Rome tells Anglicans: it's time to decide if you are Protestants or Catholics

Interesting Blog by Damian Thompson commenting on this news story.

The Vatican said last night that the time has come for the Anglican Church to choose between Protestantism and the ancient sacramental Churches of Rome and Orthodoxy.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, told the Catholic Herald that the Anglican Communion must “clarify its identity” and stop hovering between the Catholic and Protestant traditions.

He said: “Ultimately, it is a question of the identity of the Anglican Church. Where does it belong? Does it belong more to the Churches of the first millennium – Catholic and Orthodox – or does it belong more to the Protestant churches of the 16th century?

"At the moment it is somewhere in between, but it must clarify its identity now and that will not be possible without certain difficult decisions."

You can read the full story on the Catholic Herald website here. It’s pretty controversial stuff, coming on the day that the Archbishop of Canterbury was meeting Pope Benedict in Rome to discuss inter-faith relations.

The cardinal is clearly hoping for some sort of breakthrough – or break-up? – at this summer’s Lambeth Conference, which already promises to be a spectacular disaster. But I don’t think we should jump to the conclusion that his views represent those of Pope Benedict.

Kasper is the Catholic Church’s worldwide head of ecumenism, committed to a search for formal unity between Rome and Canterbury. That can only come about if the Anglicans eventually decide to stop ordaining women. Well, dream on.

The Pope, on the other hand, recognises that old-style ecumenism is dead in the water, and that a degree of unity is most likely to be achieved by large numbers of conservative Anglicans becoming Catholics. That possibility is growing stronger by the day.

The Red Sea Crossing: Ron Wyatt

Interesting. Does anyone know anything about this? Evidently a Christian archeologist found where Moses and his people crossed the Red Sea...complete with human bones and chariot wheels!




Additionally there were mountains obstructing their escape. To the south the mountains came down to the sea, as mentioned by Josephus, "For there was [on each side] a [ridge of] mountains that terminated at the sea, which were impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their flight" Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. 2, 15-3. You can see the mountains at the beach today. The people were about to turn against Moses because he had led them to an area where they were trapped and would surely die, or so they thought.


If one looks on a map for a beach area large enough for 2 million people to encamp on the gulf there is only one candidate: Nuweiba, Egypt (which means "Waters of Moses Opening"). The beach at Nuweiba is extremely large and could have accommodated a large number of people at the time of Moses. Pi-Hahiroth means, mouth of the hole, which we would apply to the mouth of the canyon above, as mentioned in The Exodus Revealed DVD. Migdol is a fortress, which we would apply to the ancient fort which is located at the narrowest point on the beach where the gulf and the mountains are in close proximity. Today you will find many hotels there and a village.

The Granite Column of Solomon

This column matches one on the other side of the gulf in Saudi Arabia which had the inscriptions intact. The Hebrew words Mizram (Egypt), death, water, pharaoh, Edom, Yahweh, and Solomon were on that column. Apparently one can conclude King Solomon had these columns erected 400 years after the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea on dry land. Solomon's sea port was at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba at Eilat (I Kings 9:26) and he was very familiar with the Red Sea crossing site, as it was in his neighborhood. The Bible even mentions this column! Isaiah 19:19, "In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border." You can visit the beach today and see the column in person, as I was able to do in Oct. 2005.

There are numerous chariot wheels, plus human and horse bones at the crossing site.

More here...

A look at fashions...

Hilarious!

NEW "Brideshead Revisited" Trailer

Um, well, hmmm... Not quite the 659 minute version with Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews! (How can one condense this book into a two hour movie?!?!? First clue? "Based on the novel".

Is Evelyn Waugh rolling in his grave? Isn't the story supposed to be about Charles Ryder's reconciliation with God? This trailer makes it look like a power struggle between Charles and Lady Marchmain and/or a love triangle with Charles, Julia and Sebastian. And it seems Lady Marchmain is more interested in talking about finances instead of raising her children Catholic...where was God? Basically “libido dominandi”.

Off to Michigan and Indiana!

I'm heading to my home state of Michigan and then to Indiana this weekend for book signings and conferences. Your prayers for our safe travel are greatly appreciated!!!

Creation Stories from Many Cultures

Are any of them similar? Interesting read!

Many of you are probably familiar with the Creation stories in the Bible. Even so, I suggest you reread the first three chapters of Genesis to refresh your recollection. If you want to read more, you can find it on the Electronic Bible Page or you may have a copy at home.
After reviewing this myth, which is important in Jewish and Christian culture, read some myths from other cultures. Do they express the same archetypal patterns of thought? How would you describe these archetypes? Here is a selection:

Jim & Kerri Caviezel: Putting Their Faith into Action

Jim and Kerri Caviezel encourage others to adopt, saying, "You have no idea the blessings that you have coming".

But now, the Caviezel's have adopted two children with brain tumors. It all started as a 'dare' from a pro-choice friend. He said that if Jim was truly pro-life he would adopt a disabled child and if he did so, the friend said he'd become pro-life. He later backed out of the deal, but Jim and Kerri and thrilled with their two children.

I've met and worked with Jim and found him to be sincere, down-to-earth, and striving to learn more about his Catholic Faith every day.

Read the entire story here on LifeSiteNews, and/or listen to his recent interview on "Christopher Closeup". (If link isn't working, go to this website to download the podcast.)

Jim Caviezel, the star of the blockbuster film The Passion of the Christ, told an interviewer that he had been challenged by a friend who was not pro-life to live up to his professed pro-life convictions and adopt a disabled child. The friend told Caviezel that if he did that, then he would change to the pro-life position. When Caviezel and his wife, Kerri, went to China to adopt not one, but eventually two orphans suffering from brain tumours, the friend reneged on the deal. Caviezel, however, said, "It didn't matter to me because the joy that we had from (Bo) - he's like our own."

The couple's first child, Bo, had been abandoned on a train, grew up in an orphanage until he was five and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The Caviezels nursed Bo through his surgeries and he remains today at the centre of the family.

About the adoption of his children, Caviezel was frank about his feelings, saying the challenge "completely terrified" him at first. "Yes, you do feel fear, you do feel scared but you have no idea the blessings that you have coming to you if you just take a chance on faith."

When the Caviezels went to adopt their second child, they were first offered a healthy baby girl, but a five-year-old girl with a brain tumour from the Guangzhou region of China also needed a home. The Caviezels reasoned that a healthy baby would be more likely to be adopted by another family and that the child with the tumour had a greater need for a home.

Caviezel's optimism and self-confidence showed early in his acting career, when many people in Hollywood told him to change his surname, "because no one will be able to pronounce it." He responded, "Well, you've learned to say Schwarzenegger." He was also told that as a devoutly believing Catholic he should be prepared to keep his beliefs quiet. But it was his openness about his faith that attracted the attention of Mel Gibson and led him to offer Caviezel the role of Christ.

The strength of Christian faith, he said, is "in just giving it up and saying I'm going to be a servant of Jesus Christ, and my Father in heaven."

"We were not awarded any Oscars for the Passion, but do you think that's the important thing for God? Certainly if we received ten Oscars, it would not bring any more peace into the world."

Caviezel said, "When you live in holiness, when you really try to stop sinning, you become braver. You become more courageous, you become a man of your word. You become a man of conviction that you're not willing to sell out and you're really a true knight in shining armour."

Focus on the Family: new website, new logo

A great organization!!! Here's the press release:

Focus on the Family rolled out its new Web site and new logo today after 18 months of work.

"We've been busy making substantial changes to this Web site, with a lot of new and exciting features yet to come," John Fuller, vice president of audio and new media, said in a special welcome video on the Web site. It's "jam-packed with helpful information on family and faith."

The new site offers forums, blogs and polls. It includes a searchable archive of audio, video and text. In the new media center, visitors can browse the audio and video archive — and even create their own playlist.

Focus on the Family's new logo makes its debut on the new Web site, as well.

"This is the first new logo we've had since 1977, so I hope it's clear we are not an organization that's all about change just for change's sake," said Gary Schneeberger, vice president of media relations at Focus. "We made this change, after much prayer and planning, to reflect to today's families what it is we stand for.

"Quite simply, what we stand for is helping families thrive, through practical tools, spiritual resources and emotional support from the same Christian perspective we've offered for the past three decade."

Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, has his own corner of the Web site.

"You can get to know our founder even better," Fuller said. "Visit Dr. Dobson's corner by clicking the 'Learn More' link next to his picture. You'll be able to read his newsletters, listen to his podcasts and broadcasts, watch his commentaries, and stay regularly connected with him."

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"The Nest in the Honeysuckles", Chapter One

A story from the early 1800's...enjoy Chapter One!

"Do come here, mother," said Eddie, carefully tip-toeing from the window, and beckoning with his hand. "Here is something I want to show you. Come carefully, or I am afraid you will frighten it."

Mrs. Dudley laid aside her book, and stepped cautiously forward, Eddie leading the way back to the window. "What is it?" she inquired.

"It is a bird with straw in its mouth, and I do believe it is going to build a nest."

Mrs. Dudley stood by her little boy a few minutes, looking from the window. Presently a robin alighted on the walnut tree, directly before them, with a bunch of dry grass in its mouth. It rested a few seconds, and then flew in among the branches of a honeysuckle which twined
around the pillars, and crept over the top of the porch. A fine, warm place it was for a nest, sheltered from the north winds, and from the driving rains, and from the hot rays of the noon-day sun.

Eddie and his mother watched the bird for some time. It would bring straws, and arrange them in its nest, as only a bird can; and then it would away again, and come back, perhaps, with its bill covered and filled with mud, which it used for mortar in fastening the materials in their places. Then it would get in the nest, and, moving its feet and wings, would make it just the right shape to hold the pretty eggs she would lay in it, and the little robins she would love so well, and
feed so carefully.

The robin was industrious, and worked hard to get the house finished in season. I think she must have been very tired when night came, and she flew away to her perch to rest till morning. I do not see how she could balance herself so nicely on one foot, as she slept with her head turned back, and half-hidden beneath her wing.

Eddie often watched the robin during the day. He was careful not to frighten it. "I wonder how the robin could find so nice a place. I should not have thought it would have known about it,"--he said to his mother, as he saw the bird fly in, almost out of sight, among the clustering branches.

Mrs. Dudley told Eddie God taught the birds where to build their nests, and that he took care of them, and provided food for them.

Is it not wonderful that God, who has built the world in which we live, and all the bright worlds we can see in the sky, should attend to the wants of the robins and sparrows, and other birds which he has made? We should forget them, if we had much of importance to attend to, or we should be weary of providing for their wants; but our heavenly Father never forgets, and never grows weary. He hears the ravens when they cry, and not even a sparrow falls to the ground
without his knowledge. "Are ye not much better than they?" our Saviour said to his disciples, when endeavouring to teach them to trust in the love and parental care of God, and not to be anxious in regard to their temporal welfare.

If God so cares for the birds, whose lives are short, and who have no souls to live in another world, will he not much more care for those who are made in his image, and for whom the Saviour died?

No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly, who try to obey his commandments, and look to Christ for salvation from sin. I hope, my dear children, when you see the birds, you will remember God's love to them and to you.

I have given you all I know of the history of one day of the robin's life, but Eddie will observe it while it lives in its house in the honeysuckle, and will tell me all he sees of its domestic arrangements. I hope to tell you with what kind of a carpet it covers the floor, and what it hangs on the walls, and how it brings up its little children, if it should be so happy as to have any to gladden its quiet home, and cheer it with their chattering tongues. I am sure it will have pretty flowers and green leaves for pictures to look at, painted by One whose skill no artist can rival; and it will need no Cologne for perfume for the breath of the honeysuckle is more delicious than any odour which the art of man could prepare.

"Bombing Catholics": more hate speech

Can you believe he puts it in writing...?

I watched the pope’s recent appearance at Yankee Stadium with great sadness. The reason for my sadness was because I missed an opportunity to do some good in the world.

See, I had a fantastic plan.

Ever since I learned the pope was going to hold mass in front of nearly 60,000 Catholics in Yankee Stadium, I had this idea to invent a bomb and drop it on them. Not an exploding-shrapnel-death-and-destruction type of bomb—rather, a bomb that bombs only righteousness and goodness to humankind.

The plan was to make a device that, upon detonation, releases some sort of intelligence gas, then fly it over Yankee stadium and drop it, thereby bringing common sense and rational thought to a stadium-full of Catholics at once.

Then the last quote (on the JumboTron) appears: “Religion does three things effectively: divides people, controls people, deludes people.” And all 60,000 formerly faithful simultaneously understand their lives to have been a sham, and they begin to murmur, grumble and stomp until the entire stadium rumbles on its foundation.

But then, because they have common sense, they realize this is a good thing, that they’re unshackled now, liberated, free to live their lives as they see fit. So the formerly faithful rejoice, and they sing and dance and start a wave—a wave of rational thought that ripples around the whole stadium.

There's more, but it's not fit to print. More hate speech here...

Chelsea Campaigning for Her Mom

Chelsea Clinton looks on (above left) prior to delivering a speech (top right) at the Our Lady of Providence elderly home, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Greeting residents (bottom right), Clinton is spending two days here campaigning for her mother, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., ahead of the June 1 primary.(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Transcript of the Margaret Sanger Interview

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Read the transcript here, or watch the interview here.

POWERFUL.

Fact: ignore the Phillip Morris ads! :-)

WALLACE: Mrs. Sanger, you have helped to spread the Birth Control Movement, not only here in the United States, but in Europe, and the Orient as well. Why? Why is Birth Control of such vital importance internationally? Is it just to save womens' suffering is that the only reason in your mind?

SANGER: Well, not entirely, the population question is a great concern today and the a the rate at which the birth - births come-in to the a we're saving them now - at one time the children died…they didn't have the food. Today our population all over the world is getting certainly better consideration and better conditions than they had at the time when I was there. I went to every country because I was invited and a--I didn't spread--go into the country myself--I was invited to go to Japan and to speak there, have eight lectures on the question of Birth Control and Peace.

WALLACE: Well, do you believe that Birth Control is essential if we want to keep millions of people across the world from starving is that your thesis?

SANGER: Well, I think that Birth Control--if you keep the population more or less static until you pick up your resources, certainly you'll-- keep--prevent their starving.

WALLACE: Well, what's more important -- Birth Control or picking up the resources?

SANGER: Well, picking up the resources there's just a limit to that too. There's just so much -- take Japan -- and she cannot feed they've had the best experts come there when MacArthur was there and the best experts would say that they have twenty million more people than they can feed; she's got to be fed outside in some -- in some way. She's got to have that kind of help if she's going to keep from fighting.

WALLACE: You say that originally the opposition was in all law and you had to fight against that. Today your opposition stems mainly from where, from what source?

SANGER: Well, I think that the opposition is mainly from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.

WALLACE: Of the hierarchy of the church. You feel that the parishioners themselves, the lay--people of the church are not against it.

SANGER: They come to all of our clinics just the same as the non-Catholics do. Exactly the same.

WALLACE: Well let's look at the official Catholic position...opposition to Birth-Control. I read now from a church publication called "The Question Box" in forbidding Birth Control it says the following: It says the immediate purpose and primary end of marriage is the begetting of children, when the marital relation is so used as to render the fulfillment of its purposes impossible--that is by Birth Control--it is used unethically and unnaturally. Now what's wrong with that position?

SANGER: Well, it's very wrong, it's not normal it's -- it has the wrong attitude towards marriage, toward love, toward the relationships between men and women.

WALLACE: Well the natural law they say is that first of all the primary function of sex in marriage is to beget children. Do you disagree with that?

SANGER: I disagree with that a hundred percent.

WALLACE: Your feeling is what then?

SANGER: My feeling is that love and attraction between men and women, in many cases the very finest relationship has nothing to do with bearing a child. It's secondary. Many, many times and we know that --you see your birth rates and you can talk to people who have very happy marriages and they're not having babies every year. Yes, I think that's a celibate attitude...

WALLACE: Surely, a celibate attitude but you agree that Catholicism according to the tenets of Catholicism they rule that birth control violates not only the church's position --it isn't the church's position but they say it violates a natural law as I have just explained, therefore birth control is a sin no matter who practices it. Now the violation of the natural law--you certainly can take no issue with the natural law as the hierarchy of the Catholic Church regards it...

SANGER: Oh, I certainly do take issue with it and I think it's untrue and I think it's unnatural. It's an unnatural attitude to take --how do they know? I mean, after all, they're celibates.They don't know love, they don't know marriage, they know nothing about bringing up children nor any of the marriage problems of life, and yet they speak to people as if they were God.

WALLACE: Let me let me ask you this question. Suppose a healthy, well-to-do couple decide for some reason never to have children, use birth control all their lives. Would you say that your methods are being misused, Mrs. Sanger?

SANGER: Not if they were intelligent people and they had some reason for thinking of children as a responsibility, or they -- some disease that they might have, that they wouldn't like to pass on to a child and I think it would be a very unselfish attitude for them to take if there is a disease.

WALLACE: No, I say a healthy, well-to-do couple. A couple that just doesn't want children and for that reason they use birth control all the way. Do you think that is a misuse of your methods?

SANGER: I don't think it's a misuse. I think if they're intelligent adults that they must know what they want, they must manage their lives themselves and certainly there's nothing birth control--than there is in other things that you might deny yourself.

WALLACE: I asked you your motives a little while ago, at the beginning of the program--your motives in working for birth control as hard as you have for as many years as you have. You reject the principle Catholic argument against birth control as being totally invalid. Well what do you think is the reason, the motive of the Church in forbidding birth control?

SANGER: You'd have to ask a Catholic that, I couldn't say what their motive is.

WALLACE: Well ah -- you couldn't say officially what their motive is but you certainly must have an opinion about it, Mrs. Sanger.

SANGER: Well, I don't have much to do with the--with the hierarchy and I know that the people that come to our organization and want to have the same methods, or whatever it is that one can have, to prevent a pregnancy that those women say to us--I, we ask their religion very often and they say, "I am a Catholic, I was raised in the Catholic Church, on this my Church is wrong, on this, this is the the one thing, I will never be anything else but my Church is wrong on this one thing" and that is said over and over and over again. So what the motive is...

WALLACE: But you won't hazard a guess.

SANGER; I don't care to, thank you.

WALLACE: May I ask you why? Now I know that in private and...in--actually in public discussions, I think, prior to this time--you have been willing to state your understanding of what the motives of the Church are and now you would you would rather remain silent. May I ask you why?

SANGER: Well, simply because I don't think that a -- that the Church has changed in its attitude, some of the hierarchy have changed their attitude. You can't say the same thing that you might have said a year ago or two years ago as to your belief, as to your opinions. I'm not going to --

WALLACE: Have you heard it said, that the reason that the Church is against birth control is because they want more Catholics?

SANGER: I've read it.

WALLACE: Do you believe it?

SANGER: Well, if you read their papers, where they point out Boston, that that's what had happened in Boston in Massachusetts. They had simply out-bred the Protestants and they're -- they -- in Boston in Massachusetts they have control. I read that in their own papers

WALLACE: I see...of course the Church's answer--the Church's answer, and I read now from a pamphlet published by the Redemptionist Fathers in Missouri, says as follows: It says "that point of view about wanting more Catholics is nonsense. Quote, "The Catholic Church does not command Catholic husbands and wives to have even one child. The Church considers it more than normally meritorious for them to have no children if they mutually and perpetually give up the use of the marriage right for the Love of God."

SANGER: Alright, I have no quote what they do, so they...I think that the question in my mind is that they may do and order their own people to do as they wish but I object to their having the same rules for people who are not of the same religion.

WALLACE: Well, they believe, you see, that it was a natural law, not a Catholic Law, but a "natural law," and therefore a sin not just for Catholics, but a sin for all peoples...and I think that there are other religious groups, the very very Orthodox Jews, feel the same way about birth control.

Let's look at another argument against Birth Control, Mrs. Sanger, published in Red Book Magazine, in March of 1956. It says "Birth Control is a devastating social force, which tends to weaken the moral fibre of the community. Immunity from parenthood encourages promiscuity, particularly when unmarried persons can so easily avail themselves of the devices." Do you doubt that?

SANGER: I doubt it.

WALLACE: You do…

SANGER: Certainly.

WALLACE: Then let me read from a news story in the Philadelphia Daily News on June 10th, 1942.The story quotes you as urging the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps to give its members quote preventive measures against pregnancy end quote and you add,quote abortion and illegitimacy are bound to result if the Government doesn't recognize human nature. End quote.In other words you were not advocating Christian morality, but rather ways for single women to avoid bearing illegitimate children.

SANGER: Where was it taken from.

WALLACE: Philadelphia Daily News -- June 10, 1942 direct quote from Margaret Sanger.

SANGER: I doubt it. I don't believe I ever made such a remark.

WALLACE: Well, in the same vein in your autobiography --which you cannot disavow-- you wrote the following about Sexologist Havelock Ellis. You said "he's been able to clarify the question of sex and free it from the smudginess connected with it from the beginning of Christianity". Now why --what do you mean by the smudginess connected with sex and why do you blame it on Christianity?

SANGER: Well, there's many reasons of course -- if we had more records of it to go on with Christianity and I think I was speaking of Havelock Ellis as having clarified the question of homosexuals...making the thing a --not exactly a perverted thing, but a thing that a person is born with different kinds of eyes, different kinds of structures and so forth...that he didn't make all homosexuals perverts--and I thought he helped clarify that to the medical profession and to the scientists of the world as perhaps one of the first ones to do that. That was one of things that I meant in that.

WALLACE: Mrs. Sanger do you disagree that Catholics or do you feel that Catholics should not have a right to have a say when the city administration contemplates spending their tax dollars on birth control or the dissemination of birth control information? Something that Catholics believe is sinful.

SANGER: That they have a right to say --

WALLACE: Do you feel that they don't have a right to have a say when a city administration contemplates spending their dollars -- tax dollars on birth control? For instance here in New York Catholics comprise about 45% of our population -- they're the largest single group. Well, don't you think that they should have the democratic right to lobby against having their money spent their tax money spent on something that they consider evil?

SANGER: I suppose they have a right. And they certainly do it -- but so have the others and yet they're only 45% of the population -- and that is not the majority.

WALLACE: But they have a right to get up and...

SANGER: Certainly. I'd have no objection to their having a say about it--but I think we should have the same right. I say "we", I mean non-Catholics .

WALLACE: Well, of course this is a little bit of variance of something you have told our reporter earlier this week, you said earlier this week --"it's not only wrong it should be made illegal for any religious group to prohibit dissemination of birth control -- even among its own members". In other words you would like to see the government legislate religious beliefs in a certain sense.

SANGER: Honestly, -- where are these strange things coming from -- that I said them (LAUGHS)..I should like to know when.

WALLACE: Well, now you know that my reporter spent a good deal of time with you. He's a very accurate young man...

SANGER: Yes..

WALLACE: And this is a this is a specific quote.

SANGER: Well, I don't think I put it quite that way.

WALLACE: What are your religious beliefs, Mrs. Sanger? Do you believe in God in the sense of a Divine Being -- who rewards or punishes people after death?

SANGER: Well, I have a different attitude about--the divine--I feel that we have divinity within us, and the more we express the good part of our lives, the more the divine within us expresses itself.I suppose I would call myself an Episcopalian by religion and there's a--many other, if you travel around the world you get quite a bit of the feeling of all--all religions--have so much alike in the divine part of our own being. And I suppose you just couldn't just put that into a book or you couldn't put it to a phrase or a sentence.

WALLACE: Do you believe in sin -- When I say believe I don't mean believe in committing sin do you believe there is such a thing as a sin?

SANGER: I think the greatest sin in the world is bringing children into the world--that have disease from their parents, that have no chance in the world to be a human being practically. Delinquents, prisoners, all sorts of things just marked when they're born. That to me is the greatest sin -- that people can -- can commit..

WALLACE: But sin in the ordinary sense that we regard it -- do you believe or do you not believe.

SANGER: What-what would they be?

WALLACE: Do you believe infidelity is a sin?

SANGER: Well, I'm not going to specify what I think is a sin. I stated what I think is the worst sin.

WALLACE: Yes, but then you asked me to say what--and I said what and ah--you refuse to answer me?

SANGER: I don't know about infidelity, that has many personalities to it--and what a person's own belief is--you can't, I couldn't generalize on any of those things as being sins.

WALLACE: Murder is a sin...

SANGER: Well, I naturally think murder, whether it's a sin or not, is a terrible act.

WALLACE: In just a moment Mrs. Sanger I'd like to ask you about another social problem here in the United States -- Divorce. Nearly four hundred thousand couples get divorced in this country each year. And I'd like to get your views on the cause and possible prevention of this problem. We'll get Mrs. Sanger's answer to that question in just sixty seconds.

Mike Wallace Interviews Margaret Sanger (1957)

Hat tip to PP.

I'm trying to find a way to embed this...

FYI, it was recorded in 1957, so you may find the Phillip Morris ads throughout a bit unusual!

The Mike Wallace Interview
Margaret Sanger
9/21/57

Margaret Sanger, the leader of the birth control movement in America, talks to Wallace about why she became an advocate for birth control, over-population, the Catholic Church, and morality.

Strength Against Slander

From Thomas á Kempis

"MY CHILD, do not take it to heart if some people think badly of you and say unpleasant things about you. You ought to think worse things of yourself and to believe that no one is weaker than yourself. Moreover, if you walk in the spirit you will pay little heed to fleeting words. It is no small prudence to remain silent in evil times, to turn inwardly to Me, and not to be disturbed by human opinions. Do not let your peace depend on the words of men. Their thinking well or badly of you does not make you different from what you are. Where are true peace and glory? Are they not in Me? He who neither cares to please men nor fears to displease them will enjoy great peace, for all unrest and distraction of the senses arise out of disorderly love and vain fear."

(The Imitation of Christ Book 3, Chapter 28)

Feminist author: "You can NOT 'have it all'!"

I haven't read the book nor am I recommending it, but here is an interesting article about modern women finding out that the feminists were wrong...

It used to be a feminist mantra: you can do it all, successfully raise a family and have a career.

But Meg Wolitzer, author of "The Ten-Year Nap," a new novel about women who leave the workplace to care for their children, says the one-time noble goal doesn't always work out in real life -- and that is not a bad thing.

"Having everything is one of those cringe worthy concepts that sound better than they actually are," Wolitzer told Reuters. "Is the point of life to amass a big jackpot? I think the point is the stuff that happens along the way."

So she was fascinated by the number of women now opting to stay at home rather than pursue the career paths chiseled out by their feminist mothers and grandmothers, sparking the rise of "mommy wars" between women who worked and those who stayed home.

Her eighth novel, "The Ten-Year Nap," focuses on some formerly high-achieving women from New York City's East Side who gave up their jobs to look after their children and 10 years later, with their children older, are deciding what to do with their lives and whether to return to work.

"There is a feeling at a New York dinner party that when someone asks what you do, and you say you stay home with your kids, that they will roll their eyes," said Wolitzer. "But it's extremely unfair to assume people are more interesting because they work. Work doesn't make people interesting."

Wolitzer said many women had to work, needing the money to support themselves and their families, so the idea of being able to have it all was just not realistic.

"There is this generation of younger women who don't feel they need to adopt the kind of frizzy-headed, clog wearing feminism of their mothers and grandmothers ... the old models do fall away but a lot of the good stuff has been left behind."

Rice Shortage: Self Fulfilling Prophecy

People I know that don't even eat rice have rushed out to buy some. Why? Because they heard there was a rice shortage!

With food riots spreading from Haiti to Thailand and retail giants such as Wal-Mart implementing rice rationing in the United States because of shrinking supplies, analysts say Canadians will soon be paying a lot more at the grocery store.

Already, panic buying has hit some Canadian stores.

"It's a human trait to hoard, but there is only so much food to hoard," he said.

Eating habits will be forced to change, says Cran, and its likely in the near future consumers will no longer have the option of fresh pineapples and oranges in the winter.

"My advice is to go speak to your granny and get a canning recipe before she leaves this world."

A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Canada said there are no plans to cap sales in Canada.

"We do not have restrictions on rice at any of our Canadian stores," said Karin Campbell on Thursday. She would not comment on whether there had been a run on rice at any of their Canadian outlets.

Hillary Clinton's 'NORMAL' - Downs Crown Royal, Shoots Ducks

Bumpy recording of CNN's political show, with commentary. Video of Hillary downing shots and beer, and talking about learning to shoot from her Daddy.

Hillary: Masculine or Feminine?

Carey Roberts points out more of Hillary's confusing antics...

Hillary has been rubbing a lot of persons the wrong way with her girl-power jokes and "Iron my Shirt" pranks.

Earlier this month the Democratic elders began to call for Clinton's withdrawal from the race. Predictably, Hillary's surrogates screamed "misogyny" and pushed back with the claim that "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels."

So how is Hillary going to pull off her kiss-and-make-up with the male electorate? Well, simple — if she can't beat the boys, why not join 'em!

Mrs. Clinton showed up on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and invoked the memory of Rocky Balboa, legendary boxer of film fame. Putting on her best he-man imitation, she exclaimed, "Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing a fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up."

A few days later she shared one of her fondest childhood memories. "You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught me how to shoot when I was a little girl," she related. Waxing sentimental, she added, "People enjoyed hunting and shooting because it's an important part of who they are."

(Note to Second Amendment advocates: Before getting excited over this political pabulum, be sure to check out Hillary's record on gun control. On at least 17 different occasions, she has issued statements on the need to restrict access to guns, including her 2000 proposal to license and register handgun sales: www.ontheissues.org/2008/Hillary_Clinton_Gun_Control.htm .)

But by mid-April the non-stop campaigning began to take its toll and Mrs. Clinton hankered for some quality time with the boys. So she sauntered over to Bronko's Restaurant and Lounge in Crown Point, Ind.

Sidling up to the bar, she ordered the bartender's finest. In full view of the cameras she took a sip of the Crown Royal whiskey, then threw her head back and finished off the rest of the shot.

As Pennsylvania voters streamed to the polls this past Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton appeared on ABC. Asked about the looming threat from Iran, Clinton indulged in some high-profile saber-rattling. "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm president, we will attack Iran," she warned. "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

Totally obliterate them? Goodness gracious, if Senator McCain ever uttered those words, he'd be tarred, feathered, and sent packing to Arizona.

So as Hillary Clinton tries to restart her quixotic bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, it's inevitable that she would try to portray herself as a gun-toting, military-loving fighter on behalf of the common man.

And above all, a woman who can really hold her liquor.

Muslim Sheik: "Bible Says Women Must Wear Veil"

Christians view modesty as a virtue...not a demand.

Controversial Sydney Muslim cleric Taj al-Din al-Hilali says that the Koran and the Bible make similar demands on women to dress modestly with the Bible mandating" the wearing of the veil by Christian women.

Writing in a new book, Sheik Hilali, who lost his job as mufti of Australia after comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, argues that the Bible and the Koran make similar demands of a woman's modesty, The Australian reports.

But Sheik Hilali also says women in Australia, or any Western society, have absolute freedom to wear whatever they like.

"The Muslim has no right to impose the rules of his religion on others. My religious duty is to advise the Muslim woman to be modest and to wear the Islamic dress. It is her choice whether to comply or not."

Papal Quotes on The Sanctity of Life

From Keys of Peter:

If he who destroys what is conceived in the womb by abortion is a murderer, how much more is he unable to excuse himself of murder who kills a child even one day old.
-Stephen V, Epistle to Archbishop of Mainz, September 14, 887


Human life is sacred - all men must recognize that fact. From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God. Those who violate His laws not only offend the divine majesty and degrade themselves and humanity, they also sap the vitality of the political community of which they are members.
- John XXIII, Mater et Magistra, May 51, 1961


The twentieth century will have been an era of massive attacks on life, an endless series of wars and a continual taking of innocent human life. False prophets and false teachers have had the greatest success.
- John Paul II, Christ Alone Gives Life, August 14, 1993

Padre Pio on View--with a mask instead of his face

I suggest you watch the Reuters video here and read the LA Times article. His face was so decomposed that they had GEMS, a London company that does figures for wax museums, create a special silicon mask.

The exhumed and cosmetically enhanced corpse of Padre Pio, mystic monk and one of the world's most revered saints, went on display here Thursday amid weeping devotees and eager souvenir-hawkers.

Padre Pio died 40 years ago at the age of 81, and the tomb containing his remains was unearthed from a church crypt here last month. A team of forensic specialists, doctors and a biochemist worked to restore the body for Thursday's ceremony.

A London company that supplies figures for wax museums created a special silicon mask to represent his face, complete with beard and bushy eyebrows.

. . .

"The faithful feel anguish and astonishment about what has happened and many faithful are offended," said Francesco Traversi, a lawyer who says being blessed at age 7 by Padre Pio was a life-altering experience. Traversi, who started an organization opposed to the exhumation, planned his own counter-demonstration with banners saying, "Hands Off Padre Pio!" He accused church authorities and especially the region's archbishop, Domenico D'Ambrosio, of "tampering with the dead" as a stunt to bring tourists and revenue into a slumping economy.

More about the mix of "faith and commerce" can be read here.

The only visible parts of Padre Pio are his fingers, blackened now 40 years after he died. The palms, which once provoked sharp debates over how they came to be marked with the same wounds as Christ’s, are covered by his famous half gloves (replicas of which can be bought here for $8, or for $4.75, a Padre Pio snow globe).

The face is made of wax, a convincing likeness, gray beard and all.

Excepts: "World Youth Day: Catholicism or Corruption?"

A small clip from a 2 DVD set. Whatever you think about World Youth Day, I think it's important to view this video. And after viewing some of the pics from the Juventutem website I wasn't convinced that was the safest route, either.

All I can say is that if you plan to send your teens, get as much info as you can from as many different sources as you can before you make the decision. Start with the above video.