Outrage at the Truth (2)

A PORTUGESE bishop has openly contradicted Pope Benedict XVI's controversial stance on condoms, saying people with AIDS are "morally obliged" to use them if they have sex.

A person with AIDS "who cannot avoid having sexual relations is morally obliged to avoid passing on the disease by using a condom", Monsignor Ilidio Leandro wrote in a message published on the website of the Viseu diocese in central Portugal today.
/

I guess there is a step-by-step logic into what Monsignor Leandro is saying:

1) The irresponsible person practices illicit sex (thats why he got AIDS in the first place).

2) The person contracts AIDS due to his wanton sexual behavior.

3) Now he is "morally obliged" to use condoms whenever he has sex. "He cannot avoid" sex, not because he will die as a result of avoiding sex, but because he has not been taught to cultivate the cardinal value of temperance. No, we have not heard Bishop Leandro say a word about temperance, nor chastity. And so, our morality-driven guy continues his promiscuous sexual behavior, but now he is "morally obliged" to use condoms in faithful obedience to Bishop Leandro.

4) In one of his many sexual encounters, his condom breaks in action.
It was bound to happen, as no one claims that condoms are 100% effective in preventing AIDS - although Bishop Leandro is silent about this.

5) Repeat steps 1 to 4, over and over.
/

CONSCIENCE TRANSPLANT

Last month Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Rhode Island wrote up an imaginary interview with President Obama. which apparently stirred up some controversy.

This week he responds with:

Jesus Wasn’t Always Nice

quoted partly:
/
I do find it intriguing, though, that the critics of the Obama column were more offended by my writing than the fact that the President is using their tax dollars to destroy unborn children. (And now to engage in the destruction of human embryos in stem cell research.) But it still seems to me that if the President’s anti-life actions don’t stir up moral outrage in you, nothing will; if they don’t offend your conscience, you need a conscience transplant, my friend.

(read the rest here)
/

GO GO GO BISHOP TOBIN !!!

The eyes have it

Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 27, 2009 / 04:59 pm (CNA).-

During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe... Msgr. Monroy took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been previously lowered from its usual altar for the occasion. After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?”...
/
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay. If the eyes were magnified 2,500 times, one can clearly see the imprint of 13 people. To date, there has been no scientific explanation of the technology existng in the 16 century that can paint with microscopic detail. The composition of the material used to paint the image has so far not been identified likewise. AS a footnote, it is said that within the first few years of the appearance of the Lady of Guadalupe, over 8 million have been baptized. The conversions and devotions continue to this day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe
http://www.sancta.org/eyes.html
http://catholicism.org/miraculous-image-guadalupe.html

/
Back to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“who painted it?”

..to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”.

After placing a bouquet of white flowers by the image, Mrs. Clinton went to the quemador –the open air area at the Basilica where the faithful light candles- and lit a green candle.

That evening after the Guadalupe visit, Clinton was set to receive the highest award given by Planned Parenthood Federation of America -- the Margaret Sanger Award, named for the organization's founder, a noted eugenicist.

Your will be done

March 25, 2009

Today is the feast of the Annunciation (Luke 1:28-38)

..."May it be done to me according to your will"...

Before Mary assented, she pondered for a while and asked with some seeming trepidation: "How can it be?, I have no relations with a man".

I guess it is ok to ask questions first, to study implications, to think with a God-given brain, and to understand. After this process, humility should kick in.

As we ponder this, we will realize that our prayers are not always "according to your will", but "according to MY will". Lord, thy will be changed?

At these times, the angel Gabriel may talk to us in many ways. How often have we turned down opportunities in the past to serve the Lord? Remained deaf and indifferent? On this very day that I turn a year older, I ask myself the same question and conclude: I have done very little. And so this day being also the feast day of St. Dismas, I pray for his intercession in pleading to the Lord: Jesus, remember to include me into Paradise! In the meantime, I pray for grace in hearing, wisdom in understanding, and humility in heeding God's will.

I took this picture of my youngest child early today. As far as he is concerned, I am almost always humbled. He just imposes his will on me, most of the time. I wonder why he gets away with it. Maybe it's because of my full assent. Just looking at him, I guess a more apt word is: surrender.
/

Outrage at the truth

The lords of the mass media are spouting their outrage at the Pope--again.

This time the Pontiff's alleged offense is his failure to believe that condoms provide the world's best hope against the AIDS epidemic. Pope Benedict dared to voice a few simple truths (see Vatican press office communique here) --that chastity is foolproof, and that people can control their own sexual behavior--and the guardians of secular wisdom are rending their garments and howling their outrage.

The Pope is simply wrong about the facts, dozens of headlines proclaim.

The outrage more or less goes along the lines of: the Pope is ignorant about AIDS and, the Pope condemns millions to die of AIDS.
/
The truth really hurts (those who don't like it).
Expect more outrage to come...

On Whale and Human research

Australia urges nonlethal whale research
Associated Press
First Posted 15:56:00 03/23/2009

SYDNEY: Whale research can and should be done without killing the marine mammals, Australia's environment minister said Monday, taking a swipe at Japan's annual whale hunt as he opened an international workshop on whale study....Garrett said modern technology, including satellite tagging and aerial and acoustic surveys offered nonlethal methods for scientists to carry out research on whales...

(Emphasis mine. Meanwhile...)

Australian researcher hails lifting of stem cell ban

A leading Australian researcher has welcomed the decision by US President Barack Obama to lift the US ban on embryonic stem cell research.

Professor Peter Gunning, from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of New South Wales, says lifting the ban is vital for research to move forward.[but]...Australian laws still provide greater opportunities for [ESCR] researchers...
/
??

Did God create evil?

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
- Isaiah 45:7 (King James Bible)

Based on the above passage, an acquiantance in a group mailing list concludes that: "apparently, God did create evil."
/
Well...

Isaiah 45:7 contrasts opposites. The KJV translation of this passage seems to present a semantic problem. Darkness is the opposite of light. However, evil is not the opposite of peace. The Hebrew word translated "peace" is shalom, which has many meanings, mostly related to the well-being of individuals. The original Hebrew word Ra'ah translated "evil" in the KJV often refers to adversity or calamity.

Here is the NAB version of Isaiah 45:7

"I form the light, and create the darkness, I make well-being and create woe; I, the LORD, do all these things."

Thus, when taken into account, the opposite of well-being (of peace in this context) is woe or calamity, not evil.

When biblical passages seem confusing, it is the bible reader's recourse to compare scriptures against scriptures, as the bible does not contradict itself. Thus, in Genesis 1:31, we read:

"God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good."

God is not the author of evil, but allows it because God created free will. Evil is borne out of man's abuse of free will. However, God does reward and punish on the basis of good and bad behavior. There has been instances in the bible where God does bring judgment and calamity (either directly or through human authorities) as a consequence for those who sin. Woe and calamity is the consequence of man's actions, but ultimately, God will judge all people.

As a further reference for Catholics, here is section 311 of the Cathechism:

/CCC 311 Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love. They can therefore go astray. Indeed, they have sinned. Thus has moral evil, incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world. God is in no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil. He permits it, however, because he respects the freedom of his creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it./