THE CASE FOR THE COMMONWEAL CATHOLIC

THE CASE FOR THE COMMONWEAL CATHOLIC

In pursuit of the truth - http://www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014

Reference: Commonweal, October 24, 2014 issue, Celebrating 90 Years of Debate: excerpts from the excellent article by Luke Timothy Johnson, The Commonweal Catholic - It Started with Origen

    "The space Commonweal (and its faithful readers) seeks to occupy is a tight one, and difficult to maintain in a world that insists we either mindlessly adhere to received teachings or reckless reject the wisdom of the past in the name of enlightenment....                                                         

 If the religiously liberal regard traditionalists as dumb sheep, the latter regard the former as wolves out to ravage the flock....

    Hiding one's faith, or abandoning it altogether, is increasingly the price of citizenship in the world of free inquiry. Thus, in the university department of religion, it is a matter of pride to study religion rather than to practice it; some professors of religious studies understand their mission to be the demystifying of traditional beliefs and practices among their students....

    "Political correctness" is an overused term, yet it accurately designates a complex academic "right-thinking" that emphasizes an apocalyptic vision of climate change; the evils of tobacco (but not pot); the oppressive character of late capitalism; the malignancy of "europhallic" thought; and the embrace of all forms of human diversity except those representing religious traditions....    

More than ever, the world needs a place where "liberal convictions" and "Catholic tradition" are in conversation. For ninety years, Commonweal has provided that place....

    The fact that Commonweal frequently infuriates both sides of a such hot-button issues as abortion and same-sex marriage suggests a genuine independence. If there is one area where "liberal convictions" tend to lead to predictable positions, it is in the editorial pages - especially when the topic is national and international politics. Here, I think the magazine has accepted the premise that righteousness and goodness surface more regularly among Democrats than Republicans, and that the interventions of big government can create social justice. ...

    If, in defense of liberalism, Commonweal has found it necessary to privilege some voices more than others, because these voices explicitly seek to maintain a universe of open conversation, the editors have nonetheless managed to include many less-than-liberal writers in its pages, and I applaud for that.... The magazine in recent years has represented that deep tradition with its vigorous examination of Catholicism's historical sources in Scripture, in patristic authors, and in the writings of mystics and theologians through the centuries..

    "What more can Commonweal do to communicate even more effectively its sense of the church? The first is to bring back the voices of such early reformers as Wycliffe, Huss, and Marsilius of Padua agents for change whose powerful arguments issues from within the Catholic tradition....The second project is to investigate empathically the views of those who seek to return to a Tridentine church. What are the values they see as having been lost? What forms might best embody those values?

    The third thing Commonweal can do to represent the Catholic tradition more comprehensively is to devote greater attention to the demands of discipleship in the broadest sense; the moral entailments of the Gospel, the shape of piety, the call to holiness. Finally, although Commonweal correctly refuses to identify the Catholic tradition primarily with the Vatican or the papacy, like all media it gives more attention to the Church's central authority than it does to the many manifestations of the tradition in parishes, monasteries, and convents."...

GEORGE H. KUBECK

    The Catholic Church is a universal Church.

THE CASE AGAINST THE COMMONWEAL CATHOLIC

 THE CASE AGAINST THE COMMONWEAL CATHOLIC

In pursuit of the truth - http://www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com - Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014

Reference: Commonweal, October 24, 2014 issue, Celebrating 90 Years of Debate

1. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Dominic: 

2. Pope Emeritus Benedict XV's book, "Co-Workers of the Truth."

3. St. John Paul II, "The Gospel of Life", and "The Catechism of the Catholic Church".

4. The letters on my blog: http://www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com: They deal directly and indirectly with Catholic-in-name only politicians and their supporters. (1800 LETTERS)

5. Reference" "First Things," December, 2014 issue, R.R. Reno, "The Future of Catholicism".

  
  "The typical American today finds the idea of obedience to authority troubling. Liberal Catholics respond by downplaying the Church's authority, putting an accent on freedom of conscience and emphasizing that there's room for questioning and doubt.... This liberalism ... is sincere strategy of evangelization, a genuine belief that if we make the Church more flexible and modern," more people will join. The evidence shows however that it doesn't work.

   Over the last few decades a cohort of Catholics have emerged who counsel the opposite approach, I myself (R.R. Reno) count myself among them. We believe that evangelization is best served by boldness and clarity about the difference faith makes. Hard, demanding truths clearly stated win hearts and minds. The Church is most relevant when she stiffens her spine and refuses to listen to all the voices that tell her she must change to remain relevant....

  
We're divided on what it means to serve the poor in an affluent society. Liberal Catholicism fixes on the economic well-being of the most vulnerable. A FIRST THINGS Catholic like me focuses on their moral welfare. The liberal Catholic tends to think that the greatest crimes of our era are to be found in under-funded welfare programs and failures to raise the minimum wage. I point to the callous way in which upper-middle-class deconstructions of traditional morality have made marriage into a luxury good. To serve the poor, we must rebuild social capital.

   Moreover, I fear that, while necessary, many welfare programs have contributed to the decline in social capital. These programs were developed to blunt the negative consequences of problems like illegitimacy and lack of economic opportunity. In so doing , however, they often create perverse incentives. It's a law of human behavior that we tend to get more of what we subsidize.

 
 For decades our welfare programs have subsidized choices and behaviors that have hurt poor communities over the long haul. As a result, I just don't just disagree with liberal Catholics about the problem of poverty in twenty-first-century America: I think they contribute to the problem of supporting programs that are ill-designed and have many negative consequences.

   
 The feeling is mutual, I'm afraid. Liberal Catholics were apoplectic about welfare reform in the 1990's and denounced those of us who supported it as enemies of the poor and unfaithful to basic Catholic social teaching. Congressman Paul Ryan suffers the same denunciation with every effort to make our entitlements sustainable over the long haul.

  We've all felt the lash of denunciation when we've suggested that the Democratic party's economic policies were not delivered by God on the Mount Sinai. These experiences indicate that, when it comes to how we serve the poor, liberal Catholics are very committed to polarization.

George H. Kubeck,

    In the next letter we will present the Commonweal Catholic position. They believe that righteousness and goodness surface more regularly among Democrats than Republicans and only the intervention of big government can create social justice. 

This is a false premise for their editorial pages to promote. It creates a destructive bias throughout the magazine with this bias towards the Democratic party and a false approach to Catholic social justice.

THE LEGACY OF RONALD REAGAN

  THE LEGACY OF RONALD REAGAN

    In pursuit of the truth - http://www.cinipsbegoneblogspot.com -Veteran's Day, Tues. Nov. 11, 2014

This article in the Commentary, Nov. Issue - 2014,  by Henry Olsen and Peter Wehner is dedicated to Neurologist Ben Olsen, our next President  or Vice-President of the U.S.A.  Excerpts as follows:

 

    "The core of Reagan's thought lay not primarily in his love of freedom, as powerful as that was, but in something else, something captured in the epitaph on his grave, which quoted his own words" 'I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.'

 

    For Reagan, human dignity - not human freedom - came first. This idea permeated his political career. As early as 1957, in a commencement address at Eureka College, his alma mater, he defined the Cold War as "simple a struggle between those of us who believe that man has the dignity and sacred right and the ability to choose and shape his own destiny and those who do not so believe." For Reagan, human dignity was what enabled human freedom - that is, the ability of each individual to "shape his own destiny" - not in reverse.

 

    A minor-seeming difference, but a crucial one for Reagan, it meant that everyone's choice, whether great or humble was worthy of protection, and that common virtues were to be valued as much as, not much more than, uncommon ones. A 1964 National Review essay makes that crystal clear. Conservatives he wrote, aim to "represent the forgotten American - that simple soul who goes to work, takes out his insurance, pays for his kids' schooling, contributes to his church and charity and knows there just 'ain't no such thing as a free lunch/'" Buy virtue of his dignity, such a person, neither high nor low, ought to be allowed to live his life as he sees fit.

 

    He  believed the same dignity was to be found among the destitute.... What he despised was a system that "perpetuated poverty by substituting a permanent dole for a pay check," thereby "destroying self-reliance, dignity, and self-respect....   In his 1986 memoir The Triumph of Politics, Stockman complained that Reagan "sees the plight of real people before anything else."....

 

    Reagan also placed a heavy emphasis on deregulation. Except where absolutely necessary, government regulation, he said, infringed on human dignity because "government can't control the economy withy controlling people...   In 1964, he endorsed the idea of Social Security. That same year, and at a time when Medicare did not yet exist, he declared that "no one in this country should be denied medical care because of a lack of funds."...

 

    Reagan's welfare state would provide assistance only to those truly in need, and those benefits would be generous. He often touted the success of his California welfare reform, which not only removed people from the rolls but increased benefits to remaining recipients by average of 43%.

 

.... He also wanted to eliminate subsidies to Amtrak, which was costing tax-payers an average of $35 for each passenger it boarded.... He objected to Social Security and Medicare's cookie cutter uniformity and their coerciveness.... A person working over an average lifetime at an average salary, he pointed out, could buy an annuity upon retirement that paid nearly twice as much as Social Security.

 

    Finally, Reagan's fundamental stress on human dignity infused his view of the world beyond America's shores as well as his deep, uncompromising opposition to Communism - truly, to him, the Soviet Union was an "evil empire" in which individuals were conceived were conceived and treated as slaves, to be used at will by the state....  Reagan often quipped that he did not leave the Democratic Party; in its leftward lurch, it left him... Reagan's core political ideas was his public disposition, often characterized as sunny and optimistic...

 

    One of them was his unusual courage... he was being labeled a racist, a warmonger, a callous oppressor of the poor. Seemingly serenely, Reagan held fast to his course - a course that would eventually see the rollback of Soviet expansionism and the collapse of the "evil empire" abroad and thanks to "Reaganomics," the revival of prosperity at  home.                                                                                                                              

 

 Reagan held fast to his course - a course that would eventually see the rollback of Soviet expansionism and the collapse of the "evil empire" abroad and thanks to "Reagonomics,"the revival of prosperity at home...."

 

GEORGE H. KUBECK

 

BLASE CUPICH: PRAY FOR THE INTERCESSION OF ST. JOHN PAUL II

 Blase Cupich: Pray for the Intercession of St. John Paul II

In pursuit of the truth - http://www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com - Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014

Preface:

    "The Catholic world has been abuzz over the news that Blase Cupich will succeed Francis George as the ninth archbishop of Chicago." This is very bad news for Catholics in America.

First, let's share the good news. 1) The national election on Tuesday and thank God for Fox News. Without their reportage, we would not know what is going on in America. 2) As of Tuesday, Dr. Ben Carson has officially changed affiliation from Independent to Republican . His volunteers helped out in all of Iowa's 99 counties to get Joni Ernest elected. He also helped out with radio ads to help defeat Kay Hagan in North Carolina.

    Thank God for Lifesitenews.com and the "New Oxford Review" November 2014 issue,  page 16 for the disturbed mindset of Blase Cupich which is an attack and insult to the "Catechism of the Catholic Church", the "Gospel of Life" and St. John Paul II.

Enter the American Bergoglio page 16

    "David Gibson of Religion News Service confirms NCR's (National Catholic Reporter) adulatory assessment, describing Archbishop-elect Cupich as " a prelate closely identified with the Catholic Church's progressive wing." ... Vatican-watcher Rocco Palma, whose Whispers in the Loggia blog tends to be reliable, called the appointment "the most shocking major move the American hierarchy has seen since the turn of millennium." ... he did explain that the choice of Cupich reflects the Pope's desire for a Church "geared toward the 'periphery' as opposed to being locked in its 'sacristies.' [Experiment but not in this area of the country.] ...

 

    "The appointment of Cupich," wrote Magister  (Oct 4), "is thought to have been recommended to the Pope with particular enthusiasm by Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga and above all by  Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, a representative of the 'liberal' old guard of the U.S. episcopate." [This is the tragic mindset that got Catholics attached to Barrack Obama's anti-Christian policies. Obama's social justice is neither Christian nor Catholic.]

 

    As for the mainstream media, we looked long and hard for any negative publicity about Archbishop-elect Cupich - and found none. Just about every major new outlet in the country, including the bilious Huffington Post, which misses no chance to bash the Church, has adulated him. (The anti-Catholic Huffington Post, ... has consistently written glowingly of Pope Francis.)

... What gives many orthodox Catholics pause is Cupich's - Francis's - emphasis on burying the Church's role in the so-called culture war. Francis, for example, famously said that the Church is "obsessed" with same-sex marriage and abortion. The implication: Catholics should back away from asserting a Catholic point of view in public forums. ...

 

    "According to Magister, Cupich "seems to get laryngitis every time there is a discussion of abortion, euthanasia, and religious freedom, or criticism of the Obama administration over health care reform." Lifesitenews.com reported that in 2011, as bishop of Spokane, Cupich urged priests and seminarians in the Spokane diocese not to pray outside abortion clinics. Cupich also expressed disapproval of the 40 Days for Life event, an international pro-life campaign that promotes prayer and fasting to end abortion ... Bishop Cupich was, in essence, telling pro-life Catholics to lock themselves in their "sacristies." ...

 

    A further indication that Cupich is on the same pastoral page as Francis came in an interview with Chicago's CBS affiliate in which Cupich indicated that he would be willing to give Holy Communion to anyone who approached him, including publicly pro-abortion politicians and LGBT activists wearing controversial buttons supporting same-sex marriage. "As long as they are in church, are willing to hear the word of God, be open to Christ's call of conversion for each one of us, then I think that's sufficient for me," he said.

 

    "We cannot politicize the communion rail, and I just don't think that that works in the long run." (As for why this is a fallacious argument, see Fr. Regis Scanlon's guest column "On Politicizing the Eucharist," NOR, Dec. 2013. Cupich's comment seems to be a colossal gibe at Raymond Cardinal Burke's well-documented stance on the issue... when it comes to same-sex marriage, a 2012 pastoral letter he (Cupich)wrote calling for a "more civil and honest conversation about Catholic positions on equality" garnered kudos from New Ways Ministry, the nation's leading Catholic ? promoter of same-sex marriage. ....

GEORGE H. KUBECK

    

THE ANTIDOTE TO OBAMA'S SECRET ELECTION WEAPO N

THE ANTI-DOTE TO OBAMA'S SECRET ELECTION WEAPON

In pursuit of the truth - http://www.cinopsbegoneblogspot.com All Souls Day, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014

   

     Pray that we will have an honest election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. It is not an irrational fear that it could be fraudulent. There is a study to be published in the December issue of the journal Electoral studies. [Why was it not published in the September or October issue?]

 

    "Based on hard data, the researchers found that 14 percent of non citizens were registered to vote in both 2008 and 2010, with 6.4 percent actually casting ballots in 2008 (a presidential election year) 2.2 percent in 2010 (a midterm election). [How many non citizens will be voting for the Demo party on Tuesday? This is not a fair and honest election.]

 

    The study authors conclude that non-citizen voting "likely changed outcomes 2008 outcomes including Electoral College votes and the composition of Congress." They also observed that non citizens "favor Democratic candidates over Republican candidates."

 

    I believe the Democratic Party establishment - including Holder, Sharpton and Obama - suspected as much, which explains their scurrilous suggestion that voter ID requirements are, somehow, a racist plot to suppress minority votes."  Article by Joseph Perkins, Staff Columnist, Orange County Register, Elections - Democrats' real problem with voter ID - Voting by non citizens has already altered election results. Friday, October 31, 2014.

 

THE ANTIDOTE

 

    October 30 - The Glory of America - Foreword by Bill Bright - Peter Marshall - David Manuel

 

    In 1892 the United States Supreme Court made an exhaustive study of the connection between Christianity and the government of the United States. After researching hundreds of volumes of historical documents, the Court asserted; "these references add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a religious people .... a Christian nation."

 

    Similarly, in 1951, Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland ... reiterated that Americans are a "Christian people." And in 1952, Justice William O. Douglas affirmed "we a religious people and our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being."

 

    November 1 - As we approach our national election day, we need to pray heed to these words of Charles Finney, America's great 19th century evangelist.

"The time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics, or the Lord will curse them ... God cannot sustain this free and blessed country, which we love and pray for, unless the Church will take right ground. Politics are a part of religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as part of their duty to God."

 

+++++++

GEORGE H. KUBECK

 

    THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA TO CONCEDE ANYTHING TO OBAMA'S PROGRESSIVE SECULAR NATIONAL RELIGION. FIRST OF ALL, IT IS UNCONSTITUIONAL.

HE WANTS TO TRANSFORM US INTO WHAT. "WE ARE FIVE DAYS AWAY FROM FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." BARACK OBAMA, ELECTION EVE, 2008.

 

    WHAT OBAMA IS DOING IS AN INSULT TO TRADITIONAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS BLACK AMERICANS. HE DOES NOT SPEAK FOR BLACK AMERICANS. OBAMA'S MOTHER WAS A WHITE WOMAN. IT IS THE REASON I SO STRONGLY SUPPORT THE NEUROLOGIST BEN CARSON FOR PRESIDENT. THE LEGACY OF OBAMA IS HORRIBLE AND A TRAGEDY FOR ALL AND ESPECIALLY BLACK AMERICANS. BESIDES ALINSKY,  WHAT ARE OBAMA'S FUNDAMENTAL AMERICAN BELIEFS?  WHO DO YOU TRUST? HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. VOTE FOR BEN CARSON IN THE PRIMARIES. THE NATION IS LONGING FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERS. YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT I THINK OF CATHOLIC-IN-NAME POLITICIANS.  IT IS A JUDGEMENT AND SCANDAL ON ANY CATHOLIC DIOCESE THAT ELECTS ONE. DOWN WITH CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS CORRECTNESS!