Coloring History

By Rita Kramer

This is Black History Month, perhaps an appropriate time to call attention to an aspect of black history that has been papered over and all but forgotten in the official accounts and in what is taught in schools.

How many people today, black or white, know that the National Association for Colored People was founded by three white folks, two WASPS and a Jew, and that it was led and funded until well into the last century by whites, many of them Jews?  It is understandable that after a hundred years some degree of historical Alzheimers may appear in the memory of the organization-as it does on its web-site-but perhaps it is time to remember the truth about how it all happened.

Exactly one hundred years ago, on the centenary of Abraham Lincoln's birth and just one hundred years before a man of color would be elected to the Presidency of the United States, the situation in the Southern states was dreadful for dark-skinned Americans.  Most eked out a living as tenant farmers, exploited by the owners of the land they worked.  They were prevented from voting and their children, if they attended school at all, went barefoot to ramshackle buildings with few books or other supplies.  Negroes (the polite term then, which we will adopt for this article) were subject to arson, rape, and mob murder by lynching, with little or no interference by the elected authorities.  In many places it was a crime for black and white to frequent the same place at the same time.  The South was a society of complete and brutally enforced segregation.

 

(Full story at Americsan Thinker) 

“Cool it!”

Another priest who 'gets it' !

San Diego bishop asks outspoken priest to exercise restraint in Obama criticism

San Diego Bishop Robert Brom has asked an outspoken Escondido priest to tone down his fierce criticism of the Obama Administration, prompting supporters of the priest to launch a letter-writing campaign to the bishop on his behalf.

On Feb. 11, California Catholic Daily reprinted an article – “100 Days or End of Days?” -- from the parish bulletin of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Escondido written by Pastor Richard Perozich. In the article, Fr. Perozich warned that “evil has acceded to power” in the Obama Administration. (To see the article behind the controversy, Click Here.)

 Sources at St. Mary’s told California Catholic Daily that a family from the parish-administered St. Mary’s School had complained to the chancery about the article. An intermediary, acting on behalf of Bishop Brom, then contacted Fr. Perozich by telephone, sources said, and told him to “cool it.” Aside from that single complaint, sources said, “the overwhelming opinion of parishioners has been favorable.”

Upon learning that Fr. Perozich had been asked to tone down his future remarks, supporters decided to begin a letter-writing campaign to Bishop Brom. The bishop, said Allyson Smith of El Cajon, “needs to hear from Catholics who appreciate Father Perozich's essay and his bold defense of the truth. Please write to Bishop Brom to express your appreciation of Father Perozich and his essay.” (Full story at California Catholic)

Pelosi Primer

To understand why and how the Church is intervening with Nancy Pelosi because of her abortion position, we have to first look at the context of the modern abortion mentality.

The widespread “pro-choice” attitude toward abortion today is especially horrific precisely because it has made abortion so commonplace.

The two messages we give young women are destined to collide: Your life’s worth is your career; your boyfriend has a right to intimacy with you without preconditions. Are we surprised that so many young women to choose abortion?

However, the burden we’ve placed on women doesn’t change the bare fact of what abortion is, and women know it.

Abortion is the killing of a child by her own mother, and as the Supreme Court pointed out in Gonzales v. Carhart, it is evident that women who give in to the pressure to abort suffer from Post-Abortion Syndrome for a lifetime. The pain and regret of abortion leads to decades of depression, broken relationships, and high suicide rates.  (Full story at NCRegister.com)

Denver archbishop warns against ‘spirit of adulation’ surrounding Obama

"The fourth and final thing to remember, and there’s no easy way to say it, is that the Church in the United States has done a poor job of forming the faith and conscience of Catholics for more than 40 years." ...Archbishop Chaput

(AMEN! Your Excellency !!)

Toronto, Canada, Feb 23, 2009 / 09:03 pm (CNA).- Canadians packed St. Basil’s Church in Toronto on Monday evening to hear Archbishop Charles Chaput speak about how Catholics should live out their faith in the public square. He warned that in the U.S., Catholics need to act on their faith and be on guard against "a spirit of adulation bordering on servility" that exists towards the Obama administration.

The public lecture by Archbishop Chaput took place on the campus of the University of Toronto at St. Basil’s Church and was attended by an overflow crowd of more than 700 people.

After giving a sketch of the basic principles in his New York Times Bestseller "Render Unto Caesar," the archbishop offered his insights on the need for an honest assessment of the situation of the Church in the public square.

"I like clarity, and there’s a reason why," began the archbishop. "I think modern life, including life in the Church, suffers from a phony unwillingness to offend that poses as prudence and good manners, but too often turns out to be cowardice. Human beings owe each other respect and appropriate courtesy. But we also owe each other the truth -- which means candor."

The Denver prelate then provided his critique of President Obama. (Full story at CNA)

Freedom is found through service to others, teaches Holy Father

Vatican City, Feb 23, 2009 / 07:09 pm (CNA).- During a visit to the Major Roman Seminary to celebrate the feast of its patroness, Our Lady of Trust, Pope Benedict XVI discussed the concept of freedom explaining that it is only achieved in service to others.

The Pope’s visit, which took place Friday, began at a “lectio divina” for the seminarians on the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians.  The Holy Father commented on the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles in his Letter to the Galatians - "you were called to freedom." 

Benedict XVI asked: "What is freedom? How can we be free? St. Paul helps us to understand this complex question of freedom" when he says "do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another."

He continued by exposing the differences in the true definition of freedom and the world’s view of the concept: "The absolute self who depends on nothing and no-one seems truly and definitively to possess freedom. I am free if I depend on no- one, if I can do anything I want. Yet this absolute exaltation of self is 'flesh,' in other words degradation of man. It is not the conquest of freedom. Libertinism is not freedom, rather it is the failure of freedom."

"Paradoxically, freedom is achieved through service," he explained. (Full story at CNA)

Vatican liturgical official makes new plea for 'reform of the reform'

Feb. 23, 2009 (CWNews.com) -

A key Vatican official has called for "bold and courageous" decisions to address liturgical abuses that have arisen since the reforms of Vatican II.


Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, cites a flawed understanding of Vatican II teachings and the influence of secular ideologies are reasons to conclude that-- as then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in 1985-- "the true time of Vatican II has not yet come." Particularly in the realm of the liturgy, Archbishop Ranjith says, "The reform has to go on." (Full story at Catholic Culture)

Fifteen Reasons I'm Already Tired of the Obama Era

by John Hawkins

15) The stimulus bill is the single largest spending bill in the history of humankind and yet, Obama is running around telling everyone how he's going to cut the deficit in a few years. Obama claiming to be a deficit hawk -- that's like getting a lecture on honesty from Bill Clinton. 

14) ACORN, which engaged in large scale voter fraud during the 2008 election that won't be seriously investigated because Obama is in the White House, is now unapologetically breaking into houses across the country and encouraging squatters. Apparently, if you're a liberal group, you are above the law as long as the Obama administration is in the White House. 

13) Despite the fact that America just conclusively proved it's not a racist nation by electing the first black President, race hustling bottom feeders like Al Sharpton and Julian Bond are making ridiculous charges of racism over an obviously non-racial cartoon. I thought the implicit promise of the Left was that electing Obama would put the race hustlers out of business? Sorry, you'll have to go here for the other 12!)

How to Win the Culture War

by Peter Kreeft

To win any war, the three most necessary things to know are (1) that you are at war, (2) who your enemy is, and (3) what weapons or strategies can defeat him. You cannot win a war (1) if you simply sew peace banners on a battlefield, (2) if you fight civil wars against your allies, or (3) if you use the wrong weapons.

 

Here is a three point checklist for the culture wars. If you don't know that our entire civilization is in crisis, I hope you had a nice vacation on the moon.

 

Many minds do seem moonstruck, however, blissfully unaware of the crisis -- especially the "intellectuals," who are supposed to be the most on top of current events. I was dumbfounded to read a cover article in Time devoted to the question: Why is everything getting better? Why is life so good today? Why does everybody feel so satisfied about the quality of life? Time never questioned the assumption, it just wondered why the music on the Titanic sounded so nice.

 

It turned out, on reading the article, that every single aspect of life that was mentioned, every single reason for life getting better, was economic. People are richer. End of discussion. (Full story at InsideCatholic.com)