Wednesday 28 January 2009

CUTAWAYS: AWARDS – LET’S JUST CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF

99% of the time this is not a political commentary blog, it’s just not the focus of what I do here. But sometimes current events just get under my skin and I have to let the frustrations out, albeit in my own warped fashion. As human beings we have no authority to make judgments on another person’s soul, but as Christians we are absolutely required to address harmful actions and philosophies where we find them,whether other people like it or not. Carrying out this responsibility is, in fact, considered a work of charity, part of what has been traditionally called The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy. As explained in the Catechism, “The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently.” So, when I saw Speaker Pelosi’s appearance on television over the weekend, I found the philosophy she was spewing forth so potentially harmful that I felt compelled to address it with a post I entitled The Vomiting Nun Award.

Now for those of you who read the comment threads, you are by now aware of the small controversy surrounding that particular post. Some saw nothing wrong with it, while others felt it could potentially be seen as demeaning to those who have chosen the consecrated life. I did my best to adequately address those concerns in an update to that post, but to avoid future misunderstandings, that’s probably the last we’ll see of the Vomiting Nun for the foreseeable future.

That being said, there will still be times I feel it necessary to remark on the politics of the day. And even though Catholicism is at odds with ALL of the political parties in this country over various policies, right now it’s the Democrats who seem especially heinous in their rapidly expanding anti-life agenda. What was that today, a $335,000,00 million payout to STD programs (which has to include contraception) under the guise of economic stimulus? So now, teaching kids to put condoms on bananas is going to cure our economic woes? Please, gentle readers, before I get back to movies and catechetics where I belong, bear with me just one more time as I offer up the following (slightly altered) movie clip which properly expresses my personal feelings over what’s going on in congress.