By TZ (building off of http://www.archangelinstitute.org/saint-thomas-more-and-civil-rights-part-i/ )

I have little in common with the gay community, except that they are human beings with human rights. I would not stand shoulder to shoulder with someone who wishes to do lewd acts in public. But I must stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone defending their human rights. Under the natural law. God’s law.  My Christian friends might object: “But it is a grave sin”.  My response comes from the scene just earlier in “A Man for All Seasons” which was the reason for the original quote and this was not about some third party but the man that would ultimately betray him and be responsible for being found guilty and his execution:

Margaret: Father, that man’s bad.
Sir Thomas: There’s no law against that.
Roper: There is: God’s law.
Sir Thomas: Then God can arrest him.

Such things are a matter for the confessional, not the constable.  What they do in private that doesn’t cause public disruption is none of the state’s business as their home is their castle.  Even civil disobedience and the disruption is often because people aren’t being left alone except when the defense by the law and authorities ought to be protecting them.

Almost. A man’s home is his castle in 49 states and where the Magna Carta  still prevails.  The exception in Read the rest of this story »

(by TZ)

In the upcoming elections there will be said to be a list of non-negotiable issues, but I only see two in the bigger picture.

First is the nearly complete erosion of civil rights in the name of fighting terrorism.

Obama has said he will sign the defense authorization that allows the military to arrest anyone including a US Citizen in the US without a warrant, probable cause, and they will be denied a lawyer and held indefinitely. Lawyers attempting to defend such will probably be arrested themselves.

Do you feel confident Obama will never find an excuse to round up pro-lifers and put them into FEMA camps? Charge pro-life advocacy organizations with material support of terrorism and seize their assets? A real persecution of the Catholic church, at least the Bishops holding true to orthodoxy? Do not think that any pro-life advocate or organization is safe the next time there is an explosion near a clinic even if it is from a defective propane tank.

I can also point out someone should ask the GOP candidates that now they would have the same power, can they not declare abortion a form of terror and end it within a few days of taking office? Most have already rejected “The Rule of Law”.

There are a list of social issue non-negotiables, but what happens when presenting such a list becomes advocacy for terrorism? When you have no right to speak? When you can be imprisoned or assassinated if you do? Will you even be safe in another country?

Or what #Occupy does which DHS is already looking at, or a Tea Party gathering with all those gun-owners? Progressives should also hold to this as strongly as all Christians and other people of faith who have ever suffered persecution.

Any candidate for any office that doesn’t believe in due process, warrants, habeas corpus, and the rest of the Constitutional rights U.S. citizens used to enjoy should be immediately and irredeemably rejected.

So the first fundamental non-negotiable is to restore the Constitution and civil rights to what they were before the fear-mongering of 9/11 started. If we don’t reverse it now we might be in for a dark night like the USSR, Maoist China, or the Third Reich. Remember that Hitler was granted every power he exercised by democratic means, not through violence. Gradually, and first to fix the chaos – he did stop the Taxi Murders. But the true cost became visible far too late. If the terrorists really hate our freedoms, they already have a near total victory.

The second is related. End the crony-capitalism and corruption. Taking any money from Wall Street, a hedge fund, or a big bank ought to immediately disqualify the candidate from your vote since they cannot be trusted no matter what they say on any other issue or what their earlier record might be.

The economy is already in a tailspin, or about to stall and crash. There is a good chance that people will be starving because of the disruption – the food on grocery store shelves doesn’t simply appear. Food Stamp cards don’t help if the shelves are empty. Trucks, trains, which need fuel and parts, all which need to be paid for. There are already riots and bank-runs in Greece. Watch Europe closely.

We cannot slow or stop this without fundamental change. Preserving the oligarchy will prove as fatal to the rest of the economy as it has to housing – we now have abandoned houses, squatters, people who can’t move because they can’t sell, homelessness, broken chains of title, a frozen market that sinks when it unfreezes. That must be allowed to crash even if it takes every Wall Street firm and bank into receivership and every CEO and CFO into prison. Will we allow freezing the rest of the economy into some kind of third-world disaster area just to save the big banks and wall street?

This again is something Christians, #Occupy, Progressives, and the Tea Party ought to agree on. We can only fix the economy if we get past the corruption.

If we don’t make both of these fundamental non-negotiables for every candidate at every level of office in the next election, there may be no country, economy, or rights to do it later, and no other list of “non-negotiables” will matter.

Both can be summed up under the phrase “Rule of Law”. There is one law for government, individuals, the rich, the poor, everyone.

If we prefer to fight with each other, and elect totalitarian dictators that will preserve the oligarchy but throw our side a few juicy bones – and I’m talking to every group here – we will only get a dictatorship of the oligarchs and nothing else since the rest will cancel out. If we decide instead to destroy the violations and corruption, we can iron out our differences as together we heal the deep wounds in our country as we differ mainly in means, not ends.

The note that follows is from Cheri Berris, executive director of Hearts Helping the Homeless.  Cheri recently joined the Board of Directors of the ArchAngel Institute, forming a partnership between HHH and AI’s ArchAngel Raphael Division toward the goal of getting necessary items to the local homeless.  We have designated a room in the Institute with 24 hour, 7 day a week access for select volunteers who are meeting the needs of the most needy on the cold streets of Fort Wayne.   Coats, sleeping bags, shoes, McDonald gift cards, hats, gloves, drinks, canned foods, hand warmers — the room is filling up with such necessities and then being emptied as Saints on the Streets, HHH and other ministries distribute the items to the area homeless and impoverished.

Please consider Cheri’s plea below ….

I’m looking for help for the homeless.  Jeans in men’s size 30 on up.  Coats, hats, gloves, scarves, sleeping bags, back packs, blankets, and travel size hygiene products.  They carry everything they own with them. 

Some have used up their allotted time at the rescue mission and have little to nothing when they leave.

Please, if you have any questions….ask me.  I would love to engage in a conversation about what is so near and dear to my heart.

ps…any job leads would be appreciated.

God Bless,
Cheri Berris   Hearts Helping the Homeless

Quote:

(by TZ)

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
Luke 8:5-8 NIV

We are approaching the anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II as it is more commonly known. And there is a lot of confusion. There is what they actually said in the documents. Then there is this “Spirit of Vatican II” that brought about no end of grief with changes and a great deal of actual heresy into the Church. Some of that “Spirit” was the Spirit of God, but perhaps even more was Lucifer as an “Angel of Light”. I don’t mean to rehash the history here only to make a much more important observation.

Faithful Catholics will say that the Church was in good shape and growing before Vatican II. But it could not be so. Although members were coming in, how could heresy so easily sweep through the church in only a few years if the earlier catechism was effective? Most people believed what the priests and bishops told them. They could recite the rote memorization, but did they understand anything? It is one thing to say I believe in transubstantiation, and another to explain what it is and even more if they can demonstrate it from scripture. The church had the equivalent of “No Child Left Behind”. Where they could do well on tests or in polls but didn’t really learn their faith. It might have been better that the large numbers were in the church, but it was only a casual association, one not based on any fire or spiritual desire. It made a lot of demands to do pantomime, but not so much to actually undergo continual conversion. It had the spiritual riches, but much like a library where you would have to go there and look things up yourself.

It is getting better today as there is no social reason to belong to the Church – any church. You have to want to, and the only reason would be because you believe. Many went to Protestant churches and I say Praise God! as they are believers instead of either heretics or so lukewarm as to believe nothing.

There are still a lot of cultural Catholics, but my greatest fear is for my Protestant brethren. Too much has become political or personal. A
charismatic (and not in the sense of the Holy Spirit) pastor leads his flock, but the same way the priests could be swayed and then sway their congregations, how deep is the faith and love of Jesus? How did Franky Schaffer lose his faith? I see the same danger now – what happened to the Catholic church was an anti-awakening, and anti-revival. It was pretty but shallow. Dumbed down. A call to complacency and contentment. Not a call to transform ones-self to win the world. To address the symptoms and not through fasting and prayer but the ballot box. And even then not by looking for virtue, honor, or integrity, but by picking the lesser evil. And the pastors will give you a lot of hints who they think the lesser evil is. I can almost predict that at least one well known pastor will “endorse” (as much as the 501c3 status will allow) someone who is pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage, or at least is ambiguous or a flip-flopper because of foreign policy. Read the rest of this story »

(TZ Again, a little reminder for even those who know the reason for the season)

As Christmas approaches, there will be the stories told of how Jesus Christ was born. Many will be dramatized, but the one thing everyone ought to do is go back to the source. Matthew and Luke report from two different angles.

Even more, everyone should read the Bible on a daily basis, and there are things for a computer or calendars or even radio programs that make it easy. There are audio versions, and they are maybe my favorite as I can play them on my phone or in the car, though I often need the pause button.

There is a purpose to reading the Bible and you should read it with that purpose in mind. It is for the Holy Spirit to continue and complete the work of restoring the image of God that was damaged by the fall, like a museum curator expert in restoration patching a faded and shredded masterpiece. They aren’t just to change your mind though that is a start, they are to change everything.

I think too many Christians are looking for the intellect in Paul’s arguments, the wonder at apocalyptic imagery, or the action-adventure of the wars of ancient Israel. Those are good for balance, but I would suggest concentrating where the most meat is: the Gospels.

It is the word of the word himself, the only one spoken of the Father before all ages. The spoken words are often in red but his deeds often speak more loudly many important messages. Most people can get past the 10 Commandments without finding any major faults. Try reading The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7, Luke’s parallel). Few can get through a few paragraphs. The Gospel of John shows Jesus’ divinity from his closest friend – there are stories there not in the other Gospels. Each has something to say to everyone.

Mark Twain once noted it wasn’t the hard passages of the Bible that gave him the most trouble, it was the verses whose meaning was absolutely plain. So I wouldn’t worry about a translation unless you are trying to go deep into Scripture. The Holy Spirit can speak to you through the text, even though Jesus spoke Aramaic, it was transcribed as ancient Greek, then to English. It is better to find the discount table at a Bible store and have something you can easily read in every room than it is to try to find the best translation or get stacks of commentaries and things like Vine’s expository dictionary, or learn Greek and Hebrew. The Word is alive. Sharper than any two edged sword – even translations by dullards. At least if you want it to transform you instead of debating what it might really mean.

Meditating on Scripture will fill your mind and will with the right things. Jesus answered everyone and everything. Consider when asked what must I do? (I’m paraphrasing here:) “Love God with all your heart, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself”. The man replied “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus could have given a dry, technical explanation. Instead he gives the story of “The Good Samaritan”. Note that Samaritans were something like pagans or heretics to Jews. Jesus then asks “who was his neighbor” to make sure his questioner gets the point. You can think about just this story for days or weeks. But then the hard part comes – what Mark Twain was getting at: “Jesus, you mean they are my neighbor and I’m their neighbor?” Daily you will find something that needs God’s grace – you only need the 1% cooperation.

That is why Scripture is both easy and hard, powerful, yet incapable of overcoming a small obstacle when I’m the one holding it in place. But I feel the pull of the Spirit, the fire in the words. At least when the words are not read to add to the noise and cacophony of daily life but to find that particular echo of the single Eternal Word spoken in the Eternal Silence of the Trinity. Properly read, Scripture begets silence and peace after the words settle in and the echoes fade from where they strike your heart.

As we celebrate the Birth of Christ and the events leading up to it, it is a good time to start anew the study of the Gospels – from their beginnings. And work through toward Good Friday and Easter.

(by TZ)

Amazon had the extended edition Blu-Ray set on sale earlier this month so I’ve been watching it and although it is much longer this is much closer to the book. It is worth getting just to have the longer and new scenes. It has been redone.

I enjoy the tale – I have the books and unabridged audiobooks (and the Silmarillion) as well.

Many have reviewed it – Peter Kreeft has several lectures on it. It has a Christian world view in many ways.

But there are a few things I find very strange. Name any major character with 3 or more children (Samwise and Rose in the epilogue doesn’t count). Or with more than one sibling, living or dead. Pat Buchanan talks about our modern demographic problem where Europe is dying but the only wonder is that Man hasn’t died out in Middle Earth by the time the story takes place. Name any living mother of a major character. Read the rest of this story »

I missed a fine resource that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals posts on its fine website.

Here is the court’s recording of my oral argument:  oralarg

Heard by the Honorable Judges Michael Kanne, Diane Sykes and Richard Cudahy on October 20, 2011.

We await a decision while praying for nothing but the apolitical application of the laws of this nation.  Please join us in that unadorned prayer for justice.

Why did I argue my own case?

Here is a post answering that question:  http://www.archangelinstitute.org/i-am-exhibit-a-a-defense-of-my-pro-se-status-before-the-united-states-court-of-appeals/

In a recent interview from the Vatican, the head of the Roman Catholic “Rota”  (the ecclesiastical court rooted in the believer’s court system first mentioned by our Lord in Matthew 18 and then the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 6) warned that secularism is a very real threat to the freedom of Christians in the West.

VATICAN, November 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of the highest ranking cardinals in the Vatican has said that the United States is “well on the way” to the persecution of Christians. 

Cardinal Raymond Burke

Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis and now the head of the Vatican’s highest court, told Catholic News Agency that he could envision a time when the Catholic Church in the U.S., “even by announcing her own teaching,” is accused of “engaging in illegal activity, for instance, in its teaching on human sexuality.”

Asked if the cardinal could even see American Catholics being arrested for their faith he replied, “I can see it happening, yes.”

In his remarks to several U.S. Bishops meeting with him Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI made similarly emphatic warnings about the U.S. The pope told the bishops that “the seriousness of the challenges which the Church in America, under your leadership, is called to confront in the near future cannot be underestimated.” 

He added: “The obstacles to Christian faith and practice raised by a secularized culture also affect the lives of believers.”

In the interview published today, Cardinal Burke declared that “it is a war” and “critical at this time that Christians stand up for the natural moral law.”  Should they not, he warned, “secularization will in fact predominate and it will destroy us.”

I, Bryan J. Brown, can testify firsthand as to the desire of secularists to destroy those who stand on natural moral law.  My law career was impacted by my refusal to renounce the Higher Laws doctrine (i.e., deny the Kingship of Christ) when ordered to do so by agents of the Indiana judiciary. 

The rest of this LifeSiteNews article is right here ….

In a related story, Pope Benedict XVI recently said the following to the U.S. Bishops:

Speaking to various bishops of the United States Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI responded to concerns expressed by the bishops about “the grave challenges” coming from secular society against the practice of faith.  The pope noted that many in society are now beginning to recognize the damage of crumbling moral foundations and urged the bishops to speak out in defense of Christian morality. 

“The present moment can thus be seen, in positive terms, as a summons to exercise the prophetic dimension of your episcopal ministry by speaking out, humbly yet insistently, in defense of moral truth, and offering a word of hope, capable of opening hearts and minds to the truth that sets us free,” he said.

I can also testify firsthand to the state of this “prophetic dimension” among the prelates of the United States and the extent that “hope” is extended to those who are, like me, under the heavy hammers of the secular  powers.  The secular elite acts out, the religious elite …..   (My situation would make a fine case study in this topic for any interested journalists.)

The rest of this LifeSiteNews article is right here ….

More on this general theme of a coming (and even here now) persecution of American Christians is found throughout this website, including in this category:  http://www.archangelinstitute.org/category/rrr/secularist-onslaught/

Thanks to LifeSiteNews for these fine articles.  Consider donating to that fine alternative media source right here:  https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/lifesitenews_us/donation.jsp?campaign=34

By TZ:  This was originally a comment to an earlier post about the Bishops being worried about what amounts to government persecution. I was asked to make it a guest post so I have revised it.

At the root is the problem that the Bishops have conceded their power to the state.

Examples: A priest is not free to conduct a nuptial mass without a license from the state. So who does or does not define marriage? That is not new. The government has taken over charity in the form of welfare. Instead of drawing the line, the Bishops have long ago decided take the money, then when the strings of the web become visible, complain about the control – do their health care facilities have to provide contraceptives or abortion? Do their social work agencies have to allow homosexuals? Courts have said “public schools” are Government schools, so what should be a matter of subsidiarity is defined by Washington DC, not the local school board. They may have hoped “The Great Society” would be moral and more efficient being large and central, but you find none of those duties in traditional texts about the government role such as Aquinas section on law from the Summa. Or Tocqueville pointing out all the volunteer organizations, neither government nor business, taking care of such needs in early America.

The relatively new lack of separation of church and state is that 100 years ago the (Federal) government was Read the rest of this story »