Happy Holy Days And Merry Christmas

It's Christmas morning in San Diego and the temperature in my backyard is 82. Even better, it's a dry heat. The only semblance of a white Christmas is the occasional cloud in the light blue sky. This part of the country is paradise.

It was interesting to see another blogger using the greeting Happy Holy Days to mark this season. (Here.) I began using it last year as it recognizes the religious nature of December's holidays and is inclusive of the various faiths that populate this country. (Here.)

So Happy Holy Days everybody, Merry Christmas, and Peace on Earth to people of good will.

-tdr

Technorati: Christmas, Religion.

None Dare Call It Christmas.

San Diego's annual Christmas celebration occurs this weekend in Balboa Park. The San Diego Union-Tribune headlines its article about the upcoming party as "Balboa Park launches 29th December Nights." (Here.)

The headline is false. This is Balboa Park's fifth year celebrating something called December Nights. For 24 years until 2002, the celebration was called Christmas on the Prado. Why the change to December Nights? "A park spokeswoman says the name is meant to reflect San Diego's diversity and the fact that events are now held all over the park, not only on the Prado." (Here.)

In reality the change was made because Balboa Park is a city-owned park and governments don't celebrate Christmas anymore. Now we celebrate December and diversity. Of course, the only reason we celebrate one of the coldest and darkest months of the year is because of Christmas. But none dare call it Christmas because diversity is a one-way street that requires the majority to suppress itself so as not to give offense. So, Happy December to you and yours.

-tdr

Technorati: Christmas, San Diego.

An Atheist World At War

One of the myths atheists like to believe is that the world would be a better and more peaceful place without religion. You'd think the 20th Century would have put a end to that one. That atheists still believe the myth is proof that they believe in fairy tales just as much as religious people do.

Leave it to the South Park guys to take a whack at the peace-loving atheism myth. Last weeks's episode saw Cartman frozen in suspended animation and awakened 500 years later into a world without religion where three atheist factions are at war with each other. (Here.)

The South Park writers are smarter than atheists. They know that the problem is within us no matter what our beliefs or nonbeliefs. Humans have a will to power that will always result in warfare somewhere. As Kyle said at the end of another great South Park episode, "war is the natural order of life." (Here.)

-tdr

Technorati: South Park, Religion, Atheism, War.

Catholic Intelligence On The Universe's Design.

The Roman Catholic Church must be confusing for the secular modern. Regressive on issues of personal choice, yet progressive on many social justice issues. Now the Church has spoken on the Intelligent Design versus Evolution debate and come down on the side of the evolution.

An article in the Vatican newspaper says that Intelligent Design is not science and lays out a sensible position for people of faith as reported here.

The author Fiorenzi "Facchini wrote that scientists could not rule out a divine 'superior design' to creation and the history of mankind. But he said Catholic thought did not preclude a design fashioned through an evolutionary process.

'God's project of creation can be carried out through secondary causes in the natural course of events, without having to think of miraculous interventions that point in this or that direction,' he wrote.

'In a vision that goes beyond the empirical horizon, we can say that we aren't men by chance or by necessity, and that the human experience has a sense and a direction signaled by a superior design.'

The popular view of Catholicism's relationship with science is skewed by the Church's ill treatment of Galileo centuries ago. But the Church has come a long way since then and has come to terms with science and modernity in ways that some Protestant sects still haven't and never will. Those Protestant sects that view the Bible as word for word true will always have a problem reconciling the world with the Bible.

Mister Americano has never respected the approach to the Bible that maintains each word is literally true, in no small part because it diminishes the Bible. Under that approach, while God may have blessed human authors with the skills of using metaphor, allegory, mythmaking, storytelling, etc. in their writing, God apparently can do no more than write literal descriptions of what happened. Catholic tradition rejects this approach. The Church's more intellectual and sophisticated approach to scripture enables it to adjust to new scientific discoveries more readily. And that enables the Church to be more at home in the modern world.

-tdr

Liberal Anti-Catholicism And The Right To Choose Abortion.

I haven't encountered much anti-Catholicism in my life. Just the occasional criticism by non-demoninational Christians who believe that Catholicism is a false religion because it is "non-Biblical." When I was young my family would joke among ourselves about weapons stored in the Church basement in anticipation of the Pope's command to take over the United States. We joked about that but it's part of real anti-Catholicism in the United States to question the loyalty of Catholics to the country and the constitution. John Kennedy had to overcome that suspicion in order to become the first Catholic President. But that was over 40 years ago.

So imagine how shocking it must be to Catholic ears to hear what Mario Cuomo, a Catholic politician, no less, said this weekend about what questions it is appropriate to ask of John Roberts, a Catholic, and nominee for the Supreme Court:

Finally, Judge Scalia. Now, there's a Republican conservative, if there ever was one, on the bench. Judge Scalia dealt with this--tangentially, but he dealt with it--on the subject of the death penalty. He said judges, Catholic judges, may be bothered in their conscience in voting for the death penalty because the pope has said that it is evil. He said under those circumstances, the Catholic judge should resign. There is no question it's relevant. Everybody takes an oath to support the Constitution, including especially judges. So why not ask them: "Will you, Judge, apply a religious test to the Constitution? Will you start by saying, `I'm not going to support the Constitution if my pope tells me not to'?

(Meet the Press transcript is here.)

Yes, why not ask a Catholic judge or politician whether he will violate his oath to uphold the constitution if the pope tells him to? After all, everybody knows that's what the pope does. He spends his days telephoning Catholic politicians in America to give them instructions on how to subvert the constitution.

Cuomo's comment is about as offensive a statement as can be made about Catholics in America. Yet it's of a pace with other comments made by Democratic politicians about religion and judges. But where Cuomo baldly says Catholic judges should be asked directly where their loyalties lie, others use code words to question whether those with deeply held personal beliefs can be trusted as judges.

Of course, what this is really about is the so-called "right to choose" and the Democratic Party's excessive devotion to that right. Once, before Roe v. Wade warped politics in this country, the Democratic Party paved the way for Catholics in this country when John Kennedy ran for President and won. No longer. Instead, today's Democratic Party's devotion to abortion leads it to traffic in anti-Catholicism.

-tdr

Social Club or Church?

Here's a line from a 2003 interview with then Cardinal Ratzinger that shows it's probably not a good idea to hold your breath waiting for changes in the Catholic Church to make it more palatable. When asked the greatest danger facing the Church, Ratzinger said, "I see the great danger is that we would be only a social institution and not founded in the faith of the Lord." The difference obviously is that a social institution may change its nature to make it easier for members to belong. A social institution exists to give people what they want. A religious organization exists to give people what's good for their eternal souls, which isn't always what they want.

-tdr

Possible Inspiration For The Pope's Name: Benedict XIV, Pope During The Enlightment.

Now that Cardinal Ratzinger has been elected Pope and taken the name Benedict XVI, the search is on to discern the name's significance.

Here's a help. Check out the biography of Benedict XIV.

Like the new Pope, XIV was a scholar. Like the new Pope, XIV was Pope during a time of crisis when many in Europe were turning away from the Church in an era of increasing secularism. In XIV's case, the Enlightenment of the 18th Century. As such, XIV butted heads with Voltaire. Like the new Pope, XIV was a doctrinal conservative.

Sound familiar?

-tdr

Religions More Alike Than Different On End Of Life Treatment.

This linked story shows that religions are more alike than different regarding end of life treatment. To generalize they differentiate between terminal disease and irreversible conditions, between extaordinary medical care and a feeding tube, and they tend to oppose euthanasia while recognizing that it can be moral to let nature take its course.

They do differ with the opinions of many bioethicists, however.

It's a common statement that our technology has outstripped our ethics. The linked story shows that religious teachings are consistent on end of life treatment and they do have an answer. When people say that technology has outstripped ethics what they really mean is that religion keeps some bioethicists, scientists and doctors from doing what they want. The Terri Schiavo case shows that's what has really happened is that science and medicine have operated too long out of the public eye.

-tdr

Are the Battles of the 20th Century Really Over?

The linked commentary from National Review Online argues that the death of John Paul II marks the end of the 20th Century. The comment makes the point that the big battle of the 20th Century was against atheistic communism and that John Paul II helped to win that battle. The article further predicts that the moral battle of the 21st Century will involve issues surrounding the Culture of Life, specifically the "fight for the dignity of human life."

But is the battle of the 20th Century really over? One billion subjects of the Chinese dictatorship still live under religious oppression. Witness for example what has happened to Falun Gong believers in China.

The Culture of Life issues will be a major battle in the 21st Century. The advances in medicine and genetics ensure that. But a major field in that battle is China, precisely because the victory over communism in the 20th Century was not complete. China is moving full speed ahead away from a Culture of Life: forced abortions; forced organ transplants; cloning; you name it. All the horrors opposed by Culture of Life advocates happen in China and are legal.

The battle of the 20th Century against atheistic communism did not end with total victory. The consequences of that incomplete victory haunt us still. China is a growing threat against the West and its government opposes the Culture of Life espoused by John Paul II.

The experience of the Cold War has shown that communism could not be reformed to include democracy and freedom for its subjects. The experience of China today strongly suggests that communism must die before a Culture of Life can be born in that country.

-tdr

2000 Years of History Can't Be All Wrong.

For the life of me, I will never understand how most moderns view the Catholic Church. Ever since the Pope's death it's been the same thing all the time. When will the Church change to suit the times? When will the Church allow priests to marry, gays to marry, women to be priests, more democracy in the leadership, artificial contraception, and the list of issues goes on. It's a peculiar arrogance of modernity that believes the Church must change to suit the political issues of the times, as if it is self-evident that the Church's positions are wrong.

What all the commentary seems to miss is that the Church is an institution devoted to a particular religious faith. Its integrity demands that it hew to that faith. Whatever obligation it has to its adherents is to their souls. It's not a government that exists to answer to the earthly demands of its members.

The Church is something like 2000 years old. Its traditions stretch back for centuries. How old is modernity? 100, 200, 300 years tops? Modernity is a child compared to the Church. Perhaps the modern world has more to learn from the Church than the other way round.

The Church has done very well for itself with the doctrines it embraces. It was born in persecution in the Roman Empire and thrived because its adherents stuck firm to their principles. It did so well it took over the Empire from within. Think about that for a moment. The Catholic Church was born during the Roman Empire and it survived its fall and all the history that followed that event.

I dare say that the Roman Catholic Church is the longest-lasting human institution in the world today. It may be in trouble in the West but it is thriving around the world. If I were to bet on which institution is likely to be around 2000 years from now, I'd bet that the Church will still be here but that most else will be gone.

-tdr

Why Not A Chinese Pope?

Here's a comprehensive list of all the Catholic Church's Cardinals and their biographies. It doesn't conveniently list the media designated front runners. Instead, it lists them all and gives you the option of listing them by age, rank, nationality. Perhaps the next Pope will be somebody from the back of this pack not the front.

Much of the pundit talk I've heard focuses on issues like celibacy, homosexuality, abortion, third-world debt, and a host of other political issues. On the theory that the Church's mission in the world ought to include evangelism and improving the conditions for religious liberty we could do worse than to have another pope that would speak to those who live in countries where they are not free to worship as they please.

China immediately comes to mind as its billion subjects have little or no religious freedom. It has an underground Catholic Church that is oppressed by the government. Apparently, though, it has no Cardinals. But Taiwan does. Here's the biography of Cardinal Shan Kui-hsi. He appears to be a significant leader in the Asian church with expertise in governance and evangelism. Trouble is that he's 82.

Other options include Cuba, Korea, because of the North not the South, and anywhere in the Muslim world, like Egypt, Lebanon, Indonesia, Syria, or one of the two nickering.

My hope is for the Taiwanese or perhaps a Bishop of the underground church. China is taking too much advantage of the world's focus on the Middle East to consolidate its grip and extend its reach. The world would be well served if the Chinese dictators had a spiritual rival for the hearts of their people. A free China with religious tolerance would go a long way toward increasing the odds for peace in the 21st Century.

-tdr