June 30, 2009
Proverbs 18:17
(Jimmy Akin)
Proverbs 18:17 is a verse that every apologist ought to know by heart, because it describes a phenomenon that often occurs in apologetics. Here is how it goes:
"He who states his case first seems right,
until the other comes and examines him."
It's another way of saying that first impressions aren't always accurate. There can be more to a situation.
The greatest tourist attraction in Central America has always been politics. Diplomats stop by every few years, take a couple of snapshots of what's going on at the presidential palace, and then profoundly declare their opinions, devoid of context or history. This week's favorite diplotourism destination is Honduras, where the army Sunday arrested President Manuel Zelaya and booted him across the border to Costa Rica. In the Polaroid analysis, it's pretty clear what happened: ''A return to barbarism in our hemisphere,'' as Argentina's president Cristina Fernández put it.
She had plenty of company. ''The action taken against Honduran President Mel Zelaya violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all,'' said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. ``We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law.''
The OAS Permanent Council voted ''to condemn vehemently the coup d'etat staged this morning against the constitutionally established government of Honduras.'' U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded ``the reinstatement of the democratically elected representatives of the country and full respect for human rights.''
Here's a question for all these new-found defenders of Honduran democracy: Where were you last week?
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (8)
June 29, 2009
Startling Pattern Emerges
(Tim Jones)
It's like they're all just waiting for us...
Hey, Tim Jones, here.
I think my grandfather's death was the first that really affected me as it happened, though I understood the concept of death, having seen a lot of T.V. westerns, along with media coverage of the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination, the Munich Olympics and other deadly events.
I've seen a number of deaths, since, and taken note of many more, but the tight grouping of celebrity deaths in the last week has made me look back over my experiences of death, and I have begun to sense a pattern.
Stay with me, here. I'm no conspiracy nut, but it begins to appear that no one is safe, and that the chances of death for any one of us - by my rough figures - approaches 100%. For instance, the older I get, the more people in my general age group pop up on the news, having died in one way or another and it is most often treated as a surprise, if not a shock.
But the shock, to me, may be unjustified. I don't want to start a panic, but it looks to me like we may all be headed for the cemetery.
that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90:12
Last
week we heard first, of course, of Ed McMahon, then Farrah Fawcett,
then Michael Jackson... next, Billy Mays and this morning I read that
Fred Travalena and Gale Storm passed away.
I have no great observations to make, except to say that the only genuine shock for me would have been if Michael Jackson had somehow lived to a ripe old age. I did not see how he could manage much longer. Over the past few years he appeared to be a shell.
I have good memories of Fred Travalena, who often appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, was all over the variety show circuit, and also starred with Rich Little, Frank Gorshin and other master impressionists on The Kopycats - a comedy show (which I never missed if I could help it) built around impressions. He was also an extremely prolific and successful voice actor.
Most people may not know anything much about Gale Storm, but my wife will remember My Little Margie (which was old already when we watched it) from our days as college students, when we could count our TV channels on one hand.
For a long time, when driving by a cemetery, I have had the distinct and unshakable sense that those dwelling under the tombstones are watching and waiting and maybe chuckling a little... laughing at the living and their frantic and petty preoccupations. Sometimes, I can't help but laugh, too.
This idea of the connectedness of the living and the dead runs deep in the human heart, and is confirmed in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints... which is just the Church expounding on the teaching of the Lord that "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." (Luke 20:38).
(This post has been carefully cross-posted by hand at Tim Jones' blog Old World Swine, for double your blogging pleasure)
Posted by Tim Jones in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (8)
June 03, 2009
George Lucas Appointed Archbishop!
(Jimmy Akin)
IT'S TRUE!!!
He succeeds Archbishop Elden Curtiss, who had shepherded the archdiocese since 1993 but who passed the age of 75, when bishops must submit their resignations to the pope, in 2007.
A biography of Archbishop Curtiss can be found HERE (WARNING: Evil file format [pdf]).
As incoming archbishop, George Lucas plans to use computer generated imagery, dynamic visuals, and a lifetime's experience in filmmaking to develop a new media relations effort for the archdiocese and . . .
and . . .
Oh, wait. It's not that George Lucas.
It's this one . . .
Bishop George Lucas, formerly of the diocese of Springfield, Illinois.
Sorry.
Couldn't resist.
I'll blog more seriously next time. Promise.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (59)
May 28, 2009
No, Mr. President
(Jimmy Akin)
Powerful.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (41)
May 18, 2009
The Obama Spending Spree
(Jimmy Akin)
Most of the talk in the Catholic blogosphere right now regarding President Obama concerns his shameful appearance at Notre Dame. This is conversation that needs to be had, and I hope that it leads to a tougher statement from the U.S. bishops on the honoring of pro-babykilling figures and to a thorough housecleaning at Notre Dame.
CHT: Volokh.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (100)
April 22, 2009
I Prefer Chocolate... I Think
(Tim Jones)
Tim Jones, here.
"We live in a land where you
can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in
my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should
be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but
that's how I was raised." (FOX News)
This is the tepid and tentative endorsement of traditional marriage that, on the one hand, cost Carrie Prejean (Miss California USA and Miss USA finalist) the Miss USA
crown, and that on the other hand has caused her to be lionized in the
conservative press... neither of which makes any sense, based on what
she actually said. Presidential candidate Barack Obama said essentially
the same thing months ago.
This throws some light on the whole gay agenda and on politics in general here in the U.S..
Carrie
Prejean will be known henceforth in the public mind as "the girl who
would have been Miss USA", but for the presence of a flaming gay
activist judge, and the girl who actually won the competition (does
anyone know her name?) will be forever known as "the girl who beat
Carrie Prejean".
The gay judge, Perez Hilton, got his thong in a
twist because he wanted to hear Miss Prejean say, "Golly, I think
chocolate and vanilla are both just swell..." and she had the audacity
to say "I think... I prefer chocolate. No offense to vanilla people.".
As
Mark Shea has observed time and again, where the gay agenda is
concerned "Tolerance Is Not Enough! You Must Approve!". The message
(and this episode is only its latest incarnation) is very clear: "You
want to make it in the entertainment business? Then..." - I was going
to say, "learn to keep your mouth shut", but the real lesson is -
"learn to parrot the opinions we give you - with enthusiasm - or else".
That's
nothing new, it's just acquired the brashness that is the hallmak of a
bully who has grown accustomed to success. Their fear campaign has
worked, in large measure. "Agree with us, publicly, if you want to
work. Disagree and you will be passed over". It used to be that
aspiring entertainers were passed over in private meetings... now they
are passed over publicly, clapped in irons and pelted with fruit.
Pelted by fruits, you might say. What's troubling is that the same
thing is happening in corporate offices and boardrooms. Learn to say
the right thing, if you value your job.
But then, in the
hinterlands of the right, you have Fox News throwing Miss Prejean a
virtual ticker tape parade, treating her as if she had said, "Mr. Perez
Hilton, tear down this wall!!!", ignoring the fact that her answer was
in fact very meekly pro-marriage, and lacked any moral conviction, that
she took pains to emphasize that this was just her opinion... that she
is, in regard to gay marriage, "personally opposed, but..."
I
know she's young, and that she's no philosopher, and that she was on
the spot and under a great deal of pressure, and I suppose I should be
happy she was able to stammer her way through any kind of half-hearted
endorsement of real marriage at all... but it's not as if she didn't
know the question might come up. The contestants do see them in advance
(though they don't know which one they may be asked).
I'm appalled that she was set up,
basically, by a gossip Queen who (wrapping himself in the PFLAG) was
determined to deny the Miss USA title to anyone not solidly toeing the
line of the gay agenda, but I'm also appalled at the reaction to her
speech at both ends of the political spectrum.
(visit Tim Jones' blog Old World Swine)
Posted by Tim Jones in Current Affairs, Social Analysis | Permalink | Comments (49)
April 20, 2009
Energy Secretary Chu: "Run in Circles! Scream and Shout!"
(Tim Jones)
Now, aren't you glad that the Obama administration is taking politics out of science? That's what enables energy secretary Steven Chu (nicknamed "Big League" by Obama) to make sober and coldly rational assessments like this;
So,
everyone, run out and buy an electric car right now! Form a drumming
circle, ceremonially break all your conventional light bulbs and
replace them with fluorescents! Drink your own bathwater! Most
importantly, though, be sure not to do anything reckless and
irresponsible like having children, because they will suck up resources
that could be better spent on spotted owls and snail darters and such.
Now, it's true that none of these actions will impact global warming at all, but they will make you feel better - will give you a vague sense of having contributed to something - and anyway, that's the way the herd is going. Polls show that people are concerned about recent polling on attitudes toward global warming. The voters have spoken!... and as we know, democracy is never wrong... just look at Palestine, and the Weimar Republic... and lemmings (an example from nature, which is also never wrong).
Unfortunately, while President Obama and his sycophantic minions cabinet valiantly attempt to keep reason science and politics in completely separate, hermetically sealed envelopes, there are still divisive and radical voices trying to ruin everything;
"Secretary Chu still seems to believe that computer model predictions decades or 100 years from now are some sort of 'evidence' of a looming climate catastrophe, said Marc Morano, executive editor of ClimateDepot.com and former top aide to global warming critic Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.
"Secretary Chu's assertions on sea level rise and hurricanes are quite simply being proven wrong by the latest climate data. As the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute reported in December 12, 2008: There is 'no evidence for accelerated sea-level rise.'"
Morano said hurricane activity levels in both hemispheres of the globe are at 30 years lows and hurricane experts like MIT's Kerry Emanuel and Tom Knutson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "are now backing off their previous dire predictions."
He said Chu is out of date on the science and is promoting unverified and alarming predictions that have already been proven contrary.
Posted by Tim Jones in Current Affairs, Science | Permalink | Comments (24)
April 09, 2009
And The Scary Thing Is . . .
(Jimmy Akin)
. . . that all the dollars are adjusted for inflation.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (5)
April 08, 2009
Dude, That's A Bow
(Jimmy Akin)
So the latest word is that the White House is denying that President Obama bowed to King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia.
"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah," said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity [SOURCE].
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (20)
A Hopeful Trendline
(Jimmy Akin)
Well, here's some good news . . .
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (81)
