November 2007 Archives
It appears that Philip Pullman thinks I'm a Catholic nitwit.
Here is the response I just emailed to the Times On-line:
I pity poor Philip PullmanThe man spends years of his life objecting to Christianity, and now he apparently objects to Christians objecting to his objections. Mr. Pullman even resorts to stereotyping and name-calling when responding to critics like myself. Ironically, his are the same tactics employed by the evil magesterium in his novels.
I would believe such behaviour unbecoming of an award-winning children's author. Certainly Mrs. Rowling has always been graceful in responding to her critics. (And as both a fan and a critic of her work, I was disappointed when the last chapter of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" neglected to Luna Lovegood's future). However, when the average reader is trusted as Mr. Pullman suggests, the number of book sales establishes Mrs. Rowling - a Christian - as clearly the better author.
Cordially,
Pete Vere
Catholic nitwit and co-author of the forthcoming Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy
If this three-year-old can sing plainchant, your choir can too.
(Hat tip to her dad, Ian Rutherford.)
Across the street from Framingham's "Shoppers World", a disused computer store has become the site for an exploitative exhibit of human remains from China. Y'know, China, already notorious for its human-rights abuses?
The exhibit started a little before Halloween -- oh, no, that's not exploitative -- and it sounds like just the place to drop in for a little break from Christmas shopping.
Thanks be to God, there is somebody with the guts to stand up and state publicly that this shouldn't be going on: a Jewish pharmacist from a few towns away. God bless him for telling it as it is.
(Photo credit: Globe staff)
I must disagree with Deal Hudson's latest column attempting to interpret Bishop Paprocki squeaking out Archbishop Burke for chair of the USCCB's canon law committee.
I have nothing but respect for Archbishop Burke. Back when he was bishop of Lacrosse, WI, his chancellor Ben Nygen and I often consulted on canonical issues that would prove controversial in the media. Archbishop Burke would have been an excellent candidate for the position.
But Bishop Paprocki is also an excellent candidate. He may not be as visible in media, but he is extremely respected in canon law circles for his orthodoxy and his knowledge of the law. He too has given me excellent advice when approaching the media with controversial points touching upon canon law, and I have been the recipient of his hospitality at canon law conventions or when visiting Chicago. And like Archbishop Burke, he too is not scared to publicly correct politicians who pass legislation at odds with Church teaching. This was the case here.
It was during my last visit to Chicago that Bishop Paprocki invited Michael Trueman and I to breakfast, and urged us to begin writing Surprised by Canon Law volume 2. The book, which was released by Servant last week, is available by clicking here. Bishop Paprocki is one of the individuals who encouraged us to write it.
This is one of the reasons I'm happy to be a lay canonist and not a bishop. Both men were strong, orthodox, knowledgeable candidates for the chair. I don't know which one I would have voted for.
Which is why I disagree with Deal that this is a sign of the USCCB giving Archbishop Burke the shaft. Given the caliber and orthodoxy of these two bishops, I think the real sign here is that the USCCB is committed to moving in the right direction with regards to canonical issues.
This is pretty good news: while anti-life politicians have been spending public funds on unethical human-embryo research, one of the leading cloning experts in the world has decided to get out of that field.
The BBC reports that Ian Wilmut, who headed the team responsible for "Dolly", the famous cloned sheep, has given up efforts to clone a human being. Wilmut is now convinced that an alternate method of producing stem cells -- without the creation of human embryos -- is more likely to produce successful results.
Thanks RC! To put it bluntly, the Pullman articles have probably been the most spiritually stressful articles I have ever written. From the blasphemous depiction of God, the nasty depiction of the Church, and the cruel treatment of children throughout the books - I'm not sure how anyone can call this "children's fantasy".
Anyway, here's a collection of articles available on-line that I have written on the topic:
Seventeen Questions about Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
Atheism for kids
Philip Pullman and the seduction of children
Book Review for Catholic Insight
Pete Vere and Sandra Miesel are interviewed by ZENIT on the anti-religious aspect of Philip Pullman's fiction, soon to appear in a film.
I was all excited - I thought he used to be a steak president...
This is great... but celebrating Mass in the heart of the evil empire???
Msgr. Valentin Grau, the director of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music (an educational institute founded at the direction of Pope St. Pius X) offers some refreshingly plain-spoken criticisms and suggestions regarding the state of Church music:
in none of the areas touched on by Vatican II -- and practically all are included -- have there been greater deviations than in sacred music.
If Pope Benedict takes up Msgr. Grau's suggestion for an authoritative pontifical office to regulate sacred music, it might be one of the most influential acts of his pontificate.
Okay, it's been a long time since I posted anything to Catholic Light. A really long time -- seven months, according to the blog software. I guess I got out of the blogging habit, and I've been rather disgusted with the state of affairs in the world. That's something that normally inspires me to write, but this time it's had the opposite effect. I do plan to write more frequently.
Even though I've been gone for a while, I have a request. A couple of offices in my building had a Halloween contest, and several of my colleagues and I dressed accordingly:
(click to enlarge)
Not to pat ourselves on the back, but it takes courage to dress in tights when you're working for the Nameless Entity. You can encourage this by voting in the American Apparel costume contest. Just go to the page here...
http://store.americanapparel.net/halloweenview.html?e=737
...then click the "Start Scoring" link in the upper right. You'll have to vote for a bunch of lame costumes before you get to ours. When you vote for ours, I don't want to tell you what to do -- just listen to your conscience. (Hint: your conscience wants to rate the costumes as a "5".)
The superheroes thank you for your support.
