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July 2006 |
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Monday, July 3, 2006 Fighting moral equivalence.
There are two types of moral equivocating. The first method is using evil to cancel out a greater one. "Yes, it was wrong for them to blow up the World Trade Centers, but it was wrong for us to have marginalized their societies." This argument, and all the ones like it, are used to make it hard for weak people to fight against evil. You can actually watch these arguments paralyze their minds. The second type of moral equivocation is taking a phrase that's not easily contradicted, and using it to excuse a great evil. "I believe in public education. Even though it costs more, and doesn't effectively teach many children, we need to be sure everyone has an equal chance." Catholic Fundamentalists don't pay any attention to moral equivalence. As soon as we see it, we immediately consider the two Catholic Fundamentalist decision-making principles: 1. Outside the Trinity, no two things are equal. 2. Of any two things, one is better. When we use First Principle #1, we honor God by raising Him above what He created. First Principle #2 honors God by forcing us to use the free will He so graciously provided. The "better" choice is always the one that brings us closer to God. It is a sin to avoid making the better choice.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006 Independence Day. Those of us proud of being Americans just celebrated our independence day. Each year on this date, we should try to see just how independent we are. We are not free to deliver our own mail. We are not free to direct our own tax money to choose our own childrens' education. In many areas, we are not free to drill our own wells or have our own septic tanks. We are not free to determine our maximum rate of taxation. We are not free to buy our own medicine. We cannot drive paying passengers in our own bus. Sometimes, we are not free to smoke. We cannot free to buy drugs cheaply. We are not free to invest our own Social Security money in the best way. We are not free to keep that money and live off the interest, passing the principle on to our children. The only people who can celebrate Independence Day are those who are independent. Every year, we have less to celebrate. As one opponent of the Revolutionary War said, "Am I better off being ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away, or is it better to be ruled by three thousand tyrants one mile away?
Friday, July 7, 2006 Most of this week's available time was taken up transcribing various Lie Committee meetings, especially the Food Sub-Committee. You can access the latest Food Lies' ongoing reports in the Lie Committee. I think the Food Lies Committee is especially busy because food is one of the few remaining sectors of the economy that's not tightly regulated. Lots of opportunities for liars. As you know, this is the only web site like it. Please feel free to forward it to friends who'd find helpful the concept of God as three-dimensional Programmer. The more people who think of God as Programmer, the more likely it is that traditional values and thinking (i.e. St. Thomas Aquinas) may spread.
Monday, July 10, 2006 One reason for Catholic Fundamentalism: A house divided cannot stand. The Church, when dominated by Aquinian wholeness, believed Scripture. As more Catholics accepted modernist teachings, especially on the age of the earth and evolution, The Church became increasingly divided from Scripture. When Scripture is undermined, polluted, darwinized, or only believed in part, it is no longer the firm, universal guide that shepherded our ancestors through the centuries. The Church is weakened. The Catholic Fundamentalist concept that God can program in three dimensions makes it intellectually possible, if not reasonable, to return to the Aquinian wholeness that was once the Church. There's an amazing thing about Catholic Fundamentalism: Not one human being on the face of the earth can disprove that God can program in three dimensions. Yet, few are comfortable with considering that possibility. Many avoid it like the plague. References to it are frequently removed, even on web sites that purport to be "Catholic". As we grow in understanding of God's ability to program in three dimensions, we tend to be put in our place. We begin to understand what it means to be omnipotent. He is the potter. We are the clay. We see that it is more important that He be obeyed than "talked to". Our reluctance to seriously consider God's power comes from self-importance. That, of course, comes from the deadliest sin, pride. As we realize that God has programmed the universe, and programmed us free will creatures to be able to make choices within it, humility follows as the day the night.
Monday, July 10, 2006 God's reason for democracy. God allowed persecution and tyranny to exist in our ancestral countries to weed out weak Catholics. As St. Columban said, "Without a battle, there is no victory. Without a victory, there is no crown." Many of those who survived the tyranny, discrimination, and oppression of the Old World made it to the New. Here, hard work brought prosperity to them and their descendants. Another spiritual battle was here to be fought, this time with prosperity. The immigrants' children were tested, not with deprivation but with plentitude. Many, whose ancestors survived Turks, Protestants, Communists, Nazis, masons, and revolutionaries in France, Spain, and Russia could not survive peace and prosperity. God made American to provide freedom and riches, another test of faith. For many Americans, "Lord, have mercy and help me to grow closer to you. " has been replaced with "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz." At judgment, rewards are apportioned accordingly.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 Programming in three dimensions. God is capable of programming very complex three dimensional parts on the spot, like loaves and fishes. In the process of creating the earth, it is likely that He did not program everything directly. In the development of Catholic Fundamentalism, it became obvious that angels were involved. Catholic Fundamentalists look at angels as sub-programmers. Aquinas's nine orders of Angels are, in current technology translation, sub-programmers with orders of power and responsibility. Old translation: "In the beginning, God said 'Let there be light.'" New translation: "In the beginning, God said, 'I am programming the energy spectrum." He then programmed the necessary orders of angels, each with the desired amount of power and skill. They actually put things in place. His place.
Thursday, July 13, 2006 Objections to Catholic Fundamentalism People resist Catholic Fundamentalism for pretty much the same reasons: "If God programmed Creation and didn't tell us, He is misleading us. I can't believe in a God who would do that. " Catholic Fundamentalists reply: "He did tell us. The Bible is clear that He made the world in six days. If He could program in three dimensions, He could do that. He left it to us, in our time, to re-translate 'Creation' into 'Program'." Objector: "I cannot see how God could do that." Objector: "I just don't see how God could program particles." Catholic Fundamentalist: "It's not what we think God can do, but what God can do that's important. We believe He can program particles and make them work together more quickly than human programmers can program screen savers." Objector: "Carbon-14 and geologists tell us the world is billions of years old." Catholic Fundamentalist: "How could He give us free will without providing a world we could examine and be free to decide on our own where it came from and how old it is." Objector: "Then, He is misleading us." Objector: Your argument is circular." Catholic Fundamentalist: "So is yours'. Ours is just a vastly larger circle. Faith and science exist very comfortably in it, with science considered the 'handmaiden of theology'. Souls crippled with vanity don't like that." At the end of the day, Catholic Fundamentalists have Church and Scripture on their side. Others must rely on a sorry assortment of pseudo-intellectuals who've sold their souls for a mess of pottage.
Monday, July 17, 2006 Pride, truly the deadliest of sins. The Bible says that "We do not choose Him, He chooses us." We should be staggered with the joy of having been chosen. When we understand that we have been chosen, we realize that our "real" life begins at death. That brings joy, which can only exist when there is no fear of death. As unbelievers grow older, hatred grows in their lives. It's hard, knowing that they have less and less life left. The little hope they have diminishes daily. Without hope, joy is strangled. We can imagine how lost they are when considering that they think a celebrity's advice is going to provide lasting help. Watching someone nod up and down as a TV bubble-head tells them how to think and act is almost enough to make us cry. Their mistake is to believe in creation rather than the Creator. They err in trusting man rather than God. They make such choices of their own volition and of God's. They haven't joined the the happy band of pilgrims, and He isn't pushing them. If they ask, He will let them join the group. Why do they rarely ask? For the lost, Pride is something to be proud of. For us, it is a wall between us and eternal life. That's why Pride is the deadliest of sins.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Beyond pride.
If we are fortunate enough to have been asked to join the happy pilgrims, the sense of God's power grows. We start asking Him for help. Soon, we may become bores, praying for things all the time. Our beginning prayers are of the "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz variety." "Jesus, Lord, to You I plea, Please give what I want to me."
As time goes on, many of these prayers are answered. Sometimes, just to shut us up. If we are fortunate enough to continue the journey, prayers change. Of course, we continue to pray for our own well being, but find that praying for others' becomes important. Then, we make a bit of a breakthrough and find that listening to God is more important than talking to Him. "Jesus, Lord, to you I plea, Let me better obey Thee."
If we are invited to continue traveling, we see that earthly concerns aren't as nearly important as passing our final. "Jesus, Lord, to you I plea, Please, Dear Lord, please forgive me."
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 Before the fall. "Pride goeth before a fall." has been sound advice since Proverbs. Pride can be compared to an over-inflated balloon. An over-inflated balloon runs into two problems. As it is inflated, it comes in contact with more potential puncture-points. Rapid deflation follows. Inflation also causes the material to get thinner. The expansion causes weaknesses and irregularities in the thickness of the film to allow deflation. On the other hand, each balloon has an optimum size. If it stays smaller than it can be, it is, in human terms, cowardly. "Lack of pride" also "goeth before a fall." If we do not expand to our capacity, we are like the man who buried his talents, rather than investing them for maximum return. We each need enough pride to be of service, but not so much that we become unserviceable.
Friday, July 18, 2006 Lie committee. Columns were light this week. The Education Sub-Committed of the Lie Committee was given a new assignment, making money out of school buses. The Committee just kept going and going, and transcription took up all available time. If you haven't looked at The Lie Committee, please do so. If you have friends interested in the subject, pass it on.
Monday, July 24, 2006 Church as unmoving centrifuge. Many of us know people who have joined The Church. Conversely, we know people who have left. Those who join for intellectual reasons see a body of uncontradictable thought that draws them toward it. Morality draws others. The Church loves life. There is no room for lies and hate. Some see the spirit of love and humility, and love that more than vanity. Those who leave value their own opinions more than the actions of those involved in the only Christian organization that is a living link with Jesus and His disciples. Their opinions crystallize into action, and they whirl off like sparks from a pinwheel. The Church hates to see them leave, but, if She compromised with everyone who left, She would not exist. She knows that it is better that they leave. Many see the flaws in more human institutions and beliefs. They return, and are welcomed back with all the joy that greeted the Prodigal Son. Others cannot rein in their pride, and are left with less. If generations follow, they often fall farther away.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Saintly questions. There are few things more mystifying than the naming of Protestant Churches after Catholic Saints. Saints were officially canonized as Saints by the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestants who attend St. Someone's Church, by their very attendance, give credence to The Church with the power to confer sainthood. If the Roman Catholic Church had the authority to canonize the Saint after whom their church is named, why isn't it good enough to be taken seriously in more, if not all, regards? Despite the teachings of a particular church, naming it after a person who was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church leads one to the conclusion that even the most diehard Protestant thinks there is credibility in Rome. What if a Protestant church named, for instance, after St. John, is in a pro-choice denomination? We know that St. John and The Roman Catholic Church are pro-life. Will St. John, who hated hypocrisy, work in Heaven to punish them? Attendees, if they think about it, must find themselves in the odd position of hoping they named their church after a man who has no power in Heaven. It is confusing to attend a church named after a man whose teaching has been abandoned. It is worse than confusing to attend a church named after a saint whose teaching they contradict. Not far away from where this is being written, is one of the great mysteries of my life. It is named "St. Peter's Lutheran Church".
Thursday, July 27, 2006 Catholic Fundamentalists: "Indulge in Indulgences". Lots of people who wanted to be "free" used The Church's alleged sale of indulgences as a justification for leaving. "I don't want to be a part of that!", they'd say, with that smug, self-righteous look and tone we all have when we decide to excuse our vanity. Let's look at a hypothetical buyer of an indulgence. A criminal, for instance. He's doing wrong. He has momentary, but controllable urges to "go straight". He meets a poor, mendicant priest with the authority to sell indulgences. "If I give you ten thousand dollars, I get an 'Indulgence', and I get to go to Heaven?" he asks in astonishment. "The Pope has said so." "That's a great deal! Here's the money!" Many who want to undermine Catholicism say: "See, this proves that the Church is corrupt!" Catholic Fundamentalists, as usual, think The Church is always right. When they hear such criticisms, they turn to The Bible, and find that Jesus said: "Where a person's money is, there also is his heart", or, depending on the translation, words to that effect. Catholic Fundamentalists understand that the sale of the Indulgence has made the criminal bet some money on God. If we truly believe that Jesus was telling the truth, spending money on the indulgence will cause the criminal's heart to move toward God. After all, the indulgence won't cover future sins, and many indulgence buyers want to protect their investment. The percentage of sinners saved is undeniably increased. Selling indulgences is good evangelism. Stopping the sale of indulgences keeps some people from putting their money on God. That argues against the very teaching of the His Son.
Monday, July 31, 2006 Nation-gardens. God weeded the Garden of Eden by uprooting the gardeners and tossing them out. History is a record of gardeners that He uprooted. The garden of the Aztecs was the most bloodthirsty garden on earth. God allowed it to exist so that men would have a record of a truly bad government. As many as 40,000 people were sacrificed at a time; death and torture were daily events. God sent a few hundred Catholics to weed that garden. Catholic Fundamentalists believe that any change of governments must be the will of God. God doesn't allow societies to stay "too bad" forever. When things get too bad, enemies join to overthrow a common foe. Nations never become "too good". When unbelievers see prosperity around them, they become envious. Anger follows, and they begin to steal from each other. Often, they weed out themselves. God lets them do so. England is a tiny microcosm of self-destruction. A helpless people have lost control of their lives to cunning destroyers who have one hand steering the rudders of every level of government toward destruction. With the other, they stuff their pockets with riches. God will take care of England, yet again, but only after the English people ask Him. |