Going out to the existential peripheries...

The so-called 'New Homophiles'.  

I haven't quite been able to understand them.  Thanks to the new video series the group is developing, and listening to their conversation - which is easier to understand than some of their writing and which can be challenging at times - many of my reservations have been quieted.  (I still don't like 'genderqueer' - but I kinda sorta get the intent.)  "They" may not all be comfortable with everything either.  From Joseph Prever, aka Steve Gershom:

My own position within the Side B world is, I think, a little weird. Ruse’s piece made me uncomfortable and annoyed, largely because it made us seem more heterodox than we are. Some Side B stuff, on the other hand, makes me uncomfortable and worried, because bits of it bear the smell of, or the smell of the danger of, self-deception: the line between “my homosexuality is a gift and a blessing because of all the gifts and blessings that have come with it” and “my homosexuality, per se, is a gift” is blurrier than I’d like. In some cases it’s not blurry at all, but just nonexistent. I don’t think I’m okay with that, but I have yet to formulate exactly why. - Source

It all kind of clicked for me when Eve Tushnet describe the church she attends in Washington.  She described it as a faithful Catholic church where all sorts of same sex attracted people attend - including some who may not be comfortable with the entire content of Catholic teaching on sexuality - yet.  The point is they are there and people like Tushnet and the others are there to meet gay people where they are at in today's reality.

It's very Franciscan - in the Pope Francis sense.*  It seems to me they are on the peripheries.  I'm more a Courage kind of guy, but there is room in the Church for another approach - so long as it is faithful.  Especially if we want avoid 'tying up burdens too hard to carry - without lifting a finger to help them' for people.  It's a different approach than Courage - but I don't think their work is a negation of Courage - just another approach.  I say that, because their video conversations really sounds like stuff Courage people discuss, and certainly what many young people discuss when it comes to living chastely and celibately.

I had a really nice lady write to me about one of her children who recently 'came out'.  That's a critical time for someone - especially the new found sense of freedom one experiences.  Naturally, most people see the Church as restrictive and rejecting to gay people.  My friend is worried, as any parent would be.  What to do?  Someone just coming out may not be ready, or interested in the Courage format when they 'just come out' - but they might be inclined to listen to - or at least watch the videos offered by the Sexual Authenticity-Spiritual Friendship group.   It may help them understand they are not excommunicated for discovering in themselves an a homosexual inclination or attraction.  (Courage doesn't teach that either, but neophytes may still be in identity celebration mode, and not interested in being told, "don't say you are gay".)

That said, I think we have to avoid segregating people and groups.  Our evangelization efforts should not be 'sectarian' as it were, or devolve into factions such as the EF vs OF Mass issue.  My point with this post is to point out that I see nothing contrary to Catholic teaching in the videos promoted by this group.  Not long ago I was accused of  being a 'new homophile' - a term now becoming more or less pejorative - so I know what it feels like to be accused of not being a faithful Catholic or embracing some sort of 'homo-heresia'.  I may not agree with everything these folks say or how they express themselves, I may not always understand it, but I believe they are faithful and uphold Catholic teaching in their work.

*I want to include some things Fr. Paul Check said in an interview not long ago, which may be helpful in understanding where I'm coming from - Fr. Check was commenting on something the Holy Father said, and I think what Fr. Check said may relate to the Spiritual Friendship group:

Fr. Paul Check is Director of Courage Apostolate, and in a recent interview with CNA, Fr. Check shares his insight into what the Holy Father may have intended with his comment. Fr. Check's words are very helpful and may offer a more spiritually hospitable and conciliatory understanding of the attitude taken by the Holy Father, while putting at ease those who think the Pope made a mistake - or was indicating a change in Church teaching.

In the Scriptures, Jesus does not hesitate to teach doctrine and basic truths to large groups, as in the sermon on the mount. Yet he also “engages people in another way, a very personal way, one at a time.”

“I think that the emphasis Pope Francis is bringing to us right now is on the second way: very personally, listening to people and speaking with them and 'walking with' them, guiding them, bringing them to Christ,” explained Fr. Check.

“I am not an authoritative interpreter of the Pope's comments,” he cautioned, “but here's the way I understand them.”

The priest then turned to the story of Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well who has had five husbands.

“Our Lord knows well that there is a moral question here that's involved, and indeed it's a chastity question. The woman is living in an 'irregular' way. But he doesn’t begin the conversation with her about the moral problem. Instead, he talks with her about her interest – and more than her interest, her desire for God.”

“So he engages her in a very personal way about something that is already resident in her heart…he speaks with her about God, and then he speaks with her about the life of God…(and) also about her desire for eternal life, which is something that we all have,” Fr. Check continued.

Jesus “engages her in this very lovely sequence, and he keeps the conversation going with her until he reaches that point when it is appropriate to say, and when she can receive, what it is that she’s about to hear about the irregular condition in which she’s living, and she doesn’t deny it.”

“But he has established a relationship with her, and I think this is very much what our Holy Father is suggesting: that we are to walk with people, to get to know them, (although) of course, we don’t have the benefit of knowing what’s in someone’s heart the way that Jesus does, so all the more reason that we have to take care,” Fr. Check noted.

“I think that personal engagement, the walking with, is something that he is proposing,” and “I think the Holy Father is very prudent and charitable in wanting to think about how people receive the message of the gospel today and to find ways in which that teaching can be announced in a way that people can receive it.” - Finish reading here.

When Pope Francis talks about evangelization, he acknowledges there will be mistakes - but they can be corrected. Pope Benedict said something similar when speaking of priests who work in youth ministry, that in searching for a way to convey Church teaching sometimes mistakes are made - but they can be corrected. Sounds a bit lenient in our day when errors abound, but 'that's the way love goes'... I think.

Just a reminder:  I'm a Roman Catholic, a single man - I'm not part of any group, sect, movement or cult.  Every thing here is simply my personal opinion and observation.

Honey!  This sounds like a cult!

What?

Calling Cardinal Dolan a what?

Yesterday I checked out a link to a blog called Motley Monk. The author, a priest I know nothing about, linked to a another blogger who called Cardinal Dolan a "jackass". I was surprised that a priest would post such a derogatory quote.

A Protestant Allegory: The four evangelists stoning the pope, 

together with hypocrisy and avarice.

We who blog cannot avoid sin.

I've read too many other blog posts which make snide remarks about the Pope and what he says and does.  I've read posts which suggest the pope suffers from delusion, that he is ignorant, incompetent, and not Catholic.

There are of course a few Catholic priests who speak and write critical commentary against bishops, cardinals and the pope.  A couple go so far as to call out bishops (not their own) in the way these bishops deal with clerics who are under their obedience.

Yesterday I came across a comment on another blog asking the administrator of the blog to go after a novice in a particular religious order because of accusations from the candidate's past.  The commenter was suggesting the author devote a blog post exposing the man.

Such posts foment suspicion and mistrust and lack charity.

It seems to me many of us who blog may be Catholic - but I'm not at all sure we are always Christian.

At bottom there is always hidden pride at work when criticism of the Church adopts that tone of rancorous bitterness which today is already beginning to become a fashionable habit. Unfortunately it is accompanied only too often by a spiritual emptiness in which the specific nature of the Church as a whole is no longer seen, in which it is only regarded as a political instrument whose organization is felt to be pitiable or brutal, as the case may be, as if the real function of the Church did not lie beyond organization, in the comfort of the Word and of the sacraments which she provides in good and bad days alike. Those who really believe do not attribute too much importance to the struggle for the reform of ecclesiastical ritual. They live on what the Church always is; and if one wants to know what the Church really is one must go to them. For the Church is most present not where organizing, reforming and governing are going on but in those who simply believe and receive from her the gift of faith that is life to them." - Cardinal Ratzinger: "Introduction to Christianity." Holy, Yet Mingled with Sinners: The Church of the Pope Theologian

"I wish he'd never been born."

Peter Lanza said that about his son Adam.

Such a terrible story, one can understand how he could say that, after all that happened.  I read the New Yorker story and feel so sorry for the families - Peter Lanza and all the families of the victims and survivors.  I looked for the magazine in a couple of stores this weekend, but it was sold out.  I found the story online here.

Read it.  It may help you understand why joking about taking people out and shooting them is not funny and is extremely inappropriate hyperbole.

Read it.

"I wish he'd never been born."

What caught my attention is the statement "I wish he'd never been born."  I think I understand how and why Mr. Lanza could say that.  Especially after reading the article, and of course, after learning the details of the massacre, and the innocents who were killed - I can understand.  Yet it was that statement which prompted me to read the story.

It's a terrible thing to say.

I say that, because it reminded me how my mother used to say such things to me - "I wish you'd never been born." - she had undiagnosed mental illness - most likely bipolar, and she drank.  Once she threatened to slash my throat with a kitchen knife.  I never thought she meant it - but I never felt secure in my parent's home either.  (My dad displayed life-threatening behavior as well.)  As an adult, while they were still alive, I kept a distance from them, unable to understand why they insisted they wanted me to come home to visit or stop by.  They truly never liked me - as a child I was a terrible burden for them.  I was there when they died - and they died peacefully, thanks be to God - but I never really knew them.

Anyway.

Parents, love your kids - don't leave them alone - no matter what.  Moms and dads - be good, be holy.  Don't be unfaithful.  Don't leave.  Don't divorce.  Don't hate your kids.  Don't shirk your responsibility towards them.  Love them.  Sacrifice your self for them.



Art: Stefano Di Stasio

Why I am Catholic ...

Frank Weathers.

I like how this guy thinks.  I think we are Catholic for the same reasons.

Weathers has an interesting post on Bill and Melinda gates and a possible inching towards Catholicism, as well as the hope for a death bed conversion of Fred Phelps.  Check it out here.

Like I said, I like how this guy thinks - and lives his faith.

Let's pray for one another.

Beyond Gender Ideology ... Therianthropy-Otherkin.

Dog-headed St. Christopher

I've discussed 'gender ideology', which I now call 'beyond gay', yet beyond all of that is Therian-Otherkin people - and there is a Christian version of it too.  Hold onto your shorts Richard Rohr!  But he knew that already.  Therians have their misappropriated saints too ... St. Christopher ... St Mary of Egypt ...

Mary of Egypt covered with hair.

Therianism is related to shapeshifting mythology, werewolves, weredogs, werepoodles - werepoodles!  I made that up - but it is known as kynanthropy or cynanthropy with a "C".  (Like Katherine or Catherine - you know how girls like to make the distinction?  Although Crescat is not a Therian.)

I knew a person who believed she was a dragon - I'm sure I've written about her in the past - she requested I respect her anonymity.  She had identity issues - not unlike an online married-genderqueer writer who discusses gender issues in her books and blog.  It seems to me there are similarities insofar as the person I knew believed she was a lesbian - until she became Catholic - then she went through deliverance prayers and intense spiritual direction, bringing her to a point where she believed she was free of all that.  Subsequently, she was more or less directed to dress more feminine and get rid of her butch haircut and style.  Which she did.  She also became a severe traditionalist - until she couldn't take it any longer.  I think it was only about three years into her new life of being the most knowledgeable more-Catholic-than-the-Pope-Traditionalist-Catholic, and realizing she was still a misfit - that she went back to Wicca.  That's when she soon began to figure out she was Otherkin - Therian.  I'm not sure what she is now, nor do I have any idea how she resolved the homosexual inclination.  She was a troubled soul, came from a home of neglect, abuse, and poverty.  She desperately needed to find her identity.

Since many people - like my acquaintance - generally reject the idea of psychological or moral disorders - especially as it applies to sexual desire, identity and gender, the idea that one is a dragon, a cat, even a poodle is not at all far fetched for them.  Especially when it is brewed together with a more or less novel spirituality and religious practice.  (The contemporary theory/interpretation/embodiment only dates back to the early 20th century.)  The roots of such spirituality is not Christian of course, but is derived from shamanism and earth-based religions, as well as Eastern Asian and ancient Egyptian religious cult and mystical influences.  New Age Catholics sometimes embrace these principles and they influence not a few Catholic 'mystical-bear' writers, apologists, retreat masters, and speakers.  Hence their doctrine is contaminated by the 'world's slow stain'.  One cannot trust the Holy Spirit is at all guiding them in such concoctions.

Kevin Spacey as Keyboard Cat.

Therianthropy may be likened to gender dysphoria, only Therians might call it species dysphoria.  Here is a quick wiki-overview on the subject - not exhaustive, I might add.

"Dogs are people too, Sherman."

What?

I've discussed this in the past - here.  These issues become so idiosyncratic it is nearly impossible to categorize the phenomena.  It seems to me to be a sort of manic individualism.  I'm convinced it is related to gender ideology and the push for a new anthropology.

You know what amazes me?

The Muppets.

Seriously.  They are supposed to be puppets, but I think not.  The Great Gonzo was just interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel.  He walked out by himself, sat in the chair by himself - no puppeteer in sight - and talked.  That wasn't a puppet.

I. Was. Fascinated.



Toronto mayor Rob Ford was on that night too.

Kimmel likes him.

Song for this post here.

Canned Pope

Berlin, Germany-based artist Miriam Jonas sculpts detailed portraits of popes out of Play-Doh in fish tin cans.

How cool is that?  They remind me of South American relicarios.

Some consumers do not know that what they throw away can be turned into art by third world type people.  Haitians and other poor people often make decorative objects out of tin cans and scrap metal.  Some Latinos make retablo and relicarios out of such recyclables.

Song for this post here.

Poetry Saturday

The Hangman
by Maurice Ogden

Stanza 1

Into our town the Hangman came, smelling of gold and blood and flame. And he paced our bricks with a diffident air. And built his frame on the courthouse square.
The scaffold stood by the courthouse side, only as wide as the door was wide; a frame as tall, or little more, than the capping sill of the courthouse door.
And we wondered, whenever we had the time, who the criminal, what the crime, that Hangman judged with the yellow twist of knotted hemp in his busy fist.
And innocent though we were, with dread we passed those eyes of buckshot lead; till one cried: "Hangman, who is he for whom you raise the gallows-tree."
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye, and he gave us a riddle instead of reply: "He who serves me best," said he, "Shall earn the rope on the gallows-tree."
And he stepped down, and laid his hand on a man who came from another land and we breathed again, for another's grief at the Hangman's hand was our relief.
And the gallows-frame on the courthouse lawn by tomorrow's sun would be struck and gone. So we gave him way, and no one spoke, out of respect for his hangman's cloak.

Stanza 2

The next day's sun looked mildly down on roof and street in our quiet town and, stark and black in the morning air, the gallows-tree on the courthouse square.
And the Hangman stood at his usual stand with the yellow hemp in his busy hand; with his buckshot eye and his jaw like a pike and his air so knowing and businesslike.
And we cried: "Hangman, have you not done, yesterday, with the alien one?" Then we fell silent, and stood amazed: "Oh, not for him was the gallows raised."
He laughed a laugh as he looked at us: "Did you think I'd gone to all this fuss to hang one man? That's a thing I do to stretch the rope when the rope is new."
Then one cried, "Murderer!" One cried, "Shame!" And into our midst the Hangman came to that man's place. "Do you hold," said he, "With him that was meant for the gallows-tree?"
And he laid his hand on that one's arm, and we shrank back in quick alarm, and we gave him way, and no one spoke out of fear of his hangman's cloak.
That night we saw with dread surprise the Hangman's scaffold had grown in size. Fed by the blood beneath the chute the gallows-tree had taken root;
Now as wide, or a little more, than the steps that led to the courthouse door, as tall as the writing, or nearly as tall, halfway up on the courthouse wall.

Stanza 3

The third he took — we had all heard tell — was a usurer and infidel, And: "What," said the Hangman, "have you to do with the gallows-bound, and he a Jew?"
And we cried out: "Is this one he who has served you well and faithfully?" The Hangman smiled: "It's a clever scheme to try the strength of the gallows-beam."
The fourth man's dark, accusing song had scratched out comfort hard and long; and "What concern," he gave us back, "Have you for the doomed - the doomed and black?"
The fifth.The sixth. And we cried again: "Hangman, Hangman, is this the man?" "It's a trick," he said, "that we hangmen know for easing the trap when the trap springs slow."
And so we ceased, and asked no more, as the Hangman tallied his bloody score; and sun by sun, and night by night, the gallows grew to monstrous height.
The wings of the scaffold opened wide till they covered the square from side to side; and the monster cross-beam, looking down, cast its shadow across the town.

Stanza 4

Then through the town the Hangman came and called in the empty streets my name - and I looked at the gallows soaring tall and thought: "There is no one left at all for hanging, and so he calls to me to help pull down the gallows-tree." And I went out with right good hope to the Hangman's tree and the Hangman's rope.
He smiled at me as I came down to the courthouse square through the silent town, and supple and stretched in his busy hand was the yellow twist of the hempen strand.
And he whistled his tune as he tried the trap and it sprang down with a ready snap— and then with a smile of awful command he laid his hand upon my hand.
"You tricked me, Hangman!" I shouted then. "That your scaffold was built for other men. And I no henchman of yours," I cried, "You lied to me, Hangman, foully lied!"
Then a twinkle grew in his buckshot eye: "Lied to you? Tricked you?" he said, "Not I. For I answered straight and I told you true: The scaffold was raised for none but you.
"For who has served me more faithfully than you with your coward's hope?" said he, "And where are the others that might have stood side by your side in the common good?"
"Dead," I whispered; and amiably "Murdered," the Hangman corrected me; "First the alien, then the Jew... I did no more than you let me do."
Beneath the beam that blocked the sky, none had stood so alone as I - and the Hangman strapped me, and no voice there cried "Stay" for me in the empty square.

H/T Love the Girls guy.

This is what taken out and shot looks like.

It happened before the biological final solution was implemented.

What?

I would like to take back everything I gave up for Lent today.

But I won't - God willing.

And that's a sacrifice too.

Although I could condemn my neighbor or be unkind to someone, and my sacrifice would count for nothing.

Be kind to one another - it's better than any sacrifice.

So you are worried about the Disney film "Frozen"?

Source

There may be a 'subtle homosexual message' embedded in the film?

Really?

You just now happen to notice Disney might be in the propaganda business?  That they might be amongst the 'change agents' actively promoting our brave new world?

Media is saturated.  

Wake up.  All of us are subjected to the same in your face media manipulation the kids are exposed
 to ...

All.
The.
Time.

Don't forget that Disney created and nurtured the personas which became Lindsay Lohan, Brittney Spears, Miley Cirus, and others.  Disney owns ABC.  Disney is a media giant.

“You wonder sometimes, I’m not a tinfoil hat conspiratorialist, but you wonder sometimes if maybe there’s something very evil happening here.” - Christian radio host Kevin Swanson

Really?

Obviously, diligent Christian parents may censor what their kids watch, listen to, and read - right?  Maybe.  Yet ordinary people, working parents for instance, through no fault of their own may sometimes have very little control over what their kids are exposed to outside of the home.  Their kids may have teachers, mentors - coaches, counselors - as well as peers, who buy into the liberal-socially progressive-Disneyesque mindset, or 'new world order'.

Just sayin'.

Christion Post writer refutes the gay propaganda claim here.

What?

I love this song so much! Makes me "Happy"!

)

More on Gender Ideology:

Looks like someone is paying attention...

Deacon Fournier for Catholic Online:

Gender is a gift and the dangers of the Gender identity Movement must be exposed and opposed.

The Gender Identity Movement insists upon recognition in the civil law of the State a new found, manufactured right to choose one's gender, and then to change ones mind, at any time. The proponents insist upon civil laws which accommodate, fund, and enforce this new right. Those involved in the activist wing of the movement want to compel the rest of society to recognize their vision of a brave new world or face the Police Power of the State. This is cultural insanity. Pope Emeritus Benedict was absolutely correct, "the profound falsehood of this theory and of the anthropological revolution contained within it is obvious." The Bishops of Poland were correct in warning the faithful of the dangers of the gender identity movement. Gender is a gift and the dangers of the Gender identity Movement must be exposed and opposed. - Deacon Fournier

Click to read the entire piece, it is well written and rather comprehensive.

Want to learn more about genderqueer, gender ideology?  Consider sending your kids to Fordham!

Our contemporary lifestyle/status quo is unsustainable without contraception and abortion.*

"In the wake of the dictatorships of the 20th century, and after a few centuries of the philosophical glorification of the individual, the highest value in our time is “freedom.” The deregulation of sexual norms has been “sold” to people as part of this freedom." - Gabriele Kuby

Which is why efforts such as the March for Life on Washington is more or less ignored by secular media and politicians.  No one is listening - despite the fact stats suggest surgical abortions are decreasing in number, it could just be an anomaly.  Contraceptive use remains the norm.

No one is listening because it is a matter of women's reproductive rights - the bedrock truth of the feminist movement, with an international, global agenda.

(CNN) – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a Friday speech at the United Nations to tie women’s reproductive rights with the broader goal of human development.

“There is one lesson from the past, in particular, that we cannot afford to ignore: You cannot make progress on gender equality or broader human development, without safeguarding women’s reproductive health and rights,” Clinton said near the end of a speech marking International Women's Day. “That is a bedrock truth.” - CNN

To understand Clinton's statement one needs to be aware of, if not study, what happens at the United Nations, as well as in the European Union as concerns the development of policy and law in support of civil and political rights.  Women's reproductive rights is the bedrock of the Human Rights agenda which encompasses and promotes LGBTQ rights internationally.

What's wrong with that?  It sounds fair.  It sounds good.  Yet Clinton unabashedly reveals the shockingly immoral bedrock which is the foundation of a global agenda.  Most ordinary Americans, brainwashed and addicted to the idea of unlimited freedom and liberty and equal rights, have no idea that we have enslaved ourselves to what Pope Benedict XVI understood as the 'dictatorship of relativism'.  Relativism being the ideal climate wherein to cultivate and nurture gender ideology, is not going away.

The deregulation of sexual norms leads to the destruction of culture. Why? Because, as established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the family is the basic unit of society—and it needs some basic moral conditions in which to thrive.

But children—brought up today in a hyper-sexualized society in which they themselves are sexualized by the entertainment industry, the media, and mandatory school programs—are increasingly unable to become mature adults that are up to the demands of marriage, and the obligations of responsible fatherhood and motherhood.

Furthermore, such a hyper-sexualized society cannot do without contraception and abortion. And the outcome of all this is the “culture of death,” a term coined by John Paul II. - Gabriele Kuby

It seems to me we listen, but we do not hear.

We look, but we do not see.

We study, but we do not comprehend.

We talk, but no one listens.

All because we love the comforts of our contemporary lifestyle and standard of living - which is unsustainable without contraception and abortion.


Links:

Human Rights and Sexual Orientation in International Law

Gender Ideology - Kuby


H/T Lisa Graas for the Clinton post.
H/T PML for UN studies.

*Although I believe it safe to say, Western Civilization as we know it will collapse with it.

Archbishop Nienstedt cleared and back on the job!

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis appreciates today’s announcement by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office that they have declined to file charges against Archbishop Nienstedt. As a result of today’s announcement, the archbishop will now resume all of his public ministry duties.

“I am thankful to the Saint Paul Police for their thorough investigation, as well as to the Ramsey County Attorney’s office for their professional work regarding this matter. I look forward to returning to public ministry during this Lenten season, especially during Holy Week and the great feast of Easter,” Archbishop Nienstedt said. “While I look forward to my return to public ministry, I remain committed to the ongoing work needed to provide safe environments for all children and youth. I continue to offer my prayers for all victims, their families and their communities, as well as to all who have been harmed by clergy sexual abuse. I once again offer my apology to all who have been affected by these terrible offenses.” - Archdiocese St. Paul/Minneapolis

Thanks be to God!

I'm so glad he is back.

Te Deum laudamus!

Secular report here.

H/T Judy

Pope Francis: "The gender ideology is demonic!" - der Google translation.*

German sociologist Gabriele Kuby.

Interesting story online today - nearly unreadable in the Google translation, but interesting nonetheless.  A friend did more research and came up with some background on Gabriele Kuby and her findings on 'gender ideology' - a subject many are just waking up to and others are learning more about these days.  The quote I use for the title is attributed to Pope Francis - taken out of context of a specific discussion and/or meeting:

Pope Francis has said to my question: "The gender ideology is demonic!" Over the top? No, because they already raped on the way to state laws with its suppression of violence, the nature created by God to the people, "reshape" the people want, and thus shows that your representatives want to be like God by a new, self-invented people "do" want. - kath.news

I don't like the results of online translators because the exact sense is rarely worked out and nuance is almost completely lacking - nevertheless the statement attributed to Francis echoes Benedict's 2012 Christmas address:

Gabriele Kuby: Pope Benedict XVI gave a very enlightening speech as part of his Christmas Greetings to the Curia and the Cardinals on December 21, 2012. He spoke then of the “anthropological revolution” of our time, pointing to the “attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family” in the form of a false understanding of man’s sexual nature. 

If man denies that he is created as man and woman in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and that his sex is a “given element of nature,” and that he is called to love and to give life, then the root of human existence is being destroyed. The “new anthropology” refers to this conception of man. - CWR

 Still think it's crazy talk?  

You think 'coming out' is healthy?  You say "Bravo!" when another celebrity, athlete, or sibling 'comes out' as some form of LGBTQ?  You congratulate a 14 year old girl on her new identity as Stephen Beatty?

Last year, Ira (Stephen) spoke about his identity in a video, saying he identifies as "a trans man, a faggy queen, a homosexual, a queer, a nerd fighter, a writer, an artist and a guy who needs a haircut." He credited his friends and peers as those who have been the most supportive of his transition, a journey he began when he was 14 years old. - Source

It's not a joke.  It isn't a quirky Hollywood fad.  It is not a phase or a passing pop-cultural trend.  It is part of what is called gender mainstreaming.

What's gender mainstreaming?

The term “gender” was introduced into official documents at the UN’s International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 held in Cairo, Egypt, and at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 held in Beijing, China. The idea was to create the linguistic vehicle for a new ideology. “Gender” was to replace the term “sex” in the sense of referring to the binary sexual order of man and woman. Then radical feminist ideas and the LGBT agenda united and gave birth to the idea of “gender mainstreaming.”

The term “gender” implies that a person’s sexual identity need not necessarily be identical to that person’s biological sex. It breaks down the binary male-female sexual nature of human beings. 

This dissolution of the binary sexual nature of man and woman serves two primary purposes: First, it aims to destroy the so-called “gender hierarchy” between man and woman. In other words, there are—according to gender theory—not two but many gender identities, which can include lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transsexual men and women. 

Second, it aims to dissolve heterosexuality as the norm. This gender-based conception of man and woman aims to enter the mainstream of society—and, indeed, this is already happening at an incredible speed. - CWR

The Global Sexual Revolution: Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom. 

In the wake of the dictatorships of the 20^th century, and after a few centuries of the philosophical glorification of the individual, the highest value in our time is “freedom.” The deregulation of sexual norms has been “sold” to people as part of this freedom. - Gabriele Kuby

It's nothing to laugh about.

“The ideology of gender presents a threat worse than Nazism and Communism combined.”

- Polish Bishop Pieronek

*UPDATE 3/12/14:  From CF -Mercury: Alternative translation for KathNews Story: This is what Pope Francis has to say to my question: "Gender ideology is demonic!" Andreas Laun, auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, Austria, tells it how it is. 

What the Pope said about Christ in the desert: "He firmly rejects all these temptations ... without compromising with sin and with the logic of the world…"

Who am I to judge a Cardinal of the Catholic Church?

I'm just commenting on the "Dolan effect".

"This is why Jesus, instead of entering into a dialogue like Eve, chooses to take refuge in God's Word and responds with the power of this Word. We should remember this when we are tempted ourselves: do not argue with Satan, always defend ourselves with the Word of God. And this will save us". - Pope Francis VIS

"An overly benign interpretation was given to the homosexual condition itself, some going so far as to call it neutral, or even good." *

I've pretty much stopped reading 'gay and Catholic' blogs - just because I get bored with the endless dialogue and efforts to somehow establish "gay is good" and needs to be recognized as such.

That's already happened - to an extent - especially with Cardinal Dolan's most recent congratulations to Michael Sam for coming out, saying: "Bravo!" "Congratulations!"  The NY Archdiocese issued a statement that the Cardinal didn't mean it that way and that he supports Courage and so on - which may be true, but it doesn't change the impression it made - essentially that "gay is good".  Call it the Dolan effect.  Yet as I said before - the attitude is already prevalent in Catholic parishes and schools: universities and colleges, even the USCCB.  Call it The New Ways Ministry effect.  They're here and they're queer.

What remains is to develop doctrine to support it.

I'm against it.

*From the often ignored, if not rejected "Letter to Bishops ..."

Explicit treatment of the problem was given in this Congregation's "Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics" of December 29, 1975. That document stressed the duty of trying to understand the homosexual condition and noted that culpability for homosexual acts should only be judged with prudence. At the same time the Congregation took note of the distinction commonly drawn between the homosexual condition or tendency and individual homosexual actions. These were described as deprived of their essential and indispensable finality, as being "intrinsically disordered", and able in no case to be approved of (cf. n. 8, $4).

In the discussion which followed the publication of the Declaration, however, an overly benign interpretation was given to the homosexual condition itself, some going so far as to call it neutral, or even good. Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.

Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not. - CDF

The Holy Father on Retreat...

Cardinal Burke sneaking in at the back.

photo source

I'm going to unite my prayer to his - praying with him and for him and the curia on retreat with him.  I love the photo. H/T Fr. Jerabek.

Cardinal Dolan: "So I would say, 'Bravo.'"

Garçon - when you get a chance dear.

"Bravo" for University of Missouri football star Michael Sam for coming out as gay.

"Bravo Cardinal Dolan!"

So just last week I was called out for being too soft on gays and this weekend - on National TV - Dolan praises some guy for coming out.

Bravo for Cardinal Dolan!  For taking that monkey off my back.

So what do I really think?

"Who am I to judge" a Cardinal Archbishop of the Catholic Church?

"Huh?  Who is waiting 

to hear from me?"

Song for this post here.

The Francis effect? Pastor John Piper implores Christian preachers to avoid "The Seduction of Money".

Roman Catholic "evangelicals" with their own "personal prelatures" take note.

This story certainly sounds like something Pope Francis might approve of, and even recommend:

John Piper, a prominent theologian and pastor, is pleading with his fellow preachers “to avoid the sinful seduction of money.” In a recent installment of his “Ask Pastor John” podcast, Piper offered five pieces of advice for Christian leaders.

His action points were sparked by the recent situation surrounding David Yonggi Cho, pastor and founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea, who was recently convicted of embezzling $12 million from the church, the Christian Post reported.

Not the Pope Francis effect?   I don't think it matters - it's just very good advice.  Pastor John's points:

1) “Kill every desire to be rich and get rich”

2) “If you see your income starting to grow, set a governor on it”

• Piper’s second plea involved keeping away from continuing to acquire more and more money. If a pastor sees increasing income coming in, he said the individual should start donating more to worthy causes. Piper, who claims “money is insidiously deceptive,” said he isn’t impressed with a pastor who tithes 30 percent of a million dollar royalty check, nor is he impressed when a preacher only gives away 90 percent of a $10 million check. Riches, Piper said, lead people down a dangerous path.*

3) “Be totally transparent with your fellow elders from inside your church”

4) “Live simply to show that your treasure is in heaven and not on earth”

5) “Put in place a leadership structure of a plurality of elders”

Read the details here.  God bless Pastor John.

* I added this note because I didn't want you to get 'a governor' mixed up with a 'fundraising thermometer widget'.  

What?

I'm kidding!

The Temptation in the Desert

Such a mystery.

How did the devil appear?  In art he is most often shown as a fallen angel.  I always imagine him to have been more deceitfully seductive, or that he would feign holiness and goodness.  Which is why I prefer representations such as the Juan de Flandes example shown here.