Hillary Clinton Chides Those Who Sneer at the Town Hall Meeting Protesters

I recently received the following e-mail from a Catholic fellow:

"Your charge that 'those currently in charge of the U. S. government... do not like to hear dissent from the governed' is patently false. What has appalled many Americans is the rude behaviour of those 'dissenters' who have shouted down other citizens, shown extreme discourtesy to Members of Congress, and used a show of handguns and rifles to engender fear. They have attempted to hijack public meetings in order to shut down public discourse. Their behaviour is shameful and should not be defended."

His comments were in reaction to a line from one of my recent e-mails about the upcoming Envoy Institute event in Charlotte on October 8th to pay tribute to Archbishop Charles Chaput. Obviously, it irks him that some Americans are vigorously raising their voices against what they see as serious problems in some of the governments proposals for health care. Well . . .

As this tense and tumultuous national discussion over health-care becomes more tense and more tumultuous (and, sadly, it shows every indication of doing so) I hope that the man who wrote to me, as well as all those like him who are irked by these "dissenters," will listen carefully to the following timley reminder from none other than Hillary Clinton.

And for the record, I absolutely deplore and condemn anyone who would suggest, call for, or carry out any kind ofviolence whatsoever.

But, like the man who wrote me that note, those who show contempt for and try to dismiss and marginalize those concerned citizens who publicly and even angrily challenge government proposals at the recent town hall meetings should pay particular attention to her message.

After all, she is sick and tired of their negativity toward "dissenters."

What Will You Say When God Asks: "Where Are Those Whom I Have Entrusted to You?"

This is an amazing sermon delivered two days ago by an unidentified Catholic priest. He discourses clearly and forcefully on a range of issues, especially the serious obligation we who are parents have before God to safeguard our children from moral dangers. Along the way, he makes a few startling comments about how the evil one tries to subvert children and, in particular, he advises parents to be on guard against letting a certain "strange man" speak directly to their children. Give this a listen. It will be 18 minutes and 44 seconds of your life well spent.

P.S. In case you're wondering, the lion picture pertains to 1 Peter 5:8-9. When you hear this sermon, you'll understand why I added that graphic.

Equip Yourself to Discuss Abortion With Those Who Support It

HLI has some truly excellent, free resources to help you talk sense to those who are on the wrong side of this issue.

Protestant Group Predicts the Rise of "New Charlemagne" in Germany

End-times mania and wild-eyed apocalyptic predictions have long been a staple in certain sectors of the Protestant world. In addition to the more mainstream Protestant prognosticators who have made a very comfortable living off their end-times related books and broadcasts (e.g., Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, and Tim LaHaye, to name but three of the more prominent ones), groups which derive from Protestantism, such as Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses, also spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to map out the contours of the rise of the Man of Sin and the dire happenings which shall ensue, as described in the Bible, especially in the Book of Revelation.

Lots of contradictory and conflicting predictions result, but the one thing that all of these groups have in common is a fixation on the Catholic Church as being the fulcrum of end-times activity. This new article by a leader in the Philadelphia Church of God continues in that vein:

Is Germany’s Charlemagne About to Appear?

As I write this article, Germany is just weeks from electing a new chancellor. That election and events to unfold from it are going to bring devastating consequences to this world. A dangerous political structure has been built in the European Union, and it’s about to get a lot worse. History thunders its strongest warning ever! It’s time that people understood that history.

But there is a lot more than history involved in understanding European politics.

What is happening in the European superstate is a mystery to most of the world. But that mystery is beginning to be removed.

Bernard Connolly wrote a bombshell book in 1995 titled The Rotten Heart of Europe. For years he served at the heart of the Exchange Rate Mechanism for the European Union. He headed the commission unit responsible for monitoring and servicing the system. He labels the European superstate as rotten. Since he had a vital job on the inside, his comments deserve our attention.

The Spirit of Charlemagne

“It is the battle for control of the European superstate,” Mr. Connolly wrote, “in which French technocrats confront German federalists, both sides claiming to fight under thebanner of Charlemagne. The ‘collateral damage’ from this battle lies mainly in the future, but it could be ghastly” (emphasis mine throughout).

“It could be ghastly.” That is an understatement!

Who will get control of this great superstate? And just how ghastly is it going to be? The battle can be narrowed down to two nations—France and Germany. Do knowledgeable people really doubt who has already won this battle? The nation that controls the money will reign supreme. Of course, that has already proven to be Germany.

“Across the Rhine, successive German governments have, in their pursuit of a ‘European’ cloak for German ambitions, been prepared to accept an apparent cession of national monetary authority—as long as the new European monetary authority looks, sounds, smells and acts exactly as the German monetary authority now does” (ibid.).

The EU system has already been called a Trojan horse. Mr. Connolly says it is a “cloak for German ambitions.”

Just what are those ambitions? And why should every person on Earth be deeply concerned?

Otto von Habsburg was one of the key figures in creating the European Union. He had this to say about that union: “The [European] Community is living largely by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire, though the great majority of the people who live by it don’t know by what heritage they live.”

Twenty-seven countries are members of the EU today. Most of them don’t know that they are “living largely by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire.” It is a mystery to them.

According to Bible prophecy, the number of member nations or groups of nations will be reduced to 10 rulers. There are simply too many nations in the EU now for the Union to be ruled in the spirit of Charlemagne. Only after it has been severely reduced in member countries can the Holy Roman Empire function as it has in its extremely bloody past.

Mr. Habsburg also said, “We possess a European symbol which belongs to all nations of Europe equally; this is the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which embodies the tradition of Charlemagne.”

Just what is “the tradition of Charlemagne”? It is far from what most people think it is—even Europeans!

Charles the Great

The Franks were the first barbaric tribe to embrace Catholicism, but it was for political gain, not religious reasons. Mostly of Germanic origin, the Franks used the Catholic Church to support their expansionist policies, while the church relied on Frankish rulers for protection. It was a union based on politics alone.

The Frankish kingdom reached the pinnacle of its power during the rule of Charlemagne (Charles the Great). Before Charlemagne’s emergence as world ruler, the political scene in Europe was greatly divided. Germany was sliced into many different tribes. Much of Italy was occupied by the Lombards. Byzantium was recognized as the successor to the eastern region of the old Roman Empire. Charlemagne, in conjunction with the papal throne, eventually changed all that—but not without much bloodshed.

Historians call his rule the First Reich—even though Charlemagne was the second ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Adolf Hitler’s rule became known as the Third Reich.

Charlemagne felt it his duty to defend the church. In 774, at the request of Pope Leo iii, he entered northern Italy and conquered the Lombard kingdom, uniting Italy for the first time in centuries. In 799, he again came to the aid of the pope, who was assaulted, brutally beaten, and thrown into prison by a band of conspirators. With the military backing of Charles and his Frankish troops, the pope was exonerated of all wrongdoing and reinstated to his ecclesiastic office.

The following year, in Rome, while Charlemagne was kneeling in prayer during a Christmas celebration inside old St. Peter’s Church, the pope placed a crown upon his head, pronouncing him “the 73rd emperor of the fourth world empire.”

At this point, we should note that throughout the Middle Ages, many scholars, theologians, even popes, knew the Roman Empire was the fourth world-ruling kingdom.Many of them even identified this fourth kingdom with the one Daniel spoke of in his prophecy (see Daniel 2:37-43). That’s why Europeans and Catholics kept trying to revive the empire! The Bible said there would only be four such empires. However, the fourth empire would have 10 resurrections, according to Bible prophecy. The last seven of those resurrections would be called Holy Roman Empires, because they were ruled by church and state.

As king of the Franks, Charlemagne was able to subjugate every single German tribe but one: the Saxons. The Saxons clung to their own faith and refused, even on pain of death, to submit to Roman Catholicism. Charlemagne determined to force his brand of Christianity on them with the sword. For years the Saxons obstinately resisted. At one point, out of sheer frustration, Charlemagne executed 4,500 Saxon prisoners. This barbarous act angered the Saxons even more.

It took 30 years for Charles to completely extinguish the “Saxon” problem, but not before multiple thousands had been executed for their religious beliefs. After more than 18 conquests against the Saxons, Charles finally prevailed. In the end, Saxons either subjected themselves to the rule of Charles, or their defiance ended in death.

The Holy Roman Empire has never been democratic. It could never be. Even Pope Pius xiisaid the church had twin enemies: the democracies and communism. He was pope at the peak of Communist power.

As emperor of the “Holy” Roman Empire, Charles felt it his duty to spread the Christian faith using whatever means necessary. The New Encyclopedia Britannica says, “The violent methods by which this missionary task was carried out had been unknown to the earlier Middle Ages, and the sanguinary [bloody] punishment meted out to those who broke canon law or continued to engage in pagan practices called forth criticism in Charles’ own circle” (“Charlemagne, Emperor”).

The violence Charlemagne used to enforce the Catholic religion on his subjects was simply unknown in earlier empires! He forced his brand of Christianity on everyone. His empire may have had distinct ties to the ancient Romans, but it was certainly not “holy”—even if there was a great church guiding it.

And yet, for centuries to come, the aim of succeeding emperors was to restore the traditions of Charlemagne in their quest to revive the Roman Empire!

Even today, Germany and a great church are working to restore the tradition of Charlemagne. They have almost completed the structure. Still, it is a mystery to most of the world’s inhabitants.

Let the world beware! That power structure is ready to burst on the world scene—again!

Charlemagne’s bloody conquests were the worst ever in the history of the previous empires. The conquests of the next Holy Roman Empire are going to be the worst suffering ever inflicted on human beings in the history of man! (Matthew 24:21-22; Daniel 12:1; Jeremiah 30:1-10).

It will all be done in the spirit of Charlemagne. Most people won’t awaken out of their stupor until it’s too late! . . . (continue reading)

A Hitchhiker's Guide to Kolob

A Fictitious Discussion Between a Mormon Missionary and a Catholic Layman

"Now let me get this straight, Elder Kimball. Are you trying to tell me God the Father lives on a planet named Kolob somewhere out in space?"

"Well, yes, and no. Actually, he lives on a planet near a star called Kolob, but we don't know exactly where it is."

"How can you people possibly believe God lives on a planet near a star named Kolob?"

"Well, the prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation from God in which. . ."

"...How? Did God transport him to this Kolob so he could get a good look at it?"

"No. Joseph Smith received this revelation in the form of a divine record contained in an ancient Egyptian papyri which he translated by the gift and power of God. The message is now known as The Book of Abraham."

"How can I get to Kolob?"

"You can't. God wouldn't permit it."

"Then how can I find out more about Kolob?"

"As I said, the bulk of the information is in The Book of Abraham."

"Where could I get a copy?" . . .

(continue reading in PDF form)

Coming Soon to a Doorbell Near You: Mormon Missionaries

Last week, during my EWTN "Open Line" radio show (Thursdays at 3:00 p.m. ET), I took a call from "John in Harrisburg, PA." He wanted my advice regarding his growing doubts about the Catholic Church which have arisen since he began studying with Mormon missionaries who've been trying their best to convert him to Mormonism. And their efforts have been paying off big time. Their discussions with John have left him feeling confused and doubtful about his Catholic beliefs and increasingly drawn toward the Mormon Church. Click the image above to launch the 11-minute MP3 audio clip of our on-air conversation (or click here).

Also, be sure to book mark and take a look at the online version of Jerald and Sandra Tanner's monumental (and monumentally helpful) exposé of the manifold problems with Mormon theology, The Changing World of Mormonism. Please be sure to share it with any Catholic you might know who has sucumbed to the wiles of the Mormon missionaries or who may be studying with them now and is on the road to sucumbing.

Go Ahead and Laugh. You've Had a Long Day. You Deserve It.

And while you're at it, why don't you take a shot at captioning this picture.

They Are Celebrities. Hear Them Roar in Numbers too Big to Ignore

It's getting weirder out there. Check out this new propaganda video featuring a lot of Beautiful People who are pledging themselves silly in support for hope and change. Some of the stuff they're pledging to do falls into the category of mere quasi-morality and even pseudo-morality. The weirdest and most disturbing part happens at the 3:18 mark. See what you think.

I Never Imagined Ice Cream Could Be Controversial

Ben & Jerry's Hubby Hubby:

The company's press release sez:

Ben & Jerry’s, known for its euphoric ice cream flavors and dedication to social justice, celebrates the beginning of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont with the symbolic renaming of its well-known ice cream flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby.” In partnership with Freedom to Marry, Ben & Jerry’s aims to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and, to show its support, will serve “Hubby Hubby” sundaes in Vermont Scoop Shops throughout the month of September.

Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of commitment to social justice, including gay rights. Its partnership with Freedom to Marry, a national leader in the movement for marriage equality, aims to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and to encourage other states to follow the blazing trails of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Maine. Freedom to Marry promotes the national conversation about why marriage equality matters and brings together partner organizations into a larger whole – a shared civil rights campaign.

“At the core of Ben & Jerry’s values, we believe that social justice can and should be something that every human being is entitled to,” said Walt Freese, Chief Executive Officer of Ben & Jerry’s. “From the very beginning of our 30 year history, we have supported equal rights for all people. The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont is certainly a step in the right direction and something worth celebrating with peace, love and plenty of ice cream.”

To kick off the celebration, Ben & Jerry’s and Freedom to Marry will be publicly supporting the first marriages of gay and lesbian couples in Vermont and raising awareness for marriage equality and how to take action by driving consumers to freedomtomarry.org. By logging onto the site, people can show their support, sign a Marriage Resolution Petition, have conversations about why marriage matters and learn more about how they can support the cause.

“It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full, but the most important thing that all us ice cream lovers can do to support the freedom to marry is speak with the people we know about why marriage matters and the need to end marriage discrimination in every state”,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry. “Thanks to Ben & Jerry’s, starting those needed conversations has never been sweeter – and thanks to Freedom to Marry, we all now have a great excuse to eat more ice cream.” . . .

I want to see this movie

Read Father Robert Barron's insightful review of this intriguing new movie.

I hope to see you in Madison this Friday

From the diocesan website:

The evening begins at 6:00 pm with one hour of Adoration and singing by the KDM Schola Choir, followed by Patrick’s talk from 7-9:30. His talk will include an intermission, Q & A, and an opportunity to purchase his books.

Register online by going to www.madisondiocese.org, then clicking the Patrick Madrid link. Tickets are $10 each. But when pre-registering online, you save $2 on tickets you pick up at the door. This event is sponsored by the Knights of Divine Mercy in association with the Madison Diocese Office of Evangelization. Call 608-821-3160 for further information.

The Madrid/Winters Contretemps Gets Noticed by First Things

Along with countless others who appreciate excellent writing and trenchant, incisive commentary from a Catholic perspective, I have long read and admired First Things Magazine. And now I have a new reason to like those folks: They took notice of and commented on the little dust-up I've been involved in with some apparatchiks in the community of disciples over at the National Catholic Reporter and America Magazine, as well as with one rather peculiar blogger on the fringe who's been taking a few potshots of his own.

I know that this discussion is really but a tempest in a teapot. However, since it is happening in my teapot, I'd like to send a thankful shout-out to The Anchoress and say "thanks for noticing! I appreciate your thoughtful commentary."

(Let me add that I do have one minor difference of opinion with her observations: I really don't think my opening gambit in this discussion was "undeniably rough." Forthright, yes, but rough?)

The Catholic Donnybrook; One Kennedy Legacy?

Sep 1, 2009
Elizabeth Scalia

In John Ford’s classic film, The Quiet Man, John Wayne plays Sean Thornton, a quintessential American gone back to Ireland to connect with his roots. He marries Mary Kate Danaher, who warns him with a measure of pride, “I have a fearsome temper; we Danahers are a fighting people.” The highlight of the film is an epic donnybrook pitting Thornton against Mary Kate’s brother, the bellicose “Red” Will Danaher; it is a fight over cultural and moral understandings, and as the fisticuffs spill through a meadow and into the towns and pubs, the townspeople enthusiastically join in. Other communities send spectators and even the priests and bishops look on and make discreet wagers.

Something like that is occurring within the Catholic web community over the death and subsequent mainstream media—glorification (and alternate media grimaces) of the man often called the Liberal Lion of the U.S. Senate.

Here is what’s going on: Over at the National Catholic Reporter, Sr. Maureen Fiedler posted that Kennedy made her proud to be Catholic. It would be dishonest to pretend that there are not thousands of Catholics, particularly those of Boomer-age and older, who completely understand Sr. Maureen’s sentiment.

Taking an opposing viewpoint, writer Patrick Madrid responded:

Maureen, with all due respect, I can appreciate your nostalgia for the Kennedys, but I cannot understand why you would insist that Senator Edward Kennedy was a “champion of the welfare of ‘the least of these’” among us. . . . Whatever his positive qualities may have been, and no doubt he had some, the tragic reality is that Sen. Kennedy’s long political career was squandered by his vociferous, relentless promotion of abortion. And that, sadly, will be his enduring legacy.

Well. Over at America magazine, the usually restrained Michael Sean Winters did not like that—did not like that at all:

Someone named Patrick Madrid, who runs a blog and is involved with something called the Envoy Institute . . . decided to attack my colleague at NCR, Sr. Maureen Fiedler for her post remembering the late Senator. “Maureen, with all due respect,” he begins, words that reek of condescension.

Oh. My. “With all due respect,” rather than reeking of condescension, seems a sensible preface to polite disagreement, but I am pretty sure that “Someone named Patrick Madrid, who is a blogger, involved with something called. . .” actually does reek of both condescension and too, the haughty huff of one writer believing his credibility, and thus his opinion, is to be vastly preferred compared over another’s. Clearly, Michael Sean Winters was writing while angry enough to be the equal of the wildest and most wrathful Celt who ever stepped across a bog.

The Catholics are going to tear each other apart over Ted Kennedy. Is that really the legacy anyone wants to bequeath to him?

Winters continued:

Who are these people? To what level of boorishness have the spokespeople for the pro-life community descended?

Again, a bit condescending. Just a tad. There appears to be a class clash, here, reminiscent of the GOP intelligensia and their response to non–Ivy League Harriet Miers and that upstart peasant Sarah Palin. “Eww . . . who are they?”

It’s not a great way for folks in general to regard each other, but for fellow Catholics, one may bet the Mighty John O’Connor or the Tender Timothy Dolan would counsel, ala Spencer Tracy, “ixnay; on the uperioritysay anceday; it won’t get anyone to heaven.”

[ . . . ]

Madrid’s work may be unknown to the “better elements” of Catholic punditry, but his career is a respectable one and while his undeniably rough piece displeased Winters in tone and timing, he did have a point.

(continue reading)

U.S. Catholic Bishops Assail Parts of Health Care Plan

As more and more U.S. bishops speak out and make clear the real and permanent connection between the Catholic Church's pro-life teachings and the current health-care debate, the media spin and obfuscation from the new left-wing regime in D.C. is working to counteract their message.

That's why it's so important that you read what the bishops are saying about the linkage between the government's current health-care debacle and the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.

For example, check out this statement issued recently by the bishops of Kansas City, as well as this insightful commentary written by the redoubtable Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver.

And here's an interesting video to boot:

Top Ten Father Corapi Facts

A Crazy Little Thing Called "Hate"

I had figured that Michael Sean Winters' recent psychodrama in America Magazine — “The Boors Who Demean Ted Kennedy” — would have a brief shelf-life, as most such gimcrackery usually does, but I was wrong.

A related outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease has erupted on a blog written by a theologian named William D. Lindsey who, like Mr. Winters, excoriated my response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler's obit for Ted Kennedy ("He Made Me Proud to Be a Catholic"). He characterized my comments as "hating on Ted Kennedy" and being part of a wider "festival of hate."

Hate? Hate? Eh, not so much.

Upon scrutinizing Mr. Lindsey's complaints, I must say that I just don't see "hate" in the words and actions of the Catholics he attacks, such as Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, whom he accuses by name of joining in with those who are "shouting and threatening and jubilating at the thought of destruction of good people and good plans."

That kind of fatuous nonsense is reminiscent of a line from Alice in Wonderland:

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"

Oh, yes, I do indeed. And it would appear that Mr. Lindsey inhabits a world very much like that which Alice describes.

(Thought Experiment: Read Mr. Lindsey's blog post for yourself and tell me who you think is doing all the shouting and threatening, etc., mkay? And, of course, if you'd really like to test the veracity of his accusations, why not join us in person on October 8th when we honor Archbishop Chaput for his stalwart defense of the Catholic Faith. Come meet the good archbishop in person, hear him speak, and see for yourself if he is anything even remotely like the cretin described in Mr. Lindsey's risible caricature.)

And if you wish to peruse Mr. Lindsey's fulsome fulminations regrding moi and the monks and faculty of Belmont Abbey College, simply scroll down past about 20 tedious paragraphs to the one which begins, "MIchael Sean Winters has dared . . ."

And be sure to take note of the loving terminology he uses to describe Catholics who speak up about things like, you know, abortion. Here are a few examples of the love being dished out on his blog:

"Ghouls and goblins now prancing around in the light of day, occupying center stage," "mobs," "exceptionally mean-spirited," "army of malicious fools," "maleficence," and, of course, the ever-popular epithets reserved especially for when one is speaking about pro-life men and women: "hate" and "hatred."

When one encounters such torrid rhetoric, so heavily freighted with invective, as this stuff is, you just have to wonder where all that rage is coming from. It sure isn't consonant with the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Even a theologian should be able to recognize that.