"Call me biased..."

So begins a Feministe blogger's post about pro-life positions and organizations. She continues:

"…but I just can’t wrap my mind around anti-choice rhetoric. I am fairly skilled at seeing both sides of most complex social issues and I even try to give credit to those that oppose my view if their reasoning is sound, but anti-choice stuff…it is just totally illogical to me."

Oh goodness, what an inexplicable dilemma! Whatever could be the cause of her predicament?

Let's look at the beginning of the second paragraph:

"As most of you know, I work in public affairs at a Planned Parenthood affiliate."

Oh, suddenly this begin to make sense.

She goes on to maligne the "favorite anti-choice groups [which] makes your blood boil the most."

And if her blog's title and content wasn't a self-fulfilling prophecy itself, the commentors proceed to misunderstand (with some notable individual exceptions) every truth the pro-life community attempts to reveal and defend.

A perfect case of what I'm talking about? The blogger denies Margaret Sanger was a racist.

"Call me biased..."

No, "bias" doesn't begin to describe it.

Update: Body ID'd as priest who flew on party balloons

The foreseen conclusion:

DNA tests confirmed that a body found off the coast of Brazil is that of a priest who disappeared while flying over the Atlantic buoyed by hundreds of brightly colored party balloons, authorities said Tuesday.

The Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli set off from the Brazilian port city of Paranagua on April 20 strapped to 1,000 helium-filled balloons in an attempt to raise money to build a rest stop and worship center for truckers.

But the 41-year-old Roman Catholic priest soon lost contact with his ground team, and the cluster of yellow, orange, pink and white balloons was found in the water a day later. (CNN)

The reaction:

The brother, Moacir de Carli, said the news came as a relief.

"Now we can have a respectable burial service," he told the Agencia Estado news service.

For several days after the priest's disappearance, rescue crews in boats, planes and helicopters scoured a vast stretch of ocean and densely forested mountains.

God rest his soul. And for the rest of us - let's stick to prayer and dry land.

Stuff that ticks me off....

Close to the top of the list .... anti-Catholic condom-throwers:

When Catholic youth around the world converge in Sydney, Australia for World Youth Day, they will be handed condoms in an attempt to protest the Pope’s unwavering opposition to abortion, contraception and homosexuality.

The NoToPope Coalition, a group of abortion, homosexual and atheist activists, including Raelians and the Socialist Alliance, will reportedly number between 1,000 and 5,000 protestors. They plan to distribute condoms to pilgrims en route to the Papal Mass at Randwick Racecourse July 20. (LifeSiteNews)

I remember people doing this at WYD '05 in Germany. I'm not sure if it was the same group, but it's a good thing I never personally saw them in action because I would have given them a piece of my mind - to start.

If you were a Jesuit at a Catholic University Parish...

... you would decide to "come out" as gay during Sunday Mass, right?

Before a packed church of some 400 on the campus of the famed St. Joseph's University, Father Thomas J. Brennan announced that he is homosexual. During the Mass he spoke of his homosexuality as one of "the worst kept secrets" on campus. He failed however to mention that homosexual acts are considered intrinsically evil by the Catholic Church.

... this year, the University has, according to a comment by Frank Morris, Executive Director of the Office of Mission in the campus newspaper, dedicated Ignatian week to race and diversity. [LifeSiteNews]

Matt Archbold of CreativeMinorityReport was there. No word from Fr. Brennan, the University, or the diocese.

And in Chicago, Donald MacGuire, SJ, faces even more abuse charges.

Burke vs. Giuliani and matching wits with an unarmed foe

Mainstream journalism favors ruts, by which I mean regular, predictable patterns of reporting ... ready-made stories, as it were. "Open box and reheat contents" fare.

One issue (or rut) that American journalism favors during election campaigns is the "Catholic bishop threatens to deny pro-choice Catholic politician communion" story.

I'm not saying this isn't real news, I just wish the media would learn that there are other topics in which Catholic principles run up against contemporary political practice. Anyway, that's not my real point. I'll get to that in a bit.

To start us off, a(nother) report from the Associated Press:

Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke, who made headlines last presidential season by saying he'd refuse Holy Communion to John Kerry, has his eye on Rudy Giuliani this year....

.... Burke, the Archbishop of St. Louis, was asked by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch if he would deny Communion to Giuliani if the former New York mayor approached him for the sacrament.

"If the question is about a Catholic who is publicly espousing positions contrary to the moral law, and I know that person knows it, yes I would," the paper quoted the archbishop as responding.

Burke has said of Giuliani: "I can't imagine that as a Catholic he doesn't know that his stance on the protection of human life is wrong. If someone is publicly sinning, they should not approach to receive Holy Communion."

And what brilliant, philosophically-cogent, intellectually-nuanced response did Guliani give in return?

Asked about it Wednesday while campaigning in New Hampshire, Giuliani said:

"Archbishops have a right to their opinion, you know. There's freedom of religion in this country. There's no established religion, and archbishops have a right to their opinion. Everybody has a right to their opinion."

Is he trying to sound like a stuck record-player? Maybe he should finally switch-out the disc labeled "moral-relativist/religious-pluralist/double-speak" which he's had set on repeat for the last umpteen years. Laughable.

It's not even like Guliani was even caught-off guard by the question. He routinely gives these kinds of silly responses when asked about his Catholicism. Take another example from the same article:

Last week, Giuliani compared the scrutiny of his personal life marked by three marriages to the biblical story in which Jesus said only someone who was free of all sin should try to stone an adulterous woman.

"I'm guided very, very often about, 'Don't judge others, lest you be judged,'" Giuliani told the Christian Broadcasting Network.

"I have very, very strong views on religion that come about from having wanted to be a priest when I was younger, having studied theology for four years in college," he said.

Goodness gracious - did he study remedial theology?! I think my patience (never one of my strong points) with his ramblings and obfuscations is about at an end. Seriously, stop trying to fake being a Catholic to gain votes.

At least demonstrate some courage about your (lack of) convictions.

Oh! And don't even get me started on the cross-dressing. Yep, that's Giuliani on the left.

[/end of rant.]

(By-the-by: Good for Abp. Burke! Fidelis has more.)