TWILIGHT ZONE
***Dante’s Inferno or Mahony’s Fest? As usual, the Los Angeles Religious Education Conference in February offered a smorgasbord of speakers from all the circles of hell. [Dante would have recognized the place.] Rev. Gywnne Guibard, lesbian Episcopal priestess, who lives with her “life partner,” Dr. Lo Sprague, joined several others from the circle reserved for slaves of lust and advocates of child-killing who regularly speak at the convention. Guibord signed the 2000 SIECUS (Sex Information and Education Council of the United States) statement, Religious Declaration on Sexuality Morality, Justice, and Healing, that calls for "full inclusion of women and sexual minorities in congregational life, including their ordination, and the blessing of same-sex unions." The document also endorses “lifelong, age appropriate sexuality education in schools, seminaries, and community settings," and a “faith-based commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, including access to voluntary contraception [and] abortion."
Guibord’s participated in the ecumenical panel: Is there salvation outside the Catholic Church: Are other Churches “True”? Her presence was no surprise to Mahony watchers. The cardinal is notorious for providing podiums to people who hate the Church and all she stands for. The panel addressed the CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) document, Responses to some questions regarding certain aspects of the doctrine on the Church. It reaffirmed that the Catholic Church is the one, true church founded by Jesus Christ, and all Protestant churches are defective. [Do you think Guibord supported the doc? Want to buy the Golden Gate Bridge…cheap?]
***Other L.A. dissenters: At the risk of boring readers, we offer a brief rundown of a few other bad guys in L.A. Joining Guibord from hell’s circle of lust: Fr. Richard Sparks, whose blasphemy and bathroom sex talk we’ve documented before; Sr. Fran Ferder who supports gays “who don’t experience their sexuality as a lifelong commitment to celibacy,” and Fr. Gerald Coleman who not only advocates same-sex unions, but vigorously supported the murder of Terri Schiavo. Coleman defends starving and dehydrating those in persistent vegetative state, a poorly-defined, often misdiagnosed condition. To his credit Coleman writes against physician-assisted suicide, his subject at the conference, but, by his support of other abominations, he straddles hell’s circles of lust and murder. Other dissenters included Jim Wallis of Sojourners who started a program called Faith in Public Life to neutralize pro-life and pro-family groups. Claiming the left are the REAL family values folks, he and his cronies champion environmental issues, gay rights, separation of church and state, [Ho-hum…you know the drill.] His group wants to make the political world safe for the likes of extremist, pro-abort liberals like Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. To Wallis, global warming and diversity (he favors civil unions for gays) trump the murder of the unborn. Then there were speakers like Thomas Groome, Edwina Gately, Fr. Michael Crosby, Scott Appleby – all well-known dissenters. [We could go on…and on, but the bottom line is: pity the poor children whose CCD teachers drink the Kool-Aid and pass it along. Not to worry, though; Cardinal Mahony has a child protection program in place proving he is a good wolf whose lambs are perfectly safe…Yeah! ]
***If you live in California, move! Mahony is not the only disaster on the west coast. In March a CA appeals court denied parents of eight the right to home school their children. The court reaffirmed a 1950s ruling that children must be educated in public school, private school, or by a tutor accredited in the child’s grade level. Justice H. Walter Croskey speaking in a 3-0 decision, said, “California courts have held that ...parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children (our emphasis)… A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare."
“Welfare” apparently includes gagging those who hold traditional values and celebrating perversion. SB777, signed by the governor last fall, allows “transgendered” students to use restrooms and locker rooms for whichever sex they want to be and bans “discriminatory bias,” which is whatever gays say it is. Analysts expect gay activists to demand removal of terms like “mom and dad” and “husband and wife” from school textbooks calling them biased terms that exclude same-sex couples. If that happens, the reverberations will sweep the country since school textbook publishers are unlikely to risk being excluded from the large California public school market.
***Day of Silence Screams Gay Agenda. Hundreds of public and private schools across the country participated in the National Day of Silence (NDS) on April 25 with their pro-gay message. (See list of participating schools at missionamerica.com) Under the guise of “tolerance” the gay movement uses NDS to brainwash kids into accepting homosexuality (and its perverted behaviors) as normal and healthy. The NDS website urges students to organize follow-up events including “workshops, speakers, entertainment, or any other venue for evaluation, education, and discussion.” What exactly does their “education” involve? For sure: that homosexuality is not a choice; you’re born that way. You have a right to “love,” marry, adopt, etc. and those who disagree and challenge your sodomite lifestyle are hateful homophobes. [Do you think they tell kids the gay lifestyle cuts decades off their lives ?]
***Oregon Euthanasia group pushes sick people over the edge: A study conducted by Linda Ganzini et al and reported in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in February showed most patients requesting lethal prescriptions in Oregon were experiencing only minimal pain. Why kill themselves then? The Euthanasia Prevention Council suggests one possibility. In 2005 Compassion and Choices, a permutation of the Hemlock Society, facilitated 73% of suicides in Oregon. Could they be urging people to avoid pain later by killing themselves now? The death peddlers continuously change names to show the public a kinder, more compassionate face. As the population continues to age, watch for assisted suicide to explode. Like abortion, it started with the hard cases but eventually, any reason will be okay. [Oh no, it’s Monday; I just can’t face another week. Bring the needle.]
***Let them drink wine with their cake: Remember that water problem we’ve told you about in the past, i.e., that fish retrieved from rivers show signs of confused gender? Well, it’s not just a problem for “other folks” any more. Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River (FNF) are concerned about big fish kills. The river provides water to Woodstock, Strasburg, and Winchester among other western VA towns. FNF recently reported that fishermen are snagging dead and dying bass covered with lesions, and many male fish carry infertile female eggs in their testes. According to the report, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed water samples finding 59 chemicals including herbicides, insecticides, pharmaceutical drugs, and a hormone found in oral contraceptives. Are the Occoquan and the Potomac rivers which provide water to Northern Virginia clean? Not by a long shot. USGS found similar problems in the Potomac River basin. Read the study at www.fnfsr.org. [In the meantime, our advice? Dig a deep, deep well.]
***Hide your wallet from CRS! The April Catholic World Report included an article by Germain Grisez outlining another betrayal by a Church organization, Catholic Relief Services. CRS appears to have a consistent and sneaky policy of promoting condom use in their HIV/AIDS program begun in 1986. Grisez found that, while CRS claims to promote abstinence, the group demands that partners provide “full and accurate information” on condoms including “benefits, risks, and failure rates.” Those who refuse may be denied funding. One CRS educational tool is particularly appalling. It is a flipchart developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and mailed out by CRS with other materials and a cover letter with an endorsement from CRS executive, Jared Hoffman stating that CRS has “ownership rights” on the document which “complies” with CRS policy.
***So what’s in the doc? The flipchart presentation pays lip service to abstinence then engages in typical Planned Parenthood-type language. “In a page on ‘Counseling young adolescents,’” writes Grisez, “the information the flipchart offers is: ‘Delay sexual activity. If in an intimate relationship, explore other forms of sexual pleasure (massage, touching, hugging)’ (p. 35). Similarly, women with HIV are informed that they can still have a fulfilling life with their ‘partners’ – i.e., husbands or men to whom they are not married…. Thus, obtaining sexual pleasure by what is euphemistically called ‘massage’ is presented as acceptable for both young adolescents and married couples.” The section on prevention instructs partners to tell clients “where condoms are available and where they can get more information” It ends with “an enthusiastic testimonial by a condom user:… ‘We use condoms every time we have sex.’” So much for Church teaching at CRS.
***CRS clearly has something to hide: Their position paper on AIDS includes instructions that “Any written educational material that contains information about condoms must not carry the CRS name or logo.” (emphasis in original) With regard to the flipchart, Hoffman explained in his cover letter that, “CRS has chosen not to include the CRS or AIDS Relief logo on the flipchart, due to the potential sensitivity of the information contained in these materials among Church partners.” [Translation: CRS wishes to promote the Planned Parenthood message on AIDS and condoms – even to adolescents, but would rather donors don’t know about it. If you contribute to CRS, maybe it’s time to rethink your donation.] We echo Grisez’s call for an investigation of CRS. (http://www.ignatius.com/Magazines/CWR/) In the meantime, send your money to The Missionaries of Charity. [Sad…We can no longer trust “Catholic” organizations. Catholic Charities, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic University: each gets a special collection during the year, but no well-informed pew-sitter would put a penny in the basket. God help us!]
***Update on Anthony Tambasco:Thanks to your prayers, the angels routed the Georgetown heretic preventing his talk at Good Shepherd Church in Alexandria last January. Ostensibly, it was cancelled for inclement weather. [Not! Good Shepherd follows Fairfax County weather policy. We called the county. Ballgames, ballet classes, and adult ed went on as usual. Perhaps it was the “blizzard” of opposition.] A friend who went to hear Tambasco was told by a church staff member the talk would not be rescheduled. [Praise God, but why the silly pretense? Must be the spineless jellyfish syndrome. Regardless, please say a rosary of thanksgiving. You CAN make a difference!]
***Parish “mission” from the funny papers?
As we go to press, we’re reading Good Shepherd’s Sunday bulletin (4/27) about what passes for a parish “mission” (May 13 & 14). By the time you read this, cartoonist, Jason Kotecki, who pens the cartoon, Kim and Jason, about two little kids exploring life will have given his “hilarious and uplifting look at how to ‘stress less’ and ‘have more fun’ by uncovering a more childlike faith. It’s the ‘can’t miss program.’” And gosh…it’s so much more fun than those fuddy-duddy old missions with boooring talks, long lines of Confession, the rosary, Eucharistic adoration, etc Besides, the Redemptorists don’t offer fun shopping opportunities like Kim and Jason’s Kool-Aid [oops…we mean Lemonade] stand where one can buy the “clean underpants candle” and other cool stuff. Good Shepherd says Jason gave his program at another parish in the diocese that called it a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” Now Les Femmes has no problem with humorous motivational speakers…at the parish festival, not a mission! Then againwhat does one expect from a parish that can’t distinguish between fidelity and heresy. [Hmm…is Good Shepherd a spiritually safe environment for children, Bishop Loverde?]