I Love Go Fish!

The Arian heresy was promoted through song. Modern songs (I can't call them hymns) do the same thing today. They promote modernism by focusing on self worship and often introduce ideas that cast doubt on Church doctrine. Just like the wreckovation of the churches that turn them into theatre in the round where parishioners gaze at each other instead of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, bad music often focuses worship on the people instead of God.

But songs can also be used to teach the faith and I really enjoy these guys who share their faith in Jesus Christ and love for the Bible through song. Their Christmas song remind me of the wags who write delightful parodies of that awful Marty Haugen song, Gather Us In. I've posted just one set of substitute lyrics for it below the videos, but there are lots of others.

The best way to deal with bad theology is to poke fun at it. One question though, Do we have nay Catholics comparable to Go Fish? They're better than The Wiggles and the kids must love 'em! What a way to teach about Jesus Christ! They even have a vacation bible school program and it's really inexpensive to run.





Gather Us In

Here in this place, our comfortable parish,
All of the statues carried away,
See in each face a vacuous visage,
Brought here by guilt or by R.C.I.A.

Gather us in, by Bimmer or Hummer,
Gather us in, so we can feel good,
Come to us now in this barren Zen temple,
With only a shrub and an altar of wood.

We are the young, our morals a mystery,
We are the old, who couldn't care less,
We have been warned throughout all of history,
But we enjoy this liturgical mess.

Gather us in, our radical pastor,
Gather us in, our unveiled nun,
Call to us now, with guitars and bongos,
Hang up your cellphones and join in the fun!

Here we will take some wine and some water,
Whether it changes, we really don't care.
But when the Sign of Peace comes, our pastor,
Jumps from the altar and hugs like a bear.

Gather us in, the privileged and snobby,
Gather us in, the liberal elite,
Help us to form our personal Credo,
Give us a choice between white bread and wheat.

For more delightful parodies go here.

Chicken Little Lives and is the Governor of California

Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for his action films filled with sex and violence. But hey, he's now producing comedy, namely ridiculous doomsday films promoting the global warming scam. A man whose state sends IOU's to citizens instead of tax refunds presumes to predict that within a century much of California will be underwater. The doomsday is real in California, but it's out-of-control government spending. Get that under control, Arnie. And somebody please send the guv a memo about the faked global warming data. The temperature has been dropping in the last ten years and even when it was warming it wasn't as warm as the Medieval warm period. Maybe Arnie only reads the mainstream media and the lies put out by his own people.

On the other hand, he could be living in a virtual reality world like the movie set of The Day After, one of the dumbest movies ever made.

As for California, I can't get too upset at the prospect of a third of it sinking into the ocean. Too bad it's a hoax. As the old joke asks "what do you call ten lawyers (or a third of the state of California) on the bottom of the ocean?" Answer: a good beginning. Hopefully Arnie's hysteria will drive more people to abandon the state of insanity and move elsewhere.

To my friends in California, come to Virginia. We can use some sensible people to balance the liberals who live in the northern suburbs outside of D.C.

Sarah Palin on Climategate

The president's decision to attend the international climate conference in Copenhagen needs to be reconsidered in light of the unfolding Climategate scandal. The leaked e-mails involved in Climategate expose the unscientific behavior of leading climate scientists who deliberately destroyed records to block information requests, manipulated data to "hide the decline" in global temperatures, and conspired to silence the critics of man-made global warming. I support Senator James Inhofe's call for a full investigation into this scandal. Because it involves many of the same personalities and entities behind the Copenhagen conference, Climategate calls into question many of the proposals being pushed there, including anything that would lead to a cap and tax plan.

Policy should be based on sound science, not snake oil. I took a stand against such snake oil science when I sued the federal government over its decision to list the polar bear as an endangered species despite the fact that the polar bear population has increased. I've never denied the reality of climate change; in fact, I was the first governor to create a subcabinet position to deal specifically with the issue. I saw the impact of changing weather patterns firsthand while serving as governor of our only Arctic state. But while we recognize the effects of changing water levels, erosion patterns, and glacial ice melt, we cannot primarily blame man's activities for the earth's cyclical weather changes. The drastic economic measures being pushed by dogmatic environmentalists won't change the weather, but will dramatically change our economy for the worse.

Policy decisions require real science and real solutions, not junk science and doomsday scare tactics pushed by an environmental priesthood that capitalizes on the public's worry and makes them feel that owning an SUV is a "sin" against the planet. In his inaugural address, President Obama declared his intention to "restore science to its rightful place." Boycotting Copenhagen while this scandal is thoroughly investigated would send a strong message that the United States government will not be a party to fraudulent scientific practices. Saying no to Copenhagen and cap and tax are first steps in "restoring science to its rightful place."

- Sarah Palin

Will Islam Complete the Takeover of the West Attempted in the Middle Ages?

Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician protesting the Islamization of the west, particularly in his own country, The Netherlands. He says Islam is not primarily a religion, but a political movement seeking world domination. He is the most threatened politician in the Netherlands and requires constant security around him because of death threats. (Interesting considering the universal mantra that Islam is a religion of peace.)

I've read both pros and cons about Wilders, but his primary political agenda is to protect the judeo-Christian and humanistic roots of Dutch culture, which doesn't seem to me to be such a bad thing. He's been demonized for producing his film on Islam and was actually prevented from entering the UK for a time. As I was researching him today I couldn't help thinking of those who tried to warn the world about the rise of Naziism which, one could argue, was as much a pseudo-religious movement, with Hitler as messiah, as a political movement. Naziism was filled with pagan religious symbols and pseudo religious ceremonies. For example, in the Lebensborns, maternity homes for young unmarried German women breeding the master race, a "naming ceremony" replaced baptism. When too many of the young women snuck into nearby towns for secret christenings, Himmler established a rule prohibiting the women to leave the homes without an SS escort.

Wilders compares the Koran to Mein Kampf. Both books have been used to justify incredible violence against innocent people, both seek world domination through the sword.

The Church fought Islam for a reason when it launched the first crusade which prevented the Muslims from dominating the West. Have the goals of Islam really changed?





Geert Wilders, European Islam and Fitna

'I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star

Why CCHD Went Wrong - You Can't Get Good Fruit From a Bad Tree! Cut it down!

I read an interesting article this morning about the root problems of the CCHD (Catholic Campaign for Human Development) which the author summarizes as the link to Saul Alinsky's "false view of reality and distorted view of the human person." An organization based on Alinsky's principles was bound to mirror his flawed philosophy which CCHD has done in spades. The author goes on to describe an authentic type of community organizing based on Catholic principles:

A Catholic approach to community organizing, rather recognizes that authentic structural transformation comes about not through deception and seizing power but through individual conversion and human solidarity. It recognizes also that subsidiarity is a co-principle with solidarity. This means that long term solutions are found in helping those in need to recognize that part of any solution is working for the holiness of both the “powerful” as well as the “powerless.” It realizes that situations and societies are authentically transformed not through conflict but through selfless cooperation.

It recognizes that those being served must be an integral part of any solution meant to serve them, and this includes setting the goals and the strategies for achieving them. It is not that confronting unjust situations might sometimes be necessary but a Catholic approach may not succumb to the ideology that confrontation is a normal, even necessary approach.

Neither can a Catholic approach fall into the adjunct heresy that life is a struggle for power. Authentic power is not the forcing of one person’s or group of people’s will over another’s. Rather, authentic power occurs only when love triumphs. God is love who is the source of all authentic power. When one views the other as an enemy to be defeated, authentic power is suppressed. When one views the other, even an oppressor, as a fellow sinner who Christ died for one will be better prepared to discern the proper approach for a particular situation.

Those who have studied CCHD over the years believe it may not be possible to reform the group because of its marriage to the Alinsky model which is based on moral relativism. Catholicism and moral relativism are fundamentally at odds and, although the old adage says that opposites attract that is not the case with good ends and evil means.

The author comes to a conclusion with which I heartily agree:

Because CCHD was founded upon a counter-Catholic ideology, I would argue that CCHD must be disbanded. The Church must also eliminate its material support of any organization formed around Alinsky’s ideology. It is true that we must support efforts that help others “learn to fish” but the Church cannot support corrupt, ideological movements in order to achieve such noble ends.

It is time to abandon this failed experiment called CCHD and devote the available resources to building a new Catholic apostolate dedicated to promoting authentic human flourishing. This new apostolate should base itself upon the social teachings of the Church, built upon an authentic understanding of the human person and how the truth of man demands a social interaction according to the co-principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. The social encyclicals of John Paul II and Benedict XVI are the most mature articulation of this. Anything short of this will risk contaminating authentic efforts at social justice with tactics arising from a relativist, amoral ideology. If we continue with the status quo, we cannot expect anything but more of the same.

Thanks to James for sending the article and to Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex for posting it.

Why I Remain a Catholic

After writing the previous post, I thought about how amazing it is that the bishops have not, in 2000 years, been able to destroy the Church. Why not? Because she was founded by Christ and He promised that the gates of hell (even when enabled by bishops) would not be able to prevail against her.

Now on occasion I have said to my spiritual director (a priest and a pastor) that if there were somewhere else to go, I would, because things are such a mess. But there isn't anywhere else to go. Peter is the rock and Peter leads the Church. I don't relish the thought of following a leader who has no authority from Christ. Why anyone, for example, would follow the leadership of a church founded by a syphilitic adulterer who was essentially a serial killer of most of the women he married is beyond me.

Obama-Supporting, Open Lesbian Advising the Bishops at the USCCB on Healthcare!

As Michael Voris says, "What the hell is going on" at the USCCB? Are the bishops out of their minds? No wonder Catholics have no respect for them. Please, Sensible Bishops, there must be a few of you. Pull out of that sick organization and stop pouring our money into it.

Climategate: When Scientists Are Frauds!

The thousands of emails leaked from the hacked Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University show exactly how bogus the global warming hoax is.

What are some of the revelations?

1) There is a small cadre of scientists who work together to promote a single view about global warming based on manipulation and falsification of the data. They Control the Hadley Center which controls the global data on temperature and they control the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)whose data they have also manipulated. When the data can't be trusted the results can't be trusted either.

2) Orchestration of a controlled, closed system with attacks on individual scientists and journals. If an editor requires independent names to review an article the incestuous group of scientists provide each other's names to orchestrate and control publication of data and blacklist those scientists who question the politically correct view.

3) Falsification of the past:

changing the data, altering the temperature record, deleting data - Is this not a criminal conspiracy in view of the impact on global climate meetings?

"We must get rid of the Medieval warming period." Jonathan Overpeck (The Medieval warm period is the warmest time in history, but that conflicts with the the desire to present man-made global warming. Obviously man-made carbon emissions during the middle ages were limited so the period is an embarrassment to global warming scientists.)

4) Collusion is clearly evident in the emails and is also being demonstrated by the media and the scientists covering for each other as though this is no big deal. It is, in fact, a very big deal. There should be a criminal investigation. Many people (Al Gore comes to mind) are making millions of dollars off of hyping green technology and screaming that the sky is falling. As usual "follow the money." It reveals a lot.

Listen to the audio video below and then take a look at some of the websites and articles which I've linked to below it. Man-made global warming is a fraud!



Climate Audit

Watt's Up With That?

Climate Gate Hacked Emails

Climategate Spreading to NASA?

ClimateGate: The Fix is In

Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of 'Anthropogenic Global Warming'?

Climategate - read all about it

The Naivete of the "Dialogue" Priest About Imam's Belief in Sharia Law

These two stories from Jihad Watch illustrate how naive some Catholic priests engaging in "dialogue" with Islam are. Note the priest was absolutely "shocked" when he realized the imam whom he believed to be tolerant and moderate turned out to embrace Sharia Law's call for the thief to have his hand cut off.

Why was the priest shocked? Because he thought the imam would reject the aspects of Sharia Law that he himself considered extreme fundamentalism.

Here's what the padre said:

"I tried to insist violence is unacceptable. The concept is horrific to me. It is equivalent to the death penalty. I know it is what Sharia law dictates but, coming from him, such a moderate and tolerant person, I was shocked."

There are many people who are naive about Islam. Read this eye-opening paragraph:

So he was "shocked." Oh, he knew what the Shari'a said. He knew that it called for the cutting off of the hands of thieves. But still, you see, in all these years of learning about Islam, and meeting with Muslims, and listening to them, including among them this Muslim cleric whom he apparently knew ("such a moderate and tolerant person"), it never occurred to Camilleri that just perhaps, Muslims - including many or even most of those outwardly, to the undiscerning and ill-prepared, "moderate and tolerant" - might actually be Muslims who took Islam fully to heart. And they not only took it fully to heart, but were quite capable, for a long period, and in great numbers, for disturbing reasons, of practicing Taqiyya, which can be defined as "a doctrine in Islam, having its origin in Shi'a Islam but, on the basis of both Qur'anic textual authority, and the example of Muhammad, is a common practice of both Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, and involves religiously-sanctioned dissimulation about both the Faith of Islam and about the beliefs of particular (threatened) Muslims."

Ah, reality...it is such a shock to the liberal priest and to those who believe that one can take the outward expression of the "religion of peace" at face value. We've seen the naivete before:

Communism benefits the common man. Stalin was Uncle Joe. Ignore the millions who died under his regime.

Cuba under Castro is an island paradise. Ignore the persecuted and murdered under his regime. Those boat people just didn't know how good they had it.

Mao's philosophy is something to admire and emulate. Ignore the millions murdered under his regime.

Ho Chi Minh was a good leader of his people. (Just ask Jane Fonda.) Read about the atrocities he committed in his reign of terror.

Well, one can hope that a dose of reality will help this priest be a little more realistic in the future. As for those who believe that everything an imam says can be taken at face value, please read the bold lettering above one more time. What don't you understand about the words "religiously-sanctioned dissimulation?"

Fitzgerald: Father Rene Camilleri and the belated shock of recognition

"What is wrong with Sharia law? If someone steals...why is it wrong to cut off his hand?"

On Comment Moderation and the Meaning of Real Love

I apologize to those who left comments yesterday and early this morning. I was having trouble getting the comments to post and lost them in the process when I went back to unmoderated status.

To Luke who left an opinion on the "gay blogger" post that my site is full of hate, I'm sorry you feel that way. What exactly is your definition of "love" since you are sure I don't have any? And what's your definition of "hate" since you think my blog is full of it?

Too many people think "love" is a gushy, warm feeling (I think that's wetting your pants. Ask Chris Matthews).

Love isn't, in fact, a feeling at all, although feelings can accompany it. It's a verb, a strong verb. Love proves itself by willing and doing good for the other. Love's primary good is to do everything to help the beloved come to eternal salvation. And sometimes doing that means speaking the hard truth.

We live in the "tolerant" and "compassionate" culture of "I'm okay, you're okay." But it's a lie. If you are cheating on your spouse, you're not okay. If you're embezzling from your boss, you're not okay. If you're beating your girlfriend or your children, you're not okay. If you're writing bad checks or shoplifting to get money to support a drug habit, you're not okay. If you're a college student cheating on tests, plagiarizing your research papers, etc., ditto. If you're a scientist fudging the results of global warming data so they match your agenda, you're not okay; you're a fraud.

Sin is not okay, no matter how good it feels or how much you fool yourself into believing that it's good, noble and beautiful because you're so sincere and mean so well. I will never tell someone "You're okay" when I know that statement will help them continue to embrace an evil act. Whether the person I was talking to was one of my children or a sibling or another relative or a friend, I try to speak the truth in love. "Not all who say, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven."

Luke, you aren't the first to accuse me of hate. I've been screamed and cursed at outside abortion mills while I was trying to assist women. But the moms who accepted our help and chose life for their babies felt differently, including the Muslim parents who decided not to kill their sixth child when they saw our group praying (with a priest) and took our literature. They invited my husband and me to their older daughter's wedding when the baby we saved was about four. She was the only one of their children who couldn't speak Persian and they called her their "all American girl."

I've had liberal Catholics accuse me of being "violent" for doing nothing more than engage in vigorous debate. If I cared about what other people think of me, I suppose I'd be silent. But I want to meet everybody merrily in heaven and if I hide my light under a bushel I may be cast out with the cowardly servant who buried his talent in the earth. I won't go to hell for the comfort of being silent.

We all need to give up our sins and accept the gracious mercy of our God.
But those who pretend their sins are holy actions, those who call evil good and good evil, will not enter into eternal life. How do I know? Because Jesus said so. And it isn't an act of hate to say that.

I'm a sinner and I freely acknowledge the fact. It's the reason I go to confession often. But I must speak the truth, because Jesus promised the truth will set us free. Some of this blog is opinion and thoughtful people can disagree. I don't claim to be an expert on all the things I express opinions about, but when I present the doctrine of the Church and the truth of the Gospel, I'm not giving my opinion. Christ established the Church and called Peter "the rock." A person can pound his head on that rock all day, but the only thing that will break is his head. God doesn't lie. He wants us all to be saved, but He gave us free will and will not force heaven on unrepentant sinners.

I don't hate anyone, but I hate the evil we all do. And that's a big difference! When people commit evil in the privacy of their bedroom or in the closet, I don't know about it. But when they shove it in my face, when they take their evil to the city streets like the Folsom Street Fair and other perverted "pride" events, when they demand that my grandkids be taught that their evil actions are "civil rights," when they lobby for laws to make me and others cooperate with their evil - I will fight. And that fight is a loving response to the insanity of a sinful disdain for God and His laws.

I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, Luke. I only want what God wants for you. So buck up and take what I say like a man instead of whining and saying I'm full of hate. After all, shouldn't you practice toward me the tolerance and compassion that's the mantra of the gay community? When you point your finger at me and call me hateful notice where the other fingers on your hand are pointing.