SDG – Page 18 – Jimmy Akin

Eternal Berlin

Adolf Hitler, who according to popular myth had Pope Pius XII on his payroll, [heavy sarcasm]loved the Catholic Church and "his pope" so much[/heavy sarcasm] that he wanted to build a new St. Peter’s Basilica in Berlin and had chief architect Albert Speer working up plans for the project:

"Speer built a scale model of how he planned to recreate the columns of St Peter’s Square, which encircle the piazza in front of the Basilica.

"The Moscow museum’s director, David Sarkisian, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘The plan was for the new Berlin to be ready in 1950 after Nazi Germany had defeated the Allies.

"’Hitler would declare Germany the ruler of a world empire and at the centre of its capital Berlin was to be a recreation of St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

"’Speer’s plans included the columns from the square and at the centre instead of a fountain as in Rome there would be a huge statue of Benito Mussolini.

"’Hitler considered the Eternal City [Rome] to be the only city in the world to rival Berlin so he wanted to better it in every way possible.’ Speer’s documents show that Hitler took a great interest in the plans and was delighted with the architect’s model."

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As a side note, for those interested in a thorough refutation of the Catholic urban legend that Pius XII was "Hitler’s Pope," I highly recommend Rabbi David G. Dalin’s The Myth of Hitler’s Pope.

GET THE BOOK.

Catholic Bumper Stickers

Have you ever seen cars with Christian outreach bumper stickers that say things like "Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven"? (Here’s one site that sells such stickers.) I’ve often thought I should keep some copies of Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth handy in my car to tuck under the windshield wiper of cars that sport such stickers. I’ve also thought there’d be a good market among Catholics for Catholic riffs on the standard Christian evangelism stickers. If anyone decides to print some up, here are my contributions to get them started:

"No Mary, no peace. Know Mary, know peace!"
"Christians aren’t perfect. Yet."
"If you died today, would you be in purgatory tomorrow?"
"Real men love Mary."
"’Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’ –Luke 1:43"
"Your life may be the only church your friends ever attend."

Please add your contributions to the combox.

Windows On The World

The parish church in the picture above may not be very awe-inspiring on the outside, but it does boast some interesting stained-glass windows on the inside, including one of Pope John Paul XXIII — which is either a misnamed tribute to Pope John XXIII or an imaginative portrait of a pope to be elected sometime in the fourth millennium of the Catholic Church.

Even more interesting are the windows dedicated to ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, one window being dedicated to non-Catholics and the other to non-Christians. The latter window, in addition to portraying historical figures such as Buddha and Mohammed, also pays tribute to the Egyptian mythological god Horus, son of Isis.

SEE MORE OF THE WINDOWS.

SEE THE PARISH.

This is the kind of thing that makes me ever more grateful for my own parish, built in the 1950s. The mission-style architecture, the cruciform layout of the interior, the stained-glass windows of the stations of the cross and of Catholic saints, the life-sized crucifix….. The interior is a bit stark when compared to how it might have looked a few decades ago, but it is still a lovely church. Compared to the Modern Office-Complex style of this parish that is decorated with stained-glass of questionable theological and artistic taste, my parish is heaven on earth.

(Nod to the friend who sent me the links.)

Lego My Church!

… Well, not my church, the architecture of which I like just fine, but I can never resist the opportunity to make a bad pun.

The church in the picture is a Lego church, built by a computer programmer, Amy Hughes, who once wanted to be an architect and who obviously had way too much time on her hands. Here are some quickie facts about the Lego church:

"How long to build it? It was about a year and a half of planning, building and photographing.

"How many pieces of Lego to build it? More than 75,000.

"How big is it? About 7 feet by 5 1/2 feet by 30 inches (2.2 m x 1.7m x .76m).

"How many Lego people does it seat? 1372.

"How many windows? 3976. It [also] features a balcony, a narthex, stairs to the balcony, restrooms, coat rooms, several mosaics, a nave, a baptistery, an alter, a crucifix, a pulpit and an elaborate pipe organ."

SEE MORE PICTURES.

It’s a cool toy project, but be sure not to forget Ms. Hughes’ name. In the event that your diocese decides to build a new parish and her name appears as on the project as an architect, start worrying.

JIMMY ADDS: I’m thinking that the Lego church needs to inaugurate a more effective outreach program. If it doesn’t get more Lego parishioners into the pews fast then its donations won’t be able to underwrite the payments it needs to make such an obviously elaborate structure. I hope the Lego church had a lot of money in its building fund before it started such an extensive construction project.

Irish Adam

Ireland has its very own Adam, an Irish warlord named Niall of the Nine Hostages — wonder how he got that name! — who is estimated to have more than three million male descendants. (Because of the manner in which the study was conducted, female descendants were not counted.)

"The scientists, from Trinity College Dublin, have discovered that as many as one in twelve Irish men could be descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 5th-century warlord who was head of the most powerful dynasty in ancient Ireland.

"His genetic legacy is almost as impressive as Genghis Khan, the Mongol emperor who conquered most of Asia in the 13th century and has nearly 16 million descendants, said Dan Bradley, who supervised the research.

"’It’s another link between profligacy and power,’ Bradley told Reuters. ‘We’re the first generation on the planet where if you’re successful you don’t (always) have more children.’"

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"We’re the first generation on the planet where if you’re successful you don’t (always) have more children."

Right. That’s because modern man has convinced himself that children stand in the way of success. As ancient man well knew but modern man has forgotten, children contribute to a person’s success, they don’t inhibit it.

The Dog Whisperer

Everyone whispers these days. On TV, there’s The Ghost Whisperer (love that show!); in the bookstore, there’s The Baby Whisperer (for getting your infant to sleep) and even The House Whisperer (for organizing your home). Now enter "The Dog Whisperer":

"Meet Princess Cujo, an cute Maltese owned by high-ranking Los Angeles Lakers executive Jeanie Buss and given to fits of ankle-biting, eye-rolling fury.

"Exasperated, Buss — the daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss — has turned to ‘dog whisperer’ Cesar Millan, who offers cryptic wisdom as the cameras roll for his TV show.

"’A dog is a window to see the person from the inside out,’ says Millan, who has become canine psychologist to the stars and a celebrity himself. The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan began its second season on the National Geographic Network this month.

"Millan, who grew up surrounded by animals on a farm in Mexico, tells his human clients it’s essential to project a calm and assertive energy while setting rules and boundaries for their wayward dogs. As he puts it: ‘I rehabilitate dogs; I train people.’"

GET THE STORY.

Just the other night I happened to be talking with a couple of dog-owner friends who have heard some of Millan’s advice and think that he may have some worthwhile wisdom to share for handling dogs. So, if you have a problem pooch, it might be worth checking out his show. But frankly I’ll be glad when the fad of titling experts as Whisperers fades.

Shadow Pope

According to Italian press reports, Pope Benedict has been raising eyebrows in the Eternal City by making night visits to the residence he kept when known as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger:

"At about 9pm a plain, dark car carrying 78-year-old Pope Benedict and his private secretary, Don Georg Gaenswein, swirls out of a side door of Vatican city. It then doubles round in the back streets before arriving at 1 Piazza Citta Leonina, a hall of residence for senior Church figures and the Pope’s home as a cardinal for almost 24 years.

"A Vatican security guard is always waiting in front of the apartments in a pedestrian zone tucked behind St Peter’s Square. The Pope gets out of the car disguised in the plain black priest’s robes he wore when he was the Catholic Church’s senior theologian.

"Wearing a black hat and with his head down, he opens the wooden door himself, as he did for all those years, and tiptoes inside followed by Don Georg.

"’Its is not a question of just dashing in for a few minutes to grab a bag or a book,’ La Stampa said. ‘He spends at least a couple of hours there.’"

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Although the Italian press is notorious for its unreliability, which means that the report probably should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt, I find myself charmed by the idea of the Holy Father slipping away from the Vatican dressed as a simple priest. It reminds me of his namesake and birthday patron St. Benedict Joseph Labre, who was known as the Beggar of Rome and who used to wander the streets of the Eternal City in a sort of perpetual pilgrimage.

Col. Sanders: Cruel To Chickens?

PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is on the warpath again, this time charging that a bust of Colonel Harlan Sanders, founder of the fast-food chicken franchise KFC, is "a monument to cruelty" — to chickens, that is.

"Pamela Anderson is leading a charge to remove a bust of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders from the state Capitol.

"The actress called the Kentucky native’s likeness ‘a monument to cruelty’ to chickens in a statement issued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal rights group.

[…]

KFC spokeswoman Laurie Schalow called the move to oust the colonel ‘just another misguided publicity stunt by PETA in their attempt to create a vegan society.’"

GET THE STORY.

Star-for-a-day celebrities such as Ms. Anderson may keep the publicity mill churning by making ridiculous statements about "cruelty to chickens" for a thirty-second soundbyte on Entertainment Tonight, but when it comes to real injustice — such as one million unborn children slaughtered in the U.S. every year — they are either conspicuously silent or conspicuously marching as Celebrity Guests at rallies to promote the injustice.

Which leads me to believe that it is not the cause de jour that matters so much as the public image and the publicity.

The Power Of Grayskull

Michelle here.

Since getting my DVD player operational last month, I have been starting to collect TV shows that I have loved. Most of my new acquisitions are shows for grownups, naturally enough, but one is my favorite cartoon show as a kid: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Looking back on the show from the perspective of an adult, I can now see why my parents dismissed it as a thirty-minute toy commercial. It was. It was also extremely corny. I often can’t stop giggling when He-Man yells, "I HAVE THE POOOW-ERRR!" The animation is somewhat crude by today’s standards and it is fascinating how often the animators relied on stock images, especially during the transformation scenes.

But what makes the show interesting to me as an adult is how grounded the stories are in morality. Now, He-Man was famous for tacking on a little morality speech at the end of each episode, but that isn’t what interests me. The episodes themselves had stories that made important moral points, some of them often startlingly Christian in nature.

In one episode, the female protagonist Teela is bemused when He-Man risks his life to save the evil Mer-Man. Why did he do it? she asks. He-Man responds that all life is precious, even an evil one. In another episode, archvillain Skeletor and his henchmen cast a spell to summon an evil creature from another dimension so that they can use the creature to conquer Eternia. Much to their dismay they find that they cannot control the creature they have summoned and must turn to the good guys for help in getting rid of it.

Powerful stuff, with a message kids today would do well to hear.

For more information on the DVDs that are currently available, check out the following fan site, apparently maintained by a practicing Christian:

CastleGrayskull.org