Hell.com failed to sell for the $1 million its owners were asking for. (It didn't sell for the $8 million they wanted a few years ago, either.) Pretty picky for a domain name you got (AFAIK) for free. Of course, I have a friend who owns a domain with a desireable name (which happens to be his name) who offered it for $2 million to someone who asked. Then again, he really didn't want to sell it.
News Clips: October 2006 Archives
The Pope's Fisherman's Ring is a bit loose. Seems it fell off into the hands of a faithful twice while he was shaking hands. (They gave it back each time.)
A New Jersey court ruled that the Legislature must pass a law allowing gay marriage or civil unions. There were three dissenters (out of 7). One would think that the dissenters would be opposed to gay unions but as it turns out, they thought the majority didn't go far enough (they wanted outright gay marriage). Sigh.
(Sorry, no photo accompanies this entry!)
The country's bishops are setting some guidelines on ministry to those with same sex attraction. It does emphasize the need to adhere faithfully to church teaching, which is good. It also condemns discrimination ont he basis of sexual orientation, which is for the most part good. It also responds to charges that the church's teaching is unjust and imposes no obligation for those with SSA to pursue reparative therapy. The latter is probably mostly good. I think such people would benefit from therapy but I think we should avoid going to the extremes that some Christian ministries do in virtually promising that Jesus will cure them of their SSA.
Here's an interesting part: 'Sam Sinnett, president of DignityUSA, which represents gay and lesbian Catholics, said it was clear the document was prepared "by none of us for whom it is intended." "They speak in willful ignorance about people in same-gender families. They speak in willful ignorance about homosexuality - sexuality in general," Sinnett said.' Funny — I'm sure he'd be the first to suggest there are large numbers of homosexuals among the clergy, even the bishops, but here he claims that no one with SSA provided any input (an assertion I doubt).
He could have waited until Lent. Or at least the Philippian Fast (Advent) or Dormition Fast. I'm guessing he isn't Orthodox.
Married people are now in the minority in the U.S., at just under 50% of the population. The article notes that while people used to get married in order to have sex, now they get married to have children, but fewer are having children because of the expense. Living together is seen as a way of "test driving" marriage, ostensibly in view of the prevalence of divorce, but others have made the argument that those who live together before marriage are more likely to divorce compared to those who do not. (On the other hand, those who do not fornicate likely have a higher view of marriage in the first place, and likely have a strong aversion to divorce.)
I thought the woman who made the comment that she and her live-in boyfriend probably make more of an effort at the relationship because they don't have the "false security" of marriage to be rather cheeky. First of all, I'd like to hear why she thinks marriage provides "false security". It may be true that thinking your spouse will never, ever divorce you no matter what might lull some people into complacency, I think it's just as likely if not more so to spur you into making the relationship work, versus the cohabitation model where there is nothing preventing either from severing the relationship. I wonder also if she is thinking that the fear of getting dumped is a stronger motivator than wedding vows. That's really sad if that is the case.
I am duly impressed. A group of Muslim scholars has engaged the Pope in dialogue by rationally critiquing his statements about Islam, correcting errors and misinterpretations rather than blindly screaming bloody deprecations and carrying out acts of violence. They are giving him a real run for his money. I hope that he will respond in kind.
Here's a confirmed incident of a priest being killed specifically over the comments of the Pope on Islam. The pathetic thing is that the priest wasn't even Catholic.
Key quote from this adoptive mother who has come to the end of her rope and wants to unadopt her son: "You don't want to throw somebody away. But sometimes you have to."
Now I am definitely not judging this woman. She has a 15 year-old son with a troubled past she claims she was not informed about, who molested two of her other children. A psychiatrist got an order to keep him away from his siblings. She has a stellar record for foster care and adoption. There comes a time when enough is enough.
Still, I can't help but wonder how much damage it does to someone when your mother says she has to throw you away, and takes legal steps to do so. I would not have expressed it in terms of "throwing him away" if I were her. I would have refer to it as disowning him, or reneging on the adoption, or said "There comes a time when you can only put up with so much, then you have to make some difficult decisions."
According to sources, a universal indult for the Mass of Pius V (popularly known as the Tridentine Mass) has already been signed by the pope and will be published soon. Of course, you know how these thing go, they jumped the gun on the limbo declaration. But this has been rumored for a long time and the evidence is solid. While I have no personal affection for the Latin Mass, I think this will be a good thing for the church. This is said to be a precursor for reconciling the SSPX schism.
By the way "universal" comes with qualifications: If the bishop forbids it in writing, you cannot exercise it.
Amish neighbors, despite their grief, are raising money for the family of the man who shot and killed several of their children.. What an awesome display of true Christian charity.
I saw a man he was holding the hand that had fired a gun at his heart
Oh, will we live to forgive
I saw the eyes and the look of surprise as he left an indelible mark
Oh, will we live to forgive
—Steve Taylor, To Forgive
A new novel on the death of John Paul I 28 years ago has been released. It purports to tell the actual story of his death. He was, according to the novel, assassinated for planning to dismiss top Vatican officials suspected of corruption. It even involves the Masons. Interesting theory.
Or, as I would prefer to put it, conjugal love. "[God] intends for us to have great sex," says Mark Einersen of Desert Vista Church in Scottsdale, AZ. "God is the one who designed sex, and one of his first instructions is to enjoy sexual intimacy." I would have to agree. Too many Christians see conjugal love with puritanical eyes, and to many non-believers look down on Christianity because they think they have to do the same thing. I embrace the teaching of John Paul II on this topic, "Theology of the Body". All of the pastors mentioned in this article are Evangelical, which is a shame, but the same principle applies in Catholicism. We, too, need to take a fresh look at conjugal love. (Or "sex" if you prefer, as long as we emphasize we're talking about sex between husband and wife.)
Where I would disagree is the person who implied it's OK to entertain fantasies — certainly willfully indulging in imagining yourself in a sexual connection with a person not your spouse is a bad thing. I also don't think a church sermon is an appropriate time to address the subject on account of the presence of minors; I'd make it a separate talk. But I definitely support the intent of this, if great care is taken.
