Three-Card Monte, Anyone?

Shysters can be found in all religions and ethnicities. For ex., according to The Swazi Observer a Christian group called “God's Purposed Kingdom Ministries” is selling bottled water under the name “Jesus”. (http://www.observer.org.sz/main.php?id=48184&section=Business) Themba Magongo, the co-director of the aforementioned ministry claims that the water “will not [just] quench your physical thirst but also meet the need of a soul.”

Ministry members insist that they distribute the 500 ml bottles to spread the Word of God; yet, one has to question their motives since this “miraculous” H20 is not freely offered to people, but instead sold for $0.50. This would be comparable to bottling the waters of Lourdes and selling it alongside Evian or Deer Park. When approached by fellow-Swazis about the difference between Jesus water and the traditional Swazi cleansing water (siwasho), Magongo responded, “My brother this is not siwasho. If you are a Christian you will understand this well. The Holy Spirit will tell you what this water is, but if you use your own understating you will get it all wrong and start to think this is siwasho”.

Perhaps “God's Purposed Kingdom Ministries” does truly want to spread the Word . . . but I find their intentions highly suspect, especially considering the part of the world they operate in. In 2005 the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the FAO Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture World Food Programme. In the report FAO revealed that “over the past decade, Swaziland has repeatedly experienced droughts or inadequate rainfall and resultant poor harvests.” (http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/J5512e/J5512e00.htm)

What better product than water to sell to people all too familiar with droughts? Offer them “holy” water and you not only sate their physical thirst, but their spiritual one as well.

Sorry, but this sounds like a scam.

Donald Tremblay

Time to De-Frock

Can someone explain this to me?

Why are members of the clergy who preach against Church doctrine allowed to continue wearing their collars? Why are these heretics not tossed out into the streets? Have we forgotten Christ’s proscription: “But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6) If these men want to follow the broad road “that leadeth to destruction”, that is their business. But must we stand by and watch them serve as malevolent Pied Pipers, leading the Faithful into the abyss? It is time for the Vatican to get rid of these wayward priests, and the first cleric they can start with is Australian Father Peter Dresser:

“This whole matter regarding Jesus being God ... not only does violence to my own intelligence, but must be a sticking point for millions of people trying to make some kind of sense of the Christian religion ... No human being can ever be God, and Jesus was a human being. It is as simple as that. "(http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=9772)

Dresser furthers his blasphemy by asserting that “Mary had as many as six children, Joseph was the father of Jesus and the bodily Resurrection is not to be taken literally.”

Explain to me why we need this man serving the flock?

If you do not recognize Christ’s divinity, then you are not a Christian. Go join a New Age movement if you believe that the Lord was merely an archetype, one of many men in history who accessed the “divinity within every person”. As Anthony Robbie, Sydney lecturer in Church History, argues in the above-mentioned article, “The Council of Nicaea settled the question that Christ was God in 325, so he [Dresser] is 1,700 years out of date. The rest is a regurgitation of every discredited 19th century liberal Protestant German cliche in the book."

Get rid of Dresser and others like him. The last thing Christians need on their journey to the Beatific Vision is a defective compass.

Watch this video about Halloween!

Catholics participating in Halloween should watch this video now!

The Grass is Not Greener . . . Not Even in Hollywood

Americans treat celebrities like royalty, imagining their lives as modern-day fairy tales. The glitz and glamour, fame and fortune blind us to the sadness that marks the lives of many public figures. Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson’s recent horrific tragedy is just the latest example.

· In 1992 current Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden lost his wife and his baby daughter in a car accident.

· In 1995 Carroll O’ Connor’s son Hugh committed suicide by gun shot. Hugh called his father moments earlier to warn O’ Connor that he could not handle his drug problem any longer.

· In 1997 Bill Cosby’s son Ennis was murdered while changing a tire. A robber pulled up alongside of Ennis, demanded money, and then shot him when the money wasn’t produced quickly enough.

· Last month Tampa Bay Buccaneers place-kicker Matt Bryant and his wife entered their three-month-old son’s bedroom only to discover that he had died in his sleep.

Suffering is not limited to us peasants. Pain does not distinguish between bank accounts, nor does it care about entourage sizes or red-carpet invites. Pain is an equal opportunity provider. We refuse to believe this because envy is among the most tempting of human emotions. It is not a coincidence that envy is one of the seven deadly sins, nor is it an accident that two of the 10 commandments address coveting.

During difficult periods in our life (economic hardship, illness, etc . . .) it is only natural to respond reflexively with anxiety, hopelessness, and resentment. But maybe next time after our initial emotional release we will remember that “there is always someone out there worse off than you”.

And they may even be a celebrity.

Donald Tremblay

You Didn’t Hear This From Me, But . . . Merry Christmas

Well, it’s that time of the year again: time for Christ-phobes to complain about Christmas celebrations in public places. Once again we must endure weeks of whining about how seeing a Nativity scene and hearing the words “Merry Christmas” creates an exclusionary, hostile environment that leaves non-Christians feeling threatened. 2008’s first incidence of Christ-phobia takes place in Long Island, NY in the town of Patchogue.

On Nov 23 the town will hold its 15^th annual boat parade along the Patchogue River. Last year the name of the parade was the Patchogue Christmas Boat Parade. This year the name has been changed to the Patchogue Holiday Boat Parade because of “complaints that the use of ‘Christmas’ seemed to make the parade less inclusive.” (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfA-XFWFSZjLAt-oIzxwehAhx4xgD9409U000) Organizers tried to justify the change by arguing that “the parade has had several names over its roughly 15-year existence”, but one group who rejected that explanation is the Grucci fireworks company. Last year Grucci donated $5,000 of fireworks to the parade. This year the parade will get zilch:

“The company's vice president, Philip Butler, who has criticized the secularization of Christmas in the past, said parade organizers were ‘using all the themes of Christmas and plagiarizing all those themes.’"

Bravo to Grucci. Not only should Patchogue Christians boycott the parade, but they should spend that evening decorating their property with as many Nativity displays and “Merry Christmas” signs as they can fit.

Merry Christmas . . . and get ready for a ridiculous two months.

Donald Tremblay

Persecuted and Forgotten

The charity group Aid to the Church in Need has released "Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for their Faith 2007/8." (www.acn.org.uk/shop/reports/BPAF08_All.pdf) www.acn.org.uk/shop/reports/BPAF08_All.pdf) How bad is the persecution? Neville Kyrke-Smith, the United Kingdom’s director of Aid to the Church in Need, is quoted by Zenit news agency stating the following:

"What the [report summary] demonstrates is that Christians are the most persecuted group in the world today," he said. "People are aware of an enormous number of human rights abuses throughout the globe, but they are not always aware of the denial of human rights to millions of Christians.”

Donald

It’s Just Business

Apparently there is an ethical code I am unaware of that allows people to act differently when conducting business than when they deal with people personally. It is okay to screw people, violate values, etc . . . because “it’s just business”. The bottom line is all that matters so morality has no place in business. Just ask those brokers who dabbled in derivatives and swaps, risking investors’ life savings for the chance to earn that ridiculous year-end bonus. Truly, greed makes people do strange things.

The Clarion Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ and the Quality Inn in Maple Shade, NJ are offering discounts to women who stay with them after receiving abortions at local abortion facilities. (http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=30184&wf=rsscol).
“Based on reports from local citizens participating in the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil outside the Cherry Hill Women's Center, New Jersey Right to Life has confirmed that the Clarion Hotel in Cherry Hill offers a reduced rate of $59 for a room originally priced at $109 to those women who provide a receipt from the abortion mill that says they have to stay overnight. In addition, the Quality Inn in Maple Shade offers a discounted rate of $74.95 for a room originally priced at $99.99 and a free breakfast of eggs and pancakes for women who present a stamped pamphlet from the clinic.”

The Cherry Hill Women’s Center allegedly “performs abortions up to the sixth month of pregnancy” and is accused by Marie Tasy, Executive Director of New Jersey Right to Life, of having “a track record of aggressive advertisement in the Pennsylvania market to intentionally lure pregnant minor girls to the NJ abortion clinic in order to evade Pennsylvania's parental consent laws.”

Although this is just a guess, chances are both hotels are experiencing high vacancies and are looking at this as a gimmick to lure more guests. Some would say this advertising ploy is tasteless.
No, it’s just business.

Donald Tremblay