Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1247

Fool Says in His Heart There is No God

Another atheist tries to ground his morality in something besides God.

Condolences to Rod Dreher...

on the death of his sister, Ruthie. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. And may all who loved her meet merrily again one day in the light of Christ where he will wipe away every tear.

The People's Democratic National Security State of Heaven - UK Edition

"Over 30,000 British schoolchildren, some as young as three, have had their names registered on a government database and branded "racist" or "homophobic" for using playground insults".

No. Really.

In the words of Kathy Shaidle: "Come back, Luftwaffe. All is forgiven."

What Fun!

One of the various projects I've been working on over the past several months has been the MSS of an upcoming book called The Work of Mercy: Being the Hands and Heart of Christ. It's a look at the corporal and spiritual works of mercy aimed at reintroducing them to a modern and postmodern audience. It'll be out from Servant in December/January.

Anyway, I got word from them today that they want to release an audiobook version and, bum ba bum!, they want me to come out to Cincinnatti to record it! I've always wanted to do voice work so I'm excited! My secret wish has long been that I could do voice acting too. Maybe someday I can talk somebody into that.

Two Phases of History

Allow homosexuals to donate blood? What could it hurt?

Medics Infect 23 Children With HIV After Giving Them Contaminated Blood Transfusions In India? How were we supposed to know?

However, given the vital importance of affirming the greatness and goodness of homosexuality, I expect this policy will continue. What's more important? The precious sense of self-esteem of the most narcissistic community on planet Earth, or the common good?

Spong's Law of Theophysical Asininity

Some time ago, Tom Kreitzberg formulated the above, stating:

Whenever a person appeals to quantum physics as the basis for a theological or religious principle, he is making an ass of himself.

The latest demonstration of this principle (or perhaps a corollary of it) is found in the National Catholic Reporter, in which the following bafflegab appears:

...Judy Cannato's thoughts on morphic resonance from her book The Field of Compassion came to mind.
Now, Rupert Sheldrake's biological theory that "like attracts like," would seem to be a Universe away from a Dr. Seuss story, but is it? According to Cannato:

"[G]enetic material alone cannot account for the development of living systems. Sheldrake proposes that systems are surrounded by non-visible fields that carry information or memory from one generation to the next, thus making a new behavior patterns easier to learn. …The human person is a field of energy and information rooted in the body but extending out from the body, interacting with the energy and information of others. None of us is a discreet, separate unit, but an integrated system of interactions and relationships connected to all."

Cannato suggests that we can alter our energy and information fields by the choices we make…and "can become increasing aware of who we are and how we influence our environment, and that we can and must make choices that are life-giving for all."

Using the image of the morphogenic field as a template, she says, "we can look at the mission of Jesus. Although he never could have used these words, Jesus was about creating a morphogenic field, one in which love is the standard operating procedure and genuine concern for the other is the behavioral norm."

I'm sure the person who wrote this is a very nice person. I expect I would like the person who wrote this and that they wouldn't intentionally harm a flea. But I would also say that this very nice person is very muddled and that nonsense about morphogenic fields is the sort of thing bruited by a New Age dilettante who doesn't want to just deal with the Christian revelation as it is. Such bafflegab is the hobby of upscale suburbanites with a horror of The Same Old Thing. It's a form of snobbery.

Prayer Request

A reader writes:

My uncle Tommy the deacon just had triple bypass surgery. He is reportedly doing well, but it would not be amiss to say a prayer for him.

Father, hear our prayer for Tommy's complete healing through Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant compassion and skill to his caregivers and grace, peace and strength to all who love him. Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for him! Amen!

Old Glory Insurance

For when the Metal Ones decide to come for you:

Fr. Dwight Longenecker....

on how devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary can help hurting mothers.

What a good priest he is!

Pat Robertson...

...is one of those TV preachers that only the MSM takes seriously. Here he is, making a fool of himself by advising husbands of Alzheimer's victims to divorce their spouse and get a new model. God forgive him.