Conservative Donnybrook

This afternoon my wife and I went to see Ben Stein’s documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. As one reviewer pointed out, one’s opinion of the film is almost guaranteed to be determined by one’s stance on the Evolutionism v. Intelligent Design “debate.”

The point of the film is not whether ID is superior to Evolutionism, but rather that the mere suggestion that ID might provide some explanation as to the origins of life is strictly verboten in academic and scientific circles. Stein introduces his viewers to several scientists who have been drummed out of their positions because they had the audacity to mention Intelligent Design in their research.

One proponent of evolutionism, William Provine, an avowed atheist science historian at Cornell University, objected to the teaching of intelligent design in part on the basis that it’s “BOOOORING. I can’t think of any topic that is more BOOOORING!” Of course, when asked about the origins of life, Provine posited that aliens might have seeded life on this planet, deftly pushing back the question one generation (How did the seed scattering aliens come to exist, Professor Provine?).

Perhaps no single point shows that Stein was not attempting to advocate for the Intelligent Design position than the fact that Stein did not interview Michael Behe, a microbiologist whose book Darwin’s Black Box I found to provide much evidentiary support for intelligent design. Behe’s argument proceeded by examining the simplest of life forms, a single celled creature, and examined it at the microbiological level. At that level there are mechanisms (Behe uses a flagella as one example) that are incredibly complex structurally and functionally such that they could not have evolved happenstance. He coined the term “irreducible complexity”: Take away any of the structure’s complexity and it would cease to function and therefore would not confer an advantage which would be selected for. Indeed, extra baggage which provided no function would put the organism at a disadvantage, which Darwin predicted would ultimately cause its extinction. Critics of Behe have noted that some of the proteins that make up some of these structures that Behe used as examples occur in other contexts within the cell, however, that still fails to account for their combination into a specific structure which is much more complex than the joining of a few proteins randomly.

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Lowry’s latest proves remarkably insightful despite its brevity.

As I mentioned previously, no matter what Benedict said in his addresss to the U.N. liberals were going to seize on the pontiff’s words and reappropriate them as a rebuke of Bush’s foreign policy.  Benedict gave them little fodder, if any.  In fact,

…Benedict blessed an interventionism farther reaching than anything Bush has ever defended. If nation states don’t protect their citizens from ‘grave and sustained violations of human rights,’ he said, ‘the international community must intervene.’ This view might seriously endanger national sovereignty - if the United Nations weren’t so comically ineffectual.

As expected, Benedict devoted much of his address to a dense philosophical explication of human rights.  While liberals had hoped Benedict would chide the U.S. specifically, His Holiness took a more universal approach, referencing “the natural law inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilizations. ”  Lowry correctly notes that, with this universal theme of human dignity and rights,

Benedict sounded similar to Bush. There’s a reason that yesterday Bush declared with gusto at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington: ‘His Holiness believes that freedom is the Almighty’s gift to every man, woman and child on Earth.’

Emphasizing the most blaspemously neglected storyline of Benedict’s visit, Lowry recognizes ‘the consonance of vision’ of Benedict and Bush:

When they stood together on the White House lawn in a majestic welcoming ceremony on Wednesday, it symbolized the growing rapprochement of American evangelical Protestantism and the Catholic Church.

It was West Texas meets Rome; plain-spoken man of faith meets intellectual of great depth; representative of America’s awesome secular power meets representative of the spiritual power of Christianity.  And more united than divided them.

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A better model of Christ, a better message of “Hope”:

Thanks to The Curt Jester. And Laughing Squid.

WAC

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Same headline as the breaking news story from the National Catholic Reporter.

I’m glad to see Pope benedict confronting this crisis with the due diligence it deserves:

Benedict is today is wrapping up the first leg of his six-day visit to the United States. He has repeatedly engaged the sexual abuse crisis during this trip, speaking about it for the first time before he even arrived.

“We are deeply ashamed, and we will do all that is possible that this cannot happen in the future,” the pope said in a session with reporters aboard the papal plane Tuesday en route to the United States.

Benedict argued that efforts to address the crisis have to unfold on three levels: the legal and juridical, the pastoral, and programs of prevention to ensure that future priests are “sound.” Pointedly, the pope said that “it’s more important to have good priests than to have many.”

Hopefully this will serve to usher in a sense of closure for victims, their families, and the American faithful.

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Mr. Martinez has an excellent article on taking the Catholic out of Catholic colleges and universities.  A number, in fact all, of the authors of this site at some point attended exceptional Catholic educational facilities.  Will the Pope address this concerning issue?  Will American Catholic educational institutions continue their fall from grace?

Find out next time on “The Pope Pontificates” or “Benedict Benefits America!”

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According to this story, the Vatican has updated its list of mortal sins, adding seven new ones to the mix. The new sins are (in no particular order):

1. Drug abuse
2. Morally debatable experimentation
3. Environmental pollution
4. Causing poverty
5. Social inequality and injustice
6. Genetic manipulation
7. Accumulating excessive wealth

My initial take: There appears to be some overlap with one or two of these (morally debatable experimentation and genetic manipulation, for instance) and there may be some debate as to where exactly the line between excessive and not excessive lies. And, I suppose, since all sin is personal, I have a hard time seeing how social inequality and injustice might be charged to any individual. How does one cause poverty? Isn’t that already covered under “Thou shalt not steal?” And, does that commandment encompass the corollary, “Thou shalt not tax and spend profligately?” Is there a parable where Jesus pronounces upon the issue of littering?

I also take exception to P.J.’s 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not blog.”

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I mean a war to liberate someone else.

Paleos (not to mention their liberal fellow travelers) might reflexively sputter out “No!”.

But then, the First Crusade was a war of liberation, and it was judged as “just”, not only by the combatants at the time, but by almost everyone in the West until relativity recently.

So, seriously, what do you think?

WAC

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It is California after all.

Now, thanks to Justice Walter Croskey and two of his fellow appellate judges, California has made a serious bid to be recognized as the King of the Regulatory States (although such an appellation may be too patriarchal to be politically correct - perhaps Monarch of the Regulatory States would be better and less sexist). Last February 28, the California Court of Appeals ruled that it is illegal to instruct children without a certification from the state, effectively outlawing home schooling. According to Justice Croskey, “parents do not have the constitutional right to home school their children.” In fact, “[b]ecause parents have a legal duty to see to their children’s schooling within the provisions of these laws, parents who fail to do so may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program.”

Apparently the Court has been itching to placate the teachers’ union for some time, because the justification for this sweeping ruling, affecting 166,000 families, was a single incidence of child abuse of a homeschooled child. Repeatedly throughout the decision, the Court states that parents have no constitutional basis for opting out of the public school morass and that these cases do not present a federal question (at least in the Ninth Circuit). I know quite a few people who home school their children and generally they do it out of religious conviction. In fact, the family under California’s boot did assert their First Amendment right about which the Court stated:

The parents in the instant case have asserted in a declaration that it is because of their “sincerely held religious beliefs” that they home school their children and those religious beliefs “are based on Biblical teachings and principles.” Even if the parents’ declaration had been signed under penalty of perjury, which it was not, those assertions are not the quality of evidence that permits us to say that application of California’s compulsory public school education law to them violates their First Amendment rights. Their statements are conclusional, not factually specific. Moreover, such sparse representations are too easily asserted by any parent who wishes to home school his or her child.

Apparently, before a person’s religious rights may be recognized in California, the burden is on the person asserting them to prove their genuineness. This Court is telling parents that the regulatory power of the State is sufficiently powerful to countermand their right to their exercise of  religion and the rearing of their children in that religion. Especially if one simply asserts their right without justifying why the State should allow you to exercise it.

Let us hope that transfer is granted and this terrible decision is rectified at the California Supreme Court soon. If not through the courts, then the legislature. But, it would be nice to think that a court of law can still exercise some self-restraint.

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Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was found dead outside the city of Mosul, Iraq yesterday.  May he rest in peace. 

He was kidnapped after leaving Mass on February 29, 2008 by Islamic terrorists.  He was targeted specifically because he was a Catholic.  The “religion of peace” strikes again…. 

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It seems to be cropping up more often lately. Either that, or I am just noticing it more often. People seem to be shocked by things that should not even surprise them. On my buddy Mike’s blog, he quotes from Wilhelm Röpke. Herr Röpke wrote the following: “… surely, noone who is at all honest with himself can fail to be struck by the shocking dechristianization and secularization of our culture.”

Am I overreacting when I note that not only am I not shocked by the dechristianization  or secularization of our culture, but it would be truly shocking if such a process were not in progress. Perhaps I am too cynical. For me, I suppose, I see the work of living a Christian life to be much harder than to be a pagan, perhaps especially, in our increasingly dechristianized, increasingly secularized culture.

Conservatism is much like Christianity in that it is the harder road. Liberals fall into two camps, both of which are easy: the first type simply inflate their own self-satisfaction through the mechanism of pretending they care more. After much practice in pretending to care more than one’s neighbors, they then make the small step to arrogate power to themselves in order to provide for the objects of “their” bounty. By making promises to give others the things they want, they consolidate their own power over other people. The second type of liberals are the co-conspirators of the power through caring crowd - those who consume the confiscated bounty that is offered. Conservatism, by contrast, is a mental exercise requiring discipline. It is a hard sell to tell one’s ruler that he rules best when he does least - when he arrogates to himself a minimal amount of power. Conservatism is the politics of restraint. We have never been good at restraint since we were children and therefore, it is always a bit of a shock to me when the harder road, conservatism, makes gains.

Does one indeed need to be dishonest with oneself to fail to be shocked by the dechristianization and secularization of our culture as Röpke claims? I am forced to answer, No. It is hardly shocking that the hard thing is in decline and the easy thing is in the ascendancy. Perhaps a better response, instead of shock, would be recognition of that which is expected and a renewal of one’s commitment to reform one’s culture.

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The words “Glory be to God in the highest” has taken on a whole new meaning to one Israeli professor.  Mr. Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, published a report espousing his belief that Moses was high on drugs when he ascended Mount Sinai and laid his bloodshot dilated eyes on the burning bush.

What would make a university professor believe that a founder of Israel was a narco-lunatic: Brazilians.  That’s right; Brazilians hold the bag, so to speak.  According to Shanon, Brazilians have used hallucinogenic drugs to simulate religious experiences for generations.  In particular, the ayahuasca plant is used to “see sounds,” a phenomena Shanon himself admits to experiencing.  The problem with Benny’s assumption is that Ayahuasca does not grow in the Middle East.  Shanon hits back that the bark from the Acacia tree can be used to brew up a similar narcotic.  The Acacia tree is grown throughout the region Moses spent his 40 day trip in.

In the end we have the ranting of a burned out hippy “professor” concerning how people get high.  He then equates his own magic carpet ride with the fact that Moses could not have experienced a “supernatural cosmic event.”  The result, as Shanon sees it, is that Moses must have been high.  After all, Shanon was!

And to think, I believed that useless educators were a product of America.  It seems they can be found all over the map…well, anywhere psychedelics are found anyway.  

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England should embrace and allow Islamic Sharia law.  America is the worst imperialist nation.  People should not be allowed to determine for themselves how much alcohol they consume. 

Sound insane?  It is.  Yet Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury has made these sorts of statements time and time again.  Between the disaffected congregations around the world and Dr. Rowan’s insane ramblings, it appears that the church created by the equally insane King Henry VIII is unraveling.  It is time that either the Church of England parted ways with Rowan or the congregations part ways with the Church of England. 

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Rod Dreher has an excellent post up analyzing the priest sexual abuse scandal (and a followup).

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If Christoph Luxenberg is correct, there are going to be a lot of really pissed off suicide bombers in Paradise!

Perhaps, that why they have turned to retarded women to deliver the terrorists’ evil payloads.

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Christ is born. May the world rejoice with His coming.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, As they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as men make merry when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, And the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for flames.

For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, From David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains By judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

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This past Tuesday the House passed House Resolution 847, recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith. That’s all well and good, right? The United States was founded on Judeo-Christian religious principles, Christmas is a national holiday and the vast majority of U.S. citizens are Christian and celebrate the holiday. So what’s the big deal? Well, nine Democrats saw fit to actually vote against the resolution. Among those that actually voted against the Christmas resolution was your friend and mine Congressman Alcee Hastings. That’s right, the same Alcee Hastings who was impeached by his own party in 1988 while a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Continue Reading »

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The most many people will ever see or hear of the Pope’s message on World Peace Day is the headlines in newspapers and tabloids declaring that the Pope is not a strong believer in human-made climate change.  But the Pope says so much more. 

His Holiness agrees that family should be regarded “as the first natural society.”  That mankind must do more to ensure tranquility and peace within the family structure.  Based on healthy families, the world civilization will grow and the world will learn “the language of peace.”  Moral law must be followed.  Nations must be allowed to flourish in freedom and without bowing to nations whom wish to subjugate and control them.  The Pontiff rightly and profoundly states, “In many situations the weak must bow not to the demands of justice, but to the naked power of those stronger than themselves. It bears repeating: power must always be disciplined by law, and this applies also to relations between sovereign States.”Non-proliferation of nuclear and conventional weapons is also highlighted by His Holiness.  Dissemination of weapons of war and sabotage must be stopped.  It is the responsibility of the developed nations to lead in this regard.  Civil wars in Africa, constant war in the middle east and an increasing global arms race all work to “cast dark shadows on [the world’s] future.”

The Holy Father does call for more dialogue on the environment and climate change.  The environment, the Pope says, is an asset for use of the whole human race, not simply one generation.  Yet the primacy of human life must not be denigrated and reduced in importance to that of the environment.  Following science is imperative; blindly following ideologues is dangerous and will bear no fruit.  We have been blessed with yet another fantastic message from His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.  I encourage everyone to read his message in full.

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Mitt Romney gave what many are calling a stirring speech yesterday. Many are erroneously labeling it as the speech wherein he defended his Mormonism. This is not accurate. What Romney’s address was is a defense of the civic religion of the United States of America, which is to say that it was a defense of the precept of limited latitudinarianism.

The thirteen colonies along the Eastern seaboard had a significant distribution of Quakers, Presbyterians, Congregationalist Calvinists, Anglicans, Catholics, Anabaptists, and various dissenters. There was no large Jewish contingent. There was no “Mohammedan” enclave. There were, for that matter, no Mormons, seeing as how that peculiar bunch of people hadn’t got around to being thought up yet. It would be some 50 years after the initial foment and focusing of colonial energies that a kid from a sometimes-Methodist Episcopalian, sometimes-Presbyterian mother would allegedly receive his vision leading him on a quest under the guidance of an angelic being named Moroni. Said quest would eventually lead to his “discovery” of golden plates bearing “reformed Egyptian” hieroglyphics which only he, Joseph Smith, could translate into what is now recognized as the first of several versions of the Book of Mormon. This work bears the marks of someone educated with the King James Version of the Bible, and indeed some passages are almost verbatim from the KJV. Mormonism started in a period of religious fervor and was, apparently, originally a monotheistic, even Trinitarian Christian sect. I am told that the B of M does not contain a single reference to any polytheistic notions. Only after its initial period did Smith begin to develop later Mormon distinctives such as polytheism, progression from humanity to deity, marriage for time and eternity, etc. Continue Reading »

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On this, the first day of Hannukah, a group of environmentalist Jews has a suggestion which has ignited somewhat of a controversy.

Their suggestion? In order to stave off the catastrophic effects of millions of Jews creating excessive greenhouse gases during the holiday, they have suggested that Jews forgo the lighting of the last menorah candle. Apparently, the burning of that candle adds 15 grams of CO2 to the atmosphere. And, if you multiply that by the number of Jewish households…well, it would make AlGore blush. Or rush out to purchase a CO2 credit.

Ridiculous.

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