Say you work for a secular newspaper that is owned by a religious institution. Now imagine that you believe you have been passed over for raises and promotions at the paper because you do not belong to the religious organization that basically employs you. However, in order to support the claim that you have been unlawfully discriminated against, you need to find out whether those who have been promoted over you are religiously affiliated with the newspaper's owner. Can you do that or is it a violation of the right to privacy? That's a question currently "percolating" in federal court. Personally, this is an issue I need to stew over for a while, but my initial thought is that it should be permissible to delve into a person's religious background given the compelling interest the government has in preventing religious-based discrimination in the secular workplace.

A state court in Washington (figures) has ruled that employment discrimination against people who practice sodomy and lesbianism is unconstitutional. Well hell, why don't we just throw in pedophiles, masturbators and people who like to have sex with animals while we're at it!

It is apparrently okay in Bay Area government schools to physically tape little children to the floor and cause them trauma so long as it is done in the name of education.

The Problem extends beyond denomination and sect.

Army personnel use charge cards to buy "services" at strip clubs.

"Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the individuals spent the money 'on lap dancing and other forms of entertainment,' running up a total bill of $38,000. Grassley disclosed the results of the General Accounting Office probe in testimony Wednesday before a House government operations subcommittee."

The reactions of the 9th Circuit judges to the protests over the court's Pledge of Allegiance decision shows just how out of touch and arrogant members of the judiciary are.

Thomas Buchanan on Science and God.

"In our world, theology has taken a back seat to science, but only because we have allowed it to. It is still a much more difficult thing to understand—the workings of the Lord of the Universe—and although many excellent scientists are working today, I know of few world-class theologians. I believe this is because theology is a broad discipline requiring an understanding of many fields—history, philosophy, literature, science, and so on—while science is a far more narrow discipline, requiring specific technical skills and little knowledge of anything else. Most scientists I know do not have the skills to study theology."

Some real interesting lawsuits are coming down the pike, so posts to this blog may be sporadic.

Can religious institutions and/or associations, like the Catholic Church, discriminate on the basis of religion in the sale, rental, or occupation of property it owns? Pursuant to Title 42 Section 3607 of the United States Code the general answer is "yes". Guess it's time to break out those "No Baptists Need Apply" signs...

Baptist school rejects Catholic teen even though non-Baptists are allowed to attend. Sad, yet unsurprising.

A quadriplegic is suing a strip club for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In other words, a handicapped boob is suing for the right to see some boobs.

A couple of days ago, Amy Welborn posted a story on how some parishoners in Ohio had refused to call for the oustering of a priest who had molested a 14-year old girl. I posted a comment expressing my lack of surprise at this if the parish in question was one where people regularly held hands during the "Our Father", received communion in the hand, left Mass right after communion, applauded after Mass, and encouraged the use of altar girls. To me, all of these are signs of dissent and heterodoxy. Well, this guy Jim read my comments and felt the need to send me some e-mail for which I sent a response (the last message is chronologically listed first here).

----------------
Let's put it this way: you got the full extent of communications from me
that I felt was worth my time.

Go pray to you idol, Pio Nono.

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Ho
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 4:31 PM
To: McCrea, Jim
Subject: Re: YOU ARE A DISTURBED MAN

Is that the best you can do?

The fact that you felt the need to use quotation marks tells me that you
are a relativist who has no qualms toward fomenting dissent.
Theologically, there is a word to describe people like you -- Protestant.

--- "McCrea, Jim" wrote:
> Your version of what is "orthodox" and "hetrodox" in Catholicism is
> sadly
> skewed.
>
>
> Jim McCrea
> E-mail: jim.mccrea@elan.com
---------------------

As any objective observor can see, Jim is pretty feeble minded. I'm praying he isn't Catholic, and I'm also praying for his conversion to the truth.

WorldnetDaily.com has done an excellent expose on the targeting of American children by homosexual activists. Through my law practice, I can personally attest that the movement to morally relativize homosexuality in California's public schools is especially aggressive. I find it highly ironic that at the same time public confidence in the Catholic Church is waning because of The Scandal, no widespread outrage is being expressed over a movement that effectively gives rise to state sponsored pedophilia.

I've just been informed of a somewhat disturbing trend in the law. Strident homosexual practitioners and activists are apparently using domestic violence statutes to obtain restraining orders against people of faith. There is a case in Minnesota where a teacher at a Catholic school has obtained a restraining order against a parent whose "crime" consisted of writing the school priest and questioning whether the presence of a possibly "gay" teacher was safe and complied with Catholic doctrine. The matter is now on appeal to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

In Maryland, a lesbian couple obtained a restraining order shortly after a Christian family moved in next door. What did the Christian family do? Your guess is as good as theirs, although they suspect the Christian bumper stickers on their cars might have prompted the lesbians' apprehension. No big surprise to learn that the ACLU is representing the lezbos.

According to reports, it appears as though the daughter of the guy who won the Pledge of Allegiance case is a Christian who has no problem with either reciting the Pledge or saying the words "under God". There is no morality in atheism.

Won't be able to blog for the coming week as I'll be in Cancun, Mexico for a litigation academy sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund. It's great work if you can find it.

I understand that Rep. Mike Honda, a liberal Democrat from San Jose, was one of the three congressmen that voted against condemning the 9th Circuit's decision on the Pledge of Allegiance. Since Honda is of Japanese descent, this got me thinking about Asian-American politicians, and how there really aren't any that can be classified as conservative, much less Republican. This is most odd, given the fact that Asian culture tends to be relatively conservative, both fiscally and socially. And given the troubles that many Americans of Asian descent have encountered at the hands of government (see, e.g., Communist China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia) you'd think we would be a consistently solid Republican or conservative voting block. Sadly, however, too many Asian-Americans have bought into the ridiculous, liberal belief that "whitey" wants to oppress us. As a result, we tend to support and vote for any politician with an Asian name, despite the fact that they may have an ideology that is at odds with the traditional and transcendent values that most of us were brought up with and still hold.

Oddsocks Productions goes Orwellian -- changes "The Hunchback" to "The Bellringer". What a bunch of retards, errrr, mentally challenged individuals.

A tried and true limousine liberal -- Gores move into wealthy Nashville neighborhood. I wonder if they bought the property with their own money, or did some generous Buddhist monks just happen to have some extra land laying around to give to poor old Al and Tipper?

The financial scandal that Xerox is currently in is something I'm very sorry to see. Until his retirement a few years ago, my father had worked for Xerox for 25 years as an electrical engineer.

"Gay" activists bent on attacking and destroying the Church have apparently committed their own September 11th hijacking.

Seemingly following in the footsteps of the 9th Circuit, the 10th Circuit Court of appeals upholds bar on religious tiles at Columbine High School.

The judge who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance case has put an indefinite stay on enforcing his decision. This is an obvious ploy to save face. On the one hand, if the entire 9th Circuit reviews the case and agrees with the judge's decision, he'll at least have safety in numbers for when the Supreme Court reverses them. On the other hand, if either the full 9th Circuit or Supreme Court affirms the lower district court decision in favor of the government, it will be as if the judge never wrote his stupidity because he put a stay on it.

Even though they've got lifetime appointments, this situation clearly shows how sensitive judges (liberal judges in particular) are about their public image.

Curious how the NEA's handwringing over the Supreme Court's voucher decision is a lot like the handwringing that Sacramento Kings fans are still engaged in. Get over it! YOU LOST!

In citing the case of Lemon v. Kurtzman the 9th Circuit seems to have conveniently ignored this sentence from the decision: "Our prior holdings do not call for total separation between church and state; total separation is not possible in an absolute sense. Some relationship between government and religious organizations is inevitable."

Proof that the 9th Circuit doesn't even follow its own precedence: In the 1970 case of Aronow v. United States, the 9th Circuit found no conflict bewteen the Establishment Clause and the government's use of "In God We Trust" on its coinage, currency, official documents, and publications.

After the travesty of the 9th Circuit's decision on the Pledge, the Supreme Court has just ruled that school vouchers are constitutional.

UCLA Law Prof., and hopeless libertarian, Eugene Volokh finds the 9th Circuit's decision in the Pledge of Allegiance case to be a "perfectly plausible application" of Supreme Court precedence. Talk about giving yourself some wiggle room! Volokh's choice of words here suggests to me that he actually has no problem with the 9th Circuit's decision, even though it provides a perfect example of judicial activism (which, I presume, Volokh opposes given his longtime membership in the Federalist Society). C.Y.A. Euge, C.Y.A.

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is found to be unconstitutional. The idiots in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals have done it again.

A nice little story on faith in the workplace. By the number of calls I get, not a lot of people are aware of the broad protections that are afforded to people of religious faith in the workplace. The source of these protections is Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which is mostly used in racial discrimination cases.

Most unfortunate: Bush administration quietly extends benefits to same-sex couples -- puts stamp of approval on disordered lifestyle.

Un-freakin'-believable! The Presbyterian church has affirmed the right to kill pre-born babies. On this note, I wonder why those lame-brains in "Catholics" for a Free Choice don't join them instead of trying to create dissent within the Catholic Church? I'll say this much for Martin Luther: at least he had the integrity to quit the Church rather than trying to cause turmoil and confusion within it.

Death penalty related case -- Supreme Court says juries, not judges, must decide whether an accused murderer's crime is worthy of being punished by the death penalty.

Given the changing trends in public opinion on the death penalty, this could very well result in a substantial decrease in executions...except in Texas.

Let's see the lavander mafia try to go against this group in Miami. As I've repeatedly asserted in this blog, homosexual desires are not the equivalent of race and ethnicity.

Talk about no brainers -- Supreme Court bars FLee Bailey from arguing before them.

More evidence that the requirement of celibacy in the priesthood is not the problem.

Yet another reason for maintaining the celibacy requirement in the priesthood.

From Fox News: Conservatives slam John Ashcroft for allowing Deputy AG Larry Thompson to speak at a gay pride event held at the Department of Justice.

"Just because he is fighting terrorist threats is no excuse to allow an officially sanctioned celebration by his department of immoral, unhealthy behavior that is illegal in nearly 20 states," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute. "I have to ask: Why is Mr. Ashcroft, a committed Christian, using his official capacity to celebrate sin?"
...

But gay employees at the Justice Department said conservative groups shouldn't have a problem with Thompson's speech since he didn't focus on lesbian and gay issues.

"He could have given that speech to a bunch of tourists," said DOJ Pride board member Mark Hegedus.

Like most pro-homosexual activists, Mr. Hegedus is missing the point. The objection is not with Thompson speaking to the group, it's with the whole event even taking place.

School bans "tag" game to preserve student self esteem: Only in the People's Republic of Santa Monica could something like this happen. Oh wait, it could also occur in that third world American city known as Berkeley.

The Supreme Court has ruled that executing mentally retarded murderers is unconstitutional -- cites change in public sentiment as main reason for decision.

Although I am against applying the death penalty to the mentally retarded, this ruling by the Court is absolutely ridiculous. Trends in public opinion should not be dictating judicial decisions. As with abortion, the Court should have allowed the individual state legislatures to decide for themselves whether convicted murderers who are mentally retarded should be executed.

The University of San Francisco's loss is Ave Maria College's gain. Father Fessio will be missed out here on the leftist coast.

I posed the following question on defining sexual deviancy to homosexual defenders on June 13. Here's one response I got (italicized) with my reply (bold):

I would define sexually devient conduct as predatory behavior, that stimulates you at the expense of another's mental, emotional, or spiritual loss of preceived well being.

This definition is problematic for a couple of reasons. In addition to automatically excluding blatant deviants who engage in acts like bestiality, also excluded are pedophiles who argue and believe that children can give informed and reasoned consent to sexual intercourse with adults. The basis for this argument and belief stems from the junk science research that "Heir Doktor" Alfred Kinsey put out fifty years ago. It is this same study that homosexuals use to argue that their "death-style" is perfectly natural and normal.

For a thorough eye-opening refutation of Kinsey, visit the site put up by Dr. Judith Reisman.

The decision by Nickelodeon to broadcast a program about children who are raised by homosexuals is most unfortunate. Rather than teaching kids to respect the humanity of a person despite his many faults, Nickelodeon is obviously trying to normalize and legitimate homosexuality by telling kids that "gay" couples who raise children are as much a "family" as married men and women with children.

Epiphany: There have been many occasions where I have thought about stealing from somebody. I don't know where these thoughts come from or why I have them. However, because I realize that stealing is intrinsically wrong, I refrain from doing it. But does the fact that I have the desire to steal make me a thief? No, because I have not stolen anything. Should my desire to steal alone afford me the legal status of a thief? Hardly. Should thieves, as a "class", be given the same civil protections that racial minorities like blacks and asians enjoy? That's just plain stupid. By way of analogy, then, why are individuals who tragically experience homosexual desires (but by God's grace do not act upon them) classified as "gay", and why should individuals who choose to practice homosexuality be given the same legal protections as racial minorities (who do not choose their ethnicity)? Hmmm...

Score another victory for those goofy JWs! The Supreme Court says cities cannot require door-to-door evangelizers and political canvassers to get permits.

"'It is offensive not only to the values protected by the First Amendment, but to the very notion of a free society, that in the context of everyday public discourse a citizen must first inform the government of her desire to speak to her neighbors and then obtain a permit to do so,' the court said in an 8-1 decision."

Addendum to my UC San Diego experience (below): a couple of female students got undergraduate degrees in something called "critical gender studies". For all you young girls out there, you too can spend four years at a major university to learn how to hate men!

Well, I just returned from So.Cal where I attended a friend's wedding and a cousin's graduation ceremony at UC San Diego. Regarding the latter, if there was ever any doubt that the University of California system was being run by a bunch of leftists, the names of the indivdual colleges at UC San Diego should lay such doubt to rest. First there's the college named after Sierra Club founder John Muir, hero to many a tree hugging eco-fascist. Then there's the college named after Earl "let's base constitutional law on feelings and other psychobabble principles" Warren, former governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Third is Thurgood Marshall college, named after the late Supreme Court Justice who, in the later part of his life, reportedly had his clerks write all his decisions while he fell asleep in front of the T.V. Finally, there's Eleanor Roosevelt college, which is named after the long dead First Lady that Hillary Clinton apparently has regular conversations with.

At least the weather in San Diego was nice...

Looks as though my plate is full this weekend, so I won't be able to blog much for a couple of days. I'm attending a friend's wedding in L.A. and a cousin's graduation down in San Diego. It'll be nice to get away from the Sacramento heat for a couple of days.

If you think U.S. Bishops have been abusing their authority in regard to the welfare of children, they have absolutely nothing on the abuse of power practiced by our government through Child Protective Services. Why no media coverage here?

Question to those who find nothing abnormal about homosexuality: How do you define sexually deviant conduct?

With so much attention being directed at the Bishops' conference in Dallas, I've sort had a revelation as to why so many defenders of homosexuality are up in arms about proposals to keep more men with uncontrollable homosexual tendencies out of the priesthood. If "gay" priests pose an imminent danger to children they happen to run across or encounter, just think of the kind of danger that "gay" non-priests (e.g., teachers) pose to children they encounter on a daily basis! Homosexual activists and their defenders simply cannot afford to have people make this realization.

Lakers sweep!! Sacramento Kings fans are still in denial and whining. Sacramento is definitely a city with an inferiority complex.

Yet another reason to hate government schools: the principal of an elementary school in Morgan Hill, CA (near San Jose) one day felt the need to show and tell a class of five year olds how babies are made and the proper medical terms for male and female genitalia. The principal did all of this without informing parents or allowing them an opportunity to opt their children out of the instruction (both of which are required by law).

The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a retarded inmate until it determines whether such executions are constitutional.

I personally believe it is constitutional, although I don't necessarily favor executing anyone in the absence of some imminent danger to the safety of others.

I find it curious how so many people refer to the Catholic Church in the United States as the "American Church". The problem I have with this term is that it suggests a kind of separateness or independence from the whole. Because there is only one Church, I think it would be more appropriate to refer to her as either the Catholic Church in America or the Catholic Church in the United States.

I'm finally back on line! Woo Hoo! I'll start blogging more extensively tomorrow as its late and I want to catch the Laker game. I'm prayin' for a sweep!

I've always maintained that "homophobia" is nothing but a clever term that leftist political activists use to legitimize (often through the power of big government) homosexuality. This study now confirms it.

Due to work and lack of Internet access over the past week, I haven't been able to blog much lately. I hope to start things going again on Monday.

And the Christian stripper mom's 15 minutes of fame rolls on...

First, Canada gives the world Hockey goons, now they're giving us...Croquet goons?

From Yahoo's Oddly Enough news items:

"It is just not acceptable that Ethiopia, where 62 percent of adults cannot read, where one million children are orphans, is paying $100 million a year to us."

-- Irish rock star BONO, in a speech to the African Development Bank's annual conference urging rich nations to increase aid to Africa and forgive past debuts.

I wonder if people like Bono have really thought about why it is that some of these countries languish in poverty despite continually receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in international aid. The structure of the impoverished country's government certainly plays a significant role. But dare we suggest that culture is a big root reason for why these countries are the way they are? As un-PC as it is, I would.

A key 1961 Vatican document on the ordination of men with homosexual afflictions has been found.

The document provides a clear statement of the Vatican's policy opposing the ordination of men with homosexual tendencies. The relevant section reads: "Advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers."

'Nuff said. Time to clean house...

Big surprise. Call to Action opposes "zero tolerance" policy for child molesting priests.

The writer of this article calls CTA a liberal dissident Catholic organization. I would go further and call them apostate.

The Pope is planning on writing a new encyclical on the Eucharist. In light of the growing number of Catholics who don't even know what the significance of the Eucharist is, let alone believe in the Real Presence, I couldn't be any happier that this encyclical is in the works.

Well, I've decided to go back to the reverse chronology setting for my blog. No real reason...it just has a more easy feel to it.

Interesting Supreme Court trivia: The first Roman Catholic to serve on the United States Supreme Court was Chief Justice Roger Taney from 1836-1864. Chief Justice Taney, of course, is most famous (or infamous) for having penned the Dred Scott decision which essentially said that Black slaves were property and not persons under the Constitution.

The current "religious scorecard" on the Supreme Court finds the Catholic Church leading with three members (Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas), the Episcopal church with two (O'Connor and Souter), the Lutheran church with one (Renquist), one "Protestant" (Stevens), one Jew (Ginsberg), and one "unknown" (Breyer).

The Supreme Court says states have wide immunity when federal agencies investigate complaints about them, then challenge their activities.

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, said the framers of the constitution "likely did not envision the intrusion on state sovereignty at issue in today's case." He said the court is "nonetheless confident that it is contrary to their constitutional design."

"By guarding against encroachments by the federal government on fundamental aspects of state sovereignty ... we strive to maintain the balance of power embodied in our Constitution and thus to reduce the risk of tyranny and abuse from either front," Thomas wrote.

(Justice Breyer in dissent) said the majority focuses on "highly abstract" phrases like state dignity and system of federalism instead of things like liberty and due process of law. "They suffer from the disadvantage that they do not actually appear in the Constitution," he said.

Question to Justice Breyer (who penned the decision striking down bans on partial-birth abortions): Where does the word "privacy" appear in the Constitution?

As much as I want to avoid having to do so, it looks as though I may have to attend Mass at a parish in Los Angeles next month. Being the semi-Traditionalist that I am (I've got no problem with the Novus Ordo as long as there is no hand holding during the Our Father and no irreverant guitar folk music being played) I'd appreciate it if anyone reading this can e-mail me the name of a substantially "conservative"/orthodox parish around the San Gabriel Valley I can attend. Much thanks in advance.

Deadline approaches for Catholic colleges and universities to obtain mandatum for theological courses and courses where Church teachings are presented.

I personally think the mandatum is a good idea. I would even go further and tell every school that unless they obtain a mandatum by the deadline, they will no longer be considered a Catholic institution. Oh, if only I could be the pope...

The Supreme Court will determine whether the KKK practice of burning crosses is constitutionally protected speech. The key sub-issue is whether states can prohibit a form of speech when it is specifcially intended to intimidate someone. I suppose the question must then be asked, "What does it mean to intimidate a person?"

A decision is not expected until next year.

Garry Wills' pedophilia problem (link to Traditional Catholic Reflections website).

Wills admits that almost all the cases of sexual predation by priests involved homosexual men—not pedophiles who target children, but immature gay men who slipped through the Church’s filters and got themselves ordained. Yet Wills has fought every initiative launched by Rome to clean up American seminaries, to root out the gay subculture which liberal bishops have fostered, or to enforce the Church’s rigorous condemnation of pornography and promiscuity. The gay subculture—which Michaelangelo Signorile, among others, has acknowledged is replete with erotica celebrating encounters between teen-aged boys and older men—is not the problem for Wills. No, it’s the Church’s "over-strict" morality, its excessive demands, which drives gay priests into the arms of teenagers, which drives gay men into the ranks of the clergy, which drives bishops to ignore and fail to discipline pedophiles.

Unlike other "conservative" Catholic bloggers, I've been hesitant to give any legitimacy to Wills' comments on the Situation, or his criticism of Philip Jenkins' findings that Catholic clergy commit far less acts of sexual abuse than Protestant clergy or American society in general. Now you know why. Wills has an agenda against the Church, and anything he says or writes about it should be looked upon with extreme suspicion...and doubt

Happy Memorial Day! When displaying your flag in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, please be aware that there are federal guidelines. Don't worry, there are no penalties for failing to comply.

The normally left-wing San Francisco Chronicle sort of defends Capital Christian Center for its actions toward Christina Silvas, the Christian stripper mom.

BTW, Ms. Silvas has accepted a fully clothed job at a local radio station here in Sacramento. What a bunch of charitable guys, huh?

Here's a pretty nice story that illustrates the growth of the Catholic Church in the South. As you read the column, you'll notice that the writer describes the particular parish under discussion as a "megachurch". This is a term, of course, that is normally associated with large evangelical Protestant churches. Curious...

California school district authorizes "gay" teachers to freely "come out" in front of students.

It certainly does appear as though my home state is well on its way to legalizing "consensual" homosexual pedophilia. BTW, my boss, Brad Dacus, will be appearing on the O'Reilly Factor this coming Tuesday to talk about this district's policy. Catch it if you can!

Question to those who feel homosexuality is an immutable characteristic that should be treated no differently than heterosexuality: Is pedophilia wrong if the minor, or pre-pubescent, child consents to the sexual act?

Mike Hardy responds (italicized) to several of my previous comments (in bold):

After today, Roger Ho just might not be one of my favorite blogs. Three comments;

Pope accepts Weakland's resignation. My question to this Bishop is, even if he didn't molest anyone, does
he believe the homosexual desires he apparently acted upon were disordered? If so, and he is sincerely sorry
for what he did, he should be forgiven.

What if he's just sincerely sorry for what he did?

My reply: If he's sorry he violated his vow of celibacy, I suppose I wouldn't have a problem forgiving him. I would, however, have a problem if he didn't think homosexuality wasn't a disordered affliction.

Also

If the California Legislature votes to pass a bill that allows people engaged in an active homosexual "deathstyle" to be foster parents then I better not see one priest in this state imprisoned for pedophilia or one Bishop sued for trying to cover it up.

At least Mr. Ho doesn't come right out and say that the only thing homosexual foster parents want to do is fondle their charges. (Do I need to bother to say they don't?). It sure as heck looks like he wants you to believe it though. There's also this

My reply: The underlying presumption in Mr. Hardy's comment, of course, is that homosexuality is perfectly normal. It isn't. As such, I would ask Mr. Hardy if he thinks it would be wise for two homosexual acting males to act as the foster parents for a young boy who has been taken out of his home by Child Protective Services because his father was sexually molesting him.

You want to know what CPS' dirty little secret is? Even without the proposed law, children are already being placed in the homes of people who openly practice homosexuality, and more often times than not, these children are being sexually abused, if not by the foster parent, then by one of the foster parent's "acquaitances". But because CPS is allowed to operate by its own rules (an agent can refuse to allow a child to have an attorney present when he/she is asked questions about his/her parents) and is staffed by people who are vehemently anti-Christian and pro-homosexual, a blind eye is often turned. How do I know this? I get calls almost everyday about it, and I work with attorneys who are developing a strategy for suing CPS on a state by state basis.

And in case you're wondering, I'm not really in favor of placing children in the homes of people who, although not "gay", aren't married.

if the priests quoted in this decidedly slanted
article are not acting upon their desires, and they
are upholding the teachings of the Church, they aren't
"gay".

Baloney!

My reply: ...and cheese!

There's a certain over-used 4-letter word I try to avoid on this blog: "hate". Looking at the comments above, coming from a lawyer who is presumably bright enough to know better, you can see why many folks often find that word to be appropriate.

My reply: Ah, yes...the old standard reply of a liberal who is incapable of providing a reasoned response to a comment or statement he disagrees with. If homosexuality was an immutable characteristic on the level of race or ethnicity, MAYBE I would agree with you. But it isn't. Homosexuality is a disordered act eminating from a disordered desire. It is not much different than a man who can only feel satisfied by either masturbating or having as much sex with as many women he can find.

I've decided to change the settings in my blogs so that my earlier posts appear above the later ones. So if you happen to go into the archives and see me a reference to something "below", look up not down.

Woman sues diocese for not allowing her to be a priest; says Church should lose its tax exempt status.

The essential basis for this woman's claim is a horrible 1983 Supreme Court decision involving Bob Jones University.

I don't believe she has a case, but this lawsuit is a great example of how some people, blinded by the pursuit for power and ignorant of Church teachings, are determined to make God in their own image.

Pope accepts Weakland's resignation. My question to this Bishop is, even if he didn't molest anyone, does he believe the homosexual desires he apparently acted upon were disordered? If so, and he is sincerely sorry for what he did, he should be forgiven.

If the California Legislature votes to pass a bill that allows people engaged in an active homosexual "deathstyle" to be foster parents then I better not see one priest in this state imprisoned for pedophilia or one Bishop sued for trying to cover it up.

More papal hand-wringing from squish-con extaordinaire Andrew Sullivan:

The Pope doesn't want to deal with the profound issues of priestly celibacy, ecclesiastical abuse of power and sexual morality that are wreaking havoc in the American church. He has far more important things to do - like complain about some celebrities wearing crucifixes and tend to his sparse flock in Azerbaijan. There are two priests in Azerbaijan. Two. This papacy is now descending into self-parody. While Rome burns ...

Sullivan appears to be suggesting that the Pope needs to address the issues of celibacy and sex abuse because the Church has no positions on them. He is, of course, dead wrong (just read the Catechism). As such, Sullivan may as well demand that the Pope reinvent the wheel given all the damage and deaths that Firestone has caused.

Yeah, the allegations against Bishop Weakland are disturbing, but given his left-of-center doctrinal positions, not all that surprising...if true.

Yes! The National (Non) Education Association gets slapped for violating the religious rights of teachers.

Have not had an opportunity to read this article on heretical Bibles, but I'm kind of curious how non-Catholic Christians -- who generally accept the Bible as the only authority for their faith -- can claim a particular translation is heretical. How can they really know?

I'm getting mighty sick of these illogical Catholic arm-chair quarterbacks who are using the sex-abuse scandals as a vehicle for arguing that the Church is "out of touch" with the world. On the contrary, if the Church in America wasn't so *&%$! concerned about what the world thought of it (e.g., "homophobic", misogynist, prudish) the Church probably wouldn't be in the mess it is in today!

To those Catholics who are leaving the Church that Jesus founded because of the incompetant and arrogant acts of certain members of the hierarchy, l offer to you the following quote from St. Francis de Sales who confronted similar scandals in the Church during his lifetime:

"While those who give scandal are guilty of the spiritual equivalent of murder, those who allow scandals to destroy their faith are guilty of spiritual suicide."

Is the world's largest abortion provider outside of commie-hell China covering up sex crimes against female minors? I smell RICO...

(p.s., Thanks to the reader who gave me the "heads up" on this)

According to this story in the Los Angeles Times, several priests afflicted with homosexual desires are feeling scapegoated by the Church and may leave their positions out of protest.

The attitudes expressed by the priests in this article is a great example of what's wrong with the priesthood in America: like the popular culture, it presumptively equates a disordered psychological desire to an immutable biological characteristic (e.g., race). Contrary to what most liberals and squish conservatives like Andrew Sullivan think, "being gay" is not the same as being black, Chinese, or a midget. This is true both in civil law (i.e., homosexuality is not a "suspect class") and within the Church.

Bottom line is, if the priests quoted in this decidedly slanted article are not acting upon their desires, and they are upholding the teachings of the Church, they aren't "gay". If they understood this, then they wouldn't have any problems with booting out homosexual priests.

Being of Chinese descent, I knew I had to share this website I found on the lives of the Chinese Martyrs JPII canonized in 2000.

Since we're in the week of Pentecost, I thought I'd provide this link on Pentecostalism from the website of uber-Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong. In a nutshell, Pentecostalism is a heresy that overemphasizes the Holy Spirit and external manifestations as evidence that one has been blessed by God. Although it is most prevalent among Protestant groups, Pentecostalism has been known to infiltrate some quarters of the Catholic Church.

I'm wondering... If a priest or Bishop admits to homosexual desires, but has always remained faihful to the Church's teachings on the issue (including celibacy), then can it be said that that priest or Bishop is homosexually oriented? I tend to think not. Moreover, I tend to believe that homosexuality as an orientation is as much a false concept as "homophobia".

Helpful legal tip of the moment: Parents in California have the legal right to access their childrens' school records regardless of whether the kids are in public or private school. This right is afforded under California Education Code Section 49069.

Well I finally made it to Sunday Mass at the "new" church building that the Sacramento Ecclesia Dei community recently acquired. They had their first Sunday Mass on Mother's Day, but I was out of town.

Because it used to be a Lutheran church, I had suggested (by e-mail) that it be re-named after one of the great Doctors of the Church and Reformation busters, St. Peter Canisius. Needless to say, my suggestion (which was sincere) was dismissed and the building was re-named after St. Stephen.

Although there are renovation plans to make it Catholic, it was kind of interesting to have a traditional Latin Mass in a former Protestant church building. All the pews are slanted in a diagonal direction and there are no kneelers. On second thought, the church looks a lot like some of the buildings I've been in that do clown Masses.

Christian church sponsors motorcycle stunt to attract potential new members.

"Those who came were treated to stunt man Todd Bennick soaring on a motorcycle across the top of four side-by-side buses a dozen times -- including once over the head of pastor Dan Barnes. From inside a red-and-white-striped tent, Barnes preached an hourlong sermon about 'how we are all sinners and, unless we choose God, are going to hell,' the 'Herald-Leader' reported."

God bless their heretical Protestant hearts, but they gotta realize that any new "convert" they get is going to expect to be entertained whenever he/she goes to church on Sundays. Encouraging such an expectation is almost as bad as encouraging people to go to church to scout for a potential husband or wife.

Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon on EWTN's "The World Over" has suggested that it may not be possible to hold someone like Cardinal Law civily liable to the sex abuse victims who have sued him. The reason is that a Bishop's duty to the laity is dictated by Church canon law, and no civil court in this country may constitutionally interpret or apply the principles of a religious institution.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case regarding the constitutionality of states posting the names of convicted sex offenders on the Internet.

The case is on appeal from a lower court federal ruling which found the state of Connecticut had "deprived sex offenders of their rights to due process under the Constitution because they did not have an opportunity to show they were no longer a danger to the community."

"'It fails to accommodate the constitutional rights of persons formerly convicted of a wide range of sexual offenses who are branded as likely to be currently dangerous offenders irrespective of whether or not they are,'" it said.

I find this story to be of some relevance to the crisis in the Church insofar it seems to suggest that sex offenders aren't always a danger to repeat their conduct. Good news for Cardinal Law?

I've long been of the opinion that the only way to significantly reduce abortions in this country is to bankrupt the clinics that are providing them through aggressive medical malpractice litigation. With little to no incentive for ever making any money, what "doctor" would ever get into the business of killing babies? There's at least one organization out there with the right idea, and you can find them by clicking here.

Some good straight talk (no pun intended) from a priest in San Diego:

"It seems clear now why little seems to be said against sexual acting out with minors and against homosexual activity either in the clergy or in society from the shepherds of the church. The only sexual teaching that has come from our bishops in the past decade came out of a committee. This bishops' committee presented homosexuality in a neutral light. Its work was so flawed that the Vatican not only intervened by insisting on changes in this document, it told bishops that no committee ever again could issue such documents without the support of the entire body of bishops. Please pray for bishops and priests that we have the courage to be chaste and to preach chastity to you in the fullness of the gospel. Live your own lives chastely. Hold us priests accountable to the promises we expressed when God made us priests. If we're not hearing it from our bishops who were ordained to shepherd us, we need to hear it from you that you will not tolerate sexual misconduct from us, and that with Christ, priests can live properly to bring His grace to you as we were ordained to do."

The Christian stripper mom situation is "resolved".

"A 5-year-old Rancho Cordova girl will return to kindergarten at the Capital Christian School after being expelled last week because administrators discovered her mother works as a nude dancer."

"Christina Silvas, 24, agreed to stop working at Gold Club Centerfolds off Highway 50 for at least the next three weeks so her daughter can graduate from kindergarten and attend the end-of-the-year pool party she had been looking forward to, among other things."

"She has ruled out having her daughter return to the school to attend first grade."

"'I disagree with the way they've handled the situation,' Silvas said. 'I want to find a school less concerned with image and more concerned with the welfare of children.'"


So basically, not only does this woman feel she has done nothing wrong, she apparently believes that her association with a strip club provides a healthy environment for her child. Warped.