eChurch Blog

[....] Saint Augustine in the fourth century and Saint Aquinas in the thirteenth century both declared that the Bible supported whichever astronomical hypothesis was verified in nature as true. It is an ancient Catholic principle that, since God is the author of all truth, the truths of science and the truths of revelation cannot contradict one another. Galileo was fond of quoting Cardinal Baronius who died in 1607, “The Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.”

SOURCE

The following is lifted from David Lindsay’s blog:

[....] Or Marie Stopes, author of extravagant, versified love letters to Hitler? Marie Stopes, who disowned her own son because he married a woman who wore glasses. Marie Stopes, who campaigned for the compulsory sterilisation of “the C3 population”, of “half-castes” and of “revolutionaries”, among numerous others. Marie Stopes, who opened dozens of clinics in working class areas to reduce the number of “undesirables” by persuasion if force were politically impossible.

Yet those clinics now retain the right to “counsel” women considering the abortions that they have a gigantic financial interest in ensuring go ahead. They still carry the name of Marie Stopes. Our televisions now carry their adverts. Our 50p stamps have recently carried her image. And we all carry the shame.

Ken Ham is once again spouting on about how crap our churches are, and why does he believe that they are in this ‘unbelievable’ condition? This is why:

How can we witness to the world when much of the church and even many Christian schools have adopted the world’s anti-God religion of evolutionary beliefs, including the idea of millions of years?

Yep, because many Christians fully accept the facts revealed by science. Evolution is a scientific theory and fact, not a belief system, as Ham would postulate.

Here is the Catholic Church position on science:

The contribution made by the physical sciences to examining these questions is stressed by the Catechism, which states, “The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers” (CCC 283).

I give thanks for our scientists and their work, which really does increase my admiration for the greatness of our Creator.

Anyway, I honestly don’t know why Ham’s so worried with news such as this:

Some 45 percent of voters accept the Biblical account of creation as the explanation for the origin of human life on Earth, while 21 percent say the theory of evolution as outlined by Darwin and other scientists is correct. Another 27 percent say both explanations are true.

Faith, of course, is a gift from God and He bestows it on a Catholic child at Baptism. Then it is just a seed of fire, a faint ember awaiting a mother, father, siblings (possibly) and a parish priest to breathe on that seed until it begins to glow; to fan it until the glow begins to form  a flame and then to expose the flame to the oxygen of doctrinal truth and the sacraments for it to become ablaze with zeal and ready to be a soldier of Jesus  Christ – a member of the Church Militant!

SOURCE

Nick Donnelly’s superb Protect the Pope blog has been cited as one of the official fruits of Pope Benedict’s UK visit and impact on the Church in this country.

And rightly so!

I’m thrilled for this recognition of Nick’s hard work and am proud that back in July last year, I played my very small part in promoting Protect the Pope.

As Nick’s blog was set up for the purpose of countering the negative press surrounding the Pope’s visit, there was a scary moment after the Pope’s visit, when Nick announced that he wasn’t sure if he’d continue.

After receiving many comments urging him to continue, he did so, and I for one am relieved he did.

Nick Donnelly’s work on his blog played a part in my conversion to Catholicism, and he’s featured my short testimony, which I reproduce here:

“Shortly before the Pope arrived for his UK visit, I became aware of Nick Donnelly’s blog, which was originally set up to combat the negative press surrounding the Pope’s visit.  At this time I was not Catholic and had no intention of becoming one.  In fact, I held many of the prejudices that the media pumped out.

As I watched the Protect the Pope blog develop, I became progressively disturbed at the negative press surrounding not only the Pope, but Catholicism itself.  As Nick so adeptly highlighted, the true nature of the negative press promoted fallacies and spurious wilful misunderstandings and misrepresentations of Catholicism.  Nick’s blog – among a few other factors – sparked my interest in Catholicism and the Pope.

At the time of the Pope’s visit, I was in hospital and quite poorly and as a result of my new interest I decided to watch the Edinburgh Mass.  It was during this broadcast that I became overwhelmed with a sense of extraordinary peace and I was filled to bursting in admiration for the Pope and Catholicism. My path changed from that moment, as I fully realised that this man was indeed the Vicar of Christ on earth, and head of the one true church.

If it were not for Nick’s blog, I would never have developed the interest that led me to watch that broadcast that changed my life forever.”

Long may Nick’s fruit grow in abundance….

This morn I happened upon an interesting paper by Claudia E. Haupt (George Washington University Law School) entitled: Transnational Nonestablishment.

As I’m currently reading through, I’m posting this here for my own benefit, and for anybody else that may be sad enough to be interested.

You can download the PDF here. Click the “One-Click Download” link.

Here’s the abstract:

Over the past decade, significant changes have occurred in the religious freedom jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. The most recent indicators of change are the conflicting opinions displayed in the 2009 Chamber decision finding the mandatory posting of crucifixes in public school classrooms in Italy impermissible, and its subsequent reversal by the Grand Chamber in 2011.

Taking a broader perspective, this Article argues that an emerging trend toward a transnational nonestablishment principle seems to be developing in contemporary Europe. This Article first places the emerging principle into a larger multi-level religious policy framework, one of several such frameworks that also include the Post-Reformation model as well as the U.S. Establishment Clause model.

After surveying the development of nonestablishment principles in the United States, under the European Convention, in the law of the European Union and in individual countries, this Article then traces the contours of nonestablishment. In doing so, this Article illustrates that several useful comparisons can be made between the evolving understanding of nonestablishment in the United States and current developments in Europe. Some of these comparative insights – particularly in the public school context – may prove helpful in anticipating the likely future effects of an emerging transnational nonestablishment principle. This Article then assesses possible implications of the emerging nonestablishment principle in Europe, both short-term and long-term, arguing that theories of convergence and subconstitutionalism best describe likely long-term effects.

The discussion over disincorporation of the Establishment Clause and recent developments in recalibrating the scope of the Establishment Clause with respect to indirect funding of sectarian schools in the United States provide an opportunity to assess the reciprocal effects of multi-level nonestablishment. Finally, this Article turns to the question whether a shared transnational nonestablishment baseline is emerging, arguing that a nonestablishment baseline as a normative matter is necessary in western-style democratic systems.

The Australian government are making reforms to their mental health provisions and have appointed Catholic priest Monsignor David Cappo, to head up the new National Mental Health Commission.

This from ABC news:

The Federal Government says Catholic priest David Cappo was an obvious choice to head the national Mental Health Commission.

South Australia’s Social Inclusion Commissioner will chair the group, which is to help deliver the Government’s mental health changes.

Monsignor Cappo led a review of South Australia’s mental health system and provided recommendations on a range of other social issues in the state.

Federal Mental Health Minister Mark Butler says Monsignor Cappo will be the public face of the Commission and its work.

“It’s the work he’s done here in South Australia, it’s also the work he’s done over the last 12 months advising the Government on mental health reform,” he said.

“He’s the deputy chair of the national Social Inclusion Board and has a history of decades working in social policy so it’s a CV that’s very hard to beat.”

Despite Cappo’s extensive experience, Australian atheists have voiced their pathetic concerns:

Monsignor Cappo is a representative of the Catholic Church, a church which still condones a belief in demonic possession of individuals and the practice of exorcism reminiscent of medieval times.  This is hardly congruent with the ideological and dogma free approach required to address mental health issues today across all segments of a multi-faith and no-faith society.

We would like Monsignor Cappo to articulate his beliefs in relation to his Church’s long held, and in some areas continuing beliefs, that mental illness relates to the divine and the demonic.  Current Vatican Policy claims exorcists regularly consult with psychologists and psychiatrists to differentiate legitimate mental disorders from bona fide demonic possession. This does not inspire confidence.

Unbelievable.

On this basis, if atheists had their way, Christians would be excluded from all mental health work, because, of course, Christians don’t really ‘believe’ in mental illness, it’s all the work of devils.

In their own minds, atheists are totally ideologically and dogma free; they live in some kind of wondrous objective rational vacuum, free from any subjective bias and prejudice, unlike the rest of humanity.

I ask myself, “Isn’t it ironic that this person rages against a Being he/she claims is non-existent?” Oh, I know they would say they are raging against those who believe in this non-existent Being. I’m not buying it.

SOURCE

Some intriguing research over at the Epiphenom blog, gauging moral disgust by measuring physical disgust – the two are apparently linked.

Christian students were asked to taste-test two identical drinks; however, in between the first and second tasting, they were asked to copy out a passage of text. Some had to copy out a passage from the Bible, some a passage from the Koran, and some a passage from Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion.

The students were unaware that the two drinks were in fact identical.

Here’s what happened:

On the second taste test, the students that had to copy a passage from the Koran or The God Delusion rated the beverage as significantly more disgusting (even though it was identical). Their moral disgust at having to write out this stuff translated into physical disgust.

Both the Koran and The God Delusion are equally disgusting to Christians, by this measure at least.

Fascinating.

The advertising watchdog has banned a mobile phone ad featuring an image of Jesus Christ after receiving almost 100 complaints that it “mocked and belittled” the Christian faith.

Phones4U ran a national press campaign featuring a cartoon-like image of Jesus Christ giving a thumbs up and promoting “miraculous” deals on Samsung Android phones at Easter.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 98 complaints that the ads – two versions ran in national press – were offensive and the use of the term “miraculous”, especially during Easter, was disrespectful to the Christian faith.

….continue

Here’s a link to the BBC