Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1236

Not The End

And so, after nearly ten years, Catholic and Enjoying It moves out of its Blogger digs and takes up residence over at Patheos. I'm not gonna say goodbye because, hey, it's just one click away!

But I do want to say thank you to all youse guys who have been such loyal, generous, supportive and enthusiastic readers over the years. I look forward to continuing the conversation over at Patheos and will see you there, bright and early, on Monday morning, October 3, 2011, at which time the light go up on the brand new/same old blog!

Question from a Reader

I wanted to see if I could get you to share some of your knowledge & wisdom with me. In a conversation with some colleagues yesterday, I found myself between 2 lost souls discussing their experience with churches and what they were looking for. It was your quintessential "church shopping" conversation that is so prevalent in our "I need to be entertained" society.

So I spoke up and suggested that if I personally am looking for a church, I am more concerned with what that church teaches and its creed. My friend responded that it is because I am Catholic and Catholics are more into the whole "doctrine/dogma thing." He said he used to be "into that kind of thing," but he has come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter. Giving the topic of pre-destination as an example (he's a former Presbyterian), he said my philosophy on that is "Who knows and who cares." I was speechless.

Bottom line, I need your help on how to respond to these folks. What is the first step to get someone to even care or agree that the truth matters?

Thanks for your help,

I don't have a lot of knowledge or wisdom about such matters. I suspect the best approach is to live out loud as a Catholic and talk about what you believe and what the Church teaches. People suddenly discover that they have very strong views about the doctrine/dogma thing when they are presented with what the Church teaches. Jesus never evoked boredom. Reactions tended to whipsaw between love and hate.

I have a friend who tells people who say "doctrine doesn't matter", "Great! Then let's go over to Blessed Sacrament parish and pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for the Holy Souls in Purgatory!"

Suddenly, they discover that doctrine matters. :)

Nicholas Cage: Vampire?

A local guy found a picture from 1870 he says definitively proves Nicholas Cage is a vampire and has been trying to sell it on eBay for a million bucks.

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I'm sure there's a rational explanation for how this vampire is able to be photographed.

What cracks me up are the people who are *seriously* arguing in the comboxes about whether vampires exist and poring over the photo to *seriously* argue that, no, this isn't really Nicholas Cage.

Muslim Barbarians in Iran...

threaten to execute a convert. Fortunately, he's a Christian, so it's no big deal. Meanwhile, in real news: WHITE POWDER WAS SENT TO THE 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' STUDIO!!! WHAT WILL CHAZ BONO DO? and PRESS TITILLATED BY THRILL OF LOOKING AT DEAD MICHAEL JACKSON PHOTOS!!!! and LOOK! NANCY GRACE'S BOOB!!!!!!

Prayer Request

My grandmother will be having some minor surgery at 1:00 today; it's expected to be a routine matter, but she's in very poor health, so I'm a bit nervous. I would appreciate it if you would post a prayer request to your blog. Thanks!

Father, hear our prayer for a successful surgery and recovery for this woman and peace, grace, consolation and strength for all who love her. Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for her and all concerned. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Barb Nicolosi...

on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the Gen X manufacturers of culture as they emerge from the endless shadow of Generation Narcissus.

My pal Bill Dodds is Up to Stuff

There's a new resource for would-be Catholic novelists. (No, not would-be Catholics who are novelists, but would-be novelists who are Catholic.)

Bill Dodds' latest book is "How to Write Your Novel in Nine Weeks." And his coauthor is a sock puppet named Little Willie Sockspeare. Bill was the first American to win the 3-Day Novel Contest and has had dozens of fiction and non-fiction books published. And Willie . . . Well, Willie firmly believes he wrote "Hamlet," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Macbeth."You can read about the book here.

http://www.amazon.com/Write-Your-Novel-Weeks-ebook/dp/B005Q371FI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317313399&sr=8-1

The pair have a companion podcast on http://www.youtube.com/user/BillDoddsBooks. Here's a sample:

RIP

Baby Joseph and Abp Hannan both went to be with Christ this week. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

The People's Democratic National Security State of Heaven - Part Deux

Here's a rather hilarious story of Browncoats vs. Brownshirts, a tale of a free speech component with a sense of humor in a battle of wits with an unarmed fascist bureaucrat who can't see what a tinhorn petty dictator she is:

On September 12, 2011, Professor Miller posted on his office door an image of Nathan Fillion in Firefly and a line from an episode: "You don't know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed." On September 16, UWS Chief of Police Lisa A. Walter emailed Miller, notifying him that she had removed the poster and that "it is unacceptable to have postings such as this that refer to killing."

Amazed that UWS could be so shockingly heavy-handed, Miller replied by email, "Respect liberty and respect my first amendment rights." Walter responded that "the poster can be interpreted as a threat by others and/or could cause those that view it to believe that you are willing/able to carry out actions similar to what is listed." Walter also threatened Miller with criminal charges: "If you choose to repost the article or something similar to it, it will be removed and you could face charges of disorderly conduct."

Later on September 16, Miller placed a new poster on his office door in response to Walter's censorship. The poster read "Warning: Fascism" and included a cartoon image of a silhouetted police officer striking a civilian. The poster mocked, "Fascism can cause blunt head trauma and/or violent death. Keep fascism away from children and pets."

Astoundingly, Walter escalated the absurdity. On September 20, Walter emailed Miller again, stating that her office had removed the poster because it "depicts violence and mentions violence and death." She added that UWS's "threat assessment team," in consultation with the university general counsel's office, had decided to have the poster removed, and that this poster was reasonably expected to "cause a material and/or substantial disruption of school activities and/or be constituted as a threat." College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Interim Dean Raymond Hayes has scheduled a meeting with Miller about "the concerns raised by the campus threat assessment team" for this Friday.

Fairy Hardcastle lives. So, does Mal Reynolds, who can (and I trust will) kick her domineering butt. All this sort of fascistic stuff does is encourage ingenious students and faculty to look for ways to subvert the People's National Security State of Heaven, an effort I applaud, celebrate and support.

The People's Democratic National Security State of Heaven...

prying into your cold remedy purchases, because you are a presumed danger to the state.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, our police are being punished by bureaucrats for the sin of behaving like human beings and not like agents of an occupying power.

Mike Flynn riffs off some remarks I made some time ago about the growing tendency of the state to abandon the notion that we are moral beings capable of receiving admonishment in favor of the notion that we are cattle.