American Idol---Pun Intended/Father George Rutler

Father Rutler, rector of Church of Our Saviour in New York City writes the following about Catholics and the election of Obama, it's sobering.

"In February of 1943, the ill-prepared United States Army II Corps valiantly fought against the German-Italian Panzer Army at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia but had to retreat. The army did wake up, commanders were replaced, the troops regrouped, and eventually the war was won. This is a contemporary allegory, when we see the social consequences of poorly formed Catholics overwhelmed by secular forces that have no love for the Church.

In the nineteenth century, Cardinal Newman warned that naïve Catholics would fall into "mass apostasy" through lack of preparedness in spiritual combat: "Do you think (the Prince of Lies) is so unskillful in his craft, as to ask you openly and plainly to join him in his warfare against the Truth? No; he offers you baits to tempt you. He promises you civil liberty; he promises you equality; he promises you trade and wealth; he promises you a remission of taxes; he promises you reform. This is the way in which he conceals from you the kind of work to which he is putting you; he tempts you to rail against your rulers and superiors; he does so himself, and induces you to imitate him; or he promises you illumination, — he offers you knowledge, science, philosophy, enlargement of mind. He scoffs at times gone by; he scoffs at every institution which reveres them. He prompts you what to say, and then listens to you, and praises you, and encourages you. He bids you mount aloft. He shows you how to become as gods. Then he laughs and jokes with you, and gets intimate with you; he takes your hand, and gets his fingers between yours, and grasps them, and then you are his."

Many have warned about the consequences of yielding the Faith to false messiahs. Years before becoming pope, Benedict XVI wrote: "Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes not divine, but demonic" (Truth and Tolerance, p. 116).

We are about to witness many outrages against the dignity of life by politicians who have taken advantage of nominal Christians. For starters, we may expect removal of the present administration's ban on destructive embryonic research, and rejection of the Mexico City accords which restrained abortion and eugenics. Most immediately, the New York State legislature has proposed a bill removing the statute of limitations on lawsuits that would damage, and possibly bankrupt, Catholic and other private institutions. Since Cardinal Egan wrote his letter about this, the recent election gave both houses of the legislature to the party that favors this bill.

As with the lesson of the Kasserine Pass, we are learning that there is no place for amateur soldiers in the army of the Lord. A short time from now, many will say: "We should have listened to the warnings." The hard response will be: "Why didn't you?"

"Self-Limitation"/Understanding Patriotism

"Wisdom comes out of the mouth of children"

My 3 year old grandson's most recent interest is "super heroes." Not long ago, when we were together, he designed the game "du jour."

First, we gathered up all the super heroes placing them on the couch, we were to stay put on the couch as well, (as the "unmoved movers!") Then, he explained the objective; defend our territory against the "bad guys," (the anti-heroes.) It was an exacting struggle, as first one super hero, then another, fell off the couch arms, only to be quickly rescued by another super hero, just in the nick of time. In the end, we won.

According to G K Chesterton, what my grandson was doing in this little game, was creating his own version of "self-limitation."

Children play "stepping stone" games, arbitrarily limiting the stones on which they can step. We've all played "hopscotch." We've all heard the story of Noah's Ark, perhaps we played our own version of it as children. Most of us have read Robinson Crusoe. GK makes the point that what makes it such a great tale is not that a boy makes an explorative step outward, but that he becomes a man, surviving alone, on the self-limiting environment of an island.

Have you ever been asked the perennially intriguing question: if you could only have one book, while stranded on a desert island, which one would you choose?

Self-limitation, as Chesterton calls it, seems to be innate. Chesterton's first novel, a political allegory, concerns Adam Wayne, a man living in a future authoritarian England, the culture of which, is drowning in ennui and apathy. Given the opportunity, he re-ignites the entire country with a sense of vigor and life, by patriotically defending his own little hamlet, Notting Hill.

We all have our "Notting Hill."

However, most on the political Left, as well as the intellectual elite brooding on college campuses, or, the "sophisticated Europeans," like Barack Obama is wont to be, tell us, who are still steeped in the pride of patriotism and love of America, that we are backward buffoons! Could it be true? Is patriotism only a parochial prejudice that leads to Imperialism?

Chesterton would say, "No!" In fact, as he traces the evolution of his own thoughts on the subject, in his autobiography, he comes to the conclusion that patriotism is necessary, nurturing and spiritually edifying to man's nature.

Man, is at his best when he is rooted, ideally, within the context of his own "means of production," contributing to the larger society. Hillaire Belloc wrote: "Give a man a farm, a small business, an artisan's anvil, a boat to sail, wine to drink-suffuse all this with the love of Christ; center man's life around liturgical rhythms; and that man....is happy..."

Patriotism, in this context, does not contribute to the "aggrandizement of power and territory," characteristic of Imperialism; on the contrary, it celebrates the liberty and dignity of every man to his own "Notting Hill."

We have enshrined these principles of the Natural Law in our founding documents. Thousands of Americans have sacrificed their own lives so that other human beings, in distant lands, could have the opportunity to thrive on their own Notting Hills.

God forbid that patriotism should die in our land, because if it dies here, the lofty principles upon which it rests, will have met their demise as well.

The kind of patriotism that invigorates Americans is the life blood of humanity, and our Father would not have us take it lightly!

As Father Brown states, in Chesterton's famous "Father Brown" series:

"Reason and justice, grip the remotest and the loneliest star"

Therefore, you are right to keep a firm grip on them as well, on your own, "Notting Hill."

A Crisis of Faith/The Battle for Western Civilization

"IT'S FALL, THE LEAVES ARE COMING DOWN,and I have fallen into myself. I'm flat on my back, under the cottonwood,yellow leaves falling, brilliant blue above, abandoned rake beside. My two children sit at my side, feeding sticks to the dog, who understands that every time he gently takes a twig from their hands and crushes it in his teeth he is causing great delight, and so he keeps doing it stick after stick. Somtimes they leave him long enough to tackle me and I have just enough time to clench my stomach muscles so the air isn't knocked out of me, and we laugh and wrestle. When they grow tired of all this, I play an injured character so that I can stay a bit longer, an injured knight, injured princess,...all in need of medical attention. I tell stories, and while we play I watch the leaves come down...Finally, finally, finally, I have fallen."

This is from a piece in "5280" magazine, September 2008 edition, by Laura Pritchett, entitled, Falling Into Myself.

In my opinion, Laura Pritchett exemplifies, "man," discovering his mystic core. Man, is, by nature, a mystic.

But, back to that in a minute, to change the subject slightly...

This is a pivotal time in American history, in world history; since people make history, it's a pivotal time for each one of us as well.

Everyone has heard of the culture war, proximally effecting the upcoming federal election, but also apparent in everything from media to education to economics. We are in the midst of a fierce existential struggle; everything, even our own salvation, depends on it. The entirety of Western civilization is at stake... no more procrastinating; we are literally on the brink. So, if you never thought of yourself as a soldier before, start thinking in those terms now, because you are on the front lines of a raging battle, whether you like it or not.

How does mysticism apply? Before we can rescue Western civilization from the forces arrayed against it, we must recover ourselves, our heritage, so to speak.

Listen to what a wise catholic convert, now gone on to the church triumphant, Malcolm Muggeridge says:

"...the real crisis which confronts us is about faith rather than power, about the question 'Why' rather than the question "How"--about man's relationship with his Creator rather than about his energy supplies, his currency, his balance of trade and Gross National Product, his sexual fantasies, and his other passing preoccupations with which the media interminably concern themselves. ...whereas the God we serve, the salvation we hope for, the light we live by in this world, and when we come to leave it, the vista reaching before us into eternity--these concern the very fundamentals of our moral existence."



And, now, another prophetic voice, William McNamara, a Discalced Carmelite monk:



"What is at stake is not the means to survive, not even the will to survive, but the faith to survive. Was not our Western civilization born of the great drama enacted in Palestine two thousand years ago, the drama of the Incarnation, the Passion and the Resurrection and all the ramifications of that latter world-changing event? It was this divine drama that inspired the great art, music, literature and architecture that have and will be the glory of our civilization."(Christian Mysticism.)

What is the battle over...it is "the very fundamentals of our moral existence." Western civilization, going as far back as the long spiritual history of our Jewish forebears, has given us the American principles of liberty, justice, the rule of law, and, the moral principles and ideals of virtue expressed in our Declaration of Independence.

If we hope to win this war, we will need the kind of faith born of man's natural mysticism. And, this is precisely what we are losing in our headlong rush toward human self-sufficiency, obsession with busyness and "enlightened" social engineering. In the process of degrading the language, the culture, by "political correctness," our values are giving way to the meaninglessness of post-modern relativism. If this descent continues, we will lose. The enemy, both within and without, seeks to destroy the very fundamentals of Western civilization.

Laura Pritchett also quotes from the great philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard:

"The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, 5 dollars, a wife, etc, is bound to be noticed."

How do we recover ourselves, our common mystical faith? By doing what is the most natural thing in the world for us.


The mysticism of which I speak is not the "pie in the sky" New Age spirituality of modern charlatans, like Deepak Chopra, whose true character was exposed recently in his tirade against a perfectly normal, well-meaning American mother, Sarah Palin; nor does it have anything to do with trendy politically correct fashions within the church, which simply try to accommodate secular tastes. Nor is the answer to be found in the myriad of "self-help" tomes on bookstore shelves, nor is it in ivy league liberal arts departments, long ago surrendered to the idols of modernism.

No, Pritchett's final relvelation, "buying substantially less stuff, being outside, being present and playful with my children," is closer to an answer than any of the foregoing.

Go with your gut. There is more truth to be found in a game of "kick the can," or in collapsing on a pile of Fall leaves and letting your puppy and your toddler crawl all over you, than can be had in any other activity.

Trust your gut...your common sense; does it seem just "crazy" that the neighborhood elementary school can't have a Christmas Program, that a high school senior can't attribute her valedictorian achievement to Our Lord in a graduation speech, for fear of having her microphone turned off, that a baby in the womb can't be kept safe, that creeping social banalities continue to challenge traditional marriage, legitimize internet pornography, and mock Judeo-Christian values? Your common sense is right. It is crazy!

Let us remember what brought us to the highest pinnacle of human civilization. It is inherent in us, it is easy, don't doubt it, live by its wisdom and fight for every square inch of it, whether in the public square or in a pile of leaves in your front yard!

And, keep yourself "little," grateful, or, in the words of the poet, Francis Thompson, a Catholic convert, in his "Essay on Shelley."

"Know ye what it is to be a child?

It is to have a spirit yet streaming with the waters of baptism,
It is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief,
It is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear,
It is to turn pumpkins into coaches and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul, it is to live in a nutshell, and to count yourself the king of infinite space, it is,

'To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wildflower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.'”

(Essay on Shelley, Francis Thompson)

Catholic Bishops, where are you on Immigration?

Catholic Bishops, where are you...again?

Ok, so finally, you are, more or less collectively, speaking out in the pulpit and in the media against voting for politicians who support abortion, ie., (we're talking about OBAMA here,) and some of you are even asking priests not to offer the eucharist to politicians who scandalously vote for abortion legislation or who deny the Church's teaching regarding when life begins...think Pelosi.

I say, good, and it's about time. I wish you had been so pro-active in the pulpit 15 years ago. However, better late than never.

But, you still have a big problem, ethically. Its name is "immigration." And, your misguided efforts to encourage illegal immigration has a collateral effect on the "life" issue. I don't know why you can't figure that out...or, if you have, then, I'm even more disturbed as to your motives.

I went to a Roman Catholic Mass last week. The priest announced that they now have a Spanish Mass every week to accommodate their parishioners. Why does the Church need a Spanish mass, all of a sudden? Could it be that there are so many illegals in the community who, of course, don't speak English?

What did the priest NOT say? He didn't say this..."As your spiritual father, I want to address this to any illegal immigrants in the congregation today, it is a sin to cross a sovereign border, illegally. By doing so, you have put at risk thousands of innocent people. You have compromised their property, their healthcare, their jobs, their very lives and you must take responsibility. The Church does not justify your actions and admonishes you to come out of hiding and report yourselves to the authorities..you need to do the right thing. You are welcome in our country but only when you come legally and do not expose current American citizens to the inevitable and undeserved repercussions. The Church will support you sacramentally and with humane assistance, but we do not condone the initial sin that brought you here in the first place."

We will never hear that sermon! Now, I understand why priests love to swell their congregations, but, by justifying what is actually a sinful act, you are also encouraging sympathetic Mexican Americans to vote for Obama because of the imimigration issue.

Worse, I have even read on some catholic forums that many in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church rationalize voting for a pro-choice democrat by saying, "we really can't do anything about the abortion issue at this point, so, we should vote on the immigration issue."

This is a blasphemy, especially when it occurs in the religious community.

Selective morality on the part of the Church will reap what it sows....

The bishops and priests need to be consistent morally; then, and only then, will their compassion be genuine. Right now, by encouraging illegals they are showing NO compassion for the 900 Americans a month, who suffer from violence at the hands of illegals!

Authenticity wins/"A contrite and humble heart, O Lord"

I'm watching the live streaming video of the Colorado Springs rally today. Wow, thousands are showing up, I 25 was really backed up for miles!

The American flags that the Democrats trashed after their convention at Invesco were rescued by a good soul, the Boy Scouts collected trash bags full of these flags; they are now being distributed to people in the crowd to be taken home and flown with pride! A telling meaphor.

I am convinced that the wrenching authenticity of John McCain and Sarah Palin will propel them over the finish line in November.

There was one stunning moment in John McCain's speech on Thursday night.

"They broke me, I felt ashamed."

As a Catholic, I could not help recall the 51st Psalm, "a wounded heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise."


Such candor is rare, especially in a politician! However, McCain is older and in terms of death bed reflection he's got nothing to lose, but he's also been to hell and back, he realizes the gravity of what he's asking of the American people. He owes them the truth.

Showing no insecurity, he was brutally honest. He conceded that he had been broken, he was no longer his own man. What saved him? The "Other." In a prison cell in Viet Nam the "other" came in the grit of a fellow prisoner who gave him the energy to get up and try again. This is the ultimate existential moment of every man, that is why it struck home to every American like a white hot ember melting through the dross.

It is at this moment, when man’s spirit is freed from the depths of his soul, and man, becomes who he is. He faces reality directly, honestly. A mere creature, part of the organic matter upon which he rests, and yet, within this mystery, there is a paradox, for, it is at this very moment when the lion within groans, rises out of the ashes of despair and roars majestically, all the way into infinity, spirit seeking Spirit.

Yes, man is mere creature, but at this moment he “knows,” (in the existential sense of that word, “gnosis,” translated from the ancient Greek,) that he is a creature…with a Father.

Here we have utter authenticity. One is now teachable, capable of wisdom.


Now to Sarah.

She strikes the same resounding chord of authenticity. How? Did you notice Piper licking her hand and patting down her little brother's hair while Mom was speaking?

Sarah said "yes" to God's will for her soul in giving birth to Trigg, her beautiful little boy. She's " walked the walk," or, to put it another way, she's given her own "fiat."

Inspite of what the pseudo-feminists say, like NOW, Goria Steinem, Oprah, etc., Sarah Palin is authentically feminine. Pseudo femininists are not advocates of women, they are advocates of one thing and one thing only...abortion. True feminism cradles, nourishes and protects new life...this takes true courage, true strength of character.

Both of these individuals have faced their own trials, both have come out on the side of sacrificial love, a refining fire.


Sarah and John can be trusted. Pray for them.

The train tracks of life

My grandson loves to watch his "Thomas" go rolling around the tracks, through tunnels, over bridges, he loves to lay down at eye level with it, relax, and just watch the train be a train.

One time, while we were stretched out on the floor enjoying the moment, I remembered an analogy I had come across in a book, (can't remember now which book.) The writer had compared man's existential condition to a train moving along train tracks. His context, as I remember it, had to do with Catholics fretting over church dogma, and how the rules were necessary because they were conducive to man's spiritual destiny.

Suppose the train could reflect on itself. It might say, "Look at how confined I am by these tracks, I want to jump these accursed tracks and be free." Unfortunately, as soon as our talking train escapes his imprisonment he finds himself completely immobile! The moral, of course, is that it's fine to live ones life off the tracks, unless one is a train!

The defining question here is, what is man? Is he, by nature, a worshipping being, is he a creature, who, by definition, requires meaning as much as knowledge? Does he have a transcendent spiritual core which is "restless until it rests in (Martin Buber's )'Thou."? (St. Augustine)

Let's examine what separates the cultural "right" from the cultural "left?" What separates the religious "right" from the religious "left?" These political, theological and cultural divides are, in reality, disagreements over the intrinsic nature of man. They are substantive debates, and should not be trivialized by the "can't we all just get along mentality." We need to engage and confront these controversies honestly.

Consider the debate over absolutes and secularism, which Pope Benedict referred to in his first major address as Pope.

Secularists are preoccupied with humanism in one form or another. Man is unraveling the secrets of the universe, of biology, of physics...religious rituals, loyalties, are now obsolete, in fact, they are counter productive, inhibiting man's inevitable progress. Man is now capable of setting the parameters, rules are self-interpretive and situational. Man runs toward self-glorification with every step. Here we have relativism.

On the other side, we have the long Judeo-Christian Tradition, a spiritual legacy embodied in the Natural Law, and the "corner stone" of western civilization. Man is created in the image of God, his destiny is communion, a covenant of love with the three Persons of the Trinity. The wonders of scientific discovery, the mystical heights of contemplation, in complementarity, draw man more deeply into the love story. Man runs towards God and finds his destiny. Here we have absolutes.

Two very different world views, indeed. From which well should we drink? Which source has the "living water," that will quench man's unremitting thirst for freedom, for meaning?

My "money" is on the Judeo-Christian Tradition. At times, in my life, I have been, "off the tracks" and the freedom it promised was a mirage. True freedom enables man to be most himself, or, in theological terms...we are to become what we are.

Mark Steyn, in his latest piece in Imprimis, entitled, Lights Out on Liberty, gives us a very sobering analysis of what is lurking out there, off the tracks, so to speak.

"On August 3, 1914, on the eve of the First World War, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, stood at the window of his office in the summer dusk and observed, 'The lamps are going out all over Europe.' Today, the lights are going out on liberty all over the Western world, but in a more subtle and profound way."

He proceeds to list numerous instances where the western world is cowering, appeasing and giving way entirely to forces that would utterly destroy our freedoms. To name a few;

1. In the Danish cartoon crises the European Union Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security proposed "prudence" when dealing with Islam, aka...Islam is off limits!

2. Steyn himself is currently being sued by the Canadian Islamic Congress because of his "flagrant Islamophobia."

3. The British government is "issuing Sharia-compliant Islamic bonds,

4. Steyn reports that the Fortis Bank, in London, "has stopped using Knorbert the piglet as a mascot for fear of offending Muslims,

5. And, according to Steyn, last month the Archbishop of Canterbury said that it was dangerous to have one law for eneryone and that the introduction of Sharia to the United Kingdom was "inevitable." Oh, yes, the ugly spector of relativism haunts the Church as well.

I only touched the surface with these snippets. Steyn concludes, if this is what is happening now with Muslims at 10% of the population, what will happen when they are 20%...? "Honor killings" are taking place in our own big cities right now.

I would argue, that when one sees true liberty, piece by piece, being abolished, all in the name of tolerance and peace...we are severely off the tracks!

There are absolutes in regard to man's highest and noblest aspirations. It is my contention, they are as firmly planted in our nature as is our DNA.

If we want to go anywhere we're going to need those tracks.

"Renewing America's Promise"/Cecile Richards?

This is a difficult topic...the most difficult topic, because it strikes at the very heart of good and evil.

Evil in our time, given a slight post-modernist spin, (a cultural tendency of the late 20 th century it is underpinned by French theorists such as Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Jean-Francois Lyotard . It rejects a notion of universal truth but emphasises that meaning is in appearance and interpretation. ...) is, in effect, calling what is good, evil, and vice versa. Nowhere is this more evident than in the "Alice in Wonderland" jibberish that passes for the abortion debate.

Most intellectually honest individuals realize, for example, that to call the philosophy, that justifies the taking of innocent human life in a mother's womb, which, should be the safest place for it, "pro-choice," is a catastrophic abuse of language, and, more tragically, of meaning. So, now, individuals who believe in the ultimate dignity of human life, are anti-choice!

This is a lie, of course. The truth is, that "responsibility" begins before conception, not after. However, this is the nature of evil, where ever it is perpetrated. It is not difficult to make truth a casuality when, according to our post modern culture, meaning itself is "[only] appearance and interpretation."

Politics now brings us to Tuesday night at the DNC. The theme of the night is, "Renewing America's Promise." On this night, Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, will speak to the Convention. Her abortion message, a sacrilege, certainly fits in with renewing America's promise, doesn't it? Welcome to "Alice in Wonderland!"

BHO has, in truth, (please see the American Right to Life website for an account of all the dismal facts, which difinitively prove his lies, regarding Illinois legislation BAIPA,) cast down his "thirty pieces" with evil, on the only ultimately significant issue--the dignity of human life, created in God's image. No Catholic should EVER vote for such an individual...see Chaput's recent book, Render Unto Caesar.

I have written several posts about the theological concept of "Personhood." Arguably, every threat to our Judeo-Christian culture today, is an attempt to strike down "Personhood," for the individual human being, and, ultimately, the Divine Communion/Personhood, of our Trinitarian God.

We, as Christians, simply must acquire a grasp, both intellectually and mystically, through prayer, of the danger and existential threat, to which we have fallen victim in the modern age. We are an inextricable part, an indispensable and sacred part, of the greatest of all Mysteries, God's own Mystery of love. We must take our stand on the battle lines and fight the good fight in our daily lives, as heirs of those great founding fathers who, unapologetically, brought forth our country in sacrifice and love, founded on Judeo-Christian principles.

Finally, perhaps this is too harsh on the Church, some of the Bishops, most notably Pope Benedict himself, and, in my own community, Bishop Chaput of Denver, have called Christians out to defend truth, against relativism, secularism and the assault on human dignity and freedom.

I came across a wonderful piece by Professor Michael Heller, given at the Templeton Prize News Conference in March of this year. The full statement can be read here,..., it speaks of the "Great Mystery," of God,

Science is but a collective effort of the Human Mind to read the Mind of God from question marks out of which we and the world around us seem to be made. To place ourselves in this double entanglement is to experience that we are a part of the Great Mystery. Another name for this Mystery is the Humble Approach to reality – the motto of all John Templeton Foundation activities. The true humility does not consist in pretending that we are feeble and insignificant, but in the audacious acknowledgement that we are an essential part of the Greatest Mystery of all – of the entanglement of the Human Mind with the Mind of God.

Yes, true humility accepts his vocation, his mirthful and holy "entanglement" with God, and, as Aragorn, in the "Lord of the Rings," cries in his "Battle Speech,"

"...My brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me, a day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day; an hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of man comes crashing down, but it is not this day, this day we fight. By all that you hold dear, on this good earth, I bid you stand..."

I will not watch Cecile Richard's speech, it "will take the heart of me,"-- brothers, stand with me...

The boy and the man/Obama and McCain

Last nights match up between Obama and McCain was a disaster for Obama. One thing only was blatantly obvious, Obama's immaturity. And, since the only remedy for that is the time-consuming task of growing up, his election hopes will, most likely, continue to diminish.

In fact, Obama is stunningly immature for his age, perhaps because he has inculcated himself within a particularly marginal post modern clique, whose primary emphasis is naval gazing. It has produced, in him, a peculiar contemporary type of indoctrination primarily responsible for catastrophic blind spots in his perspective, both theologically and politically.

For example, from last nights contest, when asked about a singular moral failure, Obama, agitatingly verbose, could only mention adolescent misdeeds. McCain, unhesitatingly, said, his failed marriage. The "boy's" response was superficial, it was all he had...his life experience and resulting self-sacrifice, negligible. McCain, on the other hand, spoke as an adult, having invested himself and lost in one of life's momentous committments; he could draw on the wisdom and humility such an experience inevitably engenders in the reflective soul.

Yesterday, while researching President George Washington's final hours, I discovered Martha's first words, when told of her husband's death..."Tis well, all is now over, I shall soon follow him, I have no more trials to pass through."

Trials, "I have no more trials to pass through," these are the words of one refined in fire, purified and humbled through the hard labor and travail of life, at once wholeheartedely accepted and lived, not on one's own terms, but, in humility and grace, on such terms as are given. Trials are the means to "character," yes, we all wish it were otherwise, but it isn't. Years of self-sacrificing investment in life, failures, rising again from the ashes and starting over, this, and this alone builds character, humility and wisdom.

Perhaps the most eerily unsettling example of the "boy" and the "man" last night was Obama's response to the question of evil. How should one respond to evil, appease, negotiate, contain or destroy?

Nowhere was the contrast more stark. He mentioned the horror in Darfur, then, immediately honed in on injustices in American streets, concluding with a self-flagellation of this country for not having sufficient humility; in so doing, he epitomized the utter shallowness of his "theology," and I use the term lightly!

McCain, unapologetically, went straight to the heart of Islamic terror and our moral duty to destroy it before it destroys civilization itself. He was able to hit the target with pinpoint accuracy--existential scars forever steadying his aim. Again, unavoidably, Obama lost the match.

Finally, Obama was asked to give an example of when he stood against the Democratic party to reach across the aisle. His answer disclosed a desperately juvenile attempt to distort reality. He recalled his collaboration, ironically, with McCain, to enact ethics reform. However, apparently this episode ended with Obama "chickening out," at the last minute to side with the democratic leadership! What?

One of my father's favorite poems was Rudyard Kipling's "If," he recited it effortlessly. Through the years, he encouraged his children to internalize its wisdom. Could it be Obama, as the product of affirmative action, is so enmeshed in what is owed to him, that he is incapable of enobling risk?

"If you can make one heap of all your winnings.

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew,

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

...Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son."

Rudyard Kipling

TheBoy v. the Man

Discernment/Separating Truth from Dross

Obama is gradually revealing his real values, for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear."

Discernment, known to Catholics as a mystically bestowed gift in the sacrament of Confirmation, may be what Our Lord was referring to here. The above quote, found in Matthew's Gospel, is near Jesus' description of society, "This peoples mind has become gross; their ears are dulled, and their eyes are closed."

It's an interesting quality, the ability to see beneath the surface, separating the wheat from the chaff. To paraphrase Michelangelo, "I do not create the sculpture, I remove the stone that does not belong to reveal what was there all along." The truth is always present, but there is dross to be removed. and that requires discernment. Judging by the thousands of Obama "groupies," following the piping media, it's a quality sorely lacking in today's political climate.

I heard a local radio personality call Obama the "pied piper of chiches," that pretty much sums it up, and yet, hundrends of thousands, including the fixated media, bow at the altar of his charisma. This is dangerous.

He smoothely, almost imperceptively, trashed our country, with his reference to torture, and made global warming and terrorism roughly equivalent, adroitly pointing out our "imperfections," not only to appeal to his audience, but also, because this is his "comfort zone." After all, Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers and Michelle Obama, all come from the "trash America mindset."

The only thing that can save an individual, or a society, from a charasmatic, relatively adept, rhetorician, is the interior antennae Our Lord referred to... discernment. It requires a sensitive intellect, a spiritual/psychological integration and a moral compass, to emerge from such external influences unscathed and rationally intact, not simply a part of the mob. In the end, it may all converge in the gut.

Compare BO's plagiarized cliches, to the substantive writing and speeches of historically great men...Abraham Lincoln, for example. When Abraham Lincoln, who, paranthetically, had a rather high pitched un-arresting speaking voice, delivered a speech, he was not reading off a teleprompter. He was not "lifting" language from others, he was speaking from the heart, a crucified and suffering heart, who had lived through the pain involved in wrenching self-sacrifice. His words were his own, and they "dripped" with the dignity of truth and moral passion.

Such men value truth above everything. Thus, they easily discern the difference between the wheat and the chaff, doggedly chipping away mere stone to reveal the truth that was always there.

May God give us the gift of discernment now, eyes to see and ears to hear...

The Great "I AM"/Mysticism of Common Sense

God is a mystery. While we are wayfarers through created time, this will always be the case. Still, there are truths about God we can explore. So, what are they?

Perhaps it is safest to start from the most basic fact at our disposal and, using common sense, extrapolate from there. Arguably, the most basic fact about God is His name, “I AM,” spoken to Moses on Mount Horeb.

There are some revealing logical conclusions which can be drawn from this alone.
“I AM” means, I exist. The present/future tense takes us to being itself. “I” takes us to person, person takes us to communion and communion takes us to freedom. Notwithstanding the fact that books have been written about the ontology of being, still the humble heart can discern what God is telling us through Moses, he is Being Itself. Well, that’s not quite right; he is the hypostasis of the Father.

Ok, we’re still in the realm of common sense here. Hypostasis is a wonderfully descriptive term derived from the first theologians.

The early church fathers, St. Basil, for example were called to wrestle with and explain the theological implications of what it means to have One God, three Persons. It all gets very complicated, but one thing they determined was that, to say God is “Being Itself” kind of gives one a sense of some “substance” called “being,” which could mean a lot of things, Aristotle’s “unmoved mover” for example.

But, if God is Trinitarian, then where do the three persons come into the picture? This is where the term hypostasis helps out. Basil and later St. Maximus developed a way of explaining the Trinitarian God by saying,

“God, the one God, and the ontological “principle” or “cause” of the being and life of God does not consist in the one substance of God but in the hypostasis, that is, the person of the Father. The one God is not the one substance but the Father, who is the “cause” both of the generation of the Son and of the procession of the Spirit. Consequently, the ontological “principle” of God is traced back, to the person.” Furthermore, “Being does not exist in a ‘naked state,’ that is, without hypostasis.” (See Being As Communion, by John D. Zizioulas, Vladimir Seminary Press.)

So, we have…being, (life,) personhood, (personableness,) communion and freedom, all in a name. We have something else as well. The Jewish tradition put great significance in a name. A name held inherently the very essence of one’s being. To give ones name is to give oneself, to surrender to the other, to give oneself in covenant.

Mystical love, a spousal relationship, Agape.

We have reached the mountain top with a little common sense and His name. Yes, God is a mystery, but the mystery is a love story.

“Ehyeh asher ehyeh”

Obama and our loss of liberty/Remembering Elian

#1)Elian Gonzalez is now a member of the young Communist Union, pledging loyalty to Fidel and his brother.

Dennis Prager made a good point on his syndicated radio show today, namely, if this had happened during the late 1930's or 40's when Hitler was raising up young Germans into the Nazi youth organization, would the United States Justice Department have duplicated Janet Reno's violent seizure of a six year old, only to send him to a father who was a Nazi?

Great job Clinton administration! Elian's mother loses her life trying to rescue her son from a totalitarian regime and the very country to which she was fleeing in an attempt to give him a shot at liberty, turns around and sends him back to a father steeped in Fidel's oppressive brain-washing.

I hope you are all proud of your absurd actions now! God Bless Elean's mother who gave up her life for her son, she is the hero, the saint...the rest of you, God knows. "And whoever causes one of these little ones, who believes, to stumble, it would be better for him, if with a heavy millstone placed around his neck, he were cast out to sea."

Of course, to the Left, communism is not so bad. I agree with Dennis here, I don't think we would have done the same for a child whose mother lost her life trying to escape Hitler's fascism.

#2) All the while the Left is screaming about losing civil liberties accusing the Bush Administration of illegal wire tapping, retaining terrorists without due process, etc., the truth, and irony is, that it is the Left which is moving through the liberal courts to strip Americans of their freedoms.

Their "nanny society" moves every day to control our most mundane decisions, whether it's to smoke a cigarette, cigar or let our children play "dodge ball" on a school playground.

Just this week an elementary school in Portland, Oregon, banned the Pledge of Allegience from its end of the year assembly because it mentions God, and the Principle doesn't want to offend Muslims.

And, of course, the courts will decide if "gay marriage," abortion or habeas corpus is allowed for unlawful enemy combatants. Does anyone seriously think "the people" have any say over public policy anymore? Sorry, "the people" just are not sufficiently "enlightened." And, until they "wise up" the un-elected judges will set the rules.

Yes, Obama, and the Left he represents, are certainly for change...his change...will truly strip the rights of Americans. And, unfortunately, the public education system and the media are enabling these Leftists. Our children are not learning to love and protect the exceptional nation they have inherited, they are being brain washed in radicalism, whether it's the environmental "crises" or "baby has two mommies," reading material in the "media center."

As I volunteered one day in a middle school classroom, I heard the "English" teacher say to the kids, "yeah, that sucks." No, lady, what "sucks" in your vernacular, is your behavior in the classroom! The same day she belittled and mocked letters the class had received from the President of the United States, George Bush.

Parents, you have no control whatsoever, though your taxes support this beleaguered, politically corrupt institution; on the contrary, you have to go through bureaucratic hoops to give your child an aspirin during school hours, but in more and more public schools, your children can get information on birth control, even abortion, totally without your knowledge, not to mention your approval.

Yes, Obama, we're really looking forward to your "changes!"

One thing that can't be "googled"/Wisdom

We live in the "information age."

In this sense, we are the most fortunate generation.

I've been told, my grandfather would spend the last few hours of every day upstairs in his study, reading the dictionary. It must have relaxed him at the end of a long day in his dental office. Perhaps, as his hand turned one page, then another, meditating on the structure, beauty and meaning of each word, he felt he was internalizing something of the mystery of the civilization from whence he came.


I can visualize Abraham Lincoln doing something like that, given the fact, that as a child he considered it a high privilege to own a book


However, in our own age, information is ubiquitous, bombarding us every minute of every day, so much so. that sometimes we have to make a concerted effort to turn off the spigot just to catch a breath!

But there is a tragic irony in our situation. While we have unmitigated access to all the information in the world, a privilege unimagined by our ancestors, we suffer from an excruciating lack of wisdom! Oddly enough, we hear psychologists tell us, that our society is struck by an ailment called ennui or "boredom!" I found it enlightening to learn that ancient languages have no word for "boredom," it's a modern invention. When I shared this fact with a friend recently, his response was, "they had no time for boredom, they were busy just trying to survive!" Good point!

Oh, but we have ways to relieve our boredom...reality shows, American Idol and then there's always shopping!

But, does the situation in which we find ourselves have serious ramifications? Notwithstanding the enormous spiritual, ethical and philosophical implications for western civilization; confining ourselves to American politics, and in that regard, after reading Thomas Sowell's latest piece on Obama and McCain, (read it here,) I would say unequivacally, yes, dire ramifications!

Why? Because, one can possess all the information in the world but if that information is not processed with wisdom and discernment, the consequence can only be disintegration, personally and publically. We cannot afford a global disintegration of values and purpose right now; Iran is revving up to destroy this very western civilization, which our universities, for the last 40 years, have so cavalierly dismissed.

Peter Kreeft, (Three Philosophies of Life,) states the following: "Folly cannot detect itself, only the wise know folly, fools know neither wisdom nor folly. Just as it takes wisdom to know folly, the light to know darkness, it takes profundity to know vanity, meaning to know meaninglessness."

When I see the crowd in Rev. Wright's and Obama's church of 20 years, pulsing and cheering rhetoric that is pure unadulterated and dangerous folly, when I hear Obama making speeches that in substance are nothing but deceit and foolishness, while the crowd gives itself over to emotional obcession, it is like getting a good solid punch in the stomach!

Where is the wisdom? Where are the fundamental questions of life? Where is the discernment to decipher substance from dribble?

Kreeft, in another passage, reflects on what the writer/philosopher of Ecclesiastes might say were he alive today to see modern culture:

"If this philosopher were alive today and knew the reigning philosophy in America, pop psychology, with its positive strokings, OKs, narcissistic self-befriendings, panderings, patronizings, and bland assurances of 'Peace! Peace!' when there is no peace, I think he would quote John Stuart Mill that it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; and William Barrett: "It is better to encounter one's own existence in despair than never to encounter it at all.""

If Western Civilization, doesn't wake up fast, start appreciating the God-given gifts which are its legacy, and somehow acquire the guts to stand up and fight for it in the schools, in the public square and in the world...then it is despair that lurks beyond the next turn in the road...

A penny for your prayers....

Obama, Jeremiah Wright/"You are known by the friends you keep"

"You are known by the friends you keep."

How many of us heard this from our parents as we were growing up? How many of us have said this to our own children, as they entered adolescence, when temptations abound and peer pressure can be so destructive to the impressionable?

The 20 year membership in Jeremiah Wright's Church, including a $26,000 donation in 2006, leaves absolutely NO doubt as to Obama's world view. No one gives that much money to a church, remains a member in good standing for 2 decades, exposes his most precious possession (his own children) to its liberation theology, and seals his marital covenant under its rafters, when he disagrees with its world view.

Sorry, Barack, we "red state" intellects are not that dull. No, the middle America, who provided thousands of truly courageous men, who lost their lives in WWII, so you could have the privilege and "audacity" you so blithely flout, were not that dull either, nor are we bitter or racist, nor are we addicted to the "opium of God."

What we are addicted to, is truth! You and your "ilk, ie., Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Resko, etc., are transparent to us. The irony is that it is the radical leftest and political opportunist who is, in fact, dull.

As "bombastic" as your friends are, they hold no captivation, neither intellectually nor morally; they are bankrupt spiritually...and it takes no more than the earthy purity in heart of a child to see it.

You will not be elected President of this great and "exceptional" country, because, in the end, it will be that very common sense humility and "eye for truth" which will defeat you.

The Public Square/The Case Against Google

Zachary Gappa has a good article on Townhall posted here.

He confronts the sinister and pervasive religious discrimination against Christians in the public square, all done in the name of "secularism."

A lawsuit against Google in the UK makes his point explicitly. Basically, Google refuses to run ads pertaining to religious views on abortion while it freely accepts pro choice, abortion clinic ads, etc. Rather than making the editorial decision not to run any ads dealing with abortion, it has only restricted the opportunity for pro-life ads to pop up, when "abortion" shows up in the search window.

Unfortunately, the media is hopelessly shallow and/or agenda driven, to acknowledge and dissect, what is going on here in the cultural debate; additionally, our public education system is hopelessly incapable, and for the most part unwilling, to teach the necessity of integrity in public discourse. Therefore, the entire colloquy continues, incessantly, devoid of the very foundational prerequisites of honest debate, ie., logic, veracity and authenticity. The entire exercise is based on a lie.

What is going on is blatent religious discrimination against one sector, Christians.

Many, in the religious community, fail to stand up against this discrimination because, in a sense, they have accepted the premise. Part of the blame must be attributed to the Church itself, in that, its own attempts at catechesis have been inexplicably narrow in terms of how it defines "faith." Faith, is not believing some set of ideas, for which there is no empirical evidence! Faith, is the actuating, underlying reality, which allows us to operate intellectually, psychologically, volitionally, even physically.

Perhaps every Christian should read the Christian existentialist, Paul Tillich's book, "The Dynamics of Faith." In a few pages it completely changes one's paradigm in regard to what "faith" is.

Tillich's explantion comes much closer to the true nature of "faith" than what is taught in most churches.

As Gappa describes it in his article, "faith" is simply the framework through which one views reality. An atheist makes certain presumptions upon which he bases all the rest of his opinions, including those made in the public arena. Notwithstanding the fact that individuals may never acknowledge or investigate their own existential presumptions, never the less, their lives are lived in obedience to them.

If one had no "framework" through which to view reality, he would be a completely disintegrated personality. We call degrees of that, mental illness; we call a complete lack of such a structure, insanity.

So, whether one believes there is no God, or whether he is operating on Pascal's wager, or, whether he is existentially committed to the, "Thou," his framework of "faith" will inevitably shape his opinions as he participates in the "public square."

The acknowledgement of this embarrassingly simple fact is almost entirely absent from our consciousness. In practice, what this amounts to, is barring the Christian point of view from the discussion. It is a lie and it is sinister. For public schools, the media, the judiciary and any other public institution to inculcate this view is unconscionable.

Christians must first take upon themselves the self-reflective task to examine the nature of "faith" itself, then, we must courageously engage the battle to restore our rightful place in the "public square."

It appears The Christian Institute in the UK has engaged the battle, against Google!

TRUTH-Benedict's words this week...a fragment from text of speech to youth at Yonkers, New York.

"The second area of darkness – that which affects the mind – often goes unnoticed, and for this reason is particularly sinister. The manipulation of truth distorts our perception of reality, and tarnishes our imagination and aspirations. I have already mentioned the many liberties which you are fortunate enough to enjoy. The fundamental importance of freedom must be rigorously safeguarded. It is no surprise then that numerous individuals and groups vociferously claim their freedom in the public forum. Yet freedom is a delicate value. It can be misunderstood or misused so as to lead not to the happiness which we all expect it to yield, but to a dark arena of manipulation in which our understanding of self and the world becomes confused, or even distorted by those who have an ulterior agenda.


Have you noticed how often the call for freedom is made without ever referring to the truth of the human person? Some today argue that respect for freedom of the individual makes it wrong to seek truth, including the truth about what is good. In some circles to speak of truth is seen as controversial or divisive, and consequently best kept in the private sphere. And in truth’s place – or better said its absence – an idea has spread which, in giving value to everything indiscriminately, claims to assure freedom and to liberate conscience. This we call relativism. But what purpose has a “freedom” which, in disregarding truth, pursues what is false or wrong? How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral or intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life? Dear friends, truth is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in; nothing less than letting go of self and allowing oneself to be drawn into Christ’s very being for others (cf. Spe Salvi, 28). "

"Bittergate", Secularism and Pope Benedict

The disdain and arrogance displayed by Barack Obama, by his patronizing remarks this weekend, reveal the fundamental "heresy" of secularism.

Pope Benedict, arriving shortly on American soil, has been passionately engaged in the intellectual argument against secularism and it's progeny, relativism, since his Papal "acceptance speech." Therefore, it is rather serundipitous that the two episodes overlap.

What is the fundamental heresy of secularism? The late Eastern Orthodox theologian, Alexander Schmemann, in my opinion, has the best definition of "secularism." He states the following in his essay, "Worship in a Secular Age:"


"If in theological terms, secularism is a heresy, it is primarily a heresy about man. Secularism has been analyzed, described and defined in these recent years in a
great variety of ways, but to the best of my knowledge none of these descriptions has
stressed a point which I consider to be essential and which reveals indeed better than
anything else the true nature of secularism, and thus can give our discussion its properorientation. Secularism, I submit, is above all a negation of worship."


Basically, his point is that, man's nature, (by design,) is predisposed to worship. Predisposed to worship for a reason; each human being is made in the "image of God;" therefore, man is created to find ultimate fulfillment only in loving communion with his Creator. Furthermore, all of creation is an "epiphany" of the Creator. Creation is a "means of God's relvelation, presence and power."

To put it another way, "man" is most himself, (true to his being, ) when he worships, "in spirit and in truth." He becomes what he truly is through this exercise in love, the bride with the Bridegroom, as the Church characterizes it. Schmemann says, "worship not only posits {man's} humanity, it fulfills it." If man is not a "worshipping being" he is not fully man.

Obama, and others, who declare that the only reason man turns to God is out of bitterness, or bigotry, is striking a dagger through the heart of the very essence of "being." He is making a statement about the nature of man, namely, he uses religion for a "crutch." Sound just like Marx?

Obama, who said himself that "words matter," who is Harvard educated, is a "secularist." He did not make a mistake, he said exactly what he thinks. As a secularist, he "views the world as containing within itself its meaning and the principles of knowledge and action. " (Schmemann, same essay) No need for worship here, unless narcissism can be defined as worship!

Pope Benedict's word's, implicitly or explicitly, will stress the inherent gift in man for worship, indeed, it is his true vocation. How timely is his message, which will serve as a response to the Obama's of the world.

No, Obama, "ordinary Americans," do not "cling" to God out of bitterness or bigotry, they worship God, out of love. It is the ultimate dignity of man, made in God's image. Obama, in his pseudo intellectualism, wants to strip this inherent dignity away.

If man's passion and thirst for God is eliminated, in favor of worldly values, what is left? What is left, is "relativism" and a race for power.

A fine example of secularism, in modern times, expresses it's consequences well:

"Everything I have said and done in these last years is relativism, by intuition. From the fact that all ideologies are of equal value, that all ideologies are mere fictions, the modern relativist infers that everybody has the right to create for himself his own ideology, and to attempt to enforce it with all the energy of which he is capable. If relativism signifies contempt for fixed categories, and men who claim to be the bearers of an objective immortal truth, then there is nothing more relativistic than fascism. " —Benito Mussolini

Obama denigrates the "ordinary" intellect of the small town redneck who "clings" to an objective immortal truth and has an innate calling toward "worship." Worship is fulfillment, it is joy, it is the pinnacle of intellectual integrity!

Give me the common sense of these "ordinary" "Americans, who humble themselves before their Creator, who love their neighbor and give up their lives for liberty, anyday, rather than the sterile intellectual snobbery of Barack Obama's secularism, where no God is needed!

Welcome, Pope Benedict!

The Death of "Personhood"/Abortion

“I survived Roe v Wade,” so read many of the t-shirts, worn by youth, at this year’s Right to Life March in Washington D.C.

I was startled and immensely heartened to see how the Pro-Life Movement is evolving into a movement of the young. At the same time, it broke my heart that any generation of Americans should have to suffer such sorrow for their peers, while thinking of themselves as, “survivors” of the post Roe v Wade era.

This is the issue of our time. All other issues, at their core, come down to the dignity of the individual, or, to put it another way, “personhood.”

“Personhood” is at the core of the abortion debate, but, it is also the core of Christian theology itself. It is western civilization’s view of “personhood” which has built our culture, philosophy, our pursuit of science, law, tradition, and every other value which has contributed to the most enlightened society in the history of the world.

Abortion threatens the entire edifice.

The modern mind takes the concept of “personhood” for granted. We are no longer taught in schools that it was not always so. In fact, the notion that each individual human being embodies a unique, valuable, non-repeatable personhood, worthy of protection and dignity, was a totally foreign concept in the ancient world.

In his remarkable book, “The Gifts of the Jews, How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels,” Thomas Cahill traces Jewish history, beginning from about 3200 B.C.; he uncovers the emerging spiritual consciousness among the Jewish people, (immeasurably ahead of their contemporaries,) which evolved into a revolutionary change in mindset.

As Christians, we owe to our Jewish forebears, the concept of linear time, monotheism, and the idea of “personhood.” The thought that time had a beginning, that it was not an endless meaningless wheel of life and death, with no purpose, offering man nothing more than a fixed fate, was a Jewish innovation. And, what an innovation it was!

What followed as a result of this astonishing change of paradigm is nothing short of miraculous in the history of the human species!

If “time” is linear, not simply an ever turning wheel of suffering, (like the Eastern Religions still see it,) then man can make a difference, it gives us the theological foundation for “free will,” for a concept of history, for human dignity, for purpose and meaning to existence, for moral law, for the pursuit of scientific discovery. If God is ONE, not a myriad of selfish deities mocking and manipulating the cosmos on jealous whims, and, if this ONE God, is “Being (in) Communion,” thus, perfect “Personhood,” then “love” becomes possible and, if love, than human will.

Therefore, the corner stone of western civilization is directly traceable to Jewish spiritual foresight. We are theologically, their spiritual descendents.

Abortion strikes a death knell to “personhood,” hence, at the foundation of western civilization.

How so? Professor Robert J. Spitzer, President of Gonzaga University, makes a scholarly, yet understandable, presentation of how “personhood” is the ultimate victim within every beating heart so ruthlessly snuffed out in abortion. The 7-part series can be downloaded here,

Briefly, he argues the following in his series, “Healing the Culture:”

1) A moral abyss awaits those who do not define “personhood,” (with all the constituent protections that embodies,) as human existence itself, ie., conception.
2) The definition of humanness, biologically testable, is a “living, metabolizing entity with a full human genetic code, all of which exists at conception.
3) When the Supreme Court destroyed the “objective criterion of personhood, it substituted, by necessity, a subjective criterion.”
4) Hence, the argument began, “when does life begin, is it at viability, respiration, “clarity, ie., when it looks like a human being?”
5) Once a subjective criterion is implemented, anything that does not fit that criterion can be destroyed. “No better definition of tyranny exists.”
6) The Roe v Wade decision, in one death blow, undercut the fundamental critical assumption of civilization, that every being of human origin has all the powers in potencia …worthy of dignity and protection, endowed with a sense for love, fairness, beauty, truth etc.

Parenthetically, I used to think, along with most secularists, including Karl Marx, that the Christian idea of a “personal God,” who actually took an interest in each person, down to the last hair on his head, was a ridiculous anthropomorphic crutch. I too spent a few of my earlier years enamored with eastern religions, which seemed, much more esoteric. Blending into some universal harmony, whether it was Nirvana or Taoism’s “Way,” was initially appealing.

However, what I failed to calculate, until my own “encounter,” was something Professor Spitzer articulates, philosophically, in a different set of lectures; (it may be his lectures on proofs of God’s existence, not sure,) namely, if God, who by definition is perfect, were incapable of “personable-ness,” then God would suffer a restriction, therefore, God is perfect Personhood, ie., “trinity,” ie., “personable-ness.

St Paul, who was a member of the Roman intellectual elitist class, probably thought the early Christians had a pathetically provincial outlook also, at least until he was literally knocked off his horse, in a most “personal encounter,” on his way to Damascus!

As Spitzer says, (I think I’m accurately quoting him,) “we need to impale our humanity on the spears of {these} outrageous fortunes.” Is this Hamlet?

"Ecce Homo", "Behold the Man"/ Pontius Pilot's "spirituality"

Ok. I've got to say it. What passes for "spirituality" today, including the New Age hysteria, and the grandiose big business enterprises, like Deepak Chopra's empire, all add up to narcistic sophistry.

It all began while looking for the text of "East Coker," ("Four Quartets.") I stumbled upon a website, ostensibly devoted to "spirituality." Succumbing to the temptation, I went a little deeper. Oh boy...quicksand...couldn't extricate myself from this syrupy tripe fast enough!

Chopra's website which markets $3000.00 seminars at exlusive resorts, (one such ad reads, "a safe haven of non-judgment,") like the Chopra Center in New York, named the "Dream Hotel," promises those, willing to fork over a few bucks, the way to inner harmony, peace, love...blah, blah, blah.

Millions, are forking over, caught up in the frenzy, sort of like the Obama supporters are caught up in his words, which say nothing. Testimonials abound! It's the same old, "can't we all just get along?" "Of course, we can," ply the nimble tongues of these trendy modern day prophets; "for a inconsequential price, peace is ours for the asking!"

Perhaps, from the back row of one's consciousness, a still small voice whispers, "uh, if I may, what is the "inconsequential price?" However, the frenzied crowd, like the congregation in Jeremiah Wright's Church, is loudly pulsing, rhythmically swaying, obcessed now only with the rising climax of voices, emotional excitement and mania. "Yes, yes, yes," as Meg Ryan's character emotes in the 1989 movie, When Harry Met Sally.

The answer...to that still small voice,

Truth, truth is the casualty.

But, "what is truth?" Pilot's words echo through the centuries. It is a poignant scene in the New Testament when Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. The Devil offers peace, there need be no emnity between us, all the kingdoms of the world can be yours, if you will just surrender that one little thing that separates us...if you will just bow down to me and surrender...truth.

These "new age" profiteers, including Deepak in his "The Third Jesus, the Christ We Cannot Ignore, " invite us, indeed, lure us, toward the same cynical question Pilot posed. "Can't we all just get along?" If you can just ditch this absolute "truth" thing, all will be well. Ignore, "I am the Son of God, ignore the ressurrection, ignore everyting that makes Jesus, God, we can all be God, so hearkens the voices in even an allegorical "Garden of Eden."

Jesus did not succumb to the temptation in the wilderness, even though it meant anything but peace, in this world. It meant a horrifying, tortuous death. Why?

Because, "I AM." Because, the Logos within each of us calls us to Him. Jesus is not a teacher, a sage, a philosopher, an "I'm ok, You're ok," historical figure. He is Truth, He is Personhood, He is Divine, He is Reality. He is Someone, not an idea or a philosophy.

Where does this leave us?

It leaves us with a choice. We deceive ourselves if we think we can ignore the ultimate question. Is Jesus the fully human, fully divine, Son of God? It cannot be dismissed, as Pilot tried to dismiss it, it must be confronted, existentially, by each of us. Our declaration for or against Him is proven by our acts, not our words. To act in the love of Agape is to declare for Christ.

I am not justifying here the pharisaical thinking within the institutional church, nor am I denying the wisdom and truth found in other religions. What I am saying is, if Jesus is absolute truth, as He clearly claimed, then wherever "truth" is found, it, by definition, has to be "of Him," so to speak, even if that fact is unacknowledged.

If Jesus is, as he said, "the Way, the Truth and the Life," then, "Being" is Christ. Contrary to what is so often "preached," his statement here, may be "exclusionary" only in the context of truth. It is simply a statement of fact. Truth is One. If, for example, a Buddhist, gives up his life, in love, for another, he is, by act, in Christ.

These are monumental claims, not made by any other historical figure, period. To deny the existential significance of that question, is fatal, and, it is nothing new...no, we can't just all get along, not if it means denying absolute Truth, not if it comes at the expense of a loss of man's dignity, liberty, his ultimate freedom to consummate, in love, a covenant between he and his Creator.

No, give me the "manly" love of Christ, not the impotence of modern day "navel gazers;" give me the love of Anne Frank, Maximilion Kolbe, Mother Teresa, Sir Thomas More, give me the love of Christian martyrs, eaten by lions, in the Roman coliseum.

Our "existential choice" comes in the context of this world, where evil is present, and must be battled, every single day, within our hearts and in the outside world, sometimes in the guise of a Hitler, sometimes in the guise of terrorists and sometimes in the guise of "peace."

The Zeitgeist of Relativism/No new "primary colors"

The relativist "chickens are coming home to roost!"

The misguided and hate-filled "minister" of Obama's church, Jeremiah Wright, used this cliche, in a scurrilous attempt to blame America for a vicious attack on our homeland. It is a profane statement and illustrates an irrational fragmentation in human psychology. Jeremiah Wright needs help, on numerous levels, and has no business standing at a podium inculcating young impressionable minds.

The fact that an ivy league educated couple like the Obama's could credibly be members of such a "congregation," which is more accurately described as a "mob," is, on one hand, sobering, but even more disturbing, it is conclusive evidence, that the "zeitqeist" of our culture, ie., relativism, is catapulting us into the abyss.

Yes, the "chickens are coming home to roost," but they are not the "chickens" of the "blame America crowd;" they are the consequences of the libertine, dissolute culture, which daily chips away at the God given dignity of man, and, as C. S. Lewis predicted, will eventuate the very abolition of man.

Lewis makes a simple statement, which declares the truth unambiguously. One can no more invent a new "value" than one can invent a new primary color.

Oh, but wait, our culture is operating on a completely different set of principles, the enforced implementation of which, betrays our first principle, namely, that, of relativism! One can only demand adherence to a first principle if, in fact, there can be an absolute first principle. But never mind that little bit of illogic. Let's go on.

Moral equivalency must be enforced. There can be no exceptions. No one set of values is more praiseworthy than any other set of values. Our schools are doing a spectacular job of instilling this 20th century "idol." Let us note the "Lincolnesque" speech, (according to the media,)of our presidential candidate, Barack Obama. Jeremiah Wright's bigoted coomments are no different than the comments of Barack's own white grandmother. Ok. The ultimate blasphemy of moral equivalence, of which Chris Matthews, along with other media sycophants, are guilty, is the dishonorable attempt to compare Obama's speech of moral insipience, to the inspired thoughts of a truly great man, Abraham Lincoln!

There is no absolute "truth," no absolute "virtue." One never hears "right and wrong," one hears "context." What is most egregious about the granite slabs listing the Ten Commandments on public property? The grave atrocity, that must be demolished forthwith? Absolutes! It's that old "primary color" business...no, we have now "canonized" shades of gray! Get with it!

While listening to the moral failings of the new governor of New York, David Paterson, who seems to be reeling them off, pre-emptively, the prevailing opinion seems to be, how asute it is of him to air all this "dirty laundry," at the beginning of his term. Does David Paterson have any sense of shame? Do we, as a culture, supposedly raising our children to esteem the "Good," have any sense of shame? Of course not. It is all about "context" and "strategy!"

Yes, we have become a utilitarian culture. Does it "work" to advance my cause; if so, it is praiseworthy. It has become an "exemplar!"

Why are the Boy Scouts so despised and literally driven off public land? It is because they are swimming against the current, indoctrinating impressionable minds with dangerous ideas, honor, virtue, family, country, God, all of which require the discipline of selfless sacrifice.

Oh, yes, but the Boy Scouts discriminate, against what? The God of Tolerance! Homosexual troop leaders, for one. It is a "sin" to judge one behavior less optimal than another! No behavior is more reprehensible than another. Certainly if we can brutally destroy the unborn child, we can raise homosexuality to an alternative "lifestyle."

But, Obama has no problem inculcating his daughters with the hate spewed by the likes of Jeremiah Wright!

There are voices crying in the wilderness, here. Pope Benedict sounded a warning with his first speech after becoming Pope, about the culture of relativism. Truth will triumph, because God is Truth. But, it will require, what is becoming a mere remnant, to stand up and sacrifice for it.

From where can we draw strength?

I've been watching the John Adams series now showing on HBO. When I see Abigail Adams tirelessly nursing her 14 year old daughter through small pox, while taking care of 3 other children, all alone, while her husband is away for years, nursing the newly born liberty of a nation; when I see John Adams, his first son, by his side, perrilously crossing the Atlantic, retching for days in sea sickness, fighting for their lives against an intercepting British Navy vessel, in a desparate attempt to reach France. When I see George Washington, his troops ravaged by small pox, honorably fighting the British in bare feet, succumbing to frost bite, disease and death, hoping for a miracle, giving the "last full measure for it, I shutter and tremble.

I ask myself, why? What kept them going? What brought the impossible to fruition? How, in the name of God, did America triumph?

These brave souls brought forth our nation in "hard labor, sacrificing every ounce of blood and life they could ring out of their own flesh and bone, relentlessly pushing on through despair and the black night of doubt, fear and anxiety. They didn't "talk" about virtue, honor, truth, they actuated it.

This is the same "truth" we so blithely dismiss.

There are no new "primary colors." No, not G...D..., America. God Bless America. God save America!

The Timeless Moment/Pascha Triduum

The Oxford Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Churches, truly shine when it comes to Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. The century old traditions which re-enact the events of this week, nurturing on all levels, are profound. For converts, it's like the earthly version of being invited to the "wedding feast of the lamb," for the first time.

St. Augustine's word's, after his own conversion, summarized my own experience perfectly, "Too late have I loved Thee, O, Ancient Beauty." The intellectual and mystical profundity, the ancient liturgical beauty on both a sense and spiritual level, the nobility and grandure inherent in music and chant, is all so thoroughly edifying to the human spirit.

The Protestant Churches just don't seem to have the theological grasp of "time" so ubiquitous in the Catholic liturgical understanding. Man is made in the "image of God." Because of this sacred imprint embedded at the core of his being, man is not only capable of participating in the "timeless moment," it is a necessity for him, that he may reach his destiny as a child of God.

This is all a mystic does in the contemplative experience...he apprehends and is apprehended by, that which is outside of time, and, in his own soul, closer to him than he is to himself, the Triune God. Our relationship with God is not confined by the constituent elements of our mortal existence, ie "time," because that very Covenant which Our Lord declared on Maunday Thursday, by its nature, is timeless. Thus, as the Catholic Church has always understood, we are not only able, but literally "commanded," (coming from the Latin 'mandate') to participate in the timeless moment, so to speak.

Yes, His sacrifice on the cross took place in one historical week, but, because it is timeless, it is ever-present, meaning it is there for every generation, every soul to participate in.

From Ash Wednesday through Holy Week and in every Eucharist celebrated every moment of every day in the created milieu of time, Christ, His one holy and sufficient sacrifice, is present. for us to enter {as though} it was happening for the first time!

It is a mystery, but a mystery, though not fully penetrable, is still capable of being entered into...and that's what God's covenant of love with us, is all about; freely entering into the convenant relationship, the Bride and the Bridegroom.

G. K. Chesterton wrote a poem, after his conversion, which gives us a flavor of the covenant between the soul and God.

The Convert

"After one moment when I bowed my head,
And the whole world turned over and came upright,
And I came out where the old road shone white
I walked the ways and heard what all men said
Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves, unshed,
Being not unlovable, but strange and light;
Old riddles and new creeds. not in despite
But softly, as men smile about the dead.

The sages have a hundred maps to give,
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve,
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live."

Here is an example of Chesterton's mystical participation in the "timeless."


(The Russian Orthodox have a wonderful tradition on Easter Sunday. They, meaning as many from the congregation as possible, as a group, visit all the graves of loved ones; a red egg, (it's a special dye that is deep dark red,) symbolizing the resurrection, and a candle is placed on each grave and all sing the Pascha prayers and Alleluia. Then, it's home to a huge feast. But, those who have gone before us are remembered first. Like everything in the Orthodox Church it's highly mystical.)

Christ is risen...Alleluia. "He has trampled down death, by death."

"The Abolition of Man"/Barack Obama & Harvard

How can a man like Barack Obama get this far in the political process, with his 20 year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ, in all its ugliness, undisclosed?

It is an egregious circumstance, which should serve as a strobe alert to the rest of us, the "crazies" are running the asylum! Political correctness, situational ethics, relativism, have overwhelmed our culture, we are literally drowning in what a prophetic C.S. Lewis called, "The Abolition of Man," in his book of the same title.

This stir over Obama's absurd membership in a church which ascribes to racial hatred, malicious accusations against America, Whites and Jews, whose minister travels to Libya to see Momar Khadafi, gives a "life time achievement" award to Louis Farakan, is an eye opening opportunity to see where America stands intellectually and morally! It is devastating relvelation!

The media, (no surprise,) even the seemingly most "enlightened" commentators, are underplaying the significance of this whole fiasco. Ultimately, it asks a fundamental question.

What does it mean to be Man? Lewis argues it means the "doctrine of objective value, the belief that certain attitudes are really true, and others really false, to the kind of thing the universe is and the kind of things we are." He goes on to say, all cultures have so operated, whether it be the Chinese Tao, the Jewish Law, the Western Natural Law, the Hindu, Buddhist, Egyptian, Aborigines writings, etc.

Augustine defined virtue, "the ordinate condition of the affections in which every object is accorded that kind of degree of love which is appropriate to it." Therefore, the point of education is to "make the pupil like and dislike what he ought." "When the age for reflective thought comes, the pupil who has been thus trained in 'ordinate affections' or 'just sentiments' will easily find the first principles in Ethics..."

Lewis goes on to quote Plato from the Republic, "the well-nurtured youth is one 'who would see most clearly whatever was amiss in ill made works of man or ill-grown works of nature, and with a just distaste would blame and hate the ugly even from his earliest years and would give delighted praise of beauty, receiving it into his soul and being nourished by it, so that he becomes a man of gentle heart." If this is achieved, Plato argues, when the age of reason comes, he will "hold out his hands in welcome and recognize her because of the affinity he bears for her."

Could it get any more beautifully annunciated? Values matter, and values can be judged by our actions. If all values are the same, if it is politically incorrect to judge one value system relative to another, what is left to ground this being we call Man? One thing only is left...as Lewis empasizes, if there is no ought, then, there is only want; want is only acquired through power. Whoever steals the most power, his "values" win, hence we have the values of totalitarian states, of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler.

Obama was educated at Harvard, a school originally founded by religious values. Does anyone think Obama was educated in the values inherent in the Natural Law, and on which this country was founded? Does anyone think it is acceptable at Harvard, or most other universities, to advocate inculcating children with the most true sense of values? Of course not, it is considered immoral in our contemporary culture to raise ANY set of values, against any other set of values. It is considered wrong to make moral judgements on behavior, it's called situational ethics!

This is the abysmal state of affairs in which we find ourselves and, in which, a man, devoid of any real sense of values, can be nominated as President of the United States of America.

We, as parents and grandparents, MUST turn this around in our own families. We MUST stand up and fight for the Natural Law and true moral principles, which have advanced the spiritual development of man from the beginning of civilization itself.

These principles are NOT found in the Trinity United Church of Christ. That Obama has been a member in good standing for 20 years, contributing $22,500.00 in 2006 alone, should finish his political aspirations!

If I hear one more commentator say one more time, "well, we have to accept him at his word," I will scream. No, we DO NOT have to accept him at his word, we have to judge him by his actions, and over the last 20 years his actions have spoken loud and clear!

JeremiahWright a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing/Barack Obama

The hubbub over Barack Obama's church along with its pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a highly illustrative example of the moral morass in which we find ourselves. This "reverend's" church, the Trinity United Church of Christ has nothing whatsoever to do with Christ!

Somehow we blaspheme the "god of tolerance" if we question the judgement and values of a man who for decades has supported a blatently anti-christian, anti semitic, anti-American, racist, marxist oriented community of people, who tout themselves as Christian, but are, in fact, its antithesis. At the same time, we are to expected to reject any politician who may belong to a golf club which is "men only," or to reject the Boy Scouts because they refuse to allow militant homosexuals from becoming scout leaders.

We are all familiar with Edmund Burke's admonition, "all that is necessary for evil to triumph, is that good men do nothing."

The fact that Barack Obama has not only been a member of this community for years, had his children baptised by Wright, called upon Wright to perform the sacrement of marriage for he and Michelle, sought his advise before entering the race for president, and employed his talents in his campaign, admitted he has been his spiritual advisor, etc, is the ONLY fact any of us need to know about Obama!

It is irrelavent what Obama says NOW about not agreeing with everything a "beloved uncle" might say, or, the fact that he objects to bigoted speech, the fact that he has sought out this "congregation" to be an integral part of his family's "sacramental" life for the last 20 years, illustrates he is a "wolf in sheeps clothing" whose lack of good judgement, inability to recognize and distance himself from such an anathema posing as Christian, demonstatres the true character of Obama and Michelle.

He should be finished in the Presidential race. But, our culture has been seduced by the god of "Tolerance," it is our idol, we have sacrificed all values to this imposter. Hence, the dribble coming at us from media "commentators," that it is only an attempt to impose "guilt by association," to link Barack to this wretched church. God help us!

This man, Jeremiah Wright, is a vile anti-Christian, a true "wolf in sheeps clothing!"

Barack and Michelle need to go back to square one, it has nothing to do with their race, it has everything to do with their character.

Clanging Cymbals/William F. Buckley

William Buckley died last week. I found two quotes from a 1995 interview with him when he discussed the role of religious conservatives.

“They’ve, (meaning religious conservatives) figured that our foundations need restoring and I have never doubted that those foundations are religious”.

And,

“When Christ said, “Go to the world and preach the gospel, he put a very high cost, not on sacrificing principle, but on tuning your instrument in such a way as to arrest attention and persuade.”


All religious conservatives would certainly agree on the first quote.

The second quote invoked some soul searching. How is one to interpret, "tuning your instrument" so as to arrest attention? This may be the question for Christians. Perhaps it can only be resolved individually.

Anyone who has been to the Symphony has observed the musicians tuning their instruments before beginning the program. The sounds are cacophonous, discordant; then, as the lights dim, ethereal sounds waft through the air, effortlessly uniting with chords deep within. It's as though the music merges with some inner truth. It can be a transcending experience. Truth, in all forms penetrates the soul, as we are made in God's image. The more perfectly tuned the effort, the more efficacious the response.


Given that Christians must take an active part in the "public square," must stand up courageously for absolute truths, must take up the fight against the devaluation of traditional values, etc., how do we assure our presentation is nothing more than clanging cymbals?

One idea is to make every attempt to discover the spirit of the law, rather than the letter. Christ said, "there will come a time when true worshipers will worship in spirit and in Truth." The Pharisees commanded the "letter," because that's all they could control; in so doing, they lost the truth entirely. In the media or sometimes in the pulpit, we see churchmen (again, universal context here,) pontificating, in absolute terms, as to the salvation of others, could this be clanging cymbals?

For example, the following words have been used consistently by "pontificators," of all Christian traditions, to mean millions will not be saved: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through Me;" "Clanging cymbals?"

Let's look at this statement with just a little more depth. Yes, Jesus said it, yes, He is Truth, therefore, He speaks truth. However, He is also the Truth. With this in mind, what do His words really mean, at least as we are capable of perceiving it, through our intellect and heart?
Since He IS Truth, it has to mean, wherever truth is, it is He.

Let's say, a very holy person, a Buddhist, in India, for example, gives up his life to save a friend. Or, say, there is an atheist somewhere in the world who is ultimately charitable, honest and humble in all his doings. If we don't look deeper to see what Our Lord is really saying, we risk condemning these souls in our thoughts, perhaps our words.

In fact, wherever there is truth, it has to be 'of Christ' because that is the only "truth" there is! The "Good" cannot belong to evil, Jesus cannot be less than perfect truth, therefore, goodness is always aligned with Truth, it cannot be otherwise. I would argue, these words can only be interpreted through the spirit of truth, no other way would be rationally consistent, and,
God is not irrational.

As long as we adhere to our higher nature, to that which is the Good, for the sake of the Good only, seeking always the spirit rather than the letter, we shall be more perfectly tuned, more efficacious in our efforts to "fight the good fight."

WFB was strident, ardent and effective, not withstanding his intellect, it was probably because he walked humbly before his God.

The Politics of Ennui/"Man's Search for Meaning"

In watching the daily cable channels, I still have not heard ONE Obama supporter articulate a single accomplishment of their candidate!

At twelve, I picked up my first serious non-fiction book, intrigued by the title, Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl. Frankl, a psychiatrist, spent time in a Nazi concentration camp. His portrayal of the experience in the first half of the book is profound and poignant. The second half is devoted to the psychological wisdom he gleaned while surviving the horror, Logo Therapy, or the therapy of "meaning."

Vicariously living through Frankl's account, provided an interior affirmation that, that is the point of life. In other words, human beings are inherently compelled to seek meaning. Furthermore, the anathema of existence is ennui, boredom, meaninglessness, this is the devil in our midst and the greatest threat to our culture.

Fast forward to today's politics and the Obama "movement;" it is the epitomy of relativism, ennui. It is as though, as a culture, we have so trivialized reality, become so desensitized to moral ambivalence, so indolent intellectually, that we have lost our soul...the one Obama promises to repair through the art of the shallow! His supporters see no incongruity between his words and his substance, as merrily they row along.

In discussing T. S. Eliot's profound poem, Four Quartets, Thomas Howard, (Dove Descending,) addresses the topic of man's destruction through an "assault" on meaning. His application equally describes the swirl around Obama.

"The 'temptation' always seeks to diminish and ruin the sheer force of meaning..."

Therefore, if meaning is a constituent necessity to a properly integrated personality and, extrapolated outward, to society, then the Obama "phenomenon" is a grave "temptation."

The only hope that we won't be seduced by the pettifog of vacuity and its repercussions, resides in the gut level common sense of the American people, notwithstanding the blank looks on the faces of Obama supporters when asked for ANYTHING substantive.