Creative Minority Report: Catholics in the Crosshairs - Update

I'd like everyone to take note of this great post. The last acceptable bigotry - Anti-Catholic Bigotry
Creative Minority Report: Catholics in the Crosshairs - Update: "

As a follow up to Matthew's post from yesterday, it did not take very long to prove him right. Check out these anti-Catholic examples just from today.
First, a cartoon in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

It is stunning that a paper such as the Inquirer would run such a blatantly anti-catholic cartoon. Clearly they do not fear uprisings in the 'Catholic Street' the same way they do with the 'Muslim Street'. And then we have Rosie O'Donnell, what to say about this particular diatribe?


O’DONNELL: You know what concerns me? How many Supreme Court judges are Catholic, Barbara?

WALTERS: Five.

O’DONNELL: Five. How about separation of church and state in America?

WALTERS: Every one of them, when they were going through their Senate confirmation hearings said the fact of my religion does not mean that I will vote a particular way because of my religion. So we cannot say that they did it because they’re Catholic. It is interesting that they’re Catholic.


This blatant anti-Catholicism is unbelievable if unsurprising. Rosie is as vicious as she is uninformed. If your conscience is informed by your religious convictions, or if you just have a conscience, or if you disagree with Rosie then you no longer have the right to be involved in government. This type of rhetoric, this type of cartoon, would never be tolerated if the target were Muslims or Jews. I suspect that we will only see this type of rhetoric escalate if any other supreme court decisions chip away at the sacrament of the left.
Posted by Patrick Archbold at 12:34 PM "

Fun at the Park

WANTED - Friends/Playmates for My Kids

Collin - burying a Star Wars guy

Finding Fossils


I have great kids!

Yesterday was beautiful. The sky was blue, the sun was out, and you didn't need a coat! The kids were all anxious to go out and play. Who to play with? Nobody! It's not that we don't live in a child-filled neighborhood, 'cause we do. There are plenty of kids around. Actually, it is pretty lopsided as far as boy to girl ratio. I'd say it's a 4:1 ratio around here which leaves slim pickin's for my girls. The few girls there are, have been pretty well - indoctrinated with pop culture garbage.


This puts me and my kids in a real bind. Should we take the "beggars can't be choosers" mentality or do we hold our ground and avoid the uncomfortable moments and awkward questions we are so often faced with when we mingle with the "locals"? We really are "different" than most people we live near. A simple illustration of this is what I call the "Brittney Spears Test" Ask a child "Hey do you know of or have you ever heard of Brittney Spears?" and see what response you get. Most girls in this neighborhood range from "ya I just love her..." to "Ya, I know her. But I really like Hillary Duff!" My kids on the other hand look totally bewildered and shrug their shoulders saying "No, I don't know. Who is she?"


For the most part the boys around here are typical ball-playing dirt digging boys. Great! But, it's the girls in our culture that have done the most radical changing. Bishop Sheen says so many times that women "set the tone" or decide the standard for a whole culture to follow and so....It's slim pickin's around here.


My kids want to play hard. They want to get dirty and sweaty and laugh loudly. They are joyful, curious, and innocent! They are - KIDS! - as they should be! Morgan and Mary both cried yesterday. They asked me why they don't have any friends. They wanted to know why they have to be "different". It's hard for them. it's hard for me. But, I'm a grown-up. I can intellectually take comfort in my choices and sacrifices and get past the hurt of seeming like "odd man out". For a nine year old and a seven year old it just plain ol' hurts! We take part in a home school group but these families live 20-40 minute drives away. On days like yesterday we want to just run out the back door into our large yard with swings and trampoline and toys and just have fun without "planning a play date" It seems that this scenario isn't possible.


That means that my kids have to be just that much more creative. Yesterday they decided to dig for fossils in our dirt piles. Morgan was looking for maybe some relics - a bone fragment from a saint...Mary search for dinosaur bones....Collin buried his Star Wars action figures and then dug them up again and again and again....Monica watched them all with curiosity and great delight! I sat at our patio table and reflected. At times it's a tough road I've chosen to take - I pray to God that He will help to heal my little ones' hearts of this loneliness and that

we ALL will be stronger, better people for it!

Starving Mom To Death

Sorry about the depressing tone of all my posts lately. But this one is absolutely essential!

Tim and I have a dear friend of ours who suffered a stroke and is now in a coma.
As if this is not bad enough, her grown children (all Catholics) have "decided" to
withhold food and water from her in order to bring about her death.
I guess they figure "well hell she's old anyway..."

We are disgusted and angry but also totally powerless.
Please say a prayer for her and her children that either she will literally wake up
or her children will figuratively wake up before it is too late.

John Paul II had this to say about how little we've come to value life...
" The fact that legislation in many countries, perhaps even departing from
basic principles of their Constitutions,
has determined not to punish these practices against life,
and even to make them altogether legal,
is both a disturbing symptom and a significant cause of grave moral decline.
Choices once unanimously considered criminal and rejected by the common moral sense
are gradually becoming socially acceptable.
Even certain sectors of the medical profession,
which by its calling is directed to the defence and care of human life,
are increasingly willing to carry out these acts against the person.
In this way the very nature of the medical profession is distorted and contradicted,
and the dignity of those who practise it is degraded."

Jesus - Save Us!

Killed While Simply Finishing Work For The Day

Let us remember as Americans that we are not the ONLY ones who are suffering from and struggling with the senseless murder of innocent people.

4 blasts in Baghdad kill at least 183 Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "BAGHDAD — Suspected Sunni insurgents penetrated the Baghdad security net Wednesday, hitting Shiite targets with four bomb attacks that killed 183 people — the bloodiest day since the U.S. troop increase began nine weeks ago.
The most devastating blast struck the Sadriyah market as workers were leaving for the day, charring a lineup of minibuses that came to pick them up. At least 127 people were killed and 148 wounded, including men who were rebuilding the market after a Feb. 3 bombing left 137 dead."

Jesus, please bring peace to this world - We NEED You!

We Can't Do It All - Have It All - And That's As It Should Be

The image to the left is a lie.
Women can't do it all and have it all. Something must always be sacrificed.
Because human nature is a fallen nature, we naturally lean towards those things that serve the self and avoid those things that are difficult.
Sure, I'd be the first one to admit, I would love to travel the world, be in top physical shape, read at my leisure, maybe go back to school and get a Masters Degree. Even on a smaller scale, I'd like to drink a cup of coffee in a quiet kitchen, go to the bathroom by myself, or have dinner alone with Tim with some great conversation. But I have chosen to sacrifice all these things, big and small alike. It can be difficult, very difficult at times to watch other women, other mothers, send their kids off to school and in the course of their day get their laundry done, their house cleaned, and their errands all run. I envy what I see as the simplicity and order of their lives. Mine often seems like a jumble of worksheets, glue sticks, dirty diapers, toothpaste chunks stuck to the sink, and piles of laundry. Ah, how fulfilling, rewarding and self-gratifying. Well actually, yes! But not that stuff - I really do hate that stuff. But what I have gained is something even better than an immaculate house and a trendy wardrobe. Despite the crazy days and the sleepless nights (up nursing a baby) that come along with being a full time mom of more than 2.3 who chooses to home school, I have a peace and a joy within me that I have noticed is missing from many of the other moms I know or have met. Even though they seemingly have it all - have everything they could need or want, they aren't happy.
Here are two anecdotal instances I will share to illustrate this. Recently, a woman I know casually told me that she told her girlfriends "all about me" on their "girls' night out" over the weekend. You see she is one of these very nice women, a working mother of two, who upon getting to know me and a little about my life and lifestyle, has decided that I'm a saint. Yes, yes, she claims that I MUST be Saint Kristan of the Suburbs! This is a typical reaction of those who do NOT know me well. People who meet me and learn a little (but not nearly enough) either think I'm a saint or a weirdo! There's no middle ground. This is very frustrating in of itself and it makes it extremely difficult to develop good female friendships. But I'll save that for another post. Any who, I asked her why in the heck would you be talking about ME on your girls' night out? She said that she just HAD to tell all her girlfriends about how we were speaking about how I find time to socialize with 4 kids, (5 on the way) and home school, etc. My response was that I'm happy to just hang out with Tim. I explained that there's no one I'd rather spend my free time with than my husband. Her mouth dropped in shock and awe! She actually laughed out loud. She explained then that she had to relay this "outrageous" story to the girls! She went on to say how they all were just as shocked and awed as was she and that they all "had a good laugh" about it. Now, I wasn't hurt by this. Not at all. Actually, it made me really sad for her and her friends. So, being me, I TOLD her that. I said "wow that's really sad." Her face got serious and she spoke softly. She said "Ya, you know, it is. I have to tell you the truth. After you left last week I thought about what you'd said and I felt really jealous of you."
All the free time in the world can't compare with a marriage grounded in faith and lived out as God intends. The second anecdotal instance is one that happens all the time with many women I meet and know. Whenever I am pregnant (which is about every two years), I will inevitably have a woman who I know (because she tells me herself) will not and chooses not to have any more babies, say to me something like this "Well, I sure couldn't handle any more kids, but if I get an urge, than I'll quick come by your house and just get in a little 'baby fix' to make me feel better." They are defensive in their tone and at the same time seem so sad and longing in their eyes when they say this. It's like they are saying - I really DO want to have more babies, more children, but I am a more self-disciplined, self-restrained person than you and I can control my irrational "baby urges" where as you obviously cannot. My feeling is that these "baby urges" are God-given. Why SHOULD I suppress them? People say all the time "Well, I could never 'handle' another one" the implication being that I MUST be some kind of superwoman. It's the Saint Kristan of Suburbia again. NOT! I always say - I am no better suited for having a large family or staying home or home schooling. In fact, those who know me well, might say these things fly in the face of my very free-spirited, independent, strong-willed nature! They'd be right! It's not that I am any stronger or better able to sacrifice things for the sake of having another baby. But, rather that I allow GOD to make me strong and help me to sacrifice those things that I naturally DO desire just like everybody else! I'm not special. I'm not different. I choose to do something special, something different, and that in turn MAKES me stronger. But the choice comes first, the strength second. With God, it's always a leap of faith. In large things and small things.
So, to all those women who have bought into the lie that as women we can have it all and do it all I say this: the more you try to fill up that hole with all the pleasures this world claims are worthwhile - a satisfying career, money, a great figure (flat abs), a lively (twenty-something like)social life, and the world's admiration and respect; the more you will be left feeling empty. As women, we are not all called to be mothers, this is true. Not all are called to be married. But as women we are all called to be "mothers" to the world, to serve, to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of "these little ones." For those who HAVE been called to marriage and motherhood of the physical kind, we cannot expect to feel peace, joy and fulfillment, while denying and suppressing the very thing we are called to do! Not every mother will have 12, 7, or 5 children. Not every mother is called to do that. But I sure have met MANY women who speak of "a baby urge" after the world's official "two and we're done", who don't seem like they are REALLY content with their lives. Could it be that there are a whole heck of a lot of moms out there who out of FEAR or maybe uncontested, unchallenged, SELFISHNESS, have just convinced themselves that people like me are living a life of unattainable "sainthood" or are just baby-crazed weirdos. I truly believe this world is missing a lot of babies number 3 and 4 for sure. Moms who follow God's plan for them are the only moms who in the end will REALLY - Have it all!

The Culture of Death

While reading the latest news reports on the terrible Virginia Tech murders I came across another news item that's not getting any airtime. Amidst all the tears and vigils and sadness of the Virginia Tech community and the families of the victims, one little victim of the culture of death is forgotten. Her name? She hasn't one. But she was murdered violently and without cause just as the Virginia Tech students and staff were. In fact, the evil committed against her was even more vile than that of an unknown loner on an angry rampage. Hard to imagine anything worse?
Well, I want you to to start counting quickly right now. Count quickly to 135. 1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..10..11..12..13...........18..........26..........34.........................49.................

...............67...........................89.............................100.................130..131..132..133..134..135
It took a long time didn't it? What is the significance of this number? It is the number of times a young mother after just giving birth to her tiny daughter then proceeded to stab her to death!Nicole Beecroft Murders Her Newborn Child, Stabbing Her 135 Times - The Crime library
This story is not on FOX, MSNBC, or CNN. But her death matters! Her murder is a prime example of the culture of death that we have created. It is a culture that does not value human life. New life is seen and used as a commodity to be valued or devalued based upon its usefulness. If I can't use you some how, your life is worthless. If your existence impinges upon my wants and desires than not only do I have no use for you, but you are my enemy because you hinder my potential for pleasure.
Why do we stare at our tv screens and marvel at the brutality, the senselessness, the evil of the Virginia Tech killings? The young man who killed his fellow students and professors, obviously had no reverence for human life - but this should not shock us. We have enshrined the right to kill those we do not value in our own LAWS. Therefore, those who are not valued in the womb, as they lay before their own mother just after their birth, who sit quietly in a lecture hall, who lay sick in a hospital bed, are all just as vulnerable to the evil we have ushered into our culture. The tentacles of this culture are long and they will keep stretching out into new areas of society until we finally take notice of them and the monster they stem from - the monster we, ourselves have created.