What can BROWN Do For You? Here's what:

April 8, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Some of the coeducational denizens of Brown University have sunk a little deeper into the mire of ridiculousness and irrelevance. Observe the university’s Undergraduate Council of Students’ new manifesto condemning the institution’s recognition of Columbus Day. And here is a snippet from a news report about it:

“Hundreds of Brown students had asked the Providence, R.I. school to stop observing Columbus Day, saying Christopher Columbus’s violent treatment of Native Americans he encountered was inconsistent with Brown’s values. . . .” (continue reading)


When you get over your headache from reading that, you may want to avail yourself of some anti-venom for this latest round of anti-Columbus silliness, which can be obtained here, here, and here.

Article: Why the Human Mind is a Terrarium for So Many Lies

April 6, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Consider the following statements:

  1. Neil Armstrong never landed on the moon but was bouncing around in a TV studio on July 20, 1969, with Walter Cronkite in a nearby booth to report on the alleged event.
  2. The baby baptized as William Shakespeare on April 26, 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon grew up illiterate and thus never wrote any of the works attributed to him.
  3. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were brought down on September 11, 2001, not because two planes, gorged with jet fuel, flew into them but because the federal government had planted explosives in them at strategic locations.
  4. Jesus Christ never existed.
  5. The Holocaust never happened.

Strange to relate, each of these sentences has found advocates somewhere in contemporary society. Now of course there are varying degrees of moral turpitude involved in subscribing, however sincerely or disingenuously, to these sentences. Despite that moral variety, however, they all have at least this in common, besides their flagrant falsity: It is impossible to convince those who propound these statements of their falsity, partly (but only partly) because the events being denied lack analogies to the everyday world of predictable events.

These denials, in other words, are not solely due to malevolence, although in many cases ill will must be present in the person who voices such views. My concern here is more with the epistemology (loosely defined) that lurks behind the inability to refute such statements. In other words, I want to ask: Why, besides obvious mendacity, does contrary evidence never count with people who claim they sincerely believe these assertions?

The reason I wish to describe these five sentences (needless to say, I could generate a larger list) as “epistemic pathologies” can best be seen from an incident in the life of Albert Einstein. After the Nazi takeover of the German government in 1933, over two hundred German scientists signed a public letter condemning relativity as “Jewish physics,” which for that reason had no place in the science curriculum of the Third Reich. To which Einstein dryly retorted: If these advocates of “German physics” were right, one signature would have sufficed.

True enough, and brilliantly riposted. But what an ironic comfort his retort must be to contemporary Holocaust-deniers! What does it matter, they will retort in turn, if far more than two hundred historians say the Holocaust happened? One would suffice if it had really happened. So here I stand contra mundum, brave Holocaust-denier that I am, forthrightly facing the world of false consensus! (continue reading)

Cardinal George Speaks to the Press About the Notre Dame Scandal

April 6, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

It’s Time to Come Clean. It’s Time for "Soul Wow"

April 6, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Here’s a very, very clever outreach by the Catholic Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Center to all those sinners who need to go to confession. (That includes you and me, by the way).

Listen to the man and git er done. This week. Before Easter. Don’t forget.




Visit Soul Wow!

It's Time to Come Clean. It's Time for "Soul Wow"

April 6, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

Here’s a very, very clever outreach by the Catholic Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Center to all those sinners who need to go to confession. (That includes you and me, by the way).

Listen to the man and git er done. This week. Before Easter. Don’t forget.




Visit Soul Wow!

Vatican Review of the Legionaries of Christ an "Act of Love"

April 3, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog


Below is my translation from the original Spanish of yesterday’s article in the Mexican press reporting on recent developments in the Fr. Maciel scandal and its implications for the Legionaries of Christ:

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM) endorsed the apostolic visit that will

be a mission of the Vatican to the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ
in Mexico to clarify, among other matters, accusations of sexual abuse
against its founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel, who also had a daughter.

Leopoldo Gonzalez, secretary general of [the Conference] expressed his
approval of the announcement, assuring that the review is being treated as
an “act of love.”

In a press conference announcing the activities of the “Consecration of
Mexico to the Holy Spirit,” he referred to the apostolic visitation and
confirmed that these visits are being undertaken to review the work of the
congregations [e.g., the Legionaries of Christ], not only “when the ship is
sinking.”

On another theme, he defended the fact that Carlos Aguiar, president of the
[Bishops’ Conference] was driven in a luxury automobile on the eve of his
elevation as Archbishop of Tlalnepantla, comparing it with the entrance of
Jesus into Jerusalem [saying], If they offer you a donkey, you have to get on
it.”

NOEMÍ GUTIÉRREZ NOEMI@ELUNIVERSAL.COM.MX
EL UNIVERSAL
JUEVES 02 DE ABRIL DE 2009
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/166808.html

Click for more on the Legionaries of Christ situation.

An Elderly Priest Get’s His Dying Wish

April 3, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

An old Catholic priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

He motioned for his nurse to come near.

“Yes, Father?” said the nurse.

“I would really like to see Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi before I die,” whispered the priest.

“I’ll see what I can do, Father,” replied the nurse.

The nurse sent the request to them and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived. Harry and Nancy would be delighted to visit the priest. As they went to the hospital, Harry commented to Nancy “I don’t know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images.” Nancy couldn’t help but agree.

When they arrived at the dying man’s room, the priest took Nancy ‘s hand in his right hand and Harry’s hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity settled across the old priest’s face.

Finally Nancy spoke. “Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?”

The old priest slowly replied. “I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” His voice trailed off . . .

After a brief pause, he continued . . . “The Lord died between two lying thieves, and I would like to do the same.”



An Elderly Priest Get's His Dying Wish

April 3, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

An old Catholic priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

He motioned for his nurse to come near.

“Yes, Father?” said the nurse.

“I would really like to see Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi before I die,” whispered the priest.

“I’ll see what I can do, Father,” replied the nurse.

The nurse sent the request to them and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived. Harry and Nancy would be delighted to visit the priest. As they went to the hospital, Harry commented to Nancy “I don’t know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images.” Nancy couldn’t help but agree.

When they arrived at the dying man’s room, the priest took Nancy ‘s hand in his right hand and Harry’s hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity settled across the old priest’s face.

Finally Nancy spoke. “Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?”

The old priest slowly replied. “I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” His voice trailed off . . .

After a brief pause, he continued . . . “The Lord died between two lying thieves, and I would like to do the same.”



2012 may bring the “perfect storm” – solar flares, systems collapse

April 2, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog



Mainstream scientific concern about 2012 has grown since a recent National Research Council reportfunded by NASA and issued by the National Academy of Sciences, entitled “Severe Space Weather Events: Understanding Economic and Societal Impact” which details the potential devastation of 2012 solar storms on the current planetary energy grid and because of the inter-linkages of a cybernetic society, on our entire human civilization.

Is There More Trouble Ahead for the Legionaries of Christ?

April 2, 2009 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

According to this Mexican news source, yes. “We have testimonies that there have been other Legionaries who followed Maciel’s example,” said Jose Barba, the legal representative of eight former Legionaries who started court proceedings against Maciel in 1998. “The ramifications of the problem exist throughout the Legionaries of Christ,” he added.

Only time will tell if there is any truth to this new accusation. And believe me, I sincerely hope and pray that there isn’t. But time will tell. In any case, this scandal is not merely a wound to the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement — I am inclned to think that it will eventually prove to be a mortal wound, though I have spoken to some LC priests and RC laypeople who strongly disagree — it is a severe wound to the Body of Christ, the Catholic Church as a whole. And as members of the Catholic Church, we should all be praying that this “gangrene,” as José Barba calls it, is eradicated, however far it may (or may not) have spread across this group. There simply cannot be a “business as usual” approach to this mess.

Ever since the Fr. Maciel fraud scandal became widely known a few months ago, I’ve kept an eye on the Spanish-language press in Spain and Mexico to see how this story developed. It is definitely getting more on-going investigative coverage there than here in the U.S. If anything substantive on this new development turns up, I’ll bring it to your attention.

“Mexican Catholic sex abuse probe could uncover more victims”


By Miguel Angel Gutierrez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Pope Benedict’s probe into an influential Roman Catholic priestly order could uncover more cases of sexual abuse similar to those committed by its founder, a victims’ group in Mexico said on Wednesday.

Pope Benedict ordered the investigation into the Legion of Christ last month following a string of scandals tied to its founder, Father Marcial Maciel, a Mexican, who died last year at the age of 87.

“We have testimonies that there have been other Legionaries who followed Maciel’s example,” said Jose Barba, the legal representative of eight former Legionaries who started court proceedings against Maciel in 1998. “The ramifications of the problem exist throughout the Legionaries of Christ,” he added.

Barba, who says he was abused by Maciel when he was in the order as a teenager training to be a priest, said he expected the investigation would take months.

“What they have to investigate is to what extent the evil, the gangrene was spread through the Legionaries of Christ and didn’t end just because Father Maciel died,” Barba said. (continue reading)

Click for more on the Legionaries of Christ situation (scroll down for earlier posts).

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