Outside The Asylum

I'm hoping this gets the combox going.  How many pillars of Islam are there, and what are they?

Once again, I asked to have a pro-life item included in our bulletin, and once again, our Jesuit-trained pastoral assistant blocked it.  Over and over, whenever I meet a pro-choice Catholic, I'm told they are Jesuit trained.  What do Jesuits have against life? ---- Jesuit pro-choice strikes again. In the end result, 9daysforlife.com will not be promoted at St. Clare's.

Part 11: The Spiritual Works of Mercy | The Divine Mercy Message from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception : 'via Blog this' What I need to work on this year

50 Important Facts About Having Mild Autism:Asperger’s Syndrome | My Blog : Best list of this type that I've seen yet- a must read for anybody who either has HFA Level 1 (the new name for Asperger's) or loves somebody who does.

It starts with a ghost town. Some of them go really cheap. Someplace in Oregon, there is a ghost town that would be useful for this purpose. It needs a creek or a river running near it. But that's about it; cache basins can supply the rest of the water if we can build them to keep it. It also needs a hill or a mountain. And on top of the mountain, a very special chapel will be built. The Venerable Fr. Michael J McGivney chapel. The basement will look something like this- 4 rooms, for 4 very special purposes, no windows. The stairs in the basement leads up to the next level, by the wall- where an altar on rails covers the steps when in proper position for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, but is open for the Ordinary Form of the Mass. On this same level are 4 patios outside the walls of the Maltese Cross shaped church- two red and two white. Finally- far above- is a very special sculpture- made of solar panels and steel- making up the roof: Sitting nearby, is ano...

Time to repost my list. I thought I had already done so. Since Laudato Si has a definite economic component to it, as a part of the description of the Authentic Human Ecology in paragraphs 100-150, I'm adding it to the list. And now, the ten Papal documents, so far, on economics, so that you can get a feeling of the history of the Doctrine of Distributism: Rerum Novarum from Pope Leo XIII Quadragesimo Anno from Pope Pius XI Mater et Magistra from Pope John XXIII Populum Progresso from Pope Paul VI Laborem Exercens from Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus from Pope John Paul II Sollicitudo Rei Socialis from Pope John Paul II Caritas In Veritate by Pope Benedict XVI Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis Laudato Si by Pope Francis People think that Catholic doctrine never changes- but it's dogma that doesn't change, doctrine changes ever so slowly because of the concern for human error. The Doctrine of Distributism is as solid as any other form of economics I can thin...

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia.html

I've been thinking a lot about the software methodology religious wars lately. It seems to me that all methodologies have their strength and weaknesses. 15 years in, Agile has given us faster coding, but worse quality. Waterfall was flawed due to its overemphasis on architecture and underemphesis on business. Lean cuts out inefficiency- at the cost of elegance and maintainability. Devops sacrifices quality and cheapness for speed of continuous Outcomes. And while it's true that the "User Interface is everything" because that's the only thing the user sees, Outcomes sacrifices the future for one-off unmaintainable code.  So here's my solution- WALDO. The ultimate 3-6 person team- no more than 6, no less than three if a couple of guys wear multiple hats. W- Waterfall A- Agile L- Lean D- Devops O- Outcomes But these aren't just methodologies- they imply roles on the team.  The ideal six person team consists of: W- The customer's view of...

Some time ago I read Rerum Novarum , and it changed the way I thought about both capitalism and communism. At the time, I had become a convinced crony capitalist. Though a communist in college, I had found success through hard work, and was living a life that by any standard I can think of put me in the top 1% of human beings worldwide, even if I was someplace in the middle in America. When I was finally challenged to read a book called Papal Economics , I realized that crony capitalism and communism are two sides of the same coin. Both are so incredibly centralized that they prevent access to basic needs for some people in this world. So in the end result- capitalism and communism are a false choice of false religions. Follow Christ instead.

And I get that I need to learn the Spiritual Works of Mercy better. But can I have mercy for my eyes from this crazy logo?

It is only 10 minutes. I dare you to watch to the bitter end.

what3words | Addressing the world : 'via Blog this' I don't think I like my new address by this system- curvy.backs.offers , but I guess it is memorable

What Does Mercy Mean? | Best Advent Ever : This series is helping me greatly with learning a much more Catholic definition of mercy.  Offering healing to a heart in misery.  What a powerful concept- and it shows that my primary problem with mercy stems from a very Americanist narrowing of the concept of mercy to just forgiveness.  How do we show mercy to the unrepentant?  By instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, and by admonishing the sinner.  How do we show love to those we are being merciful to?  By bearing wrong patiently, forgiving offenses willingly, comforting the aflicted, and praying for the dead. This is Catholicism at its finest- this is the Jubilee Year! I eagerly await confession with one of Pope Francis's new missionaries of mercy. For all that remains, is reconciliation with Rome.

instruct the ignorant counsel the doubtful admonish the sinner bear wrongs patiently forgive offenses willingly comfort the afflicted pray for the living and the dead Being a child of the 1970s, I never memorized the works of mercy.  Perhaps if I had I would have noticed that another answer to the false mercy of the Jesuit Liberal Calvinists would be the first three Spiritual Works of Mercy- at which far too many Jesuit schools are woefully inadequate. In their rush to "Academic Freedom" under the sexual revolution, they exceed at the last four- but utterly ignore the first three.  And yet, the first three are precisely how we should be showing mercy to the unrepentant.

It would be this question "Is the law not also a part of mercy"? From his closing comments to the synod, in which he was rather harsh with those who follow the law "The Church’s first duty is not to hand down condemnations or anathemas, but to proclaim God’s mercy, to call to conversion, and to lead all men and women to salvation in the Lord (cf. Jn 12:44-50)."- Pope Francis conclusion to the 2015 synod I see repentance as necessary for mercy. Justice, repentance, and Mercy, the human trinity. The way this is shown is in the eternal call to conversion- a person who doesn't know his sin is a sin can't convert. The reason for the condemnations and anathemas is precisely the call to conversion. If you are looking for more of my evolving thoughts on this subject, use the labels to find other related posts.

On Bullying | Spiritual Friendship : 'via Blog this' Funny, I never thought of this before- but sometimes, the lie of sexual orientation is merely giving in to years of abuse from homophobes or heterophobes. Since my comment to Spiritual Friendship didn't post- I may have been banned there- here is a synopsis of my thoughts upon reading this topic. I could have written this post.  But with nearly 20 years advantage in maturity on the author, my story ends very differently.  In 2000, at age 30, I was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism Level 1, formerly known as Asperger's.  Before that, the bullying never made sense to me.  I was interested in dating women, I had no idea why they called me fag and queer.  Why, in the cruel middle school game of Smear the Queer, I was always the queer. I now know.  Any kid with strange mannerisms, who doesn't quite get social niceties, is queer. Sexual Orientation is a myth.  It is the myth of the bul...

Pornography is a problem often overlooked in American society and is the part of the sexual revolution that has infected the brains of just about everybody under 40 years old. As usual, the Bishops are a half century late tackling this issue- but at least they ARE tackling this issue. I suggest that pornography is more than just the obvious- Romance Novels are as much porn as Hustler, fanfic on the internet is often quite nearly as pornographic as anything found in an x rated video. The idea that this is only a male problem is ridiculous.

The real problem with the law of scarcity is in the difference between the word "want" and the word "need".  God provided us with a planet that has all the natural resources we need to feed, clothe, and shelter 80 billion people, if we work for it and distribute those goods fairly and equitably.  And most importantly, if we distribute the work equitably. There can never be enough for want however- want is psychological, and the infinity of human want is greater than the infinity of God himself.

And thus, for once, I really want some theologians to comment on this, wherever you find it. Sin, Mercy, and Justice are the trinity of the human mind.  We worship, as Catholics, the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit.  But we act in a fallen mortal world- a world where Original Sin is a scientifically proven fact by preponderance of evidence (ok, the science is theology, and since a few atheists follow me, I'm sure they will disagree with that, but I'd ask them before they jump on that if they've ever acted against personal conscience- doing something they knew was wrong and justifying it afterwards).  And where there is sin, there is need for mercy.  Where there is mercy, there is also a need for justice.  These three concepts are so intertwined that (with apologies to Kasper the friendly Cardinal, who I know believes differently) they cannot and should never be separated. Luke 17:1-10 tells us that we should forgive the repentant. ...

The real problem with homosexuality- it is a twisted worldview that directly harms homosexuals. Public Health Ignored as HIV Spreads - Crisis Magazine : 'via Blog this'

Paintings Made By Unborn Babies | Bored Panda : 'via Blog this' So much for the "lacks the capacity for consciousness" argument

The Medieval Mind and the Modernist Error |Blogs | NCRegister.com : 'via Blog this' This is brilliant.  Yes, that is exactly right.  Without morality, without a moral intelligence, a technological intelligence becomes monstrous.

The Assault on Parental Moral Authority - Crisis Magazine : 'via Blog this' I've often been asked why I oppose same sex marriage, because as a heterosexual, what harm does allowing two sodomites or two lesbians get married mean to me? This is why.  Because same sex marriage isn't about same sex marriage, it's about a direct attack on biological parental rights.  In that, it mirrors its elder brother, no fault divorce, and its elder twin sisters, contraception and abortion. Dissent from the new order cannot be tolerated- so now the Department of Education gets into the destruction of biological gender act.

From St Clare Sisters in the Spirit: ------------------------- Dear friends,    Please pray for Gary Lane, a parishioner who is dealing with cancer of the throat. He has been a faithful reader for the last couple of years. And let's remember to continue to support Georgette Spacarelli as she goes through 5 weeks of radiation therapy.     I have a beautiful Sunday evening prayer which is labeled a "Traditional Jewish Prayer". I always find it reassuring that the best of all faith traditions have so much in common. I feel sure that makes God smile!     "Grant us peace, goodness, and blessing; life, grace and kindness; justice and mercy,  Our Father, bless us all together with the light of your presence, for in the light of your presence you give us law and life, love and kindness, justice and mercy, blessing and peace.  And in your eyes it is good to bless your people with great strength and peace. Blessed are you, Lord, who bless your...

How to Improve Your Mind - Archbishop Fulton Sheen - YouTube : 'via Blog this' ;

I have a problem with the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy. I'm having a bit of a crisis of faith over competing definitions of the word mercy, and the role of repentance in forgiveness when it comes to salvation. On the one side (one might say the conservative Catholic side), to paraphrase Fr. Robert Baron, Mercy includes Misery.  You don't ask for mercy for q situation that isn't making you miserable; thus, even merely asking for mercy is a form of repentance.  And as we know from Luke 17:1-10, God's mercy for the repentant is indeed boundless- all we need to do is recognize that we have sinned and are sorry for it, and we WILL be forgiven. q=>r=>m The other side (one might say the liberal form of Calvinism) God's Mercy is also boundless- and unavoidable.  All good dogs go to heaven type.  In this form salvation is unavoidable, heaven is very full, and hell is very empty, because God forgives *everything*, even the previously unforgivable sin of ...

The Pope / Useful Notes - TV Tropes : A great cure for Francis Fanaticism, is to read the St. John Paul II section of this page (along with the rest of the history of "Famous Popes and their TV Tropes")

Suffering ~ Venerable Fulton J Sheen - YouTube : " " This is the answer to the nones.  This is the best response to the problem of evil I know.

Synod15 - Final Report of the Synod of Bishops to the Holy Father Francis (October 24, 2015) : Thanks Be to God- the English translation of the new synod report is out.  Not only that, but maybe in response to previous online rumors about biased English translators in the Vatican, this online document has a cool geeky new feature- hover over a sentence, you'll get the original Latin, or maybe Italian.  I'm a post Vatican II Catholic so I can't tell the difference. On my fears- Paragraph 76 completely and utterly refutes the denial of heteronormative marriage.  Paragraphs 83-86 completely deny that divorce is objectively good.  Unless Pope Francis pulls a Humanae Vitae style reversal of these points in the final exhortation, we conservatives have good reason to be hopeful. Chapter II, paragraphs 64-68, are a must read for all Catholic parents.  Paragraph 65 in particular touches on a subject I've been a bit contentious online on, the preference that childre...

Final synod document strongly backs Church teaching, beauty of family life :: Catholic News Agency (CNA) : Praise God!  The heteronormative family is still the teaching of the Church.  I've seen other opinions now, and I can't reconcile the liberal interpretation with Laudato Si.

For a headhunting company working in high tech, they are extremely incompetent.  They screwed up this one so badly that I will neither use them to look for a job in the future nor will I ever hire a temp from Robert Half.

A legislative scheme to end homelessness in Oregon: Step 1.  Take back 5 million acres of BLM Land from the Federal Government. Step 2.  Create a birthright homestead lottery in which every child born in Oregon in the last 150 years, is granted a random acre of land.  This land grant is for this person only, cannot be bought or sold, and is returned to the state in whatever condition it is in upon the person's death.  It can be built upon, Step 3.  A birthright acre can be developed.  It can be rented.  The mineral rights can be leased.  It can be farmed.  It can be used to collect water for whatever water falls on it from the sky. Step 4:  Any resident, after two weeks, can qualify for a $50,000 1% 15 year fixed mortgage for a pre-manufactured  house under 300 square feet with proof of rental or ownership of a birthright acre and sufficient income to repay the loan, from state funds.  Such a shelter shall contain a rainwa...

School Safety Starts with Community .  Which makes me very afraid for my son's middle school.  The Whitford community is everything you remember public school community to be like from high school- from the students right up to the PTO.  Cliqueish and into all of the division that brings. There is a way out.  Inclusion.  Instead of calling that strange kid of the opposite sex gay, ask them out on a date.  Instead of ostracizing that kid in the Alternative Learning classroom, get to know them. You might be surprised.  And maybe because of it, your own kids will have a better time when they get to middle school. We might even have fewer school shootings.

An interesting question posed in #3 for Pope Francis-  If gun manufacturing and ownership is so evil, why do the Swiss Guards carry pocket machine guns?  An equal question for President Obama- if guns cause mass shootings, why do you allow the Secret Service to carry weapons? A Liberal’s Ten Commandments | Works and Days : 'via Blog this'

My translation of the ancient Christian document, the Didache, into theology and grammar from the Star Wars Universe.  You could just see Yoda reach out to give this Sermon to young padawan.   -------------------------------------------- The Didache Yoda's Teaching from The Twelve to the Nations.  Chapter 1. The two ways and the first commandment. The side of light and the side of dark, but between the two ways a great difference is, two ways there are. Do to another what you would not want done to you, the side of light, then, is this: first, you shall serve the force that gives power; second, serve your neighbor as yourself, and do not. This: bless those who curse you, and serve your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you, of these sayings the teaching is. There for serving those who serve you, for what reward is. The sith do the same, does not. Have an enemy, but serve those who hate you, and you shall not. From fleshly and worldly lusts, abstain yo...

When I saw this (original cartoon at Sword of Peter Blog  ) reposted during the Synod: I just had to do some photoshopping in Paint.NET:  

The Pope made it clear in his homily on Sunday- Marriage is between one man and one woman, for life.  No divorce, no homosexual marriage, none of that can be found in the Gospels.  God has a bigger plan than the 19th century invention of sexual orientation can cover

In his closing Mass homily, and his remarks before leaving the United States, Pope Francis once again referred to the God of Surprises.  It's likely just my autism, but I really resent being told to worship a Trickster God like Loki rather than the faithful God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who kept his promises.

Text of Pope Francis' speech to Congress - News - NorthJersey.com : 'via Blog this' Funny how I couldn't find it at any of the national sites.  Here's my count, reading what I heard, of score between Republicans and Democrats: Republican Jibes: 7 Democrat Jibes: 5 Neutral First World Jibes: 7 Left leaning?  a bit, yes.  Critical?  Certainly- I counted at least 19 insults against first Americans and what they seem to hold dear by their actions, 7 for the right wing, 5 for the left wing, 7 for all Americans.  But by holding up his four individual examples (not one strong pro-lifer among them- Dorothy Day stayed quite silent on the subject of abortion due to having had one herself, Thomas Merton fathered a child in his Cambridge days and then rejected the vocation implied by that to become a monk), he showed that even sinners can bring about great good.  And there is hope in that.

A Family Resemblance | CatholicVote.org : I remember this great act by a Pope in 1987 (read the article link first, we'll still be here when you hit the Back button).  I remember just a few years after, in conservative Klamath Falls, OR in 1991, attending a "The Body of Christ has AIDS" vigil.  Holy Priests stepped up and started AIDS Hospice centers (I know of a few still operating).  An entire monastery of monks stepped up to be infected- just to increase knowledge of the disease. By 1997, they were paid back completely not in kind, when Holy Redeemer was vandalized by AIDS activists, but still many of us campaigned for civil union laws. By 2002, in Oregon, we had passed a civil union law.   In 2004, 3 out of 4 Multnomah County Commissioners defied the law and started us on the path to same sex marriage- since then it has gotten incredibly ugly.  I've seen churches vandalized, priests and nuns attacked.  I've been called a breeder for my only...

It's sometimes challenging to be a member of the Pastoral Council at my parish.  In the last 15 years, we've had 4 pastors (in the Archdiocese of Portland, one pastor usually stays 6 to 12 years, with the approval of the Archbishop, so this is a lot of changes quickly).  In addition, before 1996, the parish wasn't dioscean, it was Franciscan- and urban Franciscan at that, which means it had a tendency to attract people "Church shopping" for a comfortably liberal parish. And then God and Archbishop Vlazney sent us Fr. Steve Stobie. Excellent Administrator- even with the post 2007 slump, the parish is now back in the black financially.  Wonderful confessor priest- every priest has his own talents, and Fr. Stobie's is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Wonderful person too, if you can break through his introversion and actually get to know the man. But also, a Canon Lawyer who is very conservative for this parish. Which leads me to the link I want to save...

Planned Parenthood Guts Babies And Sells Their Organs, But Who Really Cares? | TheBlaze.com : 'via Blog this' Exactly.  Post-abortion hatred of children + apathy from those in the supposed middle = nobody really cares at all.

The Shoebat is on fire today with an interesting tale for conspiracy theorists that matches public knowledge. It's very much conspiracy theory- but it does fit current events.

I'm praying this is more perception than reality, but the this seems downright schizophrenic to me. In Laudato Si , the importance of an authentic human ecology- the standard nuclear family unit combined with the extended family as a basis for economic and human activity- is held up as an example of what we should strive for.  Human beings living in heterosexual lifelong monogamous  families consume fewer material goods, which is better for the environment and the world. In  Mitis Iudex  Mitis Iudex (English Commentary, English translation not available yet) , we relax the rules on annulment to insure that annulments are easier to obtain- and like the secular divorce that causes the need to examine a marriage to see if it ever existed in the first place- annulments tear apart the family, often quite violently.   Mitis Iudex  seems to be a crime against an authentic human ecology. This Pope is not a deep thinker- so perhaps he doesn't even see the conn...

Mainly because I've been busy with work, Knights, and family issues. Leading up to the World Meeting of Families, I'm both more sure that canon law surrounding marriage will not change (at least for the Archdiocese of Portland) but also that we need to do better outreach to those who reject traditional family.  I met the new director of Marriage and Family life for the Archdiocese- a father of five, one of them special needs- and his daughter, who has some developmental delay.  I think he's the perfect man for the job.

The Caliphate commits homicide because #ChaldeanLivesMatter

Abortion is a form of Homicide, because #BlackLivesMatter

I am told that the new Jesuit teaching is a mercy of unilateral forgiveness.  Luke 17:1-10, of course, teaches Christians Forgiveness for the Repentant.   The next step up, is pardon for the unpardonable- with the understanding that the crime is, indeed, unpardonable. But unilateral forgiveness of the unrepentant, is something I have a big problem with.  So did the great Catholic televangelist, Fulton Sheen, apparently.  In 1965, he showed where American Culture jumped off the rails:

A 5% surcharge in income taxes, with a break for anybody who gives away more than 20% of their income to charity. Use it to directly fund WIC, SNAP, and TANF. Take the money that would have gone to planned parenthood and also use that to fund WIC, SNAP, and TANF. Increase means testing to not just take into account income and ration of dependents to workers, but also fulfillment. Provide parental training in how to be a parent- and use that same training to screen and recruit some portion of the women to run in home daycare for those who want a second job (in effect, using the SNAP money twice, first to support the family needing daycare, second to supplement the income of those stay at home mothers who are willing to watch a couple of extra kids).  Use some of the money to make sure every father, identified by DNA to be linked to a child and with a valid heterosexual marriage certificate to be supporting the mother of the child, has a living wage job (even if it ends up a governm...

Moira Greyland is the child of ultra liberal sexual revolutionist science fiction authors  Marion Zimmer Bradley and Walter Breen.  Her tale of her parents descent from heterosexuality to homosexuality, with a side trip into pedophilia and child abuse, is a horror story that is nearly unmatched.  The entire idea of replacing the order of the family with sexual chaos is abhorrent.

As of Late, I've been concerned with the Jesuit teaching of the Charitable Interpretation- and how it often seems to inspire unilateral forgiveness- that is, Mercy GRANTED without repentance. This seems to me to be against the Gospel of Luke: Luke 17:1-10 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA) 17  And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come: but woe to him through whom they come. 2  It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones. 3  Take heed to yourselves. If thy brother sin against thee, reprove him: and if he do penance, forgive him. 4  And if he sin against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day be converted unto thee, saying, I repent; forgive him. 5  And the apostles said to the Lord: Increase our faith. 6  And the Lord said: If you had faith like to a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this m...

respectfulconversation - HS-Conversation - Eve's Last Post: I Don't Think There Are Monks in This One : "Out of those three I feel the lack of sex most sharply. It's a way of making your body an icon of self-gift and union: not the only way, but one of the most powerful and urgently-felt. The longing for biological children is a similar kind of intense, gut-level longing which also has such deep symbolic resonance. It's important to name this pain. By exposing the painful yearning that we feel, we can build solidarity (with other gay people, or with straight people who have suffered from the same lacks for different reasons) and honor the sacrifices we make. God doesn't want us to pretend that our surrender is costless." 'via Blog this' I'm always amazed at how the disordered sexuality of Americans hides procreative heterosexuality below other identities.  This pain exists, even for gay people, because heterosexuality IS the default vocati...

Forgiveness is a wonderful thing.  Unilateral forgiveness can free the soul.  But it can be dangerous for the other soul.  And it is not the same as loving forgiveness. Loving forgiveness is like the Mercy of Jesus Christ and of God.  Loving forgiveness cares about the other person enough to say "I love you and I want you to change for YOUR good, not for mine".  Loving forgiveness is a call to conversion, a continuing call to conversion, and cannot be complete until the other soul is ready to repent. But Satan also offers Mercy.  Satan's forgiveness seems unconditional at first.  Satan's mercy is "You are forgiven, because what you did is not sinful in the first place".  It is a destruction of the very concept of sin- and it does not include a call to conversion.  It is the easy acceptance of sin- the easy forgiveness and mercy of Satan, that I fear. Here's the sad part.  In a few short months, the Jubilee Year of Mercy begins for...

Incredibly inappropriate spam from Fred Meyer (a local to me retailer, part of the Kroger chain now): Today only FLASH SALE!  $7.99  Fashion Scarves Because even if I was a metrosexual, what I really need going into a weekend with  90+F temperatures is a FASHION SCARF!

Cities that exist below the 75 meters of elevation that the sea level could rise under global climate change need to change their building codes.  There's plenty of time left to do so- it will take a century or more to happen- but if we start now, all new construction can be built with potential flooding in mind.  Oregon should do the same with any building more than three stories high not built to earthquake standards. We know these threats exist- why not adapt to them?  We know how to build watertight boat hulls, we should be building them into basements.  We know how to build seismic isolation foundations, we should be building them into new high rises.  This is basic engineering.

I have a Select Statement that returns 4 rows.  When used in a stored procedure as input to an Insert Into, though, it was returning five rows.   I commented out SET NOCOUNT ON; which is added by the SQL 2014 template.  It then returned 4 rows.  To test that was what was really going on, I uncommented out SET NOCOUNT ON; and it is now returning 4 rows properly. I made no other changes. Anybody else ever run into anything like this??

“It Can’t Happen Here”? | The Lewis Crusade : Well worth reading, for those who think that we still have a First Amendment after this disaster of a Supreme Court.

It wasn't illegal when we started, but as of today, when the Supreme Court has officially embraced "consent" and "love" rather than commitment and having children to be in the next generation, it is now. I'm celebrating anyway-16 years of defiance against the standards of the morally bankrupt sexual revolution.

The Cultural Warrior That sinking feeling you get When you realize The battle was lost Long before you were born

Laudato Si  offers us some insight into the Church's opinions on many current political problems in America.    We would be wise indeed to listen to the words of Pope Francis on these topics; all of them will require adjustments to American culture and our habits of indifferent individualism. On what we individally can do to help the environment "Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices. All of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which brings out the best in human beings. Reusing something instead of immediately discarding it, when d one for the right  reasons, can be...