David Ancell / Thursday, May 22, 2003 / Comments(0)
Here’s is my next Busted Halo post, but I posted it on Spiritual Pyromania this time. I need to get on to my fellow members. This is twice that the entire thing has gone blank because no one posted anything. I wrote the software for it, and the posts automatically fall off after 14 days. If no one posts, then a blank page shows up.
I just know that I am going to get in trouble with the Busted Halo crowd.
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David Ancell / Thursday, May 22, 2003 / Comments(0)
I just got back from Mass, and the priest told the high schoolers present to be sure to recreate during the summer but to avoid three things as though they were bubonic plague or a case of SARS. I didn’t hear all three, but two were recreational pharmaceuticals and recreational sex.
Well, I have been a pharmacist for four years, and I have never heard the term “recreational pharmaceuticals” used. That’s a good one. The students had a good laugh, too.
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David Ancell / Monday, May 19, 2003 / Comments(0)
I think that Francis Cardinal Arinze understands what lay people want more than these so-called advocates for the laity. Just give us a liturgy according to the book.
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David Ancell / Sunday, May 18, 2003 / Comments(0)
After my last post on Busted Halo, someone asked me to explain why contraception is intrinsically evil. I must admit that I’m not the best explainer of this, but I took a shot at it. Here is the text below (in case they ban me from the board, which they probably will do sooner or later):
Frank Sheed, a great Catholic theologian and apologist, wrote a book named [em]A Map of Life[/em]. He begins by explaining that “you do not know what a thing is unless you know what it is for.” He gives the example of a man who has never shaved before who discovers a razor and then learns that it cuts. He tries to use it to cut wood. The result is not only that he doesn’t cut much wood, but that he ruins the razor. He goes on to say that sincerity and good intention are not enough, but a knowledge of the true purpose of life is necessary if one is to serve God and his fellow human beings.
Likewise, there is a thing as natural law. At its most basic level, it means that things must be used according to their nature.
Now, to get to the reason why contraception is a great evil, let’s consider what sex does. It unifies the man and wife, and it may result in the procreation of offspring. God himself desires absolute unity with him in Heaven for each one of us, and God creates new life. Therefore, the marriage act is part of our sharing in God’s divine life. When contraception is used, we are using God’s creative act but deliberately trying to push God’s creative power out. This is also why homosexual sex is immoral as well.
Let’s also look at the practical consequences of contraception:
1. It makes the fertility of the partners into a disease that needs to be treated so that they can use each other for their own pleasure. This also results in a less than self-giving attitude required to sustain a marriage.
2. It can foster an attitude that children are not the supreme gift of marriage but rather an interference in the pleasure of the couple.
3. It has been known to create a situation where a man expects his wife to always be sexually accessible, thereby making her an object. Indeed, exploitation of women has become easier thanks to contraception because there is less worry about the natural consequences that require commitment.
Remember that we are talking about the use of the sex act in a way in which one willingly tries to prevent its life giving power. A couple practicing NFP is not only respectful of their bodies, but they avoid procreation by not engaging in the act when the woman is fertile rather than destroying the fertility and then engaging in the act. The same goes for a couple who refrains from intercourse entirely due to the fact that they know that having a child is impossible for them.
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David Ancell / Friday, May 16, 2003 / Comments(0)
I will probably be either blasted, kick off the Busted Halo forum, or both. What did I do? I posted this in the contraception discussion:
I’m a little late in the discussion, but I do see something that has been missed. It seems that the thorny issue that has been brought up is whether or not a couple’s inability to provide for another child makes the decision to use contraception morally permissible.
The answer is: no, it does not.
This does not mean that the couple must have another child. However, it does not allow the use of intrinsically evil means to prevent conception. Artificial contraception is intrinsically evil, meaning that it is wrong regardless of intent or circumstance. The end of not having children is not necessarily wrong, and in some cases may even be obligatory.
The morally permissible means would be A) use Natural Family Planning or B) abstain from intercourse. This is not an easy road to take. This underscores the importance of choosing the marriage partner who is hellbent on you achieving your eternal salvation. Even if this did not turn out to be the case, God will provide the grace if we only trust. Jesus did say that we are to enter through the narrow gate.
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David Ancell / Friday, May 16, 2003 / Comments(0)
Some of you may know that Karl Keating sends out an e-letter to people who signed up. I get it about once a week. Go here to sign up.
I mention this because he featured this article from U.S. Pseudo-Catholic in his newsletter. Basically, it’s the U.S. Pseudo-Catholic take on the orthodoxy movements in the Church. The article is replete with terms that say something to the effect of “what they see as orthodoxy” or “what they called a conversion experience,” reducing conversion and orthodoxy to mere subjectivism. When they use terms of orthodoxy and truth in their article, much of the time it is in quotes.
The real problematic passages are towards the end of the article, probably so that they will have the last word. After calling orthodox Catholics “to the right of Attila the Hun,” a Redemptorist priest goes on to say:
“I am convinced that fundamentalism, or looking to orthodoxy, has nothing to do with faith,” he says. “It has to do with fear. In an age of insecurity, people grab on to the tradition to tell them what to believe.”
Father Hansen, if you are convinced of this, then you have been deceived. May God remove the blinders from your eyes! It has everything to do with faith. Faith requires an object. This is something that people who think like you have never understood. The fact is that is is impossible to give our life, love, and allegiance to a God who is nothing and no one in particular. A God who is a product of our own inner feelings could not have created us.
Not insisting on orthodoxy can be a matter of fear or sloth. It can be fear of having something demanded of you that you are not willing to do. It can also be sloth, a desire to do nothing that you do not want to do. God’s grace allows us to overcome these. People who think like you have a tendency to give in to personal desires rather than strive to overcome the ones that need to be rooted out.
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David Ancell / Friday, May 16, 2003 / Comments(0)
Olive Tree Bible Software now has available the New American Bible for PDAs (scroll down, and you’ll see it). As much as I’d like to have the RSV-Catholic Edition available, I’m glad that there’s at least one Catholic Bible now available. It comes in handy for making searches when I’m out and about.
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David Ancell / Friday, May 16, 2003 / Comments(0)
Dell is dropping the price on the Axim X5 like a rock. It makes me wonder if they are about to come up with something new. I really like mine, and I now use it more than my Palm Tungsten T. I would happily recommend it to anyone who is looking for a Pocket PC.
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David Ancell / Friday, May 16, 2003 / Comments(0)
I am trying to make arrangements to go to the 2003 Defending the Faith conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville. However, it appears that every hotel is booked up all the way back to the Pittsburgh airport. I remember how intense the conference was last year, and I wouldn’t have been able to drive very far without falling asleep that night. Last year, I made reservations in early July and got in just fine in Weirton, WV, about 5 minutes away. I won’t stay in those dorms. They aren’t air conditioned (down here we love our air conditioning).
I wonder if I will make it this year. I must admit there was plenty that I didn’t like there, and I hope that they improved it. I will probably be better since I know what to expect. Then again, I want to go to that bookstore. It is just awesome.
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David Ancell / Friday, May 16, 2003 / Comments(0)
I don’t know what has me fascinated with poll questions, but here is another one that is misleading:
Do you think that you can disagree with the Pope and still remain a faithful Catholic?
Well, in what way is there disagreement with the Holy Father? Obviously, the moral teachings of the Church, including those on contraception, abortion, and euthanasia are part of the deposit of faith and must be believed. The same is true for doctrines such as the Trinity, transubstantiation, and the Immaculate Conception.
However, Pope John Paul II is strongly against the faithful receiving the Eucharist in the hand, but do we also have to be, especially given that he permits it where permitted by the local bishop. What if the Pope predicted who would win the World Series? What about the Pope’s views on the war in Iraq? Although the Pope’s general moral views must be heeded, the Pope may not have the appropriate information to make the correct prudential judgement regarding the war.
Knowledgable Catholics know the difference between the teachings of the Magisterium and the private judgement of the Holy Father or of our local bishop. However, the same may not be the case with our media. Therefore, the polls give us misleading information. A perfectly orthodox Catholc may well say that it is okay to disagree with the Pope in a poll if he/she perceives the poll to say whether or not it is okay to disagree with anything the Pope says.
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