In her Earth Day press release, Speaker Pelosi stated:

“The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, ‘To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.’ On this Earth Day, and every day, let us pledge to our children, and our children’s children, that they will have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to experience the wonders of nature.”

Several Bible scholars have been unable to find this quote, or own resembling it, or a quote this might be a paraphrase of, anywhere in the Bible. I have been searching my Bible references and am unable to find such a quote.

So, find this quote for me in any widely published version of the Bible, and I will send you a special prize.

There has been a nerved touched on both sides of the immigration debate, related to Pope Benedict’s statements on ensuring immigrants are treated humanely and respectfully, and that the well-being of families of immigrants be protected. To be sure, there are many who think the Pope was saying we should just throw open our borders and let people do what they will. Their take is the Holy Father was saying we should not have immigration laws, let alone enforce them. You’ll be hearing a lot on those things.

Don’t get caught up in the rhetoric generated by a very simple statement made by the Holy Father.

I hear that Tom Tancredo took offense to the Pope’s words. He should not have. The Holy Father is not telling America to stop prosecuting illegal immigrants. Neither is the pontiff suggesting amnesty for those who have families in the US - maybe members of which are considered citizens under the eyes of the law. Do not assume we can’t ensforce our laws in such a way as to maintain the dignity of those who are impacted by the enforcement.

There are things we can do much better in the way we handle immigration enforcement. Welfare checks at a person’s home if they are detained. Let’s make sure we don’t have children getting home from school without someone there to protect them. Let us also ensure we make every effort to contact someone in the detainee’s family so they know what is going on - give these folks their phone call, like anyone else gets who is detained for an alleged crime.

The issue is not really about immigration - it is about how we handle enforcement.

Non-Catholics will get confused (actually, so will many Catholics) by the weight of the Holy Father’s words. He is infallible with respect to Catholic doctrine - and that applies to the dignity of human life. It is part of the gospel - in this sense, his words about protecting the dignity of others and stopping violence is directly related to our doctrine. However, you cannot spin this theme as a call upon Catholics to support illegal immigration. It is not violent to enforce immigration law, any more than it is violent to enforce drug laws. The manner in which people are treated during the enforcement of laws is the issue at hand.

I am overjoyed by the visit of Pope Benedict to the US this week. My feeling is he should visit America more often. In no other country is the Catholic ship so off course than in the US.

American Catholicism is becoming an oxymoron. There is a great dichotomy between the teachings of the Church and what people feel is their duty as Catholics - especially in the realm of policy.

Before anyone starts telling me about the separation of Church and State in the US, I will mention that I am not talking about a state religion. I am talking about the manifestation - through persoanl actions - of one’s values. If you are motivated to believe there is something intrinsicly wrong with slavery, for example; that motivation comes from somewhere. It is not merely an abstract, but a conviction based in your concept of right and wrong, and it has an origin. This is apparent because slavery is likely the oldest institution of humanity, aside from war. Your understanding of the abhorrent nature of slavery is grounded by a belief or faith in an ideal. It may not be completely tangible, but it is absolute in its impact on your understanding of right and wrong. This absolute is no different for people who share God and the teachings of Jesus Christ as the foundation for their values.

This brings us to the crux of the issue. It is really simple - and is completely embraced by the Nicene Creed, with which every Catholic is very familiar.

“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

Note that the Creed says throughout “We believe” - We being “the adherents of the Church”. Those called by the divine message to serve our Lord. The Nicene Creed came about to provide the average 4th Century Catholic with a simple means to digest the foundational beliefs of the Church vs. the many heretical interpretations of Catholic doctrine throughout the world by people teaching in the name of the Catholic Church. The most important point is it is a statement of belief, from the heart.

By extension, the teachings of the Catholic Church are as absolute as humanly possible. It is clear that Catholicism is not a democracy. Either you are a believer in one, apostolic Church - and everything that conveys - or you are not.

So, to have an attitude which propels your thinking on policy - and identifying yourself as a Catholic - which is in direct contravention to the teachings of the Church implies either a misconception of the Catechism or a falling away from it. For example, a Catholic university which welcomes speakers who are pro-abortion, but bans speakers who are anti-abortion is in direct contravention to the very definition of Catholic. Another example is avowed Catholics who support abortion and work to widen the scope of abortions in this country. You hear these people saying their religion does not impact their policy stances. As if the basis for your values has nothing to do with how you feel the world should be. If your beliefs in the absolute of The Trinity do not shape your ideals of society, what does? Ideology comes to mind.

Many Catholics in America have allowed a leftist ideology to supplant their spiritual convictions. Mind over soul - they have fallen away from God. It is often explained away as something which takes thought, instead of “feeling”, as if your commitment to God is equivalent to your enjoyment of roses. This attitude shows a qualitative lack in intellectual reason.

The broad scope of dichotomy between avowed personal beliefs and policy positions of so many American Catholics shows how far American Catholicism has drifted from the Church. The Visit of the Holy Father is opportune, and I hope effective, in that American Catholics need to be reminded of their commitments - rather than simply thinking about their wishes. We need to be reminded that we are supposed to be using our intellects to serve God, instead of using our intellects to explain why we don’t serve Him.

Israel is justifiably concerned about Egypt opening a border crossing from Gaza to allow pilgrimages to Muslim religious sites.

Israel has protested to Egypt over the opening of a border crossing to allow Muslim pilgrims from Gaza to make their way through Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

The Israelis say they are concerned that militants may leave Gaza and go for training in Iran.

Gaza has been largely sealed off since June, when Hamas took control in Gaza. Some 2,000 Palestinians are said to have left Gaza via Rafah since Monday.

The Rafah crossing is the only exit from Gaza that bypasses Israel.

Training in Iran is one reason, but this is another:

Egyptian police confiscated 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives in northern Sinai on Wednesday which were probably destined for Gaza, a security official said.

Police found the TNT in 12 plastic bags hidden in mountains near to Rafah on Egypt’s borders with the Gaza Strip. They said smugglers were likely trying to move the explosives across the nearby border.

Who would ever have thought I would find myself in agreement with a post on DailyKos!?

I’m talking about the moment when an ordinary American–an all too typical American–

–held up a Bible and said (I write from memory, but this was his meaning): “I’m going to ask you a question whose answer will tell us all we need to know about every one of you: do you believe that every single word of this book is true?”

And Giuliani answered like a sensible Catholic. And Romney answered like a Mormon scared to admit to the Book of Mormon. And Huckabee answered like a good Baptist minister, a good pastoral answer balancing faith and reasoned understanding. . . .

And I looked up and realized that the Constitution had vanished. Because no one–not one candidate, not Anderson Cooper the moderator, not a single person in that packed and often raucous audience–spoke the only possible Constitutionally permissible answer:

Some might find nothing inherently wrong with the question - and as individuals, I agree. As a Catholic , I will vote based upon my conscience as a Catholic. It is altogether different to state that I will only vote for a Catholic - someone who believes in God exactly the same way I do, which was the assumed point of the question.

Our forefathers based their ideals of fair government upon religious principals - to be sure. Yet, most being from England, they remembered the danger of belonging to the “wrong religion” during the reign of any particular Monarch. How do you maintain a nation “under God” without making possible the religious persecutions of England and elsewhere?

Article VI of the United State Constitution - the final paragraph of which states:

“ The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

I agree with the post on DailyKos because one of those candidates, or the moderator, should have at least made mention of the unconstitutional flavor of the question. Perhaps that was the only answer the questioner was looking for.

If you had to make a correlation between Islamo-Fascists and common “Star Trek” alien races…which would they be?  Let’s look at some points: 

Islamo-Fascists:

• Beat and terrorize the public for speaking out
• Believe they are the pinnacle of the world
• Desire to push their beliefs on others (at sword point)
• Do not hold life as sacred

We can immediately take off the list the Intelligent and Emotionless Vulcans.  Even the Andorian’s with their passion can be removed from the possible list, as they can be reasoned with and accept logic.  For ease of narrowing down the list, I will give you my top candidates:

• Klingons
• Romulans
• Borg
• Cardassians
• Ferengi

 There are nearly a hundred or more races, some bad, some good, but for ease, I chose a few of what I considered the worst compared to our view of society. Here is your homework, tell me what race you think the Islamists more closely mirror.  You can also add to my list of Islamo-Fascist descriptors. 

American Catholics are an enigma as a voting block, it seems. To my Catholic mind, the disparity between how we are taught and how most of us vote says more about the state of our Church in the US, than it does the state of our politics.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has published a bulletin insert to help clarify the often opposing feelings Catholics have at voting time. As grave as some of the statements have been from Bishops about the Catholic conscience relating to certain issues, there is still more “wiggle room” than Catholics should be comfortable with. Social Justice vs Sanctity of life is fairly clear to me. As adherents of the Catechism, we are expected to make tough choices in life and fulfill our duty to God as best we can (Which does not mean as best as we want to).

I will share with you a first-hand experience. I was talking about the Catholic voting guide sometime during the last presidential elections and the lady who had just read the Prayers of the Faithful about protecting unborn children said something along the lines of:

“I am voting for John Kerry and it makes me angry that people keep bringing up abortion in the election.”

Then you have those people who will act or vote in a certain way “because they don’t agree with the Pope on that”.

To me it is simple - Catholicism is not a democracy. Either you are Catholic or you are not Catholic and your beliefs, free will, and conscience guide you in that decision. What is important is that you understand your duty to God as a Catholic and support or oppose policies in society accordingly.

To support any candidate who has been an advocate of policy which promotes the abortion of babies is to act directly in contravention to the Catechism. There are a few candidates out there who have been open advocates of abortion - they should not be receiving Catholic votes. It is really that simple.

I am as outraged by this as a Catholic, as I am as a Veteran.

For some time, I have agreed with others that the Catholic Church in the US is lost in a sea of confusion of its identity.

Thanks to Arizona Political Heat for this post.

St. Thomas the Apostle School in Phoenix has banned students from honoring their relatives and friends in the military. The ban prevents students from dressing up for Halloween events at the school in any costume related to the military. Many parents became appropriately outraged by the disrespect shown to our men and women in uniform. Moreover parents are upset that their children are being used for some left wing political agenda.

Read the rest>>>>

You remember the Westboro church that turns out with all of their finery and signs to protest Military funerals? You remember - I told you about this a couple of years ago.

Now, I do not know what legal basis was used to establish this ruling, but the “God Hates Fags” people are going to have to pay $10.9 millions after protesting the wrong funeral.

It’s nice to see people so motivated and animated about something they feel a conviction about. I just wish they spent their energy on something good, rather than spewing hate. At the risk of being presumptuos, these people are not Christians - more like the Pharisees.