Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1240

September 23, 2011

Day 5 of the Tin Cup Rattle

As your Dark Lord, I have to tell you that running Pits of Despair and spinning world-spanning webs of evil and intrigue is not as easy as it sounds. Besides the distracting screams of anguish, the food bill for the wolves who prowl the dark forests around my impregnable mountain fastness, and the repair bills for the Orbital Mind Control Laser Platform in Geosynchronous Orbit Above North America, there is also the daily pressure of paying the mutants, mind-numbed sycophants, and drooling half-human beasts spawned by my perverted science. And that Golden Submarine I use for piracy and battling giant squids doesn't fuel itself either!

Please, if you appreciate the thin gruel I dish out here, then help keep the Giant Red Eye of Evil burning atop my gleaming obsidian tower by clicking on the PayPal button to the left so that CAEI can stay on the air and our kids get fed. You can either make a straight donation or, if you like to get something for your money (something beyond this blog that you've come to love and depend on, I mean), you can buy my books, CDs, and DVDs. And if you'd rather not do the PayPal thang, feel free to email me and ask for my snailmail address. I'll happily take a check instead.

Don't think somebody else will do it. Today's your day to say, "Where else can I find a blog that gives me stories about the Pope's address to the German Parliament (without the standard eyerolling and contempt the MSM heaps on him), plus discussions of Star Trek, harvestable Welshmen, physics breakthroughs, the death penalty, magnetic children and all the other stuff that makes this blog so fun for so long.

Please help us out as best you can.

Thanks!
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Published on September 23, 2011 00:39

Speaking of Scripture...

Ascension Press is giving away a pilgrimage for 2 to the Holy Land led by Jeff and Emily Cavins. They are asking people to submit a video responding to the question "How Has the Story of Scripture Enriched My Life and My Faith." The videos will be voted upon and judged, and the grand prize winner will receive the free pilgrimage! All of the details about it can be found at www.BibleStudyContest.com.

Jeff and Emily are two of the nicest people you could want to meet.  Also, the whole "going to the Holy Land for free" thing is pretty sweet too.
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Published on September 23, 2011 00:08

Logos has some great software...

for students of Catholic theology and biblical studies.  Go and peruse and I think you'll start to drool.
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Published on September 23, 2011 00:07

Catholic Replies to Fundamentalist...

...who happens to be an atheist. Jerry Coyne is apparently a P.Z. Myers understudy who likes to imagine that volume supplies for deficiencies in content. In addition to barking meaningless things like "Science wins over religion because science works!" (Works at what? What is "religion"? It usually means "Christianity" when used by an Evangelical Atheist but it covers an awful lot of ground and some definitions are in order. What "work" is science doing that "religion" does not do? Is that the only sort of "work" in the universe? If I need somebody to answer "Why is there anything?" or "What do I tell my suicidal friend who feels life is meaningless?" does Coyne's vision of science "work" here? Does "working" constitute the sole raison d'etre for a thing? Does the Mona Lisa or Bach's St. Matthew Passion "work"? If not, should we burn them?)

In addition, Coyne seems to want to have his cake and eat it. When science adjusts its paradigm to include new data, we are to celebrate the glorious achievement of science's ability to cope with new information. When theology does exactly the same thing (because it is, you know, a science) Coyne declares theologians to be ad hoc liars who are making it up as they go along. What is virtue in one science is denigrated as a lie in another science. The common denominator in all this is the Coyne who flips out and declares, "Heads I win. Tails you lose."
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Published on September 23, 2011 00:06

New Blog!

It's called Coffee and Canticles and it's all about the Divine Office: how to pray it,  understand it, and enjoy it.   Check thou it out!
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Published on September 23, 2011 00:06

Wales Wants to Turn its Citizens into Harvestable Resources

When the state decides your organs belong to it, for some reason that reduces trust in a medical establishment that is keen to harvest you and not so keen on waiting until you are, you know, dead to begin. The Welsh still have some time to head off this bit of crony capitalism.
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Published on September 23, 2011 00:05

Hey Western Washington!

Mark Your Calendars!

At my home parish of Blessed Sacrament in Seattle's colorful University District, Br. Simon Kim, OP, our resident Dominican student, will be joining Nina Butorac to offer a two-part class on Natural Law in a Utilitarian Society, which will be held in the Parish Hall at 7:00 PM on October 17 and 19.

Here's the little blurb that will appear in this week's newsletter:
Join Br. Simon Kim, OP, and Nina Butorac as they explore the Natural Law tradition in the Church, and how it intersects or conflicts with a culture that is steeped in Utilitarianism. This two-part series will address the philosophical principles of Natural Law and utilitarian ethics on Monday evening, and apply them to real world situations the following Wednesday evening.
I hope you who are interested in philosophy will plan to attend.
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Published on September 23, 2011 00:03

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