Punditry

As with pretty much all people I was saddened to hear of the reports of the mass murder in Arizona, just as I am when I hear of any such occurrence. It is quite natural for people to wonder at motives when an apparent political assassination is also involved, but experience has shown me this to be common but misplaced.

Too bad we often look for motives instead of praying for the victims and their family and loved ones. John Kroll, Gabe ZImmerman, Christina Taylor,
Dorwin Stoddard, Phyllis Scheck, and Dorthy Murray were all murdered by this one individual along with others seriously injured including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. To no credit to myself, I at least had the grace to remember to pray when I first saw this story, but still wondered about motive afterwards. Though I also realized motives in these cases are difficult to analyze. Though it does not take a prophet to realize that such acts are of seriously disturbed persons, as was true in this case.

I was also saddened to see the Wellstonian treatment of this story soon after it was reported. I refer to the funeral of the tragic death of Paul Wellstone that was hijacked and turned into a political event attacking Republicans. Using tragedies to promote political agendas is about as classless as you can get. I guess I was not surprised to find the the supposed causation was Sarah Palin. Naively I thought this stupidity would go away once more was known about the killer. Now I am no Palin fanboy in that there are some things I admire about her and some things I don’t, but the irony of blaming a political climate of hate on Sarah Palin using hateful rhetoric seems to be lost on the accusers.

The accusations say more about the accusers than anything. I think it was in Orthodoxy when G.K. Chesterton wrote, and I paraphrase, that an insane person is not somebody who had lost there reason, but someone who only had there reason left. As with most of Chesterton’s paradoxes this is another one that makes more sense as you think about it and reading about Jared Loughner’s rants on literacy and grammar among other things – further shows Chesterton’s insight.

Now if you want to show causation in what you call a political climate of hate it seems to me that using a disturbed individual as proof does nothing of the kind. To show such evidence you would want to point to common people committing acts of violence in response to political rhetoric. History is full of such acts. I would add another definition to Einstein’s’ definition of insanity in that using a seriously disturbed individual for proof of causation is also insanity.

For example Unibomber Theodore Kazinski and Discovery Channel gunman James Lee were both heavily influenced by Vice President Al Gore’s books in response to the “act now” rhetoric he used. But the real causation was that both of these men were disturbed and that while Gore should be accurate in his environmental consequences, he is in no real way responsible for the actions of these two men. The mystery of evil is indeed a mystery and thinking you can analyze the psyche of the deranged and draw a connection of points between cause and action is the daydream of the materialist.

I also don’t care about lists of hateful words and actions Democrats have said or done or that they had also used bull-eyes and targets to represent congressional districts to defeat. There words and actions also have a lack of causation when it comes violence in the political sphere. While there is some related violence, the case can’t really be made for direct political rhetoric causation.

There is some question as to how the Culture of Death affects violence and the cheapening of life. Certainly the abortion attitude has depersonalized the child in the womb as a thing that can be destroyed at will. Abortion, euthanizes, ESCR, ect; further cheapens human life and nihilistic killers in a Culture of Death is an expected outcome. Though again direct causation between this attitude and individual acts is not easily proven.

One of the things that annoys me the most about the charges is that once more information was know and the murderer turned out to be a left-wing disturbed individual unhappy with his Congresswoman not being Democrat enough for him – the charges remained the same. As more information comes in it is the part of our human reason to revise our projections – if we fail to do so we are not using reason. Instead we are wearing political lenses that cause myopia.

One of the interesting things about Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate is that he is not afraid to act in cases that ruffle the feathers of some bishops.

As both a theologian and Pope he has spoken about the role of the bishop in his diocese as spiritual father and shepherd and the supreme importance of this role.  He has contrasted this with organizations of bishops and how the singular role of the diocesan bishop is not secondary to this in any way.

The Pope though also has a thorough understanding of his own role and the good of the Church.  Two of the major things he has done were done in part because of the hesitancy of  diocesan bishops as a whole to respond.

Pope John Paul II created the Indult for the Extraordinary form of the Mass to allow Bishops to give permission for this within their diocese.  This was not exactly something responded to with much generosity  and a result Pope Benedict XVI issued his Papal Bull Summorum Pontificum.

The Bishops of England have for years been involved in a form of Ecumenism with the Anglican Church that was more about the Status Quo than it was about actual dialog.  They seemed to have no interest as swim coaches in helping Anglicans to swim the Tiber.  There seemed to be more worried about perception of fishing in somebody else’s pond than in actually helping those Anglicans who had come to realized the truth of the Catholic church and were seeking unity.  Pope Benedict responded with the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.

This is not to say the Pope will run roughshod over the bishops. There are many changes the Pope would like to see, but he is very slow and deliberate in his actions. Liturgically he is willing to lead by example rather than to introduce scores of changes in liturgical law. The mistakes in the aftermath of Vatican II were rapid implementations of changes not only not mandated by the Council, but often at odds with what the documents of the Council actually said. These rapid changes caused much confusion in the Church and even rapid changes that are liturgically sound can also lead to confusion. In the many years I have been blogging I have followed the new English translation of the Liturgy and of course have been impatient in seeing it’s implementation – but really slow and steady is much more sound even for those of us who want action now. The Pope to my mind seems to be conscious of this and while quite willing to take decisive action in some areas is more prudentially patient in others – a good balance.

Fallen priests are certainly nothing new and when I hear of such a case it usually reminds me to pray for priests.  The tempting of priests surely is a high priority of fallen Angels as much as the destruction of families.  Generally this is an issue that makes me sad not mad.

Originally the story of Fr. Cutie from the Archdiocese of Miami was in the sad category for me and while I still continue to pray for him – his actions are becoming even more reprehensible.  He has recently come out with a new book attacking the Church and it’s hypocrisy and of course the media is scooping this up as frosting on their Anti-Catholicism.

A priest who found himself attracted to a women and as a result applied for laicization because he felt called to the married life is at least someone I could understand and to some degree respect.  A priest who gets caught with a divorcee, subsequently defends his actions on one of the popular Morning show, leaves the Church, becomes Episcopalian, marries the women involved and has a child, and then writes a book attacking the Church is somebody who will get my prayers, but not my sympathy.  The media is glad to use such a character since any stick to hit the Church with will do.

Progressives who called for  a married priesthood and remain celibate I can appreciate even if I prudently disagree with them on this issue of discipline.  A priest that sneaks around apparently  committing adultery and then when caught strikes out against the Church is not exactly a reformer that should be listened to.  Reformer reform thyself.  Fr. Cutie’s outside actions are not only scandalous, but show him digging deeper into sin instead of repentance. Worse is the fact that he is being encouraged in his sin as he becomes a celebrity for his actions.

Contrary to Andy Warhol, it seems the future brought everybody “15 minutes of shame” where what people should be ashamed of they become famous for.  Considering original sin this is not very surprising.  We all struggle and fall short, but when you call falling short “advancement” you have gone beyond concupiscence to denial and sin. Shame on the media and others for using Fr. Cutie’s case to advance their agenda.

Oh goody more lists I can ignore.

Time’s person of the year – ignored for long time

Nobel Peace Prize – peripherally ignored for a while and especially when they gave it to a terrorist

National Catholic Reporters  1st Person of the year – automatically ignorable and oh so predictable.  Now that they have instituted this what do you think the odds for them to pick a pope as person of the year before the Second Coming?  If I started a Person of the year it would be some man or women who has demonstrated holiness.  Pope Benedict XVI would always be on my shortlist as not only someone who demonstrates holiness, but is making every effort to guide the Church in holiness.  So I am not going to get riled up about the NCReporter, but thank God for the examples of holiness of people God has placed into our lives.

On a less serious note, I sometimes could almost wish that Progressives would get a Pope they wanted.  That a Fr. Hans Kung or a Fr. Richard McBrien or some such would be elected.  It would almost be worth it to see their frustration when it comes to Papal Infallibility.  They would try and try to write that encyclical to formerly teach to the whole Church  on something regarding faith or morals and find themselves unable to do so.  The Women’s Ordination encyclical next to the ones on Homosexuality, and Contraception would languish in draft state never to be formally presented.  Papal Infallibility is of course a negative charism in that it only prevents a Pope from teaching error formally to the whole Church in a matter of faith or morals.  But even as a negative charism it would be one a Progressive – read heretical – Pope would run into as evidenced by the history of the Church where popes with some heretical idea never taught it ex cathedra.

The operative term is “almost wish” since they could do all kinds of menace to the Church even if they are prevented from formally teaching error. Plus I would not wish on them what happened to Pope Sixtus V who died just before he was going to promulgate an extremely botched revision of the Latin Vulgate Bible filled with errors which he was presented to the whole Church and had even written up the Papal Bull to do so.

Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix held a press conference this afternoon and has stripped St. Joseph’s Medical Center of its status as being a Catholic hospital.

This is no surprise for anybody following the story as the Bishop has struggled with this hospital pretty much since his installment as bishop seven years ago.  This year as the result of the abortion performed there and the unapologetic nun who excommunicated herself by allowing it the whole thing has snowballed. Too bad it was not just one bad nun who did not understand Church teaching and its application but instead a cancer that had metastasized throughout Catholic Healthcare West (CHW).  The bishop in his statement lists several of formal cooperation with evil that the hospital was involved with and that the bishop had only recently learned of.  The hospital has been in violation of some Ethical Religious Directives (ERDs) issued by the U.S.C.C.B. over the years and we know learn the full extent of these violations.

The bishop led off with “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.” and makes the distinction between authentic Catholic healthcare and what CHW has been doing.

I am very thankful for the Bishop’s action, but I am not rejoicing that he had to take such a necessary action.  I think the Bishop feels the same way as evidenced by his letter.  This though is what makes him a good shepherd in that his actions primarily are directed towards protecting the flock and not just getting along with the wolves.

A Catholic hospital disobedient to both Church teaching and their local Bishop is no Catholic hospital at all, but just a hospital with some Catholic trappings and the name of a saint.  The action of the administration has been nothing but scandalous and their language the same as all dissidents use. They hide themselves in their own interpretation and then appeal only to those theologians who hold that exact same opinion.  It is consensus with only those who agree with them.

I applaud Bishop Olmsted for this slow and deliberate action in apparently doing all he could to not come to this point and then making the right decision when circumstances forced this.

If only he could strip them of the name St. Joseph also.  I would prefer they name themselves “Moloch R Us” in a bid to transparency and the reality of what they are willing to do.  There is great scandal in the name of medical institutions that murder the unborn having the name of a saint or Our Lord himself.  Jill Stanek blew the whistle on Christ Hospital performing infanticide.  These institutions should all rename themselves to more fitting titles, but I guess Mengele Hospital doesn’t succeed PR-wise.

Even sadder is that it is not just this one hospital so infected.  CHW runs over 30 medical institutions in California, Arizona, and Nevada and the problems that exist in this one hospital also exist to some degree in the other ones.  American Life League in just two days of investigation found multiple scandalous activities by CHW as evidence in this PDF.

I sincerely hope that more than just Bishop Olmstead work to resolve this problem to the extent possible.  CHW has ethically bloody hands in other diocese and their bishops need to act appropriately.  Besides CHW is not the only Catholic Health organization that has surrendered to the culture and betrayed Christ – Sister Carol Keehan anyone?

For anybody who want a more thorough look at this story and the implications involved I would highly recommend Jimmy Akin’s series on the subject: Parts in this series: one, two, three, four, five

One of the components of the so-called Christmas wars is the rise of the “new atheists”, the more vocal group of atheists that want to ban religion from the public square. Among this group is those atheists who patrol government buildings looking for any symbol of Christianity in particular to raise their angry fists at. The Christmas Tree is bad enough, but put a star or an Angel on it and it become offensive!!! Or the ones that demand at least that some display to reason itself is also displayed on government property next to a Menorah and a Nativity Scene.

Now if they are so offended by these symbols of Christianity and display of religion in the public square I suggest some other targets they should be offended by. How about hospitals and universities which were given to Western Civilization from the Church. These institutions grew organically from what the Church taught and lived. So they should shake an angry fist at public universities and public hospitals and be offended by them. Or how about charitable organizations? These organizations did not grow out of Paganism or from materialism. Soup kitchens and such should be offensive to the new atheist. If religion poisons everything than surely these vestiges of Christianity should be equally viewed as offensive. Of course the thing is the modern atheist is a Christianized atheist whose views have been influenced by Western Civilization.

Yesterday I had tweeted about iBooks for the iPad being updated with categorization and I was happy the 300 some books on my iPad could get some organization. A reply on Facebook mentioned a Catholic store owner recommended the person not get an eReader.

Supporting Catholic book stores is a real good thing on multiple levels. People behind these stores didn’t start them to get rich and many of them struggle along. My favorite Catholic book store in my city closed down which I lamented. There selection of books was excellent with solid orthodox content. So I can sympathize with store owners concerned that eBooks will have an impact on their business. Patrick Madrid when referencing a book always encourages people to get them from their local Catholic book stores and I would mostly concur.

There will always be people who prefer regular books and a good Catholic book store can help their customers by answering questions and helping them find good books to inform their faith. Certainly though eBooks will have more of an impact as they become more accepted. I would though encourage these stores to do what they can to embrace eBooks. Ignatius Press, St. Benedict Press, Tan and other publishers have embraced eBooks and Catholic stores like Aquinas & More are selling them. For my part when I buy a Catholic eBook I look to buy them from the publisher or a Catholic book store. Amazon will sell them cheaper, but the difference in price is only a couple of bucks and I want to support them. Plus the Catholic sources sell the books without Digital Rights Management so that you will be able to read the book on any device of your choosing now and into the future.

Local Catholic stores need to get involved in eBooks. There are certainly problems in making this happen. Running an e-Commerce web site certainly adds cost to a local Catholic book store. Many Catholic publishers have not yet made their catalogs available as eBooks and much has to be done in regards with Catholic publishers working with Catholic book stores in making the books available to them for sale. Maybe they could even be sold in store on CDs where the store downloads the book from a publisher site for the customer. Regardless Catholic book stores need to embrace eBooks as much as they can because they are not going away and I don’t want local Catholic book stores to be going away. Complaining about eBooks and eBook Readers will just put you in the Buggy Whip camp.

I love real books, but have come to prefer eBooks since they are much more convenient for me. I have instant access to many of my books wherever I go and searching for something becomes super easy. Marking up books with notes and highlights becomes more useful since your notes become simple to find and access. When it comes to Catholic books re-reading is common and I don’t have to look through stacks or boxes to find the book to read once again. A couple of months ago I had a stack of books fall on my and slightly injure my hand. I guess if I dropped my iPad on my foot it would hurt – but not as much as that stack of books. For book hoarders such as myself – eBooks are a good thing. It’s not a real book vs. eBook thing anyway. I say both/and it’s all good.