Merry Christmas

Holiday Art

Historical happenings

10/23/4004 BC ~ According to 17th century divine James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, and Dr. John Lightfoot of Cambridge, the world was created on this day, a Sunday, at 9 a.m.

10/23/1929 ~ The first transcontinental air service begins from New York to Los Angeles.

10/23/1989 ~ The Hungarian Republic replaces the communist Hungarian People’s Republic.

Historical happenings

10/18/1685 ~ The Edict of Nantes is lifted by King Louis XIV. The edict, signed at Nantes, France, by King Henry IV in 1598, gave the Huguenots religious liberty, civil rights and security. By revoking the Edict of Nantes, Louis XIV abrogated their religious liberties.

10/18/1912 ~ The First Balkan War breaks out between the members of the Balkan League–Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro–and the Ottoman Empire.

10/18/1939 ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt bans war submarines from U.S. ports and waters.

Ponder this

Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.

~Mahatma Gandhi

Biased Agendas

Somewhere in the far recesses of my memory, I remember someone else saying,”The Devil made me do it.” If the name Flip Wilson doesn’t ring a bell, you were born last month. At your next religious service, check to see who is reading the homily; it could be “Old Scratch” himself.

Wow: In New Homily, Pope Francis

Attacks the ‘Great Accuser’ for

Maligning Church with Scandal

The Catholic Church is embroiled in another scandal of systemic sexual abuse, and some of the institution’s top leaders are responding shockingly poorly.  Having been credibly accused of looking the other way on a former Cardinal’s rampant misconduct and abuse, and even rehabilitating his standing by reducing previously-imposed sanctions against him, Pope Francis has pointedly declined to comment:

On the papal plane after his second day in Ireland, Pope Francis declined to refute or confirm the allegations mentioned in the letter, urging the journalists aboard the plane only to consider the source and make their own judgment. “I will not say a single word about this,” Pope Francis said, adding that it “speaks for itself.”

Indeed it does.  To many victims and allies, the Pope’s silence is galling.  As fissures emerge within the Church hierarchy, many in the media have sought to frame this story as an internal fight pitting doctrinal and cultural conservatives against a more progressive faction, of which Francis is the leader.  There is certainly some validity to that dynamic, but the internecine struggle among various clerical factions is far less important than the underlying moral crisis that represents a growing, malignant tumor on the Church. [snip]

Pope Francis, one of a Progressive ilk, seems to be reading from the “Gospel according to Alinisky” Passage 43.7 says, “When troubled, go forth and lay blame upon others for it is condign that they should be castigated, then beaten severely about the head and shoulders.” Such action meliorates one’s fault and elevates one back to sanctity.

Peccable reflections

Just when you thought you heard everything…

Catholic priest charged with sexually assaulting young girl

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest has been charged with sexually assaulting a young girl while staying in her family’s Massachusetts home in 2006.

Didn’t he get the memo at the Seminary while a novitiate? That paper said,”Boys, sexually assault boys, not girls. That is the province of the Nuns.”

The Rev. Christian Ohazulume (oh-hahz-uh-LOO’-mee) pleaded not guilty Tuesday to aggravated indecent assault and battery of a child under 14. Bail was set at $5,000.

Prosecutors say Ohazulume lived with the family in the Boston suburb of Randolph after coming to the U.S. from Nigeria.

The alleged assault occurred when the girl, about 7 or 8 years old, went to Ohazulume’s bedroom for help with homework.

Ohazulume was a chaplain at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center but has since been fired. The Boston Archdiocese has barred him from ministry.

His attorney says Ohazulume denies the allegations and asked for his release on personal recognizance.

Wow! He offered her Gabriel’s horn and told her to toot it. The key to Heaven was rejected.
she refused the ‘Holy See’.

Trust Who?

Trust in God is one thing. Trust in Government is no a recommended practice. Given all the nasty items left over from the governmental overreach of the Obama years, one does well to pick and choose what regs and laws to which adherence is good for your health and wealth.

But now the States are moving in the direction of letting the Supreme Power have a say in how the day goes forth.

XX

In March, Tennessee passed a measure requiring that public schools display the “In God We Trust” motto.

A month ago, Alabama allowed the motto to be displayed on public property. Currently there is an effort in that state to let both the “In God We Trust” motto and the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school buildings.

Blount County Superintendent Rodney Green tells AL.com a school policy on “In God We Trust” could be crafted within the next month.

‘You would think that something that passes the Legislature won’t be challenged in the courtroom but we all know that it can and probably will,’ said Green, who oversees a school system with more than 7,800 students spread out over 17 schools north of Jefferson County.

‘It’s a tsunami of Christian national laws in our country right now,’ said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom from Religion Foundation. ‘The upcoming election will say a lot about the direction of our nation. With the Republicans in charge of Congress and so many of these states, we are seeing a constant push for theocracy.’

That’s when voters will be allowed to decide whether the state’s 117-year-old constitution should be changed to allow public schools and buildings to display the Ten Commandments.

With the lack of respect for just about anything, putting the motto back in public places may, at least, force the heathens to remove their spawn from the ‘offending’ places and perhaps move to a place where their fear of choice isn’t present: Chine, Cuba and/or any Muslim country.

It is called choice, something very alien to Communists and Liberals.

The idea of “It’s wiser to believe in a God and find out there isn’t one than believe there isn’t and find out there is.” seems to be a smarter decision.

Auto dà fé

In the repellent and ribald realms of the Pennsylvania Parishes,the practice of trials by religious tribunes needs a rebirth. More commonly named the ‘Inquisition’, this delightful method of extracting penance from the  wayward faithful was discontinued in the early 19^th century.

The punishment portion was burning at the stake; undoubtedly now forbidden by EPA clean air regulations. Truly a shame since the instructional qualities for the masses is the sine qua non of “getting one’s point across” or as the French would put it, pour encourage les autres. Properly, since it was in Spain, it would be para animan los demás.

To make sure we are using these terms properly, two links are here: Auto dà Fé and Inquisition.

301 ‘Predator Priests’ Named In Pa. Grand Jury Sex Abuse Report: ‘They Were Raping Little Boys & Girls’

The long-awaited state grand jury report into sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including Pittsburgh and Greensburg, has finally been released.

The 884-page document, two years in the making, shines a light into the dark corners of these dioceses going back seven decades, exposing the predators and the efforts of their bishops to protect them.

“Today, the most comprehensive report on child sexual abuse within the church ever produced in our country was released,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “Pennsylvanians can finally learn the extent of sexual abuse in these dioceses. For the first time, we can all begin to understand the systematic cover up by church leaders that followed. The abuse scarred every diocese. The cover up was sophisticated. The church protected the institution at all costs.”[snip]

The report cites 301 priests, clergy and lay teachers with credible allegations against them. There are 99 in the Diocese of Pittsburgh alone. [snip]

The report states:

“All victims were brushed aside, in every part of the state, by church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and their institution above all. The main thing was not to help children, but to avoid scandal.”

“Priests were raping little boys and girls and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing: they hid it all.”

“Diocesan administrators, including the Bishops, had knowledge of this conduct and yet priests were regularly placed in ministry after the Diocese was on notice that a complaint of child sexual abuse had been made. This conduct enabled offenders and endangered the welfare of children.”

All this makes one lose any faith/belief in organized religion no matter which faith. Here in South Carolina, we have has Baptist ministers who wouldn’t ‘John Barleycorn’ but were busy diddling some chippie other than their spouse.
In the Catholic faith, Biff and Buffy were getting drilled some ordained pervert. What the nuns were doing, who knows. Procuring? Running a brothel for the clergy? Some probably did.

Anyone have a spare stake? I have matches and lighter fluid.

Historical happenings

7/24/1847 ~ The first members of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) arrive in Utah, settling in present-day Salt Lake City.

7/24/1862 ~ The eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, dies at the age of 79.

7/24/1974 ~ The Supreme Court rules that President Richard Nixon must surrender the Watergate tapes.

Ponder this

One man’s theology is another man’s belly laugh.

~ Robert A. Heinlein