The Atlanta Journal-Constitution plays to the big lie

Who cares about religious freedom when you can get others to pay for your sex life?  Again, it takes a pretty pathetic culture to toss cherished liberties (such as freedom of religion) out the window in order to advance the satisfaction of our libidos.  But this is the post-modern age, so any depth one thinks has been reached will no doubt be surpassed in days to come.

You've got to love atheists

So I've been hanging out at a few atheist blogs to see how the other half lives.  It's not pretty.  More on that later.  I have some comments to get back to and address, and I have some cleaning up to do regarding the whole chilling experience.  But in the process, I have to say, atheism is all its cracked up to be.  Are more people losing their religion today?  Sure, skepticism and secularism are the default positions of choice in our popular culture, our education system, and because of pressure, in most major workplaces.  Our courts have helped that trend. 

Another big sell is that most atheism promotes hedonistic narcissism at its finest.  Several of the blogs I've read enjoy boasting that more and more, young people are abandoning their religious faith.  That's not hard to imagine, since most atheist blogs promote their lower moral denominators as one of the benefits of an atheistic lifestyle.  Tell young kids that if you abandon belief in God, and you can have endless amounts of video games, candy, pizza, and never do any chores or homework, and you won't have a hard time with mass conversions.

Still, every now and then, you get an atheist blog post that attempts to raise the bar somewhat.  Over at the ironically title 'Friendly Atheist', after days and days ridiculing religion and pining for a day when religious belief is shoved in the closet (or in the ghettos or catacombs), one of the contributors jumps on the bandwagon and does the decent thing - condemning Hustler magazine for the flagrantly sexist attack on conservative (and that's atheist conservative) commentator S.E. Cupp.  Of course, like most things done by Flint, it represents the odious levels of human swill to which a world devoid of morals can sink.  In most cases, Left and Right, this has been condemned.  Because it is so flagrantly sexist, even the most radical feminist of groups have condemned it. 

And yet, read the comments.  I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.  When you teach that all life is biological, and everything else is an illusion we invent to make sense of the process of passing on our DNA, don't expect much in the realm of common decency.  Even when the most tepid response is given from the atheist blog ('come on guys, you have to admit, there is something 'ick' about the whole thing'), the commenters will have none of it.  I love it.  I also, because of my common sense and experience as a former agnostic and as one who sees what has and hasn't changed in the world of non-religious thought, fear it.

I will return

Many unexpected things have happened this week, and no, I'm not ducking out on the response I mentioned in a comments section below.  I'll get there, as soon as things slow down, hopefully this weekend.  Nothing bad, just busy, busy, busy.  God bless and see you soon.

Must get busy, busy, busy...

In a world of untold misery

And at the twilight of Western Civilization, our age will no doubt be remembered for our greatest contributions to human history.  Andrew Sullivan of hyper-Leftist Newsweek Magazine explains why it's worthy that we celebrate our number one priority:

Sort of makes you weep with pride, doesn't it?

Mitt Romney may have cut class once in first grade

MSNBC will be providing the 24/7 coverage that such a grave and important story deserves.

An addendum to my last post

Don't for a minute think I'm not aware of the coordinated aspect of this whole 'Obama comes to the light' mantra regarding gay marriage.  My sons nailed it, I think.  This is one more attempt, like the 'War on Women' (TM), to solidify the base by dividing Americans and keeping focus away from things like the economy and America's floundering place in the world.  It was orchestrated, and based on the immediacy of the release of this most terrible of accusations against Romney, coordinated with at least some media outlets as well.  Remember, the pres isn't free when it sells itself to slavery to a political party.  This is simply one more example.  Not to take away from the bigger story that post-modern Americans truly are a vacant bunch, a people that doesn't care about anything but getting what it wants.  God help us.

Witch hunts for a pro-gay society

I often hear that we are heading in the right direction, that we are on the right side of history, that we are so much more enlightened than people in the past.  That's good.  It's good to know when we see serious news coverage focused on a mature adult male's doings in high school.  That's right.  You read that right.  My whole life, it's been a joke, a sort of playful exaggeration, meant to illustrate how brutal politics can be.  You run for office and they'll dig up dirt from when you were in high school!  Of course they wouldn't.  Nobody would ever be so vapid and shallow as to think we can judge a full grown adult based on what they did in high school, if only because norms and values can change so radically from decades ago to now. So you wouldn't think that, hippsters that we are, folks would ever care what a person did in high school one way or another.

But this is now.  This is today.  We have gotten rid of common sense and replaced it with an ethic of convenience.  That is, we have no base values or standards other than 'whatever gets me what I want.'  We don't care about consistency, wisdom, values, we just want whatever.  And we actually have serious adults explaining that what you or I did in high school could, and possibly should, follow us the rest of our lives, especially if it somehow points to the unforgivable sin of rejecting the infallible dogmas of the Left. 

Again, anyone remember the multiple times that it's been pointed out how gay marriage will no lead to equality, but to oppression, intolerance, and censorship.  To my knowledge, Joseph McCarthy never went after people's high school activity, but I could be wrong.  If he did, however, he would be in good company in today's hip, enlightened, progressive society.  Not that there could be reasons we are going on such witch hunts, but it isn't comforting to know how Right Scare accepting we've become.

Sex with children

May not be a good thing, but enjoying it is sure no crime.  Or so says the glorious New York Court of Appeals.  I already posted about my experience on some atheist blogs in which I was informed there is likely not one thing wrong with such things as polygamy, incest, and polyamorous relations.  The commenters did, I should mention, stop short of endorsing sexual relations with children, citing concerns over the whole power and victim motif. 

Not to be outdone, the good old New York Court of Appeals has one-upped them by kicking the line out a little farther.  No, sex with children is still bad.  But we've made a huge leap forward by saying that sexually enjoying children via pornography is not a crime in the least.  As Mark Shea accurately predicts, in 50 years the Church will be persecuted not because priests had sex with children, but because priests will oppose those who wish to have sex with children.  Assuming, at that stage in the game, that's where the Church is standing on the topic. 

Attention Catholic Church

I noticed on an atheist website that there is a link sponsored by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, dedicated to setting up help for clergy who come out of the closet as atheists.  Understanding their plight, the fund is being set up to help with, among other things, education and temporary hardship grants.  Just saying.

Yesterday

                                        Oh, yesterday came suddenly

Lennon and McCartney, 1965

Boy, what a difference a day makes.  Only a day ago, our President was assuring our country that while he, like the Catholic Church, affirms the rights and equality of gay individuals in all conceivable respects, he doesn't support gay marriage.

Well, that's ancient history.  Back when the pyramids were built, Stonehenge, the Mayan temples.  Because today, our President has assured us that he actually supports gay marriage.  Good to know.

The difference I see?  Many in the GOP, and conservatives in general, are skeptical about Mitt Romney's convictions, even though these flips and flops suggest he is more conservative now than ever.  Why?  Because both logic and common sense suggests that a person who changes based on the way the wind is blowing can easily change anything based on the way the wind is blowing.  This is big news that should reveal much if we look at how the Left reacts to Obama's whiplash-inducing change of heart. After all, we're not talking about a long agonizing process.  We're talking about being told that convictions were one thing a day or two ago, and another today.

And how are those on the Left reacting?  Well, so far, based on what I've seen and heard, they are dancing in the streets.  Does it matter that this has all the aroma of a cheap political ploy, either orchestrated or as a result of pressure from White House underlings?  Apparently not.  The power of the progressive movement is that yesterday's universal moral truth is today's archaic thinking that all hip, enlightened people obviously reject.  Truth is merely that which I can get people to affirm so that I can have whatever I want now.

It isn't easy having a society based on the latest whims and fancies.  But when everyone, including a growing number of representatives of a 2000 year old faith, seem to be catching the waves, it's hard to argue against. 

Dumb headlines for lazy people

At the Atlantic Wire, the headline blazes:

"Archaeologists claim they are one step closer to proving the Bible is true!"

Oooh Hoooh!  Hurray!  Except, of course, that this is a vague and simplistic headline.  Just what is meant by true in the first place?  How much of the Bible are they talking about?  What about things that we know to be true?  The Bible mentions Rome and ancient Egypt and Assyria, and we don't doubt those.  Does that mean it's true? 

The fact is, this is a game that's been played for more than a couple centuries now. And the reason it is played is beyond any quest for actual truth or facts.  It's because of the claims that the Bible makes about the divine and our place in the cosmos.  As a result, skeptics have felt it bolstered their case if they could disprove the framework upon which many of these stories take place.

And so for centuries you have had critics claim any number of stories, anecdotes, or details in the Bible are wrong.  By that, of course, they mean not supported by any evidence outside the Bible.  Of course in many cases, if we find ancient writings, we take their word for it.  If we find an inscription on some tomb or on a pillar, we accept it at face value.  The Bible, on the other hand, is judged guilty, and only solid, corroborating evidence outside of the Bible will clear it.

And then, even not that.  Because if the charge is made, for instance that nobody was ever crucified by Rome the way the Bible speaks, by nails in hands and feet, and later we discover archaeological evidence of a skeleton executed that way, that changes nothing.  The critics can say it's a fluke, it proves nothing, it's only one case, it may be a fraud, or if they accept that this particular charge has been shown to be baseless, they simply point to another part of the Bible that has no evidence to support it.

FWIW, the existence of David's kingdom, the Exodus, and other major events that cover decades are heavily debated, but again, only because the nature of the materials puts such weight on it.  If this is found, it will only show the die-hard skeptic that the charge of error needs to be redefined, tightened, and applied to new aspects of the story. 

Modern atheism would be funny if it weren't so darn terrifying

On an atheist blog aptly named 'Crommunist Manifesto', an entry inspired by P.Z. 'embrace Nazi-style hatred of religion' Meyers, a series entitled 'Because I am an atheist...' has been posted.  The dreadful misunderstanding of religious doctrine and theology is mind numbing, and it isn't hard to see why these individuals are atheists if that is what they think religion is all about.  If that's what I thought religion was all about, I'd be an atheist!  My favorite was the individual could truly appreciate marriage, since clearly us religious types don't know anything about being married. 

But then it turns to a darker tone, as one rereads some of the posts, including that of the blogger himself. 

"Far more pragmatic and less self-reflectively thanatophobic than the first one, I realize that my body is a meat machine that has a lot of parts that can be inordinately useful to others when I’m dead. I hold no reverent sentiment toward my meat – when I die, that’s the end of me caring what happens to my body. Bury me, burn me, freeze me, shoot me into space, carve me up and use me as a bizarre sideshow in a Hallowe’en display – I won’t be around to have an opinion. However, I am cognizant of the fact that there are a lot of people who are literally dying to have a fresh shot at my slightly-used organs. If my atheism-fueled joi de vivre leads me to a premature death in a freak motorcycle-jousting-with-a-tiger accident, let those salvageable bits of me go to some use!"

Yeesh.  As I've said before, the contempt that post-modern secularists have for human life has gone well beyond anything imagined in the late 19th century intelligentsia.  At least they thought European life was somehow special, though some like Schopenhauer and Nietzsche properly understood that without God, all is pointless and it's dog-eat-dog, which is more ore less what our good atheist blogger is saying.  Life is only worth something for the moment, for me, based on me having fun and doing what I think is important because it's all about me.  If I'm cut shot, so be it.  Another slab of worthless meat for the grinder. Welcome to the brave new world.

There's a reason that over the centuries religion may have killed its millions, but within a matter of decades, the elimination of religion killed its tens of millions. 

Skeptics affirm the faith of atheism

By posting this celebration of Hitchens in billboard form, skeptics inadvertently demonstrate the ugly fact that atheism, like all beliefs about the supernatural and the divine, are just that - beliefs.  So the next time an atheist tries to suggest theirs is based on anything other than mere belief, informed though they believe it is, just point to this quote by the late Mr. Hitchens. 

FFRF reminds us it's all about the groin

In yet another stellar example of bravery and courage, the FFRF packs a good deal of lies and half-truths in order to encourage women to quit the Catholic Church.  The main issues?  In its own words:

'contraception, abortion, sterilization, birth control, gay rights, marriage equality, embryonic stem-cell research'

So basically, using contempt for human life in order to focus our entire existence around issues to do with the genitals and sex without responsibility.  That's the core, the dogma, the sacrament of the post-modern secular left.  The Catholic Church is nothing because it dares to suggest that human life is not a disease to be cured so that we can ignore everything in the world for better orgasms and more money.  Tsk, tsk, tsk.  When will the Church ever learn? 

Well done Georgetown University

Yet another feather in the cap of American Catholicism.  If it weren't for American Catholics, where would they be, all those forces that want to destroy the Church? 

Looking back thousand years from now

I can't help but imagine that our age will be a joke giggled at by school children.  And a bad joke at that.  While we look down as intellectual giants and scoff at those we consider to be cognitive dwarfs who came before us, I think that the joke, in the end, will  be on us.  I can't help but think people will look at the majesty and brilliance of the intellectual revolutions of the West, from preserving the knowledge of antiquity in the monasteries of northern Europe, to the intellectual movements of the High Middle Ages, to the enlightenment and scientific revolution, and wonder, "How the hell did it come down to that?" 

Coming to an Orwellian State near you

As I said the other day, 'tis obesity that now threatens the universe, and a growing army of number crunchers and think tanks are concluding that we must end this freedom to eat and drink as we choose.  Naturally, sex is ignored, as are the myriad ills that the sexual revolution has visited upon our civilization.  Sex, drugs, bathroom humor - all are free and open in our enlightened age.  It's just everything else that we need to have controlled, regulated, censored, or banned.  Smart thinking America. 

Where do people find time for this?

Why?

Why does the Catholic Church always - and I mean always - lead the charge when it comes to bad stats.  While my suspicions about the accuracy and balance of surveys and studies is known, I also admit that if the sources would appear to prefer a different outcome, and the story is confirmed across the board, it might be worthy paying attention to.

So in this case, we see that approximately one fifth of American Catholics are not tied to a parish.  What does that even mean?  Well, that would be like those Protestants and Evangelicals who consider themselves Christian, but don't attend church.  The difference is, I never knew the numbers of any denomination I was affiliated with to be that high.

Of course there is a cultural difference.  The Catholic Church does treat things differently and approach things differently than other Christian traditions.  But it's not just this either.  Time and time again, you see this or that study out that Catholics don't believe basic Catholic teachings, ignore teachings on crucial issues (abortion/contraception), or don't know what their own faith teaches far beyond what those in other religions and traditions kinow about theirs.  Why?

I don't know.  But here's my thought. Because 1000 years ago, when the Christian world was confined to a single civilization, and that civilization, while not entirely based upon Christian teachings, was nonetheless heavily influenced and centered around Christian teachings, the Church could administer the sacraments, teach those who wanted to be taught, and leave it there.  Without tryinig, Catholicism was more or less in the air that Catholic breathed.  For the next ten centuries, the Catholic Church didn't appear to do much to change that dynamic.

Even in this century, we all know that Catholics were told that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Faith.  We Catholics are a Sacramental people.  It's the Sacraments, stupid.  OK.  That's fine.  The Sacraments are those all important pit stops in our spiritual pilgrimage, the sources of energy and power that we have to keep going in our quest for eternal life.

The problem is, the Indianapolis 500 is not all about pit stops.  I mean, drivers don't get there and then go from pit stop to pit stop.  Nor do they go to a pit stop once in a while and then leave for home.  The pit stop is essential for racing, but it's ultimately about the race, not the pit stop.  The pit stops are there to serve the greater goal of winning the prize.  And many things outside the pit stop, including practicing, the right car, the right crew, the training and knowledge of the crew, the funding, all go into a successful racing career.  Oh, without the pit stops, you wouldn't win races.  They are life itself.  But nobody in their right mind thinks that the Indy or any other race is just about the pit stops.

And yet, get down to it, and the Catholic Church continues to take this 'we're just here for the sacraments' approach in a culture increasingly open about its hostility toward the Faith.  A non-Christian culture.  A civilization where, outside of the Catholic Church, where exactly are the faithful going to get anything BUT the Sacraments if the Catholic Church isn't providing it? 

The good news is that the Church is coming around, and seeing the need to cultivate an inner fellowship, an essential kerygma but also an absolutely crucial didache.  Evangelism and teaching.  Our culture isn't going to advise people to check out the Church.  And nothing in it is going to encourage people to live that Catholic life. 

So while the good news is that the Church appears to be learning that you can't take the Medieval European model for Catholic living and apply it to a post-Christian, secular hedonistic civilization, the change is, as can be expected, painfully slow.  And as that giant ship lurches its way in a half circle to get to where it needs to be, no small number of Catholics are slipping through the cracks. 

Incest loving atheists?

In an update on my post below, I notice that one scurvy wag got on there and attempted to put these atheists' feet to the fire about marriage discrimination.  He's right, of course.  As I've said before, it's only marriage equality if any combination of adults can get married, not just homosexuals. 

Well, not to be outmaneuvered, our brave new world advocates step in and make our brave interloper look foolish by explaining that this whole incest and polygamy things are just forbidden based on archaic emotions anyway.  Except for a few biological problems that science and medicine may be able to help with, there's not thing one wrong with good old incest, bother and sister, polyamorous sex, heck maybe even mom and son and dad and daughter (providing, of course, consent is in the equation).

Once more, from the top.  Any idea that this is not a revolution to obliterate the Christian/Jewish foundations of the West, and replace it with a shadowy mockery of pre-Christian barbarism and debauchery should, by now, be all but put to rest.  FWIW, I particularly liked the comments where the gay rights atheists scream 'paranoia and fear mongering' over bringing the whole incest question up, even while others are arguing for its potential legitimacy.  That should speak volumes right there.