Amazing.

I don’t have any intention of turning JA.O into a vlog–or otherwise have it become dominated by video–but we’re in a multimedia age in which stuff worthy of attention is becoming available online in the form of video. YouTube in particular is causing that to happen.

F’rinstance: Consider this video of Stephen Colbert interviewing William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights (minor language warning):

This thing is amazing.

It’s got a startlingly muscular assertion of Catholicism and the truth of the Bible–something I would never expect to see on a vile network like Comedy Central.

It also has Colbert asking Donohue some questions that put him on the spot.

And Then There Were Three

In 1999 the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed a document known as the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. This document said that, while there were still differences between the Catholic and Lutheran articulation of the doctrine of justification, the two groups were in substantial agreement regarding the core of the doctrine itself and were thus able to issue a joint declaration expressing their common conviction regarding it.

This document had been in preparation for a number of years prior, and had a somewhat tumultuous history. There was a moment of profound embarrassment when–after the Lutheran World Federation went through the spectacle of solemnly approving the document in the clear expectation that the Catholic Church would immediately do likewise, the Catholic Church suddenly balked and issued a document with the ponderous and icy title "Response of the Catholic Church to the Joint Declaration of the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Fedreation on the Doctrine of Justification."

The backstage story on what happened here is that the Pontifical Commission for Promoting Christian Unity had not kept the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith fully in the loop as the text of the joint declaration was being worked out, so when it came to approval time the CDF–and Pre-16 in particularly–objected to a number of statements in the joint declaration and insisted on clarifications before it could be approved.

From what I can tell, Cardinal Ratzinger himself wrote the clarifications at the core of the Response and then Cardinal Cassity (head of the Christian unity commission) had to sign them.

This was an enormous embarrassment, both for the Catholic Church and for the Lutherans, who felt like they had publicly gone out on a limb and then left hanging there.

Nevertheless, everyone summoned up the wherewithal to move forward and a clarifying "Annex" to the joint declaration got worked out and passed by both bodies and the whole thing was eventually approved and the joint declaration became a reality.

Following its publication, Cardinal Ratzinger praised it–in its emended form–as an important ecumenical landmark.

Now there’s another one.

The World Methodist Conference has just signed the joint declaration as well.

GET THE STORY.

It strikes me that this action by the Methodists may spark further, similar actions. I would anticipate that within a few years the Anglican communion may do likewise.

Don’t hold your breath for many Baptists and Pentecostals to follow suit, though.

READ THE JOINT DECLARATION

AND IT’S ANNEX

When It Rains, It Pours

Folks know that Catholic Answers is currently pursuing what I have referred to as Secret Project #4, which–according to my best current guess–is likely to launch this September, at which point I will say publicly what it is.

This one is a done deal. It’s going to happen. The only question is how fast we can push it forward. (Thanks much to those who are locally helping with one aspect of it!)

There is still the question of what the other three secret projects are. They have been on the back burner for some time and–should I ever take them off the stove entirely–I will also say what they were.

But just recently an unexpected door opened that has taken Secret Project #1 from the back burner to the front burner.

And it’s at a crucial juncture.

Which is also why I mention it. I’d very much like to see this project materialize, and I’d ask if folks might be willing to pray that the project successfully navigates the present juncture.

I can’t say that much about it, but I think it will do a significant amount of good for the Body of Christ, and I think that many people here will be quite interested and excited about it when I’m in a position to announce what it will be . . . if it gets past the present juncture. (If not, I’ll have to keep quiet about it for the present in case it can happen in another form.)

My best guess is that, if it succeeds in the next few weeks, I’ll be able to announce what the project is within a month, even before Secret Project #4 is unveiled.

When it rains, it pours.

Them Bones Are Gonna Rise Again

Recently I was writing
about how the way in which respect for the dead is
shown varies enormously from one culture to another, even within
Christendom.

By coincidence, I ran across some some pictures that dramatically illustrate this point, like the one below.
Kutna09

This is a picture of a chandelier in the Sedlec Ossuary, which is
located in the parish of Santa Barbara in Sedlec in the Czech Republic.
As you can see, it is made from human skeletons.

To me, given my cultural background, I find this extremely creepy
and have a hard time imagining how people could feel that this is an
appropriate way of handling the remains of the dead, but that’s now how
things were perceived in their culture. At least a significant portion
of people had to feel that this was reverent for it to happen, and in a
church of all places.

And the Sedlec Ossuary isn’t the only thing of this type in
Christendom. There are others as well, such as Santa Maria della
Concezione dei Cappuccini in Rome, which also has a massive ossuary
crypt of similar nature.

And there’s another big one in Portugal.

Being aware of these things, even if one personally finds them
creepy, can be helpful when one is trying to evaulate the moral
theology of how the dead are to be treated. While respect for the
remains of the dead is morally mandatory, the way in which that respect
is shown in different cultures varies in striking ways.

The kind of taboo we have in America on displaying or touching the
remains of the dead is not a human universal or even a Christian
universal.

MORE INFO ON & PICTURES OF THE SEDLEC OSSUARY.

AND SANTA MARIA DELLA CONCEZIONE DEI CAPPUCCINI.

AND THE ONE IN PORTUGAL.

AND STILL OTHERS.

Y’know, when I see pictures like the ones linked above, I can’t help
thinking about the words from one version of the old spiritual "Dem
Bones" or "Dry Bones" (which was a spiritual long before it was a kids’
song):

Ezekiel said it in the Bible,
Chapter thirty-seven, ten
These ol’ bones are gonna wake up walkin’!
These ol’ bones are gonna rise again!

Hasta La Vista, Baby Jesus!

Yesterday we had a surprisingly Catholic-friendly comedy video from a Protestant source.

Here’s a surprisingly Catholic-friendly comedy video from an even more surprising source: MadTV!

I’m not saying it’s perfect, mind you–just that it’s a lot more Catholic-friendly than I would have thought possible for a show like MadTV.

       

(CHT: The Curt Jester!)

New B5 In 07

B5_1Babylon 5 creator Joe Michael Straczynski (JMS) has been hinting of late that there would be a new Babylon 5 project announced during his appearance at the San Diego Comicon (the world’s largest comic book convention, which they have here every year).

I didn’t go to the Comicon (there are so many people there that, to quote Charleton Heston, "It’s a madhouse! A madhouse!"), but I did Google his appearance this weekend to see what was being reported about it online.

Here’s what I found:

–JMS sold a movie to Ron Howard. It’s a thriller/mystery movie set in the ˜20s in Los Angeles. They want to get it into production as fast as possible and JMS is flying up there on the 3rd to meet with Ron Howard and those guys to go over the script and make sure everything is where it needs to be. It’s going to be a big budget film. Ron Howard is a nice guy. The first time JMS had a phone conference with him about the script, JMS called him Mr. Howard and the reply was "You hired my dad on Babylon 5, you can call me whatever you want." Possibly it could be in production by the first part of next year.

–JMS was up in Toronto recently and they did a 12 episode radio drama series for the CBC called the Adventures of Apocalypse Al. It’s kind of a film noir style comedy drama science fiction supernatural series a la Men In Black or Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s in little 5 minute chunks and it’s fall-down funny.

–A pilot for Touchstone has started for a dramatic prime time network series called BORROWED LIVES. It was actually sold last year but it was too late to go into development but now they’re actually in the script stage.

–[JMS’s comic book] RISING STARS is in development with Sam Raimi’s production company for a series.

–[JMS’s comic book] MIDNIGHT NATION is being bid on by two different studios for a movie.

–He pitched [his graphic novel] DREAM POLICE to a major studio, they want to do a motion picture and they’re negotiating now for JMS to write it.

–And there’s something else: WB came to him as they do periodically wanting to do something with B5. They asked if he wanted to do a feature film but JMS declined mainly because he can’t yet picture structuring a B5 movie "as long as Andreas and Rick insist on staying dead." Maybe in a year or two he’ll be able to but right now he can’t do something big. What JMS suggested was a bunch of short films ‘little mini-movies, an anthology show set in the Babylon 5 universe. They said, "Okay." There’s a network already interested in carrying them but they’re also planned for direct to DVD. This will be "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales", a lot of small stories that never made it into the series that he’s rediscovered notes for. And JMS wants no interference, complete creative support "in writing". They said, "Okay." And JMS wants to direct them. They said, "Okay." The first will be three individual stories about three of the main characters (to be determined). The plan is to shoot in September, post-production Oct.-Dec. and they’ll probably come out the second quarter of 2007 [SOURCE].

How he’s going to fit this in amid all the other projects he’s got going on, I’m not sure, but I’ll be interested to see what they come up with.

Incidentally, JMS himself adds a few more details over at JMSNews:

[W]e’re looking at 3 half-hour
episodes/stories for the first DVD, with additional features and the
like in the other half hour. Each story will be worked around a given
established character, the specifics of which are still TBD contingent
upon availabilities and other issues.

We have a budget, we’re greenlit, we’re going.

As for what prompted the interest now at WB…it’s only recently that
they’ve finally run through all 5 seasons, which for many years now has
been a constant source of revenue, and I think they would love to have
something to continue to with. The recent news re: Changeling [that’s the name of the script he sold to Ron Howard] probably
didn’t hurt, but the deal was actually being negotiated long before
there *was* a feature film deal with Imagine. As I recall, we
finalized the deal right around the time that the Imagine news was
announced.

It was a rather extraordinary 24 hours.

I held off saying anything until I was cleared by WB to announce it as
a go project. Ultimately, whether we shoot in Vancouver or elsewhere
will be a function of the deal that gets made locally [SOURCE].

I was surprised at how little coverage there is on the Net so far, but a kindly reader also sent me a link to the coverage of the new B5 project on Ain’t It Cool News and–as commonly happens with AICN–they schmutz up the report with unnecessary offensive language and need to have their collective mouthes washed out with soap (make that lye soap, for good measure).

More Credit Where Credit Is Due

Despite problems I also have with certain recent votes taken by the U.S. Senate, I also want to give them credit when it is due to them (EXCERPTS):

The Senate voted yesterday to make it a crime to take a pregnant minor to another state to obtain an abortion without her parents’ knowledge, handing a long-sought victory to the Bush administration and abortion opponents.

The bill would help about three dozen states enforce laws that require minors to notify or obtain the consent of their parents before having an abortion. It would bar people — including clergy members and grandparents — from helping a girl cross state lines to avoid parental-involvement laws. Violations could result in a year in prison.

Most states have passed such laws, but courts have invalidated at least nine of them, advocacy groups say. Maryland and Virginia have parental-notification laws; the District does not. The Senate voted 65 to 34 to approve the bill, which is similar to one the House has approved before, including last year.

The White House said the measure would "protect the health and safety of minors" and "protect the rights of parents to be involved in the medical decisions of their minor daughters consistent with the widespread belief among authorities in the field that it is the parents of a pregnant minor who are best suited to provide her counsel, guidance and support."

The administration urged House and Senate negotiators to reconcile their differences and send Bush a bill to sign. Unlike the Senate version, the House measure would penalize physicians who knowingly perform abortions for minors who circumvented parental-involvement laws.

GET THE STORY.

“Baby Got Book!”

BabygotbookA reader writes:

Perhaps, you’ve seen this music video—“baby got book”–but I had to flag it all the same. My best friend who is a Baptist sent me this link. I found it very funny and its two references to Catholicism were lighthearted and friendly. According to his bio, the singer “south paw,” a graduate of Kentucky Christian University on a full ride tetherball scholarship, started his own “new, super cool church in Cleveland Ohio.” Perhaps, good clean humor can foster dialog amongst different religious groups? Sure takes a little of the pressure off.

Thanks for the link. I’d seen the video a piece back and thought seriously about blogging it, because it is quite funny–and moreso the more you know about Bibles. I also appreciated the two Catholic-friendly references in the video, especially the second. When I heard the second, I thought, "Oh, he didn’t have to do that. That was real nice!"

The thing that stopped me from doing so was . . . well . . . my almost total ignorance of rap music. I got the feeling watching the video that there were references to different secular rap songs in it, and I was concerned that some of these might be to offensive rap songs, even though this video itself is totally clean. In fact, I know that there’s at least one reference of that nature to a highly offensive rap song in the vid. What they do is turn the reference on it’s head so that it’s a kind of totally-clean poke at the offensive song, but–as the Emperor Cartagia explained–"Humor is such a subjective thing."

Having said that, if you’re willing to take the risk of seeing a clean Christian parody of offensive rap stuff,

GET THE VIDEO.

St. Mr. T?

Saint_mr_tA reader writes:

I am fascinated by the person popularly known as Mr.T. He is such a
curiosity that I cannot seem to put him out of my mind. I wonder
about things like "Does he go to bed with his jewelry on?" "Is he
always Mr.T or does he become Mr.Other Name when he gets home after a
day of work?" "Is his father, T Senior (presumably), ashamed that his
son did not pursue a more respectable career as a scientist named Dr.
Q?" "Does he eat his own cereal?" "Does he wear more or less jewelry
when going to weddings?" Such a human enigma!

I don’t have definite information on all of these questions, though here’s what information I have:

According to Wikipedia’s entry on him, Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud, though that’s not his name now. He changed his name to Laurence Tero and then to Mr. T. Literally: Mr. T. He therefore does not go home and have another name. He also does not seem to go to bed with the jewelery on–at least anymore–since it appears that he gave up wearing the jewelery (at least the chains) after he became involved in relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina last year. He did, however, sometimes wear it to bed in the past, "to see how my ancestors, who were slaves, felt." Since givingup the chains, he presumably doesn’t wear them to weddings now, either. I would assume that he has eaten his own cereal at least once. I know if I were joing to license a cereal, I would want to make sure it tastes okay. And I’d hope that his father is proud of him given how successful he’s been.

The reader continues:

Then I wondered what would happen to him if he were to A) Convert to
Catholicism and live an exemplary life (not that I am judging his
current life) and B) Die and finally C) Become canonized — what
would we call this saint? Would it be St.Mr.T with both titles (saint
and mister) or would the St. just replace the Mr. and we would just
call him St.T?

Somehow St. T just does not have the same weight as Mr.T. I think it
is the second syllable in mister that makes the name really work. It
is kind of like growling when you say it "Mis-TERRR".

It seems in general titles earned in this life are dropped when the
St. is added. For example, it is not St. Sister Therese but just
plain old St. Therese. The only sort of exception to this would be
the nickname that goes after the name to distinguish this St. First
Name from other saints First Name. For example St. Therese the Little
Flower.

In such a case, I wonder if it would be appropriate to refer to him
as St.T of the Mister or something like that.

Anyway, I was just curious about titles and how they work with saints
and wondered if you could provide any insight into that whole thing.

Mr. T apparently is a Christian, who is reported to take his faith seriously these days. If he were to become a Catholic and (at least henceforth) lead a life of heroic virtue then he would potentially be eligible for formal canonization.

Should he be canonized then–at least as things stand now–he would be referred to as St. Mr. T because the Mr. is an actual part of his name. It is not an honoriffic, but the first part of his legal name.

Of course, if he had aspirations toward canonization then he might change his name again–perhaps back to Laurence Tureaud, but as things stand now, it would be St. Mr. T.

Hope this clears up some of the mystery surrounding this human enigma!

CHT to The Curt Jester for Photoshopping the above image, and especially for his creative take on what kind of halo St. Mr. T would have!