Creative Minority Report

Best News Of The Day

2013-05-20T23:48:00.000-04:00

It is hard to imagine any possible good news coming out of Oklahoma today after the horrific devastation there today, but this news is great.

Such great news RT @outfrontcnn JUST IN: Some of the Oklahoma children reported earlier as missing have been found in area churches.
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) May 21, 2013

Thank you Lord!! It is hard to see the Lord's protection on a day like today. But He is there, always.

Please continue to pray for all those have lost their lives, their families, and for so many others that have lost everything.

It is hard to imagine that anyone survived this.

*subhead*Found.*subhead*

Amazing Vid: Blind Prodigy Sees God Through Song

2013-05-20T23:35:00.001-04:00

This is just beautiful. A blind man is inspired by his faith to deliver the message of Christ through music.

HT Catholic News Service

*subhead*Faith.*subhead*

Graduation Gown at Catholic School Becomes Issue for Girl Student Who Says She's a Boy

2013-05-20T22:08:00.001-04:00

A girl who believes she's a boy wants to wear a boy's graduation robe at her Catholic school graduation. The school is refusing. Outrage ensues.

Oh my.

You see, at St. Pius High school in Albuquerque the girls wear white gowns and the boys wear black. She wants to wear black. But the school is saying that on her birth certificate she's a girl so she'll be wearing white.

She insists that she even went so far as to change her name from Brandi to Damian. But the school believes changing one's name doesn't actually change someone from a girl into a boy.

KRQE reports on the story:

“I just want to walk in my black robe, nice and proud and have that memory to look back on with my family and friends,” said Damian Garcia. “I would rather not walk than to embarrass myself by wearing a female robe.”

Damian Garcia was born Brandi Garcia, but identifies as a male even having a legal name-change last year.

Fellow students, teachers and faculty call Garcia "Damian" and so does Damian’s family.

“I look at him and I call him my son. That's how he wishes to be acknowledged is as a male,” said father Luis Garcia.

The Saint Pius Superintendent tells KRQE News 13, Saint Pius goes by what the student's birth certificate says if there's any question on what gender-color they wear at graduation.

Despite the name change, Damian's birth certificate says “female.”

Damian's father calls the school's decision heartbreaking.

“All you want in life is to see your kids happy and healthy. You never want to see them suffer or being ridiculed or be made fun of,” Luis said.

Look, I want kids to be happy on their graduation day. It's a big day for them. But a Catholic school just can't do this. Just can't. I feel bad for the young woman. I do. But her confusion about herself isn't a mandate for the rest of the world to ignore reality.

A gay advocacy faux Catholic group called New Ways Ministry has called the school's decision "ignorant and insensitive" and added that we should follow the example of the girl's father.

The school’s reasoning shows the problems that can occur when rules become more important than human beings and human reality. For officials to say that they cede all of their ability to make a judicious decision based on the birth certificate, and not the human and social reality with which they are faced, is ignorant and insensitive...

An important lesson to be learned from this story, too, is that parental love for a child can often lead the way for the rest of the church to learn how to love and accept transgender people and other sexual and gender minorities. The love of Damian’s parents, expressed by his father, is awe-inspiring, and reminds us of the unconditional love that God has for each of us. So often our Catholic faith reminds us that God loves each of us as a parent. It would be well for the officials at this Catholic school to learn a lesson from Damian’s parents on how to love and accept and treasure each student.

*subhead*21st Century issues.*subhead*

Dominican Sisters on Finale of American Bible Challenge!!!

2013-05-20T18:56:00.003-04:00

Who says Catholics don't know their Bible?

Please be sure to watch the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist compete for the $100,000 grand prize in The Game Show Network’s “The American Bible Challenge” finale at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT Thursday, May 23.

The winner of The American Bible Challenge Fan Favorite contest will be announced during the show, as well, and will receive $10,000 for their team’s charity.

Should they win, the Dominican Sisters will use their winnings from the show to provide for the treatment and care of the aging Sisters in the Order, and to ensure that they are provided for as they advance into retirement.

*subhead*Delightful.*subhead*

Lutheran Pastor Cheers on IRS Abuse

2013-05-20T15:33:00.002-04:00

A Lutheran pastor who writes for the site Public Theology has written a piece cheering on the IRS for their abuse of power. Seriously.

Ed Knudson, a Lutheran pastor, who wrote a piece in 2009 defending the Christian ethics of late-term abortionist George Tiller, is now defending the IRS workers who targeted conservatives.

So I want to raise my voice in praise of you, the honest and faithful IRS worker. You were trying to do good work. You were trying to do what was right and good in carrying out your profession. You were trying to be fair to all the American people. You deserve praise. The attacks on you of an unthinking and ridiculous press, which will only report negative comments from both Republicans and Democrats, are completely unwarranted...

Make no mistake. This isn't one of those things where he's defending the good IRS workers who are unfortunately being smeared along with their colleagues who were involved in this abuse of power. No, he's cheering on those IRS workers who abused their power to discriminate against pro-life groups and critics of the Administration. He wrote that it wasn't the fault of the IRS workers, it was those nutty tea partiers who should just shut up.

It's not the fault of the IRS workers but Tea Party groups which pushed the limits of what should be allowed. Such groups are like teenagers pushing the limits of what the parents allow; and the hollering and screaming being done by these groups sounds just like irresponsible teenagers.

Here's how he sees it going down.

Now, you are a technocrat; you do your job on the basis of rational guidelines to make sure you are fair to everyone. But you also have a life, you go home at night and watch the news. You are aware there is an election going on. You may watch Fox News and see that this major television network is pushing for the organization of new groups associated with something called the Tea Party. You learn that several billionaires are providing the funds for organizing such groups. And you hear clearly that these groups hate President Obama and want to destroy any chance of having his health care program enacted into law.

Unless you are a person totally isolated from the media environment you cannot help coming to know that the word "Tea Party" refers to political groups, and not just any political groups, but ones that are very boisterous, full of rage and engaging in hostile talk. You may have seen them screaming at elected officials and pushing people around at town hall meetings. This is the kind of thing the press just has to cover. In fact, it may well be that the media literally helps create these groups; they are given such a major voice in public life not because they have any truth or logic to their beliefs but because they are willing to do crazy stuff to get attention.

Then you go back to work and you see applications for Tea Party groups which want to be tax-exempt. This would mean that other tax payers would be helping to support the work of these groups, which would not be fair at all.

Dude's an embarrassment. I would link the entire piece but I don't link to asshattery. It simply encourages more asshattery.

*subhead*Weird.*subhead*

Shawn Tribe Retiring from NLM

2013-05-20T14:10:00.001-04:00

Shawn Tribe, founder of the New Liturgical Movement blog is retiring from blogging.

NLM was founded nearly eight years ago in 2005, a few months after the election of Benedict XVI -- a period when many blogs were founded in point of fact. For eight years this blog has been a day to day part of my life, involving thousands and thousands of hours managing the site, coming up with contents each day, managing comboxes, email correspondence and so on. To say that it has been a lot of work would almost be an understatement! That said, it has also been very rewarding and has resulted in many interesting experiences, friendships, opportunities, etc. For that I am grateful.

My purpose in mentioning this is to announce that the time has now come for me to retire from NLM and from blogging generally so that I might focus on other projects and pursuits.

Shawn and NLM came on the scene just before CMR. I read his blog regularly for years and it never failed to make me feel stupid, which shows how smarty pants it is.

I wish Shawn the best of luck and the best future for NLM under Jeffrey Tucker.

*subhead*Good luck.*subhead*

Dems in Congress Target Crisis Pregnancy Centers

2013-05-20T14:05:00.001-04:00

Wait, did I say "target?" I know, we're not allowed to use that word anymore. So what word do I use when Democrats in Congress and the Senate are focusing exclusively on something with the goal of wiping them out? Oh yeah, target.

Democrats in cities have long been on this kick that crisis pregnancy centers deceive women into keeping their babies, because, you know, the only women that actually choose life must have been deceived into that crazy choice.

The Hill reports:

Democrats in the House and Senate are looking to stop what they say are deceptive advertising practices by anti-abortion health clinics that imply they offer abortion services, but instead encourage birth and promote adoption.

The legislation is aimed at crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), which are clinics often set up by a church or other anti-abortion groups. Democrats in Congress and other pro-abortion groups say these clinics are known to indicate they can perform abortions in order to attract pregnant women patients, and then try to convince them to carry their babies to term.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the House sponsor of the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act (H.R. 2030), said CPCs should not be allowed to deceive women who are seeking information about their pregnancy.

"Women shouldn't be deliberately misled or coerced when they seek legitimate medical services," she said when she introduced the bill last week. "While I will defend crisis centers' First Amendment rights even though I disagree with their view of abortion, those that practice bait-and-switch should be held accountable so that pregnant women are not deceived at an extremely vulnerable time in their lives."

Her bill would give the Federal Trade Commission the ability to investigate reports of misleading claims from CPCs, just as it can investigate other consumer products and services.

The bill is supported by the National Abortion Federation, whose president, Vicki Saporta, said that CPCs "have a long history of intentionally misleading women to prevent them from accessing abortion case."

Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, added that she is "thrilled that Rep. Maloney is acting to hold these fake 'clinics' accountable."

Anyone looking into the deception that Planned Parenthood is pro-family when 97% of pregnant women who walk into a Planned Parenthood kill their unborn children. Or the fact that Planned Parenthood has said numerous times they perform mammograms when they actually don't.

You know, maybe these Democrats aren't actually against deception so much as they're against choice.

*subhead*Targeting choice.*subhead*

My Big Fat Unholy Wedding

2013-05-19T23:19:00.000-04:00

Many people dream of the BIG WEDDING, the fairy tale ending with cake makers, dress designers, florists, jewelers, photographers and more for the low low price of a mortgage-like sum!!! But it might just be causing heartbreak, damaging society, and hurting people's faith.

When my wife and I first were engaged, we planned to get married a full two years later so we could save money for our BIG WEDDING. She wanted the big fancy catering hall and I wanted to give it to her. I was working and she was just graduating from college so I wanted to provide that for her.

I remember that it was the remark of a Jesuit who, when I told him that we weren't planning to be married for two years so we could save money for the wedding. He literally said, "Hey man, what does money have to do with love?"

I rolled me eyes and dismissed his comment as hippie jabbering but it stayed with me and ate at me.

Continue reading at The National Catholic Register>>>

*subhead*Lavish or holy?*subhead*

Ha! City Sues Group Who Feeds Parking Meters

2013-05-18T08:38:00.001-04:00

This is hilarious and indicative of the kind of bullying attitude Big Government takes on. This is ridiculous. Thank goodness Big Government hasn't gotten so out of control that they're asking for the contents of our prayers or anything, huh?

Let's hope that the people feeding the meters win this one.

A group of self-styled Robin Hoods who scamper around the streets of a New Hampshire city and feed expired parking meters for strangers has been hit with a harassment lawsuit.

The city of Keene says its three parking inspectors have been taunted, insulted and followed by the group — to the point that one of them says he has suffered heart palpitations and is thinking about quitting his job.

In its lawsuit, the city is asking a court to order the group not to come within 50 feet of the parking inspectors.

The suit names six defendants, most of them bloggers for Free Keene, which describes itself on its Facebook page as “your connection to the liberty activism movement in New Hampshire.”

One of the six, Ian Freeman, told NBC News that “The Robin Hooders have always been courteous in my experience” and pointed out that the city has not charged them criminally with harassment.

“The city is upset because they are losing revenue and are coming up with anything they can to try to stop it,” he said.

He also noted that the city’s job description for parking inspectors, included as part of the lawsuit, requires that inspectors “endure verbal and mental abuse when confronted with the hostile views and opinions of the public.”

The city attorney in Keene did not immediately respond to a call for comment from NBC News.

After they feed a meter, members of the group place a card on the windshield of the car that says: “We saved you from the king’s tariffs. Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward.” The card features the Disney depiction of Robin Hood as a fox.

*subhead*Robin Hood.*subhead*

Dopey Dad Makes Baby Cry

2013-05-17T10:18:00.001-04:00

OK. What was this Dad thinking? Although I must admit the baby looks really cute when he starts crying. Well, I'm sure by the time the kid grows up Obamacare will pay for all the therapy bills.

*subhead*Mu-hu-hahaha.*subhead*

Horror Vid: Abortion Clinic Employees Admit to Seeing Many Live Birth Abortions

2013-05-17T08:28:00.000-04:00

Life Dynamics Inc. a national pro-life organization located in Texas, has released an interview with three former abortion clinic workers which prove the Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, recently convicted of murder, is not an anomaly.

The interview was conducted on May 3, 2013 with clinic employees located in a different state. Though their descriptions are disturbing, the video images are non-graphic.

This is very tough to listen to. There's no graphic images but the way these women speak of the abortionist ripping heads off children is horrific, the way they say their toes moved while they were being killed, and about the baby who opened his eyes.

May God put an end to this.

*subhead*I'm sick.*subhead*

8 Words The Media Made Meaningless

2013-05-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

Clarity in communication is a highly coveted skill, especially in the media. You might think that verbal precision you might think would be a must in that field. But some words have me quoting the great Inigo Montoya who said, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Words like "Fetus" and "Devout Catholic" make the list. Check out the entire list at The National Catholic Register>>>

*subhead*Fun.*subhead*

Best Songs Ever

2013-05-17T00:29:00.002-04:00

Primarily because I am sick of people being mad at me, I want to write a post sure to generate no controversy.

Here are the best songs ever by category.

Best TV theme Song Ever!!

Greatest American Hero

Best Song With Naked Aboriginals In a Major Motion Picture.

On Earth As It Is In Heaven

Greatest Christian Rock Song Ever!

I Can Only Imagine --Mercy Me

Best Version of Battle Hymn Of The Republic Ever! --Kalai. (It has banjos, slide guitar, and yodeling! Awesome squared)

Best Hymn/Devotional in a Major Motion Picture!!

Non Nobis - Henry V

Best Song That People Think Is Religious But Is So Totally Not Religious

Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley

Best Superhero Theme Song Ever!!!

Superman - John Williams

Best Music In A White Guy's Sport Movie Ever!!

Chariots of Fire!

Best Music In A White Guy's Sport Movie Ever Part 2!!

Best Use Of Clare De Lune Ever!!

*subhead*And So On.*subhead*

Man Arrested for Slipping Girlfriend Abortion Pill

2013-05-16T14:07:00.002-04:00

A Florida man has been arrested by federal authorities on first degree murder charges for allegedly tricking his girlfriend into taking abortion pills and killing their unborn child.

John Andrew Welden, 28, reportedly switched his girlfriend's antibiotics with Cytotec, an abortion pill he reportedly had obtained from his father, an ob-gyn.

Remee Lee went to the hospital on Easter Sunday due to painful cramping and bleeding. There she was told that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. Lee had fully intended to keep the baby. In fact, she said that it was her determination to have a healthy baby that Welden played on by urging her to take what he told her were anti-biotics.

Lee reportedly called the abortion drug Welden's "weapon of choice."

After examining the pills she believed to be an antibiotic, doctors discovered they were actually abortion pills.

Weldon had allegedly took Lee to see his father, the ob-gyn, when she learned she was pregnant. Weldon showed up the next day at her house telling her that tests showed she had an infection and would need to take the antibiotics for a few days. That day was Good Friday.

Reportedly, the last post on Welden's Facebook page simply reads, "Please pray for me."

Ironically, the website of the father's medical office boasts of helping infertile women conceive.

HT KJRH

*subhead*Horror.*subhead*

A Wonderful Catholic Publication You'll Want to Subscribe To

2013-05-16T11:08:00.000-04:00

I've started writing a column for The Catholic Digest, a great Catholic publication that's headed by Danielle Bean. My writing there focuses mainly on the fun family oriented stories I share. Recent columns of mine include the ice cream trip gone wrong and the horror of my oldest child not wanting to hold my hand in public anymore.

But it's not just me. The magazine is excellent and has so much good and faithful writing.

Please consider subscribing to The Catholic Digest by clicking here.

*subhead*Truly Catholic.*subhead*

Talking Turkeys - Cardinal Dolan Capitulates

2013-05-16T00:07:00.001-04:00

I must admit that my frustration and disappointment with Cardinal Dolan is mounting.

The tough talk followed by the wink, nod, and chuckle is wearing thin.

Cardinal Dolan, according to the DailyNews said that he and the Bishops would be “as vociferous and rigorous as possible in our opposition” to the governor’s efforts" to further entrench NY as the aborto-murder capitol of the world.

One would hope that 'as vociferous as possible" will amount to something more than the embarrassing and inept day late and dollar short effort the bishops put up against gay marriage.

One would hope, alas, I wouldn't hope too hard.

When asked how Cuomo could still consider himself a Catholic in good standing while also promoting such extreme abortion legislation, Dolan responded: “That’s something that I talk turkey with him about.”

Wow. Finally a bishop, a Cardinal no less, is gonna tell a virulently pro-murder politician that you can't be a virulently pro-murder politician and a Catholic and good standing.

Except the Cardinal is going to do no such thing. Dolan spokesman Joseph Zwilling made it clear later that the Cardinal believes you can be a virulently pro-murder politician and a Catholic and good standing when shortly after the Cardinal's tough talk he was quick to say "the cardinal did not mean to suggest that Cuomo would not be a Catholic in good standing if he went forward with the bill."

Say what?

Apparently talking turkey has been ditched in favor of talking turkeys.

Hell is gonna have to add a new wing to accommodate all the Catholics in good standing.

The bishops and Cardinal Dolan ought to be ashamed.

*subhead*Enough already.*subhead*

5 Year Old at Catholic School Calls Shoes Gay, School Invites Radical Gay Group in to Re-Educate.

2013-05-15T23:33:00.002-04:00

This is nuts and exactly why so many Catholics just don't trust Catholic schools. A Kindergarten age boy at a Catholic school in England reportedly called a pair of shoes, "gay."

Well, this set off every politically correct alarm and I'm just surprised the EU didn't send troops into the playground to begin re-education immediately. No, the re-education came from the Catholic school itself in the form of an invitation to a radical gay group to teach the children sensitivity and sexual equality.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, The Telegraph is reporting that the local archdiocese of Southwark approved of this lunacy.

Stonewall is the name of the group brought in to re-educate the kids. If you check out their website, the first thing you see is a banner saying "Say 'I do' to Equal Marriage." The page on the site concerning the program they ran at the Catholic school includes this banner.

Reportedly, the school is now the first Catholic primary school in the country to be listed as a Stonewall “Primary School Champion” of gay equality. Yay!!!

*subhead*Fabulous.*subhead*

Politician Claims to be Endorsed by Christ

2013-05-15T23:05:00.002-04:00

A candidate for the office of mayor of North Miami has claimed to be endorsed by Jesus Christ.

Anna Pierre has promised free healthcare for all and insisted that yes, she was indeed endorsed by Jesus. "Yes, he did endorse me," she told reporters Monday.

Here's the poster from her campaign website:

And, here's the final update from the electoral results from last night. She came in dead last. MSNBC's take will likely be that Jesus is finished in politics.

*subhead*Wait, what?*subhead*

Human Cloning is Back

2013-05-15T14:36:00.000-04:00

*subhead*Lord, help us!*subhead*

It is time to get on our knees and pray. Human cloning is back.

Once induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hit the scene, human cloning slowly faded away. Why clone embryos with human eggs (exploiting women in the process) to get "patient-specific" embryonic stem cells when you can just take an adult cell and reprogram it back to an embryonic-like state? No eggs, no cloning, no creating and destroying embryos.

But I knew cloning was just hiding in the shadows waiting to resurface. Scientists are still trying to achieve this "holy grail" of human biology: the creation of human clones. Ones that generate embryonic stem cells

A team of scientists, including a fertility specialist (meaning IVF doc) from Japan, has done it. Not in some underground lab in China, but in the good old USA. Oregon to be exact.

Continue reading at Mary Meets Dolly >>

The Road To Hell Is Paved With Jell-O

2013-05-15T12:53:00.002-04:00

I returned from a business trip a week ago. As I was unpacking my suitcase, I pulled out a pair of pants. I had some change in the pockets and it spilled out on to the floor. The signature clink and clank of pocket change hitting a hard surface echoed throughout my house.

Suddenly I was surrounded by little urchins pouncing upon the loose booty as if this bit of pocket change is all that stood between them and death by starvation. Greedy little hands plucked up the pennies, nickels, and dimes. But the quarters, the quarters were worth fighting for. Two of my kids tried to grab the same quarter at the same time and it started a mini-brawl. I pulled them apart only to have the waterworks and desperate cries for justice to ensue.

I sat them down on the couch and said, "What the heck is going on? Why are you scrounging and fighting over change?"

"Dad! We already emptied the couch and the coins in Mom's car! We need the money!!"

"Why do you need the money?" I asked...

Continue Reading >>>>

*subhead*Eyes have not seen.*subhead*

Gosnell Avoids the Death Penalty

2013-05-14T22:26:00.002-04:00

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the West Philadelphia abortionist who was found guilty yesterday of the first-degree murder of three babies gave up his right to appeal in exchange for avoiding a possible death sentence.

He will reportedly be sentenced on the remaining charges, including the death of the third baby, on Wednesday.

So it looks like life imprisonment for Gosnell. He chose life imprisonment over death.

It's time for me to do something I haven't been able to bring myself to do yet. Pray for Kermit Gosnell. Pray that he invites the loving light of Jesus Christ into his heart and he seeks forgiveness for what he has done.

For his punishment on Earth Kermit Gosnell has chosen life over death. Now let's pray he does the same with the hereafter.

*subhead*Life.*subhead*

Vatican Sets Foot in the World of Art and It Ain't Pretty

2013-05-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

Vatican Radio announced recently that the Vatican will have an exhibit at the Venice Biennale, a world-renowned festival centered in the lagoon city. One might expect that it would be a great opportunity to showcase a renewal of sacred art, one that, as Pius XII said in his encyclical Mediator Dei, finds the mean between extreme symbolism and extreme realism. It would be an opportunity to display the beauty of the Faith, to draw people in by presenting the highest and best that Catholic art could represent: namely, "God's boundless beauty" as Vatican II so rightly says.
Yet, it seems Cardinal Ravasi had something else in mind, saying that the Pontifical Council for Culture, which he heads, "holds contemporary art at the heart of its interests because it is one of the most important cultural expressions in recent decades." Ravasi said he wanted to heal a "non-consensual divorce between art and faith, especially in the last century." "This for us is a germ," he said, "a seed to return to the hope that there can be even more commissions between churchmen, ecclesial figures and artists — quality contemporary artists," Ravasi told reporters. ABC news reports that "being Catholic wasn't a criterion: Vatican officials said they weren't even sure of the artists' faiths. Rather, the artists were selected based on the body of their pre-existing work."
The theme was announced as "Creation, Un-Creation, Re-Creation."
He then announced some of the artists whose work is featured, though images of their exact works for this exhibit were not readily available in the press.
The American artist Lawrence Carroll was given one third of the exhibit. He chose to display "a floor piece and four wall paintings, one of which has a freezing element that causes it to melt and refreeze cyclically."

One of Lawrence Carroll's "table paintings."

A sample of Carroll's work is shown here from another exhibit. His abstract pieces, called "table paintings, "are not paintings at all, but pieces of various things screwed to a table, then unscrewed and rescrewed. As a Wikipedia entry (its foibles acknowledged) on Carroll reveals,

"Carroll thinks of the structure as drawing, which can continually be altered and added to or subtracted from (erasure). The form which is connected to the table by screws is often disconnected and moved around until another form appears that interest the artist, and at this point the structure is reconnected to the table. This process goes on for months. Once a form is found the artist often then closes one or more of the forms using newspaper and glue or cardboard. All during this process the structure and the forms are painted. More often than not the work is then completely taken apart and reassembled on the table to begin again until a form (gesture) is found that could have never been predicted. Due to this lengthy process few of these table paintings ever reach completion."

If it sounds like a whole lot of nothing to you, don't be afraid be afraid to say so. There is no secret genius at work, no secret message that people without doctorates can't understand. It is a scam. It is about nothing that really matters, and much of the art market is about fame and commodification, not revelation of Goodness, Truth or Beauty. One can hardly imagine this is going to reignite the Vatican as a great patron of the arts in a way, as one AP story said, that would "engage contemporary artists and intellectuals in ways that once created masterpieces such as the Sistine Chapel."

Stuido Arruzo's work in Torino in 2011
exploring industrial processes.

Other artists were mentioned, and ABC reports that the "Milan-based multimedia group Studio Azzurro was selected for the 'Creation' part of the three-space exhibit: It features a darkened room with a mass of stone in the center that when touched creates images and sounds that recall the animal and vegetable kingdoms."

The "Un-creation" Section was given to a Czech photographer named Koudelka Josef, a man given to representing off beat a quirky aspect of life in the twentieth century, such as the picture represented here of men urinating in urban isolation. One web site described his work thus:

Throughout his career, Koudelka has been praised for his ability to capture the presence of the human spirit amidst dark landscapes. Desolation, waste, departure, despair and alienation are common themes in his work.

Photograph by Koudelka Josef.

So in all of this, one begs the question: will this make the Vatican a great patron of the arts? Well-intentioned Catholics have been lamenting the divide between the secularist, un-Christian and anti-Christian art world for over fifty years. But art and artists left Christianity, choosing to represent in art philosophical principles aoopsed to Christinaity. And so it must return to Christianity. The answer is not to allow non-Christians to present tangentially Christian work, it is to find artists whose work is so compelling that even the secular art world discovers that they are missing something in their art and their patterns of though.
Iironically, one sees here the same failed pattern promoted in the 1950s when Dominican friar Marie-Alain Couturier hired Matisse and Le Corbusier to design modern art and architecture. The only people who cared were people driven primarily by shallow anti-intellectual emotion, art critics and architectural cognoscenti. The faithful were simply left confused. And Couturier used almost the same justification as the promoters of this exhibit, not caring about what the artist did with their Church-sponsored commissions, as long as the Church came begging to the secular art world so that she may be anointed by secular intelligentsia as no longer peskily insular backward-looking.
The task of art patronage is, apparently, no longer to support artists who understand the role of art as revealer, to be a leaven to the world by joining the Holy Spirit and man together to make present the sacramentally-perceived realities of heaven (as any iconographer would tell you). It is simply to be the proud patron of a secular modernists praised by other secular modernists. Couturier called it "betting on genius" rather than cooperating with the Holy Spirit. It didn't work the first time. And it seems we are doing it all over again.
It's hard to believe that selling out to the secular art world will light a new fire for the Church. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Speaking to the world on its own terms might be a start, but one learns the language of a people waiting for evangelization in order to evangelize, not to be drawn in to the same confusion it seeks to remedy. Beauty is the attractive power of Truth, and without beauty, the Vatican exhibit will just present a lifeless, warmed-over, semi-secularized institution that has nothing to say, providing nothing to attract people, like St. Paul, to the flash of God's greatness. Hard words to say, but it seems they need to be said.

*subhead*Revisiting the Sterile Past.*subhea

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor...But Not Your Homeschoolers

2013-05-14T22:10:00.001-04:00

The Statue of Liberty says "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." It doesn't say anything about homeschoolers.

You might remember that German family, the Romeikes, that fled their home country because they weren't allowed to homeschool their children and were threatened with losing custody of their children. You might also recall that they applied for asylum in America.

But the U.S. Justice department led by Attorney General Holder decided that the right to educate your children as you see fit wasn't important enough and they rejected the family's bid. So they took their case to court.

But today, a U.S. appeals court incredibly and horribly sided with the U.S. Justice Department and denied the family asylum. If this decision stands, they will be returned to Germany where they risk having their children being taken from them if they continue refusing to send their children to the German public schools.

Think about that. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the freedom to educate one's children as one sees fit is not a fundamental right - at least not enough for asylum seekers.

The Home School Legal Defense Association, which represented the Romeikes in the case, said it will appeal the decision.

"We believe the Sixth Circuit is wrong, and we will appeal their decision," Michael Farris, HSLDA founder and chairman, was quoted as saying in The Christian Post. "America has room for this family, and we will do everything we can to help them."

This is a disturbing decision. It's odd that in the same time we're refusing to secure our southern border and we're seeking to legalize millions, we're not allowing families that are seeking the freedom to educate their children.

You can read more about this by clicking here.

*subhead*Oh no.*subhead*

The Media's Controlled Burn

2013-05-14T16:12:00.001-04:00

Do you know what a controlled burn is? It is when forest managers start or allow a fire to burn in a controlled fashion. Why do they do this? To remove the fuel for an uncontrolled fire that would be much more destructive.

What the media is doing right now is a controlled burn. They are allowing the IRS scandal and the AP calls scandal to be reported on in an effort to save Obama and key administration officials from the uncontrolled fire that is Benghazi.

The Benghazi scandal goes all the way to the top and to the chief executive literally and figuratively asleep at the wheel and the purposeful lies that he and others told to cover it up. Benghazi is the one scandal that goes all the way to the top, the one that could really hurt, and this is why the media has done everything in their power to ignore it and minimize it for the last 9 months. But despite their heroic efforts to cover for the president, the truth behind the story has been getting out anyway and prompting many uncomfortable if yet unanswered questions.

But the media knows that these other scandals do not reach the White House in any meaningful way, so they are comfortable covering them. This way they can continue to minimize, misreport, and ingore Benghazi with the cover of being able to say "Look! We aren't ignoring scandals! We covered the IRS scandal and we covered the AP scandal, this proves we don't cover for the president!"

But this is all just a controlled burn. They are trying burn these fires to remove the potential fuel from the American people, a fuel that if lit could burn uncontrollably.

The media have not changed. They are not suddenly interested in truth. The coverage of these minor scandals are just insulation from the fire that really scares them. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

*subhead*Saving Obama.*subhead*

Health Dept Closes Abortion Clinic

2013-05-14T14:14:00.000-04:00

On the same day that abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of murdering babies, an abortion facility in Charlotte was shut down and had its license revoked by health inspectors who said the clinic was "an imminent threat to the health and safety of patients."

Talk about a bad day for abortionists.

The Preferred Women's Health Center, one of three abortion clinics in Charlotte, offered chemical abortions up to nine weeks' gestation and surgical abortions up to 20 weeks.

Inspectors from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services conducted a surprise visit to the clinic as a follow up to an investigation that started in December of last year when state inspectors reportedly discovered dead insects, blood splatters, and dirty instruments in the clinic.

The Catholic News Herald reports that inspectors found that the clinic does "present an imminent danger to the health, safety and welfare of the clients and that emergency action is required to protect the clients."

Wait, you mean an abortion clinic that hurts women? How can it be possible. I thought us pro-lifers were the ones waging a war on women.

And then, get this, in an example of amazing hubris, despite being shut down, the clinic was still taking appointments for abortions.

Despite the state's order to close on May 10, facility employees were still scheduling abortion appointments for later in the week when the Catholic News Herald telephoned the facility two separate times on Monday, May 13. Later on Monday, after the Catholic News Herald called a third time and told the staff about the state's decision to revoke the clinic's operating license, no cars were seen outside the building and a closed sign was posted on the front door.

Pro-life advocates from St. Thomas Aquinas Church among others had gone out on Saturday morning, May 11, to pray in front of the facility, as usual, and found it closed. Clinic staff members were seen turning away scheduled patients in the parking lot, they noted, but pro-lifers said they heard the closure was for Saturday and Monday only, and that appointments were expected to resume on Tuesday.

Ricky Diaz, a spokesman for the health department, said inspectors would follow up Tuesday to ensure that the clinic remained shut down.

These abortion clinics can't believe that they're actually being inspected for realzies. Perhaps there is some good coming out of Gosnell's house of horrors.

You can read more at The Catholic News Herald.

*subhead*Pro-women.*subhead*