All entries by this author

Jesus and Mo on obviously intelligent design *

Dec 28th, 2010 | Filed by

God created a perfect environment for humans; the banana proves it.… Read the rest



Eric MacDonald on the malice of small minds *

Dec 28th, 2010 | Filed by

It is true that Robert Latimer was suffering, and he suffered so much because someone he loved was suffering.Read the rest



Regardless of the cost, regardless of the cost, regardless of the cost

Dec 27th, 2010 11:04 am | By

Let’s see if I can force myself to read and comment on some of the horrible dogmatizing of Catholic theologian Ronald Conte. I could manage only about three paragraphs on the first attempt.

The subject of his anathema is “M. Therese Lysaught’s grave doctrinal error.” He notes that she points out that the fetus was doomed no matter what, that

it was not a case of saving the mother or the child. It was not a matter of choosing one life or the other.

Then he spends the rest of the long piece saying fuck that.

He quotes JP2 saying it’s disobedience to God’s law. He quotes the catechism. He insists on the (authoritarian and theocratic) claim that some … Read the rest



A doomed effort

Dec 27th, 2010 10:21 am | By

A Catholic woman priest is trying to convince herself that the bishop of Phoenix didn’t mean what he of course necessarily did mean. She’s not having an easy time of it.

When I was a teen, I saw a movie that depicted a bishop, the brother of a pregnant woman, who loved his sister, but when the chips were down and it was her life or the baby’s life, the choice was his to make and he chose the baby. I will never forget how horrible I felt that his sister was powerless in this situation, and that the decision was her brother’s to make.

Quite – and in the bishop’s case, it wasn’t even a matter of choosing the … Read the rest



The bishop of Phoenix is “defined by dedication” *

Dec 27th, 2010 | Filed by

In other words, he’s a myopic zealot dedicated to murderous authoritarian dogma.… Read the rest



A Catholic theologian explains *

Dec 27th, 2010 | Filed by

“The Magisterium definitively teaches that intrinsically evil acts are always immoral, regardless of intention and circumstances.”… Read the rest



Rust belt philosopher on the bishop of Phoenix *

Dec 27th, 2010 | Filed by

Olmsted’s own citations require him to look into the issue more seriously than he did.… Read the rest



Eric MacDonald on the bishop of Phoenix *

Dec 27th, 2010 | Filed by

For Catholic morality the abortion of a fetus in order to save the life of a woman who already has children who need her is tantamount to murder.… Read the rest



The Church and her bishops have a heightened moral responsibility

Dec 26th, 2010 5:23 pm | By

Mark Jones found the confirmation I was looking for, in the shape of the letter the bishop of Phoenix wrote to the president of Catholic Healthcare West. It is unbelievably disgusting.

He’s pissed off that the president of CHW told him that this is a complex matter on which the best minds disagree – not, as one might hope, because he thinks there should be no disagreement on whether or not a pregnant woman should be allowed to die along with her fetus rather than prevented from dying at the expense of her fetus, but because he is The Bishop.

In effect, you would have me believe that we will merely have to agree to disagree. But this

Read the rest


Episcopal evil

Dec 26th, 2010 12:54 pm | By

The ACLU letter to the administrators of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says something I hadn’t known, something quite staggering. The trouble is, I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else, so I can’t be sure it’s accurate. I would email the ACLU to ask, but they say they get too much mail to answer.

…just last week it was revealed that the Bishop of Phoenix threatened to remove his endorsement of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center – where, as discussed in our previous letter, doctors provided a life-saving abortion to a young mother of four in November 2009 – unless the hospital signed a written pledge that it would never again provide emergency abortion care,

Read the rest


ACLU: Catholic hospitals must provide emergency care *

Dec 26th, 2010 | Filed by

The bishop ordered the hospital to sign a pledge that it would never again provide an emergency abortion, even to save a woman’s life.… Read the rest



What about that pope then eh? *

Dec 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Catherine Pepinster and Keith Porteous Wood discuss.… Read the rest



New violence in Jos, Nigeria *

Dec 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Previous violence between Christian and Muslim “ethnic groups” in the region has killed hundreds.… Read the rest



Martha Nussbaum on the fragility of goodness *

Dec 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Talking to Bill Moyers around…1988?… Read the rest



“Don’t laugh like a whore, this is Karachi” *

Dec 26th, 2010 | Filed by

Mahim Maher on reporting rape in Pakistan, saying “penis” in Pakistan, laughing aloud in Pakistan.… Read the rest



Dawkins on Ratzinger’s Thought for the Day *

Dec 25th, 2010 | Filed by

Ratzinger is guilty of promoting one of the most repugnant ideas ever to occur to a human mind: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).… Read the rest



The evidence is not absent

Dec 25th, 2010 12:34 pm | By

 Josh Rosenau says my post on how gnu atheism can Help is an exercise in sugary saccharine vigorous self-back-patting, and also lacking in evidence. It’s nice of him to Reach Out, but his reading is rather sloppy.

If she’d said that these effects might well follow, I’d have no real argument. They might (and also might not, I don’t know). The initial claim that gnus have already rendered religion “not altogether intellectually respectable” strikes me as the weak point in this argument, though.

Yes but the claim is not mine. I didn’t claim that. My claim overall is pretty much that “these effects might well follow.” I didn’t say that gnus have already rendered religion “not altogether intellectually respectable”; I … Read the rest



Dan Fincke on theistic evolution *

Dec 25th, 2010 | Filed by

To look at evolution scientifically is to recognize that even if there is a God, God does not intelligently guide evolution.… Read the rest



How “Hindu” is yoga after all?

Dec 25th, 2010 | By Meera Nanda

Yoga is to North America what McDonalds is to India: both are foreign implants gone native. The urban and suburban landscape of the United States is dotted with neighbourhood health clubs, spas and even churches and synagogues offering yoga classes. Some 16 million Americans do some form of yoga, primarily as a part of their exercise and fitness routine. Thus, when everyday Americans talk about yoga, they mostly mean physical, or hatha yoga, involving stretches, breathing and bodily postures, or asanas. Many styles of postural yoga pioneered by India-origin teachers are thriving, including the Iyengar and Sivananada schools, the Ashtanga Vinyasa or ‘power yoga’ of Pattabhi Jois, and ‘hot yoga’ recently copyrighted by Bikram Chaudhary. The more meditational forms … Read the rest



“Spiritual Fitness” is code for mandatory Christianity *

Dec 25th, 2010 | Filed by

There are spiritual fitness centers, spiritual fitness programs, spiritual fitness concerts, spiritual fitness runs and walks.… Read the rest