The forces of aggressive secularism and political correctness have scored another victory over Christianity. This in the Excited States of America, where freedom of religion and freedom of association are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. This in... wait for it... a so-called "Catholic" university.
The institution in question is Gonzaga University, in Spokane, which is run by the Jesuits. (Hello, Pope Bergoglio!) According to Catholic Education Daily, the university has denied an application by some students to have their Knights of Columbus group recognized as an official student organization. The reason? Because they admit only Catholics!
The Knights were told that they could not be formally affiliated with the university because their rules for membership are "inconsistent with the policy and practice of student organization recognition at Gonzaga University, as well as the University’s commitment to non-discrimination based on certain characteristics, one of which is religion."
To make matters worse, the Knights is for men only. The applicants thought they had that covered by proposing the formation of a Catholic Daughters group, but that didn't get them around the "Catholic" university's commitment to diversity, inclusivity and all the other politically correct bullshit that even the Jesuits feel bound to put ahead of any commitment they might have to their religion.
Walt is waiting for Gonzaga University to be renamed. Something like "The Mohammed Luther Hebrew Institute of Secular Humanism" would fit nicely.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
How not to win at dodgebull
This amazing video features several bulls and numerous jackasses.
From it we learn two things. First, death or injury won't be any less painful if you're smoking a cigarette when it happens. Secondly, as we see in the final clip, if you're going to escape the horns of an enraged bull, it's better not to be wearing a belt.
Thanks to Agent 9, who must be wondering if these bull-dodgers went to confession beforehand. Or possibly afterwards, as in "Forgive me, Father, for I have acted foolishly."
From it we learn two things. First, death or injury won't be any less painful if you're smoking a cigarette when it happens. Secondly, as we see in the final clip, if you're going to escape the horns of an enraged bull, it's better not to be wearing a belt.
Thanks to Agent 9, who must be wondering if these bull-dodgers went to confession beforehand. Or possibly afterwards, as in "Forgive me, Father, for I have acted foolishly."
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Aggressive secularism trumps Christianity in Ohio
The Freedom From Religion Foundation devoted to attacking all religions and all displays of religious faith, got a student and two parents to bring a lawsuit against Jackson City Schools, demanding removal of the "offending" painting, which they called "an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity". The militant secularists were supported by... wait for it... The American Civil Liberties Union.
Jackson City Schools at first resisted the challenge, saying that the portrait of Jesus was private student speech displayed in a "limited public forum" and was not school-endorsed "governmental speech."
But, at a hearing in the US District Court yesterday, the school board threw in the towel, and agreed to remove the painting. Although they said they believe in the school's right to keep the painting up, they simply can't afford to fight the court battle, nor can they pay for insurance against costs which might be awarded against them.
Today's report from the Columbus Dispatch quotes a statement from Superintendent Phil Howard saying that "our insurance company denied coverage, and we cannot risk taxpayer money at this time."
The painting has now been removed from its place of honour, and placed in a storeroom -- out of sight and, sadly, out of mind.
Fake "obeah man" cons Jamaican murderers into confessing
Walt's favourite court-watcher, Agent 3, has been following a murder case wending its way through the courts of Ontario, Canada's most populous province. As those who know the Greater [sic] Toronto Area would expect, race and religion are involved.
The victim of a 2004 shooting in Brampton, Ontario -- an increasingly dark bedroom community northwest of Toronto -- was Youhan Oraha, a drug dealer. The three accused were Evol Robinson, his differently-surnamed brother Jahmar Welsh, and their friend Ruben Pinnock. All of the accused are, errr, Jamaican-Canadians.
In their trial before Mr. Justice Terrance O'Connor of the Ontario Superior Court, the evidence which did them in was that of an undercover cop who posed as an "obeah spiritual advisor", to whom the accused gave what amounted to a confession.
A confession given to a Catholic priest would have been inadmissible under Canadian law. Sadly for the accused, obeah has nothing to do with Christianity. It centres on mysticism and spiritualism and is commonly practised by people of Caribbean descent. The word "voodoo" comes to mind, but at the trial four defence experts at trial called obeah "a form of religious practice".
Judge O'Connor questioned the sincerity of the accused's religious beliefs, and allowed the fake testimony of "Leon de Obeah Man". The bogus spiritualist had told the boys that the Robinson family was cursed by an evil spirit, a "white boy" who had drawn police and the judiciary to them. He offered to protect them, so they spilled their guts to him. "Guilty, guilty, guilty!" Said the judge.
Was that the end of it? Is the Pope Catholic? [Apparently not. Ed.] Enter the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the African-Canadian Legal Clinic, organizations funded by charitable donations and tax dollars willingly and unwillingly provided by whities. These assiduous opponents of racism and champions of religious freedom put to the Ontario Court of Appeal the argument that the religious rights of the accused were breached by the racist police, in sending "Leon" to extract incriminating information that the accused otherwise wouldn't have given.
The CCLA intervention argued that allowing police to impersonate religious advisers "shocks the conscience of Canadians." The African Canadian Legal Clinic said the police trickery "preyed on the Robinson family's deep-seated mistrust of the criminal justice system". Well, duh!
The appeal court disagreed with the appeal to political correctness. In a judgement released yesterday, three white judges wrote: "We conclude that any religious element in the Obeah sessions with Leon is properly characterized as trivial, insubstantial and dwarfed by the corrupt motives that induced the appellants to participate in and fall for the elaborate scheme of deception practised upon them."
Furthermore, the court found police did not compel any action for a religious purpose. "Leon encouraged the appellants to adopt Obeah practices, but encouragement short of compulsion does not infringe" religious rights, said the judges.
Nor did the judges accept that the applicants were "unfairly targeted because of they are black and of Jamaican heritage". Rather, they were singled out because they were suspected of murder. Well said. Let's see the liberal activist lawyers get the Supreme Court of Canada to reverse that one!
The victim of a 2004 shooting in Brampton, Ontario -- an increasingly dark bedroom community northwest of Toronto -- was Youhan Oraha, a drug dealer. The three accused were Evol Robinson, his differently-surnamed brother Jahmar Welsh, and their friend Ruben Pinnock. All of the accused are, errr, Jamaican-Canadians.
In their trial before Mr. Justice Terrance O'Connor of the Ontario Superior Court, the evidence which did them in was that of an undercover cop who posed as an "obeah spiritual advisor", to whom the accused gave what amounted to a confession.
A confession given to a Catholic priest would have been inadmissible under Canadian law. Sadly for the accused, obeah has nothing to do with Christianity. It centres on mysticism and spiritualism and is commonly practised by people of Caribbean descent. The word "voodoo" comes to mind, but at the trial four defence experts at trial called obeah "a form of religious practice".
Judge O'Connor questioned the sincerity of the accused's religious beliefs, and allowed the fake testimony of "Leon de Obeah Man". The bogus spiritualist had told the boys that the Robinson family was cursed by an evil spirit, a "white boy" who had drawn police and the judiciary to them. He offered to protect them, so they spilled their guts to him. "Guilty, guilty, guilty!" Said the judge.
Was that the end of it? Is the Pope Catholic? [Apparently not. Ed.] Enter the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the African-Canadian Legal Clinic, organizations funded by charitable donations and tax dollars willingly and unwillingly provided by whities. These assiduous opponents of racism and champions of religious freedom put to the Ontario Court of Appeal the argument that the religious rights of the accused were breached by the racist police, in sending "Leon" to extract incriminating information that the accused otherwise wouldn't have given.
The CCLA intervention argued that allowing police to impersonate religious advisers "shocks the conscience of Canadians." The African Canadian Legal Clinic said the police trickery "preyed on the Robinson family's deep-seated mistrust of the criminal justice system". Well, duh!
The appeal court disagreed with the appeal to political correctness. In a judgement released yesterday, three white judges wrote: "We conclude that any religious element in the Obeah sessions with Leon is properly characterized as trivial, insubstantial and dwarfed by the corrupt motives that induced the appellants to participate in and fall for the elaborate scheme of deception practised upon them."
Furthermore, the court found police did not compel any action for a religious purpose. "Leon encouraged the appellants to adopt Obeah practices, but encouragement short of compulsion does not infringe" religious rights, said the judges.
Nor did the judges accept that the applicants were "unfairly targeted because of they are black and of Jamaican heritage". Rather, they were singled out because they were suspected of murder. Well said. Let's see the liberal activist lawyers get the Supreme Court of Canada to reverse that one!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Queer students campaign against Christian law school
Yesterday Walt passed on a report that 2/3 of the self-identified Christians in Notsogreat Britain felt they have become a persecuted minority in their own land. Persecuted, that is, by "aggressive secularists" supported by their own government, headed by "Conservative" Prime Minister David Cameron.
Today we look at Canada, where one would think freedom of speech, freedom of religion and, indeed, freedom of thought, would be guaranteed by the Charter of Rights, thus safe from the predations of political correctness. One would be wrong.
Walt takes you now to Langley, British Columbia, the home of Trinity Western University.
TWU is a small(ish) university compared with behemoths like UBC, but it has a wide range of programmes, offering undergrad and graduate degrees in the humanities, education, even medicine. It would like to start a faculty of law, but its attempt so to do is meeting with opposition from the usual gang of social activitsts and secular humanists.
Why the fuss? It's because Trinity Western University is... wait for it... a "faith-based" institution of higher learning. That right, dear reader. Those people are religious!
The idea of having a law school where students would be taught real ethics and religious ideals is being challenged in a petition by students from eight other Canadian law schools. Their reasoning (if such it can be called) is that TWU's Christian policies discriminate against... wait for it (again)... the LGBT (queer) "community".
The homophiliacs' petition asks the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the BC Ministry of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology [Why do the names of these government departments get longer and more complex every year? Ed.] to reject the accreditation of TWU's proposed law school, claiming parts of the university's student handbook are contrary to the rights of LGBT students, faculty and staff.
Here's the deal. If you want to study or work at TWU, you're asked to sign a Community Covenant Agreement, outlining the university's conduct expectations, and your rights and duties as a member of the institution. OK so far? It's normal, surely, for a school, company, social club, government agency -- any organization -- to have policies and procedures which you must accept, either explicitly or implicitly, if you want to belong.
But... TWU's Community Covenant Agreement contains a clause that requires community members to abstain from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman." Shock! Horror!
The handbook says that if a student fails to comply with the agreement after signing it, the university "reserves the right to discipline, dismiss, or refuse a student's re-admission to the University". In other words, if you break the agreement you signed, you exclude yourself from the organization.
But OUTlaw -- a group representing the LGBT gang at the University of Alberta -- doesn't see it that way. A spokesthingy, Christopher Ghesquier, told CBC Radio (natch!) "This discriminatory policy really does not represent Canadian law. I think it definitely does offer a less welcoming environment for LGBT students to attend [TWU]... Despite the fact that the law recognizes same-sex marriages, the school seems not to."
To which Walt says, so what, Chrissy?! You don't have to go to TWU if you don't think you will be welcome there. And you are already going to the University of Alberta law school, eh? So what's it to ya?!
Trinity Western was a little more moderate in its response. Their statement regarding the petition says the agreement being challenged was "rigorously researched and developed" after consultation with legal experts. "While we value and respect differing views, we trust that a faith-based community still has the religious freedom in Canada to maintain its beliefs and participate fully in society."
Walt hopes TWU's trust that Canadian law societies and governments uphold the rights of religious minorities -- such as practising Christians -- is not misplaced. Walt hopes... but will not bet. Lifetime pct, like freedom of religion in our secular society, does not apply.
Today we look at Canada, where one would think freedom of speech, freedom of religion and, indeed, freedom of thought, would be guaranteed by the Charter of Rights, thus safe from the predations of political correctness. One would be wrong.
Walt takes you now to Langley, British Columbia, the home of Trinity Western University.
TWU is a small(ish) university compared with behemoths like UBC, but it has a wide range of programmes, offering undergrad and graduate degrees in the humanities, education, even medicine. It would like to start a faculty of law, but its attempt so to do is meeting with opposition from the usual gang of social activitsts and secular humanists.
Why the fuss? It's because Trinity Western University is... wait for it... a "faith-based" institution of higher learning. That right, dear reader. Those people are religious!
The idea of having a law school where students would be taught real ethics and religious ideals is being challenged in a petition by students from eight other Canadian law schools. Their reasoning (if such it can be called) is that TWU's Christian policies discriminate against... wait for it (again)... the LGBT (queer) "community".
The homophiliacs' petition asks the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the BC Ministry of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology [Why do the names of these government departments get longer and more complex every year? Ed.] to reject the accreditation of TWU's proposed law school, claiming parts of the university's student handbook are contrary to the rights of LGBT students, faculty and staff.
Here's the deal. If you want to study or work at TWU, you're asked to sign a Community Covenant Agreement, outlining the university's conduct expectations, and your rights and duties as a member of the institution. OK so far? It's normal, surely, for a school, company, social club, government agency -- any organization -- to have policies and procedures which you must accept, either explicitly or implicitly, if you want to belong.
But... TWU's Community Covenant Agreement contains a clause that requires community members to abstain from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman." Shock! Horror!
The handbook says that if a student fails to comply with the agreement after signing it, the university "reserves the right to discipline, dismiss, or refuse a student's re-admission to the University". In other words, if you break the agreement you signed, you exclude yourself from the organization.
But OUTlaw -- a group representing the LGBT gang at the University of Alberta -- doesn't see it that way. A spokesthingy, Christopher Ghesquier, told CBC Radio (natch!) "This discriminatory policy really does not represent Canadian law. I think it definitely does offer a less welcoming environment for LGBT students to attend [TWU]... Despite the fact that the law recognizes same-sex marriages, the school seems not to."
To which Walt says, so what, Chrissy?! You don't have to go to TWU if you don't think you will be welcome there. And you are already going to the University of Alberta law school, eh? So what's it to ya?!
Trinity Western was a little more moderate in its response. Their statement regarding the petition says the agreement being challenged was "rigorously researched and developed" after consultation with legal experts. "While we value and respect differing views, we trust that a faith-based community still has the religious freedom in Canada to maintain its beliefs and participate fully in society."
Walt hopes TWU's trust that Canadian law societies and governments uphold the rights of religious minorities -- such as practising Christians -- is not misplaced. Walt hopes... but will not bet. Lifetime pct, like freedom of religion in our secular society, does not apply.
Monday, April 1, 2013
If you love Elmo, crap your hands!
Chingrish, for those not familiar with the term, is a strange and hilarious amalgam of misspellings and mistranslations used by Chinese who believe that they can speak/write English. "Of cos I speak good Engrish! I got CET-4!"
One example that always made me smile was the little sign in the Renrenle supermarket showing shoppers where to find the "CHEWING GUN".
Perhaps the product was to be found just an aisle or two over from the "Rocking Elmo" pictured here. To be fair, though, I believe the admonition to "Crap Your Hands" is actually Japlish, first cousin to Chinglish.
The picture was posted on the ChairmanLOL website, which has hundreds of similar examples. Mind you, the Chinese and Japanese are not the only ones to mangle the language of Shakespeare and Churchill. Horrible examples of "Engrish" as she is spoken around the world -- including so-called English-speaking countries -- can be found at Engrish.com. Walt invites to read, laugh, and see if you can do any better!
"I am not worthy...": Pope Francis resigns
The Roman Catholic Church, indeed the entire world, was shocked -- shocked! -- this morning when, after a humble breakfast of dry toast and a cup of steam, Pope Francis, clad only in a sackcloth robe, announced that he would hand the Keys to the Kingdom back to his predecessor at noon today.
"I am much too humble for the exalted office that the cardinals thrust on me," said the soon-to-be-ex-Pontiff. "I couldn't accept all those things... the red shoes, the fancy clothes, the crown. And now they wanted me to move into a luxury apartment when I could be perfectly happy to live in a hostel and eat at a soup kitchen. It's just too much!"
[Ed., I'm going to run this even though we don't have a second source as yet. Could you please make some phone calls? And try to find out where Bertone got our phone number. Thanks. Walt]
Seriously... isn't the New and Improved Holy Father's "humble shtick" getting to be a bit much? Driving through the crowd in St. Peter's Square in his Popemobile, kissing babies and invalids... You'd think he was running for the presidency of Italy. (Not such a bad idea, perhaps.) Here's one cartoonist's view.
“Mass with Pope Francis: moving from HIGH Church to LOW and humble Church! What a blessing that we are encountering Jesus without trappings!”
If the paedophiles' protector approves, Walt should not be the only one to disapprove. What Pope Francis is showing, in his every word and action, is a desire to ignore the extremely modest steps back to Tradition of his last two predecessors, and to return to the novelties and outright heresies of Vatican II.
Pope Francis is, in his own words, very much imbued with the spirit of Vatican II. And unlike Benedict XVI, he appears less concerned with continuity with the past and more intent on moving ahead with what he still regards as the Council’s correct agenda. So there is cause for concern... much concern.
Meanwhile, the Curia -- including Bertone -- remains in place, "for the time being", i.e. during the first formative days of the Bergoglio papacy. So what the Church has, in Francis, is a sheep amongst wolves, skipping his humble way down the Protestant path to perdition.
Fortunately, the grace of office has significantly changed the mindset and policies of popes of the past. Pope Pius IX -- the "Pio Nono" of Vatican I -- started his papacy as a liberal, but quickly became a staunch defender of Tradition.
The best thing faithful Catholics can do at the moment is to pray for the Pope, as Our Lady told us to do. And pray that the Holy Spirit will, as our Lord promised, preserve the Church from Her enemies... without and within.
Recommended reading: "Could the Criticism Have Merit?", by Louie Verrecchio, in Catholic Exchange.
"I am much too humble for the exalted office that the cardinals thrust on me," said the soon-to-be-ex-Pontiff. "I couldn't accept all those things... the red shoes, the fancy clothes, the crown. And now they wanted me to move into a luxury apartment when I could be perfectly happy to live in a hostel and eat at a soup kitchen. It's just too much!"
[Ed., I'm going to run this even though we don't have a second source as yet. Could you please make some phone calls? And try to find out where Bertone got our phone number. Thanks. Walt]
Seriously... isn't the New and Improved Holy Father's "humble shtick" getting to be a bit much? Driving through the crowd in St. Peter's Square in his Popemobile, kissing babies and invalids... You'd think he was running for the presidency of Italy. (Not such a bad idea, perhaps.) Here's one cartoonist's view.
I look at the signs and portents of the early days of Francis' papacy, and, in the immortal words of Indiana Jones, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Cardinal Roger Mahony -- disgraced to the point of having to absent himself from the Conclave that elected Bergoglio -- exstatic. Towards the end of last week, during the "installation" of the new Pope, he Tweeted:
“SIMPLE is IN, extravagant is out!! Pope Francis is doing more for proclaiming Jesus Christ than thousands of ‘professionals’–praise God!”
“So long, Papal ermine and fancy lace! Welcome, simple cassock, and hopefully, ordinary black shoes! St. Francis must be overjoyed!!”“Mass with Pope Francis: moving from HIGH Church to LOW and humble Church! What a blessing that we are encountering Jesus without trappings!”
If the paedophiles' protector approves, Walt should not be the only one to disapprove. What Pope Francis is showing, in his every word and action, is a desire to ignore the extremely modest steps back to Tradition of his last two predecessors, and to return to the novelties and outright heresies of Vatican II.
Pope Francis is, in his own words, very much imbued with the spirit of Vatican II. And unlike Benedict XVI, he appears less concerned with continuity with the past and more intent on moving ahead with what he still regards as the Council’s correct agenda. So there is cause for concern... much concern.
Meanwhile, the Curia -- including Bertone -- remains in place, "for the time being", i.e. during the first formative days of the Bergoglio papacy. So what the Church has, in Francis, is a sheep amongst wolves, skipping his humble way down the Protestant path to perdition.
Fortunately, the grace of office has significantly changed the mindset and policies of popes of the past. Pope Pius IX -- the "Pio Nono" of Vatican I -- started his papacy as a liberal, but quickly became a staunch defender of Tradition.
The best thing faithful Catholics can do at the moment is to pray for the Pope, as Our Lady told us to do. And pray that the Holy Spirit will, as our Lord promised, preserve the Church from Her enemies... without and within.
Recommended reading: "Could the Criticism Have Merit?", by Louie Verrecchio, in Catholic Exchange.
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