Monday, December 31, 2012

Energy Resources, Change, and Assumptions

Before getting to what I think of "a worldwide redistribution of energy resources," I'd better lay some groundwork.

'Inevitable Progress,' 'We're All Gonna Die,' and Getting a Grip

Two equally silly ideas have been taken quite seriously:
  • Technology and science will solve all our problems
  • Technology and science cause all our problems
I've been over that before. (December 17, 2012)

Technology, History, and Assumptions

Assuming that technology and science could solve every problem we have may not be as as daft as it seems. Not for someone living in England or America during the 19th century, or the first half of the 20th. At the beginning of that period, cholera and other diseases killed many who survived the occasional famine.

Then everything changed:
  • 1801 to 1899
    • Anesthesia
    • Antiseptics
    • The Jacquard Loom
    • The McCormick reaper
    • Steam locomotives
    • The telegraph
    • A variety of electric lighting devices
      (about.com: 1800s)
  • 1900 to 1950
    • Air conditioners
    • Kidney dialysis machines
    • Neon lights
    • Penicillin
    • Talking motion pictures
    • Radio transmitters and receivers
    • Zeppelins
      • Okay: so not all inventions caught on
      (about.com: 1900s)
I think nuclear weapons, smog, and daytime television programming took some of the luster off the 'technology will solve everything' notion: just as Auschwitz and Dachau encouraged a reevaluation of 'inevitable progress;' and that's another topic. (October 30, 2010)

Freedom, Faith, and Me

I'm a Catholic. I take my faith seriously, so I'm obliged to:
  • Support religious freedom
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2104-2109)
    • For everyone
      (Catechism, 2106)
  • Act as if my faith matters
    (Catechism, 1815)
  • Be a good citizen
    (Catechism, 2238-43, 2255)
  • Work for social justice
    (Catechism, 1928-1942)
"Social justice?!" That isn't the moonstruck goofiness that seems to have peaked with political correctness. It's not the 'good old American values' that another set desperately wants either.

I've been over this before:

"Worldwide Redistribution of Energy Resources"

Like "social justice," the term "redistribution" has been associated with a fashionable ideology.

Benedict XVI's "redistribution" isn't that 'steal from the rich and give to the bureaucrats' nonsense, and I've been over this before. (October 22, 2012; July 30, 2012)

On the other hand, what the Pope says is as radical as any campus activist's dream.

We live in a world where some folks, including me, have access to a great deal of energy and other resources. I don't accept the 'Yankee imperialist warmonger oppressor' attitude: but I do recognize that the status quo isn't acceptable.

I think Americans can be a great deal more efficient about how we use energy. I also think that there can be 'enough to go around,' without pulling nations whose citizens have made Information Age technology possible down to pre-Industrial Age living standards.

If we're going to change the way we use energy and other resources - we're going to have to make changes. All of us.

When "redistribution" means being told that you're going to get what the 'fat cats' have, it looks good. When "redistribution" means changing a familiar way of life? That, I think, will not be popular: for both the 'haves,' and the 'have-nots.'

I am cautiously hopeful, particularly since we're developing more efficient technologies: and because I have seen people adjust to new ideas.

Here's what got me started today:
"...What is also needed, though, is a worldwide redistribution of energy resources, so that countries lacking those resources can have access to them. The fate of those countries cannot be left in the hands of whoever is first to claim the spoils, or whoever is able to prevail over the rest. ..."
("Caritas in Veritate," 49)

More posts about "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
"Caritas in Veritate"

posts:

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Ulysses, Tennyson, and Me

Being Catholic is fairly simple, or can be. The Apostles Creed is a pretty good summary. Being the sort of person I am, I broke that declaration of faith out into a hierarchical list.

I believe:
  • In
    • God
      • The Father almighty
      • Creator of heaven and earth
    • Jesus Christ
      • God's only Son
      • Our Lord.
  • Jesus
    • Was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
    • Was born of the Virgin Mary
    • Suffered under Pontius Pilate
    • Was crucified
    • Died
    • Was buried
    • Descended into hell
    • Rose again
      • On the third day
    • Ascended into heaven
    • Is seated at the right hand of the Father
    • Will come again to judge
      • The living
      • The dead
  • In the
    • Holy Spirit
    • Holy catholic Church
    • Communion of saints
    • Forgiveness of sins
    • Resurrection of the body
    • Life everlasting
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Credo Chart)
My guess is that many of the world's billion or so living Catholics don't enjoy organizing sets of information into charts, tables, and lists. Some do, including me.

We're all individuals, one-of-a-kind creations of God, who are supposed to look out for each other: and supposed to be the person God made us to be. I've been over this before:

Scholar, Nerd: Tomayto, Tomahto

One of my daughters noted that by temperament I'm a scholar and philosopher; another said that I'm a nerd. I think they're both right.

A nerd is "an insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or boringly studious," or "an intelligent but single-minded expert in a particular technical field or profession" (Princeton's WordNet)

I'd quibble with "insignificant," but I'm also the sort of person who habitually uses words like "quibble;" and, for that matter, "habitually."

As for being "single-minded," that's almost true about me. I'm only interested in three things, that which:
  • Exists within the universe
  • Exists beyond
  • Might exist
"Tomayto, tomahto? Fred Astaire and Ginger rogers sang about that in "Shall We Dance?" - and that's another topic. Topics.

"...To follow knowledge, like a sinking star..."

I've felt like this:
"...And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge, like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought...
"

"...for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die...
"
(Ulysses, Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
I have no intention of leaving my wife and family: but I do intend to continue learning as much as I can, for as long as I can.

Happily, I live in an era when someone like me, living near the center of the North American continent, has access to a sizable fraction of humanity's accumulated knowledge. Just 'catching up' would be the work of several lifetimes.

Even better, from my point of view, we're learning so much about how the universe works that one person can barely keep up with developments in one field of study. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm, and that's yet another topic.

Related posts:

Friday, December 28, 2012

Studying Thousands of Worlds; Defending Life and Conscience on Ours

As a Catholic, I'm expected to take an active part in public life, and contribute to the good of society. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1915, 2239)

Being 'so heavenly-minded that I'm no earthly good' isn't an option. (November 11, 2012; November 9, 2012)

I think it's also important to stop once in a while, look around, and learn a little more about this creation:
"...the things of the world
and the things of faith
derive from the same God...
"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 159)

"...The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect and will."
(Catechism, 341)

"...Science and technology are ordered to man, from whom they take their origin and development; hence they find in the person and in his moral values both evidence of their purpose and awareness of their limits."
(Catechism, 2293)

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft."
(Psalms 19:2)
As I've said before, worshiping God and refusing to learn about the Almighty's creation doesn't make sense. Not to me.

This week I took a look at what scientists expect from the Kepler Space Telescope next year; a reusable rocket's test flight; and efforts to defend freedom of religion:
  1. Looking for Earth's Twin
  2. 'One Short Hop for a Grasshopper...'
    Flight Test of a Reusable Rocket
  3. Hobby Lobby, Domino's Pizza, and an Archbishop

America: Freedom, Opportunity, and Slow Progress

The United States isn't perfect, but my native land has offered Americans a remarkable combination of freedom and opportunity for more that two centuries.

That freedom and opportunity hasn't been equitably distributed, but I think we're improving. I also think it's well to remember that America is more than the national government:
Today's America isn't run by the pale men who were 'the establishment' in my youth, and that's another topic:

Good News, Bad News, and Challenging the System

We've finally cleaned up some of the legal and social mess left by ethically-dubious decisions of the 18th and 19th centuries. That's the good news.

The bad news is that it's been legal to kill innocent people for decades, as long as the victim is too young, or too sick, to flee or fight. Recently, Americans who have qualms about killing the innocent are being forced to pay for this 'health care.'

Quite a few Americans have decided to challenge the national government's lethal health care mandate. They have help:

1. Looking for Earth's Twin

"First 'Alien Earth' Will Be Found in 2013, Experts Say"
Mike Wall, SPACE.com (December 27, 2012)

"The first truly Earth-like alien planet is likely to be spotted next year, an epic discovery that would cause humanity to reassess its place in the universe.

"While astronomers have found a number of exoplanets over the last few years that share one or two key traits with our own world - such as size or inferred surface temperature - they have yet to bag a bona fide 'alien Earth.' But that should change in 2013, scientists say.

" 'I'm very positive that the first Earth twin will be discovered next year,' said Abel Mendez, who runs the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo....
In February of 2010, astronomers had found 429 planets circling other stars.So far, only "100 or so" planets have been confirmed from the 2,300-plus 'possibles' flagged by the Kepler Space Telescope. Based on Kepler's reliability to this point, scientists think around 80% of the remaining planet sightings will turn out to be real worlds. (Space.com)

It's possible that before this time next year, Kepler may have spotted another planet that's about the same size as Earth, nearly the same temperature, and in a stable orbit around a star that's a bit like our own.

If that happens, it will be quite exciting. Particularly since astronomers are searching only a tiny fraction of this galaxy's volume:


(Space.com, used w/o permission)
"Astronomers have discovered more than 700 alien planets beyond the solar system, and the count is rising all the time. Some are large and hot, and others are smaller and cooler, but scientists are still on the lookout for an Earth twin.

"They just got closer, with the announcement Dec. 5 of a planet found by NASA's Kepler space telescope to lie in the habitable zone around its star where liquid water, and perhaps life, could exist...." (Space.com)

Vast, Ancient, and Filled With Wonders

Such a discovery might be a shock to folks who seem to be uncomfortable with the idea that God created a vast, immensely ancient, universe. Folks being upset about new ideas is - nothing new.

For example, when some scholars said that other worlds might exist, others decided that there couldn't be any worlds other than the one we're standing on. The 'one world' argument seems to have been that Aristotle said there weren't other worlds: so there weren't. I'm over-simplifying the situation, of course.

The Catholic Church stepped into the debate: and ever since, Catholics have been forbidden to claim that there cannot be other worlds. That was over seven centuries ago, in 1277. (January 29, 2012)

Even if we don't discover 'another Earth' next year, I'm looking forward to what we do learn about this astonishing universe.

Neighbors?

It's even remotely possible that we may soon learn that we have neighbors, who are as aware as we are, whose home is another planet: and who are not human. I often use the term "space alien" when referring to these possible neighbors, but agree with Brother Guy Consolmagno:
"...Frankly, if you think about it, any creatures on other planets, subject to the same laws of chemistry and physics as us, made of the same kinds of atoms, with an awareness and a will recognizably like ours would be at the very least our cousins in the cosmos. They would be so similar to us in all the essentials that I don't think you'd even have the right to call them aliens."
(Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? "Brother Astronomer," Brother Guy Consolmagno (2000))
I think it's quite possible that "creatures on other planets ... with an awareness and a will recognizably like ours" exist. That emphatically does not mean that I 'believe in flying saucers.' For one thing, this creation is huge:
"...That vast expanse of time, and the physical size of the universe, is part of why I think we may 'not be alone.' Over the last 1,000,000 years, we've gone from burning our fingers on campfires to plugging leaks in reactors. That's 1/13,030 of the age of the universe, and 1/4,000 the age of Earth. Over the last 100 years, we've gone from having some interesting math that said interplanetary travel might be possible, to robot explorers mapping the outer Solar system.

"If there is life somewhere else in the universe, if it's 'close' on a cosmic scale, and if that life includes someone with the sort of itchy curiosity some of us have - - - That's a lot of 'ifs.'..."
(April 17, 2012)

2. 'One Short Hop for a Grasshopper...' Flight Test of a Reusable Rocket


"Experimental Private Rocket Makes Highest Test Hop Yet"
Miriam Kramer, SPACE.com (December 26, 2012)

"A privately built rocket prototype that could lead to a completely reusable spaceflight system has passed its biggest test yet - a 12-story hop and smooth landing.

"The experimental reusable rocket, called the Grasshopper, made its highest and longest flight yet on Dec. 17, marking the prototype's third successful test by the private spaceflight company SpaceX.

"In the latest test at SpaceX's proving grounds in MacGregor, Texas, the Grasshopper rocket flew for 29 seconds and reached a height of more than 130 feet (40 meters). A video of the Grasshopper test flight shows the rocket soaring up into the Texas sky, then smoothly descending to land on four spindly legs...."


SpaceX and other companies are working at removing a major obstacle to commercial service to low Earth orbit and beyond: replacement costs for launch vehicles.

Even the Space Shuttle used single-use, throwaway fuel tanks and booster rockets. That's been good enough for very limited, government-funded, applications like the International Space Station.

But if people are going to travel to orbiting facilities on a more regular basis, we need something like an airline: with vehicles that are good for more than one flight.

Think about it: how long would an airline last, if the company had to throw away much of each airliner after one trip?

SpaceX isn't alone. Other companies are working on their own reusable transportation systems, and at least one is focusing on the real estate angle:
These are exciting times.

3. Hobby Lobby, Domino's Pizza, and an Archbishop

"Hobby Lobby turns to Supreme Court for mandate relief"
Michelle Bauman, CNA/EWTN News (December 20, 2012)

"Arts and crafts giant Hobby Lobby will appeal to the nation’s highest court after an appeals court ruled the federal contraception mandate does not impose a “substantial burden” on the owners’ religious freedom.

" 'The Green family is disappointed with this ruling,' said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is handling the case.

"He explained that the Christian family that owns and operates Hobby Lobby must now 'seek relief from the United States Supreme Court.'

" 'The Greens will continue to make their case on appeal that this unconstitutional mandate infringes their right to earn a living while remaining true to their faith,' Duncan said....
As I've said before, "freedom" doesn't mean forcing other people to agree with me: or having a national government telling citizens what they're allowed to believe, and what they're not.

The Catholic Church places a high value on each individual's freedom to believe, or not believe:
  • Religious freedom is vital
    (Catechism, 2104-2109)
    • For everybody
      (Catechism, 2106)
I've posted about this before, fairly often:

Supporting Health Care

Health care is a good idea. Catholic bishops have supported some form of universal health care since 1919. (March 16, 2012)

What the Catholic Church doesn't allow 'health care' that deliberately kills an innocent person.

The Catholic Church also insists that all human beings are people, and that ethics exist. That creates an awkward situation for Catholics in today's America:
  • Some actions are always wrong
    (Catechism, 1789)
    • Even if the President says it's okay
      (Catechism, 2242)
  • Human life
    • Is sacred
      (Catechism, 2258)
    • Begins at conception
    • (Catechism, 2270, 2274)
  • Murder is wrong
    (Catechism, 2259-2262, 2268-2269)
The good news is that a remarkable number of Americans take God seriously, and are willing to defy the nation's chief executive. The amazing news is that America's judicial system isn't rubber stamping the President's 'health care' policies.

Finish the Race, Keep the Faith

"Bishops urged to imitate St. Thomas More in mandate fight"
CNA/EWTN News (December 20, 2012)

"Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has held up the 16th century's Saint Thomas More as a model of courage for bishops in the face of the federal contraception mandate.

" 'America's Catholic bishops cannot simply grumble and shrug, and go along with the mandate now, without implicating themselves in cowardice,' he wrote in a Dec. 19 column for The Witherspoon Institute.

" 'Their current resolve risks unraveling unless they reaffirm their opposition to the mandate forcefully and as a united body. The past can be a useful teacher. One of its lessons is this: The passage of time can invite confusion and doubt - and both work against courage.'

"St. Thomas More, a leading politician of his day, lived at the time of the Anglican schism, when King Henry VIII made himself head of the Church in England. English bishops protested the move at first, but with time all but one, Saint John Fisher, acquiesced to the move....
I think it's easier to see the wisdom of persistence after the fact:
"4 I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith."
(2 Timothy 4:7)
What has impressed me so far is that Catholic bishops in America have been unanimous in defying government efforts to make Americans violate our conscience. It is good to have leaders who act like leaders.

Pizza and Principles

"Domino's founder sues over contraception mandate"
Michelle Bauman, CNA/EWTN News (December 17, 2012)

"Tom Monaghan, the founder and former owner of Domino's Pizza, is suing the federal government over a controversial mandate that requires him to violate his Catholic faith in his business decisions.

"The lawsuit described the contraception mandate as 'an unprecedented despoiling of religious rights' that both 'attacks and desecrates a foremost tenet of the Catholic Church.'

"It pointed to Thomas Jefferson's statement that 'No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.'

"Filed Dec. 14 by Thomas More Law Center, the lawsuit challenges a federal mandate requiring employers to offer health insurance covering contraception, sterilization and early abortion drugs, even if doing so violates their firmly-held religious beliefs....
The amoral business owner has been a mainstay of recent fiction, much as the cruel slave owner and lecherous landlord drove the plot in an earlier day. ("A George Jean Nathan Reader;" George Jean Nathan, George Jean Nathan, Arnold Leslie Lazarus; 332, via Google Books (1990))

I'm quite sure that some business owners are ethically challenged. But I think it's fairly clear that some aren't: even if they aren't on the same page as their nation's leadership.

I have nothing against stereotypes, as long as they don't become a substitute for thinking: and that's another topic. (January 15, 2012; March 8, 2011)

Related posts:
More:

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Jesus, God, and What St. Augustine Said

God's decision to become fully human, Jesus the Christ, doesn't make sense. Not to me, not if by "make sense" I mean fully understanding the Almighty's motives and methods.

As I've said before, God's God, I'm not: and there are some things I probably can't understand. Not with the few pounds of neural circuitry that's between my ears.

I like to understand things, but think St. Augustine was right:
"If you understood him, it would not be God"
(St. Augustine)
(Quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 230)
I have decided to follow the Word made Flesh, Jesus who in the beginning was with God, and is God. (John 1:1-14)

Sidestepping the Incarnation

Having trouble with the idea that Jesus is God and human isn't new. Neither is someone coming up with an alternative to that pivotal reality.

Two ways to sidestep the Incarnation showed up fairly early; three, counting a sort of 'compromise.'

Folks have said that Jesus:
  • Is not really human (Gnosticism)
    • Catechism, 465
  • Is human, with a God implant (Nestorianism)
    • Catechism, 466
  • Started human, then became purely divine (Monophysitism)
    • Catechism, 467
My guess is that variations on Gnosticism, Nestorianism, and Monophysitism, will continue to pop up. I wrote about the first two earlier this month. (December 18, 2012; December 12, 2012)

A new wrinkle is to take the Nestorian idea that Jesus started human; and wasn't divine at all. Pretending that God doesn't matter, or doesn't exist, has been been very 'in.' (August 8, 2012)

Faith, Philosophy, and History

Saying that Jesus was human, and nothing more, is probably still a good way to be considered 'intelligent' in some circles.

But sometimes it's prudent to ask 'do I really want their approval?'

I've decided to follow the man who wouldn't stay dead; whose outfit has been riding out the rise and fall of empires and civilizations for two millennia.

There's full-bore dualism, too, and that's another topic. (August 31, 2011)

Monophysitism: Having it Both Ways

Monophysitism comes from two Greek words that mean "one" and "nature." It's the idea that Jesus was human, and divine: but not at the same time. I'm oversimplifying the concept, but that seems to be the gist of it.

I'll grant that it may be easier to believe that God couldn't - or didn't - become one of us, human, with a divine nature and a human nature. But my Lord didn't promise us "easy:" and, yep, that's yet another topic.

The fourth ecumenical council, at Chalcedon in 451, said that Jesus is God and man. Again.

They said that Jesus Christ is:
  • Perfect in
    • Divinity
    • Humanity
  • Truly God and truly man
    • Composed of
      • Rational soul
      • And body
    • Having the same substance or essence as
      • God the Father
        • Being divine
      • You and me
        • Being human
    (from Catechism, 467)

"Two Natures Without ... Separation"

Discussions of Who, and What, Jesus is can get quite technical: using terms like consubstantial, hypostasis, and πρόσωπον (prosopon). Here's part of what the Council of Chalcedon said, translated into my native language:
"...We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division, or separation. The distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis.92"
(Catechism, 467)
Jesus grew and learned, like we do; and was tempted, as we are: but did not sin. (Luke 2:52; Hebrews 4:15)

When my Lord was executed, a very real human life ended. What happened after that is - what else? - another topic.

Related posts:

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas: a Miniature Helicopter; Joy; and Hope

We've been having a nice Christmas get-together in my house. My son-in-law is testing the airworthiness of a miniature helicopter in the other room, my wife is napping upstairs, and I'm taking a break at my desk.

There's more to this season than relatives renewing their bonds and unwrapping gifts:
"...Joy is the true gift of Christmas, not expensive presents that demand time and money.

"We can transmit this joy simply: with a smile, with a kind gesture, with some small help, with forgiveness...."
("Visit to the Roman Parish of Santa Maria Consolatrice," Benedict XVI (December 18, 2005))
(quoted on the USCCB website (2012))
This joy comes, in part, from knowing why we're celebrating. About two thousand years ago, God stepped into the world, getting personally involved:
"10 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

"to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary."
(Luke 1:26-27)

"And the Word became flesh 9 and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth."
(John 1:14)
Mary's baby grew up; broke the power of sin and death; then left, giving us instructions and a promise:
"11 Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, 12 and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 13 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)
And that's another topic.

More:
Related posts:

Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve, and Not Much to Say: For Now

Since it's Christmas Eve, I'm going 'off-schedule.'

Normally I'd have a post about some special topic ready for Monday morning. I've been giving my take on "Caritas in Veritate," one or two sections at a time, and plan to be back with more of that next week.

I may be back, later today or tomorrow, with something Christmas-oriented: then again, I may not. I'm focusing rather tightly on celebrating my Lord's birth, and hanging out with my family.

Right now, instead of the scheduled post, I've put together links to what I've written before about Christmas, social justice, and economics.

Social Justice? Economics? in a Religious Blog?!

Those last two terms, social justice and economics, may seem out of place in a "religious" blog. I don't think so, because I don't see a point in believing something without thinking that the belief mattered in 'real life.'

I'm not "political," in the sense that I claim that one person or party is always right, and that anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool, a knave, or worse.

I've been identified as 'some conservative guy;' but I'm not. I'm Catholic. That means that I'm neither liberal nor conservative: and I'm certainly not "moderate." Not in the lukewarm, go-with-the-flow sense of that term.

"Social Justice" isn't the sort of ideologically-driven goofiness we've seen in America and elsewhere during much of the 20th century. Not from the Catholic Church's point of view.
Enough of that. Here are those more-or-less-related posts:

Sunday, December 23, 2012

"...That Very One I had in Mind!"

Readings for December 23, Fourth Sunday in Advent 2012:

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2012

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
December 23, 2012

Maula Powers is a storyteller. In an issue of Catholic Digest some years ago, Ms. Powers told about a creature called the "Advent Teufel." The word in German means devil.

According to an old German folktale it is an Advent devil who tries during the Advent season to keep people so busy in other affairs that they lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas. The Advent devil doesn't want people to have time to experienced a rebirth of Christ within themselves.

The temptations of the Advent devil are diabolically clever. He makes it so easy for us to go along with the flow of seasonal celebrations. The Advent devil's business is to keep us all busy with holiday obligations that we forgo daily prayer, Scripture study, and even Mass. Some of us have been fighting the Advent devil this year. Hopefully, we now have him under control. Just a couple more days, I hope you are in a position to use that little bit of time that's left to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

Our lesson from Luke's Gospel takes place some months before the birth of Christ in fact, Mary has only the recently learned from the angel that she will bear a child, a child conceived of the Holy Spirit. Almost immediately, Mary decides to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. This meant she had to travel about 100 miles south to the hill country of Judea.

This would be about a five day journey, an amazing trip for a young teenage pregnant girl. It's disconcerting to realize that Mary would have been about in the ninth and maybe the 10th grade when this happened to her, by our reckoning. And maybe this played a role in her decision to visitor Elisabeth. After all, for having a child out of wedlock she could be stoned for adultery. At the very least she could be rejected by Joseph and parents and village.

Elizabeth was married to a priest named Zachariah. Elizabeth was a descendent of the Hebrew people's first high priest, Aaron. They were a deeply religious people. Luke describes him as being righteous.

Elizabeth was also pregnant for the first time. She would also face ridicule. The source of Elizabeth's social torment however would be her age. There would be those who would whisper to their friends, "isn't she too old to have a baby?" Elizabeth was far beyond normal childbearing years yet, in fact Gabriel came to her long before he came to Mary to announce her sons coming.

Elizabeth's son was not divinely conceived any more than you and I were, but his birth was significant. He would be the forerunner of the Messiah. And of course we know him to be John the Baptist.

Elizabeth and Mary were quite the pair: one of them being too old to be a mother and the other too young. But both were in the hands of God.

And of course you and I know full well the Magnificat that came from the exchange of these two mothers.

And one last story: Tom Long tells the story of the church drama group presenting Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" in the church fellowship hall. The final scene calls for Scrooge, now transformed and joyful, to greet Christmas day by throwing open his window and shouting, Merry Christmas everyone! He peered out into the street looking for someone to deliver Christmas presents for him to the needy of London.

The actor playing Scrooge was actually facing the audience through the window, and was to act as if he saw a street urchin passing by. "Hey, you boy, you there!" He shouted, "Come up here, boy, I got something wonderfully for you to do today!"

Then the unexpected happened. A six-year-old boy, sitting in the audience with his family, spontaneously stood up and walked out onto the stage. He had seen Scrooge looking at him, and he was ready to do something wonderful. The actor playing Scrooge was faced with the dilemma. He had to do something, and he didn't want to embarrass the boy. He finessed it beautifully. "Yes, indeed!" He said, "You are the one, that very one I had in mind!" Then he triumphantly led the boy back to his seat in the audience, thanked him and returned to the stage some thought it had even been planned.

From with in the story of Christmas, do you hear a voice calling you? Merry Christmas, Jesus has something wonderful for you to do for Him today!

Be Good, be Holy, preached the Gospel always and if necessary use words!

'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.

More reflections:
Related posts:

Genesis to Luke: A Long Journey to Christmas

I found a pretty good guide for Christmas preparations yesterday:
  • Visit a live Nativity scene. Does it help you imagine Jesus's actual birth?
  • Read the seventh lesson from our Festival of Lessons & Carols and listen to the podcast.
  • Include the O Antiphon for today in your prayer.
  • Reflect on the Canticle of Mary in Chapter 1 of Luke's Gospel which is prayed every evening as part of Evening Prayer (or vespers) in the Liturgy of the Hours.
("Saturday of the Third Week of Advent;" December 22, 2012; Advent, Liturgical Resources, Prayer and Worship, USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops))

Minnesota Winters and Live Nativity Scenes

I didn't do the first item on that list. Even if there was a live Nativity scene here in Sauk Centre, I'd greatly prefer staying inside where it's warm.

Central Minnesota's climate is more - varied - than the eastern Mediterranean's.

An average low temperature for this time of year there is about 47 degrees Fahrenheit: above zero. Around here, it's colder. Quite a bit colder. The climate doesn't encourage going outside in reasonable imitations of 1st-century Middle Eastern clothing.

I spend a little time in front of a little Nativity scene my family set up in the living room, though. Did it help me imagine the birth of Jesus? I suppose so: it's a pretty good way to focus attention, at least.

Three Magi

The second item, today's entry in Festival of Lessons & Carols, is about the three wise men who came looking for the "newborn king of the Jews." They checked in with the region's ruler on reaching Jerusalem; and asked for help. (Matthew 2:1-12)

Happily, the magi didn't check in with the king on their way back. Joseph and Mary fled the country, and that's almost another topic.

"Antiphon?"

Number three on the list, the "O Antiphon," went quickly. It's apparently called the "O Antiphon" because each of the seven responses starts with "O."1

By the way, "antiphon" isn't against anything, quite. The word means "a verse or song to be chanted or sung in response." (Princeton's WordNet)

The Canticle of Mary, and an Online Dictionary

I read the Canticle of Mary, Luke 1:46-55, which took care of part of the list's final item.

Reflecting on that passage from Luke doesn't mean holding a mirror in front of my computer's monitor, although I suppose it could.

"Reflect" means quite a few things. Princeton's WordNet gives an oddly unhelpful definition for the sort of reflecting the USCCB had in mind: "reflect deeply on a subject." (WordNet)

I mean to say: 'reflect means to reflect deeply???' The good news is that they also give a number of synonyms for that meaning:
  • Chew over
  • Think over
  • Meditate
  • Ponder
  • Excogitate
  • Contemplate
  • Muse
  • Mull
  • Mull over
  • Ruminate
  • Speculate
    (Princeton's (WordNet)
After chewing and thinking over Luke 1:46-55, I meditated, pondered, excogitated (yes it's a real word), contemplated, mused, mulled over, ruminated, and even speculated. I also got distracted by other Advent readings.

By the time I was through, I had the rest of this post written.

A Promise Made, a Promise Kept

The first of those "Festival of Lessons and Carols" lessons included a reading from Genesis 3. That's where Adam tries to blame his wife, and God, for the mess they're in. (Genesis 3:12)

That bit of evasion ended about as well as could be expected. With 20-20 hindsight, we see a hint that humanity had hope:
"Then the LORD God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.

"3 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.' "
(Genesis 3:15)

Footnote 3 for Genesis 3 (NAB)

"...He will strike . . . at his heel: since the antecedent for he and his is the collective noun offspring, i.e., all the descendants of the woman, a more exact rendering of the sacred writer's words would be, 'They will strike . . . at their heels.' However, later theology saw in this passage more than unending hostility between snakes and men. The serpent was regarded as the devil (⇒ Wisdom 2:24; ⇒ John 8:44; ⇒ Rev 12:9; ⇒ 20:2), whose eventual defeat seems implied in the contrast between head and heel. Because 'the Son of God appeared that he might destroy the works of the devil' (⇒ 1 John 3:8), the passage can be understood as the first promise of a Redeemer for fallen mankind. The woman's offspring then is primarily Jesus Christ."
Much more recently, God's promise became a bit clearer. (Isaiah 11:1-10)

Then, about two millennia back, everything changed.

Two Messages

Gabriel had a message for an old man. Zachariah asked for proof, and got it. (Luke 1:13-25, particularly Luke 1:20)

Six months later, Gabriel was back, this time with a message for a young woman:
"10 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

"to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary."
(Luke 1:26-27)
Mary had a question, too:
"But Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?' 12"
(Luke 1:34)
Mary got proof: the unexpected pregnancy of her relative, Elizabeth. (Luke 1:36)
"...Mary's questioning response is a denial of sexual relations and is used by Luke to lead to the angel's declaration about the Spirit's role in the conception of this child (⇒ Luke 1:35). According to Luke, the virginal conception of Jesus takes place through the holy Spirit, the power of God, and therefore Jesus has a unique relationship to Yahweh: he is Son of God."
(Footnote 12 for Luke 1 (NAB))

"All Power in Heaven and Earth"

Mary's son grew up, and was recognized as the Son of God. (Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 16:16)

Later, Jesus of Nazareth was killed, stopped being dead, had a series of meetings with his followers, and gave instructions before leaving. (Matthew 28:9-10John 20:26-27; Luke 24:41-43; Matthew 28:19-20)

Quite a bit has happened since then. Kingdoms grew and faded, empires rose and fell, civilizations changed; but those final instructions haven't changed:
"11 Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, 12 and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 13 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)
Methods we use have changed, particularly in the last few decades: and that's another topic.

So are the reasons I'm not upset about what we've been learning, particularly in the last few centuries, about this creation. Lots more topics.

More-or-less-related posts:

1 "O Antiphon:"
"The Roman Church has been singing the "O" Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative 'Come!' embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah."

"December 17
"O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!

"December 18
"O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!

"December 19
"O Root of Jesse's stem, sign of God's love for all his people: come to save us without delay!

"December 20
"O Key of David, opening the gates of God's eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!

"December 21
"O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

"December 22
"O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

"December 23
"O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!"
(From "Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers")

Friday, December 21, 2012

Freedom, Joy, and Tau Ceti's Planets

"Freedom" shouldn't mean "free to agree with me." As a Catholic, I wouldn't be allowed to force others to believe as I do - even if I could. We're told to take freedom very seriously. Citizenship, too:
This week I found good news for folks who value freedom, and life; and exciting news from a team of astronomers:
  1. Good News: Two Religious Colleges
    Exempt from Lethal Health Care
  2. More Worlds: Planets Orbiting Tau Ceti
  3. Suffering and Joy During Advent
  4. Satawa's Nativity Scene is Back!

Freedom

I'm an American. I was born during the Truman administration, spent my youth in the '60s, remember the trailing edge of McCarthyism, and the heyday of political correctness. I like freedom, and am convinced that freedom is not being forced to go along with what a government wants.

If you follow this blog (thank you!) you've probably seen this before:
  • Religious freedom is vital
    (Catechism, 2104-2109)
    • For everybody
      (Catechism, 2106)
  • Some actions are always wrong
    (Catechism, 1789)
    • Even if the President says it's okay
      (Catechism, 2242)
  • Human life
    • Is sacred
      (Catechism, 2258)
    • Begins at conception
    • (Catechism, 2270, 2274)
  • Murder is wrong
    (Catechism, 2259-2262, 2268-2269)
Enough background. Here's my take on the week's news:

1. Good News: Two Religious Colleges
Exempt from Lethal Health Care

"Religious schools claim 'major victory' after ruling on contraception mandate"
FoxNews.com (December 19, 2012)

"Two religious-affiliated colleges claimed a 'major victory' Tuesday after a federal appeals court ordered the Obama administration to verify that it is revising the so-called contraception mandate in ObamaCare.

"The decision out of the D.C. Court of Appeals effectively reinstated a challenge that had been dismissed by lower courts. Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College were arguing against the federal health care overhaul rule that requires employers to provide access to contraceptive care.

"The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has represented several plaintiffs challenging the rule, hailed the court decision....
The Becket Fund "protects the free expression of all faiths." ("Our Mission," www.becketfund.org) The outfit is named after Thomas a Becket, an appointee of Henry II.

You've probably heard what happened. There was a conflict of interest, during which the English king apparently said "will no-one rid me of this troublesome priest?" (History Learning Site) Maybe it was "turbulent priest." (Spartacus Educational) Either way, Thomas a Becket was a troublemaker.

He's known as Saint Thomas a Becket now. Cleaning the blood off Canterbury's cathedral floor was probably rather easy. Cleaning Henry II's reputation wasn't, and that's another topic. I've mentioned St. Thomas a Becket before. (September 6, 2011)

Wheaton and Belmont Abbey colleges probably won't be the last organizations to need help, so here's where to find the Becket Fund:

America's Rulers and Religious Freedom

"...'The D.C. Circuit has now made it clear that government promises and press conferences are not enough to protect religious freedom,' Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund, said in a statement. 'The court is not going to let the government slide by on non-binding promises to fix the problem down the road.'

"The court ruling did not overturn the contraception mandate. Rather, it effectively put the court case on hold while requiring the Obama administration to follow through on its pledge to revise the mandate as it pertains to religious-affiliated groups.

" 'We take that as a binding commitment,' the court said in its ruling Tuesday. The court ordered the administration to file status reports every 60 days on its progress toward issuing a new policy in the first quarter of 2013.

"The contraception rule does include an exemption for religious organizations -- but that exemption does not cover many religious-affiliated organizations like schools and charities...."
(FoxNews.com)
The "exemption for religious organizations" is a joke.
"...The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain 'religious employers.' That exemption was made final in February and does not extend to 'Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital,' or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served...."
("USCCB Responds To Inaccurate Statement Of Fact On HHS Mandate Made During Vice Presidential Debate," USCCB Media News Release (October 12, 2012))
It seems to me that hospitals run by folks with ethical standards are in a Catch-22 situation. If they refuse to serve people outside their faith, they'd probably be guilty of discrimination on the basis of religion. If they are willing to help anybody, they have to offer lethal "womens' health services," or be fined out of existence.

It looks like a well-crafted scheme to edge 'religious people' out of health care. I can, in a way, admire the craftiness: but I don't approve. At all.

The Little Sisters of the Poor and Washington

"...Meanwhile, other groups have expressed concern about what the mandate will mean for their own survival. One group, The Little Sisters of the Poor, told The Daily Caller that the mandate could be a 'serious threat' to the group's U.S. mission of 300 nuns.

"The organization, as a Catholic group, opposes contraception, and the concern is that the fine that could be imposed for violating the rule would impose financial hardship. 'We have no extra funding that would cover these fines,' Sister Constance Carolyn Veit, spokeswoman for the organization, told the Caller...."
(FoxNews.com)
Reality check here. American news media, FoxNews.com included, tends to focus on the word "contraceptive" in these health care issues.

What the Department of Health and Human Services wants really is "contraception," as the word is used in my dialect of English. Messing with human reproduction on the physical, psychological, and philosophical levels, is a problem for practicing Catholics.

I hope a great many more folks would also be concerned about "contraception" that involves killing someone who has already been conceived.

Sure, humans aren't very pretty for the first few months. But we're still human, even if we can't speak for ourselves: or run away.
"...The Department of Health and Human Services mandate requires employers to provide coverage for 'preventive health.' It defines this coverage to include sterilization and contraception, including some abortion-causing drugs. The Obama administration's proposed compromise would mandate that insurance companies, not employers, provide this coverage.

"The mandate's religious exemption applies only to employers who primarily serve and employ their coreligionists and have the inculcation of religious values as their primary purpose...."
(CNA (March 8, 2012))
In the end, I'm confident that outfits like Little Sisters of the Poor will once again be free to help the poor and the helpless.

What concerns me is the process which will sort out today's lethal government policies. I hope that Americans will correct this problem though peaceful means: preferably by swapping out the lot we've got running our country in the next few elections.

2. More Worlds: Planets Orbiting Tau Ceti

"Potentially Habitable Planet Detected Around Nearby Star"
Mike Wall, SPACE.com (December 19, 2012)

J. Pinfield for the RoPACS network at the University of Hertfordshire, 2012, via Space.com, used w/o permission"A sun-like star in our solar system's backyard may host five planets, including one perhaps capable of supporting life as we know it, a new study reports.

"Astronomers have detected five possible alien planets circling the star Tau Ceti, which is less than 12 light-years from Earth - a mere stone's throw in the cosmic scheme of things. One of the newfound worlds appears to orbit in Tau Ceti's habitable zone, a range of distances from a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface.

"With a minimum mass just 4.3 times that of Earth, this potential planet would be the smallest yet found in the habitable zone of a sun-like star if it's confirmed, researchers said...."
A key word there is "perhaps." We don't know much about Tau Ceti's planetary system. These astronomers found the planets by sifting through information about the star's motion. My guess is that someone's going to challenge their conclusions soon.

However, Steve Vogt, of the University of California, Santa Cruz; and University of Hertfordshire's Mikko Tuomi; aren't crackpots. I think it's quite likely that they're right.

"They are everywhere..."

"...'This discovery is in keeping with our emerging view that virtually every star has planets, and that the galaxy must have many such potentially habitable Earth-sized planets,' study co-author Steve Vogt, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a statement. 'They are everywhere, even right next door.' [Gallery: 7 Potentially Habitable Exoplanets]

"The five planet candidates are all relatively small, with minimum masses ranging from 2 to 6.6 times that of Earth. The possibly habitable world, which completes one lap around Tau Ceti every 168 days, is unlikely to be a rocky planet like Earth, researchers said.

" 'It is impossible to tell the composition, but I do not consider this particular planet to be very likely to have a rocky surface,' lead author Mikko Tuomi, of the University of Hertfordshire in England, told SPACE.com via email. 'It might be a "water world," but at the moment it's anybody's guess.'..."
(Mike Wall SPACE.com)
The Space.com article doesn't explain Mikko Tuomi's "water world" comment. He's almost certainly talking about a planet that's mostly water: not just partly covered by water, like Earth. (Apathetic Lemming of the North (February 23, 2011)

What's exciting about Tau Ceti's planetary system, assuming that the study's conclusions hold up, is that they're very, very, close to being as massive as Earth. It's getting hard to keep up with the growing list of known and 'possible' planets circling other stars: including a few that might, maybe, be the right temperature and right size to support life.

Alone?

I don't 'believe in flying saucers.' But I don't believe that we're alone in the universe, either. I simply don't know whether we share this vast creation with other living creatures, or not.

However, as a practicing Catholic, I'm not allowed to say that there can't be other worlds like ours. That's been a rule since 1277.



3. Suffering and Joy During Advent

I think it's important to not that Archbishop Chaput wasn't speaking, or writing, directly to folks in Newtown, Connecticut. The post cited by CNA was on The Catholic Standard and Times' website. The ink-on-paper publication is gone, and that's another topic. ("About Us," CatholicPhilly.com)

I recommend reading Archbishop Chaput's column:

"Nothing Remotely Naïve"

"Archbishop Chaput: Advent's message relevant in wake of tragedy"
CNA/EWTN News (December 18, 2012)

"The message of Advent is applicable in today's world, especially in light of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia said in his Dec. 17 column.

" 'In these final days of Advent, the Church urges us to lift up our hearts and prepare to rejoice,' he said. 'There's nothing remotely naïve in this call to joy; the Church knows the harshness of the world far too well for empty pieties.'

"Even in the face of tragedy, such as the recent elementary school shooting in which a lone gunman killed his mother and 26 students and faculty at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Archbishop Chaput said that God is present...."
CNA/EWTN News apparently got a pre-publication release of Archbishop Chaput's column, which is dated December 19, 2012: which has nothing to do with what the archbishop said.

I think it's important to remember that there's more to Christmas than cheerful sentiments and 'presents under the tree.' As Archbishop Chaput said, "...'There's nothing remotely naïve in this call to joy....' "

I've posted about Christmas before:

"...Something to do With Free Will..."

"...When trying to comprehend the violence and evil that took place that day, people will ask how God could allow such suffering to exist in the world, the archbishop noted.

"Although these questions 'sound reasonable,' he said, they are 'all evasions,'

" 'We might as well ask, "Why does God allow us to be free?" '

"Archbishop Chaput recalled that humanity has the blessing of being loved unconditionally by its Creator. And although God seeks our love, 'we will never be coerced by the One who loves us.'..."
(CNA/EWTN News)
Free will is an awkward gift. We've got enormous power over our lives: and personal responsibility for our decisions.

I haven't run into very many good, brief, discussions of free will. Archbishop Chaput's is one; another was in, oddly enough, a Monty Python movie. (May 23, 2012) Some of my take on free will:
Archbishop Chaput had more to say about free will.

"God is Good ...We Human Beings are Free..."

"...'God is good, but we human beings are free, and being free, we help fashion the nature of our world with the choices we make,' he said.

"That means that while 'evil is frightening,' it is unfortunately 'not incomprehensible,' he wrote. 'We know it from intimate experience.'

" 'What we never quite expect is for our private sins, multiplied and fermented by millions of lives with the same or similar "little" sins, to somehow feed the kind evil that walks into a Connecticut school and guns down 26 innocent lives, 20 of them children,' he said...."
(CNA/EWTN News)
Archbishop Chaput isn't, I'm quite sure, telling us that we should writhe in anguish or stand petrified in fear at the wretched vileness of our bad habits. I've mentioned Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" before. Fairly often. (December 14, 2012; December 16, 2011; December 5, 2011)

"...Love is Stronger than Death..."

"... In the Old Testament, God revels that 'love is as strong as death,' Archbishop Chaput said. In God's redeeming plan, 'love is stronger than death.'

" 'The surprise is the persistence of God's fidelity and mercy. The surprise is that, despite our sins, we still long to be the people God intended us to be.'

"He said that 'the only effective antidote' to evil in the world is for each person 'to live differently from this moment forward.'

"'We make the future beginning now,' he added...."
(CNA/EWTN News)
He also suggested that we should pray for the grieving families in Newtown. That sounds like a good idea.

4. Satawa's Nativity Scene is Back!

"Long-time Michigan roadside nativity resurrected"
Carl Bunderson, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (December 18, 2012 )

"A 67-year-old tradition of placing a nativity scene on a public median in Warren, Mich. has been re-established after a four-year legal battle involving the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

" 'John Satawa was persistent enough to follow through,' CNA was told Dec. 17 by Richard Thompson, president of Thomas More Law Center, which represented Satawa, the crèche's caretaker...."
I've mentioned the Thomas More Law Center before. (August 20, 2012) They're one of many outfits trying to preserve freedom in America:
I think that's a good thing, even if today's establishment doesn't. I learned that the government isn't always right during my teens, and haven't forgotten 'the good old days:'
And that's another topic or two.

Well-Wishers, Carolers, and a Priest

"...Satawa is 'an individual citizen who was not going to disappear silently into the night, but was going to fight the decision of the road commission to maintain this tradition that had been going on since 1945,' Thompson said.

"The crèche was erected again Dec. 15 by Satawa, his family and friends, and local Boy Scouts, after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in his favor on Aug. 1.

"While the nativity scene was being erected, Warren police controlled traffic as well-wishers gathered, carolers sang Christmas songs, a priest from nearby St. Anne's Catholic Church blessed the display and passing motorists sounded their horns in approval...."
(Carl Bunderson, CNA)
It looks like at least some of Satawa's neighbors are happy about the crèche being back. Others may be appalled, disgusted, or insulted.

From The Smithsonian Collections: Plastic Flamingos, c. 1980 (Jason Pietra), used w/o permission.I wonder if anybody's looked into the possible harmful effects of pink plastic flamingos on the public's 'mental health.' And that's definitely another topic.

City Hall, Persistence, and Freedom

"...In 2008 the Macomb County Road Commission received a letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation objecting to a private citizen placing a nativity scene on a 60-foot-wide median.

"They claimed the crèche violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment, and the county immediately ordered the display removed.

"Satawa had gotten permission for the crèche several times, and in 1995 the local police department finally gave him a blanket permission to erect it in the future, so that he would not feel it necessary to ask again.

"On March 9, 2009, after receiving the Freedom from Religion Foundation's letter, a highway engineer for Macomb County, Robert Hoepfner, wrote to Satawa denying him a permit to resurrect the manger scene and only citing reasons related to the establishment clause for the denial.

"Satawa then sued the Macomb County Road Commission for violating his rights under the establishment and free speech clauses of the First Amendment, and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment...."
(Carl Bunderson, CNA)
Sometimes 'you can't fight city hall.' When Sauk Centre widened the street I live on, we lost three elms from the front yard. I was going to protest, but decided not to after seeing them used as an example of safety hazards. As it turns out, one of them had a hollow core: and would probably have fallen in the next big storm.

Sometimes a person can resist the powers that be, and win. Being right helps, I think.

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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.