Enough is enough. I'm tired of going weeks without posting anything here because I can't form a cogent essay or edit a video fast enough. From now on, I'm making it a point to put something here at least once a day, even if it's just tiny snarky commentary about the news.
So, then, for today: In regards to this business about the MTV Video Music Awards and the fucking "Purity Ring" movement (seriously... the HELL? It's like someone found some old 'Straight Edge' clips on YouTube and said "Pfft! We can be soooo much more square than that!") let me just say that, as far as I'm concerned, ANYTHING that's apparently helping to discourage Jordin Sparks and the Jonas Brothers from contributing material to the gene pool can't be ALL bad.
Monday, 8 September 2008
Monday, 1 September 2008
INTERMISSION: THE SKILLED USE OF BLUNT OBJECTS
The Catechism ensures us that "The Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of the transcendent character of the human person. "The Church respects and encourages the political freedom and responsibility of the citizen." In short, we are encouraged to vote our (well formed) consciences.
But, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops reminds us in the document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, that doesn't give us free reign "There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. These intrinsically evil acts must always be rejected and never supported. A preeminent example is the intentional taking of human life through abortion. It is always morally wrong to destroy innocent human beings. A legal system that allows the right to life to be violated on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed... As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate’s position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support. Yet a candidate’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support."
Based on that guideline, our choices this election season, well... they aren't so great are they? Still, I think it's fair to say that the Democrats sound the more loony on this single issue right now what with Pelosi's moronic statements on Meet The Press and Obama's history of rabid defense of abortion of any kind. And there's nothing more we like here at the B-Movie Catechism than taking pot-shots at loony stuff. So with a little help from 1977's American Raspberry, we give you a glimpse into the future Obama style. (Profanity warnings in alert for those who want to avoid that kind of stuff.)
But, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops reminds us in the document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, that doesn't give us free reign "There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. These intrinsically evil acts must always be rejected and never supported. A preeminent example is the intentional taking of human life through abortion. It is always morally wrong to destroy innocent human beings. A legal system that allows the right to life to be violated on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed... As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate’s position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support. Yet a candidate’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support."
Based on that guideline, our choices this election season, well... they aren't so great are they? Still, I think it's fair to say that the Democrats sound the more loony on this single issue right now what with Pelosi's moronic statements on Meet The Press and Obama's history of rabid defense of abortion of any kind. And there's nothing more we like here at the B-Movie Catechism than taking pot-shots at loony stuff. So with a little help from 1977's American Raspberry, we give you a glimpse into the future Obama style. (Profanity warnings in alert for those who want to avoid that kind of stuff.)
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Sunday, 24 August 2008
WEEKLY NEWSREEL
Good evening Mr. & Mrs. Catholic, and all you other Christians at sea. The dark prince of shock rock Alice Cooper has been quoted as saying, “Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that's a tough call. That's rebellion.” This week on the Newsreel we’re going to attempt both. Now off to press.
DATELINE: TEXAS - We begin with a story of geeks gone wild in which a thirteen year boy stole his father’s credit card, went on a $30,000 shopping spree with some friends, and ended up in a hotel room with two hookers… whom he had hired to play Halo with. Choosing the most ridiculous aspect of this story is tough, but we here at the Newsreel have to go with the excuse given by the two prostitutes who claimed they would never stoop so low as to accompany children to a hotel room, but were assured that the boys were actually midgets traveling with the carnival so everything was hunky-dory. The (ahem) ladies only became suspicious when their customers broke out an X-Box rather than take advantage of the services on offer. Gentle readers, we here at the Newsreel desperately wanted to call BS on this story, but alas, it appears to be factual to some extent. And catechetically it’s a veritable goldmine. Where do we start digging? Do we discuss the paragraphs on the duties of children? (2214-2220) The duties of parents? (2221-2231) How about prostitution? (2355) Let’s just go with paragraph 1746 which begins with “Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance…” Lucky for everyone involved here wouldn’t you say?
DATELINE: MASSACHUSETTS - Speaking of bad children, perhaps you remember the legend of Lizzie Borden, the young lady who allegedly took an axe and whacked her father and stepmother to death on August 4, 1892. If not, the first part of this feature does a nice job recapping the events. The second part of the story is what holds our interest this week, however, as the old Borden home is currently open for business as The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast. And doing quite well it seems as the waiting list for those who want to stay in the same room in which Abby Durfee Borden met her bloody fate is over a year long. As odd as it seems, murder sites often prove to be popular tourist attractions with even the most obscure ones bringing in the dough. Before it was converted to use as a condominium, Room 132A of the Winfield Apartments in Scottsdale, Arizona was voted the city’s best unknown tourist attraction. Its claim to fame: Bob Crane of Hogan’s Heroes was found bludgeoned to death with his own camera tripod there. There are obviously numerous reasons why such places are popular, but Pope John Paul II gives us a good starting point for considering the philosophical side of the issue. Writing as Cardinal Wojtyla at the time, he speculates that “Good is something ordinary and natural because it conforms to the nature of the human being and the world; evil on the other hand, is always baffling because it conflicts with this nature. Perhaps this also explains why in literature and moral instruction more attention is paid to evil than to good.”
DATELINE: COSTA RICA - And finally, here’s a monkey invading someone’s hotel room and stealing their toothpaste. I hope room service changed the sheets before the guests turned in. There’s nothing involving horrible children or religion in this video that we know of; we just wanted to see a monkey run loose in a hotel. Everybody loves monkeys.
And with that, it’s time to check out until next time. As is our custom here at the Newsreel, we sign off with the words of the great Les Nessman, “Good evening, and may the good news be yours.”
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
SHORT FEATURE: THE COBWEB HOTEL
Here’s a bizarre little Fleischer classic from 1936 in which a pair of newly-wed flies check into The Cobweb Hotel, but may not be able to check out come morning if they're not careful.
You might remember that way back in our review of Blood of Heroes we mentioned how the Catechism doesn't have too high an opinion of intentionally or unnecessarily injuring one's own body. “Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God." it says, "We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.” Well, maybe I''m being too hard on these two post-nuptial nitwits, but if you happen to be a fly, and you purposely check into a hotel run by a spider five times your size, aren't you just begging for a little bodily injury? (The last time I checked, being masticated on wasn't a walk in the park.) It's a small stretch, but this would seem to me to fall into the category of placing oneself in the Occasion of Sin, an external circumstance which entices you to do wrong.
The Modern Catholic Dictionary reminds us that if the danger of the Occasion "is certain and probable (Big freakin' spider is going to eat you!), the occasion is proximate; if the danger is slight, the occasion becomes remote. It is voluntary if it can easily be avoided. (You don't have to sign the register, schmuck.) There is no obligation to avoid a remote occasion unless there is probable danger of its becoming proximate. There is a positive obligation to avoid a voluntary proximate occasion of sin even though the occasion of evildoing is due only to human weakness." Look, guys, I wanted my honeymoon to start as quick as the next guy, but if the first hotel I passed had a sign out front which said Bates Motel, I think I could have managed to do the right thing and wait for the next one.
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