Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1322
May 9, 2011
Hey Western Washington!
This Thursday evening, May 12, as 7:00 PM I will be speaking at Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall here in Seattle on the subject of Private Revelation for the Exploring the Catholic Faith group. Don't miss it if you can!
How to Market Climate Change Fear to the Facebook Generation
Climate Change will mess up your wi-fi connection!
I think they should take a page from the classics:
I think they should take a page from the classics:
Climate Change will re-write your hard drive. Not only that, butClimate Change: Is there anything it can't do?
it will scramble any disks that are even close to your computer. It
will recalibrate your refrigerator's coolness setting so all your ice
cream goes melty. It will demagnetize the strips on all your credit
cards, screw up the tracking on your television and use subspace field
harmonics to scratch any CD's you try to play.
It will give your ex-girlfriend your new phone number. It
will mix Kool-aid into your fishtank. It will drink all your beer and
leave its socks out on the coffee table when there's company coming
over. It will put a dead kitten in the back pocket of your good suit
pants and hide your car keys when you are late for work.
Climate Change will make you fall in love with a penguin. It will
give you nightmares about circus midgets. It will pour sugar in your
gas tank and shave off both your eyebrows while dating your
girlfriend behind your back and billing the dinner and hotel room to
your Discover card.
It will seduce your grandmother. It does not matter if she
is dead, such is the power of Climate Change, it reaches out beyond the
grave to sully those things we hold most dear.
It moves your car randomly around parking lots so you can't
find it. It will kick your dog. It will leave libidinous messages on
your boss's voice mail in your voice! It is insidious and subtle. It
is dangerous and terrifying to behold. It is also a rather
interesting shade of mauve.
Climate Change will give you Dutch Elm disease. It will leave the
toilet seat up. It will make a batch of Methamphetamine in your bathtub
and then leave bacon cooking on the stove while it goes out to chase
gradeschoolers with your new snowblower.
Competent Olympic Chief Deprived of Livelihood...
...for scandalous behavior? No. For corruption? No. For anything at all pertaining to the Olympics? No.
For incorrect thoughts about the nature of marriage? Exactamundo!
And if you think the persecuting inquisitors of the Gay Brownshirt movement don't intend to economically crush (and, if all goes well, someday jail) all other subjects of the Regime guilty--or even suspected--of Ungoodthink, you simply don't understand how these people think.
For incorrect thoughts about the nature of marriage? Exactamundo!
And if you think the persecuting inquisitors of the Gay Brownshirt movement don't intend to economically crush (and, if all goes well, someday jail) all other subjects of the Regime guilty--or even suspected--of Ungoodthink, you simply don't understand how these people think.
The Richness of Scripture
In which we talk about reading Scripture for its various senses.
By the way, went to a big party thrown by some friends at Blessed Sacrament yesterday. I must say that Catholics have no problem mimicing the Twelve Basketsful of Food Left Over thing. It was an amazing spread. And such lovely people! We had a great time.
By the way, went to a big party thrown by some friends at Blessed Sacrament yesterday. I must say that Catholics have no problem mimicing the Twelve Basketsful of Food Left Over thing. It was an amazing spread. And such lovely people! We had a great time.
576 Followers!
Today, my toadies and suckups, I command you to stop being afraid of Osama bin Laden and start being afraid of me.
That is all!
That is all!
May 7, 2011
And they say Ecumenism is a Waste of Time
Kudos to our Lutheran friends:
May 6, 2011
A reader writes
about the bin Laden photo spike:
The initial story was perfect: a team of crack troops led by our brave commander-in-chief executed a brilliant "Mission Impossible" assault on a heavily guarded compound. The ruthless and cowardly super-villain grabbed his wife and a gun and used her as a human shield and was duly dispatched by a fantastic shot to the head that delivered maximum gore (for the imagination of the American who wanted him, not just dead, but massively dead) and left the trembling, helpless woman safe and sound--and perhaps making her and all violent jihadis everywhere realize for the first time that her man was a monster and that there is a Better Way: the American Way. Then, we seized the body and, using gleaming Science, determined scientifically that it was scientifically clear that this was bin Laden. Finally, because we are a noble and good people, we even gave him a burial according to his traditions because our quarrel is with him and his ilk and not with all of Islam. Now, the sacrifice having been offered, we gather around our gutsy President and, as a *United* States of America, celebrate our Usness through Him, with Him, and in Him--I mean, him--in the Unity of the American Spirit.
Everything in this narrative depends on the Purity of the Sacrifice. If it turns out that the whole "bin Laden hid behind a woman and was unarmed" thing is, well, a lie (as the White House acknowledged) then you naturally start wondering about the rest of the story. Some people, already inclined to think Obama so untrustworthy that they can't even believe he is an American despite massive evidence that he is, quickly conclude that bin Laden is either a) not dead or b) that he died years ago and the Administration is concocting some massive fraud like faking the Moon Landings.
In reality though, the basic question is not whether bin Laden was killed on Sunday, but the manner of his death. And that is something we hoi polloi simply have no information about except for the shifting accounts of the White House. If it turns out the Obama ordered his troops to murder him even though he was trying to surrender, then the proper term for that will be "murder" just as it was when the Nazis did it to our surrendering troops at Malmedy. If it turns out that he offered resistance, then it will be marked down as perfectly legitimate battlefield tactics against the architect of the greatest mass slaughter of innocent Americans in our history.
However, we'll never really know unless and until the complete audio and visual transcript of the operation (and the communications with the White House and military command structure) are released: which I highly doubt will happen.
So, we are stuck with the shifting White House version(s) of events as the White House attempts to manage the message and use it to rally the country around Our Great President and his Great Liturgy of Vengeance. The letdown you are feeling is the letdown of having the Purity of Liturgy and the Sacrifice come into question as the White House Trumpet sounds an uncertain note.
In the end, I think, the psychological need for a Pure Sacrifice will overwhelm the question of how bin Laden was dispatched. Most people will simply not ask if the Sacrifice was Pure and will simply content themselves that America killed the Bad Guy and that's good enough. Obama's efforts at focusing American unity on himself will fade the next time you have to put $70 into your gas tank and we will be back to business as usual in our Disunited States.
Eventually, in a couple of years, somebody will try to figure out the details of what happened last Sunday and then we will be off and running with our American pastime of debating the morality of the fait accompli.
I reckon there are already conservative strategists trying to figure out how to simultaneously take credit for getting Obama while pinning a war crime on Obama for 2012. And the Obama camp will, quite certainly, be sure to remind us of their brilliance (and of their manly warlike president who is in no way the liberal pantywaist bedwetter that those mean conservatives have been mocking for the last decade). For our Ruling Classes, this entire event is about them and what they stand to gain from it politically. The shifting messages are an indication of that: the goal is to manage the message for maximum political benefit, not to inform you of truth.
The problem stems from the ever-changing story. People expect facts to stay pretty constant, and what's happened over the past few days goes well beyond minor corrections. It's just that a lot of people simply don't believe a single word that they're hearing and want to see something objective (and all the more when photos of dead Americans are apparently okay). They don't need to release them to the general public, but why not show them to, say, George W. Bush, Ron Paul, and a few other influential people of various affiliations. I think most people would be willing to accept the word of someone they trust in lieu of actually seeing it themselves. Or, at least, we can separate the sheep from the goats.Understandable, but photos won't fix the problem. The problem goes much deeper. It's the problem, not of knowing whether bin Laden is dead. (His own wife says so and a host of evidence points to that as fact), but of trying to construct a coherent narrative of how he was killed that does not blacken the reputation of the US in its hour of triumph.
The initial story was perfect: a team of crack troops led by our brave commander-in-chief executed a brilliant "Mission Impossible" assault on a heavily guarded compound. The ruthless and cowardly super-villain grabbed his wife and a gun and used her as a human shield and was duly dispatched by a fantastic shot to the head that delivered maximum gore (for the imagination of the American who wanted him, not just dead, but massively dead) and left the trembling, helpless woman safe and sound--and perhaps making her and all violent jihadis everywhere realize for the first time that her man was a monster and that there is a Better Way: the American Way. Then, we seized the body and, using gleaming Science, determined scientifically that it was scientifically clear that this was bin Laden. Finally, because we are a noble and good people, we even gave him a burial according to his traditions because our quarrel is with him and his ilk and not with all of Islam. Now, the sacrifice having been offered, we gather around our gutsy President and, as a *United* States of America, celebrate our Usness through Him, with Him, and in Him--I mean, him--in the Unity of the American Spirit.
Everything in this narrative depends on the Purity of the Sacrifice. If it turns out that the whole "bin Laden hid behind a woman and was unarmed" thing is, well, a lie (as the White House acknowledged) then you naturally start wondering about the rest of the story. Some people, already inclined to think Obama so untrustworthy that they can't even believe he is an American despite massive evidence that he is, quickly conclude that bin Laden is either a) not dead or b) that he died years ago and the Administration is concocting some massive fraud like faking the Moon Landings.
In reality though, the basic question is not whether bin Laden was killed on Sunday, but the manner of his death. And that is something we hoi polloi simply have no information about except for the shifting accounts of the White House. If it turns out the Obama ordered his troops to murder him even though he was trying to surrender, then the proper term for that will be "murder" just as it was when the Nazis did it to our surrendering troops at Malmedy. If it turns out that he offered resistance, then it will be marked down as perfectly legitimate battlefield tactics against the architect of the greatest mass slaughter of innocent Americans in our history.
However, we'll never really know unless and until the complete audio and visual transcript of the operation (and the communications with the White House and military command structure) are released: which I highly doubt will happen.
So, we are stuck with the shifting White House version(s) of events as the White House attempts to manage the message and use it to rally the country around Our Great President and his Great Liturgy of Vengeance. The letdown you are feeling is the letdown of having the Purity of Liturgy and the Sacrifice come into question as the White House Trumpet sounds an uncertain note.
In the end, I think, the psychological need for a Pure Sacrifice will overwhelm the question of how bin Laden was dispatched. Most people will simply not ask if the Sacrifice was Pure and will simply content themselves that America killed the Bad Guy and that's good enough. Obama's efforts at focusing American unity on himself will fade the next time you have to put $70 into your gas tank and we will be back to business as usual in our Disunited States.
Eventually, in a couple of years, somebody will try to figure out the details of what happened last Sunday and then we will be off and running with our American pastime of debating the morality of the fait accompli.
I reckon there are already conservative strategists trying to figure out how to simultaneously take credit for getting Obama while pinning a war crime on Obama for 2012. And the Obama camp will, quite certainly, be sure to remind us of their brilliance (and of their manly warlike president who is in no way the liberal pantywaist bedwetter that those mean conservatives have been mocking for the last decade). For our Ruling Classes, this entire event is about them and what they stand to gain from it politically. The shifting messages are an indication of that: the goal is to manage the message for maximum political benefit, not to inform you of truth.
When Your Culture is Mad...
the sanest news is often fake news:
It's mad to suppose that people who are congenitally unable to give up the fantasy that Obama is a Muslim Kenyan would be satisfied with photos of bin Laden's corpse. It's also made to suppose, as Stewart points out, that release of such photos would serve the common good in any way. The main demand for such photos is from ghouls, as the thousand fake, "CHECK THIS OUT! BIN LADEN'S CORPSE!!!" spams on Facebook attest. The ghouls who click on these (and get their well-deserved virus as a reward) are not forenisc pathologists called by duty to examine the evidence. They are ghouls who want to delectate over gore.
I think Stewart, while he probably means well in suggesting that we should publish photos of all the dead and wounded (particularly maimed civilians) in our wars of Empire and Nation-Building, may be mis-guessing the temper of our times. It's possible that such images might awaken a revulsion and help a Paris Hilton people realize what others are enduring, both in our volunteer military and in other countries subjected to the geopolitical plans of our Ruling Classes as we go shopping and watch "Dancing with the Bread and Circuses". But it's also possible that we might just numb out and treat it like a video game or, worse, like a splatter film.
My hope is the former, of course. But it's not a confident hope. Something has changed when a people can turn "Saw" into a hugely profitable franchise.
The Daily Show - Face/Off
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
It's mad to suppose that people who are congenitally unable to give up the fantasy that Obama is a Muslim Kenyan would be satisfied with photos of bin Laden's corpse. It's also made to suppose, as Stewart points out, that release of such photos would serve the common good in any way. The main demand for such photos is from ghouls, as the thousand fake, "CHECK THIS OUT! BIN LADEN'S CORPSE!!!" spams on Facebook attest. The ghouls who click on these (and get their well-deserved virus as a reward) are not forenisc pathologists called by duty to examine the evidence. They are ghouls who want to delectate over gore.
I think Stewart, while he probably means well in suggesting that we should publish photos of all the dead and wounded (particularly maimed civilians) in our wars of Empire and Nation-Building, may be mis-guessing the temper of our times. It's possible that such images might awaken a revulsion and help a Paris Hilton people realize what others are enduring, both in our volunteer military and in other countries subjected to the geopolitical plans of our Ruling Classes as we go shopping and watch "Dancing with the Bread and Circuses". But it's also possible that we might just numb out and treat it like a video game or, worse, like a splatter film.
My hope is the former, of course. But it's not a confident hope. Something has changed when a people can turn "Saw" into a hugely profitable franchise.
ND88 Win!
All charges have been dropped! Booyah!
Why any parent would send their kid to, or any alum would ever send a dime to, a Catholic college that pursues such vindictive and financially ruinous persecution of prolife Christians is utterly beyond me. I would never give on penny to Notre Dame after this spectacle.
Why any parent would send their kid to, or any alum would ever send a dime to, a Catholic college that pursues such vindictive and financially ruinous persecution of prolife Christians is utterly beyond me. I would never give on penny to Notre Dame after this spectacle.
Hey Western Washington!
Dear Friends of the Seattle G. K. Chesterton Society,
We invite you to join us next Thursday evening for our final gathering of this season at the Catholic Newman Center of the University of Washington, located at 4502 20th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105.
Thursday, May 12, 2011, at 7:30 PM, UW Newman Center
Please see our full Events Calendar for more details pertaining to meetings. Parking at the Newman Center is extremely limited. It is recommended that commuters park in the nearby "N5" lot on the University campus, accessible via the north gate at NE 45th St and Memorial Way. The fee for evening parking in the University lots is $5.00. Campus maps showing the exact location of the N5 lot are available here.
We look forward to seeing you next Thursday!
Yours faithfully,
The Seattle G. K. Chesterton Society
We invite you to join us next Thursday evening for our final gathering of this season at the Catholic Newman Center of the University of Washington, located at 4502 20th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105.
Thursday, May 12, 2011, at 7:30 PM, UW Newman Center
The New Testament and the Qur'an:
Witness to Christ, or the "Word made Book"?
Dr. Peter Beaulieu
Director and Founding Member
Seattle G. K. Chesterton Society
In Islam, it is not so much the Bible that is supplanted by the Qur'an as it is the incarnate Christ. The Bible provides "inspired" witness to the fact of Christ in history, while for the followers of Islam the Qur'an, literally "dictated" (in Arabic), is itself a book that participates in the divinity. To Christ as the "Word made flesh" (John 1:14), Islam opposes the "word made book."
With this clarification, it nevertheless remains useful and fascinating to compare the testimony of the Bible -- especially the New Testament -- with the Qur'an. How did each begin, and what are their similar and contrasting teachings? The Christian will find that his understanding of the Triune oneness of God, and of a God who is both transcendent and yet infinitely close to us (the Incarnation), can be deepened by an encounter with a world religion influenced in part by early Christian heresies (Nestorianism and Arianism) that denied the unified personhood of Christ as both fully human and fully divine.
Peter Beaulieu is a founding member of the Seattle Chesterton Society and serves on its board of directors. A retired urban planner, Dr. Beaulieu has published articles in the area of religion and culture. This evening's talk is based on his recently completed manuscript, Beyond Secular-ism and Jihad: A Triangular Inquiry into the Mosque, the Manger and Modernity.
Please see our full Events Calendar for more details pertaining to meetings. Parking at the Newman Center is extremely limited. It is recommended that commuters park in the nearby "N5" lot on the University campus, accessible via the north gate at NE 45th St and Memorial Way. The fee for evening parking in the University lots is $5.00. Campus maps showing the exact location of the N5 lot are available here.
We look forward to seeing you next Thursday!
Yours faithfully,
The Seattle G. K. Chesterton Society
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