Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Category: Media

You are Here :
Media, Political

On Immigration

The second annoying NPR story tonight was on immigration reform. Now NPR’s reporting wasn’t necessarily annoying, but rather some of those interviewed.

Now I am fairly liberal on immigration issues. This country has benefited greatly from immigration. My grandparents and great-grandparents were immigrants. Further, I prefer to work with a person who is industrious and has drive and determination over a slacker who thinks it should all be handed to him.

That being said, listening to illegal immigrants protesting the governmental process in the United States and in the various states by yelling Mexico, Mexico —“ well ok, the border is right there, please go back. The high school student in the story uses the ‘racism’ card because he hasn’t learned to make a cogent argument. Instead he has turned himself into a mimic for interest groups. See: Senate Pursues Immigration Bill.

I agree that immigration reform is necessary. I also agree that churches and charities that offer help to immigrants, whether legal or illegal, are engaging in sanctuary (a concept which has been lost) and should be exempt from any penalties for offering such help.

The way to go forward is to understand the need, to be as just as humanly possible, and to offer the opportunity of America with as few unrealistic barriers as possible. In addition, we have every right in the world to protect our borders.

Unfortunately, much of our immigration policy is so far behind the times that it reflects 1950’s and 1960’s anti-communist initiatives (see the issues surrounding immigration from Poland for example).

We need to get up-to-date, to reward those who wish to come and contribute, and to protect ourselves from those unwilling or unable to espouse our values.

Media

Re-imaging Opera a la the Liturgy

National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed Francesca Zambello, an opera director who is —reimagining— opera to be more appealing to a wider audience.

The interview started with her saying that a good performer can convey the meaning of what may be unintelligible to the common listener, who has no command of languages, by the manner in which he or she performs.

Ms. Zambello then went on to make two very interesting points. She spoke about how opera should be performed in the vernacular —“ the local language. She also made points about how the libretto should be changed since it need not stick directly to the authors’ words.

Toward the conclusion of the interview she put a very fine point on the subject by saying that we must not treat these things as sacred. She reiterated the point about de-sacralizing the music and the text.

Here’s the story lead-in: Wagner’s ‘Ring’ Reimagined in America

All Things Considered, March 24, 2006 —¢ Picture the Rhine as an American river and the Niebelungs (dwellers of the underworld) as members of America’s underclass.

A bold new interpretation of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle, setting its timeless tale of the corruption of power in a more contemporary American setting, is premiering at the Washington National Opera.

At the helm is Francesca Zambello, a superstar among opera directors. She has taken Das Rheingold — the first in Wagner’s four-opera series — and recast it from a distinctly American viewpoint.

…

She talks to Robert Siegel about reimagining Wagner’s operas and her use of America’s rich storytelling tradition and mythic past to involve a contemporary audience. She argues for making opera more accessible to wider groups, including teenagers, and she discusses her work as a storyteller — whether it’s staging Puccini’s La Boheme sung in English or Aladdin at Disneyland.

Now doesn’t that sound familiar. Opera has caught on to modernity.

Function in the vernacular and change the text. Treat nothing as sacred because we have to appeal to a wider audience. Otherwise no one will understand what is happening. And there aren’t that many good performers anyway…

Current Events, Media

Politics and the Making of a Martyr

The AP is reporting that the Afghan man, who is facing a trial and the death sentence, for converting from Islam to Christianity, may be insane.

How convenient. The Afghan government escapes international condemnation, this man will go —free— (you know the Mohammedans will kill him in the street), and an international incident is averted.

I fully agree that to be Christian is to be mad. We are fools for Christ. If people would only label me insane for the love of Jesus Christ!

What should happen here is that the Western armies in Afghanistan should do an Israel and plow into the prison where this man in being held, free him, and bring him to safety in the West.

Here’s a few snippets from the AP story

Afghan convert may be unfit for trial

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.

Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country’s Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.

But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness.

“We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn’t talk like a normal person,” he told The Associated Press.

Thank the Lord for that. What these Mohammedans see as madness we know to be the truth.

…

The Bush administration Tuesday issued a subdued appeal to Kabul to let Rahman practice his faith in safety. German Roman Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann said the trial sent an “alarming signal” about freedom of worship in Afghanistan.

Is the West waking up?

The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take there four years after the ouster of the fundamentalist Taliban regime.

Afghanistan’s constitution is based on Shariah law, which is interpreted by many Muslims to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death. The state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has called for Rahman to be punished, arguing he clearly violated Islamic law.

The case has received widespread attention in Afghanistan where many people are demanding Rahman be severely punished.

No, not the first of its kind. Remember the roundups during the Taliban times. People were herded into a western built soccer stadium and summarily executed. People sat in the stands cheering on the executions. Executions of men, women, and children. But hey, its Shariah.

“For 30 years, we have fought religious wars in this country and there is no way we are going to allow an Afghan to insult us by becoming Christian,” said Mohammed Jan, 38, who lives opposite Rahman’s father, Abdul Manan, in Kabul. “This has brought so much shame.”

You insult yourselves by clinging to the falsehood of Islam.

Rahman is believed to have converted from Islam to Christianity while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

He then moved to Germany for nine years before returning to Kabul in 2002, after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime.

Police arrested him last month after discovering him in possession of a Bible during questioning over a dispute for custody of his two daughters. Prosecutors have offered to drop the charges if Rahman converts back to Islam, but he has refused.

The witness of the martyrs stands strong in the face of the falsehood of Islam.

Media

Let’s All Just be People

Mary Kunz’ editorial in the Buffalo News was a pure gem. Her op-ed People, can’t we just leave it at that? discusses the tendency to over specify in language based on gender obsession.

In my opinion the best lines, which we can all appreciate, discuss the meaningless efforts toward gender neutrality and inclusiveness in Liturgy and Liturgical Music:

The “men and women” fad must have grown out of a gender obsession I first noticed as a kid in church. Hymns changed to, well, hers. In the folk Mass chestnut “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” for instance, “brothers all are we” became “we are family.” Like Sister Sledge.

The thought must be that if women aren’t specifically referred to, we feel marginalized, ignored. But I’m not that dumb. I know “brotherhood” can mean me, too. And that troops are women as well as men.

Say “men and women” in every breath, and I start to feel patronized. These words have a place, and it’s on restroom doors. Not in every other sentence.

Isn’t it time we ended this overstated equality?

Can’t we let people be people?

Media

Mormon Error

The NY Sun has an article about the new HBO drama Big Love.

The Get Religion blog has a take on this as well in their post Big Love, bigger questions.

Once again Holywood has outdone itself in promoting anything contrary to traditional marriage and the truth of what humanity is. Who would expect otherwise?

On the Mormon issue, Get Religion says that the Mormons are quite upset about the recurring connection between Mormonism and polygamy.

I guess when your whole faith structure is founded upon a fallacy you just can’t get away from those nagging issues.

Current Events, Media

They’re Rebuilding Sodom

The business braintrust in western Massachusetts has decided to build an exclusive community – Paradise One (and no, I won’t link to it). Here’s a quote from their website:

Our vision:

We envision Paradise One as a microcosm of the Northampton / Amherst / Easthampton communities, a mix of gay and straight, older and younger. A place that is especially gay-friendly for the LGBT community who lack real options. Rather than the “gay place” or “old folks home”, we’d like it to be known as the vibrant, beautiful, place where a mix of progressive people choose to live in harmony.

Uh, yep.

Sure they go on about the fact that they are open to everyone. Does this sound open:

THE COMMUNITY:

Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgender & Straight are all welcome at Paradise One. Each member of our community will have one thing in common: The desire to continue living life to the fullest.

I imagine they would be open to a regular rosary rally in the community room praying for the end of homosexual sodomite abomination? It would certainly help me to live life to the fullest in the way Jesus intended. But then again, their two statements contradict eachother. How can it be gay friendly, yet open to everyone.

Perhaps we can persuade Tom Monaghan to buy up the condos? I’m thinking ‘Ave Maria North’. I think rather that Gene Robinson will be “‘blessing'” the place.

Unfortunately, this gay friendly exclusive community (don’t come here if you’re a serious Catholic or otherwise committed Christian) is only a little over an hour from Albany. That means that when the destruction comes I had better not be looking in that direction. I don’t want to end up a pillar of salt like Lot’s wife…

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. — Luke 17:26-33

Media

Offensive Scripture?

Take a look at the following letter to the editor that appeared in today’s Times-Union of Albany, NY

Ash Wednesday quote not meant to be insulting

Thank you for the March 1 story on Ash Wednesday and the bishop’s presence at LaSalle Institute, Troy.

The New Testament quote you used is read on Ash Wednesday, but Jewish readers might misinterpret it.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues …” refers to hypocrites who do religious things for other people to see them and not for the greater honor and glory of God. It does not refer to those who pray in the synagogue for, after all, Jesus himself began his ministry in a synagogue.

In the words of Bishop Howard Hubbard at that LaSalle Mass: “The three practices designed for deepening our relationship with God are practiced by all of the faith traditions, including Judaism and Islam…”

REV. JAMES KANE
Pastor
St. Helen’s Parish
Niskayuna

The writer is interreligious affairs director for the Albany Diocese

Now to me the letter does provide a great opportunity for catechesis. However, I think it goes a little too far assuming offense and in equating Christianity with other faiths. Jesus said —I am the way.— I wonder why so many, including clergy, refuse to make that point.

Christianity can be offensive at times —“ that’s why it and we will never ‘fit in’. We must call people out of the ‘let’s all fit in attitude’ and return to our mission of calling the world to repentance and conversion.

What do you think?

Current Events, Media

Imagine a Community

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. — Philippians 2:1-2

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God. — Romans 15:5-7

Imagine a community where people are all of one faith. Think of a place where the rules, regulations, and lifestyle of the community support the members of that faith. Consider a town where the only places of worship and the only food available support the morals and ethos of he members of that faith. Try to conceptualize a community where government funding flows in freely to support the community.

You might be thinking of Thomas S. Monaghan’s concept of the City of God in Florida – Ave Maria. You would be wrong. Instread think of the Satmar Chasidim of Kiryas Joel in New York State.

The following from the town’s website is illustrative:

A Model Community

Kiryas Joel is a unique community, without parallel anywhere in the United States. It is perhaps a small piece of America that so many Americans could only dream about: A community without crime, drugs, AIDS, or some of the other calamities plaguing society.

Kiryas Joel is a community where traditional values and the centrality of family are still the guiding principles of community life. It is a place where parents and children participate jointly in the beautiful ritual and customs of Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish life.

To preserve these unadulterated values, Kiryas Joel is a community without television or radio. A few weeklies and other periodicals, published in Yiddish, are sold in the Village.

The community has a number of places of worship where young and old participate in prayer, song, dance and Torah study.

Albeit that only 5% of Kiryas Joel’s residents are college educated, all receive an intense religious education, many even spend several years in post-graduate rabbinical schools after they are married.

Doesn’t look like a college education is required – just faith. You can also check out their Frequently Asked Questions page.

I’ve known people who have had dealings in this town. If you think you, as a goy, could just move in and live a happy Christian life you would be very wrong. Think community pressure. Think an overwhelming majority who vote as one. Think —“ who would sell you property?

Do I think this is wrong —“ absolutely not! I think Tom Monaghan needs to learn from our elder brothers in faith. What he also needs to understand is that these people live and practice their faith. Try shopping there from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. If everything is owned, managed, and run by people of one accord then there is little impetus to move in and upset the apple cart.

Instead of changing his mind about his Florida community —“ go forward Mr. Monaghan. The model has been built, you just have to copy it.

Media

Repeating an overwhelmingly tedious cycle of behavior

The title comes from one of the myriad of sites out there that criticize Scientology. The quote is very appropriate due to the recent Hollywood (the golden gates of hell) news about Scientology advocate Tom Cruise and his mistress Katie Holmes.

In Hollywood it’s always the same story, fictional drama and the utter disregard for anything remotely human. Hollywood is about money, pleasure, having it your way – at any cost. It is an overwhelmingly tedious cycle of behavior repeated by most actors and actresses.

In case you haven’t followed the ranting and raving of these Hollywood ‘elites’, Cruise and Holmes, here’s the rundown.

Cruise was twice married, first to actresses Mimi Rogers then to actress Nicole Kidman. Both marriages ended in divorce.

Holmes had a five year ‘relationship’ with actor Chris Klein. Holmes dropped Klein calling off their engagement.

As part of a movie publicity stunt, Tom Cruise went after Katie Holmes making an extremely flamboyant show of it all.

In quick succession they announced they had found the love of their life (meaning they had a high of good feelings for all of 10 seconds) and moved in together. Holmes gave up her nominal Catholic faith for scientology and quickly became pregnant with yet another of Hollywood’s illegitimate children.

Now it appears that the ‘relationship’ is ‘falling apart’.

The following are excerpts from a story at the Brisbane Courier-Mail by Edith Bevin.

If Tom’s playing charades it’s a dangerous game

HOLLYWOOD giant Tom Cruise yesterday put paid to claims his relationship with fellow actor Katie Holmes was on the rocks when the couple flew into Sydney aboard a private jet.

But US-based Life & Style magazine is adamant its story, published this week, that Holmes and Cruise had split and called off their wedding is true.

“We stand 100 per cent behind our story,” a magazine representative said.

Hollywood cynics insist the magazine’s claims of a split is [sic] true, and Holmes’s trip to Australia is part of an elaborate charade to “prove” the two are still together.

Now here’s the crux of the matter:

If it was just a publicity stunt, it was a dangerous one, with most airlines recommending women do not fly when they are more than 36 weeks pregnant.

Holmes, 16 years Cruise’s junior, is seven or eight months pregnant with their first child.

Sydney obstetrician Dr Ric Porter said the two major risks of flying when so heavily pregnant were going into premature labour and the potentially fatal deep-vein thrombosis.

“You’re more susceptible to clots, especially on long-haul flights like Los Angles to Sydney,” he said.

Publicity and career trump the life of mother and child. Holmes should have stuck with Catholicism. If she had genuine faith and trust in the Lord she would have been able to stand up to her ranting misogynistic ‘lover’.

The couple have taken the unusual step of issuing a statement denying they have split.

“It should be known that the story is 100 per cent false,” the couple’s publicist Arnold Robinson said in the statement.

“Mr Cruise and Ms Holmes are still engaged and are moving forward with their wedding plans, as well as planning for the arrival of their child.”

Life & Style quotes two unnamed friends of Cruise as saying the public pair “plan to keep up the charade of their romance until after their baby’s birth this spring”.

“So right now they’re together but not together. It’s a really weird situation and unhealthy for both of them,” one of the friends is quoted as saying.

…

More like unhealthy for humanity.

By the way —“ isn’t scientology just Gnosticism? What do you think? For a primer check out Carolina Christian Conservative on the issue.

Media

Last thoughts on Michelle Kwan

Joey Josephs offers one last thought on Michelle Kwan in: One Last Time On Kwan, I Promise!

Oh, and a final note to Peter Uebberoth, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee: Should someone call 9-1-1 so they can remove your lips from off her a**?

If I was an Olympic athlete on this team or any future team, I’d be a little p***ed at him when he said at a news conference Sunday that Kwan was basically the greatest athlete in the history of the U.S. Olympic team in any sport for the courage she showed in making such a tough decision to withdraw when she really felt she could compete.

Thanks for spitting on the accomplishments of those who have won (and who will win) Olympic medals for this country. Now that Michelle’s gone, whose butt will you kiss now, Pete?

When I heard Peter Uebberoth’s comments during NBC’s coverage I was left shaking my head. Isn’t he supposed to be an advocate for all Olympic athletes and not a sycophant?

All Right Reserved © 2005 - 2023