Category: +Religion

The Church of England has taken it on the chin for its capitulation to the sexual revolution in all of its perverse forms, but it is not the only national church in the process of shrugging off traditional Christian morality. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden is inching closer to offering "blessing ceremonies" to homosexual couples, who profess themselves still dissatisfied at the potential compromise and holding out for "marriage":

"The Church of Sweden has come a step closer to introducing church blessings for gay couples who have signed civil partnership agreements, after a powerful church committee overwhelmingly approved the plans.

"Gay rights group RFSL welcomed the news, but said it would not be satisfied until same-sex couples got the same treatment as their straight counterparts.

"The liturgical committee of the Church Assembly has said that a service of blessing for gay partnerships should be included in the church’s official guidelines.

"The final decision will be taken by the full Church Assembly later this month, but the proposal won a large majority on the committee, with twelve out of fifteen members supporting the blessings."

A gay rights activist worries that it will take another generation before the Church of Sweden allows for gay "marriage":

"Gay rights groups have welcomed the announcement, but Sören Andersson, chairman of Sweden’s largest gay organisation, RFSL, told The Local that he would have liked the church to have gone further.

"’While I think this is a positive step that they are acknowledging relationships is this way, I think it’s sad that they won’t offer the same ceremonies to all couples.’

"’It has taken 30 years for us to come this far; I hope it doesn’t take another 30 years for us to be offered the same ceremonies.’"

GET THE STORY.

Oh, I don’t think he need worry about that. The way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Church of Sweden cave to the pressure for gay "marriage" within five years.

When Martin Luther and his fellow Reformers stripped northern Europe from the Catholic Church and nationalized the churches in Protestant countries, I wonder if they realized that they would be politicizing religion? History has shown that Caesar is rarely satisfied with his due; without a universal Church led by a supranational pope to keep Caesar in check, the church in a particular country is all too vulnerable to becoming the plaything of Caesar’s lobbyists and activists.

I thought I was used to the Gospel According to the Celebrity-Du-Jour mishmash of incompatible spiritualities until I stumbled across an interview with actress Goldie Hawn, in which she describes her spiritual practice as a Buddhist-Jew-Jesus-Freak:

"The interesting part of my spiritual life is studying as much as you can. Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism and Shamanism and Judaism, Christianity — you try to learn what the precepts are, what the religion is, and ultimately, it’s based in the same thought, it’s based in the same outcome, you know.

"(Whispers) It just has a different façade.

"We go into religion in order to feel warmer in our hearts, more connected to others, more connected to something greater and to have a sense of peace. I think all religions try to do that, but they corrupt themselves. I like Buddhist thought because it breaks that down; it teaches you how to view your thoughts rather than be your thoughts. We live in this crazy world, full of jobs, and we have to be there, be-be-be — it’s a very demanding, taxing world. The result of meditating is watching your thoughts, detachment from your own precepts of what is right and wrong, things that frustrate you, that you can’t grasp and want to grasp onto.

[…]

"[Domestic partner and fellow actor Kurt Russell] respects [Hawn’s religious beliefs] and I respect his — but there again, that’s not important because you realize it’s all a subjective belief system. I don’t think ‘Well, I can’ be with somebody who doesn’t believe what I do, or I can’t share my spirituality.’ Your spirituality is shared by your actions and your interconnectedness with your family and everybody else. It’s not conceptual. What’s going to make you whole is your self-reflection and examination of yourself."

GET THE STORY.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought Ms. Hawn’s spiritual reflections bloggable. It’s the fuzzy-warm trump of feelings that Hollywood spiritualists specialize in. Same-old, same-old. But this quote caught my attention:

"So I would say that for the rest of my life, everything I do has to be with a mode of ethics, good intentions, for a better result for the people closest to me and to the world around me."

The editors at Beliefnet.com found this pearl important enough to use as a pull-quote and compressed it into the line "For the rest of my life, everything I do has to be with good intentions." Not "everything I do must be good," but the suggestion that it doesn’t matter what you do so long as you have good intentions.

No wonder that the old saw says that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Remember that document I was telling you about that is expected to affirm that those with a homosexual orientation are not to be ordained to the priesthood?

CNA is reporting:

The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ committee on priestly formation, Bishop John Nienstedt, said the Congregation told him that he could expect the guidelines soon.

This document  is about to be issued as Vatican officials are expected to begin their visit of the 229 seminaries, theology schools and institutes in the United States this month [SOURCE].

Trivia for the Day: The coffee chain with a franchise on every corner — and even a few drive-thrus, one of which I was both stunned and amused to see near my home — takes its name from the first mate in the Great American Novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville. In the novel, Starbuck tries his best to stop Captain Ahab from pursuing the great white whale, a quest Starbuck apparently realizes is doomed.

Starbuck’s namesake now has its own futile quest: To normalize homosexuality by advertising the musings of a homosexual writer on its disposable coffee cups:

"The world’s most famous coffee shop chain has begun a program called ‘The Way I See It,’ which is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that now appear on Starbucks coffee cups, according to the chain’s website.

"But one particular quote — #43 — blatantly pushes the homosexual agenda. It’s by Armistead Maupin, who wrote ‘Tales of the City,’ a bestseller-turned-PBS drama advocating the homosexual lifestyle, and it reads:

"’My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don’t make that mistake yourself. Life’s too [expletive] short.’"

GET THE STORY.

Aside from wondering what the fictional Starbuck — or his creator, Herman Melville — might have thought of his namesake’s doomed quest, it occurred to me that it is both sad and utterly appropriate that these "thoughts" are being disseminated on disposable cups destined to be tossed into the nearest litter receptacle once the coffee is gulped down. Rather apropos of the ephemeral nature of false ideologies, isn’t it?

Trivia for the Day: The coffee chain with a franchise on every corner — and even a few drive-thrus, one of which I was both stunned and amused to see near my home — takes its name from the first mate in the Great American Novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville. In the novel, Starbuck tries his best to stop Captain Ahab from pursuing the great white whale, a quest Starbuck apparently realizes is doomed.

Starbuck’s namesake now has its own futile quest: To normalize homosexuality by advertising the musings of a homosexual writer on its disposable coffee cups:

"The world’s most famous coffee shop chain has begun a program called ‘The Way I See It,’ which is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that now appear on Starbucks coffee cups, according to the chain’s website.

"But one particular quote — #43 — blatantly pushes the homosexual agenda. It’s by Armistead Maupin, who wrote ‘Tales of the City,’ a bestseller-turned-PBS drama advocating the homosexual lifestyle, and it reads:

"’My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don’t make that mistake yourself. Life’s too [expletive] short.’"

GET THE STORY.

Aside from wondering what the fictional Starbuck — or his creator, Herman Melville — might have thought of his namesake’s doomed quest, it occurred to me that it is both sad and utterly appropriate that these "thoughts" are being disseminated on disposable cups destined to be tossed into the nearest litter receptacle once the coffee is gulped down. Rather apropos of the ephemeral nature of false ideologies, isn’t it?

The Church of England has come up with a "Let’s try to please everyone!"-solution to the problem of Anglican homosexual clergy and the gay clergy’s desire for "marriage." "Okay," sez the Church of England, "You can marry but you must remain celibate continent!"

"The Church of England is to allow gay clergy to enter into civil partnerships but only if they promise to abstain from sex, according to guidance issued yesterday.

"It has been drawn up to clarify the Church’s position on the Civil Partnerships Act, which will offer same-sex couples a legal status similar to marriage when it comes into effect on Dec 5.

"In a ‘pastoral statement’ [scare quotes in the original], the House of Bishops said that clergy would be able to take advantage of the Act, but only if they reassure their bishops that they will uphold Church teaching. Clergy were also told that they should not offer formal services of blessing for couples who had been through a civil partnership ceremony, but they could pray with the couple."

GET THE STORY.

I find it fascinating that a church created because of one man’s sexual indiscretions and rationalizations for his immoral behavior has constantly been at the forefront of the liberal Christian "sexual revolution" and the rationalization by some Christians of sexual behavior traditionally recognized to be immoral.

If you’re considering a Christmas present for Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, a former Master General of the Dominican order, might I suggest a case of Ivory soap? He undoubtedly needs it for all of the mouths he apparently would like to scrub clean:

"Dogma is a bad word! But beauty has its own authority, an authority to which every human being responds, and an authority that in no way threatens. We need to find ways of disclosing God’s beauty to our contemporaries."

GET THE STORY.

Of all the many quotes that could have been pulled from Vatican correspondent John L. Allen’s "The Word From Rome" column this week, which one do you suppose the National Catholic Reporter‘s webmaster chose to pull for highlighting? Fr. Radcliffe’s or this one from Pope Benedict XVI:

"[W]ithout the light of truth, sooner or later every person is in fact condemned to doubt the goodness of his or her own life and the relations that make it up, as well as the validity of his or her commitment to construct something in common with others."

No fair peeking at the story before guessing.

The story sounds like a tall tale to me — how can a person over the age of reason, and one suffering from senile dementia to boot, be received into the Church without his knowledge or consent? — but this unique conversion story that is purported to be true did make me laugh:

"James died at an advanced age, and was given a full Roman Catholic funeral with the bells and smells. Joseph was deeply upset over the loss of his dear brother and senile dementia, which had already set in, got progressively worse. Joseph often got confused about things, and at some point, possibly after witnessing all the Catholic ceremonial, became convinced he was a Catholic too.

"’Of course I’m a Catholic … my brother was a Catholic and we’re twins … how could I not be a Catholic?’ was his response to anyone who said he was a Protestant. Now, Joseph’s grown-up children were, of course, pleased to hear their father now considered himself a Catholic. The problem was — he hadn’t yet been properly received into the Catholic Church, and wouldn’t even listen when his children suggested he be received — ‘I’ve always been a Catholic,’ he would protest. His health was going rapidly downhill too, and he insisted he must be given a Catholic funeral.

"What was one to do? They had a talk with the local RC priest and they had an idea."

GET THE TALE.

Tales such as this, especially those originating several generations ago and thus unverifiable, make the rounds of Catholic circles. You’d be surprised how many I hear from inquirers who want to know if I can explain the tales’ illogical points (e.g., the reception into the Church of a sleeping man). All one can do is to point out the principles (e.g., informed knowledge and consent is ordinarily necessary for adult reception) and advise the person to enjoy the story as a Catholic tall tale.

Nod to Dappled Things for the link. I especially liked Fr. Tucker’s own tale: "It reminded me of what one of our deacons tells non-Catholic best men at wedding rehearsals: ‘When I sprinkle the rings with holy water, make sure not to get any on you, otherwise you automatically become a Catholic.’ Then he makes sure to get the horrified Protestant wet during the wedding ceremony.")

You scored as Fundamentalist. Fundamentalism represents a movement in opposition to Modernism, stressing the highest importance on foundational religious tradition. Science has brought on corruption of society. God is real and is watching. Scripture leaves little room for interpretation; man is God’s creation. About a quarter of the population in the U.S. is classified as Fundamentalist. Fundamentalist 81% Romanticist 69% Cultural Creative 69% Postmodernist 44% Existentialist 25% Idealist 19% Modernist 0% Materialist 0% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

I’m a Fundamentalist!  Who’da thunk it?  Actually, given the nature of the questions, I’m not surprised.  The creators of the quiz seem to consider a belief in absolute, objective truths to be the definition of Fundamentalism.  If that is the case, my name is Michelle and I’m a Catholic Fundamentalist.  There.  It’s finally out in the open now.

(Nod to Mark Mossa, S.J., for the link.)

Oh, goody. ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas — the journalist who brought you the straight scoop on Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s luv-‘n-marriage, according to the Gospel of Dan Brown — is doing a special for 20/20 on the Resurrection of Christ to be aired on Friday, May 20. Guess who will be joining her as special guests?

Did you say Fr. Richard McBrien and (Episcopal) Bishop John Shelby Spong (among others)? How’d you figure it?

Sample Quotes:

McBRIEN: "If they had digital cameras in those days, and they took … tried to take a photo of Jesus, you know, ‘Get over there with Peter … would you stand with Mary Magdalene? This would make a great shot. I mean, no one will ever believe this.’ You take a photo of that scene and you’d get Peter and Mary Magdalene, but not Jesus."

You’d think a college professor would speak more coherently.

SPONG: "I don’t think that most of the resurrection narratives in the New Testament are historical at all. But I don’t think there would have been a New Testament or a Jesus movement had there not been some astonishing experience of power that caused these people to see Jesus in a way they had never seen him before."

Translation: "The Gospels are pretty fakey, but those poor misguided souls who spun those fairy tales must have experienced some weird Christ event to get them to make that stuff up."

GET THE STORY.

(Nod to Relapsed Catholic for the link.)

Be sure to wake me when it’s over.