the full treatment

I don't have time to do either of these stories justice, but I call your attention to the cases of Julea Ward and Jennifer Keeton. Ward was dismissed from Eastern Michigan University for refusing to council homosexuals to the effect that their homosexuality was a positive thing, and Keeton was threatened dismissal from ASU unless she changes her belief...

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IQ Test

This is a busy week for me. I'm preparing to go to Boy Scout camp next week, and then to the CNMC. I've got lots of work to get done, since I'll be gone for a week, plus planning, packing for two events (I'm going straight from camp to the CNMC). So blogging will be light for the next two weeks. So for today I have a quiz, the Catholic IQ Test. What's...

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Would you stop it already!?

I recently found this article at First Things about praying for Christopher Hitchens. For those not following the issue, Hitchens is one of the self-named "new atheists" who has attacked all faith, but especially Christianity with books such as "The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice" and "God is not Great". He was recently diagnosed...

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Damned if you do

I'm sure many of you have already read about the professor at the University of Illinois who was fired for teaching what the Catholic church teaches in a course titled "Introduction to Catholicism". I won't comment on the irony of this (though I really really want to). I would encourage you to read the email that got him fired. I can't find "hate speech"...

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Between a rock and a hard place (Part III - double trouble)

This is part 3 of a series of posts on whether abortion is justified "to save the life of the mother" (here are part I and part II). In the first two posts we covered some popular cases involving pulmonary hypertension and cancer. I introduced "double effect" in the second post. I'd like to explain that in more detail, and then get into some philosophical...

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Between a rock and a hard place (Part II - cancer)

This is part two of a series about whether there are any case where abortion needs to be performed to save the life of the mother. In the first post on this topic we covered the case of Sr. Margaret McBride who approved of an abortion to save the life of a woman with pulmonary hypertension. As we saw, the abortion wasn't necessary. Next I'd like to...

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Between a rock and a hard place

Margo's comments on my post "Whenever you find yourself" got me to thinking. How can someone consider themselves pro-life and say on a poll that they think abortion should be legal in some circumstances? Believe it or not I can see it. In fact I've been there. It happens because of false choices and false information. For instance, what if the mother's...

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The Bill of Lefts

This from the people who brought you the phrase "they cling to guns and religion". If you follow such things, various people have noticed that Obama and Pelosi have changed the language of the land - "freedom of religion" has become "freedom to worship". A friend tells me "it doesn't matter, it means the same thing". In light of this I thought I would...

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Whenever you find yourself...

Mark Twain is credited as saying "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." These days it's so hard to know whether you are on the side of the majority. A while back I showed one of my pro abortion friends this poll. I smugly said something about more Americans being pro-life than pro-choice. She looked...

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The Spiritual Implications of AZ's immigration law

Several years ago I joined a group interested in immigrants' rights. After all, the bishops teach us we should "welcome the stranger."  I'll admit, my activities were limited to reading an occasional email or article from the group and little else. However, Arizona's immigration law has opened the floodgates of news. Every day I read more and...

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What if nobody noticed?

A friend sent me this article from the BBC News. to summarize, Richard Rudd was in a motorcycle accident, and was left a quadriplegic, in what was believed to be a coma from which he would never emerge. He was kept alive by a ventilator. His family was asked to make the difficult decision of whether to continue treatments: Richard's father - also called...

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The flesh is willing but the logic is weak

A little more than a year ago, Pope Benedict XVI made headlines when he claimed that condoms were not the answer for stopping AIDS in Africa. The volume of knee-jerk hatred issued against the church was more than I ever thought possible. While I was not directly involved in the issue, I did experience it in microcosm. I have a friend who for months...

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The True Cross

I hear this sad news today from The Pilot. Because there is no link to the article I am posting the text here so it doesn't go away: Spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, Terrence Donilon, released the following statement Monday July 12: Relic of the True Cross Stolen from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross On Thursday, July 1, staff from the Cathedral...

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Fasting for Haiti

It's been six months since the earthquake rocked Haiti, all but destroying Port Au Prince and leaving millions homeless. The media is taking this opportunity to remind us that things still aren't going well. From CNS: The more fortunate moved back into homes that survived the quake. Even so, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA said progress is slow and estimates...

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Targeting CPCs

Every have one of those days where things get you mad? I'm having one. One of the major reasons is this article on Life Site News: "Federal bill Puts Crisis Pregnancy Centers in the Crosshairs." A quick read of the bill itself makes it sound innocuous enough. The bill purports to prohibit "advertising with the intent to deceptively create the impression...

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No Americans in Space Anymore?

I've written about NASA's plight before ("Bang Zoom"). President Obama made what I consider a big mistake in effectively destroying our country's manned space program. I recently read another article on the subject "NASA = No Americans in Space Anymore?" From the article: Constellation represents five years of R&D and a $10-billion taxpayer investment,...

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Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr.

On July 7, 1868, Frank Bunker Gilbreth was born. He received an education through high school and at the age of 17, became a bricklayer. He later rose to become a building contractor, inventor, a management engineer, and a lecturer at Purdue University. On October 19, 1904 Frank married Lillian Evelyn Moller and they had 12 children;...

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Serpetine Legislation

I am not a Californian, nor do I play one on TV. However, there are some stories that transcend time and space. Last week I noted in my post "Think Think Think" that California's government was out of control, requiring electronic license plates. I guess you can give them a little leeway, since the state is in such financial troubles. So what wonderful...

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Happy Independence Day

...and here is the text that started it all, in it's entirety. Have you read it lately? Ever? I don't know if I've read more than the preamble before. IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of AmericaWhen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to...

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Do No Harm

The following is the oath that all doctors would swear when they entered the medical profession, from the time of Hippocrates around  400 BC (emphasis mine). I swear by Apollo the Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods, and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment...

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