Michigan Supreme Court may hear case to decide question of when life begins. If they do, I'm pretty sure they will try to weasel the issue so that the non-existent constitutional right to an abortion will be preserved.

Thousands of wannabe lawyers in California will soon find out if they have passed what most people consider to be the toughest bar exam in the country (it's three days of nerve racking hell). Good luck, because, you know, California is really short on lawyers.

You have got to be kidding me.

While a federal court decides if Missouri's partial-birth abortion ban is constitutional, a state appellate court has determined that the ban does not allow the procedure to be done even if the life of the mother is at risk. I personally see this as a red herring given the fact that well over 95% of partial-brith abortions are never performed in life threatening situations.

Alabama judge will appeal Ten Commandments monumnet ruling; says he has no plans to remove it. I say, "good for him! Fight the lemmings!"

Seems to me Herod would have loved Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood recently announced the release of its line of holiday cards. Each card reads, "Choice on Earth." One card adds, "Warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday season."

Woo hoo! My graduate school alma mater, the University of Hawaii, cracked the USA Today/ESPN top 25. Who knows, maybe they'll get invited to a bowl game this year.

A great pro-life judicial nominee is confirmed.

And the establishment of "anti-religionism" rolls on.

Where did the modern understanding of "separation of church and state" come from? If you said Thomas Jefferson, you're wrong. It was former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, whose anti-Catholicism highly influenced his 1947 ruling in Everson v. Board of Education that the First Amendment imposes a "high and impregnable" wall between church and state. For more information on this, see Separation of Church and State by University of Chicago law professor Philip Hamburger and Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State (Critical America) by American University professor Daniel Dreisbach.

A maddening pet peeve -- paying a fast food cashier 1 cent over the total amount, and not even being asked if I would like the change. If anyone would like some extra napkins, hot sauce, or straws, drop me a line.

One of my all-time favorite congressmen, Rep. Chris Cox (who is also Catholic) is sponsoring a bill that would help fund the restoration of an old missionary church building. I'm not sure if the "separation of church and state" lemmings will oppose this bill, but given the fact that the whole mission is a state historical landmark, I tend to doubt it.

Dagnabbit! I butchered my job interview with the Madera County Counsel's Office today. I hate getting those "Thank you for applying, but we will no longer be considering you" letters. Ah, well. Guess I just wasn't meant to live near Fresno.

There is, without a doubt, a glaring relationship between Protestantism and American consumerism. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church in the United States hasn't exactly escaped being infected by the latter itself.

Supreme Court to agrees to hear web porn case.

"Shortly after the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 2000, a group of libraries, Web sites and Internet users backed by the American Civil Liberties Union sued in federal district court, claiming that the law violates the First Amendment because the filtering software sweeps up a large amount of legitimate material as well as obscenity or child pornography."

Is there any doubt that Berkeley is nothing but wasted air space?

If you've ever seen a soap opera or variety show on Univision, this story really shouldn't be a big surprise.

"Randy Thomasson, executive director of the Campaign for California Families, said that it has been his experience that the major Spanish language media outlets such as Univision and La Opinion, rarely cover pro-family issues. "The last time La Opinion covered something from our side was in 1996," he said in a telephone interview. Thomasson said, approximately, "90 percent of the time, Univsion does not cover our pro-family news conferences in spite of the fact that Latinos are very family-oriented. Thomasson also noted that when his group has pitched pro-family stories to La Opinion, they have not been receptive. "Earlier this year we had a press conference at the Los Angeles city hall over the Marriage Protection Pledge. Andrea Franklin, from our office, spoke with them about covering the event. I just don't think they are very interested," Thomasson said."

Happy Veteran's Day. For all my Protestant brothers and sisters, this day is akin to all the feast days the Catholic Church devotes to the Saints in Heaven (i.e., those who have lived a heroic life in Christ) throughout the calendar year.

I'm guessing swap meet merchants who sell "Folex" watches and "Mucci" handbags will be watching this case with great interest and concern.

The two cases giving rise to the Supreme Court's current review of California's "Three Strikes" law involves one guy who was convicted of stealing over $1,000 worth of golf clubs and another guy who stole about $150 worth of videotapes. The latter fellow was given 50 years in prison without possibility of parole, while the former was subject to a sentence of 25 years to life with the possibility of parole. The big question I struggle with "Three Strikes" sentencing is the propriety of factoring in past convictions for which a person has technically paid his debt to society for. Such a scenario almost seems like a person is being subjected to double jeopardy for a single crime, which is patently unconstitutional. Yet, there is little question that "Three Strikes" is largely responsible for the dramatic drop in crime in California, and has probably saved many lives. This is really one of those times that I'm glad I'm not a Supreme Court Justice.

California Attorney General's office says abortion "doktors" must report suspected sex abuse. There are, however, some apparent loopholes. If so, and I will try to find out if there really are any, they need to be closed.

So now that there is a Republican majority in the Senate, dare we start thinking Chief Justice Scalia? Hmm...

Supreme Court hears arguments over the constitutionality of California's "Three Strikes" law. In case you don't know what this is, it's a law that automatically imposes a minimum 25 year sentence on any person convicted of a crime who has had two prior felony convictions. One of the problems many people see with California's three-strikes law is that it is possible for a person to get anywhere from 25 years to life for stealing a pizza (which actually happened). I'm a little conflicted myself on it, but I think the Supreme Court will ultimately uphold this law.

As much as I'm disappointed with how the election results here in Crazy California went (please pray for all the unborn babies), at least the rest of the country appears to have shifted more towards sanity.

I'm starting to brace myself for the wave of phone calls I'm going to start getting if "Gumber" Gray Davis wins reelection here in California. Believe you me, the "homo floodgates" are about ready to burst out here, and it will take nothing short of a miracle to contain it to a mild drip.

Berkeley to America: Forget the gangs and drug dealers, we need to incarcerate the non-organic coffee sellers. Morons.

There is no sense in talking about any other right if there is no right to life. As such, if a candidate is "pro-choice" he/she will not be getting my vote even if he/she is in the same party as me.

Dan Quayle's alma mater, DePauw University, is sued for religious discrimination. Just from the article, I can see how the plaintiff in this case can allege a violation of her federal statutory rights. As to whether her constitutional rights have been violated, the plaintiff won't have any standing to make these allegations unless she can show that the university, which is private, acted under the color of state or federal law.

The enigmatic paradox of Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney:

"Two weeks ago, the Boston Globe asked how, as a graduate of Brigham Young University, he could reconcile his financial support of his alma mater with his statements opposing discrimination against homosexuals. BYU bans homosexual behavior by its students and faculty.

Mr. Romney replied: 'BYU is a religiously oriented university. I just don't think religion should be part of a campaign.' Not exactly a forceful response."

Boston College upsets Notre Dame in Catholic Bowl 2002.

Saw this link at Amy Welborn's 'blog. All the more reason to be Catholic if you ask me.

Priest's endorsement of a pro-life candidate draws ire of (anti)Americans United for Separation of Church and State. What do you think the odds are that AUSCS head bozo Barry Lynn would totally overlook the "Rev." Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton endorsing a pro-abortion candidate?

Well here's something you don't see reported or commented upon every day: Supreme Court Justice complains about overprotective application of the 11th Amendment. I bet you at least eight out of ten people, including lawyers, in America couldn't tell you what the 11th Amendment is. As a matter of fact, they don't even mention it in the article.

A blessed All Saints Day to one and all in the Church Militant.

Why and when did "born again" Protestants become so annoying to many in American civil society?

"In pursuit of an answer Hart, a professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondido, Calif., ranges nimbly across American Protestant history in the 19th and, especially, 20th centuries. When he comes to the upheaval of the 1960s, he remarks that 'the United States entered a new phase of cultural history in which Protestantism no longer yielded a common sense of purpose and set of standards as it once had'...the change from 'a Protestant to a post-Protestant society...made evangelical politics appear to many as old-fashioned, if not a little obnoxious.'"

On this, the 485th anniversary of the start of the Defor.., I mean, Reformation, Cardinal Dulles says Vatican II reaffirmed the authority of the papacy.

If you're an Evangelical, think GM.

In listening to the lyrics of their song, I had an inkling that Lifehouse might be a "Christian" band. Great to see that the lead singer is very much influenced by his faith.

Bob Kunz writes in reaction to the Bob Jones University story I posted on October 21, "Hey, I'd rather be confronted with Michelle's judgmental attitude than the implied subjectivist ("well, that may be truth for you, but this is truth for me" - "why can't we all just get along?") alternative."

Gee, if that's what I implied, I didn't mean to. Guess I should have qualified myself by writing "I do, however, believe that there is truth, and Michelle is far from having any clear grasp of it." My main point, however, was to show how problematic fundamentalist Christian theology tends to be in that it recklessly encourages judgment on another person's salvation. Yes, the only way to Heaven and God is through Jesus, but it is not for us to judge, for we are not God, whether a person who has not fully accepted Christ is eternally damned to Hell. Remember, with God, all things are possible.

Yessss! The Giants lost! Wooooo! In case you're wondering, my two favorite teams are the Dodgers and anyone playing the Giants.

Object to being sent a pro-homosexual policy memo and lose your job.

"Kodak is constantly trying to cram this diversity/inclusive culture crap down our throats. We are told by management that all beliefs are welcome. Well, as Rolf found out, if your opinions and fundamental beliefs go against the Kodak party line, you will be gone."

Assumming they have the right guys, someone has some serious 'splaining to do.

Can't really blog for the next few days as I have to try to churn out a "friend of the court" brief involving the Boy Scouts.

UCLA won't sign onto pledge combatting campus "anti-Semitism". I put the quotes around anti-Semitism because it seems to be used in a way that includes opposing foreign policies that are favorable to Israel. If that's the case, then I would probably agree with UCLA's hesitancy. In and of itself, expressing opposition to certain foreign policies that are favorable to Israel is no more anti-Semitic than opposing MFN trading staus for China is anti-Chinese. The characterization can change, of course, depending upon the underlying motivation for the opposition.

Bob Jones University may be making steps to clean up its image as far as racial matters go, but it is still perpetuating strident anti-Catholicism.

"The school's public relations problems probably come as much from its attitude toward other religions as from its past racial policies. Michelle Berg, a junior with a trendy short-handled purse whom I meet in the student center, assures me, 'We love [Catholics]. We have a way for them to be saved from hell.' But this involves telling them that 'what they believe is wrong' and unfortunately, says Berg, 'people don't see that as love.'''

It's one thing to not agree on the truth. But if being judgmental and presumptuous about another person's salvation is an expression of true Christian love, then send me to Hell right now because I will never be a Bob Jones fundamentalist.

Just for fun, I went to this people search engine and discovered there are at least 12 other men in America who share my name. The only problem with this search engine is that it has me listed in a city I haven't lived in for almost two years. Ah well...

Proposal on handling sexual abuse by priests will apparently be rejected by the Vatican.

Just to make it clear, meditation on a specific set of mysteries should be done on the following days: Monday and Saturday, and Sundays from Advent to Lent (Joyful Mysteries); Tuesday and Friday, and Sundays from Lent to Easter (Sorrowful Mysteries); Wednesday and Sundays from Easter to Advent (Glorious Mysteries); Thursday (Luminous Mysteries). Got that?

Don't look for mandatory U.S. Sugeon General's warnings to appear on the informational packets ofGay-Lesbian Student Alliance clubs anytime soon.

Congregationalist Protestants or faithful Catholics? I tend to think they are the former more than the latter.

Protestant Bible smugglers in China risk their lives for God. Although I find the work of these overseas missionaries to be admirable, this article inadvertantly exposes the intrinsic problems that Protestantism (via the principle of sola scriptura) has caused and perpetuates -- e.g., lack of theological cohesion and doctrinal confusion.

"Lee’s most important book is his 'Recovery Version' of the New Testament, a densely annotated edition with a translation that he said is faithful to the original Greek. Footnotes and cross-references more than double the size of this Bible, first published in English in 1985 and in Chinese in 1987."
...

"In a footnote to the Book of Romans, for example, Lee writes that true Christians are like Christ – 'they have both humanity and divinity.' Critics say this demeans Jesus.

Others cite comments in which Lee seemed to urge people to pray in his name, a practice Lee denounced.

'I have heard that some of you worship me as God and address me as Lord,' he wrote in 1991. 'I am deeply troubled by this. According to the teaching of the Bible, you shall never worship any man as God.'"

Do they deserve to be called Catholic colleges?

"At the alumni office for the Dominican University of California (in San Rafael), Holly said that she would have to look into how many alumni had gone on to ordination and call back. After two weeks with no return phone calls, Holly was contacted again. Her tone was noticeably colder. 'We're not going to be able to disclose that information. It's against our policy.'"

Because I work in an environment that is almost entirely dominated by Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestants, I've noticed that there are certain words that they (Protestants) tend to frequently use in their everyday conversations. Some of it is tinged with anti-Catholicism, although I don't believe most of the people I encounter realize it or harbor ill will toward me. Here's a sampling:

"worldview" i.e., one's moral perspective

"Oh my gosh!" i.e., an exclamation without taking the Lord's name in vain

"biblical or biblically -based" i.e., my position on, say, using vibrators finds support in the Bible, and is therefore true (doesn't matter that nobody else sees what I see)

"fellowship" -- i.e., act of worship with fellow "Bible-believing" Christians (often entails singing "praise" songs)

"Bible-believing Christians" i.e., professed Christians who have the same or similar conservative biblically-based moral views, and believe that the Bible is the sole authority on and deposit of the Christian faith.

"non-denominational" i.e., not a denomination; just Christian

"Christian" i.e., not Catholic

I'm with Eve Tushnet; Harry Wu should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Because it dares to ask whether using a vibrator is biblical, Focus on the Family programs are dropped by a popular Protestant radio station in So. California.

Jimmy "I was almost killed by a rabbit" Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize despite the fact he once endorsed Yasser Arafat's sham election in Palestine and publicly bristled when the communist Sandinista government, led by the tyrannical Daniel Ortega, was legitimately ousted in Nicaragua.

Something is rotten in Oslo.

I guess if I was ignorant (or a devoted fan of the "Left Behind" series) I'd actually be worried over the latest reading of the Rapture Index.

Satan, of course, believed this as well.

Is George Barna anti-Catholic? From his latest survey on religious beliefs, it certainly appears that way. First of all, he makes the claim that many Catholics (and Protestants) hold beliefs that conflict with the teachings of the Bible. Uh, who made Mr. Barna, a self described Evangelical Protestant, the authoritative interpreter of the Bible?

Second, his unqualified comments about the "surprising" number of Protestants who like praying to, in his words, "deceased saints", clearly reflects his ignorant belief that such Catholic inspired conduct amounts to idol worshipping and that the saints in Heaven aren't alive.

George Barna clearly has a lot of theological issues he needs to work out. Until then, I would give his statistical findings as much credence as I would to surveys conducted by the California Democratic Party -- almost none.

I've been getting a few calls about this new student Satan club in the San Mateo school district. As distressing as it is, this club has as much of legal right to be formed under the Equal Access Act as a Christian club.

Hey, if you happen to be a graduate of North Torrance High School like me, check out this site.

In looking at paragraph 2309 of the Catechism (the elements of the "just war" doctrine"), I'm inclined to think that the Vatican is being a little ignorant in its opposition to a possible U.S. military preemptive strike against Iraq.

"[Archbishop Renato Martino] recalled the Vatican's opposition to the 1991 Gulf War, saying: 'Everyone knows the way it turned out. War doesn't resolve problems. Besides being bloody, it's useless,' he said."

Uh, if I recall, not only did the Gulf War last less than six months, but we got Sadaam's tyrannical fat a** out of Kuwait. How can the Archbishop say that no problems were resolved and it was a useless endeavor? I suppose if there was one mistake about the war, it's that we didn't immediately go after Sadaam back in Iraq. However, if we did, the coalition we had built for the mission in Kuwait probably would have fallen apart. And then Clinton came into office...

Protestants in Mexico are disturbed over religious expressions made by the president of their country -- who happens to be Catholic. Legitimate concern over an establishment of religion or anti-Catholic bigotry?

Link via RelapsedCatholic.com: Two pro-life Hollywood stars appear and hold their own on TV talkshows.

Jesse Jackson shows up in Brazil to offer support for seemingly anti-Catholic political candidate "Lula".

"But even if he has the lead, Lula is leaving little to chance, insisting to the crowd that he shares the same ideals — and endured the same discrimination — as Jesus.

'Who in human history was more revolutionary than Jesus Christ? Who fought more for social justice?" Lula asked. "The same elite that is prejudiced against us today, had a prejudice against him.'"

Go here to check out my choice for California Governor. He's got a funny picture of a guy in chicken suit on there.

Despite the total lack of news coverage, Gov. Gray (out) Davis has vetoed an atrocious bill that would have required foster parents to attend homosexual sensitivity training classes, and prohibited foster child placement agencies from discriminating against foster parent applicants on the basis of their sexual orientation.

The game, of course, isn't over. Believe you me, if Gray-out is reelected this November, expect this and other pro-homo bills that got shot down this year (e.g., the "civil unions" bill) to get reintroduced by the Democrat dominated Legislature and signed into law in a heartbeat.

Too busy to blog today. Hope to have something tomorrow.

Pat Buchanan helps launch new political magazine called American Conservative.

"...American Conservative magazine was founded with the sole purpose of drawing a line in the sand against the so-called hijackers of the conservative movement, say its leaders.

'We're trying to take back the good name of conservatism from these right-wing impersonators,' Buchanan said at the magazine launch this week."

Aha! The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized secular humanism as a religion in the case of Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 495 note 11.

"Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others. See Washington Ethical Society v. District of Columbia, 101 U.S. App. D.C. 371, 249 F.2d 127; Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda, 153 Cal. App. 2d 673, 315 P.2d 394; II Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences 293; 4 Encyclopaedia Britannica (1957 ed.) 325-327; 21 id., at 797; Archer, Faiths Men Live By (2d ed. revised by Purinton), 120-138, 254-313; 1961 World Almanac 695, 712; Year Book of American Churches for 1961, at 29, 47."

Self-worshippers plan march on Washington.

"We are participating in this march to reclaim the American nation as a secular nation because we feel it's being moved more and more to a religious nation," said Katherine Bourdonnay, a spokesperson for the Council for Secular Humanism.

It seems kind of odd that atheists and secular humanists would confine the word religion to those who believe in the existence of and worship a divine being. It is my understanding that the origin of the word religion comes from the Latin word for "relationship", as in a relationship with God or another person. Since atheists and secular humanists have a strong tendency to emphasize relationships with material things like money (indeed, that is how they sadly measure the value of their lives), it would seem that they are trying to foster as much religion, if not more, as a devout Christian might. The only difference, of course, is that you don't hear very many Christians saying that secular humanists and atheists can't be informed by their beliefs in the public square or popular government. Talk about violating the Establishment Clause!

Speaking of The Civil War, I understand that the writer of the song "Dixie," which the Confederacy sort of adopted as its anthem, was not only a "yankee northerner," he was also Catholic. I've been able to confirm the former (Daniel Decatur Emmett was born in Ohio and was not particularly enamored when the Confederacy coopted his song), but I haven't been able to verify the latter.

I've been watching the digitally remastered edition of The Civil War on PBS over the last few nights, and there's just a chock full of interesting information I missed the first time I saw it several years ago. I just may go out and buy the DVD.

Federal death penalty law is ruled unconstitutional. This is only somewhat of a bombshell, because only a particular law involving the death penalty is being ruled upon and not the death penalty itself.

U.S. District Judge William Sessions said the law does not adequately protect defendants' rights.

"If the death penalty is to be part of our system of justice, due process of law and the fair trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment require that standards and safeguards governing the kinds of evidence juries may consider must be rigorous, and constitutional rights and liberties scrupulously protected," he said.

On my Notre Dame football musing below, a reader informs me that neither Knute Rockne (until he later converted) or Ara Parseghian were Catholic when they were the head coach of the Irish.

Speaking of sports, who are some of the most famous and greatest American athletes who are (or were when they were alive) also faithful Catholics? There must be a few, but for some reason I can only think of Roger Staubach, former great quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. I read somewhere that even during his playing career, Staubach was a daily communicant. How awesome is that?

Governor Gray Davis rationalizes abortion, and now embryonic stem cell research, on the premise that pre-born children are not human, and that such things will better our society. Hitler, of course, had the same perspective regarding the Jews and the involuntary experimentations that were done on them. Thus, to equate people like Gray Davis to Adolf Hitler is justified, although Davis is more of an equal opportunity offender.

Just a passing curiosity, but I wonder if in addition to being the first black head football coach at Notre Dame, Tyrone Willingham is the first non-Catholic head football coach at said university.

Cool...Mel Gibson movie on the Passion to be in Latin and Aramaic.

Even though the Catholic Church in the United States has significantly grown in the last few years, I'd be curious to know what percentage of new members in other growing religious faiths (e.g., Mormons, Evangelical Protestants, etc.) are fall-away Catholics. I once heard on EWTN that behind the Catholic Church, the second largest Christian "denomination" in the United States are people who were once Catholic.

Students from across the country today will be holding a "See You At The Pole" event at their schools to offer prayers for classmates, parents, friends, and their country. Although it is held out as being "interdenominational" (i.e., Catholics can participate too!) See You At The Pole tends to primarily attract good-hearted folks from the various quarters of Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestantism. Myself, I see this event as an annual test for school principals and school districts on their understanding of the meaning of free speech.

Another Chinese bishop, loyal to the Holy See, is arrested.

"Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake:"

-- Matthew 5:11 (DR)

Unlike their cohorts in academia, liberal pro-abortion activists set sights at destroying another great nominee for the federal judiciary.

So how bad was anti-Catholicism within America's Protestant subculture? Here's a resolution that the National Association of Evangelicals, a multi-denominational group that many prominent Fundamentalists like Bob Jones think is too "liberal", adopted prior to the presidential election of John F. Kennedy in 1960:

Roman Catholicism And The President Of The United States

Whereas, separation of Church and State is the historic American principle, BE IT RESOLVED that the NAE state its belief:

1. That discussion of the church-state separation principle along with all of its implications is legitimate and inevitable whenever public office is under consideration, and

2. That commitments to the principle of church-state separation are necessary from all political candidates for the Presidency regardless of their religious affiliation, and

3. That the commitment of a Roman Catholic candidate to the separation principle is particularly necessary because the Roman Catholic Church, both as a political and religious organization, has for many centuries fostered the policy of church establishment in various degrees, according to its own political and religious interests within a situation, and has exerted pressures on public officials to that end, and

4. That the real source of unrest in respect to church-state separation is the total lack of any convincing commitment of the Roman Catholic Church to the principle of church-state separation, which could only come from the highest authority of that organization and could only be evidenced by the realignment of Catholic policy in those countries where Catholicism is now the established religion, and

5. That due to political-religious nature of the Roman Catholic Church, we doubt that a Roman Catholic president could or would resist fully the pressures of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

Prior to the NAE redesigining their website, I pulled some other old resolutions they had regarding, I believe, the "danger" of allowing Bishop Samuel Stritch to be elevated to the College of Cardinals. I've only glanced through the NAE's resdesigned site, and while they actually admit to adopting anti-Catholic resolutions like the one above, I didn't see anything about a subsequent rescinding of them. Very curious.

Outside of the loony fringes of the Bob Jones' and Jack Chicks' of this world, is anti-Catholicism among most of our separated Protestant brothers and sisters really a thing of the past? In taking a look at some of the courses offered by a few of the more popular "born again" Protestant colleges in this country, one has to wonder. For example, here is a course offered at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA) University:

TTTH707 Roman Catholic Theology
Units:2.0
School:Talbot School of Theology
Course Description:
A detailed study of the tenets of Roman Catholicism; reading from representative Roman Catholic literature; particular attention given to the distinctions between Roman Catholic and Protestant doctrines. Especially helpful for those contemplating missionary service in countries dominated by Roman Catholicism. Elective .

Here is course offered at Trinity International University, whose law school I am a graduate of (Yes, I did lodge a formal complaint after I discovered it. As expected, they denied the course was designed to train Evangelical missionaries on how to convert Catholics):

ST 737 ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY
An examination of the claims and practices of traditional Roman Catholicism, of the "revolution" introduced by the Second Vatican Council, and of current modernist and traditionalist trends, together with an evangelical critique and an evaluation of the possibilities of collaboration with and evangelism among Catholics today.

So yeah, while secular humanism is the greatest cause of anti-Catholicism in America today, one can clearly see that some of the hostility toward the Church is still flowing out from this country's Protestant subculture.

Retired janitor of a Catholic high school in So.California beomes one of its largest donors.

"D'Heygers, who dropped out of school after the eighth grade in Belgium, has spent the bulk of his adult life serving students who begin their Mater Dei years at the age when his own education ended. Now retired from his position as head caretaker, he still lives on campus. His living room displays crosses and Mater Dei memorabilia, including an honorary high school diploma. Announcements from the school's speaker system filter in. Students talk to him around his dining room table, where his black cat, Monarch II, jumps up to be petted."

What are the chances that Mel Gibson is a SSPX sympathizer? Let's hope Jim Caviezel doesn't possess this attitude and is able to talk some sense to Mel.

Regarding the item below this, the state court of appeals apparently ignored Bacus v. Palo Verde Unified School District (11 F.Supp.2d 1192), a 1998 federal case in California that held there was nothing unconstitutional about a reference to Jesus Christ in a school board invocation.

And don't give me any lip about California's establishment clause being more narrow than the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The state Supreme Court has definitively ruled in East Bay Asian Local Dev. Corp. v. State of California, 24 Cal.4th 693 (2000) that if a policy or act by the government does not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, it will not violate the state's establishment clause.

In an apparent fit of "9th Circuit-itis," a California state court of appeals rules that invoking the name of Jesus Christ during a city council invocation is unconstitutional. Curiously enough, the guy who brought the suit against the city council is sitting in jail for allegedly plotting to bomb a mosque and a congressman's office.

Sacramento Kings fans: Feel the groan.

Awww, two lying pro-abortion adulterers hugging one another. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

In a straight party line vote, Dummycrats reject nomination of Prescilla Owen to the federal judiciary. This probably would have never happened, of course, if "Jumpin'" Jim Jeffords hadn't switched parties and given the Dummys a one person majority in the Senate, and thus a majority on the Judiciary Committee.

Unsurprisingly, there is a severe shortage of priests in the Sacramento diocese. There are lots of reasons for this, but it certainly doesn't help that the diocese draws most of its priests from questionable and uninspiring seminaries like St. Patrick's in Menlo Park and Mount Angel in Oregon.

"St. Patrick's had as its academic dean, Father Carl Schipper, who was arrested for soliciting sex with minors and distributing child porn over the internet in 2000. San Francisco archbishop William Levada invited Father Gerald Coleman to take his place. Coleman is well known as a supporter of what he calls "chaste" homosexual unions and publicly opposed Proposition 22, the defense of marriage initiative. Michael Rose interviewed seminarians at Mount Angel seminary in Oregon for Goodbye, Good Men, who said their superiors persecuted them for praying the rosary."

Arrgh... No time to really blog , so here's something to ponder: To assert that God knows the future wrongly assumes that God has a past and a future. In other words, because God is outside the bounds of time and space, God does not know the future, but "only" knows.

Have a great Labor Day weekend. I intend to use part of it reviewing a case on appeal involving the Boy Scouts and the People's Republic of Berkeley.

I just learned an interesting fact about my native Los Angeles. The city was actually named after the Blessed Mother and the title she holds as the Queen of Angels. As a relatively recent Catholic convert (about 4 years), this was quite a pleasant discovery. However, as a product of the public school system in California, I'm pretty steamed that this kind of information was withheld from me.

The new NFL season is approaching and, alas, another year will go by without my native Los Angeles having a team. Having a grown up a die-hard Rams fan, I was crushed when they left for St. Louis in the early nineties. I just wish the ownership of the Rams would show some class and change the name of team, like the Browns and Oilers did when they left for Baltimore and Tennessee.

I'm thinking of adopting the New Orleans Saints as my new favorite team, because, well, of the reference to saints. I don't know. Maybe I just won't pay much attention to pro football again like I have for the past 7-8 years.

Ha! In relation to the post below, Bob Jones III apparently quotes a hymn written by a Catholic priest (Frederick Faber) to defend his proposed substitution of the word "fundamentalist" with "preservationist". The hymn, Faith of Our Fathers, was also apparently inspired in part by the awful persecution of Catholics by Henry VIII. Thanks to Kathy C. for the 411.

I've often wondered how to best distinguish a Protestant fundamentalist from a Protestant evangelical. Thanks to some people I know who see themselves as the latter, now I know. A Protestant evangelical is basically a fundamentalist with a college degree.

Speaking of fundamentalists and college, the folks at good 'ol Bob Jones University have apparently been considering adopting a new description of themselves. How does Protestant "preservationist" strike you?

Beam me up! A couple of interesting links from the folks at The Corner. The Democrat Party candidate for governor in Ohio is married to Kate "Captain Janeway" Mulgrew, who is pro-life.

You know, I'm getting pretty sick of some of these ignorant Protestant evangelicals and fundamentalists who ascribe committee documents coming out of the USCCB as a teaching of the Catholic Church. It's obvious that guys like Jim Sibley will jump on any chance they get to slam an institution they have deep seeded contempt for.

Granted, the "reflections" on the evangelization of Jews was sloppy and subject to misinterpretation. But even if it wasn't, unless the document is affirmed by the entire USCCB and by Rome, it amounts to nothing more than a theological opinion piece.