Archive for May, 2012

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To Weed or Not to Weed…That is the Question

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by on May 05, 2012 in Disability, Sickness & Suffering, Featured, Men, MyChurchParish.com
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Without any kind of a deep freeze this past winter, the weeds have had a field day (pun intended) this spring.  I don’t know about your neighborhood, but ours is totally infested with chickweed.  Now, chickweed looks innocent enough, with its dainty little white flowers and delicate stems, but don’t be fooled.  It’s a cold-blooded […]

<i>Afghanization</i>
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Afghanization

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by on May 05, 2012 in Featured, International Issues
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President Barack Obama’s five-point plan for turning the war back to the Afghans is designed to cover the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces and “forge a just and lasting peace.” What does the plan involve, and can it work? Here are the five points: 1.   Making Afghans responsible for their own security within two […]

Church Wins Zoning Appeal; City Surrenders
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Church Wins Zoning Appeal; City Surrenders

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by on May 05, 2012 in Law & Justice
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[Thursday], the Becket Fund and a Christian church in Texas scored a huge victory for religious freedom.   After five years of litigation, the Elijah Group, an evangelical Christian church in Leon Valley, Texas, has finally gained the right to use its building for worship without discrimination from the city government. The settlement follows a […]

Poem: "The Three Oddest Words"
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Poem: “The Three Oddest Words”

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by on May 05, 2012 in Poetry
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The Three Oddest Words When I pronounce the word Future, the first syllable already belongs to the past. When I pronounce the word Silence, I destroy it. When I pronounce the word Nothing, I make something no non-being can hold. Wislawa Szymborska

Big Abortion’s Evolving Profit Structure and the U.S. Health Care Reform Package
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Big Abortion’s Evolving Profit Structure and the U.S. Health Care Reform Package

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by on May 04, 2012 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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In the mid-’90s, the abortion industry in the United States realized it was facing an existential threat — the population of abortionists was aging and nobody was stepping up to take their place. Although plenty would pay lip service to a right to “choose,” when it came to the grisly work involved in “terminations,” few […]

"Pro Multis"
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“Pro Multis”

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by on May 04, 2012 in Featured, Live in Christ
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“Qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur.” —The words of the consecration of the wine in the Mass, meaning literally “(my blood) which is poured out for you and for many” “But when He added pro multis He wanted that there be understood the rest of those chosen (electos) from the Jews or from the […]

Book Review: <i>Suicide of a Superpower</i>
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Book Review: Suicide of a Superpower

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by on May 04, 2012 in Columnists, Featured, Government & Politics, International Issues, Law & Justice, On Books, The Social Order
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I was nearing the close of Pat Buchanan’s new book Suicide of a Superpower (St. Martin’s Press) when I read that MSNBC had fired him as a political commentator for expressing views offensive to political correctness as practiced at that left-leaning network. (“Left-leaning” as applied to MSNBC comes from the Los Angeles Times, which is […]

Dan Savage: Bully
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Dan Savage: Bully

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by on May 04, 2012 in Featured, On Media, The Homosexual Agenda
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They used to arrest middle-aged perverts who get their jollies from talking dirty to children. Today, they get a television show, a nationally syndicated column, a lecture circuit and multiple visits to the Obama White House. You know: “Forward.” The irony is palpable. Dan Savage, sex columnist and founder of the LGBT anti-bullying “It Gets […]

Calling People "Vegetables": Where Did it Come From?
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Calling People “Vegetables”: Where Did it Come From?

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by on May 04, 2012 in Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide, Featured
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The term “vegetative state” became popular at the “birth” of bioethics (1978 Belmont Report). It is traced to the “delayed personhood” arguments used at the beginning of life issues: first the vegetative soul is present, then later the sensitive soul is added, and finally (about 3-4 months) the rational soul is added. Then and only […]

<i>The Vow</i>: A Story of True Love
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The Vow: A Story of True Love

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by on May 04, 2012 in Featured, Marriage, On Media
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About a month ago, I went to see the movie The Vow fully prepared for it to be an overall disappointment.  It certainly delivered, except for one scene that actually makes the movie worth seeing. The mother tells her upset daughter that she stayed with her husband after learning of his lengthy affair because she […]

The Herx Case: Is it About God's Law or Politics?
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The Herx Case: Is it About God’s Law or Politics?

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by on May 03, 2012 in Featured, Reproductive Technology
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Recently, Emily Herx, a teacher in a Catholic school, announced to the nation through major media outlets that she had been fired from a Catholic school because she used in vitro fertilization in an attempt to get pregnant. Herx is now suing St. Vincent DePaul Catholic School and the Fort Wayne, Indiana, Catholic diocese for […]

Carter to Obama: Same Old Story on Energy Policy
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Carter to Obama: Same Old Story on Energy Policy

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by on May 03, 2012 in Featured, The Economy
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As spring bloomed, the president addressed the nation on energy. The president told us, “Without our planning for the future, it will get worse … The oil and natural gas that we rely on for 75 percent of our energy is simply running out.” Unless profound changes are made in the next decade, the president […]

Underachiever
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Underachiever

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by on May 03, 2012 in Education, Featured
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When I was a Sophomore in high school, I was assigned a research paper that was to make up a percentage of my overall English grade. I purchased a sizable stack of index cards per instructions and immediately set to work filling them in. As I sat surveying the small mountain of ridiculous index cards […]

Poem: "Transfiguration"
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Poem: “Transfiguration”

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by on May 03, 2012 in Poetry
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Transfiguration They came upon You And really saw you for once! Your full radiance unmasked Like a late afternoon sun Glaring through a windshield. Your light dazzled and confounded them The apostles fell to the ground You filled the deep craters of their hearts Saturating their emptiness There on that mountain In the full face […]

What Biotech Needs Most
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What Biotech Needs Most

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by on May 02, 2012 in Cloning, Embryo Research & Genetics, Featured, Reproductive Technology
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Over the years, I have given a lot of talks on biotechnology.  I have one on the ethics of genetic testing, one on the ethics of human genetic engineering and one on stem cell research and cloning. My talks, especially the one on cloning, are not all uplifting and feely-good.  Most people come in all […]

God and the Elderly
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God and the Elderly

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by on May 02, 2012 in Featured, Live in Christ, Men, Women
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Belief in God increases with age. That is the finding of a longitudinal study by researchers at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. The Center conducted three surveys on religious faith, questioning people of different age groups in 30 different countries. The surveys—conducted in 1991, 1998, and again in 2008—explored the range of […]

Aiming at China, Blind Lawyer Forces U.S. to Deal with Forced Abortions
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Aiming at China, Blind Lawyer Forces U.S. to Deal with Forced Abortions

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by on May 02, 2012 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured, Government & Politics, International Issues
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One man is forcing Hillary Clinton to pay attention to abuses against women. The woman who famously said in Beijing in 1995 that “women’s rights are human rights” has been excruciatingly silent since she’s come into power about one of the worst abuses against women. Mrs. Clinton’s first trip to China as U.S. Secretary of […]

Upcoming Movie Review: <i>For Greater Glory</i>
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Upcoming Movie Review: For Greater Glory

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by on May 01, 2012 in Apologetics, Columnists, Featured, Government & Politics, History, Law & Justice, On TV and Movies
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I’m doing something I’ve never done before. I’ve never written a movie review for a movie I have not yet seen or a book review for book I have not yet read. But I am so excited by the “buzz” about an upcoming movie that I thought I’d let you in on some of it. […]

<i>Beyond the Birds and the Bees</i> by Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak
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Beyond the Birds and the Bees by Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak

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by on May 01, 2012 in Featured, On Books, Parenting
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For the past few months, I’ve had the great pleasure of a biweekly radio chat with Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak, Directors of the Pastoral Solutions Institute and authors of Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Raising Sexually Whole and Holy Kids. As a major fan of Dr. Greg and Lisa’s work, their writing, and […]

Nine Lawsuits for Religious Freedom – A Brief Rundown of the Arguments
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Nine Lawsuits for Religious Freedom – A Brief Rundown of the Arguments

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by on May 01, 2012 in Columnists, Contraception & Abortion, Featured, Law & Justice
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There are now nine lawsuits, including one brought by Priests for Life, that have been filed in federal district courts around the country challenging the Obama administration’s HHS mandate that requires employers to provide coverage for activities that many of them believe people should not do. There is value to having multiple lawsuits because, having […]

Reflections for Sunday, May 6, 2012
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Reflections for Sunday, May 6, 2012

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by on May 01, 2012 in Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts 9:26-31; Psalm 22:26-28,30-32; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8) Allowing Ourselves to be Pruned by God, To Bear Fruit for his Kingdom “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” (John 15:5) How comforting it is to know that we do not walk […]

Poem: "April Weather"
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Poem: “April Weather”

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by on May 01, 2012 in Poetry
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April Weather The dogwood spreads an April skirt White as would be dyed by fullers, Transfiguration was the word Attended then by Simon Peter But Good Friday was not lucky Heaven’s voice that day was stilled, The belly of Gethsemane The dark of night the Father willed In brightness death, in death a brightness Difficult […]