrett and Lauren Meyers have their 41-ft sloop CARIAD nearby. And although we've been out in each others' boats, we've never had the boats out together. On Saturday Pam and I were flying out into the lake when my cell phone rang and Garrett announced he was sailing toward us on our starboard quarter. After a while we started taking pictures of each other with our iPhones. We missed the shot of Pam fending off his boom when we got sort of close to each other. Click on any of the images for a larger shot.

Canadian Navigator

2010-07-05T12:01:00.004-04:00

Took some time Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon to do some sailing. We frequently dodge Great Lake freighters, one of the treats of sailing the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. As I entered the Lake yesterday, this is what greeted me. We've seen this ship often as she hauls cargo from the upper Great Lakes to ports in Lake Erie. This day she was headed for Toledo. Double click on image for larger shot of whole vessel. Click HERE for the ship's page at MarineTraffic.com and click on the Long./Lat. to see where the ship is currently located.

What Catholics Really Believe BOOK SURVEY

2010-06-10T11:25:00.000-04:00

Would you help us by taking a survey about a book we are ready to print? We've been working on in off-and-on for 3 years. It's finally ready to go to the printer, but which printer and how many copies should we print? The responses to this survey will help us a great deal. Thanks. Click on the following link for the survey, and you'll also see samples of the inside of the book.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Gomez Bodes Well For Los Angeles

2010-04-07T09:54:00.002-04:00

This short blog has a deep arc, reiterating some recent sad events in my professional life, and ending in some hope, evidenced by the article accessible by the link in this blog's title.

Mentally, I came into the Catholic Church whooping and crying for joy in the fall of 1997, and formally and physically at the Easter Vigil 1998. The Honeymoon lasted until the late summer of 2009 when I was scandalized by the work of three bishops and their curia in an attempt by over 100 individuals under my leadership to produce a dramatic short movie for Christian television on a pro-life matter. The Honeymoon ended.

The experience heavily reinforced a conclusion arrived at in 2000 that it was the American Catholic bishops that were most responsible for the presence of abortion in the U.S.. There is a natural moral law at work that without correction and strategies biased in action the vacuum will be filled by the opposition. Had the bishops been characterized by backbone they would have long ago avoided what Cardinal Ratzinger and the Early Church Fathers describe as "mute dogs" who, to avoid conflict, let poison spread. It is a characteristic of shepherds that Ratzinger finds "repulsive". (SALT OF THE EARTH, Ignatius, page 82). I like Benedict XVI.

So, I have been more critical of American bishops and I am not their ardent supporter. I have stopped giving money to any diocesans based effort because I've seen up close the power hungry greed of their middle bureaucratizes, and I have a few letters from more than one bishop that speaks directly to or implicates the calumny that runs a muck in the offices of American bishops.

The most recent evidence of this is how the USCCB lately has FINALLY spoken out against the Obama Health Care efforts because of how it funds abortion. WAY too little, WAY to late. About 70 years too late. And we're suppose to think the bishops are moral leaders? I wish it were true.

So, I confessed my grave misgivings to one particular curia leader (whom I know to be conservative and pro life and working herself to a pulp for good causes) who works for Archbishop Gomez in San Antonio. She felt sad for my conclusions and then endorsed her boss as not fitting that unfortunate model.

Now, a couple months later Gomez is appointed to take over for Mahoney in L.A. ... and many of my conservative friends would love to see Mahoney disappear into the woodwork because of his lackadaisical action with respect to orthodox, pro-life, Catholic conservatism.

The linked article (click on the title to this blog) suggests entirely that may happen. Let's pray.

J.W. Westcott II Launch

2010-03-25T23:55:00.009-04:00

For years, at the Gregory Boat Basin on the Detroit River, our sailboat (FAMILY TIES) spends the winter on shore, under wraps just a few feet from the J.W. Westcott II and its sister ship and back up the Joseph Hogan. I think these are the only U.S. Mail Boats in history. A Westcott boat has been delivering mail-by-the-pail (on the end of a line) to commercial freighters and other vessels as they pass through the Detroit River or 115 years. So, it's been fun getting to know the owners and operators of these vessels. This year I happened to be down at the yard numerous times shooting a documentary for the owner of Gregory (Scott Gregory) of the ship-wrights as they change out the engines on Scott's 52-foot Hatteras. One day I walked over over to look at my boat to see how the covering was fairing in a recent snow storm. It wasn't doing very well, there were holes in the covering and I was down there next week with Pam to put a new cover on it. But the snow was pretty enough that I took some video of the river, empty slips covered with snow and ice, and the Westcott sitting next to us. Just last week I was down there again to record the techs as they lowered two, 1,800 pound engines into Scott's refurbished engine rooms. When we got done, Dan Miller (the yard manager) ran off to help launch the Westcott. I grabbed my camera and tagged along. The snow as gone and the sun was out. The next day Scott wrote and asked if he could be a clip of the Westcott launch on the Gregory Boat Company's Facebook page. I said yes, but didn't realize it would take me hours of editing. We'll it's done, and here's something to remember Detroit, the River, and a little history of a unique aspect of the U.S. Mail and the 115 year old J.W. Westcott Company, located at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge to Canada.

Terrorists Need to be Liberated From a Hellbound God

2010-03-06T22:45:00.003-05:00

They Need to Be Liberated From Their God

Times ONLine Article about Mosab Hassan Yousef

SON OF HAMAS Book at Amazon.com

The Wall Street Journal -- Weekend Interview
Mosab Hassan Yousef with Matthew Kaminski

The 'Son of Hamas' author on his conversion to Christianity, spying for Israel, and shaming his family

March 6, 2010

'I absolutely know that in anybody's eyes I was a traitor," says Mosab Hassan Yousef. "To my family, to my nation, to my God. I crossed all the red lines in my society. I didn't leave one that I didn't cross."
Now 32, Mosab is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founder and leader of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Throughout the last decade, from the second Intifada to the current stalemate, he worked alongside his father in the West Bank. During that time the younger Mr. Yousef also secretly embraced Christianity. And as he reveals in his book "Son of Hamas," out this week, he became one of the top spies for Israel's internal security arm, the Shin Bet.

The news of this double conversion has sent ripples through the Middle East. One of Mr. Yousef's handlers at the Shin Bet confirmed his account to the Israeli daily Haaretz. Hamas—already reeling from the assassination of a senior military chief in Dubai in January—calls his claims Zionist propaganda. From the Israeli prison he has occupied since 2005, Sheikh Yousef on Monday issued a statement that he and his family "have completely disowned the man who was our oldest son and who is called Mosab."

For the past two years, Mosab Yousef has lived near San Diego, where he's kept a low profile out of concern for his security. The U.S. is currently weighing his application for political asylum, and until his confession to espionage and the publicity blitz that accompanied it this week, only knew him as the son of a terrorist who sometimes attends evangelical churches in California. The book is intended to launch a new life in America.

Mr. Yousef, whose large, engaging eyes sit prominently on an oval face, says he was confused for many years himself, and realizes many people will be as well. His family has been shamed and old friends refuse to believe him. The book, a Le Carréesque thriller wrapped in a spiritual coming-of-age story, is an attempt to answer what he says "is impossible to imagine"—"how I ended up working for my enemies who hurt me, who hurt my dad, who hurt my people."

"There is a logical explanation," he continues in fairly fluent English. "Simply my enemies of yesterday became my friends. And the friends of yesterday became really my enemies."
The first half of his memoir describes a childhood in Ramallah marked by close familial ties and the Israeli occupation. He describes a kind and unusual Muslim father who cooks dinner, treats his mother well, and cares for his neighbors. An imam trained in Jordan, Sheikh Hassan Yousef rises to prominence in their hometown, and in 1986—along with six other men including the wheelchair-bound cleric from Gaza, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin—forms Hamas at a secret meeting in Hebron. The first Palestinian Intifada—or uprising—breaks out the following year. Mosab did his part, throwing stones at Israeli settlers and army vehicles.

"Most people heard about Hamas after Hamas started carrying out terrorist attacks," he says now, speaking near his agent's home here in Nashville. "Hamas started out as an idea. Let's say a noble idea—resisting occupation." Those early clashes with the Israelis begat worse violence, and the cemetery near his house began to fill up with cadavers. Palestinians also turned on each other. A corrupt and authoritarian Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) sparred with the rising Hamas and other groups. All of them used accusations of "collaboration" as an excuse to torture and kill rivals or the weak.

Mr. Yousef traces his awakening to his first sustained exposure to Hamas cruelty. In 1996, he was arrested by the Israelis for buying weapons. He says he was beaten and tortured badly in custody. It was then that the Shin Bet approached him. He says he thought about becoming a double agent. "I wanted revenge on Israel," he writes. But when he was sent to serve his term at the Megiddo prison in northern Israel, he says he was more shocked by the way the maj'd, Hamas's security wing, dealt with other prisoners.

"Every day, there was screaming; every night, torture. Hamas was torturing its own people!" he writes. The Muslims he met in jail "bore no resemblance to my father" and "were mean and petty . . . bigots and hypocrites."

By agreeing to work with the Shin Bet, he got out of prison early. He says he was curious about the Israelis and fast abandoned his idea to become a double agent. Though he took money from Shin Bet and stayed on their payroll for a decade, his handlers in the early years didn't ask much of him. They encouraged him to study and be a model son. His code name was the Green Prince: green as in the color of the Islamist Hamas flag, and prince as the offspring to Hamas royalty.

During those quiet years he met a British cabbie in Jerusalem who gave him an English-Arabic copy of the New Testament and invited him to attend a bible study session at their hotel. "I found that I was really drawn to the grace, love and humility that Jesus talked about," he says in "Son of Hamas."
As a spy, Mr. Yousef wasn't fully activated until the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000. A few months before at Camp David, the late PLO chief Yasser Arafat had turned down the Israeli offer of statehood on 90% of the West Bank with East Jerusalem as the capital. According to Mr. Yousef, Arafat decided he needed another uprising to win back international attention. So he sought out Hamas's support through Sheikh Yousef, writes his son, who accompanied him to Arafat's compound. Those meetings took place before the Palestinian authorities found a pretext for the second Intifada. It came when future Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Mr. Yousef's account helps to set straight the historical record that the uprising was premeditated by Arafat.

Mr. Yousef tells me that he was horrified by the pointless violence unleashed by politicians willing to climb "on the shoulders of poor, religious people." He says Palestinians who heeded the call "were going like a cow to the slaughterhouse, and they thought they were going to heaven." So, as he writes in the book, "At the age of twenty-two, I became the Shin Bet's only Hamas insider who could infiltrate Hamas's military and political wings, as well as other Palestinian factions."

Mr. Yousef claims some significant intelligence coups for himself, and he says he isn't telling the world everything. Early on, he was first to discover that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a terrorist group born during the second Intifada, was made up of Arafat's guards, who were directly funded by international donors. He says he found the most lethal Palestinian bomb maker and foiled assassination plots against President Shimon Peres, then foreign minister, as well as a prominent rabbi. He says he broke up cells of suicide bombers about to attack Israel. And he helped convince his father to be the first prominent Hamas leader to offer a truce with Israel.

His handler—a "Captain Loai," now retired from the Shin Bet—corroborated many of these stories to Haaretz. The paper said the Shin Bet considered Mr. Yousef "the most reliable and most senior agent."
Mr. Yousef strains to justify himself, but ultimately "the question is whether I was a traitor or a hero in my own eyes."

So we're back to why?

The motivation, he says, was to save lives.

"I'd seen enough killing. I was a witness to lots of death . . . Saving a human life was something really, really beautiful . . . no matter who they are. Not only Israeli people owe me their lives. I guarantee many terrorists, many Palestinian leaders, owe me their lives—or in other words they owe my Lord their lives."

He says he used his influence at Shin Bet to get the Israelis to try to arrest Hamas and other Palestinian figures rather than blow them up with missile strikes. He says he saved his father from the fate of Sheikh Yassin and other Hamas leaders whom the Israelis killed by secretly arranging to have him arrested. "I know for sure that my father is alive today, he still breathes, because I was involved in this thing," he says.

Mr. Yousef has some of the evangelist in him, even as he insists he is not a particularly devoted Christian and is still learning about his new religion. He wants Palestinians and Israelis to learn what he did from the Christian God.

"I converted to Christianity because I was convinced by Jesus Christ as a character, as a personality. I loved him, his wisdom, his love, his unconditional love. I didn't leave [the Islamic] religion to put myself in another box of religion. At the same time it's a beautiful thing to see my God exist in my life and see the change in my life. I see that when he does exist in other Middle Easterners there will be a change.

"I'm not trying to convert the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Palestine to Christianity. But at least if you can educate them about the ideology of love, the ideology of forgiveness, the ideology of grace. Those principles are great regardless, but we can't deny they came from Christianity as well."

Mr. Yousef says he felt burned out and decided to stop working for the Shin Bet in 2006, against their wishes. He made his way to friends in southern California whom he'd met through bible study.
As the son of a Muslim cleric, he says he had reached the conclusion that terrorism can't be defeated without a new understanding of Islam. Here he echoes other defectors from Islam such as the former Dutch parliamentarian and writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Do you consider your father a fanatic? "He's not a fanatic," says Mr. Yousef. "He's a very moderate, logical person. What matters is not whether my father is a fanatic or not, he's doing the will of a fanatic God. It doesn't matter if he's a terrorist or a traditional Muslim. At the end of the day a traditional Muslim is doing the will of a fanatic, fundamentalist, terrorist God. I know this is harsh to say. Most governments avoid this subject. They don't want to admit this is an ideological war.

"The problem is not in Muslims," he continues. "The problem is with their God. They need to be liberated from their God. He is their biggest enemy. It has been 1,400 years they have been lied to."
These are all dangerous words. Of the threats issued to his life by Islamists, he says, "That's not the worst thing that can happen to you. I'm OK with it, I'm not afraid. . . . Palestinians have reason to kill me. Some Israelis may want to kill me. My goal is not to defeat my enemy. It is to win over my enemy."

Mr. Kaminski is a member of the Journal's editorial board.

Pitney Bowes MailStation 2 Ink Cartridge & 2 x 4 Mailing Labels

2010-02-24T16:18:00.001-05:00

Anyone need some 1/2 price, but brand new (in shrink wrap) 3M 2x4 inch mailing labels (1,000) and a Mailstation 2 Ink Cartridge? They're yours for 50% off.

We're constantly attempting to improve service and reduce cost. That has resulted in a few extra office supplies that Office Max won't take back because I purchased them more than 30 days ago. Never mind that I was going to buy even more stuff. Such attention to customer irritating rules lost them some business. But now you have a chance at a couple items that are not $40 but $20, and not $20, but $10... and I'll pay the shipping.

Send me an email at "sdw AT stanwilliams.com".

Haiti Destruction, VooDoo and Catholic Leaders as Mute Dogs

2010-01-17T23:03:00.008-05:00

At the risk of sounding judgmental (and I am doing that because of the warnings in Ezekiel 33) here are a couple of lines in a story about the devastation in Haiti from the AP:

The destruction of every major Catholic church in the capital, including the 81-year-old cathedral, also was a sign, he said: "When there is all this corruption going on, whose role is it in society to speak out? Isn't the Church supposed to say something?"

Most Haitians are Christian — largely Catholic with a small but growing number of Protestants. But most also practice Voodoo, which along with Catholicism is an official state religion.

As I work on a screenplay for a story based in the U.S. that quote tells of yet another example of what Cardinal Ratzinger recalls in SALT OF THE EARTH (page 82, the Ignatius 1997 paperback edition):

The words of the Bible and of the Church Fathers rang in my ears, those sharp condemnations of shepherds who are like mute dogs; in order to avoid conflicts, they let the poison spread. Peace is not the first civic duty, and a bishop whose only concern is not to have any problems and to gloss over as many conflicts as possible is an image I find repulsive.

Catholicism and Voodoo both State religions, and both practiced by the people. Are you kidding me? And what did the Haitian archbishop (before he was killed in the wreckage) and other prelates say of this commingling of Voodoo and Catholicism? Did he turn his head afraid of incurring the wrath of the state? Or did he, as the story suggests, not speak up much at all?

And what are the U.S. bishops doing and saying with respect to the commingling of some government approved practices like contraception and abortion? Are they just writing letters, taking votes, and speaking out? Are they being like Obama... "Time for another speech." Or are they leading the culture more dynamically with their lives. Are they afraid of the conflict and the negative press?

Well, take another look at the Notre Dame Cathedral of Port Au Prince above. Maybe the Earthquake was not a sign from God, but it sure comes off as a strong metaphor that something is going on here in addition to a really bad construction code. Or maybe that's no code. Ah, a code of life. You cannot buck Natural Law. Gravity, like moral truth, is not just a good idea, it's the law. You mess with it, destruction is sure to result.

God's judgment comes, then, comes simply as the natural result from ignoring Natural Law, that is by ignoring the marriage of Faith and Reason. To the devout Christian there is a certain and healthy paranoia that comes out of the humility of realizing how small, insignificant, and stupid we are compared to God. At the same time there is a confidence in how responsible, significant, and rational we need to be in order to advance human progress. Devout attention to the things of God will motivate individuals to PAY ATTENTION ... to BE WISE .. to ATTAIN KNOWLEDGE, and constantly be on alert for the devil who prowls around trying to screw everything up. The devout Christian cultivates the opposite mindset of the deconstructionists, the cynics, and the skeptics. Those negative mindsets are the result of sin and a willing separation from God and the universe's wisdom. When we sin we distress, loose hope, stop thinking as rationally, and are blinded toward the progress that can both save our soul and body.

So, here we have this horrible, pathetic destruction in Haiti. (Yes, give money to trusted relief organizations, as I have done... but go beyond the money. Don't trust in it.) Was it God's judgment as Pat Robertson suggested? Was Pat Robertson's comment as "stupid" as President Obama claimed. While the Rev. Robertson can sound radical and out of touch at times, I suggest that Robertson might have a sense of what God is about more than President Obama who has demonstrated a deeper trust in government to redeem us than in God.

I think God's judgment in Haiti can easily been seen in the rejection of common sense building codes that have been around the English speaking world for over 100 years. Such a rejection of readily available knowledge and wisdom suggests the similar rejection of a devout Christian mindset that marries faith and REASON, and pursues wisdom and knowledge. God doesn't need to reach out his hand in some "act" of judgment, man simply brings God's judgment himself by ignoring what God has made available and directed mankind to pursue.

It is unfortunate -- no it is utterly tragic -- that skeptics are so ready to reject the things of God, when all progress is based on the gifts of faith and reason that God has given to man.

FOXNews.com - Czech President Klaus: Global Warming Not Science, but a 'New Religion'

2009-12-18T20:56:00.001-05:00

FOXNews.com - Czech President Klaus: Global Warming Not Science, but a 'New Religion'

Posted using ShareThis

2009-11-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

Due to be released Nov. 19, 2009, and sold exclusively by Nineveh's Crossing, David Lewis Crawford's first publicity for his freshman CD "Double Dog Dare" appeared headlining his local newspaper's website.

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Nov 11, 2009 - Dalton, GA

Parenthood inspires songwriter

By Rachel Brown
Dalton Daily Citizen

It was a normally chaotic evening in David Crawford’s Rocky Face home about four years ago when his daughters, then 3 and 7, inspired him.

“They were in the bathtub, and it was one of those stressful times of getting ready for bed — splashing too much water out, one of them got soap in their eye, one of them wanted the little ducky, and the other one didn’t want them to have the ducky,” he said. “So it was a typical stressful bedtime/bath time scenario, and as I was keeping an eye on them from the living room this song sort of popped into my head.”

<Read More at the Daily Citizen Website>

Vatican Seeks Signs of Alien Life

2009-11-10T21:24:00.003-05:00

Vatican Seeks Signs of Alien Life - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com

During the spring of my junior year at college (1968) at a rigorous Christian liberal arts college where I majored in Physics, yet had a strong interest and Philosophy, I was selected to participate in a interdisciplinary seminary. One student from each of the college's 17 majors was selected to participate. Each of us had to present a paper on a major philosophical challenge that we might face in our chosen line of work. I was headed into the space program (trained astronauts for a few years) and my paper posited the discover of intelligent life outside of Earth, and what we as Christians should do about it, or with it, or what implications it would have for the Faith. (During the semester the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. That year I saw the movie 9 times, and finally got the class to go. Our instructor explained it all... wonderful philosophical premises.)

Unfortunately, no one else in the class shared my curiosity about alien life, and after my report everyone challenged my premise: that there probably was intelligent life out there. We never did discuss what the Vatican is now wanting to explore. I wish I had been invited to the Vatican ... well, just listen in. It is still a fascinating topic to me....not scientifically, but what the implications for Christianity it might hold.

Arthur C. Clarke, the co-writer of 2001, and a scientist in his own right (he's the guy that came up with the idea of revolving satellites, geosynchronous satellites, and the space elevator that's recently in the news) was an agnostic. But he wrote a couple short stories that explored the concept of what it might take to convince him there was a God. One story had deep space explores coming upon the Crab Nebulae, at the center of which they discover the remains of a civilization on a planet. 2,000 years earlier the planet and all the inhabitants were burned to a crisp from a nearby Supernova. The explorer's discover that during the life time on this planet, the inhabitants never experienced any conflict, war, or what Christians call sin. They were a morally perfect society. And the Supernova? It was the star of Bethlehem.

But I am fascinated more by the possibility that Earth is the ONLY place in the universe where life exists. Imagine the philosophical impliations of that. Wow!

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Generals and Bureaucrates

2009-08-21T11:44:00.004-04:00

For those of you following the drama of the MAKING of our movie TIGER'S HOPE, here's the latest. Truly, the making of it is more significant than the movie. But you have to read to the end. What follows is an email I sent out to the staff and crew earlier today. (sw)

--------

Dear Tiger's Hope Cast, Crew, Staff, and Volunteers:

Summary:
1. September Production is Canceled.
2. God’s Designs at Work
2. Feature Film Development Planned
3. This is Just the Beginning
4. Appreciation and Vision Dinner Coming
5. Surprise Ending

SEPTEMBER PRODUCTION IS CANCELED

Some of you know we've been dealing the last couple of weeks with an apparent crisis: The seed funding from the Diocese of Lansing for our production was suddenly rescinded after four months of enthusiastic support by the bishop and the Department of Life Justice Director, who wrote the initial grant and was the inspiration behind our attempt to save marriages and thousands of lives. But when the formal agreements were presented the bureaucrats appeared, the bishop was silenced, and the money yanked from the life justice director. I was informed two days ago by the head of Catholic Charities for the diocese, that "the diocese will not be joining" SWC Films in the production effort of Tiger's Hope, and neither will they make available the $55,000 grant awarded by Our Sunday Visitor Institute. Bummer… or so we thought.

GOD’S DESIGNS AT WORK

Events like this can be maddening to those of us who want to believe in the Church and its teachings. But the reality of bureaucratic problems within institutions is part of human nature. They existed at the time of Christ within the Synagogue, they exist today in all organizations, and for storytellers such problems always provide fodder for drama. As Philip Carrel, our production designer remarked, it’s ironic how “the bureaucracies set up to help people, often times obstruct the help from getting out.” In this case, interoffice politics seems to have prevented the creation of a project that could save thousands of lives and marriages. But there are plenty of reminders to the contrary. I go to confession at St. Bonaventure in Detroit. There, on Venerable Solanus Casey’s tomb are carved these words: “Blessed be God in all his designs. I sense that is what’s at work here.

MOTIVATIONS

My partner, Alex Davis, and I talked of the possibillity of losing the DOL’s financial support over a month ago and roughly figured that the two of us could fund the project alone, especially since we could count on the Michigan Film Incentives. But when the $55,000 actually went away we spent some time with cash flow estimates, and decided that taking on the financial risk endangered not only our families’ stability but the project’s quality. Now, as investors, with serious money involved (for us) we looked at our roles differently. First, rather than thinking as filmmakers and how we can make the movie better, we started to cut costs. And second, we kept putting on our marketing hats and trying to figure out how we could sell more DVDs to recover our investment. That kind of thinking was bound to hurt the project’s quality and clarity of message. Bad.

FEATURE FILM DEVELOPMENT PLANNED

Then it occurred to us that when I wrote the treatment and script for TIGER'S HOPE, which sold the bishop and others on doing the drama instead of the documentary, I was careful to pull my dramatic punches and attempted to please the bishop and Christian cable channels like EWTN and TBN. That is why, if you've read the script, Stacey TELLS us about in vitro and all the dangers, but we never SEE or experience in vitro. Movies are about SHOWING and not TELLING. Stacey’s lines were more appropriate to a play where about all a director has to work with are words. A second thing that always bugged me was Tiger was the only character that had a developed arc. We never investigated Jake, her husband, and in procreative practices the husband is suppose to be an equal partner in all this. Hello! Finally, and third, is something I write and lecture about but in Tiger's Hope was nearly absence—an antagonist that seemed larger and more powerful than the protagonist. Great stories have great antagonists that drive the protagonist to change in ways they would never have done otherwise. That failing I dismissed because I didn't want to reveal the underbelly of the church and it's internal dissidents, nor did I have the time in the shorter production planned to develop such a character.

Then the bishop went away, literally (sounds like a plot point). We lamented his disappearance at first, but then our eyes began to open. WE DIDN'T HAVE TO APPEASE THE BISHOP, or the diocesan bureaucrats, or the censors at Christian networks. We could tell a REAL story, and include what we needed to communicate the full drama of the subject. THAT WAS LIBERATING!

Coupled with that was some dramatic elements to the longer story that we were introduced to by the real life experiences of a Catholic couple who recently went through in vitro with their priest’s blessing. When I first heard their tale I literally came out of my seat in shock, and wanted to totally rewrite Tigers Hope, but realized I'd need a feature length project to tell the story properly.

In another script I analyzed for someone in Hollywood the Chinese concept of Wei Ji was explained. Together the figures Wei and Ji mean "Crisis". The Wei equates with "danger" but the "Ji" equates with opportunity. That's similar to the Christian teaching that every bad thing that enters our life has with it a bigger grace. Romans 8:28 says "All things work together for good to those that are called according to His purpose."

Or, in the words of our project Chaplin Fr. Mike: FEATURE LENGTH Movie. YEAH ! AMEN! ALLELUIA! Thanks be to God going Mainstream YES!

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Now a lot of very good work has been done on this project to date, and we do not intend to lose it. The work we've all done has not been wasted, but will all contribute to the next phrase… although for now we will take a pause to regroup and refocus.... even as the story development process has already begun. So, please save your work, and please send me a back-up copy. We will continue, I hope, with the music production as that is almost done, and it’s on-going life can be an inspiration for where we go next.

STUDY GUIDES

One member of the team mentioned the advantages of also having a study guide that would accompany the movie, so groups could further study the Bible and Church moral teaching related to marriage. That was always the intent, and it still is. Such guides give the entire film effort on-going meaning and purpose, as well as act as a cross marketing tool. We have study guides for a number of our other best selling DVDs; they are downloaded for free off our websites in the thousands.

APPRECIATION AND VISION DINNER COMING

Now, we haven't set a date, but we want to invite you and your significant other to a banquet at Mama Mia's in Walled Lake where we will treat you to their great food, and let the producer's of Tiger's Hope share with you our appreciation for all of your work, and our excitement and vision for where we're going next on this journey And maybe we can persuade Angela Maiz (Tiger), Al Jacquez (Jake), and songwriters Janet Pound, and James Stonehouse to share with us the great songs they've created, which I still hope to record in the next couple weeks.

No date for the dinner is set yet, but stay tuned.

Alex Davis sends this along from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (chapter 6 verses 11-20 Contemporary English Version): Let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all armor that God gives, so you defend yourself against the devil's tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the arms that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will be standing firm.

Stan
Stanley D. Williams, PhD.
Executive Producer - Director
Office 248-344-4423

P.S. This just in, moments after this was posted: The Director of Life Justice has been fired.

With So Many Klutzes..., Why Be Catholic?

2009-07-26T23:00:00.001-04:00

What follows is a letter a friend of mine wrote to a guy named Bob. I contributed to it, but it is clearly, Michael King's.

Dear Bob,

This is a personal letter to you and to explain how much I really do understand your situation. Roman Catholics are some of the worst Christians imaginable. They do not read their Bibles. They do not evangelize. Some do not care much for their fellow man and so it goes on and on and on. I do not think it is all their fault as they are badly instructed as to what is really important and true. I am somewhat ashamed of them!! Now you may ask and rightly so why on earth be a Catholic amongst such a shameful bunch? Catholics divorce, abort, and use condoms and birth control just like the heathen and their Protestant counterparts. The Mass service, as celebrated by some priests, is desperately boring and misunderstood. The homilies are often irrelevant and the people you meet in Church are mostly uninterested in you and quite unfriendly. I am talking generally. There are exceptions and thank God for them. But they are only exceptions.

I am a devout and died in the wool Catholic for one reason only. Get this! Just One reason only. Why???????? Because it is TRUE!!!!!! That is the only reason. It is still the Church that Jesus is guiding down through the centuries; it must be because in spite of all the personal sins and mistakes of some of it's leaders, it's still here? How could that be except by the miraculous protection of God Himself?! And, amazingly, its official teachings about the faith have NEVER changed, nor have they bowed to secularism, or popularism, or moral relativism, or deconstructionism as has every other Christian Church in those doctrines that are distinct from Catholicism. Even the Greeks and Orthodox are inconsistent and have given in on issues like birth control. Everything the Catholic Church teaches can be traced back to the Apostles without contamination.

Many of my best friends are Protestants and Not Catholics. Yes, I do have a few very very good Catholic ones that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. I do know a handful of priests that I can admire and I am thankful for them. This picture that I have painted reminds me of the well known account in the Old Testament of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal. Do you remember how much water Elijah insisted be poured over the sacrifice to make sure it would not burn? Then Whoooooosh!!!! The fire came down and consumed the water, the sacrifice, and even the altar on which it was put. That is the Catholic Church for you, and all that water on the sacrifice is its shameful side. Jesus knew well the heart of man so He devised a Church which would not rely on man -- any man -- for survival. We are all gone astray, there is none good no not one. Jesus knew that so He devised a fool proof Church that would last whether there were good people, bad people, or a whole bunch of indifferent people.

Please, I am going to send this not only to you but to many as it has to be said. Bob, I love and I would love you even if you were a Muslim or a Jehovah Witness or a Mormon or an Atheist.

Michael Jaffray King

BELIEVE IN A DREAM

2009-07-20T00:40:00.007-04:00

It's time to tell this story, which some have heard. But, as of Friday the song writing team of composer James Stonehouse and lyricist Janet Pound came aboard the project to write the four songs for Tiger and Jake in our movie TIGER'S HOPE.

This is one of those stories that helped to confirm that while my name may be followed as "producer" there is more going on here than I can explain. A month or so ago I broke down and at the suggestion of other producer friends, I called a Casting Director, Janet Pound, of Pound-Mooney Casting. Janet and her partner, Kathy Mooney have cast a number of the major movies that have come through Michigan, and they just picked up 3 more, including the huge project RED DAWN. Here's an interview with them about auditions that some may find interesting. It appeared on BACKSTAGE. (Janet is on the left, Kathy right.)

I was looking for a female lead, someone who could take control of a difficult role, could sing, and preferably had dark hair. Janet asked if I would consider a soprano, and I demurred, thinking I needed a mezzo or alto, someone with some soulish guts to her voice. Janet asked again and wanted to send along an mp3 of something sung by an ex-Off Broadway actress-dancer-singer Angela Maiz who had "retired" to Michigan to have kids (Angela had just birthed number four.) The song had been written and recorded two years earlier as part of CAR STARS, a tribute to the automobile industry here in Michigan. "Sure, send it along," I said, not expecting much.

The first track of the mp3 Janet sent had been compressed several times, and with my loss of some high frequencies in my hearing, I couldn't understand a word. But as I listened to the music and voice I started to tear up. What's going on here, I wondered? What was clear was that the melody and style was close if not dead on to the mood of the very important opening song to the movie. (In those first montage scenes we're introduced to the life of an entertainer who is struggling with something sad in her life. Halfway through the song we join her on stage at her dinner club where she sings for an appreciative audience. But at song's end she breaks down in tears and heads for her dressing room. There, on her husband-manager's chest she laments her infertility.) I asked for the lyrics. They came. Click on the song title below to listen as you follow the words. The song will open in a second window or tab, allowing you to come back to this one to read the words as Angela (TIGER) sings. That's her above from her audition videotape.

BELIEVE IN A DREAM

WHEN ARE YOU TOO OLD TO BELIEVE IN A DREAM
AND WHEN DO YOU LET GO OF THE BALLOON IN THE AIR
WHEN ALL OF THE STEPS ON THE LADDER RUNG
WON’T TAKE YOU ANYWHERE

WHEN THE GLEAM IN YOUR EYES
CAN NO LONGER BE SEEN
AND WHEN THE MOON HOLDS NO MYSTERY
AND THE LAUGH OF A CHILD
DOESN’T MAKE YOUR HEART SING

REFRAIN: DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU LET YOUR DREAM GO
THE DAY, THE TIME, THE HOUR
OR DOES IT SLOWLY FADE AWAY LIKE THE PETALS
ON A FLOWER.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?

WHEN DID YOU STOP WISHING ON STARS
AND CATCH FIRE FLIES AND PUT THEM IN JARS
WHEN THE COIN IN THE FOUNTAIN, AND DANDELION WISHES
ALL LOST THEIR ALLURE

WHEN THERE ARE NO MORE SONGS TO SING
OR THE HOPE OF A WINTER TURNING TO SPRING
AND THE DREAM THAT YOU HAD IS SLIPPING AWAY
HOLD ON

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU LET YOUR DREAM GO
THE DAY, THE TIME, THE HOUR
OR DOES IT SLOWLY FADE AWAY LIKE THE PETALS ON A FLOWER.

REFRAIN:

WHENEVER YOU CLAP AND CAUSE THE APPLAUSE
THE DREAM NEVER DIES, IT JUST PASSES ON
YOU’RE NEVER TO OLD TO BELIEVE IN A DREAM,
IF YOU CAN, OH, IF YOU CAN
DREAM IT FOR ANOTHER.

Now, with the words, I was mesmerized. But I had a small problem. I had just convinced Fr. Eduard Perrone, the musical genius and composer who is also the pastor at Assumption Grotto Catholic Church in Detroit, to write the songs for Tiger's Hope. Fr. Perrone's agreement to be involved inspired me, and excited others that knew him. But he was waiting for me to sketch out some rough words to the four songs, to give him a sense of where the songs should go. I had not had time to do that.

Now, I was faced with telling Fr. Perrone about this song (from another songwriter/composer team) -- that had me in tears as I envisioned the first seven scenes of the movie with this music playing in the background. The mood and sentiment was perfect. Reticent, I sent the lyrics and mp3 to Fr. Perrone, and told him the story of how it came to me. I asked him what he thought of it. He wrote back:

I listened carefully to the song. It seemed to have that blend of misty melancholy and hopeful yearning: the combined effect of the lyrics and the subtly nostalgic music. I do not think I could better this in any way and you ought to allow your instincts about the rightness of this piece for TH to direct its inclusion in it. --- If it's my blessing on this that you seek, you have it in good measure--not only for the use of this song but for the entire project which has the potential of enriching many lives and of averting a tragic end to some difficult but solvable marital difficulties.

Thus, songwriters Janet Pound, lyricist (my Casting Director) and her friend, James Stonehouse, composer, entered the picture. It took a couple meetings and several emails later, and James sending yet another tune he had written for another of the movie's montages, to convince me that these two were cut out perfectly for Tiger's Hope. We agreed last week on the money, and they're eager to get the work done, so we can record the songs at maestro Terry Herald's studio next month.

God, What Would You Do Without Me?

2009-06-25T07:34:00.005-04:00

I'm a tad frustrated with bureaucracy of the Catholic Church. "Tad" may be an understatement. But the Church is a reflection of God Almighty. So, my frustration is with God, actually.

While explaining my latest frustration, to my loveliness (Pam, my wife) I let out with a joking exclamation, throwing my hands into the air: "God!? What would you do without me?"

We laughed.

Then, I thought that my whining would be a great title of a book or a blog. Imagine all the funny, self-deprecating things you would write about... even in the words of historical figures. We could start with creation, and why did it take billions of years to create the universe? Bureaucracy no doubt. It's tough getting billions upon billions of electrons lined up to make a clump of coal, let alone a fusion-fired star. Probably harder than herding cats.

Then Pam said, "How about 'ARROGANCE IN UNIFORM'. That's good. Finally she said to me, as I stood in the hall starring at the floor thinking, just outside the bathroom where she was curling her hair -- "Don't calm down, get going!"

So, I came in here to write this.

What a Way to Go!

2009-06-24T06:27:00.003-04:00

Germaine, in her role as Mother Teresa in a skit at Fr. Perrone's 30th Anniversary celebration from Diane M. Korzeniewski's Grotto website. (Not used with permission, but I think Diane won't mind.)

If you're going to die in a car accident, Germaine shows us how. She was the elderly, diligent, hardworking, and street smart housekeeper for Fr. Perrone at the Assumption Grotto rectory. At the end of her day of ministry to a house full of priests and staff, she was crossing Gratiot to catch a bus. She was struck by a speeding car that one witness pegged at 90 mph. She unconscious instantly. Probably felt no pain. Witnesses say she was knocked out of her tennis shoes. As PROVIDENCE would have it, at that very instant, Fr. Perrone, Fr. Bustamonte, and Fr. White were entering a car (to go to the wake for the mother of Grotto blogger Diane M. Korzeniewski) in the rectory parking lot a few dozen feet away. Someone came to them yelling that there at been an accident and they were needed. They ran to the street and found the lady that they loved so much, near death, unconscious, her heart still beating. While Fr. Bustamonte held the oil, Fr. Perrone, in shock, administered Germaine her last rites, and some other prayers of forgiveness that one parishioner said guaranteed her entrance to the pearly gates. Now, I know these three holy priests, and I gotta tell you: I cannot imagine a better way to go, if you're going to go in an accident. Imagine, your life is full -- being the housekeeper of the Church of the living God -- you're struck by something, you don't know what, no pain, no suffering, and instantly 3 priests are kneeling over you in the street ensuring your eternal reward. What a way to go! You can pray for Germaine, but I KNOW Germaine is praying for us and the continual, effectual, ministry of those priests, who are still in shock.

Here is post from Diane about Germaine.

COMPLETION FUNDING NEEDED

2009-06-12T15:15:00.006-04:00

COMPLETION FUNDING NEEDED
for Catholic Pro-Life Television Movie

Dear Friends,

WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW to complete the funding of this project and give it the "Green Light." It is a UNIQUE Pro-Life television drama planned for production very soon. We have accounted for 60% of the $250K budget, which leaves us with only $100K. Can you or someone you know meet that (tax deductible) difference by the end of June? If so, please call now, or visit our Contribution Page, so we can properly plan production.

Call either Rory Hoipkemier, Life Justice-Catholic Charities, Diocese of Lansing at 517-342-1469. or myself, Stan Williams, SWC Films at 248-344-4423 Ext. 5. Or visit the Contribution Page at TigersHope.com

Inspired by a suggestion from Professor & Pro-Life Advocate Janet Smith, the Diocese of Lansing (under Bishop Earl Boyea's guidance) submitted and received from Our Sunday Visitor a grant to do a video on the physical and moral dangers of IN VITRO fertilization. Quickly we realized that to change society's mind-set a simple documentary was only going to be watched by the "choir." So, we took the high road and have been developing a 30 min drama with original music and top notch actors.

A FEW EARLY ENDORSEMENTS:

"The script is quite moving and sensitive... cannot wait to see it on film."
(Dr. Thomas Hilgers, The Pope Paul VI Institute)

"A powerful drama portraying the Godly truth of the sacredness of human life from its very beginnings." (Dr. Ray Guarendi)

"Tiger's Hope is profoundly moving and captivating drama of life and love."
(Fr. Mike Lubinsky, Augusta, GA.)

Others have called the script: "A BEAUTIFUL STORY" -- "EMOTIONALLY ENGAGING" and "I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN."

You can read all about the project at TIGERSHOPE.COM, and even download and read the script. (UN = tiger, PW = naturallaw)

Targeted at Catholics and other Christians the project will reveal the full truth of natural law and the Church's teaching about IVF. The DVD will be captioned, subtitled in different languages, and distributed to high schools, seminaries, and pro-life organizations around the world.

Your help is needed this month to fund this project and also let others know about it by forwarding this email.

As Catholics, we are called to learn our faith and to be ready to share it with everyone. This film presents an important message that needs to be shared.

THANK YOU.
Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D.
Co-Executive Producer, Writer, & Director
SWC Films

Presentation of Jesus in the Temple Luke 2:22ff

2009-06-06T06:53:00.005-04:00

An Ignatian Repetition.

JERUSALEM, ABOUT 2000 YEARS AGO. SUNRISE.

Hundreds of pilgrims mill around the marble columns of the Temple.

An OLD MAN rounds a pillar and nearly tumbles over an OLD WOMAN resting on the ground.

OLD MAN (M:) (with an uncanny knack for English vernacular)
Good Grief! Why don't you go home for a change?

OLD WOMAN (W:) (looking up and wondering if the subtitles are working)
For the same reason you come everyday to clean the floor with those oversized robes. Who do you think you are, a priest?

M: They keep my feet warm.

W: Well you might get some thicker sandels, or try wearing socks.

M: Socks? What are...

W: (interrupting) In time, in time. Don't push it.

M: You just can't let a guy go in peace, can you?

W: Well, if you weren't so politically correct I'd get out from under your misogynistic feet.

M: Mis-ongen... what?

W: All you think about is being Jewish!

M: What's wrong with that?

W: Some of us aren't Jewish?

M: You're not, Jewish? But you've been here for as long as I've been coming to Temple. You never leave the place, what'd...

W: I didn't say I wasn't Jewish, but do you think all these pilgrims that you're cleaning up after are Jews? Look at that guy over there with the pug face. No nose at all. Where do suppose he's from? And the family... there, by on the steps to the portico. The guy's at least in his 4th decade and still no hair. Why are they here?

M: I... I.... guess. I don't know!

W: Of course you don't. That's because you're just too Jewish for your own good. They're here for the same reason you and I suffer from Temple addiction. Today could be the day. They don't want to miss it either. They come in here to pray, and experience the presence of God.

M: But how could they... they're.... goya -- they are all that is not of Israel.

W: Well, like I've been saying...and even though you're tripping over them, and you're picking up their trash day after day, you don't get it. He's coming for them, too.

M: I still don't believe it. Why would God care about the gentiles and their filthy habits. Look here's another hamburger wrapper just lying on the ground. (The Old Man stabs it with a pointed stick, and then slides it into a trash bag slung over his shoulder. )

W: That was mine.

M: Sun's finally up.

W: He's coming as a light to them, too. See how the sun warms their feet as well as your own?

The Old Man looks around the temple as the early morning sun stirs the pilgrims who have spent the night on the ground. It is warm. It is light. And it falls upon the just and the unjust, the Jews and the Gentiles alike.

M: I just don't believe it.

W: It's not up to you.

As his eyes drift across the crowd toward the entrance steps his eyes notice that several people are moving toward a couple and a young child that have just entered. The sun cuts through the columns like a stage's follow spot and lands on the mother and small child she carries. The man has a worn cloth bag of belongings over his shoulder and a couple of birds wrapped in a net. He seem surprised at how people are looking at them, their eyes following every step. But the young mother smiles to herself, eyes cast down, at the child's face still hidden in the wrap.

W: What is it?

The Old Man is silent. He just gazes at the family as they come up the steps, through the crowd, toward where and the his old lady friend have been bickering and debating future history.

M: They're coming over here.

The woman gets up, slowly, in an aged way, and looks toward the bustle.

She squints in the bright light that now encircles the family... yes, like a halo, as corny as that may sound.

W: That's her. They've been talking about her for weeks now. A young girl, a virgin even, who had a baby in the middle of the night. Her husband's much older. Yes, I'm sure. Those people near them stirring? Those are families from Bethlehem, see the blue dye of their rucksacks. They match the mother's. That's her, Simeon.

Simeon just stares. He can't help but notice that others, the Gentiles that have come to the Temple, not as worshipers, but messy tourists that make his job cleaning up the place more difficult, are being drawn to the young family, who are now almost upon them.

SIMEON: Anna, what should I do?

ANNA: I've always said you pray out loud better than the high priest. Go for it.

Simeon steps forward, into the path of the young mother. The woman's husband is a little more agile and intervenes with his walking stick to protect the mother and her child. But the Simeon's eyes are on the woman, and then the baby. And the mother, after glancing into Simeon's eyes recognizes something special. She looks up at her husband and smiles, who drops his stick.

Then, almost as if it was for thousands of years, she unwraps the child, and hands him to the Simeon's waiting embrace. Anna stands nearby, knowing what is about to happen; she knows this old coot. He may be prejudice against the Gentiles, but he loves God more than most. What a great priest he would have made. But, now... this moment, may make up for some of that.

Simeon takes the child, almost kneels in the process, but then thinks again, and instead holds the child slightly aloft, turns toward the sun, and a throng of people that have gathered. The pug faced man, and the hairless man and his family are standing right in front of him... and all eyes are on the child that Simeon holds so firmly but reverently aloft.

SIMEON: (every word counts as he unblinkingly prays):

Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared...

He glances at the many faces from many nations.

...which you have prepared in the sight of all the peoples, a light...

Then he catches Anna's eyes, as the diminutive old woman gazes up at the child.

...a light for revelation to the Gentiles...

Anna smiles.

...and glory for your people Israel.

There is a hush over the gathering as Simeon so carefully gives the baby back to his mother, an astonished look on her face and her husband's.

SIMEON (to the mother):

Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted. And you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

And he backs away.

The old woman thinks to herself: Not bad. Yes, he wold have made a great priest, listening to confessions, atoning for sins. But then, someone has to pick up the garbage.

"Imprimatur" Granted for New Book

2009-06-01T21:10:00.011-04:00

We are thrilled to announce that the book we've been working on for two years, WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE, has just received Detroit Archbishop Vigneron's Approval for Publication. This is a big deal.

The terms "Nihil Obstat" and "Imprimatur" is old school...at least the words are, according to a 2004 USCCB guideline. The fancy new phrase used by American bishops is now: "Permission to Publish." Makes sense, at least I understand what it means. But I wanted to acknowldge the work of Dr. Robert Fastiggi, who acted as censor on the project.

WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE will be a new book based on the video series of the same name featuring Dr. Ray Guarendi, Fr. Kevin Fete, with an answer guide written by David Armstrong. Yours truly was the book's editor, question writer, and manager. Here's a picture of what the cover will look like.

When will it be out? Well, that depends when we can get all the pictures in place and finalize the layout. We had wanted to get it to printing this summer so it would be ready for RCIA this fall, but we're way behind that schedule right now, unless I'm able to spend the next 30 days finishing the layout. But our movie project, Tiger's Hope, is on the front burner, so the book's probably going to be delayed.

Several years ago the diocese couldn't give us an Imprimatur for the video series (not according to Canon Law), so we worked on the book... so, essentially both are now doctrinally approved. Same censor, too. Thanks. Dr. Fastiggi.

The letter reads:

RESCRIPT

In accord with canon 827.3 of the Code of Canon Law, I, the Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, hereby grant my approval to publish the book, WHAT CATHOLICS REALLY BELIEVE, Dispelling the Misrepresentations and Misunderstandings of Historic Christianity with Scripture and Tradition, by Ray Guarendi, Ph.D., Reverend Kevin Fete, with Answer guide by David Armstrong."

Notice of this rescript is to be included in the book, as follows:

Ecclesiastical approval for publiation was granted by The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, May 20, 2009, in accord with cannon 827.3 of the Code of Canon Law.

Given in Detroit, Michigan, on the Feast of St. Bernadine of Siena, this twentieth day of May, in the year ofour Lord, two thousand. nine.

Signed:
The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron
Archbishop of Detroit.

Stormy Waters and Hope

2009-05-31T07:54:00.005-04:00

Family Ties & the author return to the Detroit River
(Photo by world adventurer and photographer, Charlie Scott)

Pam was attending a baby shower, and my eye balls were in need of a distant horizon, instead of the computer screen that even now is but 14-inches away. So, I went sailing.

There is not a better place to feel energized or contemplate God's nature and power than on a sailboat. So, I packed up the books and diary I use for my Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, made sure I had my iPhone Bible with me, dropped off Nineveh's Crossing's orders at the Post Office, stopped by Subway (it takes a while to get to the boat)... and an hour later was pulling out of the dock.

My life as a film producer, distributor, and writer is often filled with anxious moments... mostly centered around money to buy inventory, or pay for a number of projects we're developing. And sometimes those moments stretch into days. It's a constant challenge to keep spiritually focused on God's plans and not those that I devise without God. There's the rub, making sure the day's challenges are put there at the behest of God, and not the foolishness of Stan. Telling the difference is my biggest beef with God.

Lately, working on script, cast, and fund raising for Tiger's Hope, the decisions about how to spend time and money are often difficult to make, especially since both time and money have severe limits. There's never enough of either, it seems ... in the service of God. (my words, not God's)

Two days ago I was doing what all producer's do -- planning. Planning a film project is a little like budget forecasting in a recession. It seems useless, because what you plan never happens the way you thought it would. It generates a lot of chuckles and a few groans along the way. The question is always there: "What shall I do?"

That question was particularly haunting two days ago when my spiritual exercises took me to Jeremiah 29:11 and these words:

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.

That fits. But now I have to be sure "God's" plans are mine. Not easy.

That day the second part of my spiritual exercises took me to reflecting on the appearance of the Magi at the Nativity. I laughed out loud at the juxtaposition of Jeremiah's words ringing in my ears and putting myself in Joseph's sandals just before the Magi appear. Here's a guy that has to be wondering what "the plan" is. He's no doubt got a few of his own churning around in his head. He's got this "wife" and "baby" to care for, and he knows they are both a "little bit" special, and what's he got to offer them? Not much. The last time he tried to pawn his wood plain the broker laughed and pointed at his overstocked shelf of other pawned wood plains.

And then OUT OF THE WOODWORK (a phrase Deacon Bob uses on me when he thinks my ideas just may not be part of God's plan) come these three lost "kings" from the East with stars in their eyes, bearing gifts, looking for the King of the Jews. Uh-huh! These guys are seriously lost, Joseph thinks...wonder if they could use a wood plain?

But you know the story, and Joseph, 2,000+ plus years later in heaven is still scratching his head. There's no way he could have planned that. (plained that?) Most of us hope "one" sugar daddy will show up to help us with the latest "Project from God." But THREE?! They just drop in from left field, er.... they just pop OUT OF THE WOODWORK. (Sorry, Deacon, can't help but rub it in.)

Joseph had to have hope after that... at least until after Herod's soldiers started wiping the blood of babies off their swords.

So, I go sailing. Alone. the waters are rough, very rough. The wind is hollowing out of the West at 25-30 knots. I sail out of the Detroit River against the current, which is not something you can normally do. On Lake St. Clair there are gusts to 40, 50, and one time they hit 61 knots. What have I gotten myself into, alone, with a big boat, and just me? So, I find a moment of relative calm, turn on the iPhone Bible and access the scripture I'm suppose to be mediating on. It's Isaiah 43:1-7, which in part reads

When you pass through the water, I will be with you; in the rivers you shall not drown.

Okay, God, I get it, but let's get back to the dock so I can blog this.

NATURAL LAW DRAMATIZED ON NATIONAL TV

2009-05-27T21:17:00.012-04:00

(Updated comments inserted 6/28/11)

Something quite amazing is playing out before us on national television that shows the wisdom of Catholic teaching such as Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life.) In spite of all the horrific pro-death, anti-life, anti-family decisions made by our politicians, one fact remains: In the end, you can’t buck natural law. Or, in the words of another common adage from years gone by, “You can’t fool mother nature.”

But, boy, the drama of watching it play out on reality TV is both heart rending and amazing. Since becoming Catholic I’ve been enamored with the phenomenon of large families, especially Catholic families. As a filmmaker I wanted to do a documentary on a couple of them, but never got together the resources. Lucky for me, others were able to mount projects (although not Catholic), and we’ve been enjoying The Learning Channel’s productions of The Duggars (18 Kids and Counting), and The Gosslins (John & Kate Plus 8). [The Duggars now have 19, and the Gosslins are divorced.]

Both families have Christian roots. The Duggars have a more explicit Christian presence (www.duggarfamily.com), but on the Gosslin’s show Scripture verses can be seen taped to the end of John and Kate’s kitchen cabinets, and John has been seen wearing T-shirts with Scripture references on them.

But early on I saw a huge difference in these families, and recently the difference has become a news item on just about every news show and website. I’m speaking about the breakdown of John and Kate’s marriage, and the very public playing out of the conflict on national television. The news media would have you believe the problem is the stress of success by having a hit show to which ten million tune in weekly. And indeed that is probably a contributor. But I noticed something early on. Did you? There has always been a romantic detachment in John and Kate’s relationship. They look at each other as if there was no romantic relationship between them whatsoever. They are like romance zombies… the romantic walking dead. You could never tell by their non-verbal or interactions that these two people love each other as husband and wife. They could be complete strangers thrown together in a reality show where they’re trying to get along, but it’s a strain. I have always felt sorry for them because of that.

But, if you watch the Duggars, the difference is startling. Now, the Duggars don’t have 8 kids to deal with, they have 18. Let’s say that again: THEY HAVE EIGHTEEN!!! And have you ever noticed the nonverbal between Jim Bob and Michelle? It’s like “love at first sight.” When Jim Bob talks and Michelle’s within sight her eyes are on him as if he was the most wonderful man in the world. She is totally in love with this guy. And when she talks, Jim Bob watches her affectionately. His eyes never wander. The love and respect is palatable, even through the silly flat TV screen.

Why the difference? Did you ever wonder? Well, Paul VI could have told you, as well as John Paul II, and a few others. And while I don’t want to be labeled a judge of people, I can’t help but take note of one particularly public difference between the sexuality of these two couples and Catholic teaching about natural law.

In the case of John and Kate Gosslin, all eight of their babies were conceived via intrauterine insemination, which involved implantation of Jon's sperm via a catheter. Kate compares the procedure with in vitro fertilization, (but) "there are no eggs removed or put back, as with IVF." Here's a link to her interview about that: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/jon-and-kate-plus-8.htm/printable

Compare that to the Duggars. While I’ve found no specific reference to how their children were conceived, (and there wouldn’t be if they were natural) their frank discussion of how they came to give up the contraceptive pill and let God have his total will with their lives and how many children they would have, explains that the Duggars, while not Catholic, have come to understand and apply natural law for all their pregnancies. Here's a link to their website's FAQ where they discuss how God told them to give up the contraceptive pill. http://www.duggarfamily.com/faq.html

Through these two high-profile network reality shows we see the impact that natural vs. non-natural fertilization methods have. Catholic teaching is founded on natural law. When we follow what is natural, husbands and wives are drawn close together in a natural and supportive love. In the sexuality of marriage, when we reject what is natural we enter the danger zone as we separate the unitive and procreative nature of marriage. Paul VI writes “By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its ordination towards man’s most high calling to parenthood.” (Humanae Vitae, 12)

This all become very real for me recently as I’m in the midst of producing a pro life Catholic television drama on in vitro versus natural fertilization. The project is titled TIGER’S HOPE, a co-production of the Diocese of Lansing and my production company, SWC Films, with seed funding from Our Sunday Visitor. We hope to shoot it this fall in Michigan. [We had a falling out with the Diocese of Lansing and separated the project from them. We are currently developing it with similar themes but more as a mainstream theatrical film.]

Through the power of story, this short movie will give an accurate picture of the state of both in vitro technology with its health hazards, its low probability of success, and its health effects on children and mothers. All that will be dramatically contrasted with natural methods that have no side effects, almost no cost, and a success rate that is 300-400% greater than in vitro. The cultural ramifications of separating the conception of children from the martial act will also be revealed in light of the Church's teachings on marriage and the dignity of each human being.

The differences between The Duggars and The Gosllins dramatically underscore the need for a clearer understanding of natural law, and why Church teachings are so vital for healthy and happy marriages. TIGER'S HOPE is designed to reach television audiences world wide with that message in a dramatic, movie format.

P.S. I can't help but also notice the differences between the position of the father in the two pictures used to illustrate this article. I did not pick these pictures with this in mind. It just "happened." (Right!) Both are pictures of the entire family around the dinning room table. Notice how John is standing in the background, a cap on his head (as if hiding or ready to bolt for the door), while Kate, in charge, is involved with the kids around the Gosslin table. Then notice how Jim Bob sits at the head of the Duggar table (in charge, and not going anywhere) while Michelle sits (partially hidden) at his side. Telling. Pay attention folks. There are consequences to violating natural law.

The Kingdom of Christ - Contemplation

2009-05-27T08:32:00.002-04:00

Here is my reflection on The Kingdom of Christ.... it's a repetition.

God, I beg you for your grace that all my thoughts and actions be directed toward the advancement of your Kingdom. I offer up all my time, money, service, suffering, spirit to the advancement of Christianity both here and there with you.... In so doing I ask that I will act against sensuality and carnality and worldly love of things.

So, here I am in the Lord's presence as I work at my various tasks throughout the day. He labors immediately beside me. I can reach out and touch Him, or look at what he is doing (as if on his desktop)... a co-worker. We are in a large tiled and marble columned round room like a rotunda. Around the perimeter are many Biblical and other unknown saints standing behind the great ancestors of mine, who stand in front of the heavenly throng. I can look around at the crowd of witnesses watching me and the Lord, and in the front row are John Williams (missionary to the South Seas, martyred), Jeremiah Williams (circuit rider preacher to the land of Lincoln and Ohio in the late 1800s), Emily Williams (Jeremiah's wife of 7), Benjamin and Ruth Williams (my parents and active Evangelicals), Hope and Burton Winke (my Aunt and Uncle -- Hope and Ruth helped their mother found dozens of Christian Churches in central India during the early 20th century), Edith & Ross Willobee and their deceased child David (my mother and aunt's missionary parents to India 1907 ff - Ross and David are buried in India), Uncle Smith (the black missionary from Trinidad who immigrated to India was died there as an old preacher who taught me at his knee and shoulder to sing "Rolled Away, All my Sins are Rolled Away" in Hindi). And over the shoulders of these blood relatives are the saints of old, resting their hands on my ancestor's shoulders —altogether watching my every move. ..... My breath and voice of my many murmuring prayers are at the vertex or foci of the rotunda and my audience can hear everything I whisper like those acoustic museum displays. Indeed I am living in Hebrews 12:1.

Then, I notice that the saints (mine and the Biblical ones) are standing, if not hovering, over beautiful polished marble of various colors... and beneath me is compacted dirt. Over the saints is a tall and ornate roof to protect them, and over me the roof is missing, exposing my efforts to sun and wind, rain, and fog, hot and cold. Sometimes my flooring is mud, other times it is hard, but it is never grass. I am in the heavenly court, and I am on display as evidence...but of what kind? Am I evidence for the prosecution or the defense? That is my choice. What will I do?

Tonight, will I make a good examination of conscience and confession? Everyone watches and prays for me.

Smelly Shepherds

2009-05-27T08:23:00.002-04:00

I'm bored with politics... at least blogging about the ancient social activity that is suppose to bring peace and goodwill to the common man, but for me only seems to bring distrust and angst. So, I'll try blogging my contemplations from time to time. I'm part of a new Oblates of Mary lay organization, under Fr. Dennis Brown. For the second time in our short Catholic life, Pam and I are going through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with him as our spiritual director. In short, the idea is to contemplate a Biblical scene, put yourself into it, and gain some spiritual fruit or lesson from imaginatively being there which you can apply today. So here goes.
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THE SHEPHERDS

I'm one of the shepherds in a pasture outside of Bethlehem. We see angels in the sky trying to talk to us. We're scared and start to run not knowing what this is. When we figure it out (how we figure it out I'm not sure) we start to argue. (All good stories have conflict.) There are four of us. One of us is a skeptic and doesn't even darken the synagogues' door step. The other is all excited and starts jumping up and down quoting obscure passages from Scripture....he's nuts. The third is a dim wit and will follow the last person he talked to or fed him. And the fourth is wanting to go back and sleep off his drunken stupor. But when Mr. Faithfilled wants us all to go see this baby in the middle of the night, I think he's off his rocker... angels or not. I mean, in the daylight the villagers wouldn't let us in the gate without taking a bath.... it's been a week and we've been living with sheep. And then there's the problem of leaving the sheep in the middle of the night with only drunk and knocked out Rocky to watch them.... not a good idea. And what would you think if you looked out your house window in the middle of the night (I mean the men back then probably has enlarged prostates, too) and saw three suspicious guys wander into town that shouldn't be there? You'd call the cops, except there was no telephone, so you'd take your stick, rouse your neighbor, and case them out of town as if they were thieves.

So, going to see Jesus, isn't that easy, even if he was born a few hundred yards away. But, in the middle of the night.... wait, how do we know the baby is awake with his parents? This might be the first night they've gotten him to sleep on time, and they're bushed and fast asleep. Wouldn't we be waking them up? "Hey, Joseph wake up Mary so we can see the baby!" Watch out he's got a biggger stick.

So, I'm wanting to believe that we should go see Jesus and bug his parents, and raise the ire of the town folk, especially when the sheep we're suppose to be watching run off into the dark. I have my doubts, because I know that unless God does this, with me an unlikely, unworthy, smelly, otherwise-occupied, and sacred sinner -- it will not happen, and we will all be ridiculed by those that know us.

Now, what was that you saw in the sky? Naw, it was a dream, go back to sleep.