A British Anglican Priest has caused a stir:
Poor people who are desperate for cash have been advised to go forth and shoplift from major stores - by an Anglican priest.
The Rev Tim Jones said in his Sunday sermon that stealing from successful shops was preferable to burglary, robbery or prostitution.
He told parishioners it would not break the eighth commandment 'thou shalt not steal' because it 'is permissible for those who are in desperate situations to take food that they might not starve'.
But his advice was roundly condemned by police and the local Tory MP. Father Jones, 42, was discussing Mary and the birth of Jesus when he went on to the subject of how poor and vulnerable people cope in the run-up to Christmas.
'My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift,' he told his stunned congregation at St Lawrence and St Hilda in York.
'I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
'I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
'I would ask them not to take any more than they need. I offer the advice with a heavy heart. Let my words not be misrepresented as a simplistic call for people to shoplift. ........
Much more at the link. As usual one suspects there is a lot more to this sermon (for good or for bad) if we could just read it.
Still is he right in some sense about it beong ok to steal in some situations because maybe it is not stealing. Well he mighbt be. It seems even as Southern Baptist in the old days I had heard talk of this scenario.
Then we have St Thomas Aquinas himself:
“Article 6. Whether theft is a mortal sin?Objection 1. It would seem that theft is not a mortal sin. For it is written (Proverbs 6:30): “The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen.” But every mortal sin is a great fault. Therefore theft is not a mortal sin.
…Reply to Objection 1. The statement that theft is not a great fault is in view of two cases. First, when a person is led to thieve through necessity. This necessity diminishes or entirely removes sin, as we shall show further on (Question 66, Article 7). Hence the text continues: “For he stealeth to fill his hungry soul.” Secondly, theft is stated not to be a great fault in comparison with the guilt of adultery, which is punished with death. Hence the text goes on to say of the thief that “if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold . . . but he that is an adulterer . . . shall destroy his own soul.”
and
St. Thomas says, quoting St. Ambrose :
“I answer that, Things which are of human right cannot derogate from natural right or Divine right. Now according to the natural order established by Divine Providence, inferior things are ordained for the purpose of succoring man’s needs by their means. Wherefore the division and appropriation of things which are based on human law, do not preclude the fact that man’s needs have to be remedied by means of these very things. Hence whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor. For this reason Ambrose [Loc. cit., 2, Objection 3] says, and his words are embodied in the Decretals (Dist. xlvii, can. Sicut ii): “It is the hungry man’s bread that you withhold, the naked man’s cloak that you store away, the money that you bury in the earth is the price of the poor man’s ransom and freedom.”
That being said I could be wrong on all this. Thoughts?
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Is It Ok To Steal From Wal Mart If You Have Too?
Monday, December 21, 2009
When Will Catholics And Protestants Stand Up for the Orthodox In Turkey
A great Sixty Minutes piece last night on this horrible situation. Get Religion has a good piece with some additional commentary along with the vid. See ‘60 Minutes’ visits a persecuted patriarch
The fact as Christians we have allowed this to go on is incredible. I agree with this comment:
It is unconsciencenable that we Roman Catholics, and those of us in the West who have benefited from Western History and tradition, do not demand that Turkey, and Muslims in general, remove all restrictions on our Orthodox ........
It is indeed a Scandal that American Catholics and Protestants in the United States have not made our leaders move on this matter.
Not all Christian oppression is occurring in China and India.
Jesus Era Home Found In Nazareth Israel
This is pretty cool. The Reading Room has First Jesus-Era House Found in Nazareth, Israel
Protestants have a Lot of Different Santas
Ok Humor Break!!! This too funny . See Denominational Santa? .
Tip of the hat to Standing On My Head
Now Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-SD) Is In Trouble
These are incredible bad numbers. I am a tad shocked how lopsided this is.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan may have a serious problem on his hands if Republicans recruit Governor John Hoeven to run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota next year. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of likely voters in North Dakota finds the popular Republican governor leading Dorgan by 22 points – 58% to 36%. Just six percent (6%) are undecided in that senatorial contest. Part of the challenge for Dorgan is the health care legislation working its way through Congress. Dorgan, along with every Democrat in the Senate, has voted to move the legislation forward and is expected to vote for final approval of the reform later this week. That’s not likely to be well received in North Dakota where just 30% favor the proposed health care reform plan and 64% are opposed.
Opossums and Crime Saved the World wide Banking System
Three cheers for Opossums and the Godfather.
On a side note we have a lot Opossums around here. Is there really a business to deworm these animals. Do people have pet Oposums?
First Thoughts has How Cocaine and Opossum Medicine Helped Save the Global Banking Crisis
The Senate Vote on Health Care and South Carolina Secession
Democrats were on a Mission from God it appears One hundred forty nine years ago too.
The irony that this occurred on practically the same date. I have a feeling this vote will go down into the really bad category too.
This part struck me
The delegates] were the cream of their world. Ninety percent of them owned at least one slave; over 60 percent owned at least twenty; over 40 percent owned fifty or more; and 16 percent owned a hundred or more. No other southern secession convention would approach this mass of wealth, unknowingly stepping toward class suicide.
So needless to say smart folks can make missteps.
Interesting article though about the religious undertones of the South Carolina Convention
The South Carolina Secession Convention
Democrat Senator Declares Opponents of Health Care Bill Are Dangerous Racist Wack Jobs
This is from instapundit. I very much like the comment his reader sent.
NUANCE: Sen. Whitehouse: foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups. He’d better worry, then, because they’ve got him outnumbered: “For the first time in our polling, more Americans said they’d rather stick with the status quo on health care than pass the Democrats’ bill.”
UPDATE: Latest from Rasmussen: 41% favor, 55% oppose. Who knew the militia movement had become so powerful?
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Rob Crawford writes:
One of the things that bugs the living shit out of me about this type of rhetoric is that it is, on the margin, a self-fulfilling prophecy. People with good-faith objections find themselves lumped in with nut jobs, cranks, and thugs, and after a few decades, the “as well hung for a lion as a lamb” attitude. If objecting to government running your healthcare, controlling access to your medical records, confiscating another 30%+ of your labor and effectively drafting the medical industry means you’re an Aryan, right-wing militia, “birther” type, well, maybe you should give those groups another look…
I’m not going to claim the Republicans are innocent of this type of rhetoric, but, well, at least when they pointed out that the primary organizer of “anti-war” marches was the Communist group ANSWER, they had evidence to back them up.
Well, when Sen. Whitehouse gets tarred and feathered by a gang of gay Firedoglake commenters, I promise not to laugh. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I’ll laugh.
Why Do We Have Christmas on December 25th (It's not Just Paganism)
Well this is interesting. A good thing to read and keep.
Tip of the Hat to the Deacon Bench
Well I Guess We Throw Out the Promise of a New Bipartisan Era
Contentions has So Much for New Politics.
The article points out something about President Obama. It is like the worst of both worlds
Well, yes they have. How did we get to this point? Well, for starters, Obama, who ran on his determination to transcend partisan divisions, remained a passive and aloof figure when it came to the drafting and the details, allowing partisan passions to run wild. His sole concern was winning, not building a broad-based coalition for revolutionary legislation. Indeed, he contributed to partisan furies by labeling opponents as confused and misinformed and by repeating a series of partisan and baseless accusations against Republicans (the principal one — that they had “no alternative” — was easily disproved by the plethora of conservative plans and proposals). Obama had a reason for proceeding in this way — he wanted to rely on the muscle of large Democratic majorities to obtain the most liberal bill he could get. On Sunday John McCain explained:
There’s been a change. It’s more partisan. It’s more bitterly divided than it’s been. I have never been asked to engage in a single serious negotiation on any issue, nor has any other Republican. Now they’ve brought single Republicans down to try to pick off one or two Republicans so you can call it, quote, bipartisan. There’s never been serious across-the-table negotiations on any serious issue that I have engaged in with — I and others have engaged in with other administrations, both Republican and Democrat
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Social Conservatives Are Coming In Handy Lately
Jenifer Rubin at Contentions has an interesting observation regarding the health care bill battle..
There are several noteworthy aspects to all of this. First, we have heard a lot in the last year from some snooty ostensibly-conservative pundits who would like to rearrange the conservative coalition and dump social conservatives overboard. However, the health-care bill is as good an example as we will find as to why this is politically idiotic. Here we see that it is social conservatives who remain the last men and women standing against liberal economic- and social-engineering projects. The numbers may just not be there for Stupak to disrupt the juggernaut, but it is instructive that the final battle is likely to be over abortion subsidies, not taxes or any other economic issue. Perhaps it’s not a good idea for conservatives to tell some of their most stalwart allies to get lost.
D.C. Gay Marraige Bill Signed in A Unitarian Church
I just saw that in a segment on FOX NEWS. Isn't that kinda of odd.
I mean what if a city passed THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE AND MORALITY ACT and the mayor , city council, and supporters all went down to sign this piece of legislation at the local Catholic Cathedral. I can't even imagine the outrage. There would be huge stories and pontifications about the separation of Church and State.
A Frat House Is Running A Church In New Zealand
Oh dearThe billboard, featuring a dejected Joseph and a quizzical Mary in bed, with the message, ''Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow'', has been attacked four times since it was erected outside the Anglican church on Thursday.
After the latest attack, by an elderly woman with a knife, the church said the billboard would not be replaced.
The vicar of St Matthew-in-the-City, Glynn Cardy, said: ''[The billboard was] attacked by a knife-wielding Christian fanatic who was then apprehended by a group of homeless people who care about our church. Later in the evening, another group of fanatics ripped it down.
''When knives are wielded in the name of God, I have two responses. One is to act to ensure the safety of the public and parishioners … My second response is one of deep sadness at those in the Christian church who don't want to offend any faith position, even the most literalistic view of a male god. By having unity as their priority, they inadvertently feed fanaticism.''
The church had no regrets about fuelling discussion about God: ''We are glad that discussion about Santa, food, and present-buying was momentarily usurped by a discussion about Jesus.''
The Rev Cardy said there had been hundreds of messages of support from around the world and he thanked the people who were supportive, offered encouragement and respectful engagement.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
CBS Sports Reporter Tracy Wolfson to Run For Congress?
I Blame The NFL Network For the Saints Loss
If only a lot more Saints fans were able to watch this on TV we could have used our magical voodoo powers to will our Saints to Victory against the evil Cowboys of Cowtown.
In a way I am glad we lost and got the big L. Better now than in the playoffs.
We are still Superbowl bound baby .
GEAUX SAINTS
Vox Nova Goes Yassah Master On Health Care Bill
I have to admit it is sad to see people grovel. A progressive Democrat Catholic in a attempt to make attention go away from the fact that they have no influence at all with the administration attempts to blame the GOP and other pro-life Catholics including Bishops. See Nelson Compromise – Sell-out or Stroke of Genius? My gosh the Kmiec crowd can't even stop a pro death provision in a major bill(That most people opposed according to polls) and their response is to try to talk about the bad ole establishment pro-lifers.
Sad and yet some of these folks pontificate they are the true voice of Catholic Social Justice. They can't even at this late hour denounce the evil that has happened. Just denounce others.
WHO KNEW THAT CYA WAS a part of Compendium of Catholic Social Justice.
What a pathatic response. Could they have least stood up for this. Maybe VOX NOVA needs to apply for a show on MSNBC. Now that would be at least honest.
Are People Glued to the Their TV Sets Watching the College Football Playoffs!!!
I am talking Non Division One (or whatever we are calling it these days) keep hearing how people say everyone will love a playoff in College Football DIV I
Yet where is all the buzz on all these non DIV one playoff games!! There are a lot of non DIV I schools out there. Are those students and alumni glued to their tv sets right now.
I am going to call into my ESPN radio station on Monday and get the guys to look at the viewer numbers. I would not be shocked if the total viewership over the weeks equals just the folks watching THE NEW MEXICO Bowl right now.
NPR Annouces Liar of the Year!!!
Oh could they not be so predictable. Oh and Yes I realize that they are just "reporting" who this organization is saying who the liar of the year is but I expect they knew what they were getting when they aired this.
Althouse has NPR decides who told the Lie of the Year.
I think saying the Health Car Bill will reduce the deficit is the LIE of the Century
57% say the Iraq war has been successful- YES WE CAN!!!
Thank God we got Obama in there to straighten that out. No doubt this is because of his efforts
December 19, 2009
POLL: Iraq War A Success: “Here’s a final set of numbers from our new NBC/WSJ poll that we find fascinating: 57% say the Iraq war has been successful, versus 40% who say it has been unsuccessful. It’s a reversal from July 2008, when 43% said Iraq was successful, and 53% said it was unsuccessful.”
Yeah, but that was when there was a lot of election-related propaganda. Now that’s dissipated, being no longer useful.
Posted at by Glenn Reynolds at 2:25 pm
Here Are My Football Bowl Predictions
I just got them into my Bowl Pickem contest. First game starts this afternoon
New Mexico Bowl
Fresno State
vs
Wyoming
St. Petersburg Bowl
UCF
vs
Rutgers
New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss
vs
Middle Tenn St.
Las Vegas Bowl
Oregon State
vs
BYU
Poinsettia Bowl
Utah
vs
California
Hawaii Bowl
Nevada
vs
SMU
Little Caesars Bowl
Ohio
vs
Marshall
Meineke Bowl
Pittsburgh
vs
North Carolina
Emerald Bowl
Boston College
vs
Southern Cal
Music City Bowl
Kentucky
vs
Clemson
Independence Bowl
Texas A&M
vs
Georgia
Champs Sports Bowl
Miami (FL)
vs
Wisconsin
Humanitarian Bowl
Bowling Green
vs
Idaho
Holiday Bowl
Arizona
vs
Nebraska
Armed Forces Bowl
Houston
vs
Air Force
Sun Bowl
Oklahoma
vs
Stanford
Texas Bowl
Navy
vs
Missouri
Insight Bowl
Minnesota
vs
Iowa State
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Virginia Tech
vs
Tennessee
Outback Bowl
Northwestern
vs
Auburn
Gator Bowl
West Virginia
vs
Florida State
Capital One Bowl
Penn State
vs
LSU
Rose Bowl
Ohio State
vs
Oregon
Sugar Bowl
Florida
vs
Cincinnati
International Bowl
South Florida
vs
Northern Illinois
PapaJohns.com Bowl
South Carolina
vs
UConn
Cotton Bowl
Oklahoma State
vs
Ole Miss
Liberty Bowl
Arkansas
vs
East Carolina
Alamo Bowl
Michigan State
vs
Texas Tech
Fiesta Bowl
Boise State
vs
TCU
Orange Bowl
Iowa
vs
Georgia Tech
GMAC Bowl
Central Michigan
vs
Troy
BCS Championship
Texas
vs
Alabama
Nekid Man in WIndow Gets No Jail Time
Sort of an interesting story with more facts now.
Williamson said after he was convicted and sentenced. "I feel like I'm living in a fishbowl."
LOL oh the irony
"If I was looking in her window, I think we'd be having a whole different conversation," he said.
GOOD POINT
Three Archbishops For New Orleans Saints Superdome Mass
Great New Orleans story at Crunchy Con. See New Orleans, rejoicing with the Saints
I like this part
I think about all I've seen -- in the past week, in the years before -- and about the next game in the Dome. The Cowboys are coming to town. Some marketing guy decided in the '70s that they should be America's Team. It stuck, because they were good and because Dallas represented everything America thought about itself: big, consuming, flashy, bragging, unbeatable.
When I drive into Dallas, I see a place sprawling and bland, loops and rings of interstate and, somewhere over the horizon, a stadium representing a just-gone era of bloat and decay ... scoreboard so big it interferes with the game ... $60 pizzas. It looks new but is dead inside. In contrast, there is the drive out of New Orleans, through a city still battered, past the exits for the Vieux Carre and Uptown, past the Huey Long, which runs narrow and high out to the leaning oyster and chicken shack. All told, this is a city with the opposite calculus of Dallas: It is decayed on the outside, but inside there is life. Here is a citizenry that believes in the power of the underdog. New Orleanians fell first and see something the rest of America is blind to right now: a way back into the light.
READ the whole story at the link. It is not just New Orleans of course. It is the entire State, the gulf Coast of Mississipp and Alabama that are all being uplifted. Special times
Robert George to Become Important Force On the Right?
This is great news in many ways. A GREAT GREAT article in the New York Times. I am going to interact with this article on this post more after lunch.
Of course while the article focuses on the "right" as to politics this could have effects on the left too. More later.
Update-
A few thoughts. Overall a good article for the most part. I am sure Damon Linker's head over at the New Republic is exploding.
One shortcoming with the article is I don''t think it explores what a whole up hill struggle getting conservatives or even conservative Catholics to explore natural law. The conservative Catholic Justices on the Court seem to even snort at it. Scalia thinks it is all unworkable in a practical sense. Many Catholic bloggers I link think it is even unworkable in the entire scheme of Law and such.
The ct that Evangelicals are taking a interest in this is very very important. There is tension of course but the debate is healthy and robust in those quarters as we saw at the wonder Making Men Moral Conference earlier this year.
A few complaints as to the article:
In the American culture wars, George wants to redraw the lines. It is the liberals, he argues, who are slaves to a faith-based "secularist orthodoxy" of "feminism, multiculturalism, gay liberationism and lifestyle liberalism." Conservatives, in contrast, speak from the high ground of nonsectarian public reason. George is the leading voice for a group of Catholic scholars known as the new natural lawyers. He argues for the enforcement of a moral code as strictly traditional as that of a religious fundamentalist. What makes his natural law "new" is that it disavows dependence on divine revelation or biblical Scripture - or even history and anthropology. Instead, George rests his ethics on a foundation of "practical reason": "invoking no authority beyond the authority of reason itself," as he put it in one essay.
I am not sure what the writer is trying to imply as to the part I bolded. Natural Law Jurisprudence does not try to enact some theocratic state where bad choices are impossible because they have been all outlawed.
Nebraska and Vermont do not have to EVER pay for medicaire/medicaid expansion
Am I reading this deal right that Reid has done? Boy that will be popular with the people. Can Mary Landrieu threaten to vote no again so we can get billions in needed Coastal Erosion frunds. We got peanuts.
No Sex For You If You Don't Support Health Care Bill
Hey maybe we should encourage this. Maybe liberals will die out!!! Atlas Shrugs has Rock the Vote: Ads Urge Youth to Trade Sex for Votes
Update-
I saw this someplace else as regards to this
"So...add obamacare to the list of things men are going to lie about .I'm gunna take a few liberties with a Spaceballs quote:
"Now you see that men will always triumph, because women are dumb"
LOL