++ relapsed catholic ++ religion blog

The ex-mobster talks about finding God:

"It was Rabbi Mark Borovitz of Beit T'shuvah, a synagogue for recovering addicts in Los Angeles, who intervened and finally gave Henry the guidance that he needed to clean up his life and realize that his years as a mobster did not preclude his becoming a mensch. Hill took some time recently to open up to Jewsweek about his new book, life on the run, rediscovering his Judaism, and what it all means to him."

ScrappleFace: Cat Stevens Detained, 70s Stars Vie to Get on Watch List:

"Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge said his department is currently considering requests for inclusion on the watch list from the following: Carl Douglas ('Kung Fu Fighting'), Stealers Wheel ('Stuck in the Middle with You'), Van McCoys ('The Hustle'), Gary Wright ('Dream Weaver'), John Sebastian ('Welcome Back') and Nick Gilder ('Hot Child in the City')."

"In related news, the Sci-Fi channel will also be airing little-seen segments from past 60 Minutes shows, the highlights of which include the Roswell UFO coverup, and footage from Dan Rather’s exclusive interview with a Yeti, which actually turned out to be a West Highland Terrier with a piercing stare sitting on a stack of phone books."

First, because they've shoved columnists Lynn Crosbie, Margaret Wente and Rex Murphy behind the subsciber-only firewall. Second, because the crappy columnists (Doyle, Smith, Mallick and McLaren) exude a toxic discharge that eats through your WELCOME mat.

Third, because one of today's front page stories is about a Canadian woman who got fired for blogging. Two weeks after The National Post ran a front page story about the same woman's firing!

All the news, two weeks later. This is the paper of record up here?

"Barely a few weeks after the Nader rally, these thoughts were crystallized by an argument I had with a black liberal minister at Boston University. In the course of his Sunday sermon, broadcast on the local NPR affiliate, he had notated a list of the world's evils: poverty, no health care, etc., in which he gave pride of place to Israel's targeted assassination policy, which, he informed me in stentorian tones, as if intoning divine truths, was 'barbaric'.

"Nowhere and at no point did he mention suicide bombings, or his opinion as to their barbarism. I must confess, the thing came to me with a shocking clarity, all the more so for its horrendous implications; here was this good liberal preacher, who no doubt considered himself congenitally immune to all the ills of the human soul he condemned in those he saw as his moral inferiors, and yet Jewish lives simply did not matter to him. Or, to put it even more precisely, the lives of other human beings did not matter to him, because they were Jews.

"I simply had no other name for such an attitude than anti-semitism."

"Indeed, we as Muslims produce terrorism, succor it, and praise it. We condemn it only when forced to. Motivated by considerations of power, interests, and diplomacy, we wear a pained expression on our faces but in our hearts we rejoice at the brilliant success -- a large number of casualties. Unfortunately, in this black reality it does not matter if it is an American, Israeli, or Russian mind who is responsible for certain terrorist operations... or whether those who kill themselves are poor, ignorant, or destitute... "

From the UK -- The young put their faith in mysticism:

"Nearly two thirds of 18- to 24-year-olds believe in the power of horoscopes, compared to just over a third who swear by the Bible, a survey of 3,000 people has found.

"While over-45s remain loyal to the Bible, with 71 per cent saying they believed in it, half of those under 45 years old prefer giving credence to astrology."

Iconoculture reports:

"Millennials too busy for church worship are finding customized cyber sanctuary. PocketChapel software lets wired Christians create their own desktop virtual altar. (...)

"The wired faithful can personalize their PC altar, adding flowers, candles, icons, and even specific wishes and prayers. But some PocketChapel fans have decided to make their altar even more accessible with portable USB Memory Stick cross necklaces."

And RelapsedCatholic.com makes the list

"Look, mommy! I'm playing CSI!

Why is the woman behind this groovy stuffgoing to jail??

"Through the years, Nicholi has defended his seminar from critics on both sides. He still finds it hard to believe that people who claim to cherish academic freedom and diversity can question the value of reading and contrasting the works of these two intellectual heavyweights."

"To give you an idea of what the administrators at the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board think is appropriate for 12-year-olds, as well as something of the ideology that lies behind the manual,here are some selections...

"'I congratulate you on the research spirit which has lead you to collect data over these many years,' wrote Alfred Kinsey to Rex King, adding, 'everything that you've accumulated must find its way into scientific channels.'

King, a serial child rapist, molested hundreds of children and provide Kinsey with correlating 'data.' The depths of sickness and depravity experienced by Kinsey and his cohorts in their quest for notoriety are shocking.

Yes, this is the same Kinsey revered in the world of academia, and in this year's feature film Kinsey, as a 'hero of science,' whose research is considered 'unimpeachable.' "

And so much more at an all new Enter Stage Right

"The 'Saint Clinton' products are being sold alongside another item to which some object -- a baby bib with the message 'I love abortion.'"

The artist responds, in part:

There is definitely nothing inherently Christian about invading countries who have not attacked us. Nor is there anything Christian about fighting back ("turn the other cheek"). There is nothing Christian about signing the execution order for a retarded person (as G.W. Bush who calls himself a Christian did as governor of Texas).

I find most of Christianity in general to be increasingly less Christian. For those reasons, I could not be happier that people are offended by my artwork. Perhaps those who are offended now feel what it is like to have someone else's ideals paraded in your face as if the country is intolerant of any other views.

Irony has become so much a part of the air artists breathe, so second nature, that we forget that not everyone has spent the last 15 years steeping in it, too. When irony is your medium, stuff like baby bibs that say "I Love Abortion" are going to be your brain's natural by-product. That's why the goal of every artist who wants to produce mature art should be to eschew irony, but when you surround yourself with it (in the "cool" music you and your friends listen to, in the movies, books and tv shows you and your profs approve of), leaving it behind can be as long and painful a process as quitting smoking.

This fellow doesn't realize he's just as much of a stereotype as the "ordinary people" he's so quick to judge. Come on: an ex-Catholic liberal vegetarian? And most of those outgrow their need to scandalize Aunt Martha with sacreligious art by age 34. Sometimes they even come back to the Church.

The "ironic" religious impulse in works like these, by people like these, often hides a genuine thirst for God. You should read some of my early poems and short stories. Today I'm a Contributing Editor for the Catholic Register who's been interviewed by Vatican Radio.

So by all means express your feelings about this guy's art. But do consider stepping back and letting God work as He will. As you may have noticed, His sense of humour is not necessarily our sense of humour.

While I would never purchase the Saint Clinton merch for a variety of reasons, it IS wonderfully rendered and I do understand the GenX worldview that spawned it, because I'm part of that generation whether I like it or not. I'll be anxious to see what this guy is doing ten years from know. It may be more immature crap. Or it may be the stained glass windows in your parish church. Weirder things have happened.

a new reality television series which aims to boost a congregation in a parish with poor church attendance.

"With the working title Priest Idol, the show will give a vicar 12 months to boost the church's turnout.

"Backed by advisors, the vicar will be able to spend an undisclosed sum of money on anything he or she thinks will appeal to parishioners."

[Thanks to Jeffery Overstreet!]

"Bruno seems to come from Guy's nightmares (or his inner sexual confusion) and as such is frequently portrayed in terms derived from the dream visions of Spellbound. Bruno stalks Guy, appearing against public monuments in disturbingly static poses, like the 'man with the wheel' in the Dali dream. When he hides behind an iron gate across from Guy's apartment, Bruno becomes the unacknowledged but 'always there' secret identity of Guy, his Secret Sharer."

"I Confess is a serious picture by a serious Catholic director, a fact immediately pounced upon by French critics that rank the film high in Hitchcock's body of work."

"How dare they claim to be on a jihad to save the Muslim world? When innocent blood is shed, you forfeit the right to call yourself a martyr. It's time Muslims had their own wide-reaching PR set-up to explain the other side of the story. It is because we are not doing so that we are being misunderstood, feared and reviled."

"If we believe in the 'no pain, no gain' philosophy for the physical, we can apply it to the spiritual, spurring ourselves onto a path of inspiration."