Tag Archives: lust

More Flip-Flops Than a Fish on Land

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…or John Kerry

I’ve heard several people claim that Arlen Specter must have changed his position
on the FMA, based solely on his cloture vote. I’ve heard this from outraged homosexuals
as well jubilant conservatives. I think both have been duped.

Specter knew darn well that the motion to vote on the amendment would fail to get
the 60 necessary votes. His “Yea” for the cloture vote was an attempt
to win back conservative voters. The primary against Toomey was too close for Specter’s
comfort. By voting yes in the cloture, he appeared to want to stop liberal filibustering
and to change his stance on the FMA. Since there’s was a snowball’s chance of it
passing, he could safely lend the appearance of support. Now he can fool both liberal
and conservative supporters. To the left he says, “I wouldn’t have voted for
the amendment.” To the right he says, “See? I voted yes in the cloture!”
Specter’s name should be Janus.

Idiot Box

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Churches Go Commercial To Spread Their Message
TV Campaigns Bring Denominations to Homes
By Alan Cooperman, Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 11, 2004; Page A01

"What burst into the Cleveland marketing executive's head that night in January 2002, however, was not a message from the Almighty. It was a slogan for a television advertising campaign. Beginning this fall, the United Church of Christ plans to spend $30 million to promote itself using the line that came to Buford in his sleep — 'God is still speaking' — to reflect its willingness to reinterpret the Bible and embrace such innovations as same-sex marriage and openly gay ministers."

I just love this:

The Episcopal Church, for example, has faced an insurrection by conservative parishes since its ordination of a gay bishop in New Hampshire last year. But marketers see an opportunity.

"Among 20- to 30-year-olds, everybody's heard of the gay bishop. And in focus groups, the words that keep coming up are that we are a 'progressive,' 'open' and 'nonjudgmental' church," said Daniel B. England, the church's director of communication.

Progress requires a goal to be meaningful. An open mind is like an open trap – it's only useful when it closes on something. Nonjudgemental, in this context, really means unwilling to discriminate between right and wrong.

That’s What I Said

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It seems at the religious media are catching up to the story about sexual abuse
in schools I posted on June
21.

Media
Quiet About Teacher Sex Abuse

(AgapePress) – Most of the media covered the sex abuse scandal within the U.S. Catholic
Church with diligence and zest — and rightfully so. The U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops found in its report on the scandal that nearly 11,000 cases of sexual abuse
occurred by priests and deacons over a 50-year period.

So why has the media been nearly silent over a draft report commissioned for the U.S. Department of Education, which states that between 6 percent and 10 percent of the nation’s school children have been sexually abused or sexually harassed by school employees and teachers?

Still Learning

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As bloggers go, I’m still basically an infant. I haven’t been doing this very long
and I don’t really associate with the blogging crowd outside of a few sites on my
blogroll. In other words, I’m still learning a lot about this crazy little thing
called blog.

For instance, I’m just now discovering just how important comments are. I don’t
get many, so I suppose it’s understandable that I missed their full worth. Anyhow,
it seems clear that a blog without a comments system is only half a blog.

There is, IMHO, a fascinating discussion going on at GetReligion
about the impact, or lack thereof, of stories about the global priest scandal in
the Dallas Morning News.
There a few folks on my blogroll who I’d love to see weigh in on the issue, including
(but not limited to) Narwen,
Pontificator,
Fr. Mike, and
Jeff Miller,

The
Catholic gun didn’t go off: Silence greets Dallas News series

Once there was a man who lived in a lighthouse on the foggy Atlantic.

That’s the start of a very, very old sermon illustration. I thought of it this past
weekend as I read the first chunks of the sprawling Dallas Morning News reports
on the globalization of the clergy sex-abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.

Horror Knows No Bounds

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The sick and sinful behavior of non-Catholics does not give me joy (though I can't help but think "Whew. I'm glad the Church doesn't produce all the world's scandals."), but this story, seemingly ignored by most, shows that other venerable institutions have cracks in their armor. Sure, we knew that American public schools don't educate children as well as they should. Classrooms are overcrowded, money is distributed unfairly, and teachers are forced to teach to the "middle". I'd imagine, though, that few know about this hidden scandal.

Report: Up to 10 percent of students sexual targets
By Maggi Newhouse, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, June 14, 2004

"While the Catholic Church continues to wrestle with the ramifications of decades of sexual misconduct by some priests, another institution responsible for even more children has its own shameful record of protecting child molesters — public school systems."