Safe Haven

Abortion. Hey, good morning! Time for serious things! OK, here's your syllogism for the morning: Murder is the unjust taking of an innocent human person's life; Abortion is the unjust taking of an innocent human person's life in the womb; Therefore, abortion is a species of murder. Given this, there can be no exceptions, if indeed murder represents an intrinsic evil. So, on this issue, there are actually two real principled positions, all turning on the second premise of the above argument: A fetus is an innocent person, in which case, no exceptions to abortion can be allowed; or, A fetus is not a person, in which case, no restrictions to abortion are necessary. The fact that politics on this issue are mired in arguments over qualifications and exceptions tells me that most people aren't accustomed to thinking clearly, and in fact, nearly all of us know we have been wrong to permit abortion all this time.

I'm thankful for Sean Hutton today; he teaches theology in New York state. He's younger than me, smarter, and better-looking. [Does that need to be hyphenated?--ed.] I don't know; it just looked wrong before. Anyway, we're part of a rumble on Tim Dukeman's wall. There was a nice post affirming his Catholic and Orthodox "brothers" for standing for life amidst the Culture of Death. At that, the fundie hordes descended, and this lovely unity was shattered by theological disputation. This is Tim Dukeman, so the only natural thing was to make another thread where we could argue about our differences. I was named as the other main Catholic combatant, which was dumb, because I can't hold a candle to Mr. Hutton; pointing out the holes in Protestant thought isn't the same as making an affirmative case. Sean had this great little syllogism for Mary as the Mother of God: Mary is the mother of Jesus; Jesus is God; Therefore, Mary is the Mother of God...

Some sins actually are worse than others. If someone tells you otherwise, they are wrong. Can it be covered by the blood of Christ, no matter how serious? Of course it can. Let me say that again. Yes. There is nothing you can do to put yourself beyond the reach of His love. Can you choose not to be friends with God? Can you put yourself in danger of being excluded from God forever in Hell? Also yes. Most avowed Christians I know and talk to worry too much about the second, and meditate too little on the first. Before you stone me for that, I also recognize that many baptized and confirmed Catholics have never undergone initial conversions! They've never met Jesus personally! No wonder the American church is terrible! If you're not living a spiritual life, you're not going to understand spiritual things. You might be able to go through the motions; you might even understand that if you receive these sacraments, you can be rescued from damnation, at least for a time. You ...

Happy and sad, all at once.

Look here, children: Horror movies aren't good for us; I don't watch them. But if I need a clickbait post title, well, my hands are tied. After I thought of it, though, I realized that I know tons of people who irritate me, even make me angry. What better "revenge" than the Rosary? That former TA of my Covenant Theology class, who loves his generalizations about the poor motives of Reformed converts to Catholicism? He's got no chance, ultimately, when the saints get involved. If you think about these little irritations in relation to eternal life as a blessed child of God, they don't measure up. If I really understand the last things, my evil neighbor--who's made life pretty hard for us these 20-plus years--really isn't meant to live in the bitterness he apparently harbors. He isn't meant to suffer the damnation that evil rightly deserves. Nobody is. The reality that Hell is and will not be empty is of no concern to me, as long as I have co-redem...

I was up early again today. It's Sunday, of course. I had the distinct feeling that God is rescuing me from myself. Those of you who have the ability and the time to go to Mass more frequently should do it. There is no good reason to stay away, in that case. So the Rosary this morning was energized with the thankfulness of the Eucharist to come. There are moments when the whole thing feels commonplace, comfortable, and suburban; there are other moments when it seems we will all die here before the altar. I can remember times when my soul grabbed a hold of, "for they offer it for themselves, and all who are dear to them, in hope of health and well-being..." and really offered something. It seems we get little moments of eternity like this, where we realize the truth of it all, not only in our minds, but in the core of ourselves. Maybe the saints are the saints because they sensed this all the time, and kept living, instead of just being blown away. For the greatest a...