William Bennett’s Modest Proposal

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"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout."

….

"For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation as well as our most dangerous enemies…"

– Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

"But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." – William Bennett

Does nobody else see the similarity? MSM certainly doesn’t.

Purgatory Pickle Redux

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A fellow by the name of Charles recently commented on an old purgatory post of mine that has long since sunken below the horizon. He says:

“Why do Catholics use 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 to prove Purgatory? It couldn’t be plainer in the text that the fire will reveal all works on ‘the Day’. The Day of Christ at judgment. ‘ The Day’ is too obvious but surprisingly overlooked by Catholics.”

My first reaction would be to say that Catholics believe in two judgments, personal and universal. We are faced with personal judgment when we die. The universal comes when Christ returns to Earth to judge all of mankind. On “the Day”, that is the day of our judgment, our works are tested by fire. That fire is not literal, of course, but suffering of some kind is implied. I see no contradiction whatsoever regarding purgation and judgment.

What are your thoughts?

Forgiveness and Anger are NOT Mutually Exclusive

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Would one of my astute readers please tell Adrian why Blink is wrong?

[ireneQ:] ‘How can God not be angry when we sin? He hates sin!’

[Blink:] ‘When Jesus died on the cross, He took upon Him the consequences of sin. One of those consequences is God’s anger. Therefore God cannot be angry with us any more.’

I like this Blink guy……

Here’s some starter material from the Catechism.

"1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as ‘an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.’"

"1850 Sin is an offense against God: ‘Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight.’ Sin sets itself against God’s love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become ‘like gods,’ knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus ‘love of oneself even to contempt of God.’ In this proud self- exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation.125 "

Being a Blogfather

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Ever take a look at Blogtree? It’s a neat concept that combines two of my passions, blogging and genealogy. When you submit your blog you tell the service which blogs inspired you to start blogging. In turn, you are told who your sibling blogs are and who was inspired to blog because of you.

I know I’ve gotten a few folks into blogging, including Fr. Michael Darcy, Shaun “Powerball” Pierce, and John “Publius” Thompson. Thus far, though, nobody has credited me at Blogtree.

If I’ve inspired to blog by reading mine, please let Blogtree know, or at least leave a comment saying so. I’m not looking for notoriety, but knowing you’ve inspired someone is a good feeling. Also, following someone’s blogging pedigree is a neat way of being exposed to new blogs. 🙂