A piece back I was looking at some sites that allowed you to call in from a phone and have the results posted as an audio moblog. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find these sites at the moment.
Can anyone point me to them?
Also, anybody know of a combination cellphone-to-podcast service?
Sometimes while surfing the Internet, I come across a site fascinating for it’s value as an object of curiosity that I just have to let the world know about it. I guess that’s why God created blogs.
Especially interesting was this post by one of FMH’s contributors:
"Can we please (as Mormons) just admit that there are SO incredibly many things that we just don’t have a clue about?
[…]
"During my recent (and really my first ‘real’/deep) crisis of faith, I cannot tell you how unhelpful it was when people would pretend that all good/faithful Mormons never question, never wonder, never doubt.
[…]
"Let me tell you what was helpful to me. A former bishop who admitted he’d had periods of doubt also. A friend who acknowledged that my concerns were significant, but didn’t necessarily apologize for their existence (perhaps to do so would be to apologize for the state of the world, the fact of agency, the wisdom of God in sending us all here to work out our salvation?). President Hinckley who at the beginning of his administration stated that he knew respect had to be earned. And a dear husband who all along the way admits his own ignorance along with mine.
"What makes these frank admissions less depressing is a concurrent continued faith — demonstrated in how these people continue to live their lives. Their honesty makes their faith more meaningful to me. They find value in the gospel in spite of — maybe even because of — their doubts and imperfections. And because of their honesty in this, my ‘unbelief’ has been helped. Because of this, I had to address my concerns to God instead of people, since people don’t have all the answers regardless of the faith, knowledge, and goodness that we do have. And as I have begun to do this, I have been reminded of the points of divine help and contact that had been obscured for a time. Yes, I still have doubts and concerns. But I also feel I’ve gotten some significant direction and answers on a couple important issues for me."
While Mormonism is a deeply-flawed non-Christian religion, I have to admire the sentiments this particular Mormon is expressing because she makes an important point. Knowing enough to know what you do not know is a powerful witness and, if Socrates was correct, the beginning of wisdom. For Christians and non-Christians alike, that is a crucial lesson.
Today, September 20th, back in the year 1378, was the day that the Great Western Schism started.
Y’know . . . that thing where there were two and then later three guys purporting to be pope at once. . . . Threw all of Europe into confusion. . . . Was a precipitating cause of the Protestant Reformation. . . . All that bad stuff?
Well,
Includes a handy chart of the popes and anti-popes of the period!
(NOTE: You need to have your speakers turned on for this.)
CHT: Mark Shea.
And note the unintended irony: Not only does it pit Catholicism against Communism, it also makes a pitch for Capitalism.
Folks are speculating that B16 will soon allow the former rite of Mass to be celebrated by priests of the Latin rite without special permission from their bishops.
In fact, folks have been speculating that for a while since Pre-16 was open in stating that he thought greater permission should be given for this.
What’s new is that Cambridge professor Eamonn Duffy has been speculating the same thing, in public, and with the addition of a timetable:
In remarks to the National Conference of Priests of Ireland, Eamonn Duffy said that he thought the Pope would make the policy change in October, during the meeting of the Synod of Bishops. The topic for Synod discussions is the Eucharist.
I wonder if the good professor is being overly optimistic. I fully expect that B16 will make sure that the subject is discussed during the Synod, but I don’t know that he’s prepared to simply make the decision at this point if there is strong opposition to the proposal, much less do I think it’ll be announced during the Synod. That’ll take a while even if he carries through on the plan.
If he does, it could help facilitate a healing with the schismatic SSPX, which might then schism itself, with part coming back to the Church and part not.
Or so one might suppose from the comments of jerkboyrogue Bishop Richard Williamson, who’s already out spinning the issue.
For those who may not have noticed, Mark Shea is blogging again!
And has been for a while, though I’m sure not everyone knows it yet.
(The scoundrel, he was supposed to lemme know so that I could tell people. Had to find it out for myself.)
Anyway,
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."
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.
. . . in telling y’all about my trip to the Salton Sea. Other things took priority, so I won’t be able to blog about that today. Sorry.
Catholic World News is reporting that B16 has approved the document from the Congregation for Catholic Education barring the ordination of homosexuals.
EXCERPTS:
The new document– which was prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994– will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the Congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller.
The text, which was approved by Pope Benedict at the end of August, says that homosexual men should not be admitted to seminaries even if they are celibate, because their condition suggests a serious personality disorder which detracts from their ability to serve as ministers.
Priests who have already been ordained, if they suffer from homosexual impulses, are strongly urged to renew their dedication to chastity, and a manner of life appropriate to the priesthood.
Informed sources in Rome indicate that the Instruction probably will be made public after the Synod of Bishops, which meets in Rome from October 2 through 23.
GET THE STORY.
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed.)
One thing I’d be careful about with the story: It says that John XXIII approved a policy to the same effect and that it remains in force. This appears to be inaccurate. There was such a policy approved for religious priests (as opposed to diocesan ones) during John XXIII’s reign, but (a) it was not a policy for all priests and (b) it may well not be in effect at this point due to changes in Church law, which has been extensively renovated since that time.
This is a minor point, though, and should not detract from the heartening newsrumor that B16 has given his approval to the document.
EXCERPTS:
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A university student from Egypt was ordered held without bond after prosecutors said they found a pilot’s uniform, chart of Memphis International Airport and a DVD titled "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act" in his apartment.
Maawad, who is in the United States illegally, told the judge during a hearing Thursday that he is studying science and economics at the University of Memphis.
"My school is everything. I stay in this country for seven years; I stay for the school," he said.
Maawad had ordered $3,000 in aviation materials, including DVDs titled "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings," "Airplane Talk," "Mental Math for Pilots" and "Mastering GPS Flying," FBI agent Thad Gulczynski testified.
The company reported Maawad to authorities when he didn’t pay for $2,500 of merchandise it had delivered, Gulczynski said.