These two websites (Catholic News Agency and Catholic News Service) give two conflicting reports on the same story. The CNA article, it seems, doesn't mention something the CNS article does.
I'm just so confused....which one is right, and which one isn't?
UPDATE: Here's more on the issue, from Australia and England respectively.
"There's no energy on the non-zealot side of the cultural debate."
Some quotes - like this one - are just too exquisite to pass by. And so, taking a page out of G. K. Chesterton's book Tremendous Trifles, I will attempt to parody its style.
In more current news...
The Pope, for some reason, is "bypassing" Boston in his upcoming visit - point of fact, he's only going to New York and Washington, D.C. This, I suppose, proves beyond a doubt that Boston is now flyover country.
I think a lot of people are regretting the decision to let China have the Olympics. They're putting cell phone towers on Mount Everest, prohibiting Olympic athletes/attendees from having bibles...something tells me they'll next put a huge statue of Mao Zedong holding the Olympic Rings in Beijing. (By the way, the word "Beijing" is a blight on the eyes. Unlike "Peking" which had a tasteful clearness and lack of dots.)
In Venezuela, "reforming" a constitution apparently means creating a dictator and eliminating freedom of the press. Maybe they meant "reforming" in the sense that this is "reforming" a birthday cake.
Oh, and D.G.D. Davidson and I are doomed to MORTAL COMBAT!
On one side, the veteran of countless archaeological encounters and international Sharp Trowel Expert, on the other, a veteran of The Simplification with world-renowned prowess in blunt weaponry...
In the case of , um, this blog going dormant, I'll just say I don't much regret what I've done with my life (except the one time I used my sister's copy of Persuasion as tinder....and the time I ate Tabasco sauce straight....and some other things...)
Over and out.
1. Kill lots of people.
2. Deflect the blame and punishment to other people/things.
3. Become loathed.
Suppose the world's largest country collapses into anarchy because its population sank too low?
We'd probably notice what was going on, though...
Here's my fisk of the whole thing.
Globalization is turning out to be both a curse and a blessing:
How ironic that you say on the anniversary of September 11th.
During times of limitless communication, everything seems possible -- but nothing is stable. Whether they want to or not, people are swept away by the current of change.
I learned that when I was 15. Or maybe even earlier.
The search for orientation in this world is immense and many people look to religion for support and answers.
Bah humbug. I knew that when I was seven.
Seriously, the reason folks look to religion for support and answers is that religion is the only thing that gives us answers to certain questions, such as "What must I do to be happy?"
Be it the pope, who is celebrated like a pop star in the West,
BXVI is my homie!
or Islamist groups that are finding more followers in the Arab world,
Come ON! Tell us something about the Islamist groups other than that they're growing - we already knew that!
religion is once again an issue.
This is where knowing history would help.
Religion was an issue during the 1980's (see "Poland," "Iran,") and during the Vietnam War (see "Buddhist-Catholic Relations in Vietnam"),to name only two examples.
It gives them spiritual strength.
Undefined pronouns - "it" may be "religion" or "an issue," and "them" refers to a plural verb approximately four clauses away.
But religion is also a power that feeds conflicts and is abused for political interests.
I can name two other powers that feed conflicts and are abused for political interests. (Hint: one has to do with economics, the other with biology.)
What does this return to religion mean in times of globalization?
It means you won't be able to ignore the fact that the vast majority of the world has religious beliefs.
In features, interviews and analyses, Deutsche Welle tries to find answers in this dossier. Please click on the links below to join the search.
"Deutsche Welle tries to find answers....join the search." Sounds like Deutsche Welle is a character from a police drama.
What (you might wonder) possesses me to post this on the sixth anniversary of September 11th?
Well, because the attacks were motivated by religion (specifically, Islam - although a long-suppressed grudge against the West had a great deal to do with it as well). And, if this article means anything, it means that the editors of DW know little about religion, and therefore can hardly be much help in explaining what we have to do to prevent this from happening again.
At least they didn't ask us to convert to Islam. And they didn't use the word "Inquisition," to the great delight of the Sucrose Inquisition.
An interesting post on First Things about (as the quote implies) the similarities between modern and pagan culture.
Here's a few modern habits with traditional names:
Consulting a psychic - Consulting the oracle.
Reading one's horoscope - taking the auspices.
Come up with more.
So what if she said "I have no faith?"
It's not as shocking as this.
Since I won't be posting tomorrow, I figured I mind as well put this up. I was about to give a little dissertation on patriotism, but lo and behold! the Catechism of the Catholic Church reared its head.
Read the whole article - it places patriotism in its larger context, namely in the Fourth Commandment. After all, it is accurate to call our country "fatherland," even when describing the country in feminine terms.
ARTICLE 4 - THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
I am willing to use any excuse to load myself with champagne.
Seriously, I wonder (a) if my rather cynical interpretation of the situation has been disproved by this, or (b)whether this means some high-profile schismatics are about to return to the Church or yield a point to the Magisterium.
I have only been to one Tridentine Mass in my life, coincidentially the wedding mass of the Former Babysitter. I have but one complaint - it was hard to hear the priest even when he was speaking out loud.
I kind of like the idea of Novus Ordo for ordinary Masses and Tridentine for extraordinary. Especially if (a)they use 20 or 30 servers who belt out the responses and (b)lots of incense.
I feel like invading the whole Middle East.
More practically, it might not hurt to offer refugee visas to any Iraqi Christians who might want it - America is a 99 percent terrorist-free nation.
but first a recap.
I spent the whole of last week doing school. Well, except for Friday. That day, the Former Babysitter got married, and I was invited. It was a good wedding, the groom was a good man, and there was plenty of dancing at the reception afterwards.
Anyhow, the explanation. I'm behind in school. Way behind in school. Therefore, I'm only going to post on weekends, and then only if I can. It's all a matter of prioritizing (i.e. deciding what will help me make money in the long run; blogging is more a game than a profession.
Another thing I have to do is read some of the books that actually are on my "To Read" list at the side. I'll hopefully get some of those read now.
This state of affairs shall last until July 8th, when a cataclysmic change in my lifestyle shall (temporarily) occur. A change which, hopefully, will increase the amount of time I have for blogging.
The one thing necessary for the survival of the human race encourages religious belief!
Uncanny coincidence? Malicious plot of Fate? You decide.
Coffee, in my opinion, should have a maximum of three ingredients: coffee, sugar, and cream. Yet I'd pay extra on coffee to get Internet access, so you know where I stand on this particular subject.
I don't live in South Dallas, if you're wondering.
Anyone who has some bug spray they haven't any use for?
Seriously, technology shouldn't be all work and no play.
I personally prefer flesh-and-blood dogs, though.
Fortunately, they are this stuck-up.
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I'm waiting for someone to look at the Middle East and decide "Hey, when do we get to stop recieving attacks from the Imperialist/Jewish/Crusader forces and maybe conquer something?"
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It will be a while, but eventually it will come, I am certain...
Maybe I'm obsessed, but misusing words such as "terrorism" really gets my goat. And even when L'osservatore Romano is the culprit, I get awful annoyed at the perpetrator.
Terrorism we can define as 1)acts of physical violence 2)which are intended to hurt or kill civilians in order to 3)instill fear and thus compliance with the terrorist's political/social goals.
For instance, al-Quaeda engages in terrorism in order to bring down non-Muslim regimes and install their Jihadist Islam. The Virginia Tech massacre was not terrorism - no political or social goal was intended, just slaughter. And slurring the Pope, no matter how vile the words used may be, is not terrorism - it's not physical.
Phew, that's out of my system!
In other news, China boasts about effectiveness of national suicide in reducing greenhouse gases.
The kicker in the China article:
Demographers predict that there will be 40 million unmarried men in China by 2020 and the situation is already creating a dramatic rise in prostitution and the buying and selling of women.
Nobody saw that one coming!
