Tag Archives: Christianity

A Very Fair Trade

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"While Anglicans — especially Anglican bishops or priests — becoming Roman Catholic after disagreeing with their community’s stands on ordaining women or openly gay men has made news, the movement of Catholic priests and laity to Anglicanism seldom makes headlines."

….

"Anglicans who become Roman Catholic generally become very conservative [orthodox] Roman Catholics, while Roman Catholics who become Anglican tend to become very liberal [cacodox] Anglicans…"

(Fedora Tip: Curt Jester)

Sounds good to me. Both sides get what we want. Better yet, with a constant influx of heretics, the Anglican Communion will continue to destroy itself from within, leading to more their orthodox folks coming to Rome. 🙂

Attention, Tridentine Types

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tridentine_mass_1.jpgIt seems that a number of my readers are fans of the Tridentine mass. Some are rad-trads; others aren’t. I’m curious just how many of my readers attend indult masses. If you do, please leave a comment and/or add a pin to my Frappr map.

Heck, even if you don’t, you should still add a pin. 😉

My Religious Experience is More Valid Than Yours. Nyah! :-p~~~

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Riffing on a comment made in response to my post about the validity of religious experiences , I have a question to ask you folks.

If I have a mystical experience (or some other theophany), I say that I experienced some aspect of the Holy Trinity. A Hindu might say that he experienced Vishnu or Ganesh. A New Ager might say she saw a ghost. A conspiracy nut might say he was abducted by aliens. Let's assume for a moment that everyone who claims to have had a religious/mystical experience has actually had one. How do we know who's attribution is correct? Specifically, how do we Christians know that we are experiencing God the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit? What proof have we that we are more right than the equally convinced adherents of other religions?

Discuss.

Leap of Faith

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Sean, a buddy of mine and long-timer reader of this blog, made a comment that I think ought to be highlighted. Responding to my post about an atheist’s argument against the veracity of Jesus Christ’s claims, and a mutual friend’s comment, he wrote the following.

"My God isn’t some pie in the sky, and He’ll change your life if you’ll let him."

This gets to the root of why I’m not religious. Everyone says something long these lines. Everyone wants me to make a leap of faith, but no one has been able to give me a reason to leap into their religion over the other ones, without out first making a leap of faith. (I hope that paragraph isn’t too contorted)

Nope, it’s not too contorted. You don’t want to look before you leap, especially since most if not all religions claim to be exclusively true. They can’t all be right. To which should you leap?

I’d like to open this up to discussion. What reasons would you give Sean to have faith? Why is Christianity right while other religions are wrong (or at least less right)? I’m sure Sean will let us know which reasons have been beaten to death and carry no currency with him, so let’s avoid the well-worn apologetical arguments. Perhaps some of you are fomer atheists or agnostics yourselves. What convinced you?

Katelyn Sills Expelled!

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Remember Katelyn Sills?

"As of Saturday, October 29th, I was given official notice by express mail that I am expelled from Loretto High School. This was given completely without forewarning, without a meeting, and without a chance to say goodbye. My family is now seeking legal advice, and more details will follow."

Please leave her an encouraging comment. (Fedora TIp: Jimmy Akin)

Before someone else says it: Yes, I am aware of the irony here. Ms. Bain was presumably fired "without forewarning, without a meeting, and without a chance to say goodbye". I’m sure the Sills’ detractors will say that Katelyn’s expulsion is poetic justice. I wonder, though, if the irony might be lost on some of them. I wonder how many people are filled with glee as a result of this, ignorant of the hypocrisy of saying that a teacher shouldn’t be fired from a Catholic school for her manifest participation in grave sin, but a student should be expelled for publicly supporting her mother’s exposure of that teacher’s deeds. Then again, maybe nobody will think or say such things.

Yeah, and maybe I’m a Chinese jet pilot.

Update 11/02/05: Rick Lugari at De Civitate Dei has posted part of a letter that was sent to members of the Loretto community. It alleges "malicious language, taunts, threats, abuse towards members of our school community, gossip, rumors, unkind language and behavior". Meanwhile, the Sills have given a statement to the Sacramento Bee, saying that the "charges are categorically false and defamatory".