Martin Luther King on Freedom

Commemorating Martin Luther King's magnificent address at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, August 28, 1963.

Child of God

I Am

The fact the I am

is amazing and wonderful.

I can move about

I can think, love and choose.

I can grow--

In wisdom.

I am yours, God.

Your beloved child.

Gifted as you see fit.

For sharing,

For loving,

For bearing,

In utter reliance on You.

In trust,

Totally secure,

Totally loved,

Totally yours.

                                                             

                                                         - Sister Virginia Flagg, MM

Phil Robertson on Life

St. John Bosco on Faith

Supporting the Beleaguered Copts

Burnt Coptic Church in Minyan, Upper Egypt  (Photo: David Degner)

Since ex-Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi was deposed from power in July, 2013, there has been increasing violence targeted against Egypt's eight million Coptic minority. In the past fortnight, 58 Christian Churches (14 of them Catholic) throughout Egypt.




Aside from torching these churches, agitated Islamists also paraded three Franciscan nuns through the streets like prisoners of war before a Muslim woman gave them refuge.  Alas, two other women working at the school were sexually harassed as they fought to get through the mob.

When an Obama Administration spokesman was asked about whether the violence in Egypt crossed a red line on the Obama Doctrine's "Duty to Protect", the White House flack  chose to make a snarky comeback.






Fortunately, not everyone  took the Muslim Brotherhood inspired attacks against the Copts and other Egyptian Christians as a laughing matter.  The Catholic Bishops in Egypt released a statement:  "This is not a civil war between Christians and Muslims. It is not a civil war but a war against terrorism. And the majority of the population is against terrorism and religious extremism."

Due to the threats of violence, the Coptic Virgin Mary and Priest Ibram Monasteryi in Degla, Upper Egypt, did not celebrate Divine Liturgy  for the first time in 1600 years. But Fr. James Martin, S.J. posted an inspiring photo on his Facebook account which showed the faithful celebrating Mass in a burnt out church. 

While people may hold different religious tenants and express their faithfulness in different ways, this site celebrates religious freedom and the freedom of conscience.  These attacks seem to be targeted against Christian faithful in Egypt, which predates the introduction of Islam.  The Muslim Brotherhood may be using the unrest as a means to impose shariah upon Egypt, which is contrary to Egypt's history. 

Although it is not my creed, count me as a Copt to standing up for their faith and supporting the freedom in conscience throughout the world. There is a campaign to show support for beleaguered Christian believers in Egypt with the #iamcoptic campaign.  This is not like the trend in the Nineties to show how much you care by wearing ribbons.  This is to recognize that the Islamist persecutions of Copts in Egypt may represent a Christian Krystallnact in 1938 when Nazi Germany ramped up persecution of their Jewish scapegoat minority before embarking on their diabolic final solution of the Holocaust. 

Mistaken Assumptions?

As the Catholic Church ends the Octave of the Assumption by commemorating the Memorial of the Queenship of the Virgin Mary, it seems apropos to end the Octave with a smile about "Mistaken Assumptions".

For me, this year's celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption was special.  Not for the liturgy in a handspun parish in the "Wild and Wonderful" state.  Preparing for the Holy Day of Obligation sparked some "Reconsidering the Assumption".  The Orthodox traditions on the Dormition of the Theotokis enhanced my appreciation of the Solemnity reflecting Christ's resurrection.  Taylor Marshall's reflections gives context on the Queenship of Mary and power over Purgatory. 

Bishop Venerable Fulton Sheen believed that the very foundation of humor is the ability to "see through things."  While Jason Bach's cartoon brought a smile to my face, it helped me see through humor a better understanding the the Assumption.

h/t: JasonBachCartoons.com

St. Arnold on Beer

Misguided Prayers to POTUS?

A YouTube video has gone viral which features a child praying to Barack Obama.

Some of the verbiage used did not seem like it would naturally come from the mouth of babes.  In addition, at one point the boy pauses and he is softly prompted off camera.  Thus it is shocking that such sacrilege is being inculcated by adults.

Protestants often protest at the Catholic practice of praying to saints.  But Catholics are quick to distinguish their veneration (regarding with great respect) and worshiping.  Since Catholics believe that Saints are already eternally alive and in paradise, it is asking a spiritual big brother for help when petitioning the divine.

While the blasphemous blurb from the boy does mention that  "God has given you special gifts", when one listens closely to the viral video, he thanks Barack Obama for all the gifts he has received.  That certainly sounds like worship to me, said on one's knees no less.

Such misguided prayers should not be surprising considering the near cult of personality which the Lamestream Media has portrayed the President. Prior to his election in 2008, Mark Motford perpetuated the myth of Obama as a Light Worker or enlightened being.  In 2009, Newsweek journalist Evan Thomas opined that Obama was standing over the world, a sort of God. In 2010, Newsweek continued this meme portraying Obama in the style of an Indian God with many arms.

Moreover, there were a spate of photos framed so that Obama looked like he had a halo.  And Mr. Obama seemed to have trouble mentioning God when reciting portions of the Declaration of Independence. 

Aside from obvious illusions which put Obama on a divine plain, the elite liberal media has made it taboo to give President Obama a hard question much less satirize him.  Last week, Drew Johnson, who was the managing editorial editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press was fired after he pushed an unsigned editorial piece entitled: "Take Your Jobs Plan and Shove It."  In April 2012, Larry Conners was fired from St. Louis TV station KMOV after asking President Obama hard questions in what the White House intended as a softball local media interview. 

And consider the rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair i who dared to wear a mask of the President while doing his entertainment job.  Missouri's Governor Jay Nixon (D-MO), Lieutenant Governor Pete Kinder (R-MO)  and Senator Claire McCaskell (D-MO) all offered apologies.  In addition, the Missouri State Fair issued a lifetime ban on the masked rodeo clown.  

American culture is being led to a point where the President is being put on a pedestal and made beyond reproach. This harkens back to sensibilities of divine rulers when is was a crime and blasphemy to question the monarch. It is dubious if other Presidents are part of this pantheon of unquestionable leaders.  And shouldn't progressives be supporting the separation of Church and State? 

Perhaps another self described rodeo clown was prescient.  In October 2008, Glenn Beck produced "The Obama Anthem" set to the Soviet State Anthem as a piece of election agiprop as well as promoting his premiere on Fox News Channel in 2009.

The messianic allusions as well as the hallmarks of the imagined reign ring poignantly today. 

  

Czeslaw Milosz on the Sacred

By What Are YOU Called?

This maxim MUST be true as it was shown in Animal House (1978).  But whether or not you  has a goading tempter  and a condescending cherub on your shoulder, the real question is to whom do You answer. 

Over-the-Counter Eugenics?

Part of the pharmaceutical publicity roll out for Plan B One-Step by Teva Pharmaceuticals includes this ad. The model for this campaign clearly does not look over 17.  But  this is in line with the April 2013  Food and Drug Administration ruling that women and children can purchase the abortifacient over-the- counter provided the purchaser can show an ID proving that they are over 15.  In June 2013, the Obama Administrated aborted its attempt to block over-the-counter availability of pill to all women and girls. 

The marketing of this pill is targeting youthful minorities as an alternative to birth control pills, which might require a pesty and embarrassing visit to a physician while skirting some state's parental notification requirements. 

When a dozen New York City high schools announced that they would be distributing  the so called "morning after pill", New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan  objected to distributing powerful drugs with serious potential side effects to girls as young as 14 without parental consent as being "tragic and misguided".  Cardinal Dolan's modest proposal that: 

The public schools would be better advised to promote what truly works rather than continuing to follow a failed experiment that will only lead to further problems for society and for young people.

But of course inculcating an approach of abstinence before marriage is advocating morality and that can not be allowed in secular schools.  But freely distributing morning after pills like Plan B while limiting aspirin, ear-piercing, tattoos or tanning beds without parental consent is fine because of potential health risks. 

In New York City, 60% of all pregnancies to non-Hispanic blacks end in abortions. Nationally, it is the largest cause of death for African Americans since 1973.

Abortion advocates have long advocated that such a delicate decision should be made between a woman and her doctor.  Now Plan B eliminates the doctor which may ameliorate those horrific statistics.  And since it is an Over-the-Counter purchase, it eliminates the cost strain on the free birth control and abortofacients prescribed in Obamacare. 

Abortion opponents like Dr. Alveda King have observed that the most dangerous place for African Americans is the womb. 

The Plan B One-Step and the marketing towards minority youth seems to fulfill Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger's plan to weed out undesirable elements from the population.  The irony is that the eugenics occurs at the hands of targeted population.  What progress!

Then again,  consider President Obama's blessing of Planned Parenthood during his re-election campaign in 2012. 

Thomas Merton on Solitude